WELLINGTON TOPICS

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13815, 20 July 1918, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE COURTS DIFFER. MAGISTRATES AND JUDGES. Special Corresriintli'Dl.i WELLINGTON*. Friday. The Stipendiary Magistrates and the Supreme Court Judges arc not in agreement upon several eases that have lately attracted much attention in Wellington. The magistrate recorded onvietions in the notorious Kelburn case, in the alleged light weight butter case, and in the gambling on licensed premises case. The publL, ignorant of tlie law and apparently of the merits of the cases, warmly applauded these decisions, and "Wellington plumed itself on having developed the superior conscience. But now the Supreme Court has asserted its majesty and quashed the convictions, holding that the magistrate was wrong and that the defendants must go free. The zeal of the city for putting its house in order, as it imagined, has been sadly damped.

Betting—Not Gambling. The Only consolation that remains to the ardent reformers is that they now have an authoritative pronouncement to the effect that betting on horse racing is not gambling within the meaning of the Licensing Act. The Chief Justice. Sir Robert Stout, has consulted Webster's and Murray's dictionaries and has discovered that their definition of gambling does not include betting. Colloquially we talk of laying and taking odds as gambling, but really it is only betting, and if we gave the word a wider application, we should render the man who speculates on the Stock Exchange or buys land for a rise, subject to grave pains and penalties. The law truly is a subtle thing, even more difficult ;o understand than it is to obey.

Military Cairps. The message sent to the Minister of Defence by the Wanganui branch of the Returned Soldiers' Association stating that the conscientious objectors in the detention barracks are better treated than the men in camp, has given rise in some quarters to an impression that a large number of the man in training are dissatisfied with their conditions at Trentham and Featherston. As far as can be gathered from personal inquiries at both places, this is very far from being the ease, and the men themselves suggest that the Wanganui returned soldiers made the comparison merely to emphasise their opinion that the conscientious, objectors were being treated with more leniency than they deserved. This is the view .the Minister himself is inclined to take. The Eabbit Nuisance. The rabbit nuisance, which 30 years «go was the gravest peril menacing the pastoralists of the South Island, has lately assumed grave dimensions in the north, anil it was only natural that it should have received some attention from the conference of the Council of Agriculture yesterday. In discussing a motion to the effect that the Depart ment of Agriculture should take more drastic measures to suppress the nuisance, several speakers, including Sir Walter Buchanan, urged that the export of rabbit skins and preserved rabbits should be prohibited. People closely concerned in the subject have been urging this step for a long time past, believing that the profits made out of rabbits were delaying their destruction, and now the Council of Agriculture has taken the matter in hand, the Government may be expected to do something.