LOWER COURT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1993, 25 February 1914, Page 4

LOWER COURT.

| DISCHARGE OF A TALLY CLERK.

fl POSITION TESTED.

\<l '1 fi ♦ ' ' SOME LIGHT ON THE NEW UNION. g'A civil's,caso vfro'm:;'' the dismissal of "tivjally..clerk, was heard.beforo Me W. G.' s ßiadeH, ! ' S.'M'.,' at the' Magistrate's Court yesterday. The partics' were Rowland Thomas Bailey, Inspector of Awards (plaintiff), and Bannatyne and Co., agents for the Anchor Steamship and Foundry Co., (defend-, ants). Mr. Young appeared for Ban-' natyite and Co. , iTh'e inspector claimed to recover £25 as , penalty for an alleged breach of Section CfQt :of "the Industrial' Conciliation and Arbitration Act-'Amendment Acty 1908. It", was,- -aileged j, that; on December 23, 1913, Banhatyne and Co. had in their employment as,.:i .tally : clork ono E. V. Fiucard, ;.sivdf that;"they "dismissed him becausej'he was president of the Tally Clerks I 'tUiiibli;: , ■■In setting-,;cmt,;his case; tho?lnspector . of, Aw'ardsjmeiitioyed tliat tho casfywaa, ' aV- fir, as Tifckiiaivi 'ihe.'first- of -its -kind in' Wellington* ' .'During' tlio- industrial tui'ftioil had issued aii ultiniatum..lo tho effect that no body of worlftr^tfotild'bej'recognised .by theni '; tibnVAct.iand'J'Anicu.dineut;' rAct. 1 ; ;• The tally clerks,': theroUpoiv l ;to.ok ; ,tho:'. necessary. steps to form it 'Himon.;;;V-.;Tliis union was formed: and registered«-.on December 11. 011 December 23, FouM|d; was-engaged by Bannntyno and Cfr. J.to work one of their ships. Ho started at 8 a.m., but soon after 9 o'clock Mr. Nathan (of the defendant company) - him. la,tor„ from ttie Ollivcr ''was to taKo: over ;j)pMcar|J'.B'<'bp6ks, i»Ho (tls& inspector)! h&J/ibjjjen 'iiiiablo !tp'.!lobtajji* a satisfa&t^l{y!i4'a.teiiieYit'UiVtQ.'the reason for thejclistnissal, !,i\ «Foucard sta,teft,niii hail Seen enga'gdtl.' Nikiu '011 thij 'morning of .C;,Tlie , iVas engaged by Jlri-Miln,i f aiid'workedr'for aboijt an hoifr) andi-ajhiilfj returned with! iOjUiyef,- v «-anotliei ? cldjk,- aud tel'd givo- 011iver,!lii3 bqoks. ~ \% ■To, Mr. YonJ^'S^i^fee^jf 5 ? ployed, by Cof during' the strike. : ThoijuniorKiliti'd no award as'yet, and.it, iojiiprisojiEless' than, half tho tally clerkSfW-Soj'kiu'g'ohjthe wharves. Hg had not itojd 'SleSsysi-Bannatyno' and Co: ithat-jlie/wSs' president' of .tho-. union,; but pit .was :.'cpmmo)i : gossip,'"and,' be,. sifleSj -to !th<s and.the business TO;repoS(fd(|! - '-tally "clerk, employed; principally fiy" Barai'dtyiie ,and. Co;,' said; : tliaitSon the 23hhr.e r . ,lidd:engageel Foucard'Sfof the Nikau'.An hour" later lie tflld. Foucard that he was "to go off. 011iye'r" : would take his ))luce. Witness had-really 110 authority to icngago tally clerks, but it happened tlrgt; l on i^( ;p9?9fag il 'p l ,3jttesj!i<!n, :,h'6; he took it lipon himself -to' employ..Foucard.•.. ... „ i Mr. YoiiVig : J "M'r'; ''•'Wright, "'shipping clerk, engaged all tally clerks,,for.tho,, Aft&por Co. PSy Charles Ollivcr, tally clerk, stated that Mr..- Wriglit hati sant .liim, to ;t(i? takfli'iPtii^fdfßr plncc.' Mr!-.Wright'*'*had been ls -'angry uueli ho ascertained that Milii had en- ' gSfe&d a' tally .clerk - ,. „• 1, ,?To Mr.;*Yotirig : A Ho dhl"no't J 'th;]ik 'tliat halK tho _tally,.clerks. 011 tho s ;wharf bc- ( 16'iiged '£o ? lho'- : union'.''' * **'' '"Ptidenco' was also given by,.Rowland. Bjiiley (Inspector' l of-Aw'ards); j He stated' that' in investigating the, trouble lie had iiftiii'viewed Mr. H. Nathan "e'arly •' in" Jalijary, and tho latter had stated that lij»nvas not aware of tho existence of any 'Tsl.ly : Clerks',Uuion. Witness told Mr. Natlian that .tile 'announcement had' been litiiclp hi the Press. Mr.* Nathan Temarkedjthat he had heard that the men in tKe-;iiew: i Tally. l Clerks' > Union were ".wasters," ana that lie' would .not em-, ploy: any of tliejli". ' j f To Mr. - Young: It was true that the union had 110 preference clause, and that had a right to employ whom lie-'liked. ■ v ;This closed, the,,case for. tlie plaintiff, and jMr.'- You'ng; witliout' calling ' evidence, proceeded to address the Court. He stated,,.iater. alia, that tho inspector hpiil'-failed ,to prove .that Foucard. was president of tko-union on the date that tlie was; registered. ... -■ < >Tho Magistrate' said that the plaintiff must be nonsuited,,oll tho grounds tliat there ( was absolutely 110 evidence that the .defendant- company, had dismissed the president of the union.

