The Goderich Signal-Star, 1952-07-21, Page 21THURSDAY, JULY 31st, 105(t
THE GODERICH, SIGNAL -STAR
QIdGIrls.& Boys
Remember...
when you were a youngster how mother used to
sit in the parlour., hour by hour, patiently sewing
Jo make clothes for you
NO NEED FUR THAT. TODAY ---
BECAUSE:
The Major Store has plenty of clothing for
the family: at prices that discourage makin
them at home.
Many of you have known this business under the ownershipof the
_
late M. Robins, who served this community for 'many, manyears.
YY
The MAJOR STORE offers you quality men's and'- boys' wear at
budget prices ---and forour convenience has added an . up-to-date
Y p
ac iesa
For hotidayscwings, here aresome of the values
available during Old Home Week!
SUMMER DRESSES
Cotton, Nylon, silk prints, Picolay.
off
OLD HOME WEEK
SPACIAL!
1st quality NYJ3ON HOSE.
45 and 5i gauge 15 denier. Summer,
shades.
Reg. $1.39.
2 pair for $1.75
OLD HOME WEEK SPEC/AL!
MEN'S SOCKS -=-Pure Nylon, pure botany wool, wool and rayon.
Regularly sold at $1.98 and $2.50.
$1.39 a pair. 2 pair $2.65
Dozens of other Dollar Saving Values through-
out the store.
The MAJOR STO
er
Goderich Lawyers of
A colorful era in the history 'of the legal profession, of
(,otieriuh was recently recalled !with the finding of a copy
oi4 the Canadian -Law Lis of 1895 auuttt .1 some old record:;
in one of the local law otliet . The book contained the. names
of those then practicing law in lioderich as welll as the names
of all the oourt officials holding (Ace. •
Twelve Lawyers Here
"There were no fewer thou twelve
1iiw)ers' located In Coderielt at that
time." 'lite field of litigation. was
thea a vast'one iv•itkozliterally
hundreds of writs being issued each
year. In 1951: 1 t all of Huron
Vetter). only 31 writs were issued
in the Supreme t'ourt. Court
lluuse reveals show that, in 1695,
120 writs were issued in the
Supreme Court alone with probably
double that number issued iu the
County t'uurt. The great atwitter
of cases in the (.,uuut'w Court was
too touch for one man, with the
work,_ being • divided between Senior
Judge 1. F. 'Toms and Junior Judge
11. L.' Doyle.
In that sante year the Town of
1:oderich toasted three law firms
or partnerships. Oue, of the lead-
ing of these was the tirm of C;ltu-
erou, Holt and Holmes, which -oc-
eupity! the offices recently vacated
by F.. H. Darrow, (1.(.;., next to the
People's Store 011- the east side of
the Square. The firm was headed
by M. t'. Cameron,. Q.42.,• who is
11195 was • rounding out the final
years of his law practice iu Gude-
rich. in his prince Cameron \tris
considered one of the most skilful
coun lawyers ever to appear in a
Huron County Court.'"
'However, Cameron's interests
were not manned to the challenges
of the rourt room and at the age
of 34) he succeeded in slaving hint -
'self -elected as Lil►eral member to
the House of Commons. He served
as M;1' for 30 years, suffering only
one election defeat ht that rime.
tlle_lctist to a Mr. Patterson. then
a cabinet minister in the Conserv-
ative Government. l,'t►meron was
also active in luunfcipai polities and
was elected to four terms as Mayor
of Goderich. liis brilliant legal
and political career was rewarded
in I898 when he s appointed •recall his work as Crown Attorney was able to follow even the most
Governor of the \teaorth West Ter-
ritories, are unanimous, in remembering iltuz cumplOX argument.
