A LEGAL CONUNDRUM. TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 12935, 15 October 1907, Page 6

A LEGAL CONUNDRUM.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

On Friday the Lands Committee reported upon the petition of Mrs Williams, « settler ou the Tawaha settlement, which was acquired by the Government under the compulsory clauses of the Land for Settlements Act. Prior to, and indeed at the time of, tho acquisition of the land in question, Mrs. Williams had/for some timo been a tenant of the owners of the

land, occupying somo twenty acres, upon which sho had orectcd a small house and certain other improvements, which wero worth something like £100, and it is 6aid that by virtu© of a verbal agreement she was to receive compensation to that amount, should the tenancy at any time be determined. So far tho case is simple enough. «But the award of tho Court in the acquisition proceedings led to complications which it would be difficult to burlesque. The Court decreed that tho then owners should receive a certain sum. and, further, that if 'Mrs Williams did not secure the section in question at the ensuing ballot at a rental not exceeding one pound per acre, and this within a period of one year, the vendors should pay to her the sum of one hundred pounds, which tho Crown was paying the vendors for the said improvements. This was / surely a rather extraordinary award, for it made tlie net sum receivable by the vendors dependent upon the name of the person who drew the section. If Mrs Williams drew the section the vendors were not asked to pay £100. If sh© did not, they were. Surely a most curious judicial decision! However, as a matter of fact Mrs Williams

did secure the section at the ballot, but it is quite impossible to decide whether she secured it at the rental "not exceeding one pound per acre" which tho Court made one of its conditions, for the Board added some sixty acres to tho original section, making a holding of some eighty acres m all, which is leased at less than £1 per acre, but having regard to the quality of the odd 60 acres, it is impossible to assert definitely whether tho 20 acres is rented at more or less than one pound. The complications which form the basis of the claim presented themselves when the Crown, under the provisions of the Land for Settlements Act, proceeded to levy upon Mrs Williams for annual instalments of the capital value of these improvement* for which it had already paid tho vendors, improvements it may bo noted which it valued at £70. But Mrs Williams had paid for their erection in the first instance. To sum up, the Crown now values at £70 improvements which the Court valued ot £100, and for which the Crown paid the vendors that sum. Under the award of the Court, it has been impossible to determine whether Mrs Williams was entitled to receive anything at all; and she is now paying by instalments £70 for improvements which she put up herself and would havo received £100 for had she not drawn tho section. Under tho circumstances, tho committee acted wisely in advising the Government to pay Mrs Williams £70, or such sum as would meet the payments imposed upon her by the law.

Tho report of tho The Commission set up French Navy, to enquire into the cause of the explosion of the battleship lena can please only the enemies of France. The Commission found that the explosion was due to the spontaneous combustion of "B" powder, but this is not the most ominous part of the report. The Commission met with nothing but antagonism and divisions in the navy. "Naval constructors, engineers, and active officers all act in complete independence of each other, and there is no superior authority with power to unite all these three divergent forces in coordinated action. Administrative anarchy reigns in tho organisation. The officers complain that they receive no orders, and, indeed, the heartrending inefficiency of the central Power is the cause of the growing, enfeeblement of our naval forces." The magazines in some ships were placed next to warm chambers, the constructors having no knowledge of the composition of the powder, and the experts not troubling to enlighten them. The artilleryman, the constructor, and tho executive officer not only have nothing in common, but they detest each other, and every part of a ship is "a matter for hidden or open struggle." According to the Portsmouth correspondent of the "Standard," little or no surprise was expressed at the report in British naval circles. Sine© the 'beginning of the entente British naval men have gained a good knowledge of the condition of the French navy. One officer declared the spirit of rivalry and antagonism in the French navy to be the inevitable result of tho principles of "Liberte, EgaliW, Fratemite." Socialism is strong in the navy, and to British sailors tho atmosphere of a French vessel is almost Gilbertian. "A petty officer, smoking a cigarette, and with his hands thrust in his pockets, will stroll up to tho officer of the watch, and, with a friendly nod, put some question on a matter of routine. This sort of thing may be all very well in the view of disciples of the doctrine of Mr Victor Grayson, but it is absolutely fatal to the morale of a navy. So far from engendering esprit de corps, it merely results in that state of things shown to exist by the lena enquiry." A subordinate may be an infinitely better man than his superiors, but if he is allowed to act according to that belief, discipline must suffer.

