THE WAR REGULATIONS.
STATEMENT BY MR. HERDMAN,
IN REPLY TO SIR J. FI/XDLA>Y,
By Telegraph—Press Association
Wellington,. Juno 5.
In his address to the Court, when the charges of sedition against P. C. Webb neve recently being heard at Christelmrcli, counsel for the accused (Sir J. Findlay, K.C.), had a good deal to say by way of comment on the war regulations. Mr. Herdman to-day, speaking to a reporter with respect to.that criticism, said the answer to that was that whilst Mr Webb was fortunate in securing the services of such able counsel to defend him, the speech delivered by Sir J. Findlay was one of the most unfortunate utterances delivered in a, public man in New Zealand since the outbreak of the war. It was calculated to revive again the spirit of disaffection and unrest that was beginning to exhibit itself in a formidable shape in New Zealand after the anti-conscription triumph in Australia. By getting war regulations passed and acting promptly, tho movement in New Zealand wa' checked and broken.
Mr. Herdman declared, unhesitatingly, that during the war the regulations which had been commented upon so violently had been indispensable, and had enabled New Zealand, during months of grave difficulty, to present a well-or-dered and. respectable front to the rest of tho world, and prevented ill-advised and ill-intentioned members of the community from dragging the fair name of New Zealand in the mire.
Sir J. Findlay declared there was greater freedom of speech in England today than,in New Zealand, but Mr. Herdman disputes this.' The regulations in Great Britain, he says, are wide, and taking themi from cover to cover, he be,-, lieves they limit private rights more rigorously and more extensively than do ours.
Mr. Herdman referred to the injury done by the disaffected meli in Australia, and said there was still in New Zealand a small body of mistaken men who would seek to bring the good name of New Zealand into disrepute, by making every step taken to prosecute the war effectively difficult and hazardous, and by attempting to overthrow the industrial life of the country. The presence and activities of these/men in New Zealand, and nothing else,/makes the war regulations, under which Webb was prosecuted, necessary.
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Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1917, Page 2
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372THE WAR REGULATIONS. Taranaki Daily News, 7 June 1917, Page 2
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