A CASE FOR ENQUIRY

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1755, 21 May 1913, Page 6

A CASE FOR ENQUIRY

The assault, on a newspaper reporter, for which five Territorials wore each fined £i> and costs by the Dunedin Magistrate yesterday, is «i matter which calls for I lie attention of I ho Defence authorities. The incident cannot he. regarded as finally closed liy the punishment of these five men, through Hie Law Courts. The Magistrate characterised the assault as a ''verv serious, cowardly, and unjustifiable" one, and counsel for the'prosecution stated that there was "a great deal more behind ' which did not come out Id Court.

Counsel further alleged that the men charged were merely tools, and that the assault was planned and instigated by commissioned officers. These arc very serious allegations, and if public confidcncc in the officials responsible for tho working out of the defence scheme is not to be shaken, a full inquiry into the whole circumstances of the case must be held. The trouble appears to have arisen out of a report of a disturbance in camp which had been published in the Otar/o Daily Times. We do not for a •moment think that, generally speaking, the officers or men of our defence forces arc so foolish as to think that they are above criticism, but it is just as well that any of them who may happen to entertain such an idea- should get rid of it at once. Free criticism is good for all public persons, civil or military, and the very fact that such an occurrencc as that which happened at the camp at Sutton is possible emphasises . the need for independent observation and commcnt. If tho impression should get abroad that the presence in camps of newspaper reporters, who are really the representatives of the general public, is regarded with disfavour by the military authorities, a feeling of uneasiness would be caused, and a weapon placed in the hands of the small, but noisy, minority who have no love for the defence scheme. The best way to avoid this is to give every facility to press representatives to doHheir work without fear or favour, and in view of the ugly allegations which were not dealt with ny the Court the necessity for a full and searching investigation should be patent to the military authorities.