SHIPPING PRECAUTIONS.

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13983, 20 November 1917, Page 8

SHIPPING PRECAUTIONS.

INTERESTING CASE AT TIMARU, At the Magistrate's Court nt. Timaru last week, the captain and Hid quarter-' master of an oversea vessel which was in port were charged, under the War Regulations Act, 1914, with having permitted a man to board the vessel' without .1 pass,- The information was laid under clause 3'of'the regulations affecting shipping, which' reads: "1! the master or : any member of the ship's crew permits any person to filler, or negligently fails to prevent any person from''entering, oji. board Hie ship, in contravention of thest regulations, lie shall 1)3 guilty of nil uftWe against the regulations and shall | bo'liable accordingly." *Tli(.» information, was laid by the police, and Mr J, F. Rolleston appeared for the defendants, who pleaded not . guilty. Evidence was led to Bhow that on .Sunday, when the vessel was at the wharf, many people sought admittance, and a specific charge was brought in respect of one man whom a police constablo said he saw go on. board without a pass. Only one man was guarding tlii! vessel's gangway—the quartermaster—and he said that he had not seen anyone go on bodrd without a pass, except people who were' friends \o( the crew or who wero taken on | board by the officers. If a man had got on board as alleged, he had slipped Iliy witness when hoi. had his back turned keeping the crowd back, The 'captain was away oii the day in qucsi lion, but had given instructions before he left that no one was to bo admitted without a pass, -Air Rolleston contended that the | captain could not bo convicted of aroffence of which he had no knowledge, lie was charged with "permitting" the 'breach, arid he could not "permit" something of which he knew nothing. As to the quartermaster, he could not jbe convicted. The police or the miliitary were to blame for failing to keep j a guard over the wharf, as was done 'in nil othqi' places. The police kept « guard when the ■vessel'was working, but absurdly left the wharf open to all land sundry at night time and on' Sun day, If the wharf had been kept clear, the quartermaster' would hnv'o had m difficulty, in dealing with tlio crowd 'at the ship's side. ...•*' • ■ The Magistrate said'he worild dismiss the information, There had, he said, been laxity on the part of the authorities in failing tb keep a guard over tho wharf,' Thoro- were military police in Timaru who had very little to do, and when an oversea vessel was in port-their time could be profitably employed in guarding tho wharf, In the course of the hearing, .the chief officer of the ship said that'he issued passes jis thev, chief officer did on other ships.; The Magistrate said that chief officers had no right to do this, as passes could only bo' given by n military authority, tho owner, master, or agent of the ship, •' ■ ' The quartermaster was asked why . he did not stop those people who had no passes, but who wore taken oir by officers, of tho ship. The witness replied liint he did'not stop them becauso he had no right to do so, The Magistrate told him that he had every right to do so, having been told by the captain to lot no ono on board without a pass. If,tho captain had tried to admit anyono without a pass he could have stopped him. ' Tt transpired that about 250 passes ' were issued for tho vessel while it was ] at Timaru, and on boing tqld that tho ' tickets were not collected after use, the Magistrate, said they " ought, to ' have been, otherwise they might get into all sorts of undesirable hands. Tho quartermaster concerned in tho ( case was in tho, cngino-room of the ] Tnrakina when that ■ vessel was to;- r pedoed. ' , , *