POLICE RECURUS.
THE ALLEGED POLITICAL INTERFERENCE.
MR. DAVEY EXFLAINS.
STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER.
When the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) moved in the House yesterday that the annual report in connection with the Police Department he laid on the tabic, .
Mr. Davcy (Christchurch East) said ho would liko to take that opportunity of explaining an action of his about which a great deal had been written in various papers. Ho would tall his story as simply as was possible. . It was this: Ono Sunday evening a friend of his came to him and told him that he had been arrested for drunkenness on the previous night. This man begged him to intercede for him to' seo if it were not possible to get his name kept out of Court. H« told this man that as it was a first offence his name would not appear in the newspapers and the only thing that ho would suffer was that his name would be called out in Court. Mr. Davey went on to say that he made a mistake in going to the Police Inspector at Christchurch and asking him if anything could be done for his friend.
"An Innocent Mistake." He. 'had innocently made the mistake —made it on behalf of a man who had hllod a number of responsible positions; and on behalf of iiis wife and family. The inspector told him that he would endeavour to do something for him, but be did not know when lio left what he pressed to do. Then the matter was reported to the Minister for Justice, and by him to the Justice Department, which had now the matter m hand. He regretted that his intercession on behalf of a friend might have injured a police officer with a very .long and honourable career. "It has 'hit me pretty-'hard," added Mr. Davey, "and I explain tlio matter in order to save further innuendoes on the subject as 1 freely admit my fault." (Hear, heare.) Mr."- T. E. Taylor (Christchurch North) said that he was very glad that Mr. Davey had chosen to refer to the matter in the House. He wished to mention that hfa was waited upon by some Christchurch people to whose knowledge it had come that some interference had taken place, with reference to the police records in Ohristehurch. It was stated to him that the police inspector had instructed the constable who made the arrest to -alter the charge book by the deletion of the man's name and the substitution of a false name. The constable had, however, refused to do so, on the ground that it was a request which the police inspector had no' right to make. It was further stated that,another, police officer carried out the alteration in the charge book, and that the name of James Brown was substituted for the name of the • man who had been arrested. The sheet, it was also pointed out,, had been imade out in the false name, and in due course the man, was dealt with as a first offender. Ho..(Mr. Taylor) knew the man 'to ub perfectly straightforward and honourable, and he could quite well understand that he was annoyed that he should have been in such >a ; condition that ho was arrested.
A Very Serious Matter. To him, however, the falsification of the police records was a very serious matter. He had no doubt but that Mr. Davey was moved to do what he did out of pure kindness of heart. It was his opinion that no public man exhibited a clear view of what were his responsibilities if he thought that, under any circumstances,' he had any right to use his public position to influence a police official to do what was distinctly wrong. If they were going to allow discrimination to be made to a man who was able to bring influence to boar, the ■ question arose: Whore was the matter going to stop? The *samo consideration could not have been obtained by the man in tho street, and it had no right to bo obtained by anybody at all. If such a thing were to be allowed to go on unchallenged and unchecked, it would bo the beginning of the same volume of public corruption that was vexing the very souls of other countries where it had been allowed to take root.
Members and Their Duties. Then, again, ho was amazed that Mr. Davcy should have so far forgotten the_ responsibilities attaching to his position as to have made such a request. He" (the speaker) could quite understand the case of a drunken man who gavo a fictitious name which was not accepted by the police because they knew his correct name. But in this instance, all concerned'knew tho man's correct name, and it became a very serious matter when a public man deliberately did something that he must know would mean falsification of the public records. If' the same thing were done in regard to. larger . concerns of public affairs, what was to stop the wholesale falsification of records in this Dominion? He did not know why the matter should have" been brought .up just now—maybe it might be because there was likely to be an election of Chairman of Committees, for which position Mr. Davcy would bo a candidate,
Mr. Witty: That is,scarcely generous. Mr. Taylor (resuming) said that in his opinion any member of the House who showed himself so lacking in connection with this important matter laid himself open to the suspicion of being so considerate that he could not discharge the • judicial duties of the position of Chairman of Committees as he ought to be able to discharge them..
