LAW AND THE COURTS 235

between the number of J.P.s from each party. This method is
not altogether satisfactory, as an able man may be excluded
solely because his party already has its quota. Anyone who is of
age may be appointed, but it is understood that the Committees
shall only recommend people of ability and high character, and
usually with some experience of public work. Justices are unpaid,
and can only be removed from their office if they show themselves
to be seriously unfit. England has- thus an amateur magistracy,
and for centuries this meant that each district of England was
rujed by its little oligarchy of squires, who might or might not be
conscientious; in the countryside their rigorous enforcement of
the laws against poaching was the subject of many attacks.
Although there is no longer any property qualification, it is
difficult to find working-class men and women who can give the
time to the work, and there are complaints that the old oligarchy
persists in some districts. The quality of magistrates' justice
varies so much, that it would be easy to quote examples both to
the credit and discredit of the system; there are the patient and
conscientious, and, at the other extreme, the lazy and ignorant,
who leave most of the work to their Clerks. Many Justices aspire
to their position simply for the dignity of it, and never sit in
judgment at all. Among proposals for the reform of the magistracy
are that Justices who do not act should be retired, and that all
should give some evidence of legal knowledge before appointment.
The merits of an amateur magistracy are that it is cheap and that
it can give power to people whose everyday work, more than that
of a professional lawyer, puts them in touch with the lives of
those among whom they have to administer justice. Its defects
appear when the volume of work grows, and it'is usual in towns
of over 25,000 inhabitants for a Stipendiary, i.e., paid magistrate,
a lawyer by profession, to be appointed by the Home Secretary.
In London, J.P.S are concerned only with the licensing laws,
school attendance, and minor administrative duties, the bulk
of the judicial work being given to the Stipendiaries. Some
women J.P.s, however, take part in London Juvenile Courts.