A TIRSOME INCIDENT

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7046, 7 February 1910, Page 6

A TIRSOME INCIDENT

Once more the Knyvett case. _ This time it comes before the public in, the form of an official announcement that the decision of Cabinet, supporting the Adjutant-General in his recommendation that the Governor bo advised to dismiss this officer from th« service, is to stand unaltered. Ther« is not the slightest doubt that this intimation will snur the mob-oraton and budding politicians of Auckland to renewed fury. To people in othoi parts of the Dominion the decision will appear to be the only one thai oould reasonably have been looked for. The objections to the dismissal of Mr Knyvett were _all along based on the most flimsy grounds, and if we are to judge by the Auckland newspapers were advanced less in tho personal interests of that officer than with tho

design of obtaining tho appointment of a commission of inquiry through which ho and other disgruntled citizens could indulge in tho_ pastime of washing departmental linen in public. In the judgment of the Court-martial Mr Knyvett had been guilty of a specific act of insubordination and this view found support from tho Adjutant-General and, in a legal sense, from tho Grown Law Office Tho Cabinet having this evidence before it could como to no other conclusion that tho punishment such conduct so richly deserved ought to bo administered. If Cabinet had not dono this originally it would hare reduced the regulations governing discipline in the forces to mere nonsense. Tho only legitimate complaint the .deputation which waited on tho Prime Minister a couple of weeks ago had to mako was that the "evidence given on tho first day before the Court-martial" had not been transmitted to tho Adjutant-General. In support of this the deputation produced a long verbatim transcript of what'had been said at the opening Bitting and declared that if Colonel Tuson had been in possession of this ho might have formed a different opinion on tho case. This alleged "evidence," so far as we could'see. turned out to bo a massive report of irrelevant wrangling and disputation from points of order and so forth. No evidence on oath was takon on tho first day at all. This phase of the matter is set forth in our news columns this morning, and it will be seen that a very effective Toply is given to the assertions mado by tho deputation. We have all along expressed the belief that Mr Knyvett is well ourfc of tho forces, and thoro is nothing in the latest information available on the subject to make amendment of that opinion necessao-y. It is rather unfortunate though that the enforcement of discipline should involve the penalty of having to withstand the parochial rage of Auck land, but it was clearly desirable tho Government should let it bo understood its responsible officers were not to be terrorised by "mass meetings" or "influential deputations." To-day •we hear from Auckland that certain unspeoifiod persons aire going to "fight the matter to a finish and take it to the law courta." This seems quite tho best thing to do. Any course of action which will put an end to the stump speeches of the last few months will have our hearty support.