MARINE CERTIFICATES INQUIRY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3777, 27 June 1899, Page 5

MARINE CERTIFICATES INQUIRY.

Whn the Premier and-Mr George Hutchison are found agreeing upon any given point, it may almost be assumed that they have got hold of the true aspect of a question or situation. Now, in recent public utterances, Mr Seddon and the member for Patca have shown surprising agreement in the matter of the “marine scandal.” Speaking at the Opera House last week the Premier expressed a high opinion of Captain Allman, and gave him credit for having resisted all corrupt influences after ho had made one false stop in the matter of Captain Jones’s certificate. Mr George Hutchison, in the course of his address at Auckland, also referred to the matter, and stated that in addition to the “confession” from which the Premier had formerly quoted, there was a second and later statement

i by Captain Allman in the hands of the Government which had not been quoted | from, and which would put an entirely j different aspect upon the case, and one more favourable to the captain. As the result of inquiries, we are satisfied that the fact is as stated, and that when the second document’s contents are disclosed it will be found that Captain Allman is not by any means so black as he has been painted. The fact seems to be that in the first document Captain Allman concealed part of the truth, in order to shield others who are probably a good deal more guilty than himself in the matter of improper conduct. The second statement was lodged after the captain found that his only rewards for his mistaken dismissal from the Government service and threatened criminal prosecution. This second statement will, we presume, bo laid before the Commission ; in fact there is some talk of its contents being disclosed prematurely through another channel—a course that would be perfectly justifiable if the facts it contains have the important bearing they are alleged to have upon the character and conduct of Captain Allman. There is another matter to which the attention of the Royal Commission should be pointedly drawn, in order that it may be included in the inquiry about to bo commenced. It is alleged in well-informed circles that among other “scandals” in the Marine Department there is one connected with the recent granting of a master’s certificate to a candidate whose certificate had been cancelled for gross misconduct. The records will, it is said, show the means by which he was allowed to go up for examination ; they will show whether the officials objected to this, on the score of the previous cancellation, and' whether direct authority was given, enabling him to be granted a master’s certificate, when in ordinary course he ought only to have been allowed to be examined for second mate’s certificate. If the facts are as alleged, his readmission might constitute a much more serious menace to the safety of the travelling public than the certificating of Captain Jones. The latter, though unable to pass tho written examination, is admittedly a skilled, experienced and reliable man, who could be trusted with the command of a vessel m the coastal trade. In the case of an officer who has lost his eerUiiqate through misconduct, it is a wise, provision that forbids his admission to the grade or captain until he has proved his reliableness by service in inferior capacities. It the New Zealand regulations contain sucli a provision, they would seem to have heen overridden in this, particular case;, ir they do not contain it, they ought to do so; in any case, the matter ought to oe inquired into by the Commission. The labours of that body ought .to be expedited in every possible way—firstly, in the public interest; next, in the interests of those officials of the department who may be under suspicion; and last of all, in the interest of Captain Allman. It may not be that the inquiry will result in the captain’s reinstatement, but it will, we feel certain, result in his rehabilitation in the popular 1 estimation, and his complete exoneration from all imputation of improper motives or corrupt conduct in his capacity of Chief Examiner of Masters and Mates.