WHAT IS SEDITION?

NZ Truth, Issue 604, 13 January 1917, Page 5

WHAT IS SEDITION?

• A WMLIAN JUDGE LAYS DOWN THE LAW m AND THE I.W.W-ITES ARE fOIIND GUILTY Of SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY Tfafe Jadge Releases tie Prisoners on finding Sureties to be of Good Behavior And gives some Sane, Sound/ Sensible Advice V

It Is well-known m New Zealand that extremely severe sentences . ranging up to 16 years .penal servitude was passed by I Mr., Justice, Pring, at Sydney, m December. last, on a number of men, said to belong to the J.W.W; organ {station, on charges of conspiracy, involving arson, damage to property, etc, etc However, ■'.. it is not gerier-; ally laiown 1 m. New Zealand' that m: Sydney, m fact all over Australia, great indignation has been expressed at the severity of the sentences passed, that INBIGNA.TION TYTFIKTINGS HAVE BEEN HELD, - ' - ■'■• ■ and strong ; efforts made to have'; the" cases re-opefaed. It ia true that legal aad other points have been raised on behalf of the convicted men, and it is optional for the Court of Appeal m New South Wales to reyise and review: the sentences passed. It is also true that the Attorney -General of New South Wales has more than once deprecated the outbursts which have been ' made, and has pointed out that pending the' hearing: of the appeals, the Government of New South Wales can^; not . intervene. ; ■■•. :';\ i '•;■ '"'.; Naturally, "Truth" cannot pass, any comment on the severity or 'otherwise of the sentences passed. What this paper is doing 1 is to give publicity to the fact that Labor m New South , Wales, , while not identifying itself with XW.W,. ideals and practices, is vp w m arms against the convictions, and ' it is only too true to say that the accus,ed men •were practically condemned . by the plutocratic newspapers and the political tools of Pints Fatmen, before they, faced .judge and iury. It is not 1 generally known that it was .not alone An. New, . South Wales that, activity was shown by f the 'au- 1 thtwidea against tl* LW.W-itea. Almost, concurrent with , the arrests of the . L^.W-fctea m Sydney, *: th© authorities m Perth, W-A-, took action against a number of indlvidualfl' r in the State of Western Australia, with the result that after a trial of six days all the men concerned were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. What happened to th* map convicted, is, as .it happens, ' •" .■ \; .' -.. ' "1. QUITEi ANOTHEB STORY. 1 Prom the files of Westraliaß' '"Truth*/ we gather that the men charged were; Michael Sawtell, single, 34, South Australian; Montague Miller, 84, widower, Tasnmniani Alexander Anwart, single, 23, •Rnfiatnp; AlftTtLTi^«r TToyTrinlrrt, married, 40, Victorian; William Johnson, Dingle, 48, Queenshtnder; Frederick Hugh tiUim, widower; 88, Victorian; John liiinri, j widower, 88, Victortotn; John "Golier, single,- 38, German; r '*GJeo.' W. Hanscombe, married, 31, English - man; and Christopher Parkinson, married, 46, Englishman. ■ The cbarga against the men was that: "You, and each of you, between • April, 1916, aad Octobet, 1916, conspired together with. E. M. Mclxraghlin and P. . J. Daley,;' of Broken 'Hill, m the State of r Ne;w South Wales; Thomas King, F. W. Reeves,' Thomas Glynri, of Sydney, m the State of New South Wales; and divers other persons unknown, to carry into execution, and enterprise having for Its object to raise discontent end disaffection amongst the subjects of pur Lord the IClng and the different classes of the subjects of our Lord . the King. In other woids, the men were charged with .seditious conspiracy, and as New Zealand, so far, that is since the outbreak, of the war, has had no Judicial interpretation placed on seditious conspiracy, eta, it is interesting to now whut Mr. Justice Burnslde, an übie and humane judge, end an expresident of tlie Arbitration Court has laid down. 'His Honor said, m addressing the Jury, that his first duty was to inform them of the charge, to describe how thb law had a bearing on it, and to draw their,; attention to such facts and circumstances m the evidence as ■ wore of importance. The accused men wero charged with having carried into .effect an enterprise whereby discontent and disaffection among Hia Majesty's subjects would be caused. That was seditious conspiracy. Sedition was an otfencij against society and was closely allied to treason. It was tho jury's function to say whether by word or d«ed, or m writing, the accused had done anything calculated ( to disturb tho tTanquillty of tho State I and toad ignorant or ill-balanced peo- / plo to disobey the laws of the State. \ The objects of sedition were to stir up insurrection;, to create opposition to tho established Government of tho day, and to bring the administration of justice into contempt. Tho very tendency of sedition was to incite peoplo to insurrection and rebellion. It \ bad been described as disloyalty m ' action, and it» characteristics wore 1 that it led to public disturbances, to civil commotion, CREATED HATRED OK CONTEMPT Against government. Sodition was inconslKtont with the safety of tho State, ■ end was reL'ard|od as a high misdemeanour. Conspiracy, as used m legal pliruHcology, comprised tho combination of members, m an asHociution or organisation bandod together for the object of achieving a lawful act l^y nnl.'iwful mcana. It was not necessary that any secrecy should enter into 'tho onte:-f>rlso. Somo of tho snos: worldwide iraisfs of con«piracy had boon perpotraVed In tho opon. Secrecy was oflon present, but the bolder unrt more audacious tho conspiracy, provided H bo ii oonaplracy, tho mora clangorous U.JiVfii to the safety of the p'sopto.*'- Ho y^",!') not uiiy tho* word crime In r*laJji?n ;-j iJjo c.Utirgu liroaus-' 1 the hand cf i'>'n T-.'f.ornio.r had attnouol ■ In tin? prwjtjt '<. ay ft manning WMlch w:u» ?ie'. on ' ;;n»'M?t lit Its original dorlv.ttiun, S^dJu^n was a mlHdemeanor, and til* wor.l crime \coa jnot strictly applicable t/» {;.■•* cfYcnco with which tho ucrdced vvi«r.! charged. Tho Kro'ttr-!:* '.uuhorltio:: :■'. t!n» luml Kind Uo.«torlh«d U -a«i n h;;'.:i :r.'.fi«J<imt»annr. 'If th«*-jury, Ihorofo.f. .'•piwiuitid what th" Jmv fno.nnc by i <>i':\->.'A(.'.y thoy wo.«».i o« jt^ilc? d> dvt^i'iitJi i >.vh»t.a «eUitl«>u« con«!»Jrnt:y way. All conspiracies warn not uoMtiou:' Thtro lwtl boon under thn crlniifi.il ijtvy rjf Enjjiaml many and WttrleU forms of 'ron»pJn»cy, such mt LUo UTiO which aimed at ousting v

