ACTION FOR ALLEGED LIBEL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 35, 5 November 1919, Page 9

ACTION FOR ALLEGED LIBEL

AGAINST A PROHIBITION ORGAN. - ISER. By ■ Telesraph.-Special Correspondent. Palmerston N», November 4. An action to which considerable interest is attached on account of the prominent position of one of. the litigants was brought on in the Magistrate's Court today. A. AY. Gallichnn, a local resident, and a member of the Campbell Street School Committee, claimed from n. Grinstead, a local prohibition organiser, .£SO as damages for a stJitemont alleged to have been made by defendant in a letter to Messrs. Coojier ana' Rutherfurd, soliciPalmerston North, on September 15 last.

The allegations of the plaintiff wero that the whole trouble arose out of a disptued election of. members of tho Campbell Street School Committee, and that defendant, in discussing thc'inatter, stated that ho had no objection to Mr. Clarke retaining his seat, but he did so far as Gallichan was concerned, for tho rca.son that he (Gallichan) was not moralIv fit lo sit on the committee, as he was frequently under the influence of liquor. This statement was communicated to Gallichan, who wrote, through his solicitors, to the defendant, demanding a complete withdrawal of the allegations, coupled with an apology. Defendant replied in a letter repenting the mtbstanco of his allegations in a different form. The -plaintiff, in evidence, admitted that he was not a. teetotaller, but denied that he was not of very ambstemious habits, slating that he was never under the influence rf drink On liebnlf of the defeno'nnt. Mr. Oram contended Hint there was nothing actionable in what defendant had alleged, until very foolishly he put it in writing. Counsel submitted that the words used die' not constitute libel, (2) that the statement was made unon a privileged occasion, nnd (3) that tho statement was fair coir.menf. Decision waP reserved.