PUBLISHING SECRET INFORMATION

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2905, 18 October 1916, Page 6

PUBLISHING SECRET INFORMATION

OFFENCE AGAINST THE WAR

REGULATIONS

A REI'ORTER FINED

Mr. L. G. Rcid, S.M., was occupied the greater part of yesterday in hearing the case against Ivan Levy, who t was charged on tho information of. Paymaster William J. A. Brown, repre-' senting the Admiralty, with, on September 13, comniunicating to Captain T. R. Chudley, R.N.R., marine superintendent for the' Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, information in rospect to the strength and armament of tho naval forces of His Majesty, contrary to the war regulations, 1915, such information not having been received by cable passed by the appointed censorsj nor. having already appeared in British newspapers received by mail in tho Dominion, nor having been passed for publication 'by the Chief of the General Staff of the New Zealand Military Forces. Mr. P. ,S. Macassey stated that ou tho date mentioned Levy called at tho office of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company, and told Captain Chudley and Major E. V. Bovan that ho had received some information, which he read to them from a letter. Captain Chudley afterwards informed Paymaster Brown of the matter, and the latter communicated with Levy -with tlio object of discovering the identity of the writer of tlie letter. A paragraph appeared in the "New Zealand Times" on tho morning of September 13, mentioning the name of a certain officer in association with tho information, which was similar to that contained in Levy's letter. The attention of Levy was drawn to this, but he denied absolutely that the officer mentioned in the newspaper paragraph was his correspondent. It was decided to prosecute Levy. At the samo timo he was bound to admit that Levy was a perfectly loyal person, and tho Crown did not press for a heavy penalty. It was, however, necessary that information of this iiatufro should riot be published. It was tho first caso of the kind, and was brought as a, warning. When the Magistrate realised the nature of the case, ho ordered tho Court to be cleared, and directed the Press representatives to ho careful not to circulate the details in tho information. Thomas Harry Chudley, lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve (retired), said that on September 13 Levy came to see Mr. Bevan, and witness happened to be present in the office. Defendant remarked that ho had recoivcd a letter, which he thought might bo of interest to them (witness and Bevan). Tho letter was on foolscap paper, and ho read it to them. It gavo certain particulars about submarines, and also had reference to motor-boats lind to the Jutland Battle. Later in tlio day "witness road a paragraph in the "Evening Post" which had reference to motor"

boats, and it occurred to him that it contained the samo particulars as ho had that ■ morning heard from Lovy. The information was almost word for word, and this caused him to mention tho matter to Paymaster Brown. He had no feeling against Lovy. The idea was to get at the man who had written tho lotter.

In cross-exampiation witness said it •would bo a muchworse thing, to publish tlio information in tho newspaper than to mention it to an officor of tho Royal . Naval Resorvo and to a major in tho Garrison Artillery. _ Ho did not adviso Levy to keep the information to himself. Levy called at. tho office regularly, and on the day in question ho happened to havo tho lotter on him and -road it to them. They had tho usual conversation on war topics. Levy expressed surprise that tho censor had passed the letter. He could not remember whether Levy camo to ask Bevau whether tho information was feasible. Paymaster W. J. A. Brown, representing tho Admiralty in Now Zoaland, .stated that in consequenco of certain information he received from Captain Chudley ho communicated with Levy, and asked him to call and seo him and to bring tho letter which he had read to Captain Chudley with him. When witness saw Levy, tho latter declined to divulge the name of the writer of tho letter. Witness told i i from tho paragraph lie had seen in the "Now Zealand limes, ' and tho information ho had obtained from Captain Chudley ho would feel himself justified in communicating with "the Admiralty, and suggesting that Captain was tho author of the lotter. Levy took up tho attitude that as the letter had passed I tho censor he had a right to publish the details, and admitted that he was responsible for tho paragraph that appeared in the "New Zealand Times." . Foi'the defence Mr. Blair submitted that tho prosecution had failed to prove a case. He contended that Levy in communicating with Captaiu Chudfey and with Bevan, a military officer, had committed no breach of the regulations. Counsel stated that as a further defence he proposed to put in tho "Daily Mail" (overseas edition) of July 29, which gave i details of submarines copied from a German technical journal, and which was of a similar character to that in Levy's letter. Tho information had appeared in the public 1 ress of. Great Britain, and was permitted re-publication in New Zealand under the War Regulations. Mr. Blair olfered to put tho defendant in the wit-ness-box if Mr. Macassey would give an undertaking that lie would net ask for the name of the writer of the lette/. Ho mado this suggestion becauso tho defendant would decline to divulge the namo of his correspondent, and would bo punished for contempt oT Court. Mr. Macassey said he could a. : vo no such undertaking. Mr. Blair, continuing, said that tho only detail mentioned in tho letter that did not appear in the "Daily Mail was in respect, to motor boats, but that information had appeared in tho "New Zealand Times," and no exception was taken. He contended that a statement communicated to a military oi" naval officor was not publication in the same sense as had been contemplated by the War Regulations. No ovidenco had been produced that the news communicated by Levy was information ; if a thing were fiction it could not bo information. Counsel further stated that tho letter was not from Captain - —. The letter was not signed, but initialled, and tlio initials were, wrongly read. Levy had offered to givo tlio prosecution an affidavit that Captain was . not tho writer of the letter. After Mr. Macassey had addressed! tho Court, the Magistrate said that he was quite satisfied that an offence had been committed. The communication of the contents of the lotter, he held, was prohibited by tho War Regulations, and ho was satisfied that it was not done with any intention to commit an offence. The prosecution did not ask for a severe penalty, but tho public needed a warning that such news should not bo circulated. He convicted and fined defendant 205., with costs.