DEPUTATIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10531, 30 November 1895, Page 2

DEPUTATIONS.

THE INADEQUACY OP THE COURT

ACCOMMODATION.

) A deputation from the Council of tile Law | Society, consisting of Messrs F. R. Chapman, ; J. F. SI. l'raser, and F. J. Stilling, wait~d j upon the Hon. J. G. Ward yesterday morning ; ■ at the Grand Hotel, with the object of bringing j under his notice the inadequacy of the accom- f modation io the law courts, and suggesting the j I advisability of the Government taking into ■ i consideration the question of acquiring the i Colonial Bank Buildings for cojrt purposes. Mr Chapman said it had occurred to the ' Council ot the Law Society that a favourable j oppottuni'y was offered to the Government to : i acquire th»: present Colonial Bitnk building for ; a Supreme Court. He thought tuat anyone ■ j who had h»d anything to do with ths coutt, ' and had a knowledge of the position of matters locally, muft admit that though there were • ctrlain good foaturts about the court, it was j i on the whole inconvenient and inadeqntte I ! for such an important institution The ! courtroom itself was f&irly comfortable, and I so far as the administration of justice was con- ■ c?rned the acoustic properties of the couit were j fairly quod, and the ventilation and so fnr!vh was fairly s»tisfi".ctory now; but thereabout the | advantageous features of tho court endnd. The i whole arrangement of the offices and accei-sories, ; such as th- quarters of the staff, the library, and other features were very unsitinfacory, and g»ve an amount of work and an amount of incdnvenii-nco which was only appreciated by those who hail a great dnal to do with the pUce. Moreover, it was no: merely a question of the Supremo Court In a properly constituted' building all toe courts ought to b* grouped together, and the library easily accessible to them all. And while he was speaking «(f a library be might say this : A library was getting more and more essential to a court— not merely to the Supreme Court, but to all the courts. The gigautic literature of our jurisprudence was more and more relied upon in the inferior coutts as well »s iv tho Supreme Court, «nd the class of men who were'gradually being drifted into the magUtracy of the . country, were men who kuew the use of books, and nfieii them more and more. That was a' feature which at first sight might not attract the attention of the public, but any lawyer knew that that wan a very striking modern devrlopmeut. He did not Bpeak at present on points of detail *g to the suitability of the Colonial Bank Boilding for caurt purposes, but I taking it as a whole it seemed to him to bo a very suitable place. I

Mr Phaser thoutjbt Mr Chapman had not sufficiently tnlar^cd upon the inadequacy of tho Supreme Court accommodation The library he had referred to w*9 not a library. It was parched on the top of a high flight of st»irß, which wpra dangerous to oarry Urge piles of books down. The room was »leo ao small that there was not tulScieut accommodation for the books. Tho acoustic properties of the Snp.-eme Court wero bad, and it was only some few meenibcr' of tho bar who could be heard at all. When tha jury were silting the judge himself had a great deal of <iifficulty in hearing the witnesses. The office aceimmodation was bad, and the accommodation for witnesses and jarors wa* nho bad. The Polica Court, moreover, was a disgrace to any community. Its ventilation was very bad. Words, in fact, failed to descriii <■■. Member* of the bar wero also jamrn- <i ogether si a small table, and eomstioie* a f '.ould not find sitting roam. He did not tbiuk th- re was a worse P/ilics Court iv any large centre of the colony. If the Colonial Bonk,eonld only* be properly fitted up it would be an immense convenience to the general public for court purposes ; it would be a great convenience to members of the legal profession ; and it would also, he thought, bs a great conveniencs to the judge under whom they had the honour to prictife. He hoped the Government would see its »ay to look into this

uastion aud, if possible, acquire too bank. Io would not bo svery costly m»tier to aciuira it. Property had fallen very much in value in Ixrgo centres of late yoarn, aud he thought the buildiag could be acquired ou very advantageous terms.

Sir Stilling said the Police Court was a mo«t uudesirubier placp. for infimbers of the leizal profession, and thu press h.'.d also complained of the accommodation for yeir* He did not kuow whether it would hi neeestary for the Government to consider whether they would require to get rid of all th-s tenants of the Colonial Bank if they acquired the bank building.

