FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 322, 5 April 1928, Page 10

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

A TIPLESS VOYAGE Nearly 200 Scotsmen left Sydney recently on a pilgrimage to their old homes in Caledonia. They all left in one ship, to the accompaniment of skirling pipes. It is remarkable that the ship sailed without a strike of stewards taking place. ANOTHER CROSSING SMASH The claim of the Railways Department that all its level crossings are safe if the drivers of vehicles use “reasonable care,” was discounted considerably yesterday, when an express dashed through a funeral procession at Hampd near Oamaru. A motorcar was smashed, but fortunately no one was very seriously injured, although two men only escaped death by jumping from the vehicle in the nick of time. It is easy to throw the blame on one (dead) driver after a collision, but when a whole procession of drivers is taken unawares, it appears reasonable to challenge the safety of the crossing. WHERE CABMEN RULE No one has yet explained by what particular power cab-drivers control the Treasury of Malta. We have been informed briefly by cable that owing to a strike of cab-drivers the Treasury would be without funds. Why? If the taxi-drivers of New Zealand went on strike,, would our public Treasury suspend payment? Here is a new financial terror, hitherto unforseen. By all means let us keep on good terms with the taxi-driver, even to the extent of giving him as much as 5s when he asks for 7s 6d. BACK TO THE PAST The old spirit is not dead. In the days of the French Revolution the people used to delight in seeing heads fall from the guillotine—just, indeed, as at one time thousands of Londoners used to make picnic at public hangings. Generations have come and gone, and we live in an 'nlightened age—and every now and then the past appears again in the form of some outburst of public brutality. This week, for instance, hundreds of men and women, as a sequel to nightrevels at Montmartre, assembled in evening dress on the Boulevard Arago to witness the beheading of two banbits. The most piquant touch of the entertainment was when the head of one unhappy wretch fell with a smoking cigarette between its lips. Apparently the revival of public executions as a form of popular entertainment would prove a great success! * * * TAKEN TO TASK Mr. Luxford, the new S.M., has already given the police a taste of his mettle by rebuking those responsible for unnecessary prosecutions. In this particular case two motorists were charged with negligent driving —and the evidence showed that each vehicle was on its proper side, but that the bumper of a car caught the rear wheel of a lorry, on a very narrow road. Mr. Luxford r,aid the Crown was not justified in bringing men to Court on a criminal charge without definite evidence of their offence, and he held that an error of judgment or a mistake on the part of a driver did not necessarily warrant a prosecution. Then he added what has long been felt by the public —that he felt often, when both drivers in a collision were charged, the matter was really brought to Court as a hazard to find out who was to blame. This may be a very cosy way for the authorities co fix the blame; but it is very unfair to one motorist when there is blame only on one side, or, to both the parties

, involved, when, as in this case, none :on either side. Secondly, it is expen- ' sive, men having sometimes to journey long distances to Court, * and be forced to engage counsel to defend a ! charge. Thirdly, as the magistrate remarked (and a point which seems to have escaped the prosecuting authorities), such procedure contravenes the principles of British justice. The law seems often to overlook justice; fortunately, the Luxford brand of law does not. REGISTRATION-MAD Has New Zealand gone registrationmad? The “free and independent” citizen must register his dog, his car, his bicycle, his gun, his almost every belonging. He must register if he sells bread, if he sells butter, if he sells tobacco, if he sells vegetables, ice-cream, milk or soft drinks. The keeper of the little shop at the corner of a suburban street has to have half a dozen separate licences. Now somej one arises and suggests that all tomato growers should be registered. Why not a separate licence for each vegetable or fruit (whichever a tomato is—the point still being debated among the learned) and then we can . think of a few more things to license. ‘ In time we could all earn an honest j living inspecting each other’s licences I —including our licences to inspect I licences.