'The difficulty in connection with the Ships' Stores Clause of the Customs Act grows more acute. The recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Kingston (Minister of Customs) y. Gadd (P.and
awarded to the plaintiff, has not yet prov-0. S. Coen in which the verdict was ed a solution. Two captains of the N.-D. Lloyd, viz., of the Neckar and Prinz Regent Luipold, openly defied the law, the latter breaking his seals whilst' berthed at the pier at Port Melbourne. His clearance was, of course, denied, pending arrangements being made for executing service of a warrant in his absence. En route to Sydney the seals were again broken, and the ship's discharge was prohibited by the Collector of Customs for 24 hours. Proceedings originally instituted in Melbourne have thus been transferred to Sydney. In the case of the Neckar the captain was mulcted in a fine of £50 at the port of Fremantle (W.A.), and declined to Pay, preferring to march' off and spend the night m durance vile. As his ship was to sail in the morning, steps were taken for his release, and he returned to his ship, receiving quite an ovation from his passengers and crew for the martyrdom he had undergone. The situation was being discussed by some fellow-travellers of mine the other day (they were evidently fresh from off a ship), and they tersely summed up the Federal Government as being " tied up in an adjective knot." This, of course is an extreme view from an outsider.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.