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_ _"of the "Robins' case: _ _ s l ® 4 proper administration of justice at f *'One of the charges is that Has.t-i _ _ Dunnville, yet that, in my opinion, ings was influenced in his adminis-- would not certainly settle this con--| -- tration of the law by lI;'I R. L';illolr;'. li\t( % 4 troversy. ; P. ident of the Monare nit-- t + t}h;gP(r;e(!:}' mnd a group oft}(:thel' T:O,H | Usefulness is Gone. associated with him in e con io o ncrpy; s * and domination of the ahfl;alil\rshgf vtvl;e;' 'den'::}t:)r;'ga?? ghf:l:: :'Yi't(rl'ne}:::":fin:;; | pom!nunft.\'._ lef m)]t lt\' n\lr I'al(;r | ten days and reading all the exhi-- ; ;,n::"lo?fili:i\k ll!:gl'e\?(c;z(l(l § hé r.ear'l.\' to bits produced, I find that a large dnd 4 , mlke advice from Mr. Lalor. Evidence| influep_tial p~art of"the best men in f Jrr. Lalor gave Sn HHastin '"l"-l"}i?;}'i' though Mr. Haguings in personshy ds L"lor»fgd:rf;nlzli'n.gndtl'll::'g.amoun'ts honest and irreproachable, yet it is "m.m";,t. (] 2 l'or to }.lastings for the ; believed that for good and sufficient | |Tald" 1.\')1')"1' hd 1920 were prmluced' reasons the administration of justice ! ';)i?:):o r'ne' z;!ml it .:1;31)(":{!'9(1 that more | in the Police Court of Dunnville has ' than one--half of all the job prin'ting" f'"?{serd *t?l .t'.nmmz;.r;r'j Dul;liv respect, | | of the Hastings printing office (3171'9' an or this condition of things the \ \ from Mr. Lalor. Under these condi--; Magistrate is to a certain extent re--| ' y"a 'tions it 'may be quite possible that | sponsible. y' U Mr. Hastings was unconsciously l.",'.; % '"Such being the case, I have con-- s / fluenced, for 'every heart is hum:m_.' cluded that the usefulness of Mr. Dealing at length with the '\I;'g;h-' \Hastings as a Magistrate is largely 4 trate's attitude toward the admin s.i gone and his further continuance in i E tration of the O.T.A.., the (-'omr?'fl'?- 2 office would not be in the best in-- 6 sioner says: "Now, I ."""k M". ,""b.- terests of the administration of jus-- /| ings has a perfect right to his 'nf't!' tice at Dunnville. opinion as to the O.T.A., Im't f "?h':, '"'The administration of law is very public _ officer nppfllnt('('] "" mbli(" sensitive and delicate, especially the t Crown to discharge if"l"'""}") ~]l ould | law as to temperance, which is a ; 3 duties, I do not think th'"} e §S11 piti-- matter of earnest public discussion, | openly in court, or Olh('l"l.\(". ('H' lq and is, so to speak, in the limelight | { cize the terms of the act that wf"al of public observation, and if there | ; | sworn to administer "'"hmf,'l oa'l. be any reasonable ground in the | a favor or affection. The 'g('nr-l.l p\l(:;' minds of an influential part of the lice, especially the am.;-'tpmpor::l!:ohl Dunnville people that the .\Tagis-l a public, would soorl: se f?:;t'qnd trate is inefficient, then there should | y statements and derive com c xrl ' be a change of Magistrate." | 4 encouragement from _ them "hmw | 4 f made by the Police .\THRiStrfl"_'p- ':';;:' Question of Fees., | that in itself would tend to wea Al the conclusion of the report tho' § ) the public respect in the administra-- commissioner says: "I -- have been | f | tion of the law by Hastings." usk.(-fl by Mr. Hastings, through hlS: f | | solicitor, to recommend that the wit-- | » ® !('olnci(lon(\' of Decline. nesses summoned by him should h(\; s | _ Commissioner Paterson draws ;;nr- 2:1'3 1{':21" O"l"((])intahl.i.: 1:2::"2:51);'!"]:\":2{ ; l I tain conclusions from liquor ship-- & r $ St | jn':ents into Dunnville before and af--|! de(.-lll'ncl' to accede. I have n'lade in -- , ~ ter the suspension of the Magistrate. quiry and I am un.zihle to fn_wd that| 6 '}"rom January 2, 1920, to November | fees have been paid to witnesses | l"3 1920, there were 831 shipments, who attended on the application uf' *3 E f 'l\.\'e;lghi-ng' 142,701 pounds. From .\'o-z pers'r)n.\' ."'hn were being in.\'ostigated i 6 | vember 23, 1920, to February, 1921 under Government commissions. I | a ' | 188 _ shipments, weighing 13,878 | have also been asked to recommend | 4 ?ponnds. + the payment by the Government of | ~ Of this cirecumstance the vommis-' {;e;:":;;qculxqi?l1§ix:r)$i:;lunef,;t fin'm.\ul:t. | = A f | sloner says: I C pér ® ® ® : | q'l have investigated these figures also decline to accede," ! a and find that before the suspension *e--tteantmnmmmnmmcenmnmmennemeiee | a the average number of pounds re--| 0 $ ceived daily at Dunnville per Cana-- \< .0 ; dian Express Company was 431, and | 4 C after the suspension the number of " | pounds received daily at Dunnville | P | * f per Canadian Express Company was | 1 $ 159 pounds, being about one-thirdi /'j compared with those of the other| hy period. I also find that the re-- ~<\ cords of shipments after the sus--| s pension mainly show one bottle or| ! one case each. This indicates to & me that when, moved by the Dunn--| J i\'ille complaints, the Honorable the | ' iAuorney-(}cnoral grasped the situa-}' s ' tion vigorously by suspending Mr.j [ |HMastings, the quantity of liqum'i f received at Dunnville by the Cana-- ; 'dian Express Company fell off ver,\'.' ' ' greatly. I cannot regard this as| a mere accident, and, although 1 s t 'apply the maxim 'post -- hoc, ergo 'propter hoco' cautiously, I am con--| k ; vinced that the administration of ; , |justice at Dunnville was not such a | |terror to evil--doers as it ought tc . ' |have been." 6 y ; ' The commisdsioner finds indications | "that Dunnville enjoyed _ a con-- § p [tinuwus and extremely 'wet' season, * | which showed itself in the contents 7 | of the Dunnville cellars, and I find |that one of the most influential men | $ * {in Dunnville, who was on the de--| us Iputation, took in 233 cases of liqgnl'; |between January 28, 1920, ahnd -- | March 5, 1920, and a postoffice clerk l 'stored away between January 22| and April 29 12 barrels of whiskey,. 4 All of this indicates a certain definite current opinion in favor of liquor * A f importation at Dunnville, which, | f [ although quite within the law up | -- | to that date, gives a valuable side--| s a light upon the general liquor atmos-} & 6 phere of the town. a | * * P . . Public Respect Lost. | * ¢ I ie > '"'There is another aspect of tlnsi ¢ A ' question which is of great import-- K ance, I have analyzed a (-onsider-' k able portion of the evidence adduc-- «l ed before me, and I find that admin-- E istration of justice in the Police 3 Court of Dunnville ceased to com-- s mand public respect, and for this 4 condition of things the Magistrate, E. | Mr. Hastings, is to a certain extent L/ | responsible. -- f}: U "I find also, even if on a close 3 analysis of all the cirecumstances and * s i' giving Mr. Hastings the full benefit f 3 x t¥ | of his explanation, and even if | i technically the balance of the evi-- F ----Aence is in favor of the full and & Fd 7