INTERESTING LIBEL ACTION

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10719, 28 September 1912, Page 6

INTERESTING LIBEL ACTION

TAIAWHIO TK TAU v. DTC LAC I. 1 A CLAIM FOR LIHKL. £•:, DAMAGES AWARDED. 1 A case of a rather unique character was hceard in the Supremo Court at Masterton yesterday, before His Honor tho Chief Justice, and a jury of twelve, in which Taiawhio To Tan, a native of Masterton, claimed from | leather Do Lach, a priest of the Roman Catholic, Church,'the sum of £5Ol for aliened libel contained in an article published in the Maori newspaper Wharo Kura, of which the. dofendj ant is editor. Mr P. L. Hollings appeared for the | plaintiff, and Mr Hlair, of V* r o 11 for the defendant. j The following was the .statement <r claim: —(1) That the plaintiff is fc . hishop of the Clnirc!i of "The Seven I Rules of Jehovah," a Protestant[church recognised and adhered to by certain aboriginal natives of New {Zealand, and being similar in its doctrines and ceremonial to the Anglican Church, and in such capacity ofiicinted at th.e Christmas festival | held at such, church at To Or.-. Ore. j Masterton, in December, 1911. ('2) Tlio defendant is Roman Catholic • Priest, and as .such, officiated at oertain religious services of his church. } held at the same time at To Ore Ore ( aforesaid, in a building in which Die , plaintiff officiated aforesaid. (3) 'i'ho defendant is the editor and publisher of a periodica!-Maori newspaper called "Wharo Kura," printed and cir'otilated among the native..race, and ' printed and circulated throughout the j Wellington .district. - (4) That in the monthly issue of the said paper in February, 1012, printed a!- Pallia tun. and circulated throughout (l/ 1 Wellington district, and containing a reference to the said services tlio , plaintiff's said church the clciV--..c!:nrt .falsely and maliciously wrote, printed 'and published of and concerning th> plaintiff the following word's ('translated in to English); ' here v. :v one astonishing thing- at that gathering, which was the fact ihai some members of the Seventh Rule wore the garments of Anglican bishops. It is a festering*- disease for persons of no standing to wear ai?h .garments, as- there is no nutJiority )>;' , which they may do so; but it is. perhaps, from the jon lons desire < I' the heart that they aspire for those positions. But why should they yearn? Lei us ,'tick together. No, tlio peacock is a peacock, the wend hen, a woodlien, although, thu woodhoi snatches the feathers of the peacock as feathers for himself. No, the peacock remains a peacock, the wondhen a woodhen." (o) The "Members of the Church, of the Seventh Rule," to jwhom the defendant referred, and. to whom the defendant's jarticlo w&? meant to -apply, were..the nbmitiff and j one Aperahp.inn A nam, the officer?, j of the said church officiating at- the gathering referred in. (G) The defendant by the said words set out in paragraph 1 thereof, that the plaintiff had usurped and improperly used and enjoyed privileges belonging ox olusivoly to tho bishops of the Anglican Church. (7) Alternatively, the defendant meant thereby that the plaintiff was improperly imitating the bishops of the Anglican Church, and was likened to a bird in borrowed plumes, and to the woodhen snatching the feathers of the peacocks for personal adornment. (8) Alternatively the defendant -meant that the plain-

tiff's conduct, at the services of the

said church was improper and with-, out authority. (9) Alteninii;; !y tin.' defendant meant thereby ti.at -the plaintiff was a person of no standing, and that his conduct at the said services was due to vanity and to a dosi ro to undidy exalt himself above his station. .(10) Thin publication of such words is - calculated to seriously damage the plaintiff in his official capacity in the said church, and to undermine and seriously affect his influence among the native people belonging to his said church, and has subjected i and will subject the plainidi to ridicule and contempt among the native people and others .r-eadir.g the i Wherefore the plaintiff claim; "iiro of £-")0] damnc.f". f The defendants in their f»' •..) ,lc- | fence, admitted that the p'.;.in +:rt! officiated at the Christmas ■ f&st]; t! services of the Church of tho Seven Rules of Jehoval hold at Te Ore Or;>, /Masterton, in December. 10.11, hut did not know whether or not the other facts contained in paragraph I of the statement of claim arc l true, and denies all the other allegations contained in paragraph 2 of the .statement of claim; lie admits that he is editor and publisher of the "Wharo KVrn," but save as especially admitted .herein, denied all the allegations contained in paragraph 3 of the statement of claim; he denied each and every allegation contained in paragraph 4 of the statement of claim. The said words, translated into English language, did not. it was alleged, read as the plaintiff alleged they read, but as follows: "Well, there was one I wonderful.thing seen at-that meeting, | namely, the wearing, by some of the | members of the Churdh of the Seventh Rule, of the garb of Anglican Bishops; the weaving of that description of clothing is indeed a vexatious practico having regard to the fact