However, in the loiter he was primarily interested in sec Butler had a quick temper which
aplx► ntweut he was lto.t cotupletrl) ing justice done rather than in91i1•t- tit tittles bel•i1110 quite evident if
happ and after serving two uloutlt " iug the full weight el the law he ,was coevincetf that a witness
the frozen northland lie returned agrthist the ite•cusei1. or an accused was tying. A 5trik-
to 414Id0ricit .11111 died shortly after- Daylight Saving Time ink example of this occurred in one
wards • gra Lewis' sou, .••.\ed," practiced case where a sailor was charged
:Although there are few livtt,tg
w law iu Gudericl► at that satue time with stealing a shirt front :, local
today, who t Ili recall the details in ow strives on 11FIutiltoff street merchant.
of Cameron's cuu► t room nraneer. formerly 1x'c'npied by the 4'1►ihliens after reading the clubge Butler
knowledge e uf, both uatiunal ':tad
international issues.
11'tlllutu 1'roud(uut was the Sec-
ond member of this lytta and tk".t.a
1.-uusidereit a• worthy rival to M. t'.
t'uu►et'utt in his ability' aa, counsel
its coot t cast's. While lte lucked
the color of the sometimes llatubuy-
unt Cameron, he nevertheless
achieved a remarkable number of
court victories by thorough prepar-
ation of his cask's. Ile wts at one
time Leader of tate Opposition iu
the Ontario Legislature for " .he
Liberals and Was later 'app.oiuttd
•tt, the Senate.
1t. t', flays, 8r.;. was at that time
earrying on itis into pra'ttice ali►nu
its the offices on North Street now.
occupied by William Sutherland.
Ile ,Was a law stttdent under J. T.
harrow• before the latter's appoint
meat to the bench. lie later
entered into a partnership With
11' lltuu► 1'roudfcot which lasted
until 191.1. lu 1922 ire was joined
by his son, ft. -t'. Hays, J r., In a
t i his
'c lasted u rt 1
' i► t\ht h yt d a
Partnership
death in 19:15. Mr. Hays Sr. was
successful in building up one of the
largest county practices in convey-
ancing and estate work. Ile \was
solicitor for many industrial bents i utunity alike that this was the
as well as for the County of Huron.; wt1y that -Ned" Lewis "evened
Matly in (;ode'rich- today will re -;,things up." It was to his credit
call Loftus E. L) tnt'y who outlived that on his death he was considered
all those practicing law here at one of the fairest judges to ever
the. turn of the century: At that • sit in Huroti'County.
John Butler ..was another colour-
ful judicial officer at that - time.
Butler was both Mayor of Goderich
and Magistrate at the saute Bute.
As a boy he Was trained as a ma-
chinist. in his native 5t�otlaud and
eu►lg'ratetl • to Sarnia in his early
twenties. . In 1861 he tuoved to
Goderic•lt mid opened ai 1►pok store
where Emerson's• Drug Store now
stands -at the corner of the Square
and \'est Street. Although re had
no formal training in the law he
proved himself an able jurist and
•
Huron (' itnty Court !house, heart of tihe legal profession
herefor several decades. In 1895, litigation was popular in
(ltrderich and, no fewer than 12 lawyers practised here. The'
accompanying' article recalls these colorful persona'liti s , just
before the turn of the century.
litigant but costs to the liner. Al-
though it caused Much eye -brow;
raising and head scratching. it was
realized by the lawyers and cum -
time he wits just beginning to show,
some °of the marked ability that
was to leave its imprint ()vete' the
next 4l) years that he pructieed in
Guderich. His offices were ui►ove
the present A and 1' store.
