Book of Laws.

• 20. At this time we are requiring the Natives of this Island to submit themselves to the laws of England, and are assuring them that if they do so they will receive therefrom protection and manifold advantages. It is therefore reasonable, and indeed necessary, that an attempt should be made as early as possible to do something more than this: not merely to propose general invitations and assurances, but to convey to their minds a clear notion of the main rules and requirements of our law. Now is the proper time for completing the work which was begun by Governor Browne in 1858. The publication put forth by the Colonial Government in that year, under the title of "The Laws of England," was chiefly devoted to an exposition of the principles of the criminal law as administered in the Supreme Court of the colony. At present an exposition is needed of other portions of our law, in particular of the rules which concern the devolution and transfer of property, the making and enforcing of contracts, and the modes of obtaining redress and compensation for loss or damage caused by breach of contract or any wrongful act. There are at this time many Natives in this Island who are well qualified and desirous to receive instruction on these points. Besides, as it is impossible to carry law throughout this Island without Native agency, one of our first objects should be to raise a supply of men competent to act as Magistrates among their countrymen, and able, by virtue of superior knowledge, to command their respect. It is desirable that persons eligible as Native Magistrates should pass through a regular course of instruction and examination, and not be appointed until they have been certified as competent. This suggestion cannot be applied to the elder men who now hold these offices, and whose presence and influence on the side of order cannot, in many cases, safely be dispensed with, even for a short season. The best course would be to train promising young men to act as clerks under the Magistrates in the first instance, and, after due probation, to become Magistrates themselves.