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Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1709, 26 January 1874, Page 2

Libel actions against newspapers appear to be becoming common in New Zealand. During the last year or so, several newspapers have been actually sued, whilst many others have been threatened. In some cases, humble and abject apologies have^been accepted as sufficient solatium for wounded honor or injured innocence ; in others damages more or less trivial have been awarded, but in no modern case has a jury assessed the injury at any large amount. The fact is that in most instances the actions have had little other foundation than personal pique ; some one with an inordinate amount of self-conceit meddles in public matters, and of course becomes at once a subject of newspaper criticism. If he gets hit he straightway rushes to his lawyer, and begs that astute personage to find if something libellous cannot be found in the paper. Of course this is easily accomplished, for the law of libel is so remarkably elastic that it is a question if there is j a single paper published to-day that does not transgress it. Anything calculated to injure anyone in personal reputation, or which occasions him actual damage in his trade or profession, or causes him personal anuoyance, or which is calculated to bring ridicule upon him is a libel. Punch bristles with libels, but whoever heard of any of the public men whom Punch most delighteth to ridicule suing for damages. Nuw-a-days in New Zealand il ia hardly safe to misspell a person's name, more dangerous still to make him the topic of a letter or article in a newspaper. Colloquially one may use affectionate prefixes to the names of notables, but woe if you put them in print. The latest development of the libel fever is afforded by a recent case at Dunedin. It appears that the harbormaster there having been rather too officious in ordering goods to be removed from the jetty as soon as landed, gave umbrage to some merchant who unbosomed his griefs to the public by means of a letter addressed to the Evening Star. In this letter the harbormaster was characterised as " Bumble"^=-that workhouse beadle immortalised by Dickens, and forthwith the offended official brings an action for libel against the paper, aud as it was argued that he ertm was calculated to bring him into ridicule, the jury awarded him damages to the extent of fifty pounds. No malice was proved nor any positive injury to the plaintiffit was fifty pounds worth of ridicule contained in ona word. Correspondents ndd editors of newspapers w}U have to be exceedingly careful. If ff ßumble." is libellous, so is " Buzfuz " and a host of other designations that people are apt to apply to their neighbors.