The ('grown Attorney ill 1895 'was
Ira Lewis who laid a reputation
a14 an astttUe counsel in l•ritninal
work. Futvtuuaiely for many ac-
cused persons, Itat l.ew•is had a
sense of fairness which spared the
full harshness of the law that tie
wits capable of using. Those who
there has conte down tltrongh the Aid �uc}rG "\ed" 1.e4is was ;1511041 the• sailor how 1i& pdeadc'41.
gear. 11 vivid ret.c)lle.litat_that_lte frtive'-forrthe-'t'ury-p•arr
and served! lot ;Hitt}." I'lttIe the ro'1►i�: At
wt
1 unsurpassed
11
.1 guns+ t t
]n �u It
�ht•00 terra in the I'ed+'ctrl !loft this )roller eyed the accused sternly
l it Il l'•
,t '
t i a,e His \et'J'.. It was in that arena that 110 g.1iut'l and then roared. -"Whyy14t1 haws
1,1'11
a'ilt•ittg was llltpt'e'ssiwe•. with iii,Y:Ime :Is -11 .11•t•at OXl►otle►at of Day- the \e'1•3* shirt 1.11 !our ba/'11 1114w.
(lark nice brightened by a heavy light Saving '1'iuie. finch :111 a. t j you're guilty as hell Ten day -s at
growth of white sideburns. At was then heresay and althoti;h 110 , cl LIh1e111. Next case '
tittles he would roar at 1 'frightened introduced ahill allowing fast time `'''� Original Shareholder
witness
i
out l lite r ••
t nth w,l, t:-11(1 at each session of Parliament It :�, was uleruioned ea1:1i1'r the
tied at cithtar times' he could display was always rl'seunlliugIy defeated. Senior .fudge at that time vw.;:
a i'11:1 nil which \w011111 IIII 1;t IVit110AS ills effort.• earned hit() 9,,.ob0iiiln.. .fudge Toms. 11e begin the 1►trtl•tll.l'
Dignity was sotuetltiug he valued
us touch as the law itself and
counsel well knew that they would
be severely reprimanded if they
did not show proper deference to
any court over which he presided. •
Although he was an able judge he
was renowned for his own - weak-
ness. That was his -complete dis-
regard for time, with the result that
his court proceedings rarely got
under way within art hour of the
time scheduled.
The - Sheriff of .,II uron County wag
Robert Gibbons who in 1895 vtraa
SI years old but still active in his _
duties. In' 1867 Gibbons was electetl-
to the first Ontario 'Local Legis-
lature after Oo„tttfed.erat'ion., He was
re-elected iu rlie text election but
resigned in '1873 to accept the ap-
pointment as Sheriff of Huron
County. Ile built up au enviable
record is muuiciiral politics by hav-
ing himself elected Reeve of Gode-
rlv for r 19 Sear,, Mayor for three
3 ea rs and for 13 consecutive years
served as Warden of Hurou Oounty.
Lcioking lank from .1952 to the
turn of the century the legal fra-
ternity of that period appear to be
a more picturesque and lively
group than one would find prat.-
ticing in Hitt 1st any Ontario cotn-
trtunity today. Time has not yet
flown sufficiently far to retell some
of ttti� ri5�►itl -'. fs,i'ti i ti1;tT kiruti et -
f that .Ilan. Ott+• of the already
nlention041 lawyers, who also
doubled as District Returning Of -
fiver, participated in what W41,4 then
kne wu as the Sw'allowtd Ballot
l neideut.
This controwersia-1 t`1 4.11 txrcurred,
during . (ale of the ()lost. heatedly
contested elec•tiuns of that time.
