THE KNYVETT DEFENCE MEETING.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 9250, 29 June 1910, Page 7

THE KNYVETT DEFENCE MEETING.

CAPTAIN BOSWORTH'S STATEMENT. MR. A. J. BLACK EXPLAINS. THE ONUS OF PROOF SHIFTED. The very unfavourable weather no doubt accounted for the small attendance at the Municipal Hall last evening, when the members of the Knyvett Defence Committee (Messrs Gerald Peacocke, chairman, R. A. Armstrong, sercetary) and Mr A. J. Black, also of Auckland, brought, before the people of Palmerston the facts connected with the Knyvett case. The Mayor (Mr J. A. Nash) presided. His Worship, in introducing the speakers, said he wanted to make his own position perfectly clear on the matter. He was in no.way connected with the movement, but being assured that its object would bo non-political and nonparty, and being Mayor of the town, he readily acceded to the request to take the chair.

Mr R. A. Armstrong, Secretary to the Committee, briefly related the facte connected with the trip taken to Wellington in October last by Captain Knyvett and some sixty members of his company (the No. 1 Company Auckland Garrison Artillery). Mr Armstrong, mentioned that th© trip was made as the outcome of an invitation, received several months previously, of the officers of the Petone Navals. Captain Knyvett and hie men . went down entirely at their own expense, and with th© object of increasing the efficiency of the corps by seeing -another corps-at work on other equipments. On receiving advice that th© Petone Navals were willing and anxious to receive them Captain Knyvett wrote and asked permission of the Officer Commanding his Division for leave to travel a section of his corps in uniform, and thereafter entrained his men. To his intense astonishment, and to the consternation of his officers and men, they found on arrival at Wellington that there was no one to receive them. After waiting for some time two officers of the Petone Navals met them in mufti and " informed them, that the Chief of Staff, Colonel Robin, had infored them that Captain Knyvett's contingent would not be allowed to visit the corps, and consequently they (the Petone Navals) had abandoned the preparations they were making to receive the visitors. These officers were astonished at the action taken by Colonel Robin, and they did all in their power to cover up and prevent any possibility of a scandal leaking out. They made such arrangements as they could for the accommodation of ■* the visitors, and all might have gone well had not, on the following morning, an article appeared in the Dominion alleging that the Auckland corps had, so to speak, dropped from the clouds, and had come down as a surprise party to the Petone Navals, in defiance of military usage and discipline. Under- these circumstances there was no option for it but to return to Auckland. But the thing—bad as it was —did not end there; Captain. Knyvett was charged with having left the district without authority, and wae officially exonerated. on this charge, and also complimented as to the behaviour of the company while on the trip. As the result of this inquiry Captain Knyvett wrote a letter of complaint, addressed to the Defence Minister, and this letter — which wa6 the subject of the existing trouble —was forwarded to the Minister through the proper military channels. Twenty-one days after this letter had been in transmission and handled between the responsible officers, Captain Knyvett was arrested and charged with "gross insubordiantion for criticising the administration of the Defence Department," and "insubordination for complaining about a superior officer." The preliminary inquiry was held on December 1, and nothing more wa6 heard of the matter until, on tho 18th December, the A.A.G. of 'the Auckland district called on Captain Knyvett and handed him : a charge sheet, alleging against him four charges altogether distinct from the original ones, which, presumably, had been dropped in tho interim. Captain Knyvett was notified that the Court of Inquiry would sit on the following Tuesday. At the inquiry the evidence which Captain Knyvett and his witnesses gave on oath was not fully taken down, although Captain Knyvett repeatedly drew the Court's attention to the fact of the four charges preferred against him, charges one, two and four were virtually dropped by the Court, and on charge four expressed themselves as per- I fectly satisfied with Captain Knyvett's j statement. The climax came when, after the report of the Court had been forwarded to headquarters, Captain Knyvett received notice that the Governor had been pleased to authorise his dismissal from the service. Concluding, the speaker referred to Mr Black's statement at Wanganui that Captain Bosworth, one of the Court of Inquiry, had told him that Knyvett wae a doomed man before the Court sat, and wanted it made clear that Mr Black, though a good friend, was not a member of the Committee. It was late in the afternoon when they, arrived in Wanganui, and they had no time to confer with Mr Black. To the speaker and Mr Peacocke Mr Black's statement came as a great surprise, and they knew nothing till it wae made from the platform. Captain Bosworth wis a personal friend of the speakers, who* knew him as an honourable man, and one who would not make a statement he could not substantiate. On the other hand Mr Black was a man of integrity, and he would not make a statement that he was satisfied wa6 not perfectly correct. Mr Gerald Peacocke, chairman of the Defence Committee, also made reference to the statement of Mr Black, and wished to make it perfectly plain that the committee had nothing to do with the charge. The Committee had to be very careful in the statements it gave forth, and it only made statements it could prove absolutely. Mr Peacocke said he and his colleagues were not there to hit at the Government* or to aid the Opposition. He himself had been for -25

