DAMAGES AWARDED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 218, 13 August 1940, Page 2

DAMAGES AWARDED

AUCKLAND CASE. MOVE EOR NON-SUIT. r«r Press Association. AUCKLAND, Aug. 12. A verdict for £375 damages for libel was given by a jury in the Supreme Court in favour of Francis Simpson, of Auckland, printer, against the New Zealand Worker Printing and Publishing Company, Ltd., Wellington, publishers of the Labour Standard, and its publisher, John Glover. Plaintiff, Simpson, had claimed £IOOO damages because, in a report in the Standard of Magistrate’s Court proceedings in Auckland last April it had referred to liim as a Communist and “associated with the Communist paper, the ‘People’s Voice.’ ” The case was tried by Mr Justice Fair. Moving for a non-suit, Mr Johnstone, K.C., said the words complained of, used is the ordinary sense, were not defamatory. To call a man a Communist was not defamatory. Communists were a recognised political party, members of which stood for election at the recent elections. in deciding to reserve the motion for a non suit His Honour said his direction to the jury would be that if from the evidence and from matters /of common knowledge they considered that the word “Communist” had a meaning which brought a man so described into contempt, or lowered him in the estimation of the general public, or in any way lowered the opinion that j other people held of him, then it was j to be considered defamatory. They were | not bound by the strict dictionary definition of Communist. CASE FOR DEFENCE.

Mr Johnstone said plaintiff had not suffered one penny damages by reason of anything that had been published in the Standard. It had published not only the report complained of, but in succeeding issues full reports of proceedings in the Magistrate’s Court, of the Magistrate’s judgment and also an apology to plaintiff. Reports in the local daily newspapers had also made the position quite clear, and Simpson had not been in any way injured. The fact was that at a time of war, when it was illegal to do so, plaintiff printed thousands of pamphlets for the Communist Party, knowing that they were intended for distribution among people and that their object was to retard the war effort, said counsel. It was a, fair inference that, if he did not subscribe to these views, he would not have taken part in circulating them; and all Hie Standard did was to fall into a- very natural mistake. A man was judged by what he did, and not by any political principles which lie might privately profess. It was not a case for anything more than nominal damages. Mr Dickson (for plaintiff) said plaintiff was just as loyal as any other citizen in Auckland. He had given evidence that his reputation and also his health and his financial position had been affected by this defamation, and that was uncontradicted. _ Mr Dickson said that if the Standard had made any inquiry it would have found that Simpson was no Communist. There was no justification whatever for saying that he was associated with the People’s Voice. JUDGE’S SUMMING UP.

His Honour said the Standard had published a heading implying that Simpson was a Communist and had included him with others"'as associated with tho Communist newspaper. They could accept plaintiff’s contradiction of both statements, and they might think it was hardly in dispute that they were libellous, in a sense of tending to bring him into hatred, contempt or ridicule, or to lower him in the estimation of right-thinking people. They were entitled to attach to the word Communist all the meaning that the ordinary reader of a newspaper would attach t-o it to-day, and they might think it meant that, a person was disloyal and a bad citizen. Admiration of the Communist Party seemed to be reserved almost exclusively for the Government of Russia, and at the last election a majority of electors repudiated these beliefs. The jury might think it proper to grant sufficient damages to compensate plaintiff for any actual loss he had suffered up to the present and for any injury to his reputation. The jury’s verdict for plaintiff was given after a retirement of two hours and 25 minutes. His Honour allowed costs according to scale.