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# s Marcu 16 | 4 inrmmbientmeindrmmndienthcnmare | "As the law stands, an inquest car be held at the discretion of a chief coroner. Right here in York County, there were literally hun-- dreds of inquests which were un-- necessary, until last year. York NOT NECESSARY County, during the last year, cut I 'down its costs of holding inquests 'from $13,600 to $6,500. I think it CONANT HOLDS 'should be tightened up over the en-- % tire province." | . Regarded as Safety Valve. ! ; wen _ | DavidD A. Croll (Liberal, Wind-- | * t sor): "Don't you think you should | 'Clungos in COPO"OI'S AC'. !(-onsidor inquests a sagety valve. | Onc Cl.u;. D.'igned to i'l'ht'y don't do any particular harm ' # and may do considerable good, par-- | GIV. POWQI' to Reopcn ,lriculnrly in allaying the fears of y * * amilies of a deceased person." S'dl.y Case, Received | Mr. Conant suggested that the w omm mmmme mm situation had approached that of a SECOND READ'NG GlVEN "scandal." "Often," he added, "they | are held to satisfy whim and caprice CWrdideviatieteiarres enc 'or the desire of officers for pub-- n latks licity." },{Nk" of the entire procedure He estimated the average inquest guiding coroners, with particular cost $60, and that an autopsy added attention paid to the protection of $15 to $20 to the costs. "Since 1922," accused persons or persons in said '}'l"- C°"':'"" "wg h"";' paid wit» | 3 s ness fees, and an abuse has grown danger of being accused, ...; urged up, in my belief." upon the Legislature yesterday by _ Another clause proposed to cut L, M. Frost (Con., Victoria), in \down the number of jurymen in |second reading of the bill to coroners' juries from "not less tti\an | seven nor more than twelve" to five. amend the Coroners Adt. '"York County," said Mr. Conant, Immediately after Hon._gordon "always had twelve up to a year Conant moved second reading, Op-- ago. I feel five are sufficient. It position iembers sought explana-- is pur"'ely a matter of saving ex-- tion of the proposed amendments [Wns ; and the Attorney--General gave a i"°"ld Limit Service. | clause--by--clause review of the bill. The proposal to limit to once lnt While he did not refer to the one year the times a man may serve : case, Mr. Frost asserted that one on a jury was characterized by Mr.} of the "drastic proposals" arose Conant as a move "calculated to | out of what we call the Sidley avoid professional jurymen." | case, and when the Attorney--Gen-- |__Me said tens of thousands of dol-- eral now proposes to assume certain i'"-'* were wasted annually in reams 'arbitrary powers in the holding of of evidence which were taken under inquests and in the reduction in | present regulations which -- com-- the number of jurors, I believe it lpelled a transcript of evidence is time to consider the whole mat-- |to be taken at an inquest. The ter of coroners' procedure." new proposal dispenses with the The clause, which, it is stated, is | necessity of having the evidence designed to give a Coroner's Court taken, except on the orders of the power to hold an inquest into the Attorney--General or the Crown death of Mrs. Mabelle Horlick Sid-- Attorney. * _ ley, who died in Toronto last July, Mr. Frost claimed: "When in« and whose body was taken subse-- !quesls get into a fishing expedition, quently to Racine, Wis., ruled that |designed to injure the good name where a coroner has reason to be-- of people, then it becomes a very lieve that a death has occurred !serlous matter to members of the "before or after the coming into | House." force of this section, on or near the | He charged too much attention area within which he has jurisdic-- has been paid to blood tests for tion, in such cireumstances that an intoxication, and said that coroners 'inquest ought to ve held, and that, should be warned that they should 'owing to the destruction of the be taken as an indication of a con-- s body by fire or otherwise, or to the dition, rather than a condition, un-- \fact that the body is lying in a less they were backed by corrobo-- \place from which it cannot be re-- rative evidence. 'covered, or that the body has been He charged also that Crown At-- 'removed from Ontario, an inquest torneys have been known to use .in- 'cannot be held except by virtue of quests as a pretext for a "tlsh!ng \the provisions of this section. . . ." '-"rded"'o"-" in h"h:\ *:OPG of getting Sees evidence on which to win a case. # % Teo Many IWquests, Crown Attorneys, he warned, under It gives also, authority to the British justice, neither won nor lost . -- Attorney--General to direct any \ cases. coroner to conduct an . inquest i He recommended: "That inquests "where he has reason to believe be definitely limited to 'when, that a death has occurred in On-- | where and by what means' such and tario either before or after the 'such a person came to their death; coming into force of this section in ;lhat rules of evidence be applied, such cireumstances that an inquest 'and that protection of the accused, ought to be held . . . 'or possible accused, be made man-- "This," explained Mr. Conant, | aatory." * "attempts to meet the situation #A8 which occurrs not infrequently, Adournimnent Sa. o o o9 ""3 J second reading was moved by Wil [when a body may be removed be liam Duckworth (Con, -- Dower-- for> any act of suspicion has been ' * brought to the attention of the |court). authorities." A third section of the clause rules that no inquest shall be held s unless the Attorney--General | or ; ~ ; Crown Attorney has directed it. "This," said Mr. Conant, "is designed frankly to cut down the unneces-- 3 sary number of in. ests. Undoubt-- edly, in my own experience in this office, scores, if not hundreds of unnecessary inquests have been held. k P .