TRIAL OF HUNTER.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1982, 12 February 1914, Page 6

TRIAL OF HUNTER.

■ ; - ——❖———. ■'. , THE PARK SPEECH, CHARGE OF , SEDmOUS WORDS. ! DEFENCE A DENIAL. Edward Hunter, a Westland coal minorj is at present standing his trial in Wellington on;a charge of having • used seditious words in a speech delivered to a Newtown Park audience, many .; of them watersiders on strike, on the ' afternoon of Sunday, December 14. Hunter is a native of Scotland, and l ho. ' has been in Now Zealand about seven i years. He is.2B years of age At the : time that ho spoke at Newtown Park / ihe was visiting Wollingtou aa a Buller ; delegate to a Federation of Labour Con- . ierence. Ho is a Socialist, declares ;, himself an; admirer of Mr. Henry Hol- ' land, tho, oditer ; of the "Maoriland '■ iWorker," and states that..he is totally ' opposed to violence. Before the strike i he Worked as a miner on the West .Coast of the South Island, but ho states 'that he was among those who were not ri allowed to return to work, and that he , lias since the'strike been out" of em- : .ployraent. " '' . ' ' ' .' SixJiours were spent on the case yesterday, and at the rising of the Court ; .the trial had not been concluded.- All ,- Ithe evidence had been heard, and Mr. i ft'. M. 'Wilford had addressed the jury ; on.behalf of the accused, when at 6 p.m. his Honour the Chief Justice adjourned I.'-the proceedings till 10' o'clock this morn- ; ing. ,In-J:he meantime Hunter is releas- '. ed'on his own undertaking that hb will ; appear when the.Court.' resumes., /."Mr. Maeassey, the Crown's, representative in ' tho c'ase,-'liaa yet to address the jury, pud his Honour wiir also sum up. The .AliegecUSpeech.' , The" words'.alleged to have been used ,\y Hlinte'r in his speech are the'follow-; big, or. .words. to. like effect :— i "You fellows must realise that if you are going to control _ things ■ :■ properly you must haYe' might behind you.-. You-, cannot do it with a box of cigarettes. and a match... Tho strikers control 'tho.'Coast,'a'iid ■ 'have set aside all" law' /arid order. Tho. men on strike'were-told by'the '; 'leaders that they : had the "freedom :. of the city there, and, having that, could do'anything they thought fit." There is a Major in "Westport, butj_ he. has been «et aside, 1 and every- ;! ; thing is controlled by the strikers. They can bring the' 'specials' round .-'. to:tho';'Cdast,'ih'faci,',we give them ' a special- invitation,:and' I".swear ! thi3, in the" name of tho party'most : ; concerned;"' that-'for , every one 'special' they'care to put-down: on the •Coast, iip'-to^one"-thousand,/.'we can put down'onG 1 beside'him, just as good a man;-anil if,this is going , to. boa-contest as to .who is going to control, then we are prepared to ..- make it a contest,... More, than that, we men know that this_ Government'is shedding blood. "\Ve had our fellow-workers . brutally murdered ,in,.Waihi.., There,is. no one •• ' instance,..from.the workers' ranks where we have caused any blood-' .-'• shed. Now,-if "they are going to shod our blood, why should we lookon. at our women andchildren being clubbed, and offer.no retaliation? Now, if ; they want .a revolution, they...can have it. If they force it on us have'a ravolu- - tion." t;,.'. "■■ ■:' "-.'"" As indicated, above, the Chief Justice, Sir Robert Stout, is presiding at tho trial. Mr.'Pi'S. K.. Maeassey is ' representing tliew.Crown, and Messrs. ; T. M. "Wilford O'Regan are defending Hunter." ■ ■r.;'.':i' 1 ,,..,- Tho Duty of the* Jury. In his opening address Mr. Maeassey ' remarked'to the'jury'that, although : the matter" was important, the question for "the jury was;simple—merely whe- , 'ther the words -used -came, within the description of'./'seditious.". It. would bo necessary to' consider ' the circum-. . stances of the time. The jury must ;_. remember that at the time, of the utter;/ance there was a big, strike in progress, that steamers had been rushed, riots had occurred, and the trade of ■' the city was in a sense paralysed. The i Government had brought < special con- ;'• stables here to maint.iihlaw and order, : not to mako; the strikers' return to ; .work, for if they did not wish to work : they were free to -strike. Having regard to these' circumstances, that speech- was an incitement to tho strikers to -attain 1 their end by violence. Counsel added that tho: words charged '. against Hunter camo within the definition of "seditious" .'given in the case ■of the well-known politician John- - Burnsi-rto the effect that there wasr.o . limitation on free' speech/except that it must hot.be used for the purpose of ■inciting to a breach of the peace or a - .violation of tho law. > , Mr. ]\lacassey then reminded the jury of tho position they occupied. They stood between tho Crown and the accused. They, must'accord the- accused a perfectly fair trial, but they must remember, too, that they had a duty as citizens to perform. They must not regard this case in the light of a matter; which was all over,' but ' must remember that they had sworn on oath to return a verdict according to ; the evidence.'- • .'• ■; '/■ ■■■ ~.-•' '."' ' Reporter's Evidence. Melvillo Edwards, reporter, engaged en the literary; staff of The Dominion, . deposed .that v he had-' reported -the .sjjeech as it .appeared/in.tho v charge, und that/the report was'correct. ' Mr. Wilford cross-examined the witness at length respecting the shorthand , aiotes of the speech. Witness, replied ■~;ithat the report was a summarised version of his/notes. Where there were differences between the published statement and the shorthand notes, it merely meant that ;he had. written' portions of .the report without constant reference to •his notes. Nevertheless, he had written : .what was a; true. impression of the speech. He/did not pretend that.it was ii verbatim-report. Mr. Wilford suggested that : th"e report was quite inaccurate, and that the , .words published were not Hunter's, but merely what/the reporter thought Hunter intended, to say. These suggestions the witness denied, fend added that tho report, was written (very shortly after the speech was delivered, when witness had' a "clear" recollection of what Hunter':said. .•:..■ Evidence of Detectives; . Detective XWilliam Edward Lewis deposed that the words 'in the indictment wore subitantiEflly :those employed by the accused.*; Tho.witness proceeded to 1 give evidence that the city was in a gtato of industrial'tinrest at. the'time; I '. -jiorkers wer/o compelled'by strikers to mease work,?and there had been striko : pots. .'>-'■. ' , -. - Detective :John"Ah'drew Dempsey de- ■ posed that'he heard the ~ speech, .but would not swear that any. of the words in tho indictment were the exact words 1 used by Hunter. However, his impression'was that the report of the speech . was substantially,correct.-, Hunter in the Witness Box. This concluded- tho case for the . Crown, ancLHuiiter'then went into the : witness box;.; Mr. Wilford: Is that a report of your speech? ■ ■-. • ' Hunter: 'Well. Mr. Wilford, I ami sorry to find myself associated with such ideas as are' stated in that indictment. Hunter added that he'faileel to'under- ■ stand how sii'cli a report camo to bo published.' Hoj.Was quite astonished when . he read tho report. > Mr. Wilford:. Is/ it a fair- rep0rt.?..•..,..,