tutu .1 state of £arse ..e, rarity betore ••1)s light" vwhielt followed - hiu► j of 1:Iw at (:odlt•iclt :It the age of \Vhen the returns were all its, the
realizing he had been led 11110 a
trap even after he rids elevated tothe l'_'1. His sueress soots breuf:h`t him 'Tory cantlidate had won by •a scant
i of 1(1111(dletio11 (roared United State's „t,teuch. Muclt" io his eruharnm
tssentn
, into prwoinece :ell when only _hl number -of Votes. A re(saint was
:Nl. ('. (':tiuc•rou's .nu, llrahaut, 1 ittg 'I'itlle first calor into t•tf01•r, ' .1ud;:e. of. 11411 11 ,not 1:f -flee. i1,r of .1 edge Touts. one ballot was
later joined the 1►:trtuctshill anti \t'tl" arrived at St. I;eorg ••s resigned in l.'lt7 lint in 1'47_' \v.,.ite• particularly in 41 w•
('1spute and it a_g
was stile h► relieve his father of batch an hour late.appointed dottier Jutige of }tiro:l handed :Ihout the room so t1}at each
utuch of hi's court work. ' lir:ll►aul As county .1nitg.. for 1Inr..•1 :inti in 1.'71► Sur�o ate .1ndge of side could +'X:Ituine it ,before the
Cameron became as well known eh,t'ountV. -Ned"L1'vcis 1lro5ide,) ;t the �I:Iritiul4 4 '01111 1tf 4►11t:ttie, Litidge ruled on its aduti55:d►ility,
it gifted spx'a11er outside the court refreshing change front the origin- I,;ite'r in 15•til• ite w:ts ;1111,1'in'tell Suddenly, however. the ballot vatt-
rlx►ul a5 111' did in it. lit was .lu :pry :ICren-of-the'-mill judge'. 1l's 1..4.11 'Judge of the high Curti .f 'shed into thin :air. .budge 'Tums
(ltylt 14tllrlt tlt of Robert .turns and were ;too Rist the .tool' - .1 list ice chtlll Its l�ti" X1'111:11' 11(l .1• 1•rd,red no 4otie to leave the roo m
on the Sti►day :Ifter Daylight 5;1':- ye:Its e111 he war :11*14'iutell 1441111 ordered under the watchful eyes
'in his later years tour0d the tuit� d gest on record and he vv'Is not re- of the Comtltw ilf linron tie h•I.t -:Ind 4'v011 the dlalr. of his chambers
States giving lt1•tt►res on his fay- lttetaut to „wont the ae,.,.taed el:e the distinction of being.tile' of 1110 ,,,,, le,het• EV.. UM' in the rout:
' ourite Scotts ii poet. 'Ile. tau, 10,k Lew \whl'n he Ih Irl "I1t 111_t�•:sittt;rli, :l o1I.,,itta1 bit ti l*1ei in the cling (errs then systematically_ s4,111•hed
art .:i(ttive..,part. :.,111 -1.tbttrut.' x)litl,'s "dt'tittndrtd`-rt: �^ l+,lfly 11440,1ri1101 Iltw .111x( rtti1 wf�}I .lent;:sti11>..ttct. grails►t cuold. lxs,;.founri: ..
and served as member in the 1)11-i ••I doll's follow preced1'ut•" he ill God1'rich. ! Tod:1;w the causeof thee,lrlllot's- dis-
11111() lagisl It11r1'. I. fi:I
enueilt w lti •‘. "i t re:itc it." Inlige ll'cit wits ;East 11 i y apjt0;lr:they �. ttll ;l._-it13•s.torrs _but.
Iilhuter now' pr:lrticing law in Gude- t tt ober habit 14f hip which earl.; 1 it ;is ritiiotri'll :stout Goderich
rich is a gr:lltdsolt of the celebrated much 111.• :11'4ll►I l 1511.E 11ntt the itleident' had
M. C. Cameron. legal profession \\-a. his ten11011 1 left :1 11,11 trite' ill till' 111011 11 of
Philip Ilult \\:Is t11e wool" 1 to award lir iiiugl'8 to 'h 11110 lural lawyer.
temper of the tirtil of t'ainero't,
Hull ,tut 1loliite. Ile was a more
studious partner of the• titan but
was active in litigation and with
considerable success. After., , llc
turn of the eeittli % he was
'whited ('sour v Court .1 ndg' sw-
ceediug .lud;ge It. 1„ Doyle.
i'11c l-ttit•d member of the II:111110t•-
shit► \Cas Dudley 11oliiity \51111 l:1.1-
succeeded 11.11 Lewis as 1'ro5tt Al-
.i11nicr .11111'..:1` 11, 1., 1►0\ 11•. 1)0,. ll'
was retltttcll to h:iv' I;il:rn Ili:
Mattie, 11'x\ sc•rio11s1y :1 1111 110111:1 11111.11
tv1111111e11• 1'e•spt•41 1111'1Mg1e111i :I 11)1(1.
tc.,'tuey. 110 was :letivl' in groutits
ot► heh;l if o1' the 1 'onset•,, t i we 1),1rt
Edict• he vv:1s :111110i1111'114'0uu1y
ii►urt .lodge of Sinu•'te ('unt►ts- 111
was the father of Iltiron's present,
Magistrate :Ind- former 4'00511 .\1
tot'uey. I). E. 1l4•lnles, (,.('.
