ANONYMOUS THREATS

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 63, 14 March 1918, Page 6

ANONYMOUS THREATS

AGAINST ORANGE ADHERENTS. TWO SENSATIONAL LETTERS. ■HANDED TO HON. T. M. WILFORD. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent) FRANKTON JUNCTION, this day. Messrs. E. McGregor and R. Andrews, president and secretary of the Hamilton branch of the Protestant Political Association, waited on the Hon. T. M. Wilford, Minister of Justice, at Frankton this morning in reference to a couple of anonymous letters of a threatening character which they stated had been received by two supporters of their organisation. The first of the letters, both of which were handed to the Minister, was addTeeeed to Mr. Colin Galbeth, farmer, of I Gordonton, and ran as follows: "Youj dirty Orange dog, 111 burn more than | your etack of hay. 11l learn you to. talk j about us Catholics, you and your damned | Orange lodge." This letter," the deputa-j tion stated, was received by Mr. Galbeth on February 19, the day after one of his stacks had been destroyed 'by fire. <■ The other letter, which was stated to have been received on March. 8 by Mrs. Buick, proprietress of a confectionery shop in Hamilton, ran thus: "Look at here; if you let your son go to the Orange Lodge this week your house is going to be burned up and that boy of yours is going to get a bullet through the head of him. I sha'nt warn you any more." The two letters .were in different hands, one of which was apparently disguised. The deputation stated that the letter to Mrs. Buick was the second threat that had been made to her. The Minister said that in his official capacity he knew no religion, and the same was true of the Department of Justice. Htj was prepared to go to any lengths to maintain law and order and to prevent such occurrences as those mentioned by the deputation. He proposed to retain the letters for further investigation.