THE OATH

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 49, 27 February 1923, Page 7

THE OATH

GETTING INTO DOMINION

REGULATION OF NEW ARRIVALS

"Hit it up! Hit it good and hard when you go back. You newspaper people can do anything." The speaker was a New Zealand business man with large and widespread interests in both Australia and New Zealand, and formerly a municipal councillor in one of the cities of the Dominion. The listener was a travelling journalist. The time the present; the place, Sydney. There was another business man, also with strong connections between the Commonwealth and the Dominion. He is mayor of a New Zealand borough, and a J.P.

Both of them strongly objected, they said, to having every time they returned to the Dominion to take an oath of allegiance. They had, they said, always been loyal, and they always would be so. The man was a fool to be otherwise while under the British flag. Both, however, wanted the oath and the "inquisitorial business" tu be done away with, the war being well over. The former added: "The influence of you Press people ig very great; therefore, hit it up, and hit it hard."

It was touching to find such an example of solid faith in the omnipotence of the Press, but it was thought advisable to point out that it had its limits; also that there may be sound political and police reasons for the action of the Government in requiring the oath and tabulated details of incoming people. The answer in both cases was to the effect that the police of New Zealand could, or should, have its own methods of knowing who were and who were not "desirables" for admission to the country. Now it is announced that the Government has decided to repeal the law which requires British subjects to take the oath.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the procedure of admission to NewZealand, it may be stated that a questionnaire has to be filled in on leaving, showing where one is going, what he is going away for, his age, name, occupation, and other information. This is done at the shipping company's office, and the company is made responsible. It does not want this work, so a representative of "The Post" was informed, having quite enough to do in arranging its own business of freights and passengers. When the passenger returns to New Zealand he has to fill in a lot of questions, and if he has been absent from New Zealand for twelve months he has to answer more, if longer than twelve months some more, if a newcomer altogether, very much more, including the maiden name of his mother, his father's name, the birthplaces of his parents; he has to detail the colour of his eyes and his hair and any birth marks, scars, tatoo adornments on his body, and any physical abnormalities.

No time is' wasted in filling out the papers, as they are distributed to landing passengers from Australia tho day before the ship arrives, and their filling in is a pleasant variant from deck quoits or bull-board. On board a steamer recently from Sydney the writer heard no objection made by passengers as to filling in these forms. Some Americans did not quite like being regarded as alien, but those who are familiar with the formalities of landing in the States will remember the inexpediency of throwing stones when one lives in a glass house. But in general, on the occasion referred to, no one grumbled at having to fill in the forms on board ship. The whole thing was taken as a merry little jest on the part of the Government, and it was let go at that.

The papers having been filled in were kept until the arrival of the Government officials next morning. They were handed up after medical inspection. This was a simple matter. The whole of the crew was lined by by the smoke room. It filed past the doctor; then followed, the passengers. "Hats off please,' shouted a steward, as if he were a court crier. The medical officer, apparently, can tell at a glance of the physical fitneoE r otherwise of passengers to enter the Dominion. He looks at them, ;-nd they at him, and they pass. Last year it was a much more elaborate business. Tl.e arms had to be held above the head, a thermometer was thrust into the i:..u;h tn dwell 'there until it recorded. Trie thermometers were passed from month t" m-.i.ch all down the line. It was dipped in a glass of what one fervently hoped was a very strong antiseptic, after each application. This year a mere medical glance suffices. That over there is the receipt of the forms and the taking of the oath. It all takes time and is done at the anchorage. It occupied one and three-quar-ter hours on the occasion referred to. Then came the landing and the inspection of the hand baggage by the Customs. It could have been done on the boat, as in England on vessels from the Continent entering the Thames or other seaport. It is done in the train in the case of the Cross-Channel services. The examination in Wellington was no perfunctory chalk marking. All depended on the point of view of the tistoms officer. He asked, "Have you anything dutiable to declare?" How strangers or even residents in New Zealand can be expected to know what items are are and what are not. dutiable in the Tariff, it is difficult to perceive; but most people know that scents, silks, gloves, spirits, cigars, tobacco, and furs are dutiable. But if any Cusoms officer liked to be unreasonably zealous he could make many an innocent passenger look silly if not actually guilty of smuggling.

As a matter of fact there is little or nothing that can be bought cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand, and vice versa. The Australian Customs officers seem to know this, for they generally take the passengers' word for it, and chalk the bag accordingly. Spirits are cheaper in Australia than in New Zealand, but beyond one bottle, who would care to smuggle in a hangbag half a dozen bottles of whisky? The saying would be small, the risk great, the weight all against the transaction.

But the contrast between lauding in Australia is most striking. It is all to New Zealand's disadvantage, possibly prejudice in the eyes of travelled people. The following is the exact and actually timed procedure from New Zealand to Sydney:—Steamer enters Sydney Heads and proceeds direct to berth. No medical inspection, no oath of allegiance demanded, no questions asked. Ship moors. Passengers land and pass straight to Customs and into taxi or hanaom. Time from mooring of ship to taxi, seven minutes. Time from anchoring of steamer from Sydney in Wellington to cab at wharf, anything from two to three hours.