WHO PAYS?

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10523, 26 February 1920, Page 5

WHO PAYS?

RAILWAY DEPARTMENT SUED

REFUSAL TO -MEET A SHUNTER’S HOTEL BILL.

A caso of a typo not usually mot with was heard by Hr Justice Edwards in tho Supreme .Court yesterday, Tho caso was taken under tho Crown Suits Act, 10GS, was a petition to tho Crown by Annie Bruits Bakor. licensee of the Clarendon Hotel, Palmerston North, to secure to her the payment of an account which sho said was owing by the New Zealand Railway Department, and which had remained unpaid for about a year. The papers filed m tho caso stated that Shunter McDonald, of tho New Zealand railways, his wife and his child, boarded and lodged at Hie Clarendon Hotel, at tho request of the Railway Department, from November 10th, 1913, till February 12th, 1919. The bill totalled £7O 17s fid. On March 22nd, 1919, Mrs Baker applied to tho Railway Department, for payment of tho account, and she had made other applications since then, hut. no payment had been made. Therefore, she petitioned the Crown for tho .payment of the money.

Mr C. H. Treadwell appeared for Mrs Bakor and Mr J. Preudeville for the Crown. TRANSFERRED AND NO HOUSE AVAILABLE.

In opening the case, Mr Treadwell said that part of the claim had been paid, and that payment of tho balance had been refused. Tho arrangement that Baker should stay at the Clarendon was originally made with Mr Henry Baker, the husband of tho petitioner. Air Baker had since died and had left tho whole estate to Mrs Baker, who was. solo executrix.

Evidence was given by Edward John Baton, farmer, Mangaweka, who said that in October, 1918, he was stationmaster’s clerk in tile Railway Department at'Palmerston North, and he ro■meffiberVcF McDonald’s transfer from Dannovirkc .to Palmerston North in that monthl' McDonald went to see him ’about accommodation and • said that ho was staying at the Clarendon Hotel, which was the only reasonable place at which ho could obtain lodg» inas. .Witness asked' McDonald to obtain a. house as quickly as possible and said that they department would nay reasonable expenses for the time he was unable to get a house, and that the proprietor of the hotel could render his accounts for the department’s approval. HOUSES UNOBTAINABLE.

When the first account, ono for ten guineas ivas presented 'witness had a conversation with Mrs Baker’s son and asked what charge the hostel was making for boarding McDonald. Mr Baker replied that the charge was two guineas. .Witness said to Mr Baker that ho thought the charge rather high and Mr ..Baker said that because Mrs Baker who was an invalid, required extra attention, an extra charge was made. On one occasion Mr Baker, on witness’s advice, communicated with the head office of the railways in Wellington, and was informed that «to account would he paid. Subsequently advice was'received from Wanganui, which was Palmerston North’s head office, that the account should not bo rendered fortnightly, but should bo sent in at the conclusion of the service rendered by the hotel-keeper. He remembered other cases in which board-ing-house keepers rendered accounts for the upkeep of railway-men and their families, and he hud rarer heard of tho accounts being repudiated To Mr Prondcvillc: Mr Baker had no doubt that the department would pay. but worried about tbe deiw. Mr Treadwell: Did you satisfy yourself that McDonald could not get a house ?

Witness: Yes. It was a well-known fact that houses were not obtainable in Palmerston North at tho time. THE HOTELKEEPER’S STORY. Douglas Baker, son of the licensee of the Clarendon, said that tho clerk at tho railway station told him in the presence of the stationmaster that tfio Railway Department would pay McDonald's board. He knew that McDonald looked for a house. Subsequently Wa-. nganui informed him that the account would have to be reduced and that McDonald would have to pay part of it; also that if McDonald refused to do this he would have to pay the whole amount. Witness had come to Wellington about the matter and had asked if the account would be paid. Tho reply was; “Yes, as soon as we fix up with McDonald, from whom we want a reasonable allowance.” He had never received payment of the amount. John Francis McDonald, formerly a railway shimter and now an employee at the wool works at Woolston, said that when he was transferred to Palmerston North it was Show Week. Ho was unahlo to get accommodation at several places, hub at length got lodgings at'the Clarendon. He informed tho clerk at the railway station where ho was staying, and the clerk said that ho would arrange with Mr Baker about the matter. His transfer was not at his own request, but at the department’s. He had been unable to get a house while he was in Palmerston North. Ho' understood that the d% partment advertised unsuccessfully for houses. PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES. On previous occasions when ho was transferred he had nob paid his accounts, but had allowed tho people to whom the amounts were owing to send in their own account. When ho was transferred to Dannevirko the department paid hi's account up to something under £2O. • Mr Prendoville: What length of time did that cover? Witness; Three or four weeks. Mr Prendoville: Was not your transfer on promotion? —Yes. Air PrendeviUe: And‘you accepted tho promotion? —Yes. Witness said also that w-hile he was in Palmerston North, his furniture was lying in tho railway yards in two trucks. , Other railway employees .staying at the Clarendon were paying at tlio same rate as ho was being charged. DEPARTMENT PAYS A £99 BOARD BILL. John David Vaughan MeCleary, who for eight years was a shunter in the Railway’ Department, and who has just left as a result of an accident, said that at various times he had been transferred, and that the department had always paid tho accounts for hoarding him and his wife and four children. One account amounted to £25 19s (id an another to over £99. Tho hitter was for 19 weeks hoard in Wellington at five guineas a week. He

know of other somewhat similar cases, and it was the practice for the department to so pay such accounts. In introducing the case for the defence, Air Prendoville said he would contend that no contract had been mado between Air Baker and the department. Tho department was not in tho habit of making arrangements such ns this case disclosed. Neither tho stationmaster nor tho shunter had power to bind tho department. His Honour: The department should have let 'the hotel-keeper know that it did not intend to pay AlcDonald’s account, or it should have deducted the money from his wages. Air Prendoville mado some further observation. His Honour: "What does the publican know about that? Ho does not know the regulations. It is purely a question of whether he was led into giving this man board ana lodgings by the officers of tho Railway Department. JUDGE THINKS ACCOUNT SHOULD BE PAID. Charles Frederick Day, stationmaster at Wanganui, said he was stationmaster at Palmerston North in 1918 when McDonald was transferred there fpom Dannevirke. Ho did not arrange for AlcDonald to bo accommodated at tho Clarendon Hotel, nor did he authoriso_ Ilia staff to do so. He did not hear lus clerk tell Air Baker that the department would ho responsible for McDonald's accourtb. William P. Williams, assistant district traffic manager, "Wellington, said ho was in charge at • Wanganui in 1918. In November, 1918, a claim for two weeks’ board for AlcDonald was presented to him. As he could only certify for one week's hoard ho sent the account on to tho general manager. A second account for ten guineas was returned to Palmerston North for further particulars. This concluded the case. His Honour. who reserved judgment, remarked that he thought the account ought to be paid.