VICTORIA

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19 4 2,
JUNE 30.

I am taking this opportunity of using our magazine to relay a message to the
British Columbia Police Force.

As the Attorney-General for the Province I have the honour to be the Minister
of the Crown under whose department the administration of justice is carried out.

The administration of justice is an exceedingly important and vital depart-
ment of the government.

Let us fail in maintaining the highest tradition in the enforcement of law
and order, and we break down the security and peace of mind of the people. We kill
liberty and substitute lawlessness for an orderly way of life.

The integrity of our courts and the officers who assist our courts in this
Province is something that has never been doubted.

The administration of criminal law depends for its effectiveness upon the
police.

The police officer's job iS never an easy job, but the record of each member
can be a matter of much pride and honour in public service.

I have, during the last thirty years, been identified with the administration
of criminal law in British Columbia.

Both for the Crown and for the Defence I have long participated in our
criminal trials; appearing before the humblest Justice of the Peace to our court of
last resort, the Supreme Court of Canada.

From that experience I have been able to appreciate the duties of a police
officer. I know something of the romance and glory of that service, something of
the discouragement, hardship and failures, as well.

I know the urge that sometimes comes to obtain a conviction and the
disappointment that sometimes follows an acquittal. The same feeling that counsel
has under these circumstances, so has a police officer.

One must always remember, however, that there is a great difference between
the prosecution and the defence.

During my stewardship as City Prosecutor in Vancouver for four years, my work
as counsel for the R. C. M. P., and my Assize work, I followed the rule that the
duty of the Crown was to place before the court all of the evidence available. If
one can develop a dispassionate outlook on the result, and feel that he has
produced all of the evidence available, then he has done a good job.

Prosecuting is not a work whereby one strives to "add" to his "string of
convictions," but rather to add to his reputation for fairness and thoroughness in
his work. If the evidence is there a conviction will follow. If the evidence is
not there, then an acquittal will follow, and to the fair-minded prosecutor that is
just as acceptable as a conviction under the circumstances.