NOT TO RESIGN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 272, 16 November 1936, Page 7

NOT TO RESIGN.

FEDERAL MINISTER. Latest Developments in Case of Mrs. Freer. LIEUTENANT DEWAR'S VIEW. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 11.30 a.m.) CANBERRA, this day. , The report that he intended to resign the portfolio of Internal Affairs was categorically denied by Mr. T. Paterson, who declared that such a development had never been thought of. He added: "The case of Mrs. Freer is. being given prominence out of all proportion to its importance. It is being elaborated in some quarters into a matter of Empire importance." The "Daily Telegraph" Melbourne correspondent says that according to Lieutenant R. Dewar, Mrs. Freer was excluded by the Commonwealth Government "because of personal representations by private individuals in Australia." He added that he knew a letter had been sent to a relative of his in Australia by an officer in India. An earlier Sydney message stated: The Canberra correspondent of the "Sunday Sun" says it is learned that the statements from India about Mrs. Freer were made not by the Indian Government, but, it is reported, by the commander of the garrison in which Mr. Dewar sewed. Members of Parliament will ask why the views of an officer in the Indian Army, which may or may not have been prejudiced, should have caused such drastic action by the Minister against a British, subject. The refusal of the Indian Government to associate itself with the exclusion of Mrs. Freer may provide sensational developments in the Federal Parliament. ' It is said in some political quarters, . adds the correspondent, that Mr. T. ; Paterson will resign the portfolio of • the Interior next week as a personal . protest against the criticism levelled ; against him. His colleagues are silent . on the point.