TIED TIGHT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 306, 28 December 1939, Page 5

TIED TIGHT.

IN TIME OF WAR.

WIDE STATE POWERS.

CITIZENS MUST BE WARY.

MASS OF REGULATIONS.

After four months of war, New Zealanders have now more or less settled down to a complacent acceptance of wartime conditions, but the private life of the average person has been so little affected in this little country, set amidst the safety of the Pacific, that the alrr.ost plenary powers which have been taken by the Government would come as a shock to mosc people making a study of the regulation*. For instance, it is no longer permissible to carry a camera in an aeroplane, and even to go under an assumed name is to court arrest. To attempt to trade with an enemy subject is an offence, and under the Factory Emergency Regulations the Factory Controller may direct the occupier of a factory to cease, restrict or increase production. The distribution or uae of any foodstuffs may be prohibited, and there i* ]>owcr to take possession of any foodstuffs, wherever situated in New Zealand. 'I raders may be directed to deal only in any particular types, classes or <|ualititM of foodstuffs, and to pack them in such packages or containers as may be directed. The Klectricity Controller has the rght of access to any premises, and t!u> Mining Controller may direct the cessation or restriction of production of any mine gasworks. It is forbidden to export pood« without the permission of the Minister of Customs. The Public Trustee may take possession of all pro-

perty belonging to a person or company declared to ibe an enemy. The Controller of Building may direct that constructional work of any kind be wholly stopped. It is forbidden to deal in wool. | Every Activity Affected. — Statutes, proclamations, declarations and regulations now in force in New Zealand, in consequence of the state of war, have been assembled in a useful handbook of emergency legislation, issued under the direction of the Attor-ney-General, the Hon. H. G. R. Mason. Many phases of national life are covered by the statutes and regulations, and it is only when the emergency legislation is presented in this compact form that one realises how war affects almost every activity.

Among the subjects embraced by the emergency regulations are censorship and publicity, price stabilisation, shipping control, control of aliens and enemy property. Oil fuel, sugar, -wheat and flour, medical supplies, foodstuffs, timber and wool are among the commodities concerning which special regulations were necessary. Special regulations were essential concerning factories, the detention of shipping, contraband, building, patriotic funds, strikes and lock-outs, the Licensing Act, occupational re-establishment, passports, the machinery for a change of one'« name and the suspension of apprenticeship. Two statutes, the Public Safety Conservation Act, 1032, and the Emergency Regulations Act, 1939, are contained in the volume. It is explained in a prefatory note that emergency regulations enacted down to September 13 were made under the authority of the first-mentioned Act, but, as the limitations, scope and dura-j tion imposed by that statute were inappropriate to t&e circumstances, the Emergency Regulations, 1939, was passed. This validated regulations already made, gave them continuing force, and contained extended powers to make regulations. Prejudicial Information. Perusal of the volume shows that the Government has extremely wide powers under the mass of legislation issued by Order-in-Council. Particularly stringent are the regulations regarding information likely to prejudice the public safety or the efficient prosecution of the war. There ia a lengthy regulation relating to subversive reports.

Under the Defence Emergency Regulations the Minister of Defence may authorise any action on, or in connection with, any land that he considers necessary or expedient for defence purposes. Apparently without asking anybody's permission the military may construct works, pull down or alter ori erect any building, fence, barricade or obstruction on anyone's land, close roads or streets and divert or stop watercourses. Under these eame wide powers it is an offence to obstruct or interfere with any official, and anyone so doing may be arrested without warrant, not only by the police, but by any officer or non-commissioned officer of the defence forces. It is an offence to be a party to a strike or lockout, or to encourage or procure such an industrial upset. Similarly, it would be an offence under another set of regulations to take a photograph of any riotous or disorderly assembly. It is forbidden to take a photograph of any telegraph station! To take a photograph of an aeroplane—or the wreckage of a 'plane—is alao banned.