BUTCHERS' PICNIC. Before' Mr. W.'G. iliddell, S.M., Barber and Co., butchers, Lambton Quay, were proceeded against by Rowland: Thomas .Bailey, Inspector 'of Awards,-for 'employing'seven'of their hands for moro than two hours on Saturday, December 27—a rccogniscd holiday Guilder. Clauso 7 of the WellingtonButchers' s Award. A -'penalty of £10 wa.vclaimcd. Wolland, president of the Wellington Master Butchers' Union, gave, evidence respecting; au arrangement made-for altering tho date of the annual picnic, and stated that all employers' lir.d bccji' notified of it. evidence was given by Arthur Chessman," secretary :"of' tho Butchers' Union. V'M'-' er t H- Cooker, secretary of the Employees' Union, stated that tlio annual picnic had been; altered from the thjr<J. ; Wednesday in-November to tho third'''Wednesday in February. There was-ia good deal of controversy over.the dafcijof the picnic, and-Vome-of'tho em-'-ployers were .in favour'of holding it oil' IMcember m 2/.,,, ; ,a, me.etjng ,of the employees-"!* ■motifliv' was' 'proposed 'to .have the picnic held on December 27, bitt; it was defeated. Tho employhad been approachcd, and asked to alter the-picnic to'tho third Wednesday in'-.Februaryßoth-employers and employees then''cohlerred;"nhd''it was-.de-ci,de(l to agree to the altqr,ntion .as a, nuinjber of the employers were desirous of iliaving-. four -dry's at Christmas-, timei!on behalf M tlio defendant company, Mtv[A. W. Blair stated that his.clidi/ts, had-J objected to the alteration. His contention was .that the, dato could not bo legally altered h second time, as had bceii done. Mr. Br.rber had fho right to'jofnploy all his men on December 27,. and-iso woiild holidayy but-'ho employed as few men as possible.

'Mr. Bailey within the right of the •two-iuniqms -to alter the dates of a picnic.as.often ,as .they liked, provided that~ciicli" "date'.' 'selected. wan mutually agreed upon. Jlr. Blair mentioned.;t}iat His. Honour Mr.r Justice Chapman:; had dismissed a similar case in the Arbitration-Court, as Mil? Barber had oomrrmi'fication from Dr.tiEwarft testifying that, it was a work of; necessity to provif'<y frpsli meat <-for patients. - -Tlio MagwTraES' state'd-- that iii'his' opinion tho'third Wednesday in February ; .!was tho proper, holiday, but ho did npt'isay that without some doubt. It appeared absurd that the dato could be changed as often as the parties agreed W'-db so, without first considering pitblifc'.jjpnvflnience. It was doubtful whe-tTiar'-Hhq defendants)"to:4Wß- case/ had thereforei"onljtft nominal penalty, would

be imposed. The defendants would be 'fined Is., without costs.

