A STUPID LAW.

Shannon News, 30 December 1927, Page 3

A STUPID LAW.

WHAT HAPPENED IN QUEENSLAND. Innisfail, that Queensland town of queer happenings, 'lias provided the latest illustration that the law can be an ass at times. Born to the commonsense custom of older lands of sunshine, where the extreme heat of early afternoon is utilised for rest and the earlier hours of morning for labour, certain Italian cane-cutters thought there would be no harm in beginning their day's work in the broad daylight before 6 o'clock, with the intention of taking a siesta in the middle of the day. For this breach of the award, which forbids work before 6 o 'clock, the astonished Italians were each fined £3 by a migstrate who was sympafhetic but powerless to give practical effect to his' sympathy. Once again man's prejudice has led him to err against "nature's honest rule." The State that is an innovator in a continent that prides itself on its industrial innovations has proved itself unable to profit by centuries ,of experience in lands, the climatic conditions of which are analogous to its own. There is a special irony in Innisf ail being the scene of the punishment. One can recall numerous recent instances of lawless conduct there (says the Argus) which were allowed to go unpunished.