BY THE WAY

Evening Star, Issue 26091, 3 May 1947, Page 10

BY THE WAY

(Written by X.Y, for the * Evening Star.’) Macraes Flat, which from our memory of it possesses several of the .characteristics of Snake Gully, in that it consists chiefly of a somewhat crooked main street, two pubs,, and a general store, surrounded by large quantities of tussock, a few trees, and fewer farms, is not without its moments of city life. After sleeping .peacefully among the local Hora since the gold strike of last century, of which the oldest inhabitant has a clear memory of Sergeant Bevan riding the main street in 1870 (or maybe ’75) ill charge of the gold escort, another escort appeared on the scene last week, according to Monday’s ‘ Star,’ consisting of a flying' squad of divers police sergeants and other ranks, all in uniform, but minus sword and carbine. Very rightly so, too, for tluv local operator of the bush telegraph informs ns that the horrid spectre of after-hours drinking had raised head in the hamlet, and,' if- unchecked, threatened to debaucii'all and sundry.

We are told that the search which: followed wbuld' have done the S.S. • considerable- credit—exits were ■ guarded, cupboards and the undersides of beds were inspected, and' the lieensee’svwife, peacefully ironing 'in the kitchen/was hard iput to demonstrate that she was not a farmer.in disguise. Four or five miscreants', caught in the act of consuming what passes for the Demon Rum these days, were numbered among the bag, and we think the matter is surely one for the Federated Farmers to take up. The fact is that it is. almost a patriotic duty for farmers to do their drinking after 6, p.m., when the light has failed. Otherwise production must certainly suffer if they take time off during the day to comply with the law. It is a serious 'question the men .of Macraes must pose themselves—to obey the longeared law or to save the world from starvation. Nelson once put the telescope to his blind eye, but he got a medal for it.

Notwithstanding the incomprehensible vagaries of electors brought to light by the investigations into the Raglan election, we , are making a mental note to get in early for a job at a booth on the. occasion of the next electors’ silly season. Apart from the emolument, which these days is not to be sneezed at, we feel eminently qualified from the point of view of impartiality, for it is most , unlikely that our particular, form of ipolitical aberration will , be represented at the jpolls. Further', we think we could do better than some officials we have coirie across, such as a middle-aged' lady we were told of, who presided' at a small suburban booth last November. Our informant, who has been a life-long supporter of the Right, and' is a fairly earnest citizen to boot, received' his papers from the .lady, with whom he was acquainted. To ; his horror' she whispered hoarsely, “ They’re. going out this time/’ Our friend positively glowed' with virtu© 36 u© told us that for the first and last time'lie cast his vote for the Wreckers. At tiie'risk of beingjdubbed Fascist, ive don’t mind letting readers-into our confidence tiy an exposition l of oui political views. Lt was the late Admiral Lord Fisher who. first gave ,us the clue. As an older generation" will remember, “Jackie” Fisher was not. overburdened with tolerance, and was frequently unable to very gladly manv "of his colleagues and superiors. A favourite maxim of his; was “ Never explain, and never apologise.” _On one occasion, when asked for his opinion of the War Office. and War Cabinet, his answer was a snarling “ Sack the lot,” This was really the start of ouipolitical awakening, arid with'tlie hope of attracting a few supporters we offer the suggestion that GodVs own. country; men, and, in fact, the United Nations iu general, could do worse than adopt Fisher’s advice, give members of all parties their conge, and in their stead appoint those, well-known discntanglers, Officer Crosby and Dr Mae., perform ou a local radio programme. They haven’t let us down yet. .

The actions of any number of people and organisations seem to us to be performed with a singular lack of humour. If anybody would like to argue the point, we

would just refer him to the appeal, more in sorrow than anger, of the/Seamen, Cooks, and Stewards’ Union to the resigning ships’ officers not to take any action which might wreck. the good ship New Zealand iu these ■ trQublous, nay, critical times. The appeal smacks of the old doctor’s prescription, that the patient should ' take not the example, but the advice, for if we ■ remember aright, «the'seamen, cooks and stewards in the past have not been backward in forwarding their own claims, and intaking such action as they. deeriied necessary i'pr enforcing them. Perhaps the seamen, cooks, and stewards’see A danger to the country in'tothers. following in their footsteps—that while one handful out of the bag will not -make any appreciable difference, a wholesale grabbing'by the herd is bound to, rouse the boss, The ships’ officers say they' found few friends at the conferencecalled, to discuss their- grievance,- and so far as" tjie seamen, cooks,Vetri., are concerned this" is - not surprising, for, -incredibly; the officers think they should receive riiore in .their pay envelopes than ‘the men- to whom they give the. orders. But. what leaves us flabbergasted, is that no one concerned sees anything funny in the appeal by -the men and Mr F. P. Walsh. : For us, it’s the laugh of the week;

The Bard had obviously not known anything of motor cars when he carelessly asked what was in a name, or he would have been aware that' it lav in the difference between 12 months' probation and three months’ hard labour. Mr Justice Callan, who has on occasions enlivened the affairs of his court with touches of wit as pretty as aii.y turned on % by. some famous predecessors, went to some trouble early in the week to explain to a jury th’e whys and wherefores .of the charge of conversion, which seems to be confined to motor cars. Aeroplanes may be included later, of course. It appears that, if a person borrows somebody else’s car without permission and leaves it more or less wrecked at the side of the ■road for the owner, to collect at his convenience, it is not theft, because the borrower does not mean to keep it. .The probable reason for merely borrowing it lies in the fact that motor care, being branded in various, .places with numbers which are ineradicable, and having their characteristics carefully collated in the registrar’s office, are not easy of concealment, and what the law regards as a slight virtue is sjinply dictated by force of circumstances. Learned judges are bound to administer the law as it is, and the law somer times appearing to be endowed witli four legs and long ears,- justice takes a holiday. One of these days a chagrined car owner, seeing the despoiler of his £BOO job being mildly reproved and told not to do it again, is going to convert, some judge’s razor, sharpen a few pencils, and cut his kindling with it, and then heave it over a bank on to the road, where it may later be found. And if Mr Justice Callan’s interpretation is. right, it. won’t be theft.