THE PASSPORT WORRY.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 20 March 1919, Page 3

THE PASSPORT WORRY.

The war is over-, but the passport trouble isn't. If you doubt it try to leg,ve the country without a passport —and you'll see. If you have read Qickens' ''Little Dorpit " you will rernemher " the Circumlocution Qfrlce," and the Government servants employed therein, all of them adepts in the art of " How not to dolt." Well, the office, or de. partmeut or whatever it \s, fqr the issue of passports is seeming^ ly run on '■ Circumlocution Office" lines. Take the recent case of an Auckland business man. He wanted to visit the East, and applied for a passport, being apparently under the impression that getting a passport was as easy as falling off a log. He found it isn't. of all he was yefiuipecl to describe his own nose and eyes. rfhen he was asked a lot of other things, including the place of birth of his grandfather. By a fluke he was able to ansy^er that question. Isut how many people could answer such a query —and what", in the name of all that's wqndeful, has such a query to do with

the issue of a passport ? Next this unfortunate applicant was asked to supply the names of two or more respectable citizens to guarantee that he was fit to be allowed to leave New Zealand. After that, a policeman called at the applicant's house to interview his wife, and ascertain whether the lady knew her husband wished to quit N,Z. She said she did.