LIBEL ACTION ARISES FROM BUS STRIKE

Chronicle (Levin), 29 March 1946, Page 8

LIBEL ACTION ARISES FROM BUS STRIKE

UNION SECRETARY'S CLAIM AUCKLAND NEWSPAPER AUCKLAND, March 28. The hearing of a claim by the secretary of the Auckland Drivers' Union, Lawrence Gerard Matthews, of £600 j damages for alieged licel againsfc WilS011 and Horton, Ltd., pub.ishers, was I commenced before Mr. Justice Pair and I a jury. The claim v/as based upon the j j words of a leading article publiShed in ! j thc New Zealand Ilerald on Leptember J 1 12 last under the heading, ' ' The Bus ; j Strike. ' ' | Plaintiff is represented by Mr. A. H. j ! Johnstone, K.C., and Mr. P. Haigh, i while Mr. H. P. Richmond and Mr. A. ; ! K. North are conducting tlie defence. { | The article compiainei of v/as in the | f ollowing terms : ' ' Irresponsibly inI tiictmg wanton harm and inconvenience ! on tlie community, the bus drivers have j gone on strike. If it is a case of apj portioning the blame, the men who i nave foo.isnly follov/ei the.r. leaders-, are perhaps less at fault tlian the i | d&magogues who hold the public to ■ ransom. The strikers' leaders have; I secured the chairman they wanted. It j j is notorious that there were other : | Mag'istrates whose names they rejected, but having a cnairman oi their chcice, j why. strike? The answer is Lrief. T.-ie I men have bsen gul.ed by the dema- \ gogues' iove of power. Chief among ; the leaders is Ivlr. L. G. Matthews. This man would ordinarily be of no signi- ; ; ficance in the community, and there is j no reason why he should be, save the i one that he is a trade union secretary. ; As f-iich, he enjoys an importance and ! an infiuence only too obvious in the i "It is time for the Government to j act. It is not sufficient for the Acting ] Minister of Labour to say that he can jsee no earthly reason for the men stopj ping work. Everyhody kncws this ; powerful Mr. L. G. Matthews not . the , least, but the Government, which coni stantly acts at the crack of the whip of the union leaders, should now act | aghinst theni to preserve the rights of the community. There are sufficient j vehicles and qualified drivers available | to serve the public. Let the Government call on them and flout the . comJnand of the union that the truck drivers shall refrain from carrying pas- ! sengers. If it fails to act, then it will j be only too' obvious that the GovernI ment is powerless against Mr. Mat- : thews and the members of his union, ! and the community will know what to , think of such weakness. ' ' : Plaintiff alieged that this article had ! been falsely and nialiciously publisheu j concerning plaintiff and his occupation ! as union secretary. It meant that plain- ! tiff was the chief among the leaders oi the strikers, that he was actuated by I love of power, and that he deceived the , strikers and so brought about the strike. ; Plaintiff claimed that he had been : greatly injured in his credit and reputaI tion and in his occupation as a unioh | secretary, and he therefore claimed £600 I damages and costs. PAIR COMMENT PLEAniO 1- In its defence the company ciaimeci i that the words in their natural meaning, and also in the meaning attributed to , them by plaintiff, were true in substance, and that insofar as they were ! exnressions of opinion, they were fau ' comment, made in good faith and with- ' out malice, upon facts published bej tween January, 1944, and Septemher 12, i 1945. i Defendant further alieged that plai'aI tiff had been a party to an unlawfiu j strike ancJ/or had encouraged, incited, I ihstigated, aided and abetted an uniaw t ful strike. .

In his opening address, Mr. Johnstous examined in detail the words of the article complained of and submitted that they showed the warped mentality of the writer. According to the article, parties other than the men and their leaders were entirely free of blame, aua the employers were not even mentionecl. A demagogue v/as one who appealed to the passions and prejudices of men .1 0 obtain power from his own- ends, and this demagogue was a bad one who hela the public to ransom to extort sonie thing to which he was not entitled. , Ds fendant charged plaintiff with gulliiig the drivers to gratify his own love oi power. This implied moral turpitude oi i a very base kind; Hideed, the article proceeded to revile plaintiff in disdaia ful words of withering scorn. It said that this man would ordinarily be of no significance in t-he community. "One is almost tempted to inquire," said Mr. Johnstone, "V/hat is the authority of the writer to arrogate to himself the right to judge." All this was clearly defamatory oi plaintiff, counsel said, and calculated to disparage his good name. This libffi was given the greatest possible prominence and circulated to 110,000 _ subscribers. Oor.nsel thoughV the jury would have no difficulty in concluding that the words complained of Were defamatory and rcflected gravely upon plaintiff. ^ The case is proceeding.