LAW QUERIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3613, 12 June 1923, Page 43

LAW QUERIES.

(Answered by a solicitor of the Supreme Coati •4 New Zealaad. Letters and Telegrams must in* addressed to "1BI,” o/o Editor, Otago Witccss BuaUsJ “An Inquirer” asks: (1) Can a man who has been in prison for debt ever become a member of Parliament ? (2) Is he allowed a vote in future Parliamentary elections? Answers: (1) Yes. (2) Yes. “Old Subscriber.”—(l) The costs of administration would depend upon the amount of your estate and the nature of the work involved in administering the estate. (2) The charges would not be less, but probably more in the case of the Public Trustee administering the estate. “Havelock North.”—lf the roadway is a. public road, it will be under the jurisdiction of the Town Board, and you have no say in the matter. “Cook.” —If you are working under the provisions of an award, you are bound by the terms of tho award. Otherwise you are bound by the terms of the contract made by you with your employer when you accepted service. “A Thirty Years’ Subscriber.”—A’s proper legal remedy is to sue B for the amount owing to him for grazing. E. B.—You are entitled to the rent fixed by you on letting the premises. The tenant is evidently taking advantage of tho fact that you are a widow. Neither the tenant nor the Labour Otfice has any legal standing in the matter. “Inquirer.”—A member of the board should not be in the employ of the board on a salars'. D. H.—Under the Land Drainage Act, 1908, the county council has the necessary’power to construct drainage and other works on your land, but must give you one month’s notice in writing of its intention to construct the work. If you do not lodge an objection within one month the work may be proceeded with. If you cannot agree on the matter, the matter must be referred to the decision of a magistrate sitting with two assessors. “Billiards.”—(l), (2), and (3) A borough council or county council has power to make by-laws for ‘the defining, licensing and control of public billiard rooms and for the payment of reasonable license fees and prohibiting unlicensed public billiard rooms. (4) A borough council can take proceedings against a person for running an unregistered billiard saloon without first notifying the proprietor of tho necessity to register. “Interested.” —The county council has ample power to prevent haulage by motor lorry on a Toad which the council considers is unfit for heavy traffic.

“Widow.” —If the widow remarries she will forfeit her claim to the privilege granted her by the Railway Department. “Drover.” —In the event of an accident happening the drover would have a good defence to any claim for damages provided he complied with the provisions of the law and was not guilty of negligence. “Query.”—The circumstances stated in your letter would not be a sufficient legal defence to an action for breach of promise of marriage. A B C —The borough council cannot be compelled to take over the drain. If the owners of the four sections cannot come to terms in the matter, it is open to any occupier of a section to apply, under the Land Drainage Act, 1908, to have the drain constructed at the cost of the occupiers of the section.