The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Thursday, October 2, 1879.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 910, 2 October 1879, Page 2

The Poverty Bay Herald AND East Coast News Letter. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. Thursday, October 2, 1879.

A M___ORIAL has been drawn up, and nas deceived close upon three hundred signatures, addressed to the Speaker and House of the General Assembly, praying that no time may be lost for the appointment of a Resident Magistrate for the town of Gisborne. When Mf. Sheehan was here some two months ago, among other promises he made was that a President Magistrate should be appointed without any delay. That he saw the necessity of it himself, and that an efficient R. M. should be sent here forthwith. The promise has not been fulfilled, and the people of the Bay have suffered severely in consequence. There are debt cases now waiting to be dealt with beyond the jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace, and there have been cases tried and disposed of which ought td have come before an experienced Magistrate well acquainted with police law, and accustomed to interpret the legal meanings of Acts which deal with the liberty of the subject. We have no fault to find with the Justices. They have acted according to the light that was in them, v but charges have come before them which in their unravelxnent required a very precise knowledge of all the technicalities of Acts of Parliament and legal procedure generally. It is quite time that a stir was made in the matter, and as, t_e,__inister of Justice has declined to appoint a Resident Magistrate for the place, a higher tiibunial is to be appealed to as we hope and trust with success. The following is a transcript of the . memorial : — To the Honorable the Speaker, and the Honorable Members of the General Assembly of New .Zealand, in Parliamerit assembled. The humble Petition of the undersigned Residents of the District of Gisborne, respectfully sheweth : — That a lamentable feeling of distrust exists in the minds of a large proportion of the Inhabitants in relation to the administration of Justice iu the Resident Magistrate's Court at Gisborne, and that the reasons for such distrust are good and sufficient ; that an enquiry into the recent proceedings in that Court will clearly prove to the Government, it" is necessary at once that arrangements be made for the more efficient 'administration of justice in Poverty Bay. Your Petitioners .therefore humbly pray your honorable House to cause such steps to be taken as may lead ta a ■ stop being but to such feelings of distrust, by appointing a fit and proper Magistrate, and otherwise taking such steps as to you may seem meet and expedient. And your Petitioners will ever pray.