The good people of Surrey are painfully exercised by the
pro- posed abolition of the Assizes in their county, and a public meet- ing, held at Guildford on Thursday, entered a solemn protest against the enormity which the Judges, under the Judicature Act, have determined to perpetrate. The Assizes are now held alter- nately at Kingston and at Guildford, but according to the new rule recommended by the Judges, almost the whole business would be disposed of at continuous sittings held in town. Baron Bramwell pointed out this week that none of the cases tried before him at Guildford really belonged to the county, they were .all London cases, and a more ridiculous waste of time than setting a jury of Surrey farmers to investigate a Stock-Exchange dispute can hardly be imagined. All parts of Surrey are in much more direct and constant communication with London than with either of the assize towns, and even genuine county business would be more quickly and satisfactorily despatched by a Court in London, in which proceedings could be carried on at any time. AA the people of Guildford and Kingston like the stir and show of an Assize Court, and cannot bear to part with judges and juries .and javelin-men.
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