PUBLIC TRUST COMMISSION

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8480, 15 July 1913, Page 9

PUBLIC TRUST COMMISSION

To the Editor " N.Z. Times."

Sir,—l am indeed flattered by the Hon. Mr ilerdman’s savage attack, made upon me from his place in Parliament. He accuses me of making “a mischievous, malevolent, and unchristian statement ” with regard to the work of the lloyal Commiss.on. lie declared with regard to my letter that “ it was a disgrace.” The gravity of my •offence .appears to be increased because l>had, “ without seeing a scrap of evidence, said that the report was advantageous to the lawyers of the community.” I repeat, with emphasis, and X dare Mr Hcrdman or any of his legal friends to deny it, that the report is advantageous to the legal profession. Mr Herdman declares distinctly that “ it was impossible to place the evidence before the House.” This means, 1 suppose, that I had no right to criticise the Commissioners’ report until 1 had seen the evidence, and as the evidence cannot even be placed before the House, therefore neither I nor any other person has a right to criticise the report until we get the evidence, and as wo are not to get the evidence, criticism is unfair and unchristian. Now, sir, I am not prepared to accept such an. absurd dictum, even though propounded by a legal luminary of Mr Herdman’s standing. I reiterate my suspicion, and contend it is well founded : that the whale inquiry was engineered by the legal profession for their own selfish purposes. It has not been denied that the Hon. H. D. Bell, K.C., did, about June, 1912, wait upon the

Public Trustee, and asked him to cut down the legal work done in his office, [t has not been denied that the result of this interview was communicated to the Law Societies. It cannot be denied that since JVlr ilassey came into office, the Public Trustee referred to the bad feeling existing between the legal profession and his office. The files of local papers will show that quite a crop of letters appeared attacking in general terms the work of the office. Despite all these complaints, and notwithstanding the fact that the Commissioners advertised for complaints, and invited the Law Societies to express their views, they were forced to admit that the office was eminently efficient, that it was run on business lines, and the interests of clients zealously safeguarded. Despite these admissions with respect to the efficiency of the office, Mr Macintosh urged that much of the extraneous legal worn now undertaken by the office ought to bo done by outside practitioners. He referred to the solicitors of the office as being comparatively inexperienced, but did not substantiate this in any way by evidence. The Commissioners complained that the offico resorted to questionable inelhodE of attracting businoss by unduly encroaching upon the prerogatives of others, and condemned the tendency to unduly force tho growth of business. I ask Mr Herdinan to explain whoso prerogatives were b«'.ng encroached upon? There can only bf on© answer to the question, those of tho legal profession. To condemn the Public Trustee for unduly forcing business rsquires consider- ' able explanation, and mine is, that the Truuteo was unduly encroaching upon the pieiogaiives of tlr Herdman's professional friends, i Let me assuro that gentleman, I regret having aroused his animosity, but not sufficiently to make me regret having drawn public attention to what 1 believe to bo a most impudent and barefaced attempt to exploit tho poor aud indigent the community, for the benefit of a small coterie of professional men. I am ac- ' quainted with ve r y many legal gentle- ' men, and many of these lane agreed with all I have written on this sub- ; joct; one of them going so far as to ' say that the work of the Commission ' is the most serious blow that has been < struck at the profession for many i years. In conclusion let me assure Mr i Herdman that I sympathise with him in his ignorance, when ho expresses himself as not knowing on whose behalf I had taken up the cudgels; on the other hand not many of the workers will be so short-sighted as to fail to seo on whose behalf he has taken up the cudgels.—l am, etc., J. A McCOLLOUGH.