man from his office, and another which aimed at the regulation and the determination of ,

THE PRICES AND VALUES Of commodities. It was true that the laws -regarding, seditious' conspiracy were not new. The sedition law was an evolution, of that which had come down, the centuries and adapted from time to suit society— fashioned by their ablest legislators to meet the circumstances of the. day. It was not a hidebound antictuated law. It was the output of their ablest men m an endeay.or. ,to ,lay dpwnTules for guidance and respoiislbility iin the welfare "of the community. If it were not so, society being based on order, every man would be permitted by those instincts with which nature, had : provided him to follow the , dictates of his own mind an 4 act, m t"he. way seeming best to him*, Very soon society; under those circumstances, would be reduced to a state of absolute disintegration' and chaos, and would fast return to the state of their primitive ancestors, to. whom no law was. known except might. In human society, civilised or otherwise, some must lead and some must follow. No system that he knew of had been invented where all would be leaders and none followers, or vice versa/ Attendant upon the charge 'dame the question •of the evidence necessary to prove it. If the jury. would bear m mind that secrecy was not an element m conspiracy, they would'not have any serious trouble m concluding that the accused acted m combination. There -had been no suggestion that the combination did not exist. Vlt was not necessary m a conspiracy that the conspirators should be known' to 5 each' other, as some of the accused seemed to think was essential. The I.W.W. was a society of which the accused admitted membership, with the exception of Miller, who was not a - vr&geearner, but even he admitted his

ADHERENCE TO THE DOCTRINE and claimed to 'be just as much/A member as the others. Much had been said regarding, the freedom of speech, and so far as had been disclosed m the evidence, not .one of the accused had been prevented from exercising the fullest liberties of speech.-- There had been no evidence to show that their speeches had been such as would lead to disorder or would call for interference by the law. The law, however, provided that: sedition may be caused ia writing and printing as well as In speech, and he believed the Jury would have to turn to the pamphlets and letters written by members of the or-

ganlsatlon and published by tho 1.W.W., upon which to determine their verdict. It might bo that tho pamphlets contained statements with which tho accused did not agree, but m law that was no excuse. The dlssominatlori of tho pamphlets spread tho doctrlnos over ho much moro than tho moro spoken word, and the responsibility increased accord lngly. 'Membership, of the organisation involved the accused m that responsibility. Therefore tho jury had to talco. cognisanco of tho effect which was likely to follo'v tho ttproad of tho propaganda literature cf the I.W.W. In his opinion tho «oCftllfid pr<ti>H.fr.amlti appeared to be an t-xotic?- *»r foroljnt growth, totally innppHttiViht to tho condition!! m Austrulin. tu which it bore thn relation »t a, noxloun wt'.Cil Introduced amongst ih« wheat Holds. Kvon thy matter m "Oiroot Action" had not tho rlnp.of Au«tralia about -It. It wes possible that pprstons caltln^ therrtselvos refonnnrii mlsltt lind scope for remedying: the ablins undor \vhU-!i ilitt lub^rlnn oltiHSv» worked m Atn«nit v .i nntii-i' i>i«> TRUSTS AND M«.».\«.>J**.>LlK.S but no one c>>t»ld m\y thai, m comp:»rlntr tho Amorlp.'m and Australian conditions, suv.h propatfnndu wan n.pplcablo tt> the sttUo of nfftilrs oxlstlnj; In the Comimmwoalih. U \v:ts I'o^rciuxbl» that tfuch ■ coqccpclou« cotniu^

