CORRESPONDENCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VII, Issue 1078, 23 April 1880, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE

[We do not hoW oureelve* respousilile for opinions expressed by correspondents.]

HOW TO MAINTAIN THE DIGNITY OF THE BENCH.

[To the Editor of the Herald.]

Sib,— The recent wranglings between the Bench and Bar of Gisborne, culminating as they did the other day, in the commitment of that well-known barrister, Mr. W. L. Rees, for contempt of Court, suffices for my submitting to you, views upon the subject of maintaining Jill proper magisterial dignity. I admire dignity, especially when it is disevered from impudence, despotism, aud irritability of temper. As it is possible in this flourishing Colony that there may be persons desirous of occupying seats on the Bench, it will be hardly out of place at the present crisis of events to point out to such aspirants, an infallible method of dealing with the dignity of the Bench. Perhaps, however, before one is thoroughly capable of maintaining magisterial dignity, an experience of seven-and-twenty years is a sine qua non. This period of experience will be found convenient to refer to, when appearing as a "beak" in a new locality, and will seldom fail to strike terror into the hearts of " briefless barristers and sucking solicitors." After establishing prestige in the foregoing manner, the next wiseat step will be to do as Mr. Price has done, namely, inform the solicitors of the district, that what they say to you in Court, i( goes in at one ear, and out at another." There is nothing more calculated to establish a feeling of respect from the Bar to the Beach— almost bordering on reverence — thanremarks of that character interjected periodically during the progress of cases of a particularly, serious nature. Of course, such steps alone will not act as a perfect guarantee for upholding the dignity of the Bench, although, it will, doubtless, go a long way in that direction. Where a Magistrate is backed up with an experience of 27 years, he will generally find it an expeditious thing to tell a solicitor, who may be addressing the Court (as Mr. Price told Mr. Brassey the other day), that he «eed not say anything to the Court, as the Court knew full well what ho (the solicitor) was going to say. It also will tend materially to conserve the time of the public for | the solicitor to act as judie|>usly as Mr. Brassey did, and simply reply : "Well, your Worship, if you know what I am </omm/ to say, I need not say it." There ■are "Otlrer'lftethodß of upholding thfc dignity of the Bench, which I have not mentioned. It will, no doubt, occur to a person of even the meatiest capacity, that for a Magistrate to tell the Sergeant in Court (as Mr. Price has done) "to shut his mouth," and to treat generally subordinate officers, as if they belonged to a hard labor gang from Norfolk Island, will be a sovereign specific for maintaining the dignity of the Bench. It is hardly necessary for me to state, as it must appear manifest to any candidate for a magisterial office, that it will be always a wise act to protect the interests of the Bank of New Zealand. That no doubt will be a primary article of faith in the creed of every R.M. Struggling institutions like the Bank of New Zealand must not be allowed to perish. The advisability of calling a witness, while giving his evidencb, a liar, especially if the witness holds a commission of the peace, will appear per se so self-evident a course for maintaining for the Bench its proper dignity, that it only requires passing reference. I have now, though somewhat hurriedly, directed your attention to never-failing methods for upholding— what we all desire to see upheld—the dignity of the Bench. There are minor points, such as casting a volume of " Oke's Magisterial Synopsis " at offending heads, but these will not be forgotten. As there is no rule without an exception, 1 feel bound to say here, that if any candidata for the office of R.M. in Gisborne should, through the accident of birth or education, be afflicted with the instincts of a gentleman, from the practice now obtaining here, it will be difficult to lay down rules for his guidance. — I am, &c, Spectator. [In accordance with -ear-custom of allowing all sides of a, question to be discussed in our columns, wo publish " Spectator's " letter. We shall, however, exercise a right we claim to make our own comments, which we shall do in our issue of to-morrow. There are remarks in " Spectator's " communication quite uncalled for, and as we think, made without any solid basis to build them up on.— Ed.]