THE AMOKURA INQUIRY.

Mataura Ensign, 25 April 1913, Page 2

THE AMOKURA INQUIRY.

GOVERNMENT'S INTENTIONS.

WELLINGTON, April 24. With regard to the recent Departmental inquiry into the alleged flogging of the boys on the training-ship Amokura,.and the demand that a public inquiry into the whole circumstances should be held, Hon. H. D. Bell (ActingMinister for Marine) made the following statement to a pressman to-day. "The Departmental inquiry by Mr Allport (Under-Secretary of Marine) has been held, Mr Maeassey. of the Crown Law Office, being present throughout. Full opportunity was given to anyone who desired to Iki heard, and many of the boys,, as well.as some of the public, gave evidence. I am satisfied that all tlie information necessary to enable the Government to deal with the matter has been obtained, and that no good end would be served by further investigation. There is no authority for the Government, any more than for any other person or body, to hold what has been called a public inquiry except through a Roval Commission. The purposes of a Royal Commission are to obtain evidences of facts, and to suggest remedies. The Government has evidence, and does not require su '-"extions as to the course it should adopt. Corporal punishment has been administered for serious offences since the training-ship was established, in 1907. The regulations have always left the question of punishment to the discretion of the commander of the Amokura. Corporal punishment will not be abolished as the ultimate penalty for serious offences or for repeated misconduct. It has hitherto been administered witli a rope's end on a boy's buttocks, the limit in most eases being six strokes and the, njaxinvum being 12. The evidence has disproved the assertion that cruelty or | undue severity ha. s been exercised. Tho | boys, no doubt, bear marks for some (days and in some very cases the skin | has Ik-en, slightly broken, but there is , no instance of a boy's being incapaci- ! tated from immediately returning to work after punishment. It is probable | that the boys themselves, like most ! other boys, would prefer corporal pun- . ishment to minor penalties of detention I and disrating which are imposed for orI dinarv offences, and this may have led |to more frequent application of the rope's end than was necessary for the enforcement of discipline on board. "No punishment has in any case been ordered by any other than the captain, and in every ea.'o of corporal painishj ment the captain him-self has inflicts! ; it. It is the intention of the Government by regulations to proscribe more particularly the offences for which corporal punishment may he inflicted, and (as in the case of the Education Department) to prescribe the nature of the instrument of mmislm.ent and tho number of strokes that may be inflicted. It is also the intention of tho Government to direct that in future corporal punishment shall not be inflicted in. the presence of tho whole ship's company as heretofore, but in the presence of one or two only. "As to the other complaints made, I they were all completely disproved, except that of the somewhat circumscribed accommodation, which is due to the small tonnage of the vessel. If either House of Parliament desires to consider the Departmental report the report will l>e laid on the table after the meeting of Parliament." ! OUR GIFT DREADNOUGHT. | A PROPOSED PRESENTATION. CHRISTCHURCH. April 24. ! A sufirestion contained in a recent I article in the 'Press' that tihe various centres of New Zealand should combine together to raise a substantial sum to provides worthy and permanent presentation from the people of the Dominion to their battleship, such, for example, as a complete set o; plate or gunnery shield, was brought under the notice of the Mayor of Christchuirh to-day. Mr Holland replied that efforts might be made to raise £2OO from the citizens in each <>f the lour centres tor the purpose of making a joint presentation. That would give a total of £BOO, and with contributions from smaller centres £IOOO at least should be raised. The movement had his entire sympathy. AUCKLAND'S MILK SUPPLY. AUCKLAND, April 24. The position regarding Auckland's milk suDivly is daily becoming more acute. The unusually dry weather is responsible for this and unless warm rain falls in the immediate future, prices, which were raised at the beginnirif of the week by the vendors, may be further increased. Croam is almost unobtainable. £l5O PER FOOT. AUCKLAND, April 24. A sale of city property took today. when a warehouse site in Fort street, with a frontage of 44ft sin by a dooth of 55ft lOin, was submitted to publio auction, and realised a price of £l5O per foot. MAYORAL ELECTIONS. NELSON.—Councillors W. W. Snodgrass and W. Lock have been nominated for Mayor. MOTUEKA.—Mr Simpson was reelected Mayor unopposed. MIRAMAR.—Mr Frederick Townsend was returned unopposed for the Mayoralty. KARORI.—Mr 0. Cathie was returned unopposed for the Mayoralty.