The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1883.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3749, 21 July 1883, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1883.

The most sensible view that wo havp yet seen on the law of libel is that taken by the New Zealand Herald. Our Northern temporary, in referring , to Mr Tole's Bill, says tho measure does not profess to be a complete reform of tho law, but it proposes a few provisions of a valuable kind, the reasonableness and justico of which can hardly bo questioned. One of these is that all reports of public meetings, if honestly and without malicious intent, recorded, shall be priviledged : in other words, that a newspaper shall not be liable for any libellous statements made at a public meeting, tho only share in tho promulgation of which, on the part of tho journalist, being conveying to the public a fair statement of what actually took place at the moeting. It is to the interest of the public, and, we might add, to the interest of the person who may consider himself injured by such public ■

statements, that they should be faithfully reported. In the case of the latter, tho gravest injury may be dono to his character by injurious statements being uttered viva voec in the presence of thousands, probably quite as much as if they had been first promulgated on the broad street; while their being accurately and reliably reported, rather than disseminated from mouth to mouth, affords him the opportunity of meetting the statements if they aro untrue or injurious, sheeting tho offence of slander home against the really guilty author of them, and running them to earth ; while the knowledge that a speaker's slanders will thus be brought home to himself as the author, will make men more cautious on tho platform, and put an end to that license in public speaking which frequently makes tho platform a power of evil as dangerous as the worst forms of reckless journalism. To the public, on tho other hand, it must be an advantage to have an actual reflex of what has really occurred, and what has really been hoard by those present, iv preference to having a garbled account of the proceedings, necessitated by the fear of the liability to an action for damages. Another important reform proposed by Mr Tole is that criminal proceedings in an action for libel must, before their commencement, receive the authorisation of the Attorney-General. It has often been questioned whether tho machinery of the criminal laws should at any time be available for the punishment of libel ; and tho facility with which such proceedings can bo taken by an angry man, and the gratification afforded from tho fact that however flimsy tho charge the magistrates aro bound to commit if there is aprimafacie case, binding the defendant over in securities to stand his trial, affiTrd a constant temptation to tho institution of such proceedings. The Bill introduced by Mr Tole does not do away absolutely with such criminal prosecutions, but provides machinery to prevent the reckless putting in motion of the criminal law, while the civil law is always open for redress, and for obtaining for the injured man, such reparation for wounded feelings or injury to character as a jury of his fellowcitizens may consider him entitled to.

Thk Statutes Revision Commission have consolidated eight Acts of tho General Assembly and thirty-one ordinances of Provincial Councils relating to boroughs, and tho result is now before Parliament in the form of a Bill intituled "Tho Municipal Corporations Act, 1883." It is surprising, says a contemporary, how difficult it has been to legislate satisfactorily upon the subject of municipal government. A general Act was passed by tho Legislature on this subject in 1870; there was an amending Act in 1877, another in 1878, another in ISBO, and still another in 1882, and after all the law requires further amendments. The Act now before tho House repeals all the Acts bearing on tho question of municipal law, save a few of purely local application, and presents the whole of the statutes in the consolidated form, with amendments such as to the commissioners seemed necessary. The newbill is, of course, a great simplification and condensation of the multitudinous existing lawn, but it is of portentous size, numbering no loss than threo hundred and ninetythree clauses, many of which are of great length. It will be a pleasant, and, perhaps, profitable occupation for municipal councillors to study this Act, and to make themselves thoroughly acquainted with its provisions. The suggestion comes from the Rangitikci Advocate, a paper that knows not that in our Napier Council we havo members who do nothing else in spare time but search the statutes. The task of making themselves familiar with the provisions of the Act of ISB3, thinks the Advocate, will certainly not be an easy one, but with pluck and pcrseveranco it is capablo of accomplishment, if only sufficient time bo allowed. There is, however, great risk that any industrious councillor might find that by tho timo ho had "learned his lesson' , the Municipal Corporations Act, 1883, would have been tinkered with by the Legislature to such a serious extent that he would havo to make a fresh start, unlearn much that he had learned, and gorge bis mind with alterations and additions ad infantum.