OFFICIAL ZEAL

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30186, 18 July 1963, Page 15

OFFICIAL ZEAL

(New Zealand Press Association)

PALMERSTON NORTH, July 17. “Officialdom can reach great heights,” said Mr D. G. Sinclair, S.M., when the Transport Department brought four charges against a Wanganui firm of fruit and vegetable carriers, in the Palmerston North Magistrate's Court today. For the defendant, Fruit Wholesale, Ltd., Mr J. C. A. Thomson said the firm had a licence to convey fruit and vegetables from Whakarongo, near Palmerston North, to the market at Wanganui, but the Transport Department determined that the back-loading of the empty cases was not covered by the licence. The defendant had applied for a temporary ex-

tension of his licence, which the Transport Authority had approved. Some judges, said Mr Thomson, would consider the offence a technical and venial one. The Magistrate: You think the empty cases must go by rail? The traffic officer said the licence permitted the cases to be carried when full. There were firms in both Wanganui and Palmerston North whose sole licence was for the carriage of empty cases. The Magistrate: You would not expect them to run parallel with the defendant running empty. Officialdom can reach great heights. The defendant will be ordered to pay costs only on each charge.