The Ministee said he would see that the representations of the depu'ati'.u would be placed before his colleagues. He hid no doubt that the matter would receive the careful considoratioon of the Cabinet. He might say that from bii experience of thePostaland Telegraph and Telephone departments here, that he thought that at no distant date probably somo would reqlure to be effectei. The Postal department had for some considerable time exercised the attention of the head of the department and him'flolf. particularly in Dun,--edin,.oo(los to the extension of business and, the necessity*"for some increased accommodation. The telephone exchange, from his own personal knowledge, was in a very uositisfactory position, and not at all adequate for the requirements of tbe employtei, and whatever m»y be done about tbe matter's fresh telephone exchange would bo required in Dnnedin. His own opinion was that if a change were made at all the postal, telegraph, and telephone departments ■would be transferred from the present buildiug, assumiug thot the Government were able to get the Colonial Bank buildiug at a reasonable price, and tbe existing promises devoted entirely to the Supreme Court and Magistrate's Court business. A great deal iiep? nded upon the value put upon the building by the bßnk. If they naked for an extravagant price for it, he might at onoe asy that the Qovarninftot would »ot pay it. They would prefer in sach a c»se as that probably to baild or make extensive alterations to the existing buildings, rather than pay an extravagant prioe for th« building in question or any other building. He made inquiries that morning as to thH revenue obtained from the Colonial Bank buildiug. and he found that it was £200 a year. He might say taat that would be taken into the consideration of the Government, and they would not be disposed to dispense with any truants so long as their . teoaucy did not interfere with the public departments. He had occasion lately to see wh&t the requirements of the Supreme Court were, and the •ocommodation did not teem to be in proportion to the requirements ; and he a»*umfrd that the surroundings were as bad as the deputation represented them to b».. Tbe Government had had no overture* for the purchase of the building to which thn deputation had referred ; but ha supposed th-it tho Bank of New Zealand was scarcely likely to require both bnildingH. It might, however, suit them to chxnge from one building to the other, ha did not know. But assuming the bank were ready;tp«cll tho Government would go iuto the whole question and see what could ba done, although h't wished it to b« distinctly understood that there was no ardent dpnire on the part of the Government to pay more than a lair price for tbe .Colonial Bank or any other building.

The deputation thanked the Minister for hit courteiy ia receiving them, and he afterwards accompanied them pa a Tieit of inspection to the court buildings. DELAYED TKLEGUAIIS. A deputation from the Caamber of Commerce, consisting of Menm-a W. Gow, A. Burt, J. M. Bftliaway, A. C. Begg, Keith K&ais»y, P. X Sargood, aud P. Batr (secretary), subsequently waited upon the 61inii>ter with thn view of bringing before him the question as to the withdrawal by the Telegraph department of the privileges hitherto ucoorded the public with ragiird to delayed telagrams. Mr Gow said he thought ho,Bpoke the mind of the commercial community when he e«id th»t there had been a feeling abroad that the Telegraph department had bten ably managed and that the policy connected with it had been of a. : progressive nature. It w»a, therefore, rather difficult to understand why tile privilege that bad boen granted to the community iv regerd to delayed toistframs should now be withdrawn. It appeared to the deputation that the department was paying; and while the question jof revenue was a very important mutter for the Government Co consider, it was surely a matter for consideration whether a privilege no grifat as that he had referred to nho»ld be I withdrawn. The deputation recognised that thera might be departmental reasons for the change which had beea made, hut utileia there | were som« very weighty reasons for the change | they thought that it might be arranged to continue the privilege which, had been so much apareciated ■

Mt SABaoop, as representing a large commercial house, observed tlut ho might justly endorse what Mr Gow had said. The system of delayed telegrams in the past bad been a very satisfactory one, and greatly facilitated buninew. lor every ordinary telegram his firm received they received perhaps eight or tan delayed ones. As regarded mntSer from the paint of view of revenue he thought the change would affect the revenue adversi-Ty. The Ministkii was only too glad to hear the views of the deputation upon the matter, but he should like to tell them the cause of the change, and they would then be able to judge of the necessity for it at present. Unfortunately, in carrying on a telegraph service in this or in auy othsr country, they ,mn»t have r system that was general in its application to all parts of the country. There had recently been a very effective mowment in the mining world in this colony. This had been so active that the ordinary wires would not carry the ordinary and the d-l*yed telegrams with anything lihe reasonable despatch. Tho matter had come before him repeatedly, and it was brought under his notica by heads of departments. Ordinary messages were being very seriously delayed, and so something had to be done to keop back delayed telegrams. .It was very much sgaintt bis inclination that the BriTikeeß with. reCetence to delnsed tek-

