Egon Kisch

KISCH IN COURT

GAELIC DICTATION TEST

DISCUSSED

IS IT LIVING LANGUAGE?

CONSTABLE MACKAY EXAMINED

SYDNEY, Friday. - Egon Kisch, the Czechoslovakian Journalist, appeared m the Central Police Court to-day before Mr. Gibson, S.M., on remand, on a charge of being a prohibited immigrant. The public gallery was crowded when Kisch, with his right foot heavily bandaged, was carried up the steps to the court by twomen. He was charged on summons that within five years ot his arrival in Aus-tralia he had failed to pass a dictation test as required unaer the Immigration Act of 1901-33. The charge was based on an information laid against Kisch, and was not the charge laid last week, although Mr. A. J. A. Watt, K.C., whoappeared for the prosecution, said that It was substantially the same.

When the information was read Mr. A. B. Piddington, K.C., who appeared forKisch, objected to the procedure adopted by the prosecution, on the ground thatthe information was not identical with the charge on which his client appearedas a defendant on bail. Once a charge had been read, he said, it was the duty of the prosecution to go on with it. He submitted that the magistrate had nojurisdiction to allow the prosecution to proceed in the manner it had adopted.

Mr. Watt said that Kisch had obtained a remand last week. Since then a lot ofmischief has been done by Kisch, and he had taken advantage of the Court's

action.

Mr. Piddington. - There seems to be some objection to something that hap-pened on Sunday.

Mr. Wntt.-Yes, in contempt of court.

Mr. Piddington.-Go to any court you

like.

Mr. Watt.-Defendant has no respect

for our courts.

Mr. Piddington said that the matter might involve a High Court action.

Mr. Gibson decided to allow the case to proceed, and Kisch pleaded not guilty.

William Wilson, an inspector under the Immigration Act, said that on November16 Kisch was taken to Central police sta- tion, where he was given a fountain-pen and a piece of paper. Constable Mackay read a passage in Gaelic. Kisch said that there was no ink in the pen. Wit- ness turned to obtain another pen, and when ho turned again Kisch had tom the paper and thrown it on the floor.Kisch said to witness: "This is not fair. Why don't you give me a dictation inEnglish?"

Constable James Mackay said that he had been reared until he was aged 16years in a part of Scotland where Gaelic was spoken. He admitted that the census papers quoted by Mr. Piddington might be correct when they stated that In 1931 the population of Scotland was 4,843,000, and that the percentage of persons who spoke Gaelic there was 2.8 per cent.

Mr. Piddington questioned Mackay on his knowledge of the Gaelic language, and asked him to give the Gaelic for a number of English words.' He asked the Gaelic for "philology."

Mackay.-I have never heard a word

for it.

Mr. Piddington said that the point the Court would have to decide was whetherGaelic was a living language.

Mackay was unable to translate portion of a page of a book handed to him byMr. Piddington, but gave the English meaning of several words from It. When he was asked to look at the title of the book he said that it was printed in IrishGaelic, of which he knew nothing.

The hearing was adjourned until

Monday

MAY COME TO VICTORIA

Application for Town Hall

An application has been made to the Melbourne City Council by the Kisch re-ception committee for the use of the Town Hall on Sunday, December 2, for a public welcome to Herr Egon Kisch, who, it is proposed, should visit Victoria.

AMENDMENT OF ACT

TWO CHANGES PROPOSED

Bail and Declarations Affected

CANBERRA, Friday. - In future the question whether a person charged withbeing a prohibited immigrant shall be re- leased on ball while awaiting the hearing of the charge, will be a matter for the Minister for the Interior to determine, if the Federal Parliament passes a bill in- troduced into the House of Representa- tives to-day by the Minister for the In- terior (Mr. Paterson)., The bill has been drafted as a result of the circumstances of the case of Herr Egon Kisch.

The principal purpose of the bill is to insert in the Immigration Act a new clauseproviding that, where an information or a complaint has been laid against a per-son alleging that he is a prohibited immi- grant, and that person is In custody, hemay, subject to authority being granted by the Minister, be released on ball pend- ing the hearing or further hearing of the Information or complaint if he finds two sureties each of £100 approved by the collector of Customs or sub-collector of Customs at the port concerned for his appearance at the ? hearing or further hearing. The new clause states that such a person shall not otherwise be released pending the hearing or further hearing of the information or complaint.

The Immigration Act at present con- tains a section'stating that immigration into the Commonwealth is prohibited of "any person declared by one Minister to be in his opinion, from Information re- ceived from the Governments of the United Kingdom or of any other part of the British Dominions, or from any foreign Government through official or diplomatic channels, undesirable as anInhabitant of or visitor to the Common- wealth." The amending bill introduced to-day contains a new provision that the mere production of a document containinga declaration purporting to have been 'made by the Minister in pursuance of thesection already in the act shall, in all courts, be evidence of the truth of thecontents of the declaration.

The motion for the first reading of the bill was agreed to in the House of Repre-sentatives to-day. The second reading de- bate will take place on Wednesday.