ALLEGED LIBELLOUS CARTOON

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 292, 4 May 1911, Page 7

ALLEGED LIBELLOUS CARTOON

MR. MASSEY MOVES FOR A NEW TRIAL. The action W. F. Massey v. The New Zealand Times (re cartoon) will be revived in the Supreme Court on Friday next, when Mr. H. D. Bell, K.C., will move on behalf of Mr. W. F. Massey, Leader of the Opposition, for a new trial. The motion will be heard by more than one judge. When the case was last before the Court, a verdict was given for the defendant company. The notice is as under:— "In the Supreme Court of New Zealand, Wellington district. Between William Ferguson Massey, of Mangere, near Auckland, sheep-fanner, plaintiff, and The New Zealand Times Company, Ltd., a company incorporated under the the Companies Acts in New Zealand, defendant. Take notice that this honorable Court will be moved that the verdict and judgment entered in this action be set aside and a new trial had between the parties, upon the grounds: (1) That the special verdict or finding of the jury is so defective that judgment cannot be given upon it. (2) That the learned judge misdirected the jury in the following matters:— (a) By directing them that they ' might disregard the evidence of the witnesses as to the interpretation of such witnesses of the cartoon and words which form the alleged libel. (b) By directing them that even if they found that the plaintiff was represented by the figure hitching the waggon, they might find that the cartoon and words were a mere political skit, and therefore did not attribute personal misconduct to the plaintiff. (e) By directing them that their special finding was a verdict for the defendant company, and that they, upon such, special finding, should give their verdict for the defendant company. (3) That the verdict was against the weight pf evidence. (4) That the finding of the jury is not a verdict for the defendant company. (5) That the learned judge admitted improper evidence to which the plaintiff objected distinctly at the trial, namely, evidence of the memory of witnesses of reports of what was said by members of Parliament in a debate in the House of Representatives on the 30th day of November, 1010, and in a debate in the Legislative Council on the Ist day of December 1010."