The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1908. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 398, 16 June 1908, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1908. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

The libel action Essex v. the Manawatu Times, wherein the plaintiff claimed ,£5Ol damages for alleged libel, came to a conclusion on Friday. As we have previously mentiond, the jury found for the defendant, and costs were entered up against the plaintiff on the highest scale. We congratulate the editor of our contemporay upon coming out of the ordeal “on top,” although we must admit that our esteemed friend has at times used a “long Tom ” for the purposes of criticism, when a pocket pistol would have met the case. The point is, however, that the liberty of the press has been vindicated. It would be a sorry day for this country if the press were gagged. The x-rays of press criticism keeps unscrupulous and immoral men out of public life, and protects society against • a certain class of human parasites ever ready to fatten by the sacrifice of morality. It is essential to the good government and morality of every community that the liberty of the press be maintained. We are in accord with the following statement made by the Wellington Post, in commenting on the above case : “ any journal in which the people trust would be failing in its duty if it were silent when fair comment was necessary for the public benefit.” The EssexHoben case proves that a newspaper need fear no ill when striving for the public good.