PLAY IN STREET

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22476, 21 July 1936, Page 6

PLAY IN STREET

! KICKING OF FOOTBALLS f; MELBOURNE PROSECUTIONS REWARDS PAID TO POLICE ?. ii _ [from our own correspondent] , MELBUURNE, July 15 j; The discovery that policemen earned J 1 '£l27 in rewards in the year ended (; June 30 for detecting small boys playj! ing football in the streets has led to an I' outcry in light-hearted vein against f| the continuance of the system, ij The revelation was made in the LegisJ 1 lative. Assembly by .'Mr. T. Barry, who represents in the Labour interests the |j crowded inner suburb of C'arlton. Hell plying to his inquiry, the Minister in Charge of Electrical Undertakings, Mr. < Old, said that in 1920 the State Electricity Commission arranged with the !; Chief Commissioner of Police to pay to members of the force in the metropolij' tan area a reward of £1 tor convictions >j obtained in respect of ollenders against !; its works protection regulations, which made it an offence to kick a football »' or other ball to more than loft, above t!. the ground within 50yds. of any por- !; tion of. any electric line of the coins' mission. Rewards up to £2 were paid J; to policemen in country districts for similar convictions obtained. Mr. Old Bubmitted a list, showing that the "topis scoring"' constable last year had been ij paid £l7. "It is ridiculous to think that polieemen should receive rewards of £1 for !j prosecuting little boys when all the '[ murderers and hold-up men remain to be caught," said Mr. Barry, amid cries of "Hear, hear" and "Shame." He saul ; that he could appreciate the action of if the State Electricity Commission in i: making the offer, but he could not ii appreciate the action of the Police Department in accepting it. The money ii that the commission was prepared to ;i pay might be better spent in providing playgrounds, which would reduce the [1 peed for small boys in crowded suburbs 'j playing football in the streets. X *