THE POSTAL INQUIRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 196, 17 August 1917, Page 2

THE POSTAL INQUIRY.

REV. ELLIOTT'S ALLEGATIONS. SECRECY OF CORRESPONDENCE MUST BE HELD INVIOLATE. The inquiry into the charges made by the Rev. Howard Elliott against the Po.-tal Department in Auckland was resumed at the Chamber of Commerce this morning, before Mr. H. \V. Bishop, S.M. Mr. Alex. Gray appeared for the i'ostal Department, and Mr. H. H. Ostler for tiie Rev. Howard Elliott. ABOVE REPROACH. In opening his case, Mr. Ostler stated that it was hardly necessary to point out that the Post Office was the most democratic department in the puuiic service. It was used equally by the rich and the poor. The humblest in the land had the right to the same terms as the rich, and in the past he had, as a rule, received that equal treatment. The post office was surrounded by every precaution to ensure that the main channel of communication should be rapid and efficient, and every officer before taking over his duties had to make one of the most solemn declarations that it was possible to make. One of the sections of the Post Cilice Act gave the PostmasterGeneral or any postmaster the power to destroy certain seditious, libellous or | indecent matter on certain conditions. ; But in that section sealed letters were j expressly excepted, and even where the postmaster was reasonably certain that ; the letters contained indecent or immoral I matter, he not only had no power, but he was liable to a term of imprisonment for two years if he interfered with them. i There was no power authorising a postmaster to open those letters. They must be handed to the addressees or held till the addressees opened them. Even where a postal packet was opened, it must be done by an officer in the presence of another under strict conditions to ensure that the vow of secrecy which every officer took was not broken. These examples were sufficient to show the vita! importance attached to the secrecy of the postage of the community. It was so important that the Department should be like Caesar's wife—above reproach. He was bound to say that in the past the post office had been above reproach. ONE CHURCH. Continuing, he stated that in the course of his address it would become his duty to refer to the Roman Catholic Church. He wanted to make it quite clear that neither he nor the party he represented had the slightest desire to attack the. dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. They held that everyone in this country- was entitled to liberty of conscience and liberty of speech, with the reservation that neither in speech nor in deed must they over-step the rights of others. It was not the Roman Catholic religion that had been the cause of the formation of the Protestant Political Association. They claimed that it was the political influence of the organisation, and the power exercised in this direction by the Church, that they were fighting. The issue was a purely political one. He would deal, he said, with the third charge first —that in reference to Box 912. In reference to this he would remind his Worship that the Roman Catholic Church was one Church all over the world and one organisation all over the world. It was probably the biggest vested interest in the world. Its aims in one Protestant country were the same as its aims in another, and therefore its activities in one Protestant country would be the same as in another. He wished to touch upon recent history in America to show that exactly the same thing had been done there that was happening here. The present trouble was first started by an attempt to prevent newspapers dealing with the subject in America from coming to New Zealand. In America there were 16,000,000 Roman Catholics, and it had 'been openly stated that the aim of the Church was to make America a Catholic country. •Mr. Bishop: I take exception to the claim of the Roman Catholics to the exclusive use of the word "catholic." It will be better, perhaps, if you use the term "Roman Catholic." HAPPENINGS IN AMERICA. Continuing, Mr. Ostler gave instances of what had happened in America. It had been openly stated there by a Roman Catholic dignitary that nationality must be subordinated to religion, and that they must learn that they were Catholics first and citizens afterwards. A similar statement had been made in Australia, and als 0 in New Zealand, though the statement had been clothed in different words here. A paper had been started in America to counteract the influence of the Roman Catholics, • and copies of this had been posted to people in New Zealand. Every effort was made to crush it. •Mr. Gray at this stage asked if the matters dealt with were relevant to the inquiry. His Worship stated that he took it that it was Mr. Ostler's object to show matters which happened elsewhere could also happen in New Zealand. He thought the matter was relevant from that point of view, and would allow it. Mr. Ostler stated that up to the commencement of the war no one had dared t 0 suggest that these papers should be stopped, but soon after the war this paper, "The Menace." was, for some reason, put on the list of papers not allowed to go from America. Complaints were made, and the embargo was promptly removed. A local citizen had posted a letter to the publishers of this paper, and had enclosed a subscription of £2. It was marked "passed by the censor," then someone got the words "military censor" and stamped them over the words "passed by," and the letter was returned to the resident mentioned. He at once wrote to the four post offices in the four centres and to the four censors, asking whether it was prohibited, and received the reply that it was not. He then communicated with the Post-master-General, who replied that a •breach 0 f the law had taken place, and promised that it would not occur again. He assured the writer that the post official was not a Roman Catholic. BOX 912. Box 912, said Mr. Ostler, was taken early in 1915 by the Loyal Orange Lodge. It was used by the committee of vigilance, consisting of men wh 0 had become alarmed at the dangerous political activities of the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand. This committee published a pamphlet headed "The Hideous Guilt of Rome in the European Carnage." That pamphlet had no connection whatever with military matters, and did not infringe on the right that still obtained in this country of free speech. Vet the premises in which the pamphlet had been published had been raided by the police and the pamphlet seized. He would like to know under

