BREACHES OF AWARDS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 9, 21 December 1910, Page 5

BREACHES OF AWARDS.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I am enclosing letter which : has been refused publication by the i Daily Telegraph. In the interests J of justice and fair play, I shall esteem it a favour if you can find space for same in your valued columns. —I am, etc., H. G. MILBURN. I ; The Editor, i Daily Telegraph, Napier. I Sir, —According to the figures of i your leader in to-night’s paper, the , breaches of awards all over New I Zealand for the .three quarters i'total 413, of this total Hawke’s Bay has 106, or over one-fourth of the whole, although the population of ■. Hawke’s Bay is less than oneI twentieth of the whole of the Do- ‘ minion. Of the fines, which total ■ £561 17s for the whole of the Dominion, Hawke’s Bay, with her less than one-twentieth of population, accounts for £156, or considerably over one-fourth of the whole. To give another view of the. case, Hawke’s Bay, with a population (according to last census) of only some forty-six thousand, is practically convicted of the same number of breaches of award as the Auckland Province, with 280,000 people. Wellington Province, with 195,811 people, can only account for 87 convictions, with fines of £ll9 16s whereas unfortunate Hawke’s Bay, with 46,111 people, holds the proud

position of 106 convictions and £156fines. If taken on a population basis the comparison is still more glaring as regards Hawke’s Bay; and the remaining provinces. > Now, sir, here is another nut for you to crack. * Out of the total number of 409 cases of breach of | award brought in the other pro-? vinces. only 307 convictions were; recorded, whereas in Hawke’s Bay out of 112 cases there were actually: 106 convictions. In other words, one-fourth of the total cases brought before the Courts in other provinces were dismissed, hut before our S.M. less than 6 per cent, were dismussed. Now, sir, I have no doubt that you will attempt to crack this nut by arguing that this only goes to prove that in our present local inspector we have a particularly talented and conscientious man, but I think that the majority of the public who follow these matters will conclude that the reason is to be found elsewhere, viz., that our S.M. has a particularly sympathetic ear ,for the Inspector, and that many convictions are recorded in trivial cases which would be dismissed in the other provinces. I therefore contend that your contemporary was more than fully justified, in drawing attention to a matter which is becoming common comment, and the figures taken on a population basis are even more glaringly unsatisfactory than appeared from the article which you criticise. At a future date, with your permission, J shall return to the subject and give comparative figures as regards the number of persons engaged in industries in the various provinces and the number of convictions for breaches of awards. In the meantime, as for some time past, I am collecting cuttings from the papers of all convictions in this province for breaches of awards, for which at some future date I have no doubt that I shall find a use.—l am, etc.. H. G. MILBURN. ' Hastings.