CASE OF MR. JOHN STEVENSON RAILWAY STATION MASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11150, 24 August 1899, Page 5

CASE OF MR. JOHN STEVENSON RAILWAY STATION MASTER.

PETITION TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY. m following is a copy of the petition to ™ °™ fal l" 'I'® Speaker and members ° the House of Representatives in reference to the case of Mr. John Stevenson, Auckland jjil'M stationmastei, who had been reduced ml' 7 nmi ran ! c ' antl transferred to tlio Bl ™, lor a technical breach of the railway regulations, and who .11 consequence had resigned as a protest against what lie deemed ™ injustice which had been done to him. He following is the text of the petition, and it was being signed yesterday by the leading "'ins of Auckland:-

To the Speaker and Members of the House representatives in Parliament assembled. i,',i me undersigned merchants of AuckHol. reby 1111111 bly ' 16titioil - vuur honourable House to recommend the Hail- . tJepartment to reconsider their decision te fa" I? J1 '- Stevenson. the sluioiianil do ." ! "d, whose summary removal couiit of ■ lu f s him ordered on »<■■■ 'tsulatimis J, mcal brßMh of the railway 1» has S, ■ n a* Stevenson, during the time '» be a cwfl i , an ~' . luis P roved himself appears in , a '! d , efllc , lent offl<; °- and it ciently vimlil 1 / e , law Would he sufflserved b v , t ' an<l , the end 3of Justice colony b 5 „ retai', e H,« WhlCll WoUld permit the ami faithful 1 «!.- . sen ices of a trained House win spp fit That your Honourable earne-t ™!m.V 0 Biv ? the matter your humble iictfthfners. 0 ' S thE Prayer ° your ill°'' Vi ! , V" mi ] ,ary ° tlie faCts of tho . i appended to the petition: — fc&i J " ly Jlr 'Stevenson, sta-hilf.n-.-j r -Auckland was informed about loai P :;! ; n I r ° clock , l ) m - by Mr. Owen, ' had fir, i" "i ' " lat 'he engine of train fetal, " / 0 ";" nt Te Pa P«Pa, a short Wo 111 m 0ll(, ,un t' a - As a train had to five oVir" l T Bll r Aucklancl a' half-past BBirinn „ ' ™ necessar to*send a special iterator? it°? n i as , p0BS '' ) ' and Mr. Owen Vfhiln ii a v le should got an engine ready isrv J7l s . latlHlln iaster obtained the pieceswho "J" I >' to send it from Mr. Hamann, n ,'- on 'v'," occasion, controlled the train j - & » Stevenson then rang up Mr. I forrnni n '.. an , ce ' vc( ' authority, under the train V, y '" c ' ear >" '° despatch the to ' ,'.™ was accordingly sent off at once. )l I U1 g f 1 ' 8 Mr. Stevenson was twothro,'. I 61 ! 1 ' 0 ' ,"' at f ' lo '' no was e ' ear right that ft, 10 breakdown, "d he also know en • e sta 'iomnastcrs ahead wero aware in t® 6 | coming, and that in short there tun* • the remotest chance of an accident ppening. But he overlooked the fact that engine was to run under " line clear" rctkn "i" »cl' required advice to be telerec.° . 1(1 Newmarket station, and a reply this" before starting the engine, and in of ay ' le comm '" et ' the technical Lreach bro h ® P art P l ental regulations which tow l U) ° 11 '" nl ' , ' le Eevere sentence we ~, a . sli to have reconsidered. Had the caw onty gj ven > as " frequently is in a. 3 °' emergency, under the formula iro u' i?' a " ' ra ' ns >" Mr. Stevenson's action it ii ! ' )eel) blameless, as in that event Would not have been necessary to idvise Mr°Si ilontla morning at nine o'clock, ha i l enson and Mr. Owen reported what iw • ? ( ' onn '° " le traffic manager, who '■ jointly with Mr. Biss, the resident en- » oer, and Mr. A. V. llacdonald, the loco,ii lve engineer, instituted an inquiry, and en sent their joint report to Wellington. . '"r sentence thereon passed by the Departtint"' graded Mr. Stevenson from first-class wnmaster, with salary ot £250 pei annum, ot fojn 6 ' 10llse ' to second-class, with salary his MaO and house allowance of £35; barred ; tnr^ P |°( mo '' oll ' or ' wo years; ordered his ieji S , rom Auckland to the Bluff, with th ° ■ £45 .t' ,a t his annual income was reduced ■■ lim', Wou 'd require 10 or 15 years to bring ■in .i!'' 1 , ," le s ' at us he had attained; and, I from ! • il 0ll ' ( l lie compelled to retire 'of I,- w rvicc in which lie had spent 26 years s tarl.'o,, e ' anc ' ' r which he had become at- % inasm,, i S one , w ' lo ta ' ies P r 'de in his work, t fJt„. a i tke state of '" own health (Mr. ■' the bo„?!i , V 11 1? suffered from pleurisy) and < fo, ].• J 1 °' hi family made it impossible there wnnSl 1° ,'•? " 10 where, besides, ?■" for his c iv little prospect of employment X hand tlm T? au ßlitors, while on the other ■■ol an avr, ®P ar '® e nt would lose the services \il 'ailwav Jrc tl - 0 , nce officer, whose oareer as a life, 'a ; Cl , BOuld in effect be blocked for coiivpv ii 009 so . severe would necessarily '? toust iio„l. e lmpre . lis ' on 'bat Mr. Stevenson f®ce u.i, n Comi ! l , l d Bom very grave ofCitl cS w? ( , the leohnical fault he M v was the outcome oi over-zeal,"-