THE GAUDIN CASE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2545, 20 August 1915, Page 3

THE GAUDIN CASE

<h- — INQUIRY ASKED FOR. In the House of Representatives last night Mr. A. Harris (Waitemata) presented a petition from Frederick E. N. Gaudin, of-Auckland, in connection with the term of imprisonment which Mr. Gaudin recently served for war treason. The petitioner pleaded extenuating circumstances in connection with the carriage of gold from 6amoa. which was one of the counts on which petitioner was indicted, and in regard to the correspondence which, he was charged with carrying from Samoa, he stated that.there was nothing in it of treasonous or otherwise objectionable from the point of view of' tho war. Upon reflection, he recognised that the acts on his part were wrong and improper, but it had_ never'occurred to him that he was doing anything which was in any way helpful to tho King's enemies or disloyal to the Empire. From November 9, 1914, when he was arrested, until June IS, a period of over seven months elapsed during the whole of which time. his position was that_ of a prisoner. The consequences of his arrest, conviction, sentence, and imprisonment had been most disastrous to his health, reputation, and business. 'He had lost the good and comparatively lucrative position he had held at the time of his arrest, and was at present financially a ruined man. In addition, his conviction for war treason and the severitv of his sentence had deeply impressed on the public mind a belief that lie 'was a traitor to his country, and ho submitted that he should no longer remain branded.by the conviction as guilty of war treason. Ho therefore asked that a full and immediate inquiry, by a Judge or Judges of the Supreme Court, by a Committee of the House of Representatives, or by some other tribunal, should be made to determine whether he was in any way guilty of the charge of war treason of which he was convicted.