THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1579.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5636, 9 December 1879, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1579.

".I. A.," Now 011, asks : " What is the sib cri. tion to th- New .South Wales .S/ninii Slannzine, and to wh.t ..ddresi mav c.imiiiut.ic tio::s be sent ?'— Terms of subscriptions are ;'.! per annum, pwt free, ami letters sbou'd be addressed to the editor, box 543. C.1'.0., Svdncv. P.O. orders scut payable to Edward Bueklev.'

If a century hence anyone were to read that, in the nineteenth century, a coroner's jury wag composed of the first twelve persons on whom a constable could lay his hand, he might approve the simplicity of tho process but he would be uncommonly likely to question its effectiveness. Its rough and readiness is only equalled by its absurdity. For stupid sticking to an old plan, in season and out of season, commend ns to our own race. It is very nece3sar3' that inquests should be held in such cases as that of the accident at Fort Britomart, but it is not necessary that a constable, who has no particular fitness for the duty, and may be altogether unfit, should go into the highways and byways and pick up a scratch jury as best he may. We have not the slightest desire to even hint anything offensive to coroners' juries ; we merely desire to point out that this mode of obtaining a jury is most objectionable, and far from favourable to the selection of a good one. And here we should like to inquire whether there wore any of Mr. Dempsey's men on the late jury, and if so, how many! We confidently assert that there was one, and it is even alleged there were two. This being the case, then the late inquiry assumes a very curious phase, and we should hope a very ominous one for somebody ; and really this is just the sort of thing that might haro bean expected to occur. It is known when the inquest is to be held. Persons who want to get on the jury have only to place themselves in the vicinity, and the simple-minded constable falls into the trap, and congratulates himself on having got ono more towards the requisite number. Now this might happen, that, if the inquiry involved a serious matter, the person whose conduct was atl'ected could have one or two persons just in the track of the constable and subsequently congratulate them on the agreeable result of the inquiry. That the system adopted renders this possible is proved by the presence of Joseph Dyer on the jury, and as tho bench has been packed before now it is not quito sacrilege to think that a coroner's jury might have more than one representative of the person implicated. Well, then, there is another phase of this matter. Wo have referred to the simpleminded constable who becomes the prey of designing men. But though most constables are so, no doubt there are othors that are not, and to this kind of man there is presented opportunities of various kinds. One of a number of feelings, commendablo in themselves, but reprehensible in the convening of a jury, may induce him to select it with a single eye to a certain object, and that a verdict favourable to the person implicated. One tit man is all that would be required for the purpose. Or, let us assume, what is not absolutely impossible, that a delicate attention might beget in the constable a sense of a reciprocal obligation, and that incontinently a right man or two found his way ou the jury—men who had a decided

view on the case, or who3o indirect interests were likely to make them favourable—what might we not expect in the way of a queer verdict ? We know how hypotheses of this kind will afflict the unsophisticated mind, and even our supposititious c.wes evoke ss. feeling of horrified incrodulity ; but snch things have happened before now,"aud with regard not only to coroners' juries—and we have this one man of Mr. 'Dempsey's. But, were it not 30, the fact that it is possible under the present system of convening these juries is in itself a sufficient condemnation of it. The law apprehends that self-interest will induce men to do many evil things, and hence it assumes the worst and takes every precaution. It surrounds the jury system with all sorts of safeguards ; it provides that ballot-papers shall not be tampered with, and judges lock juries up that neither temptation nor influence may reach them. At first sight it is not complimentary to people generally, but as a fact it aims only at those black sheep which are the enemies of the people generally. This being so, we cannot understand for the life of us why coroners' juries are not surrounded with the same precautions that are applied to all other juries. If it is necessary to have them, it is necessary to have thorn on a proper footing ; if it is not necessary to have tlu:m, the sooner we get rid of them the bettor. It is true they cannot hang a man, but neither can the Grand Jury ; but, like that body, they can let him otf when lie ought not to be, and that is not quite an insignificant matter. Regarding the question in a less serious light, tliey may deprive a man of justice, or shield a wrongdoer, or inflict an injustice. It is alleged, for instance, that employees of Jlr. Dempsey's were on the late jury, and we assert that one was. This being true, one of two tilings might have occurred. He might have been interested in his favour, or strongly biassed against him. Now, surely it is monstrous that the plan of collecting the jury should bo such, and so loo.se, that there should be any possibility of a failure of justice. Were it not a fact, it would be difficult to conceive so preposterous a thing as that one man, a constable, should be the alpha and omega of coroners' juries. The wonder is, that this sort of thing should have been tolerated so long, but the fact is, that heroic legislation occupies the place which ought to be given to matters of more direct interest. Another fact is, that the tiling which is under our nose, with which we are farciliar, is the very thing whic': is likely to be neglected. In an adjacent colony the Bench used to be crowded with honorary magistrates on licensing days, and on the occasion of some speei il case, and it was not till the Press gave tongue and " kept pegging away," that the evil was remedied, and then only after a protracted period. If the legislature would not waste so much time with questions and party fights, such a matter as this of coroners' juries would have received attention ; but what can be expected when with ministries it is a struggle for existence. We trust that the Attorney-Gene-ral will take note of the question of coroners' juries. He will not defend the present system, and he would have no difficulty in substituting something better.