THE NEW COURTHOUSE.

Bush Advocate, Volume XVIII, Issue 489, 15 August 1906, Page 4

THE NEW COURTHOUSE.

♦ — The Opening Ceremony. The ceremony of opening the new 1 Courthouse was performed yesterday afternoon by the Hon. J. McGowan, Minister for Justice, who came from Wellington for the purpose, and was re- ~ ceivedbythe Mayor and member, for I the district. . .... . i.. ,' Z The ceremony was fixed for 4 p.m., but shortly before that hour, the plartyr-, proceeded from the Club Hotel, aiid. in 'the presence of the members o^thg,i^«il 'profession and the Justices piEthix'e^^,. ; aa well as a fair sprinkUngof ;^e "pn.^ lie, Mr Hall, M.H.B , invited the"jfw»ip«X 1 ter 1 to open the Court. "". '' !. : • He said they were *11 very , much. in,-. .:'■, deßfed to Mr McGowan- for. commg" iffa. .' Dannevirke at a time when Was Jii-f/ convenient 'for him and his w]sejxfmeti y , that he should, do so, forjustnow.^er-j? „• was great pressure of work owing |o.tihe' approaching session, and it was<xplj with difficulty that a Minister could : leave Wellington. He therefore _had! ..: great pleasure in asking Mr McQawan,' to open the new building. ' • „ On rising to address those present-the ',';" Minister was received with applause, and in his introductory remarks he expressed the pleasure it gave him to be present at such a gathering, because it wag always the wish of his department to provide the necessary facilities for dispensing justice. The additional accommodation" : provided in tho new building .was, urgently required and bespoke in avery/> practical way the progress whicii' the ;'"*' town and district were making. OnthiS i* point he had been looking up some ; statistics just before leaving W;elliiigr : ton, and these he thought; tt^re ..ttt- [' ticularly instructive in this The first court was held in Dannevirke in 1889, and in the first year • the '■" civil cases numbered ."183; ' s&<l ' criminal cases 77, while the -reTCtfue^ that year was £169. > The. Svit Court-*' house was completed iß*Janiia*y, 1893,'; '; and the contract price for that building was £380. In 1892 the civil' casWiiuni— bered 219, and the criminal 'eases 74^.1 while the revenue was exactly'thd same as the previous year, £160. laikey^Me'l 1905 there was a marked increase in.' r both the business and the .reventfej th> civil cases numbering' 233,. and tKe, criminal cases 467, the revenue £fi f titiuisf year being 4>3fiß 145. ! :^he ..contract :/ price for the building which |hey 4 were about to open-4-a description, pf jrMch. appeared in a recent issue "pjf the Advocate— was £1,789." Concerning' these latter figures he would l&e to say that the fact that the civil cases were; less than the criminal ones seenied to indicate that the people were not disposed to litigation — a fact that he always regarded with considerable approbation in any community, Ota the other hand the fact that there was an apparent increase in the ; crimmaT cases was doubtless due to tftb pjr^gressu which the town and district was making^ for prosperity always attracted *a class of people who were more_ or less undesirable, and who were always' m'6're ot less in trouble. At the same time r ife also indicated that the police force was alive and active and doing its duty, and to the public there was always a certain , amount of satisfaction in that for theia ; as it meant a guarantee of the safety of life and property. One of the advant-f ages to be derived from the buflding^fj new courts such as these was ' that the • people had a ready and cheap means of settling their cases, and since he had ! taken charge of the department it had been his endeavour to meet the growing requirements in this respect" iv every possible way. Mr McGowan next referred to the personnel of the Supreme Court Bench and magistracy, than which there was no better in any part of the world. There was also a class of people who did a great deal of work in our. courts, aud who received very JUSIeT else but abuse for it. He referred to the Justices, whose services were frequently called upon and they.he said, had a right to expect a comfortable place in. which to do their business. He was also proud of the Crown solicitors, whom he had noted never made a point; to persecute a prisoner. The duty" of the Crown Prosecutor was to see that all the facts were fully placed before the Court, and he had never known a case in which they had departed from this rule. Concerning the legal profession he would like to remark that he was afraid certain members in the larger centres were sometimes prone to take up cases which they knew had no' merits, and he did not approve -of 'the practice, for while they might not do so for the purpose of perverting justice, the general effect of their argument and pleading must have an injurious effect upon those who heard them and make for evil towards the community ai large. He hoped that the ne# ; building would result in justice being quickly and cheaply rendered. He must congratulate the Mayor and member upon possessing such a fine building in their town. Mr Hall had worked exceedingly hard for the. new 1 building. One point he would like to bring prominently under their notice was that Mr Hall never 'asked for anything for his district which was not urgently needed, and when he once made a . request there was no shaking him off until his request was granted. He would also like to ,: congratulate the contractor, Mr Scott, ■ upon the excellent job he had made. ■ " Contractors were not always reliable, and-; ••. sometimes they put two nails where there ought to be,,; -fecit, > in the present " instance he felt convinced that an honest job had been;,; done, and lie only hoped that the; cos-:. tractor had not lost money over ir v ' - At this point Mr Hall r<;nurieUHi .Mr. ; McGowan that something raighr In* wud : .. on the question of a District Court, and: !: the Minister replied that he wpu'.d l.^uk into the matter, but he questioned; ,tue wisdom of multiplying tlie..nuru<}pr of courts, as it was only un. additional incentive to iucreased litigation. ; . Further, he was not sure $iat. ihJe , bisi- , nesses of the district warranted a District Court, but he would loot into, -the matter and. let Mr. Hall know -what .. could b$ done. He now had very much pleasure in declaring the^ cpurt- . ope^i -

and he hoped that nono of those present but the legal profession would show. their faces inside of it. (Applause).