The Star. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1903. THE NEW JUDGE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7800, 3 September 1903, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1903. THE NEW JUDGE.

Owing to the approaching retirement of Mr Justice Conolly it will shortly be necessary for the Government to make a fresh appointment to the Supreme Court Bench. It should find no difficulty in obtaining a suitable person. True, the salaries paid to the occupants of the Bench, are not as high as they ought to be, and this fact necessarily limits the Government's field of selection. But there stiH remains a fairly wide choice. This, at least, has been the iiast experience of the present Government. Even the opponents of the present Administration are forced to admit that the judicial appointments which it has- made have tended to maintain the high traditions of the Supreme Court Bench in this colony. But we cannot help thinking, nevertheless, that the State .has hardly deserved the good fortune which has thus fallen to its lot. It does not pay its Judges liberally, and this being the case, it really has rco right to expect to obtain the services of the best men. Happily for it, there are able men in New Zealand who are always willing to make sacrifices to serve their country, and among these it is generally possible to find one fitted to wear the ermine. But this fact constitutes no excuse for underpaying the Judges. At present the salary of thaCJhiefJustice is a great deal less than the incomes of many prominent lawyers, and men quite in the second flight have no difficulty in making as large an income as that of the other members of the Judiciary. Moreover, it is worth bearing in mind that. Judges' salaries are no larger now thanr they were in the earliest days of the colony. This may be no excuse- for increasing them, but in conjunction with the other reasons which we have enumerated, it appears to us to constitute a valid reason for\doing so. It is not necessary to urge that a Judge should be paid well enough to render him impervious to external influences, because we believe that even at the present rates of pay the colony can always depend on obtaining the services of honest and upright men. But honesty is not the only quality indispensable to a Judge. There are a number of others which, if not quite so important, are, at least, essential, and which are not to be bought so cheaply as honesty. It is these qualities of judicial acumen and absolute impartiality which have to be purchased at a high price, and if they are to be obtained in their most desirable form, the Government should not hesitate to pay a larger figure than it does now.