FINES IMPOSED ON FIVE MEN
SUBVERSIVE REPORTS HEAVY PENALTY PROVIDED BY REGULATIONS
(United Press Association) AUCKLAND, April 19. Fines totalling £l9O were imposed by the Magistrate (Mr W. R. McKean) in his reserved judgment in cases in which five defendants were charged with publishing, printing or facilitating publication or communication of subversive reports in leaflets or in the newspaper, “The People’s Voice.” Walter Ashton, Cyril John Gould and Donald McCarthy were fined £4O each, Frank Simpson, the printer, was fined £4O, and William Goss Dickenson, charged with requesting the printer to print the leaflet, was fined £3O. In the course of his decision Mr McKean said: “As to the leaflets and articles -which are the subject of these proceedings, I am unable, after reading them, to think they represent the honest views of the section of the community opposed to war, and anxious only by lawful means to persuade others to accept their views, for I gather it is this war that is an unjust one, but that other wars may be justified.”
“MARCH OF LIBERATION” The Magistrate remarked that the invasion of Finland by Russia was apparently considered something that called for commendation, and was referred to as the march of liberation. “It is asserted that Britain armed Hitler to lead an attack on the Soviet, that Britain and France did not want peace, that soldiers are being sent to die by people who stay at home and rake in big profits, that soldiers will come home to find that they have lost at home all the things they believed they were fighting to defend, that the Labour leaders have deserted the cause of the working class and are asking the workers to die for a cause that is not their own, that the Bolsheviks alone stand for the working class and against them it is the aim of the real enemy, namely, the British bankers and trust magnates, to switch the war.” Mr McKean said that every one of the leaflets and articles produced was a breach of Regulation 5 of the Crimes Act and it was not necessary for the prosecution to prove intent. It was unnecessary, so far as Regulation 14 was concerned, that such statements should be intended to prejudice recruiting, but if they were not so intended it was difficult to understand why they had been published. Mr McKean heard the submissions of the counsel for the printer, Frank Simpson, who said that the latter was not a communist and did not subscribe to the political views expressed in the pamphlets. He merely accepted the printing of them as a job of work. Mr McKean: It does not seem to be of any interest to know whether he is a communist or not. Communism, as a political belief, is not prohibited in this country. Counsel for Ashton, Gould and Donald McCarthy said that these men held strong political views, but were absolutely sincere. For the Crown, Mr V. T. Meredith said that such statements as were involved in these cases assisted the enemy in undermining the war effort. The Magistrate, remarking that the sincerity of the men was assumed, said the question of sincerity could not be taken into consideration if the Government laid down that such statements were to be prohibited. The regulations provided for a penalty of £lOO, or three months’ imprisonment, or both. In addition to the fines costs 10/were ordered in each case.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19400420.2.24
Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 24106, 20 April 1940, Page 4
Word Count
573FINES IMPOSED ON FIVE MEN Southland Times, Issue 24106, 20 April 1940, Page 4
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