from America were riot kept for home consumption, and not. introduced into Australia. Could anyone say that the Working class of Australia wais not free ? Was not the Government - what the free choice of the. people made it? Liberty was- the' right of every healthy man m Australia, who "fcfas not m prison . Did the workman of Australia impress them as a down- trodden serf ? It would 'take jaundiced eyes to view the Australian Workman as such. The highest m the land had risen from the ranks of the workers. Could that be m a land where freedom was not the right of every man? If the laws of Australia were antiquated and unsatisflactory, there was a constitutional method 'Of altering them, and it was not left to any individual to say he would not obey the law. A reformer must obey the law. The accused frankly admitted they were members of the I.W.W. It was possible, m the words of one of the witnesses, that they were fanatics, but they were not entitled, m their endeavors to attain their \ objective, to stir up disloyalty and discontent. They wej-o not entitled to make laws for themselves or they would go back to the dark ages when prehistoric men lived m trees and threw nuts down on THE HEADS OF PASSERS-BY. The accused appeared'to be industrious individuals earning their livelihood. Miller Impressed him as being a kindhearted man, while Sawtell did not appear to be a /man of malicious* intent. They Tvereordinai-y mortals. That aspect was very often one of the most painful characteristics m the features : of cases where ignorant and well meaning men were attracted to the whirlpool of conspiracy by the leaders and dragged down to the bottom to disaster.:" -.. ■-.:: • •■■■■■■ ■■■■.■■ ■■•■ • The jury after a lengthy retirement found eH the men guilty, and they were then brought up for sentence. THE SENTENCE , His Honor said that he would exer- | 'else."h is own discretion, and bear m I mind the .whole of the oircumstances of the case which had brought the unfortunate accused into the position they found themselves that day. He did not want to say anything to jthem that would suggest that any of them should alter his opinions. They were entitled to keep their opinions whatever they, may be, Whatever those opinions might be the accused must conform to the laws of the land. If they did not want to conform to the laws, they would have an opportunity of a trial between the forces of society and the forces of the individual. The accused has been found guilty, and he would accept that verdict as correct, but he was entitled to frame his own opinions as to the circumstances m which they found themselves. Against none of them had he heard anything" to show that they were other than MEN OP GOOD CHARACTER. , For their Individual actions m the preservation of the law they appeared to be victims to circumstances. They had the power to express their thoughts, but they had to obey the law. He trusted he was not addressing men who were without reason. The gravamen of their offence was the distribution of literature, for which he did not think they were really responsible, and which he thought that they, m their calmer moments, if they thought of it, would themselves strongly denounce. Several of uem had expressed disapproval \ of incendiarism, and acts of violence. Another charge of a more serious nature was laid against Sawtell, but casting that aside, and leaving all the accused on one plane, each one of the men was liable to three years' imprisonment. Ho had riot been able to discover any evidence to show that they had committed any reprehensible act beyond what he considered to bo a foolish action m distributing someone else's ideas. In those circumstances they should lißten to •'.••..-" •■ • THE VOICE OF REASON. How could they ameliorate their lives, or the lives of their fellows m such a way? It was useless to try and pit their own will against the laws of the land. There would, and could, be only one consequence. Personally, he would hesitate before sending an old man like Miller to gaol. Whatever might bo his railings, Miller was entitled to tho respect that was duo to his old ago (ho is 84 years of age), and his Honor won prepared to extend to the rest of tho accused the same consideration. If thoy chose to set the laws at defiance, thoy would have themselves to thank for their position. I am prepared to let you go upon your entering Into recognisances to be of good behavior, to keep the peace, and to obey the laws of the land. You will see, therefore, that justice may bo . TEMPERED WITH MERCY. If you desira to maka -martyrs of yourselves and experience the undesirablo atmqiiphero of prison, you may do so for any period up to two years. If you desire to brenk tho law you must remain where that doslre must to some extent curtailed. Miller may go on his own recognisance, as. at hi« tlmo of Hfe, It would not bo Just to soml him to gaol. Subsequently all the men with tho exception of Ooller <who i» a Gorman and wa« due for internment) wore released, tho necessary bonds and Hureties of £25 each being forthcoming.