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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 77

Appendix IX. — The Judgment of Mr Justice Williams in Bastings v. Stratford

page 42

Appendix IX.

The Judgment of Mr Justice Williams in Bastings v. Stratford.

In order that the whole materials may be available for the reader to form an independent Judgment, and that justice may be done to the Stipendiary Magistrate, I have given above his decisions in full at Bruce and at Mataura, and also such defence, the only attempt I have seen, as the Daily Times made for his deliverance. As, however, the decision of his Honour Judge Williams in Bastings v. Stratford, affecting, as it does, every electorate in the Colony, is the controlling factor in the whole situation, and as most readers will wish to have it for reference, I now add the full text of the judge's decision, and readers can study the relative portions for themselves. It was delivered on March 30, 1900, when the Liquor party (Mr Bastings being a, hotel keeper at Milton) appealed to the Supreme Court against a decision of Mr Stratford, S.M., when he proposed to rectify an omission of the returning officer in the licensing poll that was then taken. The net result was that on that occasion, when reduction was carried, as on this, when no-license is carried, the electors of Bruce, through no fault of their own, were rendered impotent at the polls. His Honour's judgment is as follows:—