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Wanganui Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 5310, 17 March 1884, Page 3

Can a Justice of the Peace make a charge for performing the duties attaching to that office, was a question brought up in the R.M. Court this morning in the case McDonnell and Brassey v. Cooke. The opinion of Mr Hutchison was against any payment, as he had never known of this being asked by any J.P. The solicitor for the plaintiff urged that it was not to be expected that a J.P. should have to go some distance to attend to the duties, and thus lose his own time for nothing, and he urged a case which had been mentioned in the House of Representatives, of a J.P., who had made it a trade to charge for witnessing the signing of native deeds. The R.M. did not know of any case which had been brought up, and thought this was the first case "of the kind, he did not know whether he could recover in a Court of law, unless it was for time lost, and the item was disallowed.