907 FRAGMENTS OF LEGAL HISTORY IN ... - UQ eSpace

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tary. He succeeded Mr. Manning after the latter had
been savagely attacked in his office with a tomahawk,
his assailant being a half-demented C.P.S. Under
special legislation Mr. Manning drew a pension of £300
per annum for several years and on his demise half
this sum was paid yearly to his widow.
To-night, I am forced by considerations of time to
omit many things and to concentrate on a limited
period only in Queensland legal history. Many eminent
men have been responsible in this State for the due
administration of Justice, and documents of historic
significance came to them for perusal and advice. I
have left at the Department of Justice an extended
narrative which embodies the results of a ten months'
survey of records.
Decades of years have elapsed since the hands—
now turned to dust—made the entries in the early
Registers of Correspondence and penned the letters in
the official files, but those records of distant days are
as legible as when they were written. The handwriting
is good; the ink has not faded; and, except for some
small damage by flooding, the documents are well preserved.
There are treasures in Government strongrooms
safe from moths and rust and placed where thieves
cannot break in and steal. These documents will bring
pleasure to some future historian seeking original
material in the State archives. He will be fascinated
by research and discovery even in the dank atmosphere
of basement strongrooms. Queensland should not delay
in following the recent example of Western Australia
in collating and co-ordinating and preserving its valuable
State records.