THEATRICAL LIBEL ACTION

Otago Witness, Issue 3352, 12 June 1918, Page 37

THEATRICAL LIBEL ACTION

I <s»PEMBERTON BILLING ACQUITTED. DISGRACEFUL SCENES IN COURT. | (By Cable.) ! At tho case against Pembcrton Billing, M.P., and others charged with libelling Maud Allen (danseuse) and J. T. Grein (producer of plays and head of a dramatic school), the hearing of evidence concluded. Tho witnesses included Grein, who defended the moral aspects of the play " Salome," in which Miss Allen appeared. Mrs Stuart, who was re-called, adhered to her statements regarding a black book (which she said was in the possession of the German Secret Service, and which she said contained the names of 47,000 British people, some in high positions, who were considered as amenable to approaches by German spies). She stated that she believed the Hon. Neil Primrose (son of Lord Rosebery) and Major Rothschild, both now dead, knew that the book existed. Though the atmosphere of the trial was cooler, there were several heated passages. Billing threatened to thrafh ivlr Hume Williams, the prosecuting counsel, who said Billing lied. Billing, during his address, decla/ed that tho judge bullied Lord Alfred Douglass, and the judge threatened to expel him from the court for contempt. Mrs Stuart said she knew how the Hon. Neil Primrose and Major Rothschild were murdered. Her own life was threatened. An unknown person had telephoned to her that if she re-entered the witness box she would be shot from the galle.'y. Mr Justice Darling offered to clear the gallery. Mrs Stuart stated that she co'd the story about the black book to Mr Hume Williams in 1916, but he declined to interest himself because it involved selfsacrifice, in view of the number of'prominent persons concerned. The book was now in Berlin but she could not explain how it arrived there.

The last day of the hearing of Pemberton Billing's indictment for libelling Maud Allan was one of the stormiest. Billing sat in the dock, saying that he wanted no further privileges from the judge. Mr Justice Darling replied : Billing could sit where he liked. Billing frequently interrupted Mr Hume Williams's speech, despite Mr Justice Darling's threat to expel him. Mr Justice Darling, in summing up, ! deplored that Sir Edward (now Viscount) Grey's name had been di-agged in. The witness Spencer protested that Viscount Grey's name was not mentioned, and he (Spencer) was expelled from the court. Mr Justice Darling pointed out that no witness had attempted to prove that there was any indecency in Maud Allan's danc-

ing. .Lord Alfred Douglass shouted.: " You have no right to say I wrote the play; its a damned' lie," and he was ejected amidst his supporters' applause. Mr Justice Darling again threatened to remove Billing for interruptions, and a number of persons in the gallery hissed the judge. Subsequently a woman was ejected for interrupting Mr Justice Darling's address. When the judge remarked that Billing's friends in the gallery had applauded outrageously yesterday, Billing replied that he oould not help the applause from the gallery any more than the judge could help laughing at his own jokes. The judge indignantly retorted : '' You say you insulted me in the press and in Parliament; you now insult me to my face. I tell you I do not care a bit for you or anyone like you." When Mr Williams alluded to Miss Allan's brother as a murderer, Miss Allan wept bitterly. Mr Justice Darling directed the jury to say whether the libel was true in fact, and was published for the public benefit. The jury deliberated for over an hour. Their verdict of " Not guilty " was tremendously cheered in court and in the streets. The judge cleared the court. Other indictments were abandoned, and Billing was discharged. After the verdict had been announced, Mr Justice Darling, ciddresing the jury, said undoubtedly a perfect scandal existed regarding the manner in which certain representations were allowed on the London stage. He wondered why the authorities did not exercise their powers in order to prevent the scandal. If they did not, women with the new vote would insist on the preservation of the laws of purity. Billing attempted totfaddress the judge, but the latter replied: "I do not wish to hear you," and quitted the bench. Some of Billing's lady friends, who had been ejected from the gallery, threw flowers at him. SHARP CRITICISM. Several newspapers sharply criticise Mr Justice Darling's weakness, and denounce the defendant's accusations against politicians as another gross scandal. The

Daily News says : "The question whether Maud Allan was libelled will be lost in a maze of wild charges against everybody and anybody, supported by witnesses whose evidence suggested a madhouse or comic opera. Mr Pemberton Billing's real purpose is the destruction of the reputations of public men who have served the nation with honour. The trial marks the culmination of a cowardly Intrigue of slander directed during the past three years against Mx Asquith and his associates." Mr J. Thomas, in view of the serious consequences which may follow the trial, protests against the charges that British statesmen are corrupt traitors, and declares that the reckless assertions, which were entirely unsupported by the evidence, may well have a disturbing effect on the public In the House of Commons Lord JRobert Cecil denied that Spencer was sent on a mission to Albania in 1813, as he asserted

in the Billing case. Spencer was in 1915 attached to an Adriatic mission, and gave satisfaction.

The provincial papers continue to censure the so-called scandalous Billing trial. The Westminster Gazette says the trial was an outrageous scandal, likely to damage our reputation for sanity and sobriety. Tho Manchester Guardian declares that tho publicity given to tho bespattering process is monstrous. Other newspaper's condemn Mr Justice Darling's handling of tho cne&. Lancashire newspapers deplore the admission of allegations undermining publio confidence while the rules of evidence prevented their refutation. JUSTICE DARLING'S RULE. During another Old Bailey criminal libel trial discussion arose among counsel regarding the admissibility of certain matters. Mr Justice Darling, alluding to their criticisms, explained that if there were any doubt On the point he preferred to admit the evidence, lest refusal to do so should result in acquittal on appeal; whereas, if it were admitted, it might have some bearing on the case. MR ASQUITH CHEERED. Mr Asquith, on rising to speak in tho House of Commons to-day, was greeted with prolonged cheers. OFFICERS VINDICATED. Colonel Cripps, commanding the Bucks Hussars in Palestine, has written a letter to Lord Burnham, honorary colonel of the regiment, contradicting the suggestion at the Billing trial that Major Rothschild and the Hon. Neil Primrose were shot be cause they possessed knowledge concerning the German black book. Both officers fell under Turkish fire while leading their men with great gallantry.