A PRESSMAN LIBELLED.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 96, 13 June 1911, Page 3

A PRESSMAN LIBELLED.

AWARDED £IOO DAMAGES. QUESTION OE reputation. His Honor Mr •Justice Edwards and ~ ; urv of four were occupied in tho Auckland Supreme Court for ;i portion of lust Wednesday afternoon with a li! -al" action, in which George S. Billion. a member of the reporting stall of the “New Zealand Herald, claimed £IOO damages from dames .Began, proprietor, editor and jnibhshcr of a weekly paper called Saturday -Night. Mr E Earl appeared tor the plaintiff and’ Mr 11. A. Singer for the defendant, who had not filed a defence. Mr Karl, in opening the ease to the jniv stated that on December 10 of last year the defendant published in |‘,is paper the following paragraph;— ‘'lhat wo have had sent to us fcho name of one of the cads who thought himself too superior to sit near a comaioiv man in tile press hox of the Sn.,ronio Court. it is stated by pin informant to bo a ‘joint’ named Ballon. a fifth-class Hunky on too Herald,’ who is said to have been horn a cad and has remained so ever since. We were inclined ourselves to think it was some stuff like this who lesired to monopolise tne box. Howwer, wo don’t want to make this , )a por cheap by even discussing such mediocre material as this fellow Union, who is neither ‘fish, flesh, • or rood red herring’ as a reporter—or anything else— but ho seems to suit the old lady all right. Wonder what wages ho lifts!” Mr Earl, continuing, ■,aiil that as no defence was hied the luty of the jury was confined to the assessment of damages. It happened that in endeavouring to abuse some kpc,iter, Regan had got hold of the .•,-;ong man, and when, after puhlisha.g this par., he made that discovery JiT*-published the following “apology” : — 1 ‘Thai the clown who wrote ns and !>onowed another’s name in doing so to nick Reporter Bnllen, (if the ‘Herald,’ as one of the persons who play'd the cad at the Supreme Court the ither day, is wanted pip this w ay. On terviewing the individual whose name was signed to tlic note he indignantly denied having sent ns anything in reference to Bnllen, and as we are now assured that Bnllen was not at the Supreme Court on the clay at all. wo regret having used his name in the way we did last week.” There he expressed liis regret at having used his name as he had done, hut at best this was only a hall-hearted roll action. Mr Earl said tho damages claimed were most moderate. George S. Bnllen, the plaintiff, said lie was likely to suffer damage from the publication of the paragraph complained of, hut the extent of that damage it was impossible to say. Witness had not had any quarrel with Regan. In cross-examination by Mr Singer, witness said ho was still employed on the “Herald,” and had no wish to leave. He had no reason to believe that liis employers had any wish to dispense with his services. .Defendant had sent him a letter of apology, in which ho expressed regret for act. L John Yonliu Birch, chief of the reporting staff of the “Now Zealand Herald,” said ho considered the paragraph in question was undoubtedly injurious to the plaintiff, because it struck at his reputation. in press work the good reputation of a man was very essential. Now-a-days a journalist was .chosen for inclusion on the staff of the big dailies largely on account of his character as a gcntle•njin. and for good address as well as for his competency. Consequently, to say that a journalist was a “cad,” and to publish that statement, was very likely to block all avenues of employment for him. Hi.' Honour : YeSj.,l suppose a good uldress a pit 1 '.gen blpnhin 11 ness are essentially necessary, ,for a reporter might he sent at any time to sec important people—the Prime Minister, for instance—and he would have to know how to behave himself?-—Pre-cisely, your Honour. Mr. Singer: Of course, yon don’t regard Mr. Bnllen as an “incompetent” and a “cad”?—No; ! do not. .Mr. Earl: Would yon regard £IOO ■is satisfactory damages if you had been libelled in this'way?—No. That unount would not pay me for such a smirch on my reputation. Mr. Singer, in addressing tho jury,

said tho defendant had not filed a defence, which was an admission that tho paragraph was published. Ho thought the damages claimed might oc reduced hv the jury.

His Honour, in summing up, said it was a serious matter to libel a man, in ids reputation. The consequences might not lie apparent at the time, hut if such statements were made about a reporter they might turn up again. Someone speaking of him might say. “Oh, isn’t that the man who was libelled?” oven after the matter had been forgotten; “isn’t he the man who was called a cad, and who took it lying down?” Tho nuy had boon told that tho apology made was sufficient, but the defendant. after calling the plaintiff 'a fot oi bad names, only ! expresses regret for having used liis‘name as ho did! The jury could give tho plaintiff all he asked, which was not.;much in an actio:! such as that was, dr they could give him the smallest coin of the :'-a!iii, but contemptuous datnages should not he given. 'I be jury deliberated for about 20 minutes, and returned id‘Court with a verdict for plaintiff for the full amount claimed, with costs.”