LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5885, 27 September 1880, Page 6

LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

; TO THE EDITOR. ' Sir, —Recent publications in Auokland i have induced me to aak you or some of your ; numerous readers for a definition of the ; above term. On all hands it is admitted that ) an unfettered Press is an immense boon to society; but when journalists abuse their L great powers, and degrade liberty into ; ' license, the Press becomes an • irritating . scourge, likely to produce a breach of the s peace. Men's wives, and, especially, clergy- ■ men's wives, have been held up to ridicule i lately in a manner which is unmanly and i unjust, and one cannot help asking how long i we citizens of Auckland are going to submit ; to this sort of thing. A minister's wife's 5 name was blazoned in a paper on Saturday ) to give effect to what I know to be an uni mitigated lie, and if the law did not provide : a remedy, a good horsewhipping would be i the best reply. But the law does provide a > remedy ; for it allows no person to expose L another to hatred, contempt, or ridicule. I Lord Holt and other Judges have held i that this is actionable, and when only ) a ridiculous joke was published about s Lord Pindar, he sued the publisher , and Lord Lonsdale gave judgment in his i favour. When a paper ridiculed the Lord ! Lieutenant of Ireland "as an eminent feeder i of sheep in Cambridgeshire," Lord Ellen- ' borough (Chief Justice) said that no man had i a right to render the person and abilities of • another ridiculous, and gave him a verdict. ; Now, in these cayes the plaintiffs were men i of means and able to pay the preliminary i expenses of justice, and the defendants were i also wealthy and able to pay damages ; but i heie people have not little fortunes to throw • away on libellers who may prove to be men of straw, and advantage is taken of this fact to defame-even ladies of recognised goodness i and position. This is done, too, to float > journals which but for scurrilous reports of ■ private and idle gossip would not survive a [ month. But abuse of power has its limits, i and so has endurance, as will be seen some • of these fine mornings.—l am, &c, i Frederick.