ARMY CLERK CHARGED
ALLEGED SUBVERSIVE DOCUMENTS
(P.S.S.) WELLINGTON, August 16. A charge of having in his possession for the purpose of publication two subversive documents was made in the Magistrate’s Court against Harold Willian Klein, Clerk in the headquarters office of a military camp for the last 12 months. He pleaded not guilty, and was committed to the Supreme Court for trial.
Bail .was granted by Mr J. L. Stout, S.M., for £IOO, and Klein was allowed to return to duty at camp. A charge of stealing seven stencils to which he also pleaded not guilty, was deferred till after the hearing of the major case. Accused was represented by Mr E. Parry. Sergeant William Patrick Cowan, typist-clerk at headquarters at the camp, said that on April 25, when going on leave, he had taken from the office a coat he thought was his, and found in the pocket a bundle of stencils of the same serial number as those used in the camp then. He had read one of the stencils, and not liking _ the sound of it. had placed them m a drawer. Later it was found that Klein had taken witness’s coat. Other articles in the pockets had been placed in a cupboard where Klein had been seen looking on his return from leave. Klein had been in the office for about 12 months. , , , Asked when accused had ever expressed Communistic views, the witness replied; “He always seemed to stitk up for the Russians.” Other witnesses corroborated the evidence of the coat and the stencils. Captain Doughty said he identified the stencils as those used in the camp office by the factory mark. He knew that Klein was interested in a general wav in Russia. When interviewed by . DetectiveSergeant W. C. Murch, Klein said he was not a member of the Communist Party, but held similar political opinions. A search of his effects had produced pencilled notes and a .membership card of the New Zealand Society for Closer Relations with Russia.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23718, 17 August 1942, Page 6
Word Count
334ARMY CLERK CHARGED Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23718, 17 August 1942, Page 6
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