WORK DELAYED

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 112, 16 November 1928, Page 11

WORK DELAYED

COUNSEL'S PROTEST ARBITRATION COURT SITTINGS A protest against the postponement of the sittings of the Arbitration Court was made by Mr. P. J. O 'Regan when the Court sat to-day. Mr. O'Began said he desired to impress upon tho Court tho grave inconvenience caused by the postponement of the sittings, which had been fixed originally for 19th November. He understood the sittings had been postponed till after the New Year because of the promotion of his Honour (Mr. Justice Frazer) to the Supreme Court Bench. However gratifying the promotion was to the legal profession and to the public, he felt bound to protest against the postponement of the sittings of the Court. He had a number of compensation cases listed for trial, some of which were very urgent because of the neurasthenic condition of the plaintiffs, and it would bo a keen disappointment if those cases had to stand over till February. Accordingly he desired to impress on the Court the urgency of holding a sitting at Wellington, at any rate,, for tho most urgent cases. His Honour said he appreciated fully the difficulties of the situation. Mr. Justice Blair was taking tho sittings at Hamilton on 25th November, and the ' probability of holding a sitting of the Court of Arbitration here or at Auckland appeared to depend upon whether Mr. Justice Blair could get through his work in Hamilton before the holidays. Owing to the illness of the Chief Justice, the death of Sir William Sim, and the absence of Mr. Justioe Herdman, a very difficult situation had arisen, and he was afraid it was not possible to hold a sitting of the Court of Arbitration in Wellington earlier than February next. Ho would suggest that it might bo possible to appoint umpires to deal with tho more urgent condensation cases, ns ho fully appreciated tho desirability of completing neurasthenic eases as quickly as possible. Moreover, the intimation that the Court in all probability would not sit at Wellington earlier than February might induce the parties to settle their differences. ' It could be taken for granted, instead of commencing next year at Dunedin, the Court would hold its first sitting at Wellington, and the next following at Auckland.