Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19th., 1933. A FAITHFUL SERVANT.

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 December 1933, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19th., 1933. A FAITHFUL SERVANT.

yHERE will be general regret on the West Coast, that the time has come for the retirement from the Magisterial Bench of Mr. William Meldrum, and all will hope that he will have many years of happy retirement. As a-magistrate during the past, twelve years, he gained a personal popularity to an extent not often acquired by Stipendiary Magistrates, and if, on occasions, he appeared to temper justice too strongly with mercy, that attitude was in accordance with modern tendencies, and was in keeping with his own kindly disposition. Magisterial duties and responsibilities are varied and often arduous, and not always is it easy to make the right decision, owing to the conflict, or absence, oE cv : deuce. Magistrates being human, make their mistakes, but what sometimes appear to die their errors to laymen, are not really so, as their decisions must he framed on the facts presented, and not on mere suspicion. Mr. Meldrum had the confidence of headquarters as was proved by the request to him to extend his period of service, and, also, the esteem of the district he served, and no man could desire more valuable testimony as to the manner in which duty, often unpleasant, was followed.

Nor is it only as a Magistrate that Mr. Meldrum can look back on his official career, with pardonable pride. Long interested in the national defence movement, when the Great War started, so did he for the Front, serving at Gallipoli, Egypt and Palestine, his qualities of leadership gaining for him promotion to Brigadier General, his personal courage winning the D. 5.0., whilst other Orders conferred on him were the C.M.G., C. 8., and the Serbian Order of the White Eagle. So far as his official duties permitted, he look a real interest in the welfare of the district returned soldiers, and was proud to lead their ranks on Anzae Day and similar commemorative occasions. The knowledge of human nature acquired during the War served him in good stead in his Magisterial days, giving him a special sympathy for those who perhaps meant no harm but found circumstances too strong for them.

As a citizen, Sir. Meldrum has also “done his bit” for his native New Zealand. To this day, he is keenly interested in various forms of sport, maintaining a standard the envy of many of his younger competitors, who must find it difficult Io realise that nearly fifty years ago, he was 'representing Auckland at cricket and football. That he has brain as well as muscle is instanced by the fact that he was chess champion of New Zealand, in 1896. Farming as well as the law, has been his profession, and his willingness to serve the public is further proved by his term of four years as chairman of the Hunterville Town Board. Incidentally, his

only son, a Rhodes Scholar, and

Oxford boxing-bine, enlisted early in the Great War, and after being wounded on' the Somme, won a commission. Later opportunity will be found to deal with Mr. Meldrum’s official career in fuller detail, but this brief summary will be adequate evidence that he has proved a faithful and competent servant to his country, and that he deserves the tributes being paid to him in the various district courts, tributes which, on behalf of the general public, we may cordially endorse.