BREACHES OF DEFENCE ACT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 13093, 5 June 1913, Page 8

BREACHES OF DEFENCE ACT.

oft. "CONTEMPT OF COURT." <Per Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, Last night, j Twelve charges against Lyttelton ' youths of failing to render personal .sot- j vice in a, senior . eudet company were heard at the Lyttelton Police Court this = morning. One youth s-aid ho was al- ; ready a member of a Territorial hand, \ and another said that when he was j transferred to Christchurch he verbally 1 notified the Lyttelton commanding ofli- j cer of his transfer; and he was now serving in the Railway Department corps.' The charges were dismissed. 'Two other? ; stated that they wished to join tlie Ter- 1 ritorials, and had made application to do .°o. Three, others, who did not appear, j were fined 108 and costs, and five others j who promised to attend regularly in future were ordered to come up' for" sentence When called upon. Mr. Bishop, S.JL, remarked on tha absence from the Court of any responsible officer of the cadet company. A. sergeant-major had been entrusted with j the work of conducting th.3 cases, and the Magistrate remarked that the authorities had no right to place him in that position, as he was not in a position to know the details of the cases. In future, unless proper officers attended the Court tc* conduct these cases, he intended to dismiss the charges. It was not treating i the matter properly to entrust business %o a,. --aergeant-major who, after all. did his best and obeyed orders, but it practically amounted to contempt of Court on the part of .the senior cadet officers to bring these charges and not to appear in support of them.