SMART WORK

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 January 1923, Page 7

SMART WORK

LABOUR OFFICIAL’S STRATAGEM

A smart piece of work recently on .. the part of officials of the Department, of Labour resulted'in the colters of the New Zealand Treasury being enriched by the recovery of a couple of lines (says the Wellington “Post ’). Action was taken on the West toast against a number of men for an infringement of the anti-strike provisions of the Arbitration Act, and small penalties were imposed by the Magistrate* Two of the defendants, however, determined that they were not going to pay the lines, and that they would make a sudden departure for Sydney. Ihe case against these two men was heard on a Friday, and on the next day the head office of the Labour Department at 'Wellington received prompt telegraphic advice from its representative on the West Coast that the men were going to leave on the following Monday from Wellington for Sydney. 1 The sailing of ttie vessel was delayed until the Tuesday, but an officer of the Department, accompanied in an unofficial capacity by a detective, kept an eye on the vessel in order to pick up the two iflen. The chief difficulty, however, was how to identify the men if they were passengers, because no description of them had been given at all, and they were entirely unknown to the officer of the Department. Just previous to the departure of the vessel ■word was received that two passengers bearing names corresponding to those of the “wanted’’ men were on board, and that they had got there by some others means than the gangway. Here was a problem for the Labour Department official and the detective. They did not know their men and they wanted to recover the amount of (.lie fines imposed on the Coast. 'Then the official of the Department had something in the nature of a brain wave. Noticing two men sitting on the deck, the official and the detective hid in an alleyway, and then suddenly the official shouted out the name of one of the men who had been fined. It was purely a shot in the dark, but the stratagem worked to a nicety, for the man at once responded. Before he knew ■what had happened he was bundled into a cabin and informed that as he was one of the two who had been lined he had better pay up right away or have his passage to Sydney cancelled. At first he contended that there must be some mistake, but after a while he-admitted that he was one of those who had been fined, and without any more ado he agreed to pay the line to the Labour Department officer rather than miss his trip. Enquiry was then made about his mate, and it was suggested that the amount owing by the latter had better be paid at the. same time in order to avoid any further complications. To the surprise of the officers of the law, the man decided to pay his mate's line as well, and square up matters with him afterwards. The money was accepted without hesitation, and as the officer and the detective walked ashore while preparations were being made to cast off the ship’s mooring lines, they heard dire maledictions being uttered about what would happen at some distant time to the New Zealand Department of Labour.