DOMINION NEWS

Grey River Argus, 17 February 1945, Page 2

DOMINION NEWS

ART UNION PROCEEDS P.A. WELLINGTON, Feb. 16 The Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr. Parry) has approved of the proceeds of the recent “Christmas Stocking’’ Art Union, £10,718 17s 6d, being paid to the credit of the Promotion of Health Fund. TRANSPORT LICENSING P.A. AUCKLAND, Feb. 16 Information has been received in Auckland that Emergency Regulation fixing the expiry date of goods service and other transport licenses for three months after the duration of the war has been revoked and replaced by a regulation fixing the expiry date of all licenses under the Transport Licensing Act as March 2S of this year This means that it will, be necessary for all license holders to lodge applications for renewal of licenses As far as Auckland is concerned the date by which licences must be lodged has been fixed as March 14. Any operator failing to lodge an application and continuing business after March 28 will be trading illegally. MILLERTON DISPUTE SETTLED P.A. WESTPORT, Feb. lb The Millerton mine, which was idle yesterday because of a dispute resumed to-day, the dispute being settled. PLEA TO MURDER CHARGE NELSON, February 16. Legal history was made in the Magistral e’s Court, yesterday, when Alan Stuart James pleaded guilty to four charges of murder and one of attempted murder. This is the first time in New Zealand that a plea of guilty has been entered by a person charged with murder. It was only made possible by the amendment of the Crimes Act in 1941. It is laid down in the Crimes Act that “No one has the right to consent to the infliction of death upon himself,’’ and until the Act was amended in 1941 it was also stated that “every' person convicted of murder should be sentenced to death.” These two clauses made it impossible for a person accused of murder to plead guilty to the crime, a fact which is again indicated by the Justices of the Peace Act 1927. By the amendment of the Crimes Act which states that: “Every 7 person convicted of murder shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life,” the question of an accused person forfeiting his life does not now arise and the plea is taken as with any other indictable offence. LEVEL CROSSING FATALITY CHRISTCHURCH, February 16. Richard Treneary aged 70, of 60 Langdown Street, Waltham, died in the Christchurch Public Hospital lasi, evening as a result of injuries suffered when his car _was struck by a - train on the Stewart’s Gully railway crossing on Wednesday evening. HOTEL HOURS. NAPIER, February 16. The Hawke’s Bay Presbytery, at a meeting yesterday, resolved to protest against the Invercargill Licensing Trust’s action in seeking an alteration of the hours of trading in or<i?r to remain open from 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. In the Presbytery’s opinion, such an alteration would be a retrograde step, as the undesirable results of late trading were already well known throughout New Zealand. A copy of the resolution is to be sent to the inter-church- council on public affairs at Wellingtdn, and to the Minister of Justice. SUBSIDY FOR BUTCHERS P.A. WELLINGTON, Feb. 16. A subsidy of 15d for every £1 worth of meat coupons banked retrospective to November 1, 1944, is to be paid by the Government to retail butchers. Mr. Nash, Minister in Charge of Stabilisation, states the new scheme, which is to be administered by the Food Controller, has been evolved to keep retail meat prices at the existing levels, despite the increases in export meat schedules. The subsidy, based on coupon value, is related back to weight, and may be adjusted where necessary. For instance, a butcher may bank coupons giving him authority to purcrase 10,000 lbs of meat during this period. If he should only purchase 8,000 lbs of meat during this period ihe subsidy would be related to proportionately fewer coupons. Meat sold under permit, that is, sold direct to the consumer or local shipping, is to be brought within the scheme being converted back from weight to coupon value at an appro-

priate conversion rate, the subsidy to be paid accordingly. BOOKMAKER IN COURT WELLINGTON, February 16. Whenever h e won a large sum at bookmaking he could not resist betting an even larger sum himself, so that his attempt to recoup his losses were doomed from the start, said Mr. appearing for Leo Brooks, 4J, commission <Vgent, char o- - ed to-day with carrying on business as a bookmaker. Bedause Brooks was recently sentenced to three and a h 4 f 4d ai nnd n u th r char S es he was convicted and discharged. The nolice gave evidence of Brooks having a bedroom fitted up with a desk and an extension phono, and of considerable betting transactions. surname