what authority the police did this. He understood they claimed to have acted under some war regulation, but he knew lof n 0 regulation that would authorise them to do this. The various branches of the Catholic Federation in this country began to pass resolutions and to send them to the Government in an endeavour to get the publishers of the pamphlet prosecuted. The Hon. Herdman absolutely refused to prosecute, and said in so many words that they had a perfect right to publish the pamphlet, that in doing bo they did not commit a breach of any war regulation. Orders commenced to come in for the pamphlet to Box 012, but at the very time that the Attorney-General refused t 0 prosecute, a military censorship was established over the box- They wished to know why the correspondence had been held up when they had the assurance of the Government that they had done no wrong. If they could not get an assurance at the present inquiry the public would be convinced that "there I was something wrong, and would set up |an agitation that would never cease till | they got to the bottom of the matter. I He submitted that it was absurd to say | that the Government had not the power to say that the censorship should cease. If it had not. then there was virtually "o Government in this country. FOUR LETTERS. Vt hen the Committee of Vigilance i found that their letters, were bciiig censored they wrote four letters addressed to the Vigilance Committee. Theoe were posted by the Rev. Howard Elliott in box 912 on "April 16. They dealt with no war subject at all. One of these letters was delivered, and the other three were held up by the censor, and they had not received thecn yet. The three letters dealt with matters connected J with the Roman Catholic Church. Was .it any wonder, he asked, that under the circumstances the committee concluded that a military censorship was established over their correspondence in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church* The letters dealt entirely with tho Roman Catholic Church and not with any matters of State at all. He submitted that the inference drawn by the committee was the only inference to be drawn. The matter did not rest there, however. In the month of March last a certain order was placed in the Post Office order book in the General Post Office at Auckland. This, he alleged, was to the effect that letters addressed to ithe Vigilance Committee were to be submitted to the Censor, and that they might be identified by the envelopes, which contained a request on the outside that if they were not claimed they were to be returned to box 912. He then alluded to the meeting held by the Protestant Political Association early in July last. This meeting was advertised in the newspapers, and following these advertisements further orders, the speaker alleged, were placed in the post office order book giving instructions that all correspondence to box 912 should be held. By whose authority was this done and for what motive? If the answer j was that it was done by the military j censor, then they wanted to know why. Moreover, he stated, the military censor i was not consistent. On the following i Sunday, acting on the speaker's advice, I four more letters were posted exactly ! similar to the others and dealifcg with jthe same matter. They were addressed to box 912, and all were delivered. Had the orders issued been changed since the icharges had been made? If they held up I tile first letters, why did they not hold iup the second? If it was right to send lout the second letters it was also right Ito send out, the first letters. The thing •was not consistent. He then traversed the incidents connected with the posting of >40 letters to the Protestant ministers in Auckland as published in the "Star" after the meeting in July. These letters, he said, were properly sealed and were ordinary looking letters, but they bore the superscription 'Tf not claimed within seven days, please return to Box 912, Auckland." Of these letters only one was delivered on Saturday, although they bore the post office stamp showing that they were in the hands of the officials at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning, in plenty of time for the early delivery. Two of the letters were never received at all, and the others were not delivered till Monday morning, and some on Tuesday. The envelopes had a piece of p.iper stamped on the back of them which was certainly not there when they were posted, and seemed to indicate that they had been opened by someone. Beyond that not one of the letters bore the mark "passed by the military censor," |or any mark at all to show that they | had been subject to censorship. Appaj rently the censor had the power to open ! correspondence, and to do so without j giving any indication that he had done i it. He understood that Mr. Gray did j not deny that the letters had been held I' by the censor. Mr. Gray: No, I do not deny it at all. Mr. Ostler then proceeded to allude to , statements published in the " Tablet," ! the organ of the Roman Catholic Federaj tion, which he stated entitled those re- | sponsible to imprisonment, yet the paper ! had not been censored. In conclusion he submitted that no local authority had j been given by the Government over the censorship of letters in New Zealand. Constitutional government still prevailed and the opening of letters was absolutely illegal. As for the question of Imperial control over these matters, he i submitted that it was absolutely absurd. Our Government had passed an Order-in-Council appointing a censorship over telegrams, but no Order-in-Council had been passed in reference to correspondence, though this was no doubt an omission. The fact that an Order-in-Council had been passed, however, appointing a censorship over telegrams showed clearly that the whole matter was in the hands of our own Government. MINISTERS' EVIDENCE. Rev. Charles Hughlings Garland, Methodist minister, residing at Remuera, was the first witness called. He stated that he received a letter from the