IMPRESSIONS OF TRAVEL.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13609, 18 December 1909, Page 6

IMPRESSIONS OF TRAVEL.

m, RETURN OF A CHRISTCHURCH SOLICITOR. Mr J. R; Cuningham, solicitor, of this city, returned on Thursday from a trip tluougn Europe, America, and tho East. In conversation with a representative of "The Press" yesterday, Mr Cuningham chatted interestingly of some of tiie places and scenes he had witnessed abroad. Naturally, he spent considerable time in England and on the Continent in the precincts of the law courts, and heard some important and interesting cases argued by leading members of the Bar, particularly in England. One thing that struck Mr Cuningham very much was the latitude allowed by judges in England, especially where advocates with a great reputation were appearing. Liberties were sometimes taken that would not be tolerated in New Zealand courts, and in this respect Mr Cuningham made mental comparisons that were very much in favour of New Zealand. A particularly interesting experience was the hearing of the appeal of a woman against a sentence of fifteen years' imprisonment for murder, at the Palace of Justice, Brussels. The woman's counsel addressed the court with extraordinary passion and intensity. Men and women were so moved by his rhetoric that the tears poured down their cheeks, and they cried without restraint. Mr Cuningham says he never saw such emotion, such gesticulation, and such fervid eloquence in a law court in his life. . Mr Cuningham could not help being struck with the profound respect shown towards one eminent K.C. in England. So much was this the case that • the whole Court seemed to revolve j round this gentleman as soon as 'he en-

tered it. His method of cross-examina-tion was exceedingly ruthless, and one day Mr Cuningham heard him crossexamine an elderly gentleman, who was unfortunate onough to be his victim for nearly three-quarters of an hour on the meaning the witness attached to the word "experience." The main quality exhibited by successful barristers, not only in England but wherever he went, was a bulldog tenacity and a determination to make every point in favour of a client, regardless of whether it was overruled by the Court or successfully objected to by the other side. The main idea seemed to be never to admit a reverse, to pass off rebukes from the Bench with a smile, and make the point at any cost, because the impression it made on the jury was never quite eliminated by any subsequent correction or any ruling by the Court. After leaving England, Mr Cuningham travelled through Canada, and, like most visitors, was greatly impressed with the amazing progress of tiliat 1 Dominion. i Crossing to Japan and China, nothing else impressed him so much as the squalor and the appalling conditions under which such a large portion of the human race lived all the year round. In Shanghai, and at other ports where Europeans were well represented, the contempt shown towards the unfortunate Asiatic gave him a painful shock, lie saw a German knock a coolie off tho footpath into the middle of the street with a blow, merely because the s Chinaman dared to walk on the path at all. A little later he saw an Englishman deal a 'rickshaw man a heavy blow with a stick, merely because the man jostled him. Not only in their ordinary relations with the native population, but in trade, the conduct of the Europeans was absolutely devoid of consideration. Mr Cimningham lias arrived back in good health and spirits, and has greatly benefited by his trip.