, 1892-02-17

Chief Justice ina number of instances, all
OF which allegations, again, appear to have
been either expressly endorsed or tacitly
acquieSced IN by The subsequent speakers.
The amendment. calliHgupou the Governor
To institute an inquiry into 4the whole adj
ADMINISTRATION ~hy commissioner indeprn-
dent OF the colony, was adopted rs The suH-
>tautlve m't0n, and was carried 10y the
voters OF SIX 10 two among the non-otllclal
mrIutc : ot Inc Council. HE iva minority
mcmbrt~ merely objected to thc torn otthr
mottou, ali both eHlre~>td their readiness
To- vote Tor an inquiry INTO Tie conduct 81
MI. Justice Cook.
1t lay, I trust, be taken for granted that
lie inquiry viii now t{kt place without loss
Of time; tOr even apart from the imputationN
on Mr.. Justice Cook, the ebite disrlOSeS
abundant necessity for it. EN.Ie2drla Mr.
Justice Cook, ]. hope that th3 result, (which
Fllave $40 desire IN any way to anticipate.
viii be to dispose ConcluStvelY ct the as
founding and disgraceful charges made in
the Legislative Council As, | have ahcadT
said l offer no opinion on these charges.
My sole object is % atquaint The pnhllc
with The proceedings irlhe Council. With
the view Of calIing attention to the action
already taken BY Lerd knutStoid iu Mr.
Justice Cooks ease. What this has been
was very clearly explained hy he Acting
Colonial Secretary ia liccoul SC ofthc debate
in Trinidad ~
The Acting Colonial Secretary: have .
statement to make. Before his motion
now before the Board proceeds further, |
nave an announcement to make to the
Council, 1t is to the effect that the Admin
istratOr by the last mail received from the
Secretary of State a despatch IN which Lord
KnutstoId informs his ExcellenCy that
Mr.. Justice Cook having ina letter address
ed to his L0rdslip denied the truth OF the
charges made against him, he does not
thnk it necessary for the present to take
any further steps III the matter.
From this statement andthat Of Mr.. MAJ
ryat, it appears that the charges against the
Judge, more or less in the same form as
above, were laid before Lord kuutsford
that the Judge came home to answer them
and that, therenpou, without any attempt to
pursue the investigation further, he was re-
stored to the exercise of his judicial tuuc-
tons. | assume, as The pubIle are for the
present bound to assume, that this course
was warranted by the Judges complete in
1locence of the charges. Blu it is ncverthe-
less, apparent, at every step IN the debate
from which | have quoted, that the allega-
tlonS in question are matters of public motto
riety in Trinidad that not a single member
of the Legislative Council is prepared to
dispute them and Iial neither the Artor-
ney General nor any member Of the EXecn-
tive has a word to say in the Judges de
fence. What did Lord Knutsford know
that is hidden from the public, the Lcgisla.
ture, aud the Government Of TrinidadR On
what ground did he dismiss Tie formal com
plants made to him, aud restore to this
Colony. a. an administrator Of justice and a
representative OF the Queen, a gentleman
who is spoken ofin the Legislature, without
protest or contradiction, in the terms which
have quoted above3 Whatever be the
result Of the inquiry now pending, and for
the present we must assume that it will be
in Mr.. Justice Cooks favor, these are ques-
lions TO which IN answer ought to be OBJ
tanned as soon as Parliament meets.