SIR JOSEPH IS ANGRY. And no Wonder.

Free Lance, Volume VI, Issue 278, 28 October 1905, Page 6

SIR JOSEPH IS ANGRY. And no Wonder.

SIR Joseph Ward has, throughout his long public career, eaijoyed a reputation for coolheadedness, good temper, and perf ect courtesy. During in© discussion on theCriminal Code Act Amendment Bill, which seeks to make criminal slanderous statements, spoken from the platform, Sir Joseph Ward, out of the fulness of his heart, spoke very strong words. * * • An impartial critic of the reasons for the outburst from the Minister will admit that what he said was most natural under the circumstances. The man who tamely submits to public indignities is not a man of spirit, and is not fit for a public position. There are some people who are always digging into the past, and when Sir Joseph Ward's business relations with the Colonial Bank are dug into the people who dig are goang over old old ground. » • • To insinuate anything against Sir Joseph Ward in this connection is to join the Supreme Court as a party assailed, for his business relations with the Colonial Bank were closely investigated by that Court, which fully exonerated him from any evil imputation. In fact. Sir Joseph emerged without a stain on his shield. People face financial misfortune in various fashions. Some pay half-a-crown in the pound, and some pay less. Having done so, they face the world and start again to work for themselves, not for their creditors. * * * It must ever be remembered, to the honour of Sir Joseph Ward, that he did not shelter himself behind any composition with his creditors, but that, when brighter days came and fortune smiled once more, he paid every person a full twenty shillings in the pound. We don't look upon a man who pays his just debts in full as an angel from heaven. We merely look upon him as a rarity, and a rarity to be treasured. A great many people would be much better occupied m learning how to be this sort of a rarity, than in doing other less useful things. * • * It is not so very awful a sin in a man that he should refute base charges, even if he uses strenuous words in the refutation, or that he should protect himself and his from slanders that cause undeserved pain and do nobody — not even the maker — any good. Although it may have come as a surprise toi find that Sir Joseph Ward could make the sparks fly m the fashion indicated, there is nothing surprising in the fact that his indignation was righteously aroused. Right throughout his public life he has shown that he has the courage of his convictions, and is ever prompt to defend the personal honour that he holds so dear. It is sincerely to> be hoped that the proposed legislation giving the law power to punish slanderers will make certain people realise that it is not a light or a venial thing to attempt to defame or blast a man's or a woman's reputation.