The Star Delivered every evening' by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea. Waverley. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1913. A MINISTER'S MISTAKES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 6 September 1913, Page 4

The Star Delivered every evening' by 5 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea. Waverley. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1913. A MINISTER'S MISTAKES.

Through liis impulsiveness or lack of judgment, or both, Mr Fisher, the Minister of Marine, has more than once brought his colleagues 'into a position uncomfortably close, to discredit. His appointment of an unsuitable man to the Westport Harbor Board, in consequence of ignorance that was inex- | disable under all the circumstances, j has been so much before the public ! that it need not be specially dwelt upon" here; it is, perhaps, sufficient to remember that Mr Fisher himself has practically admitted that had he not been ignorant of things concerning which it was his duty to be informed for the occasion, he would not have made the appointment. But now, it would seem that he has committed an even more serious mistake in connection with the enquiry into the wreck of the steamer Devon. After the Court of Enquiry had formulated its finding, suspending the certificate of the master of the Devon for three months, the master's solicitor brought under Mr Fisher's notice the fact that one of the assessors —a pilot —had previously applied unsuccessfully to the master of the Devon for the position of j his coasting pilot from Auckland to Wellington. This, it transpired, had not been known to the Minister or Secretary of the Department, otherwise, presumably, the gentleman in question would not have been appointed as one of the assessors to enquire into the wreck. Nevertheless, the occasion for presumptive prejudice in the Court as constituted stood. Apart from this, the master's solicitor requested the Minister to grant a rehearing on still more tangible grounds, for he further "submitted that the finding of the Court that the Devon never came within the white sector of the Somes Island light was absolutely contrary to the evidence of all the witnesses who were called from the ship, and that it was not even suggested on behalf of the Department during the whole of the proceedings that the witnesses were not speaking the truth when they said that the vessel came and travelled for some distance within the white sector of Somes Island light." The Minister, however, refused the request for a rehearing, and, in doing so, pointed out that Captain Black, to whose appointment as an assessor exception was taken, was the member of the Court who had dissented from the finding with regard to the suspension of the master's certificate; so that, on all the grounds, it appeared to Mr Fisher to be "unreasonable to suggest that a rehearing should be ordered on the grounds that the tribunal was in any way prejudiced against Captain Caunce." This conclusion was, however, based on an inadequate consideration of all the facts, and especially of the vitally pertinent facts, as Captain Caunce's solicitor (Mr M. Myers) has. pointed out in a further letter to the Minister. "It is true (he says) that Captain Black dissented from that part of the finding of the Court which ordered the suspension of the captain's- certifcate, but before the Court was entitled to deal with the captain's certificate it was necessary to find, that the casualty had been caused by wrongful act or default of the captain. That was a condition precedent to the suspension of the certificate, and to that finding Captain Black was a party. It is that very finding that is objected to. Without it the certificate could not have been touched. Of what importance is it, therefore, whether Captain Black assented to or dissented from the suspension of the certificate if he assented to the finding on which the suspension is based? Consequently, to say that Captain Black dissented from the suspension of the certificate, begs the whole issue." In short, the Minister's words and actions are not logically warranted by the essential facts of the case, and he has made a grave mistake in refusing to grant a rehearing, as it has been shown that at the first hearing there had —though even only by accident—been one of those elements that clash with the settled principle and practice of British justice.