JUDGE RETIRING

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 247, 1 August 1935, Page 9

JUDGE RETIRING

SIR ALEXANDER HERDMAN.

TRIBUTES BY THE BAR.

(Special to the “Guardian.”) AUCKLAND, July 31. One of the largest gatherings in the history of the Auckland Bar was seen at' the Supreme Court to-day, when His Honor Mr Justice Herdman took leave of the Bench. The president of the Auckland Law Society, Mr G. P. Finlay, expressed the profound regret felt by the practitioners of the district that Mr Justice Herdman had found it necessary and desirable to relinquish the position. He traced his Honor’s distinguished career in politics, including his service as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in the tumult of the Great War.

As a Judge he had been known and respected for his wide experience and profound learning. It would be impossible to estimate the value- of his service to law in New Zealand.

The Judge-, in reply, said that no normal human being could be insensitive to the compliment paid to him. He would always look back with pride and satisfaction to his long association with members of the Auckland Bar. Nothing in his life had so interested him as the law, the Courts and lawyers, and it was with feelings of sadness that he hade them good-bye. For reasons which he knew to be sound but which would interest no one, he had decided to step back into the ranks of private citizens. He paid a tribute to the work of the Court staff, the Justice Department and the newsr papers.