MRS. MANSFORD'S PETITION.

Evening Post, Volume XXI, Issue 138, 15 June 1881, Page 2

MRS. MANSFORD'S PETITION.

Among the petitions presented to Parliament yesterday was one which we feel convinced will command hearty sympathy in Wellington, and in Otago also. We refer to that presented by Mr. Levin, M.H R., on behalf of Mrs. Mansford, the widow of our lato respected District Judge, setting forth the long and faithful public services of her late husband, and her own unprovided state, and prayiDg for relief. The facts concerning the death of Judge Mansford are of too recent occurrence to need recapitulation. It is well-known that he literally "died in harness," and that his death was materially accelerated, if not entirely occasioned, by the unremitting zeal and assiduity with which ho persisted in discharging his official duties when failing health had rendered him physically incapable of doing so without imminent personal danger. But he struggled on, brave even to rashness, to the last, determined never to give in, and death alone bringing him his long-needed rest from labor. As an able and most upright judge, the late Mr. Mansford enjoyed the respect of all who knew him, not only in Wellington and Taranaki, where his latter days were passed, but also in Otago where he presided for many years. It was often pointed out in these columns that he received a very inadequate salary, considering the length of his services and the arduous duties imposed an him, and compared with the salaries paid to other officers in similar positions. It left him slender means of providing for his widow and family in the event of death, and now the only provision for Mrs. Mansford and her children consists in the meagre dole of one year's salary. This is obviously quite inadequate ior the support of herself and children, and it will be a public scandal if something more is not done for her relief. The law provides that in special cases a pension of two years' salary may be granted to the widow ot a deceased officer, and iiuquestionably the present case is among those "special" ones thus provided. It will be discreditable to us as a community if the widow and young children of one of our most conscientious and respected District Judges are allowed to suffer want and privation because their husband and father sacrificed hia life in the service of his country. We earnestly hope, therefore, that the Parliamentary Committee to whom the petition will in due course be referred will see their way to recommend that a suitable provision should immediately be made as prayed for.