CHARGE AGAINST A SEAMAN.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 328, 15 October 1908, Page 4

CHARGE AGAINST A SEAMAN.

i'■' , : - . REMARKS BY THE MAGISTRATE. (BT TEI.KGBArn.—SI'ItCIAL CORRESPONDENT.) Auckland, October 14. After being remanded for medical observation, Frank Russell, a member of tho crew of tlio English Monarch, who had been arrosted on a charge of refusing to go into tho ship's hospital when ordered to do so, was again brought beforo Mr. C. C. Kettle, S.M.. at the. Police Court, yesterday. Sergeant Hendry, who prosecuted, produced ,a certificate from tho - gaol surgeon, certifying that he had kept Russell • tinder observation, and that ho was fit to appear in Court. Mr. J. K. Kncen, secretary of. the Seamen's Union, who had been requested to examine tho ship's hospital, said ho found that the accommodation would bo right onough provided a . medical officer, was carried, but not otherwise. He suggested that Russell should be sent back to Now York, the port at which lie signed on, as a sparo or distressed seaman, by the first vessel leaving. ' .'. The magistrate said he was not prepared to convict the man. on the evidence, and ho proposed to dismiss the charge, leaving it to the Seamen's Union to se'e that everything adequate was 1 done for tho man's comfort. From what- ho could see he was not fit to bo put into the ship's hospital without a doctor, and, in his opinion, it would be a cruel thing to do so. He would not be a party to' it. Sergeant Henry: He was under medical treatment when he refused to go' into this placo. He would have been attended on board by the port health officer as long as ho was in port. Tho Magistrate: The man would probably havo been taken away and buried at sea. Mr. Kneen: Yes, that has happened beforo. Tho Magistrate: In any caso, the man is entitled, even although ho is only a qommon seaman, to bo treated the same as any other human being. Mr. It. M'Neagh, appearing on behalf of the master, said tho man undoubtedly came within the meaning of a prohibited immigrant. The master was willing to take him back to his own country, and on tho voyage ho would not be expected to perform any duties. The caso was ordered to stand down, in order that some inquiries might bo made in the interim, the magistrate remarking that the man should never have been taken on the vessel at all. "Exactly," observed Mr. Kneen, "he has been put on board by some crimps, to get the blood-money that is all they care about."