Pariki-Elect
p. 26 · Read in the full issue
Weary Waiting on MZ Court
Prom Our Own Correspondent Rarotonga, April 17.
RAROTONGANS read with a mixture of amusement and annoyance the remarks of the New Zealand judge who recently heard the case concerning their new Ariki Nui (High Chief).
Mrs. Takau Rio Love, the Ariki-elect, asked the Supreme Court to quash the appeal of Mrs. W. P. Browne against the decision of the Cook Is. High Court, which awarded the title to Mrs. Love.
The worthy judge, as reported in the New Zealand newspapers, apparently doubted if the case was of any material importance: but relented when told that there was a question of income involved.
Mrs. Love’s lawyer then remarked that the case had been in NZ for a year, and in the courts for more than two years.
This length of time, the judge ex plained, was of no account in the Paci fic Islands. Unhappily, the days to which the judge refers are long past. Life is mostly clock and bustle in all except the most remote islands.
The Supreme Court at length fixed June 6 as the final date for hearing the case. It is understood that Mr. W. P Browne will proceed to NZ, in May. on that account.