TIME PAYMENT SYSTEM

Taranaki Daily News, 5 August 1931, Page 3

TIME PAYMENT SYSTEM

EXTENSION TO FINES. DEVELOPMENT IN SYDNEY. Sydney, July 23. In these times of depression the request, “Time to pay, Your Worship,” nearly always follows the imposition of fines at the Sydney central and suburban Police Courts. The system of paying fines by instalments has attained to greater proportions than ever. Of course, time to pay has always been granted in police courts, but the requests have beceme a deluge. To-day, about 95 per cent, of the Police Court fines are paid by instalments. The person who has been fined £lOO for sly grog-sell-irm is not more anxious to obtain terms than the fruit, barrowman who .-has been fined, half a crown for loitering along the pavement - with his barrow. At & suburban court the other day two persons were fined £lOO and 2s respectively. Each man asked for, and obtained, time to pay. In the latter case a week was allowed in which to pay the two shillings. If, at the end of the seven days he is unable to pay, he will be called upon either to serve his 24 hours imprisonment or interview the chamber magistrate,-who-is clotjied with discretionary powers to refuse an extension or extend the time for payment. . One of the chamber magistrates in the suburbs has an honour system which has been found very successful. Cases have been known ‘ in which men, whose chief weakness was drink, have pawned their clothes to raise money to pay Court fines on the dates arranged. - When the barrowmen’s War was at its height, it was no unusual thing for barrowmen to be brought 'before the Courts two and three times a day and fined for loitering.. Time to pay was obtained, and at the end of a month a barrowman owed probably £lO or £l5, the alternative for non-payment being about three days? imprisonment, all sentences being concurrent. It was only when some of the bari'ojvmen elected to “clean the slate by serving the three days in prison that the authorities woke up to the fact that a march had been stolen on them. For some time afterwards, magistrates frowned on applications for deferred payment. ’ , A former member of Parliament, wao also attained to Ministerial rank, stated a few days ago that one of the things he was expected to do was to obtain remission or reduction of fines imposed on his constituents.