THE BAR"AND BENCH AT VARIANCE.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11029, 19 August 1903, Page 6

THE BAR"AND BENCH AT VARIANCE.

Scene in the Local Court. The usually serene and peaceful ( way in which proceedings are conducted in the local Police Court -was considerably perturbed yesterday, when a rather heated digMission took place between Mr Kettle^ S.M., and Mr James" Watt, solicitor. It happened .during the hearing pf a case in which - mlv Watt figured as defendant, ont a charge of riding a bicycle oti^ the footpath.]-' ,i Constable Issell had -given , h«f. evidence,: aud was- being' examined b£-.J\f-jf • Watt asj, ii-to-tthe. distance- that he had seen, hiux '(de- > fendant) riding .on the.footpaiih-. The constable.stated that it would be between '200 ■and' 3oo and was prepared to svfear that it >would- be inlij 200 yards. - . Thip Mr W^tt aqked the Bench, to- make a' note of. Mr Kettle then tried to make the^p'osition clear by asking .the constable,s,^question or two on the subject, when Mr Watt interposed with the remark that he had already . asked^ the Bench, to make a note of what" the constable liad stated, and wished it .done. Mr Kettle replied that ,he- had made a not^e of it, but he only wished to get at the* truth. k ' ' Mr Watt then' went on to say that he had never had any success- against Mr Kettle, aud intended to appeal against liis decision, in this case if he lost, as he had done on previous occasions with success. Mr Kettle' said these remarks were grossly impertinent, and that Mr Watt had better sit down.' Mr Watt : "I will not sit down." , Mr Kettle stated that he was surprised at tbe remarks that- had fallen from Mr Watt, and considered they weit^ quite uncalled for. He ought to have known better, and had' no right to say' wtiat' he did.- He would not permit it. Mr Watt then mentioned that -he < only wanted to show that it was absolutely impossible to use a bicycle at all under these by-laws, which were most unreasonable. , . ' ,'•■•' Resuming the examination of the constable, Mr Watt asked some questions as to whether aiiy discretion was used by, the constable as to whom informations >woto laid against, and as to how many he (the constable) had caught in the act, to which the reply was; "You are the first." Mr Watt proceeded to question on the same line, evidentl- with the view of showing that , many cases were passed over by the police, when Mr Kettle interrupted with the remark that the line of question was quit.? irrelevant and irregular, and, that if Mr Watt had any complaints to make against the action of the police they should be made to the Police, Department. '"You have no right to state that he shuts his eyes to some cases," added-the Magistrate. "I'll make such charges as- I like," retbfHH Mr Watt." The case then proceeded, ouietly, and at the conclusion Mr Kett.u> said thsl it v/as to be regretted that there should have been such a heated discussion over such a trivial matter. ' Is* .the r'n'irse of his argument, Mr Watt contended that the by-law was a most unreasonable one, and that as a matter of fact if the police chose they could stand in front of one of the bicycle dealers' shops and cause informations to be laid against everyone who took a bicycle across the footpath. He pointed out that no provision was made in. the by-laws for any crossings with cycles or velocipedes of any kind, and that practically the only place a person could use his "bike" was in N his own back yard, as he. could be prosecuted for carrying it' across the footpath into the street. Mr Watt admitted having- ridden, some 50 yards or so -on- ther footpath,- but the road -was- -in a, particularly bad state at that place on the* day in question', and there was no one walking on the footpath. Mr Kettle remarked that when the roads were imfit to ride on, cyclists should leave ■ their machines home, though he .admit-; ted that this was rather hard on them. Sergeant Norwood pointed out that it would never do to allow cyclists to tako to the footpath when the roads were miiddy, as that would mean -that pedestrians would be driven on to the roads. Ut)on Mr Kettle inflicting a fine of 10s, with 7s cosis, Mr Watt gave notice lo tppcaL