The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1911. MINISTERIAL SLANDERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1321, 27 December 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1911. MINISTERIAL SLANDERS.

South Axmca of lato has boon providing Now Zealand with much food for reflection. The revival of Krugerism in that country synchronised in quite a remarkable manner with the emphasising of that doctrine in New Zealand. There was, however, a difference. The Prime Minister of the Union usually played the role of the. urbane peacemaker, while sume of his lieutenants waged fierce and furious verbal wars against opposition. . In New Zealand, of course, the one man in the Ministry who seemed tu bp perpotually boiliug over with wrath and indignation was the Prime Minister,. ■ Genkrai, Hektzoo, Minister o£ Justice in tho South African Union, iu general vituperative power would'appear even to excel Sir Joseph Ward in that peculiar and unhappy endowment. But he is more, frank than Sin Joseph Waru. Instead.of denouncing all who,wont against his grain in broad and general, terms, General Hkrtzog, abandoning the safe abstract, has'once, if not oftener," lapsed into the risky concicte, with tho result that almost immediately he found himself in the law courts. Not only was the Minister of Justice sued for slander, he has now been ordered.to pay. damages and costs, simply for not closely following the example'set him by older and more knowing Ministers. . General Hektzog has by this time probably discovered wisdom in the advice tendered by the canny Scot: "Leave the individual alanc; swear at lairgc." Everything considered, if bad-tempered, ill-disposed Ministers are to indulge in slander, it is obviously better for themselves and for the community that their allegations should be specific, not mere vague innuendo. The person libelled may for a brief period lie under the shadow of Ministerial obloquy, and probably something worse; but_ the courts are usually available within reasonable time when the libelled will obtain damages and the libeller practical lessons 'in the ethics of everyday life. When, the latest-received South African newspapers left, one slander action against Gexeral Hertzog had just closed—in the appropriate manner we have indicated—and a second had been brought before the law courts.

General Hertzog, before he became Minister of Justice in the Umon, was Attorney-General and Minister of Education in tho Orange Free State. He at that time prepared and passed through Parliament his remarkable Education Bill which has sinco been the cause of so much turmoil in South Africa. The Act remains in force, a crude instrument, perpetuating racial animosities chiefly, seeing that it seeks to compel all white children to learn both Dutch and English, regardless of the desires of parents. The changes brought about by the new Act were numerous) and frequently difficult to effect. General Hertzog sought to place responsibility for absence of success in schools and the clamour of parents outside upon the school inspectors, three of whom, Englishmen, he summarily dismissed. Tho Minister's action was condemned as an outrage and tho English-speaking section of the inhabitants demanded explanations. General Hebtzog supplied not only explanatory material, but also made serai-confidential declarations. Then one of the dismissed inspectors took action, basing the same on the Minister's words, held to be defamatory, namely: "I have substantiated iny charged against the dismissed inspectors, and 1 could also say that which would put those inspectors to shamo for ever." Brave words they were, of course, and probably well ■adapted for the scoring of a point at some political gathering. Gp.neeal Hertzog was placed in the witnessbox and interrogated in the presence of, and by, three Judges of the Supremo Court, whom be, as Minister of Justice, had helped to appoint less than a year before. He was invited to substantiate his charges afresh, a-nd to utter the words that for all time were to put the three English inspectors to shame. This singular Minister of Justice attempted to substantiate his charges; and in reply the Judges decided finrl declared: "Tliero is, strictly speaking, no evidence whatsoever in support, of General Hektzog's plea of justification." The words which were 1.0 shame the cx-inspectore remained unspoken. Plaintiff nude no attempt to prove substantial damages, and

for that, reason the amount, allowed urn was but; nominal. Tho judgment, however, wos conclusive and carried mi ,:osts againsl, Gexeral Hkrtzoo. I no comments of the South African press on the Ministerial slanders, wlulo extremely piquant, aro not Jv'Uoufc considerable interest to New Zealand. Thus the Johannesburg btar winds up a biting leader: "We content 'ourselves with the remark that rarely has a Minister of the Crown, and never surely has a Minister of Justice, found himself in so inglorious a position." The Leader asks tho Botha party : "Do they still intend to be led by the man who has behaved in the manner now exposed 1 If they do, it will lie evident, to the British section (hat they arc animated by a racialism which will finally disillusion tho British as to the validity of their sense of justice or their political pledges." The Hand Daily Mail considers that General Hertzoo should leave the Cabinet. "General Botha,' , it says, "will have very seriously to reconsider the'position of the Ministry. Its. most important function, if not its chief duty, is to procure for us efficient administration, and that <<innof; be done iu the Department of Justice by a Minister in whose fairness none of his subordinates has any confidence." According to the Cape Times, General Hertzog has avoided the precise in attacking what tie deemed an unfriendly press. That journal remarks: "We might point to several speeches in which the Minister of Justice has attacked tho press of South Africa in terms of general slander, which have been carefully worded to escape the possibility of the slander being faced in the law courts of the Union. No apology has ever bcen_ forthcoming for his disgraceful insinuations against a section of tha newspapers, which he has not had the moral courage to particularise." Many of the South African newspapers are wealthy and powerful, and it would seem that towards them the Boer General has to the present, been careful not to be too specific. From all (he circumstances wo should conclude that the political atmosphere in South Africa will shortly clear. A Ministry that returns innuendo for fact, slander for reason, displays but a soii.se of its own inherent weakness. Vituperation and blunder .from a Government have ever been the prelude to decay and disaster, and doubtless will be so to the end.