Evening Post MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1926. THE JUDICIARY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 26, 1 February 1926, Page 4

Evening Post MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1926. THE JUDICIARY

It is a remarkable fact that, though the first Chief Justice of New Zealand was appointed in 1842, it is only the third of his sue- ( cessors that retires to-day. Except for a brief spell when the office was filled by a temporary appointment, the whole of the 84 years has been covered by four men, as we are reminded by the speech of the Attor-ney-General which is reported in another column. The first was j Sir William Martin, who served from 1842 to 1857. Sir George Arney followed (1858-1875), to be succeeded by Sir James Prendergast (1875-1899) and Sir Robert Stout (1899-1926). An average of twentyone years' service for four successive incumbents of an office which is not usually reached till late nrj life is an excellent record, but it is also remarkable that the scale has been an ascending one throughout. v The first two of our Chief Justices held office for 15 and 17 years respectively; the last two for 24 and 26 yearß respectively. Sir James Prendergast and Sir Robert Stout have covered half a century between them, and the lion's share has fallen to "the latter. Sir Robert Stout has surpassed all his predecessors, nor is it likely that any successor will lower his record for many years to come. Of the still higher records of the puisne Judges the same may be even more confidently said. Mr. Justice Johnston served for 29 years, Mr, Justice Richmond for 32, and Sir Joshua. Williams for nearly 40. Sir Joshua was under forty when he received his appointment, and he was within three years of eighty when he retired in order to serve on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Under the present age-limit his term would have been cut short five years previously, and any Judge who sets out to beat his record now will have to be appointed before he is thirty-two.

But Sir Kobert Stout's twentysix years' term, though surpassed in length, by the three puisne Judges we have named, not only constitutes a record for the Chief Justiceship, but is also unique in other ways. When Mr. Justice Eichmond and Mr. Justice Williams were promoted to the Bench they were both young men, but Sir Robert Stout was already a veteran when his turn came. Not only had he been nearly thirty years at the Bar and acquired such an immense practice as neither of these distinguished predecessors had had the time, and one of them had not the necessary qualifications, to develop, b*ut he was also a veteran in public life, He had become AttorneyGeneral before he was thirty-five, and before he was forty he had combined that office with the Premiership. Retiring from politics for a few years after this second term of office had' expired, Sir Robert Stout returned in 1893 to become a thorn in the side of the new Liberalism which was far less to his liking under Mr. Seddon's leadership than it had been when Sir Robert's old friend, John Ballance, wa3 in charge. But his second political career was brought to a close six years later when, on the retirement of Sir James Prendergast, he was offered the Chief Justiceship by Mr. Seddon. Though the acceptance of the offer removed a very awkward obstacle from Mr. Seddon's path, the fact that he was thus able to kill two birds'with one stone was not considered to detract from the merit of the appointment. It was universally recognised as ope of the very best appointments that Mr. Seddon had ever made.

The country's verdict in 1899 was based upon what it knew of Sir B.obert Stout as a lawyer, a citizen, and a public man. That verdict is confirmed in 1926 by what it has since learned from more than twenty-six years' experience of him as a Judge. The great things that were expected of him have been fully realised. It would, indeed, be no exaggeration to say that they have been more than realised. The quality of Sir Kobert's service has not disappointed expectation, but who could have prophesied at the time of his appointment that a man going on to the Bench at the age of fifty-five would be still there a quarter of ;>. century 'Inter, with his industvy, his acumen, arid bis courtesy mi-

abated, still "not out" at the age of eighty, and still as "eager for work as ever" 'J It is on this account that Sir Robert Stout's performance is unique, and may be confidently prophesied to remain so, in this country. By an Act passed in 1903 and made applicable to all appointments made since the date of its coming into operation, the retiring age of the Supreme Court Judges was fixed at seventy-" two. If this provision had applied to Sir Robert Stout the country would have lost his services on the Bench in 1916. As it is, he has been able to beat the time-limit by nearly ten years. His successors \will not have the opportunity even if they had the strength to rival this performance, and the country will be lucky if a majority of them are as fit at seventy-two as .the last of the Judges of the old order has shown himself in his eighty-second year.

The crowded Court at the Bar's farewell to the retiring Chief Justice to-day and the tributes which were paid to him by the Attorneys General and Mr. Justice Reed bore eloquent testimony to the gra tude, the admiration, and the sense of loss with which the occe sion has inspired all those best qualified to appreciate the value of Sir Robert Stout's judicial career. Though both lawyers and Judges are accustomed to measure their words, they are apt on these occasions to run riot in the unbalanced eulogy of the epitaph and the funeral oration. We are glad that there were no exaggerations of this kind to discount the value of this morning's demonstration. The Attor-ney-General is to be particularly congratulated on the model address in which he made his public debut in that capacity. He avoided not only the- extravagance of praise but also the extravagance of sorrow which unfortunately makes melancholy that dominant note instead of gratitude, and by an occasional touch of humour provided a. welcome relief to the tense feelings of everybody present, including, quite obviously, Sir Robert Stout himself. It is also gratifying that the Attorney-General's speech took such broad lines as to make him the spokesman not merely of the Bar but of the 1 people. He spoke of "the esteem and personal affection" in which Sir Robert is held both as Judge and as citizen and of the prolonged and varied service of ''a great national figure in the public life of New Zealand." For a great national loss there is solid compensation in the fact that his successor on the Bench commands the full confidence and respect both of the profession and of the public.