A second Goderic•It late titan \\o-1,
that. 141* 4''anlpiou :11.(1 auhuso11 \Vigo'"
were ill' 1 S9 located in the sante
offices now occupied by 1)r. L. M.
Maher on the corner of the sgtuli•e'
:Ind 3'llll►Itrt.te 51t•ee't. The 5l'tIi,,i'
pitrtner, Edmund l'11tttl►iun. t,t-l' ,
handled the firm's court work while
'Xi. 1►. .lohu,tou Ietded to 1114' tjtti10
routine :111(1 saperwis4'd the 1.e'l1
estate :11111 ptv►11:1te work:- "1•:11."
Campion, as, he was popularly
1tlt(lwn. 5:114 the delight of :Ill.jndgc•s 1
and the despair of all but his most
quick \witted opponents in 1'101 l'' 1
For 1.1 "i:d." 111141 1101'11 given the
happy faculty ..f turning 1'51'11 the
most damaging part of an oldish
frit'.. 1•:151' into :1 ,i.•,it' 1'' 110 t'tljl l\ 1'11
by both ,indge ,1111 •i11ry. 11e 1.;ai11191
:t well-deserwell r•ep11ttit ion :is 111,' I
wittiest l:r\wyer in Huron Conti, \- I
and often, when other law.iet•s' hard
(\'1111 \ ieteritt \eery forgotten -Ed.".I
('ampion's keen wit was r*'e;,ll 1,1
with many a chuckle, Edmund
Campion was the 1';Ill'er of A. 1'
(';impish. retired I:i11ker, 11011 livitlg'
1111 \els011 1tr4.4't.
Supreme Court Justice
'(:aero\\, 1'r001fo•41 and 111':1).-11
was the third law Iii in in 4:44d1'rich
aQ that lisle. 'I'111'1t' oltkes s', 1')'
aii.wt the 1►1•est•hl Ito4al It;lnl.. The
Orin 5115 1111't1 'hl at11'11 h\ .1:,11,,
Thompson 1:tlrtoW w-lto 1V:1s Iat.'r
alppointed Chief Justice of Ila.
Supreme ('14111-1 I '3' 4hlt:Tin. •.I• •1'.",
•ls he as know, its 4:oduricli.. st 1111iell
lttw• 1-414 a rttuliellt 1111det .judge '1'111114
rind w•tts ad11littell as :1 solicitor in 1
1:5415 a11i1 later as i1 barrister in
15419. Ito was apix►inted a Q.('•• in
18M.. Like alnit►i'4t Jill the other
liiwye'rs then in 1:oder,ch. ".1. '1'
was interested in politics 111 i►l►th
the provincial and nlnnielpal fields.
From 1574 to 151,5) 114' was Reeve of
(lodt'rlc1► .11141 in 1580 w'rwed :t5
Wnrden of IlUrun County. In 15110
be was elected its h Reformer to 1
represent tt'est Il'iron in the '411-
tario I.egislatlire. liesldc's haying
Otte of the best legal minds in (:ode-'
rich he 1115,► displayed a profound 1
..r .
G eric
Buiness C
"HURON'S CENTRE OF MODERW BUSINESS' TRAINING'
EXTEND GREETINGS
TO ALL VISITOR'S
Sch'ol open daily at 2 P. I. during Old Home Week. We invite you to visit with us,
DAY AND EVENING CLASSES
KEMBER OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION
.4..