The Hon. the Speaker: You must confine your' remarks to the matter in question. There is no vacancy in regard to the position of Chairman of Committees. - ■ '
Fault Due to Kind-heartedness. Mr. Taylor explained that ho bad not. intended to refer further to that aspect of the position. Mr. Witty: Mr. Davey has proved himself a man and a gentleman. Mr. Taylor said lie wanted Mr. Witty to boliovo that lie regarded Parliament and every niomher of it as having a solemn duty to perform, not as between themselves and thoir personal friends, but ■ as between themselves 'and the standards of public; morality which would govern this country in the years to come. As a matter of fact* he' had as friendly feelings towards Mr. Davey as any other member, for he was one of the most kind-hearted men in the country. It was this kind-heartedness that had blinded him in his duty. But this matter involved an inspector of police in an embarrassment in which ho would never havo been involved if Mr. Davey had taken a little time to consider what he was about to do. Mr. Witty: Or if you had not listened to informers. Mr. Taylor (resuming) said that if any of his constituents complained to him that a public wrong had been dono in order to ho loyal to his conception of his public duty and of the. oath which ho had taken as a member of the House it was his .duty to see that no discrimination was allowed to be shown as between man and man. .What
without political influence no other man should 'bo able to get. Was there to, bo no standard of morality?.
A Matter of Public Interest. Mr. Davey: Were their actions governed by a high sense of morality? Mr. Taylor said ho could not tell that. Members of the Ministry must frequently take advantage of lots of in-' formation however supplied if it enabled them to act in the public interest. If it was shown that a wrong had been done they had a duty to perform in the interests of the mass of. the people. So far as he (Mr. Taylor) was concerned, he was compelled to" take the course ho bad taken. It was the only one he could take. As a proof that the information was not in his possession alone, ho had learned that it was pub-" lished in a New Zealand paper that he had never read since the first day of its publication. At the request "of citizens he had reported what had happened after verifying the facts to the Minister for Justice. It was entirely s matter for the Government as to what should bo done to the Inspector of. Police. Ho thought ho should be dealt with in the most lenient manner, but he did not think the offence, could bo overlooked. The most . serious offender was the public man who had so far forgotten himself and his obligations 13 to grf lo nil inspector of police and suggest that consideration should be extended to a friend such as would not he extended to men who had not influence behind them. He regretted that the matter hail to be mentioned on the floor of the House, but members must after hearing the facts come'.to their own conclusions as to who was to blame. He (ifr. Taylor) tried to keep a clean straight course, and ho hoped the matter would be a warning to police officers and other officors in this country a! well as te members of the House thai they should not use their powers excepi for the. legitimate purposes conferred upon them.
Prime Minister's Statement. The Prime Minister said that upon receipt of tho report referred to by the member for Christchurch North full inquiry was made into the matter. There could be no justification for any menibor of Parliament or anyono outside of larhament bringing pressure to bear on a police officer or the Justico Department, or any Department, to do an improper thing. The member foi Uinstchurch East had publicly admit ted that he was wrong, and that was tho most a member could do. He wai responsible to his constituents for the rest. The action was prompted by good-heartedness, and the motives prompting the honourable gentleman were no doubt very good. Continuing, the Prime Minister said the Government had never allowed any pressure to bo brought on officers of the Crown to do what was not their dutv. He had heard, however, of crises in which people liad endeavoured to obtain secret information from some of the Depart ; ments as to tho private affairs of indi viduals. This happened very recently, and was even more wrong and improper. Mr. Massey: Are you referring tc members of Parliament? The Prime Minister said that he would perhaps say later to whom ho referred, but not that, day. Mr. TV E. Taylor: Have you been suggesting that ] have, been doinnr „,;, The Prime Minister: No, I am not suggesting it. The clear duty of- the Government, said Sir Joseph, was to protect the individual and the service against any interference. Police officers we.re expected to do their duty impartially. He was sure that no member of the Government had ever attempted to bring any pressure to bear on a police officer to do anything other than his duty. The officer referred .to . in •. this • case had a .very- clean 'record! He had been 1 a faithful officer, and thero iwaa not a black mark against him in his 35 years' successful service.' It was sad that such an officer; should now be in the position of having the charge made against him,' of. yielding even to'the request of a member of which ho ought hot to have doner-or of any other person.; He had been' desirous, no doubt, of helping to preserve the gentleman's name from publicity in Christchurch, but it was sad that he should find himself in the position ol being on his trial for tho maintenance of his own position in. this matter. The Government had not finished its investigation of tho case, which , was , still tho subject of correspondence between the Justice Department and the officer concerned. Before very long the Government would come to its decision in the matter. Meanwhile; so far as he knew, no improper interference had been allowed by the Government, andthere was nothing in New Zealand to suggest the corruption which,, unhappily, had occurred in larger countries, The Government had to be very careful for the country's reputation in that respect. He know that'there were occasional innuendoes made to the contrary, but so far as ho knew, and he thought so far as any member of the Administration . knew, there was nothing of thekind in this country, and so long as the. Government, could maintain that position it was its duty, to do so in every possible way.
The motion which was before' the House was'then agcecd'to.
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 861, 6 July 1910, Page 7
Word Count
2,118POLICE RECURUS. Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 861, 6 July 1910, Page 7
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