TROUBLE AT ROTO ROA.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 1 July 1913, Page 6

TROUBLE AT ROTO ROA.

I N'MATES CONVICTED. { FOli INSUBORDINATION, [fit/ leiegtapn. —Frets Association.) AUCKLAND, June 29. The hearing of the charges of in- i subordination against George JBlythe and James Charles Dunlop, inmates of Itoto I£oa Island Ileformatory Institute, was continued yesterday before Mr E. C. Cutten, S.M. James Charley Dun lop, who conducted own defence, gave evidence to. the effect that a meeting of men on Wednesday evening, June llt'h, ho urged the ?j&en to be orderly, and .to take care not to commit any breach of the law. He also urged the men to stand together in order to get the reforms they were | advocating. He, as chairman, did not allow any discussion to take place at that meeting, as the superintend- I ent wag not present, and had pro- i mised to address them on his return from Wellington, letting them know the decision of the Army Congress on 1 the matters. On June 13th one of the officers asked him to attend a .meeting- in the smoke-room, and to tell the men of it, but he said he did ! not o3Je to attend, and the other : men would do as they wished. Next morning Adjutant Clark asked Blythe and witness to attend a meeting in the afternoon, but said that free discussion would be allowed at lunch tim«. Some attended, and asked Staff-Captain Haynes whether he was going to allow a discussion of the matters, the men desired to bring before hi m. He said he was there to talk 'about work, and witnes s took up his hat and said, in an undertone, "I need not stay, thon." A« witness was going out olhor men went in front of him. Regarding the statements having reference to religious services, witness wrote the heading in the smoke-room, and the men came, forward and signed it. His object was to answer one of the by*law s that had just been pub up dealing with an attendance at divine services. S' x far ss wjtness personally ivas concerned, it was his intention to give final notice on the subject, so that the question as to whether on© had to attend would not be constantly raised. He signed it quite conscientiously. He did not know of his own knowledge a s a private boarder that the men had ceased working on the morning of June 11th. He was in no way connected with the matter, but Lad heard the men discussing the stoppage of work, talking of, it as a strike. Ha gathered that the men , stopped,, wojrk because of .resentment felt respecting the .statements ptirf porting "to hatei)eei* ; made , by- the superintendent. There was also a certain amount of feeling because fishing boatg were not allowed to go out. Hobert Stephens, an inmate of the island, said that ho was .it- n meeting on June lltli, and he did not hear Dunlop urge the men to continue the striko. Dunlop did not ,accuso the superintendent of telling lies. On the morning of the strike Blythe put up a white flag when ed by Dr Cowan. Witness didn't see Blythe put uup a white flag when the superintendent came back to the island. The men on the island were not content. Witness thought that Blythe was in no sense the leader. Work was stopped because the fishing boats were held up. and there was trouble about the food supply. The meji were suppose 4to work. They could not refuse to obey the superintendent's orders when the superintendent was not there. At the conclusion of the evidence counsel addressed the Court,' after which the accused were convicted.