Protestant Political Association asking him to notify from his pulpit on Sunday, July 8, a meeting of the Association. He had stated at the Town Hall meeting, and he would still state, that he received the letter on Tuesday, July 10. He had not kept the envelope. To Mr. Gray: His letters were delivered in the mornings and afternoons. It was possible, but very improbable, that the letter had been delivered on the Monday afternoon, and not brought to his notice till the Tuesday morning. He had made no complaint to the postal authorities. Rev. Reuben Bailey, Baptist minister at Richmond, stated that he received the envelope (produced) on the Tuesday morning -in question. The piece of stamped paper gummed to the flap was then upon it. It contained tickets and a request for the announcement of the meeting. In answer to Mr. Gray, the witness said that he was positive that the letter did not arrive on the Monday, because he was looking for it. He did not make a complaint, nor did he send the letter to the Chief Postmaster " for obvious reasons." Mr. Ostler suggested that

the witness should give the reasons, but Mr. Gray objected, and the matter was not pushed. Rev. A. A. Murray, of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, gave similar evidence. THE POSTING OF THE LETTERS. Henry Sidney Bilby, secretary of the Protestant Political Association, -stated that on Friday, July o,'he posted circulars to a number of clergymen, a list of whom he produced. The circulars were posted at the Dominion Road post oflicc about 11.20 p.m.. before the last clearance. None of the letters had stamppaper stuck on the backs. Questioned as to the posting of the letters alleged to have been delivered empty, the witness said that, with a Mr. Kcyworth, he posted them on the Monday and Wednesday of the week previous to the meeting. He was positive that all the envelopes were filled. They were subsequently stamped, and he was certain that they were full because the contents could be plainly felt when the stamps were pressed on. There was a card in each which was particularly noticeable. He and Kcyworth affixed aU the stamps. These letters, numbering about 2„i()l), were all posted at the Dominion Road office. As secretary of the Association, he had received a number of complaints that the envelopes hud been delivered empty —some from whom he knew two letters had been posted. To Mr. Gray: Circulars had been sent to persons named in lists handed in by various members of the Association. He had now no list of the persons to whom the circulars had been sent. The addresses were supplied by the persons who handed in the names. Mr. Gray: Would you be surprised to hear that many of the letters were returned by the' letter-carriers as "Not known," "Not for So-and-So." and so on? Witness: 1 should nut. because I had some of the letters returned to mc. Referring to the filling of the envelopes, which counsel suggested were rather thick when compared with the paper of the circulars, the witness said that he was certain that every one was tilled, not only because the card could b P felt inside, but because the Hap of each was turned in. Some young ladies had been engaged in filling them, and he did not think it likely that nnv of them would have turned the flaps in by mistake when the envelopes were empty. Eric Lewis Kevworth. who stated that he had assisted the last witness, gave corroborative evidence. John Lowe, draper, of Devonport, stated that a few (lavs before the Protestant Political Association's mcetin" he received by post an empty envelope, hearing the direction to the effect that if not delivered it should be returned to Box 912. Auckland. He went to the Devonport post office to inquire as to who the proprietor of the box was and the girl behind the counter showed him a number of similar envelopes, all of which were full. John Henry Hannan. draper, residin" at Remuera. who was the firpt witness railed after the lunch adjournment, stated that he received an empty envelope (produced). He kept it until the letter-carrier came round .again, and handed it back for investigation It was returned to him later by the lettercarrier with a memorandum upon it to the effect that it had been received without contents. In answer to a question the letter-carrier said that he believed lit had contained a Protestant Political Association circular. I To Mr. Gray: He believed that the letter-carrier's name was Wood. The . flap was turned in when he received the j envelope first. I Henry Symons, retired Civil servant, of Mount Eden, also testified to having jreceived an empty envelope. The flap of this, he said, was open when it was delivered to him. Bertie Smith, plumber, of Mount Eden, gave similar evidence, but was unable to state the position of the envelope flap at the time of delivery. Rev. F. A. Thompson and Rev. G. A. Macdonald, Presbyterian ministers at Grey Lynn and Takapuna respectively j stated that they had never received any communication from the Protestant Political Association relative to the an- I nouncement of any meeting. I Thomas Robert Maekrell, caretaker of Messrs. Smith and Caughey's buildings,! stated that he received an "empty envc- i lope (produced), addressed to a Mr. Shackelford, who was connected with the firm. The envelope bore a pencilled memorandum, "Received without contents.". He believed that the flap was tucked in. Evidence of a similar character was given by Mrs. Laura Fisher, Dominion Road. Harry Woodruffe, carpenter, late of Prospect Terrace, Mt. Eden, now of Takapuna, stated that after the Protestant Political Association's meeting was advertised he wrote a letter addressed to Box 912. applying for tickets. He posted |it at the Mt. Eden post office. No reply came to hand, and he afterwards obtained rickets by calling on Mr. Elliott. I who told him that he was "one of the thousand" whose letters had not been delivered. I Mrs. Leila Harriet Stainton, of Rocky 2S T ook, stated that she had received an empty envelope by the morning delivery, j the flap being open. In the afternoon I the postman was questioned about it, : and said, "It's about an Orange meeting! | I had a number on the round like it" I Edna Stainton and Mrs L. Lockie j daughters of the last witness, corroborated her statement as to the postman's remark, i The inquiry is proceeding.