GAGGING THE PRESS.

Southland Times, Issue 16689, 18 March 1911, Page 5

GAGGING THE PRESS.

The action of the Chief Justice in excluding the press during the hearing of a case in the Supreme Court in Wellington is one that ought not to he allowed to pass without protest, for not only was the press excluded, but the publication of the names of the case was also forbidden. For the present we are not concerned with the motives that actuated the Chief Justice in taking such a drastic step, but the principle involved, and the trespassing on rights which have hitherto been regarded as inalienable, must of necessity cause every thoughtful member of the community to view with alarm a proceeding which may not be regarded in any sense but as being entirely retrogressive. When it is recalled to mind that for many years the British people fought to the death against pernicious secret tribunals which had so cruelly affected them, and that after a prolonged struggle this incubus which had been strangling their liberties was successfully throttled, anything that even faintly resembles an encroachment upon liberties so hardly won must be viewed with anxiety and alarm. For, after all, the exclusion of the press is but the thin edge of the wedge, and it is for the people now to take up the stand that not only shall the wedge be driven in no further, but that their desire is that the wedge shall be removed forthwith and for all time. In other countries at the present time the people are strenuously fighting for this same liberty, and we who have already succeeded in obtaining what others are vainly striving to get should realise the importance of holding fast to it. The suppression of law news constitutes a very grave danger. The recognition of the right of the press is the surest guarantee of just administration, and in the event of a wrong beir • done there is no surer means of rigl.ting it than by the publicity which the press assures- Herein lies a most serious danger. In the case of a miscarriage of justice, the press acts as an appellant, but if causes -imilar to t' ; one under notice, or any causes at all, are taken in secret there can be no safeguard against a miscarriage, there it' no one who can take up the case for the person or persons who j-oy be wronged. Another feature in connection with the incident has been dealt with by the Christchuch Star, and it is that the exclusion of the reporters will in itself defeat the end which the Chief Justice no doubt had In view. Gossip will soon do its deadly work, and probably before long the embellishments that will be added will so grossly exaggerate the character of the case that it will have assumed 'sensational dimensions before the last word has been said regarding it. In the interests of morality and justice the press should not be excluded from our law courts, and such an infringement on the rights of the people, which the newspapers in such cases represent, should not be tolerated.