Hunter: It is not. i Mr, Wilford then proceeded to take tho report piece by piece and question tho witness as to his opinion of its accuracy. Roplying to counsel, Hunter said that lie did not Say, "You fellows must realise that if you are going to control things properly you must havo might behind you." "What ho said was: ". . , . you must havo right behind you." He was then asked about tho reported statement, "You cannot do it with a box of cigarettes and a match." He denied having used those exact words, and said that ho was at that etago of his speech 1 referring to his idea that tho "folded ; arms policy" or "fireside philosophy" • was useless, and that activity was needed. However, ho did not believe in | violenco, and had not coui.selled it. His reference to tho. Mayor of Westport >• arose out of the fact that people in the ■ town were threatened with starvation, 1 and the Mayor had remained inactive. : He repeated that The Dominion's, re- ' port was not correct, and said that it differed from tho in tho "Post" 1 and the "Times." During his speech he • had not attempted to disseminate hatred or contempt, or to excite disaffection; he was a Socialist, and was making a 1 propaganda speech, and the Socialists'' 1 object was to do away with class differ- ■ ences and bring about one brotherhood. 1 Respecting his use of tho word "revolution," he did not mean a bloody revolu- . tion, but a change from the present social system. His Honour: If that be the philosophy 1 of you and your friends, why was there violence used in .Wellington and people nearly killed? His Honour Seeks Information. His Honour: Did you preach against the .violence,used in Wellington? / Hunter.: None of those things hap- . pened down our way. . His Honour: Was there nothing of what the French call sabotage? Hunter: I didn't hear of any. Hunter was then cross-examined by Mr. Maeassey. Counsel asked the witness if he associated himself with men who had preached violence, and he men- ; tioned the names of Young and Holland. .. "Witness replied that he did not know that either Young or Holland had preached violence. Even if they had, he did not hold with,/ violence. He, however, mentioned twice that was proud to be associated with "my friend, Holland." Replying to His Honour, accused said that his reference to "control" did not mean "violence," but "management." ; His Honour: Then, what was your reference to 1000 men to put down besido the special constables? What did you'mean by "the contest" ?. Hunter: We talk to men r.nd we get them to accept ideas. That, is an intellectual contest. Mr. Maeassey:: Did. you say, "Wo know that this Government is shedding blood"? Hunter: Yes, I said that. Mr. Maeassey": Did you say, "We had our fellow-workers brutally murdored in - Waihi"? ' Hunter: No. Mr. Maeassey then read the reported passage, "Now, if they are going to shed our blood, why should we look on at our women and children'being clubbed, and offer no retaliation?" Ho asked Hunter if he used that sentence. 1 -Hunter replied that he. did not use the'word "retaliation," but the word "protest." ' ' .-. Mr. Wilford then addressed the jury. He observed that the penalty for, the uso of seditious words might bo"two years' imprisonment. He traversed authorities on the definition of "seditious," and asked Mr. Maeassey to state which were the particular words said to have been used by Hunter, and which witness had sworn to them. Ho declared that all the witnesses for the Crown had differed as to tho -actual words. He commented on the fact that only one reporter had been called, while the speech was reported in the three Wellington dailies.- He appealed to the jury to believe Hunter to be a man opposed to violence, and-having no intention to promote hostility between class and class.' The Court now "stands adjourned till , 10 o'clock this morning. JURY DISAGREES. JOHNSTON'S SECOND TRIAL. George Johnston, respecting whose case the first jury • disagreed, was retried in the Supreme Court yesterday on tho charge of,his having taken part in tho Featherston Street riot of November 5.-. Air. E. J. Fitzgibbon was accused's counsel; and Mr. P. S. K. Maeassey appeared for the' Crown. .-••-. Johnston was arrested by special constables in the grounds at Government Buildings while tho riot was in progress. Stones were found in his pockets, and he was said to'have been seen • among the'rioters". The witnesses did not state that "they saw him' actually throwing stones. Johnston declared that he had the stones found on him for self-protection, and he denied that he had taken any part in the riot. After a retirement of four horlrs, the jury disagreed, and a new'-trial for May next was ordered by the Court. Meantime Johnston is released on bail..