PASSPORTS

New Zealand Times, Volume XL, Issue 9210, 2 December 1915, Page 4

PASSPORTS

WORKING OF NEW SYSTEM. A WARNING TO TRAVELLERS. “No traveller should leave this conn* cry tor any place further afield than Australia without having first obtained a passport through the Do|iartmeus of Internal Affairs,’' said the Hon. G. W. Russell, Minister-in-Chargo »of the Department, yesterday. ” Persons who neglect this precaution under present conditions are matting trouble for themselves and the trouble may be of a rather serious character. Most of the civilise-d world is at war now, and the conditions prevailing are not those of times of peace. “bomo people have a tendency to confuse the passports with the permits required to oo obtained by men leaving this country. The documents are not the same. A passport is a docu- ' ment which bears witness to the identity and nationality of the person 5 to whom it has been issued. The new imperial regulations demand that ■ every person who wishes to land in. the United Kingdom should have a passport. The rule applies also to Egypt and some other points. The passport is of very great assistance to travellers even in America. The permit issued by the New Zealand Government to men who are able to show good reason for wishing to leave our . shores just now is another thing altogether. A man may possess a passport and still not bo allowed to leave New Zealand until he has secured a permit.” The Minister added that the arrangements made by the department for the issue of permits and passport* wore working smoothly, ana he did not anticipate any difficulty in the future. A rush of applications at some particular point might cause a little delay, but he and his officers bad tried to provide adequate mschinery for the effective operation of the new regulations. He mentioned that many of the applications received for permits were still being ■declined, owing to the inability of the applicants to show good reasons why they should leave New Zealand at the present juncture.