LOCAL AND GENERAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 October 1943, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL

No Bankruptcies. There have not been any cases of bankruptcy recorded in Masterton since November, 1942. Gaming and Liquor Laws. Decisions to ask the Government to set up Royal Commissions to investigate and bring up to date both the liquor licensing laws and the gaming laws were made by the Federation of New Zealand Justices’ Associations at its annual conference in Wellington yesterday. Borough Health. The Borough Sanitary Inspector, Mr T. A. Russell, states that two cases of cerebro-spinal meningitis were recorded in Masterton last month. There were no other cases of notifiable infectious diseases. The last case of diphtheria was recorded on August 4. Sport and Politics. An emphatic denial that the Government had any political aims so far as the control of sport was concerned was made by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Parry, when addressing delegates from 12 provincial councils of sport assembled in Wellington yesterday. Mr Parry said he had been at a complete loss to understand the attitude Mr S. S. Dean, representing the New Zealand Rugby Union, who was reported as saying that he would like an assurance that there would be no political control or interference, and that no patronage should be accepted from the Government. The Minister stressed that he had no wish to see political interference in sport, and that was also the attitude of the Government. Their concern was first with the physical welfare of the people. Allegations that the Government contemplated the regimentation of sport, or making sport compulsory, were nonsense. There was no thought of State control. A Decision Reversed. Judgment was given by Mr Justice Callan at Auckland yesterday in an appeal from a decision by the magistrate, Mr J. Morling, respecting the interpretation of the Minimum Weekly Wage (Essential Undertakings) Order, 1942, No. 2, as effecting work at the Westfield freezing works. Walter Harwood, freezing works employee, was the appellant and the Westfield Freezing Company respondent. Mr Justice Callan allowed the appeal, reversing the magistrate’s decision. He said appellant contended that in calculating the amount of the minimum weekly wage, if any, payable to a worker in terms of the order, all payments made for hours worked outside the ordinary weekly hours of the industry must be disregarded and if in the ordinary working hours the minimum weekly wage was not fully earned, then the difference between that amount and the actual amount earned during ordinary hours must be paid. The judge said appellant’s contention should be accepted and that of respondent to the effect that to apply the meaning suggested by appellant was unjustly generous to some workers and unfair to the employers rejected as not being an argument which justified disregard of the plain and natural meaning of the words used in the order.

Vital Statistics. Vital statistics recorded at the Masterton Courthouse last month, with the figures for September, 1942, given in parentheses, are: —Births, 12 (8); marriages, 13 (10); deaths, 10 (11). American Services Club. At the American Red Cross Service Club, Masterton, tonight, a special feature will be a “backwards” dance. Music will be supplied by a special Marine orchestra. Building Permits. The Mastertoil Borough Council issued 6 building permits for £7674 last month, compared with 8 permits for £2891 in September, 1942. Earthquake restoration work is included in both figures. The County Council last month issued 3 permits for £517. Rice Prices. Maximum wholesale and retail prices for rice are fixed by a price order issued yesterday. The existing retail price remains unchanged, that is, 5d a lb in the main centres and s|d elsewhere. Therefore the only change is the fixing of a wholesale price, which was not dealt with formerly. Meeting of Cabinet. The first meeting of the domestic Cabinet since the general election on Saturday was held in Wellington yesterday afternoon. Members of the War Cabinet met on Wednesday for the first time since the election. With the exception of the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, whose son, Mr C. W. Nash, died in Blenheim that morning, all members were present. Police Abandon Search. The search by the Auckland police for Mrs Mary Eileen Turner, who has been missing since the day following Ker wedding in July last year, has been abandoned. It appears likely that the case will become one of New Zealand’s unsolved mysteries. The daughter of Mr and Mrs W. Spargo, of Henderson, Mrs Turner was married in Auckland on July 11, 1942. She was then 38 years of age. It was understood that immediately after her wedding she was going overseas, and it was not till December that her parents became concerned for her welfare. They reported the matter to the police, and inquiries revealed that she spent the night of July 11 at Helensville. Capital and Corporal Punishment. The desirability of restoring the penalties of capital and corporal punishment was urged by the president of the Federation of the New Zealand Justices Association, Mr H. W. Shortt, in his address to the annual conference of the federation in Wellington yesterday. He recalled the case of a young man convicted of the brutal murder of a woman, and remarked that, if he behaved himself in prison, he would be at liberty again at the age of about 45 years. Referring to the attempted rape of an old blind woman, he said: “Didn’t that man deserve the best thrashing he could get?” Mr Shortt added that in the past all sentences of capital punishment were carefully reviewed and in 50 per cent of cases were commuted to life imprisonment. The conference decided to ask the Government to consider restoring to stipendiary magistrates the power to order corporal punishment of juvenile offenders.