A Novel Idea.

Feilding Star, Volume I, Issue 275, 25 May 1907, Page 2

A Novel Idea.

The inauguration of the District Court sittings in the township of Dannevirke was signalled by a novel sentence imposed by that delightful erratic District Court Judge (Mr Haselden) which deserves more than passing notice. Two men were found guilty of charges of bicycle stealing, an offence, to our mind, only second to horse thieving, and when they were up for sentence they offer--1 ed to come to a bargain with the I Judge — if he would not sentence j them to imprisonment they would leave the colony in fourteen days. Now, it may be advisable to deport undesirables from the colony, and no one would be foolish enough to object to it; but we must protest against the establishment of a system under which banishment from the colony is considered sufficient punishment for the committal of a crime. If we look at it from the point of retaliation, it would be a sorry day for New Zealand if the 1 criminals from the other side were released on condition that they came . to New Zealand! As a matter of ' fact the trouble is that Mr Haselden is past the age of use or efficiency, as far as the Bench is concerned. He is old and hypercritical and crot'ehetty — patience has long , left him for more promising material j — and the very qualities necessary for , a Judge entrusted with the impor- ; tant duties placed on the District i Court do not seem to be apparent in IMr Haselden. It seems a pity that j so little heed is paid to the personnel of many men who have thrust on I them the duty of administering the 1 laws of the country, but if Ministers who make the appointments were , only compelled to endure some of the j results of their folly, probably there would be a prospect of more-care be- ' ing taken in the selection.