LIBEL WRIT ISSUED

Evening Star, Issue 22882, 14 February 1938, Page 9

LIBEL WRIT ISSUED

CATHOLIC BISHOP CITED ARTICLE ON ATTACK ON COMMUNISM

A libel writ has been issued against the Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, the Rt. Rev. J. M. Liston, by Mr F. L. Turley, secretary of the New Zealand Timber Workers’ Union. The action is based on an article which appeared pn November 4 in the Roman Catholic newspaper, ‘ Zealandia,’ of which Bishop Listpn is the registered proprietor. Also cited for libel are the printers of the paper, New Zealand Newspapers Ltd., and the publisher, Mr T. J. Sneahan. A notice of the pending action is printed in the latest issue of ‘ Zealandia.’ It states that the bishop has instructed bis legal advisers to defend the actino, which is set down for hearing at the March session of the Supreme Court at Nelson. In October of last year Mr Turley, as secretary of the Westland Timber Workers’ Union, and Mr J. Doyle, the ■president, stated that they had sent a strongly-worded telegram to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, asking him to take action against the Rev. Father K. D. Crowe for his attack on Communism, which was broadcast from 2YA, Wellington, earlier the same evening.

> An article on the incident of the broadcast and on the action taken on the protest by the Director of Broadcasting, _ Professor J. Shelley, was printed in ‘ Zealandia ’ on November 4.