THE BOY'S HOURS. Georgo John Ilamel, pork butcher, Cuba Street, was proceeded against by tho Inspector of Awards (Rowland Thos, Bailey) for working a boy named Arthur Charles Cudby lor more than two hours on Saturday, December 27, a recognised holiday undor Clause 7 of 1'.'.0 Wellington Butchers' Award. Tho inspector claimed to recover a penalty of £10. Mr. Maze-ncarb appeared for defendants • • - At-tho conclusion of tho hearing tho Magistrate said that there was a conflict of evidence..' Defendant must get tlie. benefit of tho doubt, and the'information would bo dismissed. ,v"'- MEALS ON PREMISES. . J. Godber and Co.' wero proceeded agaiiut by tho Inspector of Awards (Mr. Bailoy) for two alleged breaches of the Wellington bakers' and pastrycooks' award, 1912. A penalty of £10 was claimed for each oifence. -Mr. T. S:, West,on represented tho defendant, and submitted that _tho case should,bo dismissed as being trivial. The facts wero that tlio defendant's employees had found it to bo to their advantage to lave two meals a day 011 tlie premises. This had worked very satisfactorily, and tho case had been brought 011 against tho wishes of the men. After hearing evidence His Worship stated, that it was difficult to understand why sucli an arrangement should be disturbed, unless someone' was going to benefit. Defendant would be convicted and fined ss. DEFAULT DEBT LIST. Judgment for. plaintiff by default was given by Mr. W. G. Riddell, S.M., in the following ;undefendcd cases:—Halienstein Bros., Ltd.,' v. Edward iHenry Eaton,, £3 Bs'.,'costs 10s.; Wairarapa Butchery Company v. Henry Brown, £2 os.' 6d.,, costs- 10s.; C. Smith, Ltd., v. ' William -Henry Stevens, £2 15s. 10d., .costs lis.; Catherine Breeze v. Charles Thomas:-Scoringe, £2 9s. Id., costs 10s.; Wellington'..Traders' Agency (as assignees of Ji and M. Berman) y. B. Bronkhurst, £4 18s. 9d., costs 105.,; Smith and Smith v. Hugh Mawhimiey Gordon, £3 Is. Id., costs 10s.; C. and A. Odlin Timber and Hardware Co., v. Clarko Bros., £4 165., costs 10s.; Edith Mead v. George Wray Davies and Alfred jLloyd Davie's, £49 ias., costs £2 175.; John Turner v. Len Barclay, £11 2s. Gd., costs £1 13s. 6d.; Van' Staveren Bros. v. T. F. Richards and Co., £10 Os. 2d., costs os.; Joseph Ebenezor Poynton v. Wm. Douglas, £3 4s. 2d., costs 10s.; Wellington Traders' Agency (as assignees- of R. Isbister and Co.) v. ..Mauritz. Schick, £2 4s. Gd., costs 10s.; ■Bahnatv'ne and Hunter v. R. D,' Lynch, J3ojg»;4d.t, costs £2 145.; A. J. Vidal r v;JFjQl|ver, £1, costs os. < '5 " JUDGMENT SUMMONSES.

Thomas Callan was ordered to. pay. C-'J- Duffy tho sum of £6 ss. 6d. 01V or before March 11. Ernest Edgar Cohen wa»;ordcred to pay,tho Empire Lban and; Discount' Company the sum of £17'145. 3d., on or before Marcli 11.

„ ;. POLICE CASES. * PILFERED STEAMER'S STORES. RECEIVER FINED. Mr. D. G. A. Cooper, S.M. ; dealt with the polico cases at the Magistrate's Court yesterday. , •. John Gosling pleaded riot guilty to' a eliarge of having received certain ship's stores, valued at £1, the. property of the Huddart-l'arker Steam well knowing the same; to have been stolon. S Police-Inspector Hcndrey; stated that;' accused had taken a sailor's bag to the' luggage-shed on tlio' wharf and left it. there. Upon examination tha i bag wan found.,.to contain, ship's stores, which: wore believed to have been stolen from the steamor Westralia, *' Ueorgo* Bernard Bates, master, and William Henry Bonamy, chief steward of the 'WeStratia, .both stated that the articles wero identical with those used 'ohvboard. Witness Bonamy could not swear positively that tlio goods belonged to tlio ship, but l)o knew that the crew were using a great deitl more stores than they had a right to. ; William Harold' Kent, aged 13 years, stated that accused was his stepfather. When ho came, home from work one evening his mother, stepfather, and a ceaman named Jack M'Kenzie were there. His mother said that there was Romething-.on the wharf which lie would have'to get. and Witness was tbld bv his stepfather to got' a ticket out of his coat. He.'wnt to the.,wharf and presented the ticket. To Mr. iT. F. W. Diokson (who appeared for the accused): His stepfather was drunk when ho (witness) loft home to "o to the wharf. ~ After further evidence had beenheard, Mr. Dickson contended that it had not been proved that the good 3 were n'qtually stolen. ' A fine of £2, in default one month's imprisonment, was imposed. " j MISCELLANEOUS CASES. , Pakura Marama, a native of North America, was remanded until March 4 on a. charge of having broken and enLered the honso of John Faulkner, and having stolen three rings and 30s. in money, the total value being £7 10s. It was alleged that the offence had been committed at I'ukorua, on February 23. On charges of committing certain objectionable acts in a public thorough-, fare, Emily Baker and John Kennedy were each sent to gaol for three months. Joseph Jolinstoii. a prohibited person, was sent to gaol for one month on a 'charge of insobriety. Donald M'Kenzie was convicted and discharged for insobriety, hut on a charge of resisting tlio police he was fined £3, in default fourteen days' imprisonment. Three first offenders were also dealt, with.