years a loyal and enthusiastic supporter of the Liberal party, and it was a painful thing for him to have to take the stand he was taking in regard to this case. Further, they were not there to encourage neglect or disrespect of rightful military discipline. Their sole purpose was to endeavour to get bare justice for an officer and a citizen whom they believed had been treated with gross injustice. He referred to the excellent reputation borne by Captain Knyvett as an officer, not only in New Zealand but in active service in South ] Africa. He had practically saved the corps from disbandment, and had made it not only the strongest numerically, but also one of the most efficient in the ! Dominion. His corps had been specially singled out for commendation by Colonel Davies in his last annual report. Mr Peacocke then dealt at length with the constitution and procedure of the Court of Inquiry, citing from the published reports of evidence and statements of the officers of the Court to demonstrate that the Court had no definie standing and no specific authority, that the trial of Captain Knyvett by that Court was incomplete and one-sided, and that the obvious contradictions voiced by members of the Court proved Tt to be incompetent to pass a satisfactory judgment on the matters submitted to them. He was not there, continued the speaker, to deprecate discipline. On the contrary, he recognised that discipline was absolutely essential, but he also recognised that discipline, to be effective, must be founded on justice. Neither was he there to assert that the charges made by Captain Knyvett against Colonel Robin were true. That was for Captain Knyvett to prove, and all he and his colleagues of the Knyvett Defence Committee asked was that Captain Knyvett should be given the opportunity to prove his words and justify his action, an opportunity which had not yet been afforded him. All thoy asked_ for was a competent, fair, and impartial inquiry, rnd on the result of such an inquiry both Captain Knyvett and his committee were j quite prepared to abide. Captain Kny- > vett had been cashiered and his military career blasted. Such a. thing was never done unless a mm had done some severe wrong. It was enough to condemn the

whole business from 6tart to finish that such a severe sentence as dismissal should have been passed for so paltry an offence. It had been stated that there was no preoedent for re-opening the ease. That was to say, no matter how unjustly a man had been treated he could have no redress.' What might be necessary was a Bill passed through Parliament, and all the Committee wanted was that voters might bring pressure to bear on their representatives to get a measure through Parliament. Mr Peacocke concluded bj* saying the question was not one that merely concerned Auckland; it was a question of simple justice, and concerned the efficiency of the whole service. "Auckland is always supposed to be growling and grumbling," said the speaker, "but in this case it has had good cause to growl. If it did not growl occasionally it might get still worse treatment."

Mr A. J. Black then referred to the bombshell he had dropped in Wanganui. He himself did not think there was anything very startling about the statement, in view of the fact that he had decided in his own mind that the Court was a farcical affair. The statement he had repeated was made by Captain Pullen, of No. 3 Company,. Auckland. It was in an interview that officer had with five gentlemen and the speaker. He had made reference to the constitution of the Court, and to the statement made o him by Captain Bosworth. /'I . repeated last night," said Mr Black, "in Wanganui that Captain Bosworth had stated that Captain Knyvett was a doomed man before they sat. I have received some communication to-day on the matter. Although a denial had been made by Captain Bosworth of having, made any such statement, I wired the proprietor of the Royal Hotel, of Auckland, who had been one of the party. That wire was ae follows: —"Flewellyn: Pullen's statement re Knyvett doomed man needs confirming. Will you substantiate. Black." The reply was: "Pullen said would swear on oath Bosworth told him Knyvett was doomed man before trial took place.-—Flewellyn." Continuing, Mr Black said he had no wish to do Captain Boswell any injustice, but he had the authority of Captain Pullen for the statement made and repeated, and the responsibility rested with Captain Pullen to prove the statement which had been given for publication. Captain Pullen stated he had received _ Captain Bosworth'e authority for making the statement, and, if necessary, Captains Pullen and Bosworth would stand on any platform on the matter. This version of the matter was received with applause, and then Mr Black proceeded to deal with the injustice done to Captain Knyvett. He considered it not onlv concerned Captain Knyvett but every officer and non-commissioned officer in the Dominion. Mr S. T. Hunt, an old volunteer officer, who was also on the platform, then moved: —

"That this meeting of citizens of Palmerston North, having heard the facts of the Knyvett case as set forth by the speakers from Auckland, it is the duty of the Government to adopt the legislative means necessary to provide for a new and fair trial for Captain Knyvett, and to prevent the occurrence in the future of a similar travesty of justice in the case of other persons accused of military crimes in the Dominion, and that this resolution b© forwarded to Mr D. Buick, M.P., for Palmerston for transmission to the Prime Minister."

Mr Wilson, of Wanganui, spoke to the motion, and said Wanganui to a man was burning with indignation over the injustice done to Captain Knyvett. He considered, the Court of Inquiry proceedings in Auckland were a farce. He had sat right through them, and they stopped about every half-hour to communicate with Wellington. The trial occurred in Wellington, not in Auckland. A little diversion was added to the proceedings by Mr Hoben_ _ speaking against the motion. He criticised the speakers, saying of the remark about Wanganui's burning indignation "that Wanganui was always burning about something." He wanted to move an amendment, which Captain Walker wanted to second. It was to the effect that while the meeting sympathises with Captain Knyvett it did not feel competent to pass judgment on the case, and considered all military cases should be dealt with by military authorities. The chairman, however, ruled that the amendment was a direct negative. Mr Havelock Green made a short and pithy reply to Mr Hoben, and Mr Peacocke also traversed the statements made by the mover of the amendment. The motion was then put and carried with only a couple of dissentient voices. The usual compliments to the chair terminated the meeting.