that there is no known reason why ! b should l)e right, ior ordinary men I to wear Bishop'.,- clothes. However, thai is probably due to their longing to attain that dignity. Well, lot them ) long, what doos matter? A poa's always a -peacock, a wok a is always a wok.'.. Notwithstanding that lr.:: woka aKUir.es the feathers of the peacock, the peacock always romaiir; a- peacock, the woka- a woka. ,: It was alleged that these words did not mean and did not convey any of the meanings which the pjaintiff alleged they boro or any defamatory meaning, and are incapable of such meanings or any < f them or of any defamatory meaning. Tn fo- far aI the said words consisted of allegation* of fact, it was held that they wore true in substance and in fact : in «r far as they consisted of expressions of •opinion they were fair comments, ;t.ade in good faith, and without malice upon the said facts, and upon the ic-tinns and conduct of the plaintiff, which are -matters of public interest. The defendant,- prior to the common cement of this action, and immediately on complaint being made to him by' the plaintiff's solicitors, offered to publish the following statement in hi? paper, and submitted the pamo to the plaintiff, who declined to authorise it. ; publication: "We have received a complaint from Taiawhio To Tan anc' Aperaha-ma Anaru with reference to the wording of a. certain portion of our report of the Hui Kihirimeto held at Nga Tau e Warn in December last, in this report which appeared on page 123 of Number 10 of \\ harekura, reference, was made to the v,-cav-ing of certain members of tho ChuFf-l of 'To Iluri Tuawhitu,' present at that Hui, of the garments distinctive of Bishops of th.e. Anglican Church. It is a fact that certain members e< that Church-■ habitually wenr the rppare! above referred to, and m our report of the occurrence we made jocul. ai- reference thereto and compared the wearers of these garment;; to birds ir borrowed plumage. Wo gather from the complaints of Ta.tnwh.io and Anaru that, they have taken our remarks as a reflection on.their personality and they have suffered anrny auce thereby. Wo have no licit-alioj- . in saying that- no. such reflection waintended, and thn.t we distinctly re- . grct if our remark? have c:tncd nnj pain or aivuftyanee to the above mentioned." Mr Hollings addressed the jury at , considerable length, and stated that ho did not ask for heavy damages. M j was merely sought to vindicate theI character of the plaintiff. Taiawhio To Tau, the plaintiff, on oath, deposed that lie was a native , chief, lie was a Bishop of the Church , of the Seventh Rules of Jehovah. ( There were sections of the Church in , other parts of the district. He war the chief of the whole Church. Ho ! officiated at the Christmas services of the Cliurch at Te Ore Ore,- and the defendant war..present at-Te Ore.Ore at tho time. On Christmas Day witness was attired in Maori cast.-.nrjC. 1;-r - on the other day?, he was droned n' a white surplice with a sash. , Tuore were distinctive marks of the phurch on the sash. These were the garment:-; i prescribed by the rules of th.e Church. - He wore them on every day that, he went to Church'.'" He had seen the

garments • worn by certain Anglican Bishops in Nov.' Zealand. He hn<l read tho article .appearing in tue Maori newspaper "Wharekurn," and considered that it bad been directed at his Cluirch and at Itim as liead of the Church. Ho ponsidered, it wa? "bad talk, libellous talk, and tha* whicli belittled a person." He thought

the words referred to him as a. "Fes-

tering" or a "pestering" disease. According to the Maori nation, the comparison to a wekn was insulting. Tho article was read out at a meeting of Natives at Porangaiian by an Anglican clergyman. (I was a tangi over the remains of a Bishop of the Church of the . Seven Rules of Jehovah, and there were about live hundred natives present. Many years ago witness knew tho defendant. 4 Witness was a member of tho Roman Catholic -Church before he was married. Witness married a Protestant ladv, and at that time 'rhanjred his religion to Protestantism. The defendant was angry with witness. vSinre then, they had not met. until last''Christmas, when witness invited the defendant to dinner. Witness had done nothing to tho defendant to cause him to write the article. They linrl no krouhlo

Mr Blair : Will you please tell me the number of times you have changed your religion ? Plaintiff: Perhaps three time;; or four. Hi a parents had changed their religion several times. He had become a member of tho Church of the Seven Rules of Jehovah in 1901. He was one of the founders of tho Church. Ho became a Bishop of the Church in July, 1010, at a gathering of the Church Synod. He knew the kind of gaiters that Bishop Wnllis wore, and he. had not worn gaiters like them. T:7e hadworn the gaiters of the Church of Jehovah, but not tho gaiters of the Anglican Church. He and Anani wore tho gaitors of the Church at the Christmas meeting. They wero black gaiters. Some of them were made of skin, and others of cloth. They were fastened with black buttons. The (Continued on Page 7.)