THE CORONERS (!) BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12072, 16 September 1902, Page 6

THE CORONERS (!) BILL.

[by lex.] Lv (he Kicro.]> of July 1 ijwt you commented upoi tins proposed measure anil pointed out that the legislation proposed by the Hon. th> Minister tor Education «-,« uncalled for, and if passed into law would tend to render the detection of murder and manslaughter much more difficult than, at present. Peanit me to supplement rentremarks with ; few observation.*. The Paymen-, of Jurors Act, .1899, M a Liberal measuie, introduced bv a Libert Government, aid provided among other things for the payment of coroners' juries at the rate of 8s a - day. The lion. Mr Wal'' ker now seeks fo deprive the juryman at a coroners mquesv of this .small dole— rarely amounts to more than 4s per juror per inquest So much for the liberality 0 the Hon. Mr. Ulcer's proposal Mr Wil kers salary, as a Minister, has been lareefr increased of late, but as jurymen are only ot the people-' Mr. Walker is quite pre pared to see the payments to them dispensed with. He aso proposes with a, stroke of his educational pen (see section 19 of the «ill; to revoke all appointments now held by coroners. These officers have (many of them) done their duty consistently discreetly, and thoroughly, in the past"Some of them have held the position of coroner for upwards of 25 years, but. such a fact is evidently beneath Mr. Walker's powers of consideration. Independently, however of any vested interests, tfao position remains that the duties of coroners are (according to Mr. Walker's Bill) to be thrown broadcast upon our justices of the peace. In such cases, therefore, as involve questions of murder manslaughter, baby farming, and incendiary fires, all investigation will have a tan- chance of being enveloped in chaos In order that your readers shall have full opportunity to consider the position, I direct their attention to the following- : — 1. Many of our statutes in New Zealand very properly prohibit justices of the peace from dealing with important, caws whether such cases be civil or criminal. Win- therefore, does Mr. Walker now proteose to vest justices of the peace with authority to investigate—even as a Court of first instancecases which, until the inquiry is at an end, may disclose secret murder or manslaughter ? 2. Justices of the peace cannot be expected to act as coroners without any remuneration. Hence, if economy be ths object of the Minister, he will fail in that also.

3. In large cities the stipendiary maristrates who properly attend to then- own duties have no leisure to act as coroners. 4. In the country districts in the lar«e majority of cases of sudden death, or death under suspicious circumstances, the M may be 50 miles away from the placed winch the inquest should be held. la any event, the stipendiary magistrate has Lis ordinary civil and criminal fixed courts to attend, and would be wholly unable to absent himself from these in order to take up at short notice the conduct of a coronial inquiry. What are the police to do in such cases ? Can they force a justice of the peace—against his will— act as a coroner? Under the present system, which has existed in England for over 1000 years, and .pduch has been in operation in this colony since 1867, and earlier, a coroner can be required to hold an inquest, and is punishable should he neglect or refuse to do so. A coroner, or his appointment, has to take oath that he will well and faithfully execute the duties of his office. 5. In cases where felonious poisoning is suspected, or oven possible, it is of the greatest importance that an investigation should take place, or at all events be commenced with the slightest possible. delay. 6. In, England the coroner system has not been changed in any material particular. 7. In large cities in this colony the £»].'• vices of a coroner are frequently in demand. The official who conducts them is a trained man and accustomed to the work. No per- " son who is not accustomed to investigating crime should receive the appointment of coroner. 8. But notwithstanding this, Mr. Walker would toss such considerations to the winds and would thrust the whole of the duties of coroners upon men who are wholly unfit to perform such duties, even if willing to da so. 9. Economy: In 1866. when the colony was in desperate financial straits, the coroner's fee for holding each inquest was reduced from two guineas to or* guinea, and the "mileage" was also docked from Is 6d to Is, and this for one way only, so that now the coroner has to travel two miles for I*. 10. Since the last-mentioned date Ministers and M.H.R.'s have largely increased their own honorarium. 11. In any case in which a death is sudden, and no medical practitioner is in * position to certify as to the cause of snrfi death, it is impossible, until the investigation has completely taken place, to determine what was the cause of the death. Where the contents of the stomach have to be sent for analysis, the cause is often not discoverable for 14 clays. 12. Poisonings (felonious) are, fortunately, not frequent in this colony, but were we to relax the searching investigations by trained officers such crimes'might easily be of mow frequent occurrence. 13. Baby farming, and its attendant horrors:, has certainly been reduced to & minimum since the Infant Life Protection Act became law in this colony. This Act provides that an inquest mast be held in eveiy case of a " boarded-out child."