Alleged Libel.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVII, Issue 90, 16 December 1913, Page 5

Alleged Libel.

N.Z. TIMES v. DOMINION.

A WRIT FOR £3OOO.

[Pee Press Association.]

Wellington, December 16,

A writ claiming £3OOO cta»mges for alleged libel lias been served on the Wellington Publishing Company, proprietors of the newspaper “The Dominion,” by the New Zealand Times Company. The ground of the action is an article published on December 11th criticising the attitude of the Times towards the “lied” Federation. i

The following is the article in which the alleged libel is contained:—“The inventive genius of our morning contemporary is having a very busy time just now drawing on his imagination for grounds on which to attack its political opponents.' In yesterday’s issue that veracious organ of tht Brewing Industry gave up cpiite a lo of its space to venomous comments ot its own. distorted version of curreir happenings, and no doubt found there in some relief for its own trouble: and ipisgivings concerning the future It is a little foolish of that decadent mouthpiece of a decaying cause to s» plainly disclose its sympathies witi the. Fed Federation if it really wisher to help Sir Joseph Ward. The great hulk of the people have seen exactly what tho lied Federation stands for. and when the official mouthpiece of Wardism, which has on every possibleoccasion insidiously encouraged tin strikers in the present industrial crisis openly urges that the Liberals oi Lyttelton should throw in their loi with the Socialist-Anarchist organisa tion in order to gratify the spleen o:' their leaders and defeat the Minis terialist candidate, it is not calcula ted to do either the Liberal Party o the.’ New Zealand Times much goo( with the business people of the com inanity. Of course, it is generally re cognised here that our morning, con temporary has few scruples where i desires to give rein to its malignan hatred of the Government, hut it wil .find it a .little dicult to convinct tho public of Wellington, at . least that a journal which advocates th encouragement and support of th lied Federation and its leaders tor ruinous methods in preference to : Government which, whatever its faults has honestly and firmly carried out it duty to the public, is , deserving oi either crcdefice' or respect. Perhaps Sir Joseph Ward and his friends* wil now see that it is more, necessary than eyev ithat they;should disown tin Red Federation . tp which their.' official mouthpiece has already committed it self.”