FIXTURE VACATED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22510, 13 December 1947, Page 6

FIXTURE VACATED

CHURCHjLL CASE NAME CLEARED £IOOO DAMAGES CLAIM (P.A.) . WELLINGTON, Dec. 12. Owing to changes made in the airline schedules from the United States, Randolph Spencer Churchill, plaintiff in a claim for £IOOO ( damages for alleged libel by the i newspaper Southern Cross, was ] unable to reach Wellington for the i hearing of his suit, which was to ] have begun today. i After statements had been made j to the Chief Justice, Sir Humph- j rey O’Leary, when the case was l called today, His Honour declared < that the fixture was consequently vacated. c Mr A. K. North, K.C.. with him Mr < A. J. Mazengarb, appeared for the plaintiff. The defendant, New Zealand e Labour Newspapers, Limited, was re- £ presented by Mr T. P. Cleary, with him Mr W. G. Smith.. | Cause of Libel Action <j “This action for libel arose out of the publication of a leading article in c the Southern Cross on October 1,” said c Mr Cleary. c “The plaintiff claims that the article c meant that the views on Russia which r he expressed were not sincerely held J by him and that he expounded such t view with the object of making money J' for himself- ‘ “The defendant pleaded that the v article could not fairly be given the r meaning which the jolaintiff put on it i and that the article did not exceed the j bounds of fair comment. The defendant adheres to those pleas. c “At the same time it wishes to make - 1 it perfectly clear that its article was 1 not intended to mean, and should not be understood as meaning, that Churchill was lacking in sincerity in the opinions that he expressed, or that he was influenced by any unworthy motive. If, however, the defendant’s article did, in fact, convey such imputation, we disclaim any intention of doing so. | “The Southern Cross accords to Churchill the same sincerity of pur- 1 pose in the views he expounds as It < would like to claim for itself.” 1 “Went Too Far* j “I am instructed by Churchill to say f that he adheres to the view that the ( article went too far and exceeded the bounds of fair comment,” said Mr t North. j “Churchill was obliged to return to i the United States to fulfil engagements ' made by him prior to coming to this l country. He had made his arrange- < ments to return to New Zealand for 1 the trial and although the court was good enough to fix a hearing for the i last day of the year on which a jury ] was available changes made last week < in the airline schedule rendered it very doubtful whether Churchill could ar- ; rive at Wellington in time as the plane i if up to schedule was not due to arrive at Auckland until last evening. ! if i “In view of all the circumstances, he j has instructed me to accept the defend- . ant’s assurance that it did not intend to say or infer that he was lacking in sincerity or was influenced in his views by any unworthy motive. “His sole motive in bringing this action was to clear his name of the allegations, which he regarded as an attack on his personal honour. The statement just made by my learned friend achieves this end.” His Honour said that the court was always pleased when a reasonable and sensible adjustment was made in mat- ( ters of that sort. That seemed to have ( been done in the present case. In the , cirmcumstances revealed by counsel the j fixture was vacated and that was the , end of the matter so far as the court was concerned. i - -- ■ V" (