RAILWAY APPEAL BOARD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 33, 2 August 1911, Page 5

RAILWAY APPEAL BOARD

STAR CHAMBER TACTICS. By Telegraph—Press Association. Dunedin, Last Night. A sitting of the Railway Appeal Board was held to-day to hear an appeal by G. D. Cameron, formerly stationmaster at Palmerston, against his reduction to a lower grade. The facts were that on the evening of March 3 the chief clerk a<t Palmerston reported to Cameron that a guard on a train was intoxicated. Cameron was not on duty at the time, and took 110 action in the matter until about three hours later, when he returned to ascertain the guard's condition. The guard was sent back to Dunedin as a passenger, another man taking charge of the train. The Department contended that Gimeron had sliown himself incapable of dealing with cases of emergency and transferred him to Wintoo, tlie salary there being £220, as against £255 at Palmerston, At the outset of the hearing appellant's advocate, who had been supplied with a precis of the evidence given at the departmental inquiry, asked if he was entitled to a copy of the complete evidence. The chairman of the Board (Mr. Haselden) said he did not know why the Department did not supply full' evidence. Mr. Davidson, representing the Department, said the precis was a very fair statement of the evidence. The chairman and Mr. Gray, another member of the Board, then started to compare the precis with the full evidence, but before going far the chairman said the precis was of no use, and was misleading. After further discussion, Mr. Davidson said hn would permit Mr. McPherson, advocate for appellant, to see Cameron's evidence, but nothing else. The chairman: "I won't hold an inquiry then. I won't sit." Mr. Davidson said be would hand over the whole evidence under protest. The chairman reiterated that otherwise he would not 'sit. It wa.s contrary to the first principles of justice. Mr. Davidson said he had protested because he had no Instructions in the matter, and he had to auiard against an ulterior action that might be taken. They had to meet on all hands an attempt to put the Department in a false position. An adjournment was then made to ena;ble Mr. McPherson to peruse the evidence. After bearing the evidence of appellant, the Board reserved its decision.