DESERTING SEAMEN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15923, 8 May 1912, Page 4

DESERTING SEAMEN.

AN AVENUE OF IMMIGRATION. UNDESIRABLES GAIN ADMISSION TO DOMINION. With all the precautions taken by tho State to ensure that people coming to the dominion from abroad shall be of a class that will be a benefit to tlfc country instead of a menace, there is still ono avenue through which n considerable number of undesirables gain admission. Tho avenue is provided by'the. ships trading to New Zealand from British and American ports. When a Homo liner is in New Zealand waters thero is always anxiety regarding tho members of her crew and her stokehold staff. It is well known that criminals, desirous of evading the punishment consequent to a breach of the law, often take to the stokehold as a means of eluding the police. Once in New Zealand they seek an opportunity to desert, so as to avoid returning to the country where arre.'t is awaiting them. In most of tho ports of the dominion desertions tako place, and the police aro frequently unable to trace these men. Speaking to a reporter yesterday, r. detective with considerable experience seated that the desertions of sailorr and firemen admitted more undesirables to the country than tho public thought. Timo after time when men were arrested for crime it was discovered that they were criminals whe had arrived in the dominion in the stokehold of some Home liner. Wellington and Auckland were the worst ports for the traffic,, because the proximity of the citv to the wharves made desertion from ships a comparatively simple matter. In Lyttelton the opportunities of escape were not so advantageous, but the country offered n haven. Descriptions of deserters were always given to country police stations. he said, and the opportunities afforded the police in the rural districts were better than in the cities, where a man’s trail was quickly loot.