GAOLED FOR HUMOUR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 484, 13 October 1928, Page 28

GAOLED FOR HUMOUR

VERSES ON THE NAVY Out of a hammock In a cell In Long Bay a few mornings ago, says the Sydney “Guardian,” a young Australian stepped upon a cold concrete floor and shivered the while he waited for his daily portion of skilly and tea. Until three months have run their course, he will repeat this operation; and all because, rigbtly or wrongly, he has been convicted of the heinous offence of being facetious —on paper—at the expense of his Majesty’s Royal Australian Navy. Meanwhile the wife of this man, a stoker, unless she has saved sufficient to keep body and soul alive, during the period of her husband’s incarceration, will have to starve. Such is the Navy’s decree. Stoker Molinieux, of H.M.A.S. Brisbane, was accused and convicted of being the author of a few lines of doggerel reflecting on conditions as they exist below decks in the RAN. So far the Navy Office has released no details of the inquiry. It may be taken for granted that the unfortunate man did not enjoy the privilege that the Australian Government extends to all Commonwealth Military Forces charged with any offence--that of legal representation. Molinieux himself says: “Nothing has been proved against me except that 1 typed some poetry, yet I was sentenced to three months’ hard labour in Long Bay. ‘The lower deck must be kept under,’ seems to be the R.A.N. rules. “The pity of it is that our Navy isn’t officered entirely by our own Australians, who had the outlook on discipline of the gentlemen of the A.1.F.”. says one prominent Sydney man. Early in August the “Guardian,” dealing with the trouble that had occurred on H.M.A.S. Brisbane, quoted the following verses that expressed the opinion of the lower deck: Oil, Mr. , think you well Before you sweat the men below , And make their life a hell , Advise you to take it slow. Britannia rules the seven seas, And Britons won’t be slaves. . .Be tolerant to your working hands , And save a lot of strife; For all of us are easy led, But drive its you will not. So raise the heavy hand a bit. Before things get too hot. In an interview Caplin Harrison, who is in command of H.M.A.S. Brisbane, stated that the above lines were in no way connected with the sentence imposed upon the unfortunate stoker.