THE PROBLEM OF LAY J.P.s Sm,—Let us have stipendiaries or
let us have lay benches, but not I combination of both, reducing the lay justice, as at Quarter SessionS, to mere surplusage. Attend to the theorists, and which of our institutions comes out with a whole skin? The Hereford Juvenile Court Inquiry, where "the dog it was that died," should stand as a warning against jumping to conclusions. There is only one way of finding out how the Petty Sessional Courts are doing their stuff—by asking those who have first-hand knowledge. Appoint a small mixed committee, let it receive evidence from persons aggrieved by the decisions of lay benches, from solicitors practising before those courts, from. the police. Let it not listen to general strictures, but require the citation of specific instances of miscarriage, which it will then investigate. The inquiry may be restricted to a limited nuinber of representative courts, but the results should be weighed against the total volume of work done.—Yours faith- [P.S.—Dickens is a two-edged sword. Was not Mr. Fang a stipendiary?]
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