It would be interSafeguarding esting to havo tho Farm Workers, opinion of the

Farm labourers' Union on t*i© law which has just become operative in Hungary for the regulation of the relations between employer and farm servant. The Government issues to eaoh fsrm labourer a "seivice book," which is handed over to the employer for the insertion of particulars as to tho servant's conduct and returned tvhen tho labourer leaves the employer's service. This book is a 6ort of "character," without which it is almost impossible for the servant to leave ono farm and go to another. The servant may be summarily dismissed on various grounds, including the enticing of members of the employer's family to cvi', and tho careless handling of a fire ore light, after he haa been warned. On the other hand, the labourer is guarded against the unscrupulousness of employers in a variety of ways. If the employer injures liis employee's health, causes him or his family material injury, corrupts his morals., withholds his wages without taking legal steps, or gives him Iwd or insufficient food, the labourer may leave without notice. The servant's share of the produce must be of such quality? as corresponds to the best quality of the year's harvest, and tho cost of carrying his share of corn to tho mill and back must be borne by the master. The employer must not charge interest for any loan, and must not charge more than tho cost price for goods sold to his servants. Other provisions of the law relate to tho proper tendance of tho servant when sick, and his insurance against acciden!. If in the case of a- servant hired for a period of one year, 'his wife living with him, or child under the age of twelve die, the master must contribute towards the expenses of burial- Thia contribution shall be twenty oiowns in the case of «. major, and ten crowns in the case of « minor The master shall also furnish suitable i.-cans of conveyance to the funeral, in keeping with tho custom of the district." The master is deprived by this law of th© right of "domestic castigetion," a reminiscence of Roman •nd feud.il times. The Hungarian

servant is thus safeguarded with *w almost paternal solicitude.

Asked in an Australian In Search club~ ono afternoon what of he would hare to drink, Water. Max OBoil expressed * preference for tea. The choice was, ho tells us, received with incredulous astonishment, and the incident 6erred him as an illustration of one of the faults of the Australian. Judging from enquiries mado by the "Lancet" and the "Standard," a colonial Max O'Rell visiting London might, on finding how difficult it waa to got a glass of good water, come to the conclusion that tho temperance movement was making little headway. The ''Lancet" says that the sparkling water-bottle is rarely the rule in places of refreshment. Tho "Standard's" investigator found tho water not quite so bad as it was alleged to be, but came to tho conclusion that water was not regarded by caterers as a drink at all. A person asking for tho pure element was looked on as possibly mad, and certainly eccentric. At tho Savoy and the Carlton, the eyebrows of the waiter ascended an eighth of an inch, but that was all. The glass -was brought "with all the pomp and circumstance of a magnum of champagne." No charge was mado for it, possibly because no casual visitor had ever asked for it before. But in less gorgeous places of refreshment, where feelings were allowed more scope, the request for water was the subject of frank comment. At a railway buffet the Pressman purchased an inexpensive eatable, and attempted to help himself from tho polished water glass on the counter. Tho barmaid quickly stopped him, produced a second bottle from under tho counter, and gave him to understand that polished water glasses wero for ornament, and not for use. At a large city tavern the request for a gloss of water with a sandwicli was received' with amazement. The barman, after eyeing his customer suspiciously, produoed some from under the oountor, and when asked what the prioe was, said they could not charge for it. Both water and glass were, however, perfectly clean. At a resoxt much frequented by theatrical people in tho Strand the water was less innocent, but it waa supplied readily enough. Finally, at a West-End restaurant a request for the water bottle at luncheon was only granted after a quarter of an hour's delay, and when it arrived there were three crumbs in it. Lest any of our readers Bhould he tempted to baso too many ocr/elusions on this investigation, it may be mentioned that the consumption of liquor in England is decreasing.