A VERY GROSS LIBEL

Horowhenua Chronicle, 13 September 1930, Page 8

A VERY GROSS LIBEL

COURT WILL NOT VARY SLIPPER SENTENCE.

ECHO OF SAMOAN TROUBLE

WELLINGTON, Last Night.

The Full Court to-day delivered judgment in the appeal brought before it in July last by Thomas Benjamin Slipper, solicitor, formerly practising in Samoa, from two convictions of.the High Court of Western Samoa on informations laid under sections 153 and 15* of the Samoan Act. The judgments of their Honours Sir Michael Myers, Beed and Adams were delivered by Sir Michael Myers.

In the judgment his Honour said that the conviction under section 151 could not stand as the section contemplated spoken words only and that therefore the letter written by Slipper to the Administrator of Samoa would not constitute an offence under that section. Dealing with the conviction under section 153, that Slipper did publish a defamatory libel against the Administrator of Samoa, his Honour said that the letter was full of most objectionable and insulting (if not perhaps seditious) expressions. The Chief Judge of Samoa had held that, several statements in the letter, and particularly those in the latter portion, were defamatory of the Administrator and false. The Court was completely in agreement with this view. The letter was published to the commodore, a copy Doing sent him by Slipper on his instructions. There was also publication to some Samoan woman, also to an interpreter. It was contended on behalf of appellant at the hearing that publication to the commodore was one to which qualified privilege attached. His Honour held he could not accept this contention for privilege could only attach if the commodore had common interests with those for whom appellant was acting, but this was not so; and further, that even if qualified privilidge did attach to the letter by "reason of the fact that it was written by appellant as solicitor for the Samoan woman the privilege was lost as Slipper had introduced a defamatory statement of his own. The Court refused to vary the sentence imposed on Slipper for the express reason that in imposing the sentence the High Court of Samoa had taken all the circumstances into consideration and was in a better position than the Full Court "to determine what penalty snould be imposed. The libel was a very gross one. It was shown to a number of Samoan women and his Honour said it was difficult to imagine circumstances under which a libel was more.likely to be widely disseminated. Judge Herdma.ii wrote concurring ; in the judgment.