TRIBUTE FROM THE BENCH

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 78, 29 September 1924, Page 8

TRIBUTE FROM THE BENCH

ONE OF THE GREATEST JURISTS OF THE EMPIRE. _ Speaking for the Bench the Chief Jastice said that he had received a letter from Sir Frederick Chapman regretting very much that he was unable to attend taat day, and a telegram from Mr. Justice MacGregor regretting his inability to be present, as he was unavoidably detained at Masterton. This was indeed, he said, a very sad occasion, when they, were gathered toS™ to mourn, the passing away of one of the gratest jurists in our Empire. They all recognised that his one aim in life was to find out exactly what the law was, in any case, and ascertained it from the statutes, from precedents in our law books, - considering then the particular circumstances, the accidental features always keeping before himself what was tne_ great question of law he had to decide T.hey knew what his skill was and what his industry. The last time he saw Sir John Salmond'before his death he found him lying in bed with a shorthand writer beside him, still doing his w-ork. Such was the . uutiring industry £t n?- c? l n everythi"g he undertook. Ihe Chief Justice referred to the early struggles of his late colleague, and pointed what an example ljis career was to' young New Zealanders. Sir Robert spoke of early memories of the deceased, and the great promise he had shown in ms scholastic career, and how his teachers prophesied a great future for him. iie stressed tho importance in that career of the study of moral science, philosophy ethics, and logic. His works were text books, and he believed that tho latest work on "Contracts" would be, when published, as great a treatise on that subject as existed in English law literature. • • ■ AN EXAMPLE TO ALL. , Not only: was Sir John an example to the Bench, but to the Bar also, and above all, to the young men of the day. Undoubtedly he was a man of great genius and ability, but. his career showed what^ industry, perseverance, and study had_ been necessary to his advancement. Perhaps if he had not worked so hard nis life might have been extended for many years to come. His death had come as a great shock to his colleagues, who felt- his loss more deeply perhaps than those who had not so much knowledge of him personally. They all agreed m extending to the family of the deceased the most sincere sympathy for the loss they had. sustained in an end which had been so sudden and unexpected. "I feel sure,, said the Chief Justice, "that he will be recognised by the historian, especially by .the law historian, not only as one of the greatest Judges of New Zealand, but as one of the great Judges of the Empire,-as-a-very great jurist, and writer on law subjects. His life, spent here mainly in New Zealand, goes to show that New Zealand can produce among her people great men in producing one so great as him and one so illustrious. His Honour then announced that the Court was of opinion that they should' n? 1, "nd"take. any. w.ork that day, and would. adjorn, until to-morrow. " '.'.' ' The Court of Appeal was then adjourned until to-morrow morning. . :