including Leif J. Sverdrup, Hugh John Casey, William C. Chase and Clyde D. Eddleman and their wives, to visit Australia in 1974, with commemorative functions being held in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Herring steadfastly believed that MacArthur, like Blamey, was a great commander who was not fully appreciated in his own country. Herring's twenty years as Chief Justice was a period of significant change and growth in the administration of the law. During his term of office the number of judges on the Court increased from six to fourteen, reflecting the growth in cases. Herring earned a reputation as a fine judge and able administrator. He set up the Chief Justice's Law Reform Committee to try to ensure justice in Victoria's courts was abreast of the times, and a committee for religious observances and services to arrange the religious services marking the opening of the legal year. Herring retired as Chief Justice in 1964 but stayed on as Lieutenant Governor until his 80th birthday in 1972, serving in the position for a record 27 years. For his service as Lieutenant Governor, Herring was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in the King's Birthday Honours of 9 June 1949. In a speech given on the occasion of his retiring as Chief Justice of Victoria, Herring said: While opening the Victorian Returned Services League Conference shortly before his retirement as Lieutenant Governor, Herring criticised anti-war protesters and praised Australian soldiers who had served in the Vietnam War. "People who throw stones at Americans," he said, "should stop and think where we would have been in 1942 without the Americans." Such remarks earned him a rebuke from the then acting State Opposition Leader, Frank Wilkes, as "untactful" for a representative of the Crown. Herring again became the subject of controversy in May 1978 when Barry Jones revealed in Federal Parliament that during the Second World War Herring had confirmed death sentences on 22 Papuans convicted of handing over seven Anglican missionaries to the Japanese, which Jones called "the darkest secret in modern Australian history". The Papuans had been convicted of offences including murder and treason. Herring claimed that they had been treated fairly under the conventions and circumstances applicable in wartime. "I have a clear conscience about it", he said. The seven missionaries had all been murdered by the Japanese. Four of them were women who