grams should be in any way curtailed, bat b» only gaTC i Cesfc to the change os a. last resource. He had under corißicierrfou the question of adopting a cheap system of telegrams throughout th« colony. In other words, if it was possible to hive an ordinary sixyenuy telegram with a fewer number of words in it, md urgent telegrams paying double, or even treble that rate, he tnooghb that might get over the blocking ot the wires that had been experienced. Th« changs that h*d been made to th« bitsir.e.** man, xvno viewed it fruin the way it fcfffCfeed his bnsinesfl, flc&ined a retrograde stap, bat. viewing it »8 he (Mr Ward) had to do, against his personal views and inclinations, it was unavoidable. Hi* sympHthies were entirely with the deputation, and the change had besn made in order to prevent considerable blocking of tha wires, in the North island particularly, 'i'bey could nut have two syst«n»—one for the north and one for the south. He, however, hoped at an early date to establish a cheaper rate for ordinary telegrams, and to dispsnae with delayed telegrams altogether.

Mr Gow said the deputation were glad to hear what, Mr Ward had said. It was pleasant to think that there was a prospect of sixpsnuj telegrams His opinion was that sixpenny telegrams would yield a larger revenue than the old system.

Mr AVabd was anxious to introduce the system he had spoken of if he could possibly do it. He thoroughly believed in cheaper telegraphic, and postal servi-.-e.

Mr.. Saroood ask.:d why the South Island 'should uot rnvert to the old systoin with regard to dnlaycd telegrams if the lines were only blocked in the north.

Mr Warp painted out that there mnrt be a uniform service in Government departments.

Mr Ramsay orwerved that that rule was not apj>liO'l to the railways," as they had differential rate* between Dnnedin and InvercirgiH and Duoi-din and Oatnaru. He hoped that the Government would introduce a uniform railway service.

Mr Ward admitted what Mr Ramsay said, hut rdnnrleui that the railways were in the hands of a good administrator. In the course of further conversition h". also fl.tid that by a cheaper b> stem of ordinary telegraphic mwsageo and the doing away with delayed telegrams the public wuuld be better mot thau they were at prtsaufc, and the question of a considerable expenditure to give extra telegraphic fa'eilitie3 would have to be Faced next session.

THK NEW ZEAT^N'D HEFHIRKRATING COSTPAKT

A deputation from the Now Ze*!and IWrigera'ing G.mp»n7, conei-tii.g of Me-srs A. C. Besg and T. Brydoue, interviewed the Minister with reference to a matter in connection with the stamp duties.

Mr Bkgg said abont 11 years ago a claim w»s mods upon the company for an annual license fee, and at th.it time thf*ra was a clausu in the Stamp Act wbieh exempted companies which were formed for the role nuipoao of refrigeratiu;t and exporting frozen meat. The aompany claimed exemption oa that ground, and thought liottimg more abuut the matter, but after 10 3 ears r. clsioi h*d bean made Upon the company for license fcfs for 10 years, amouutiug to about £250; and they wore thre&tensd with lpgil proceeding* unlacs th-y psiil ths fees. Ttiey accordingly paid the ui'jn«y ncder profert. Thii claim was made on ths ground that the company were not a limited cr.mpany, ond were doing other things be?ides freezing meat. They had altered tho articles of a9.«0----ciatioa by resolatiou so iwto make t*w business of tho company freezing and exporting meat a'oic.

Mr Brydonb pointed oat thai the company had never done anything bat freezing and exporting.

The Minister said the depnrtmsnt was under tho control of rh* Minister for Education, butb.9 would be very glad to get papers and look into the matter on ml return to Wellington. - His personal opinion was that unless there had been something «pf eial to warraut it, th« the strict intention of the Stamp"Act with regard to the exemption of institutions of the kind referred to would bo adhered to. , Ho diii not kuow, oE course, w'ua. thu circumstances were or anything about the uiat'.er, and he would require to confer with the Minister of the department and inquire why the cl«i<n had been mada. He assumed the coirp my had not been treated exccptioi.ally.

Mr Bkocs uniiers^ood that that wi not go. Some companies were exempted. At any rate,' tbe wholt; correspondence would be in ilio hands of the Minister.

Mr Ward agtin promised to have the mutter looked jnto, and the deputation having thanked him fojf his reception of them withdraw.