The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1921. PROTECTING THE MAJORITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 May 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 1921. PROTECTING THE MAJORITY.

The reply given by Sir Francis Bell (Acting-Premier) to the Alliance of Labor deputation on Monday was in every way worthy of his high reputation as a lawyer and administrator. The avowed object of the deputation was to urge the repeal of the remaining war regulations, as well as the release of Johnson, who was recently sent to prison for selling seditious literature. The speakers do not appear to have questioned the intent of the regulations or their propriety, but claimed that, as the war period had passed, so should the regulations; nor did they claim that Johnson had been wrongly convicted, their grievance on this head being the severity of the sentence on a man who “might have erred,” but was not a man of violence. Sir Francis Bell lucidly, fairly and candidly reviewed the law relating to freedom of speech and the advocacy of violence. No sane citizen can misunderstand this plain exposition by Sir Francis. The law of the land places no limit on speech or printed matter advocating the wildest forms of Socialism and Communism, provided it stops short at counselling violence “as a means of obtaining their Utopia.” In elaborating this vital principle of good government, Sir Francis practically defined the difference between constitutional methods and those which are un-lawful-violence and slaughter—and went on to explain that it is the duty of a Government to protect the majority against assaults by the minority. For the Alliance delegates to claim that Johnson “was not cognisant that the literature he sold advocated murder” demonstrates how hardly pressed they were for a plausible ' reason wherewith to back up their request. Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law, and pr tperly so, for its acceptance would practically nullify a very large number of prosecutions in varying degrees of criminality. It was Johnson’s business to know, and tie sentence he is serving should

be a lesson not only to him, but to others who “do and dare” in dangerous undertakings. The tendency of the extremists is to sail as close to the wind as they know how, and yet keep out of the clutches of the law, sq that when they overstep the border line exemplary punishment should not come as a surprise, but as an act of justice. The crucial question is whether there shall be safety for the majority under good government, or a reign of terror by a small minority? Those who seek to influence the unbridled passions of their fellows are well aware of the danger they run. It matters not that the dupes of those who wave the red flag of revolution are deficient in mental balance. In fact, it is just that class from which the most dangerbus recruits are gathered, hence the imperative obligation on the part of the State to make the circulation I of literature which advocates violence and 'bloodshed a “wicked criminal offence,” punishable by imprisonment. ’While it is necessary for the well-being of the community that there should be a full measure of liberty of speech and of printed matter, it is equally imperative to safeguard the people from the abuse of that liberty whereby law and order are set at defiance and rebellion fostered. It is certainly time to repeal the war regulations, but it is' also time that offences such as that for which Johnson was convicted should be provided against in the criminal code, together with others which the extreme Socialists are comntitting with impunity. We are averse to stringent repressive measures as a general rule, yet when it is found necessary cope with forces inimical to the welfare of the country, the means should be provided and utilised, without fear or favor, for making the country too hot to contain those who, in spite of the great advantages possessed by the Dominion, would seek to gain their own ends by unlawful means. The protection of the majority is a duty that no Government can thrust aside without having to face chaos and disaster.