GERMAN YOUTHS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 72, 22 September 1939, Page 6

GERMAN YOUTHS

SHIP DESERTION

QUESTION IN HOUSE

The suggestion that two German sailors who deserted from their ship at Auckland had received better treatJment than an English deserter was made in the House of Representatives this morning, but it was explained that ithe apparent lenient treatment had been due to their extreme youth. j Mr. H. S. S. Kyle (National, Riccarton) asked the Minister of Justice ! (the Hon. H. G. R. Mason) if his at- | tention had been drawn to a report of ! the trial of three men who had deserted from their ships at Auckland. One was a Britisher and two were Germans, and the Britisher had been i sentenced to twenty-one days in prison while the Germans had been convicted and ordered to, come up for sentence when called upon within two years. Did the Minister agree with such preferential treatment for Germans? he asked. The Minister said he had not had sufficient time to look into the case and could only speak from recollection of the reports. His recollection was that the Germans had notV been imprisoned because of their extreme youth. He- agreed that it was inadvisable to send youths to prison if it could be avoided. Rising to a point of order, the Acting Prime Minister (the Hon. P. Fraser) asked if it was the prerogative of any Minister to say whether or not he agreed with the decision of a Magistrate. Magistrates should be I free from. Ministerial influence. The Speaker (the Hon. W. E. Barnard) said that he had been doubtful about allowing the question, but it appeared to raise a question regarding the administration of justice, and that was a matter for the Minister. Mr. Fraser agreed that that was so.