PUBLISHER PROSECUTED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19952, 22 May 1928, Page 14

PUBLISHER PROSECUTED.

TROTTING ACCEPTANCES. BREACH OF ACT ALLEGED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] DUNEDIN, Monday. "At present I am of the opinion that it cannot reasonably be stated that the publication purports to be a guide, but I will take time to consider the evidence and submissions," stated Mr. H. W. Bundle, S.M., in the Police Court to-day when Francis Joseph Haywood (Mr. C. J. L. White) was charged that on May 4, at Dunedin, he published a document purporting to be a programme of trotting events to be held at Forbury Park on May 5 without express licence from the Forbury Park Club. There was a further charge of circulating the document. The charges were laid under the Police Offences Act, 1927, section 37, said ChiefDetective Cameron. Mr. White: We admit the publication of the book. The chief detective said defendant had published in the Sporting Guide a list of acceptors for the first day of the meeting. The Guide claimed that it was registered as a newspaper, but that registration had ceased since August last, when the paper was not published for over 26 days. The chief detective handed up an Auckland publication, which had been the subject of the first prosecution in New Zealand, a conviction being recorded, with a fine of 10s. Mr. White replied that the Auckland publication definitely stated that it was a programme for the Otahuhu Trotting Club's meeting. The Guido did not state that it was a programme. The police contended that as 27 days had elapsed between dates of issue the Guide had ceased to be a newspaper, but under the Post and Telegraph Act, under which the publication was registered, 30 days' grace was allowed before an infringement could be held to have been made. The Guide had in no way mentioned itself as being a programme. People did not buy the Guide as a programme, but as an indication to turf form. Similar publications had been in force for some time in other parts of the Dominion. The magistrate said the question was not whether the sale of official books showed a drop, but whether the publication was a programme. Mr. White submitted that the whole matter hinged on the Auckland prosecution.