THE RASCALLY LAWYERS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3019, 30 March 1867, Page 5

THE RASCALLY LAWYERS.

To th.» Editor of the Daily Soutmibh Cbom. qg I p ) — M*y I beg the favour of saying * few iroida •bout your leading article of tb>B day, -which taunts the members of the legal profession here with their supineness in not taking some steps to proseoato Cox. . * Whilst I approve to the' utmost of all you say in that article as to the way in which, business between attorney and client in this place has been_ carried on for some time past, I must beg leave respectfully to protest against, your charging the legal profession with any neglect of duty because they have taken no steps to bring Cox ta justice. _ You might fairly animadvert upon the legal profession not taking steps, supposing that stt-pa lin these cates can be taken, to' have the games of «uch men as George or Cox struck off r; the rplla; but you lave no more reason to •xpect' the lawyers as lasers to prosecute oue of ,theie body for forgery, or whatever the crime may be he has committed, than you have to expect thebntcbera, or any other claw in the communiijy, to take upon themselves the L prosecution of crjduaals who may happen to belong to their claw. Paltnam gui meruit ferat., Let those who have been sufferers from the crimes of Cox, if th«r« are any such sufferers, bear the disgrace of permitting him to go unpunished. A day or two after Cox had absconded, there was a large meeting, assembled in response to an invitation addressed, to Coxa creditors. At that meeting it was proposed by a member of the legal profession, who was a gainer and not a loser by Cox's flight, that "steps should be taken" for the immediate apprehension of Cox. One gentleman, on the impulse of. the moment, moved, by a generous inspiration, expressed his willingnes'i to subscribe ten shillings lav the purpose-; but even he stood alone, and the motion felL.(to t .the : fcrounijfor y^fißit of * .seconder. I have heard thu wretched man

Cox stigmatised as the robber of tbe widow and the orphan, •windier, forger ; and yet cone of those who mak« these charges substantiate them ; bat, as you would have it, the legal profession are to be called upon to act as public prosecutors of every scoundrel Who disgraces it. 1 say-it is to the public of Auckland, which, by its greed of wealth (instance the money at £12 10s. per cent, interest deposited at call)— which, by its defceaiaM* land-jobbing spirit ~ which, by its love of wild speculation, has fostered the breed of men like Cox, that the disgrace attaches of letting Cox go unpunished. lam personally cognizant of two or three cases in which Cox has misappropriated hi« clients' moneys. Otherwise, I should be disposed to believe the whole outcry against * him a mere sham. Even with what I know, £ believe there are many who are loud in their abuse of him as a scoundrel and thief, who will be very sorry to see him back again ia Auckland. After saying thus much, I must further, with your pardon, beg to say that I do not think the legal pro* fession will be at all injured in the opinion of the right-minded, because there happens to be » Cox or » George to be found amongst iba memhera. The check against knavery in the professors of the law is in tbe hands of the public, who will act wisely in not placing a blind confidence in their legal advisers, while not altogether refusing to confide in them. All the rogues are not to be found among the lawyers. One op Them. Auckland, March 28, 1867.