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Pahiatua Herald, Volume II, Issue 124, 16 March 1894, Page 2

The necessity of further appointments of Justices of the Peace for Pallia* tua was cb arly d inonstra’- d at th sitting of tho Stipendiary Magi-?: rate’s Court yesterday. Ten oVo. k is the hour fixed for the opening of th • Court and at that hour th *officials, solicitors and others interested were present, but no banch could b. 1 ob ained. Tho constable was compelled to leave bis prisoners in the Court-room and oh is • excitedly around the town in th ‘endeavour to obtain Justices to h ar th • cases, and it was not until eleven o'clock that ho was able to obtain the sjrvicjs of two gentlemen. That such a state o? of things should bo allow d tocontinu is decidedly unfair to any who have occasion to avail themselves of th procedure of the Court. \nd yesterday was not au isolated instance, either, of the difficulty of obtaining a Bench. Time and again have complaints boon made of the unpunctuality which marks tho opening of th • Court on the days fixed for th * hearing of cases by the Justices. But who can bo blamed ? Clearly noith r the Chirk nor the Constable, for both th >»* officials do th)ir utmost to ensure th * presence of Justices. Neither can the members of the “ great unpaid ” b • blamed. There aro, we believe, but six in this part of the district, and nearly every one is at times c impelled ;by business to b? absent from the place. Plainly w • have not sufficient Justices in th<> town. We are no great admirers of what has so often b *en sarcastically termed “ Just ices’ j ustice,” but the matter simply resolves itself into this : Cases have to be heard and determined, and if we cannot have a Stipendiary Magistrate for the district j then a Bench of Justices mus adjudicate. Doubtless, in most cases, j t hese gentlemen are ac* uatod by a sens !of the respinsibilify of the position and by a determination to disp ms even-handed justice ; though they cm not be expected to possess that legi acumen which one g *n rally associates with the position of a Magistrate. However, that is by the way. Wha we wish to show now is that there ar. not sufficient Justices in tho town to got through rhe work which accumu lutes. That is plainly enough proved by th * difficulty always exp irienced in securing a Bench; therefore tho matter should bo represented in th.* proper quarter and the difficulty removed.