TO BE CALLED A "SOCIALIST."

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 212, 1 June 1908, Page 11

TO BE CALLED A "SOCIALIST."

IS NOT A LIBEL

Judgment was ■ given by the Commonwealtl)>High / Court last week, in the appeal • from" tile decision of the' Supremo Court,' roversiiig 'the l verdict for £50- given by < Judge Backhoiise m.thoNow South'Wales"District Court'.'ito jHampton Sktycr, ill the action against'; .the- Sydney •."Daily:. Telegraph" • ■ for alleged .libel. .Slatyer was a-.candidate for Parke's'at' tho last 1 Federal Election;-and;was •' placed'by the'-"Daily Telegraph" as. a "50..cialistsV; Thojiewspaper had previously pub-' lished'\articles Jin which Socialists . were - referred to as. being in favour of "the confiscation iof - property," and' Slatyer.' contended that ..classing him' as - had mili-V against' : his chances:; of ' success. >•, The real -'pSint in''iho;dispute was':—"Can a reasonable person reasonably' say that'publica-tion'.concerliing-an individual, .under tlio cir-. eurastancesj stating, that he was in;favour of the confiscation of property, held him up to. hatred or: contempt ?'/' The Chief Justice, in" delivering judgment, said',that- ''confiscation" might mean confis-catipn'-in ,the. sense of plunder,' or it. might have;a.;mu<?h milder meaning;.and really, in thoiciiso before the Court, it wotildi bo idle to • pretend ;not to know that the word was used in; a hyperbolical sense very often. It was fnot; disputed that the words ."Socialist candidate''..were not un themselves defamatory; 'but.ifr was said 'that the circumstances .might:'show ,'tliat 'i they were used by the .■■"Daily.Telegraph'' in.such a sense that persons' .reading them <.would.' understand 'them :in 'a'. defamatory sense. . The Supremo Court . Judges woro'ail of opinion that-, upon tho docuiiibnts in evidence, there were no grounds upon .which reasonable: persons could attribute "to Slatyer the meaning alleged. This . the question of fact) and ho oould.not, holp thinking that if tlio' attention of tho High Court, when special leave tb'ap? peal was asked for, had;been drawn to tho view: leave to appeal might not have Debii. granted. .Ho entirely concurred, with the conclusions •. arrived at by tho Supreme Court tllat there wasjiotliing in tlio . articles upon, which-a reasonable reader of average intelligence could put tlio interpretation alleged by Slayter. Slayter, in .his opinion, had failed to prove tho caso , sot' up. ; ' ; ) 'Mr. Justice O'Connor and. Mr. Justico Isaacs concuiTed.; The last-named said that in-i.'such...■'.'a . community .it was impossible, to regard these things as anything more than strong expression's of opinion regarding , policy, and not as imputing, when taken in-conjunction with tlio facts upon, which' the. case was based, any moral turpitude. •'