COURT WARNING

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 113, 8 November 1940, Page 8

COURT WARNING

SUBVERSION CASE

BANNED SOCIETY

"WHAT DANIEL DID"

Claiming that the prophet Daniel did the same thing in his day, John Joseph Murray, a pensioner, aged 78, and a native of Ireland, pleaded not guilty in the Magistrate's Court today to participating in the activities of a subversive organisation known as Jehovah's Witnesses. The Magistrate (Mr. J. L. Stout) convicted Murray and ordered him to come up for sentence if called upon within 12 months. He warned the defendant that if he persisted in his actions the Court would have to take further steps. Detective-Sergeant W. McLennan, who prosecuted, said that Murray had been found going around houses selling literature on behalf of the organisation. Jehovah's Witnesses had been declared subversive by the AttorneyGeneral. As a result of complaints which had been received, said Detective L. A. Smith, he and Detective Alty went to Pirie Street, where they saw Murray enter three nouses. Witness approached him and asked him if 'he were the gentleman who was selling Judge Rutherford's literature, and he replied that he was. Witness said, "Are you aware that this literature is of a subversive nature?" Murray replied, "Yes, I know that." Detective Smith said he examined Murray's bag, and found that it contained a number of books of the organisation of a subversive nature, and also a small certificate saying that Murray was one of Jehovah's Witnesses and was authorised to sell literature. Later the same day he went with the accused to-Murray's home and recovered a further quantity of literature, which Murray admitted it had been his intention to 'sell to the public. He also took possession of la number of similar books, of used appearance, which Murray said were his own property. Murray was quite 9 frank about the matter, and made no attempt to hinder the inquiry. • The Magistrate (to Murray): Do you wish to ask the witness any questions? The defendant: No, he has stated the facts just as they occurred. After Detective Alty had given evidence, Murray produced a statement which he said he wished to make. >- THE ONLY QUESTIONS. The Magistrate made it clear that the only questions before the Court were whether the defendant was a { member of the organisation and whether .he participated in its activities. . "The Court has got nothing to do with your propaganda or what your society stands for," said the Magistrate. "That really does not come into it. The society has been declared a subversive organisation, and, if you admit that you are participating in it, then you are guilty of the offence with which you are charged." Defendant: The Disciples were, also charged in their day with breaking the law. ' The Magistrate: I am afraid we can't go into that. If you break the law you ... Defendant: . . . take the consequences. The Magistrate: The fact of your beliefs does not come into the matter at all. The society has been declared subversive, and if you persist in what you are doing you are liable. Defendant: I get my instructions from the Bible. "I'm afraid I can't go into that," said the Magistrate. "The Government has passed these regulations. It is wartime, and the Government has declared this a subversive organisation. I don't know what its grounds are, but it has a right to do it." Questioned by the Magistrate, Murray admitted that he was a member of the organisation, and also that he participated in its activities. "But I don't plead guilty, nevertheless," he said. "RATHER A PITY." "It seems rather a pity that a man of your age, knowing that this society has been declared subversive, should persist in doing something which is against the law," said the Magistrate. Defendant: The prophet Daniel did' the same thing in his day. The Magistrate? He probably also suffered in his day. "I am afraid that if you admit you are a member, and admit you were selling literature, I must hold you guilty under the regulations," said the Magistrate, who again commented on the age of the defendant. ~ "I am 78 today," said Murray. The Magistrate said that the only thing he could do with Murray would be to convict him and order him to come up for sentence if called upon. Defendant: I am only trying to do the Lord's will. "I am afraid that if you persist I will have to take; some other steps," said the Magistrate. Defendant: I understand that, too.