MR. HARDCASTLE, R.M.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 674, 30 January 1885, Page 10

MR. HARDCASTLE, R.M.

TO THE EDITOR OE THE NEW ZEALAND MAIL. Sir, —On several occasions, recently, paragraphs have appeared in the Wellington papers with reference to the Resident Magistracy, and allusions have been made to Mr Hardcastle not only of an uncomplimentary but, in my opinion, of an utterly unfair and incorrect description. As. a civil magistrate and District Judge it is, I am confident, the opinion not only of the legal profession but of the public generally, that we have had no one equal to him. He is a very fair lawyer, painstaking and conscientious in the performance of his duty ; never biassed, or giving the slightest impression of bias ; . and, what is a very valuable qualification in a magistrate, not to be bamboozled by erroneous statements of law made by any member of the Bar practising before him. Litigants are satisfied with his decisions ; and this hasnot always been the case in the Resident Magistrate’s Court of Wellington. Few of his decisions have been appealed against, and of these few, scarcely any reversed. He may not be a good criminal magistrate. He is, perhaps, too severe in the administration of the laws, and has no idea of tempering justice with mercy ; but, as a civil magistrate, we have not had his equal.—l am, &c.,

Lex. [No uncomplimentary, unfair, or incorrect remarks have appeared in this journal. Our correspondent should have boldly stated the name of the paper he refers to.— Ed. N.Z. Times.]