ALL CARDS ON THE TABLE!

NZ Truth, Issue 1211, 14 February 1929, Page 3

ALL CARDS ON THE TABLE !

THE announcement by the Minister of Justice, Hon. T. M. Wilford, that he had appointed Mr. E. Page, senior magistrate of Wellington, to proceed to Auckland and sit as a Commission to investigate the methods of the police m conducting the Elsie Walker inquiry, is m itself a complete endorsement of the criticism levelled against the police by "N.Z. Truth" from the very commencement of their investigations. For months past this paper, m the public interest, has not hesitated to say what it thought about the police handling of the case, and has consistently urged that all cards should be placed on the table. Now that official cognisance has been given to the public campaign

of police criticism — first instituted m the columns of "N.Z. Truth" — further comment can safely be deferred until the finding of the commission is made public*. In the meantime all that need be said is that, whatever the findings of the Commission may be, one thing is reasonably certain. That is the tightening up of the whole system of criminal investigation m future. This hai been urged m our columns over a long period, and the imminent reforms are long overdue. It is expected that the Commission will commence its sittings m Auckland at an early date.