EX-CAPTAIN KNYVETT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 99, 16 June 1911, Page 3

EX-CAPTAIN KNYVETT.

LETTER TO COMMANDANT. Ti'.o following is a copy of the letter sent by ex-Captain Knyvett to the Commandant: — Sir,—l have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of June Bth, enclosing extracts from the Now Zealand Gazette of June Ist, 1911, wherein it states that the sentence previously passed upon myself had been uphold by the Military Court assembled on May 10th, dismissing me from the New Zealand defence forces for conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline ; also, the extracts of the same date from the Now Zealand Gazette notifying me that, ill view of my excellent previous record in the defence forces, I should be appointed to the reserve of officers provided I retracted the letter written hy me and made an ample apology for the same. I have never at, any, time desired anything further than the finding of a fair and impartial military court. 1 consider that the charge I accepted on ,May 10, 1911, was a fair charge that should have, been laid in the first instance,of ray writing the letter, although previously seven other charges ‘iavc been, laid and refuted. ’lf, as I understand, that the Court-Martial presided over by Lieutenant-Colonel Heard considered that the crime (if any) I committed was sufficient to warrant my dismissal from the New Zealand dcfonce forces, I am quite prepared to accept that as a decision (although I think that some day the question of privilege will bo upset). I know quite well that the gentlemen constituting the Knyvett Defence Committee in Auckland have never desired or asked for anything more than the fir-d----ing of a properly-constituted Com, and I am quite sure that, they, ecu;.!-, ly with myself, \are prepared to’- m T ccpt a bona-fide sentence ,given / irfj good faith. I ‘may say, that- J tremely' regret haying’ written .the] letter, inasmuch as, it has caused my* friends a good deal of unnecessary expense and worry, hut, as the letter* was written in good faith and there was no tribunal, t\t the time to which 1 could go ioi’i advice asgto whether it would bo prejudicial to military discipline or not, and as the facts stated, therein are absolutely true and can ho substantiated,. I unfortunately have to decline to withdraw the letter or any of the statements therein made. Although, unfortunately I personally am the,sufferer by the letter, yet I feel it has been productive of a great deal of good. The status of an officer in New Zealand has been established in a way it never laid previously been, and no officer can again suffer the ignominy to which 1 have been put without ‘ a trial-. I should have very much desired to have served on the reserve of officers, but I feci that the demands of the Gazette would necessitate my sacrificing my manhood to secure’ such a purpose, and 1 cannot do that. As 1 cannot live in. a country in whose service I am debarred from wearing His Majesty’s, uniform, I feel that the best Course for myself and my friends would ho for mo to leave New Zealand, and this I intend doing at an early date. As ; Ido not desire it to he said after 1 have left hero that I cannot support or substantiate the statements made in my Jotter, I beg most respectively to notify you that 1 am prepared now, or at any time in the future,' to substantiate ’fully the statements ' and facts' in my letter. Should at any future time the officer complained of desire to have his personal honour cleared, I am prepared, if then away from New Zealand, to come back' here and substantiate my statements;' J desire to thank you |f6fts6YialJy', for , t)Vo' courteous ' manner ih which,you have treated my correspondence, and also to state that I consider tlio Military Court sot up by yourself to hear my case impartially and fairly conducted the trial in accordance with the very careful terms'of the charge laid. PRESS COMMENT. Commenting editorially on the Knyvett case, the “Lyttelton Times” says: “It is a pity that after acknowledging the fairness and impartiality of the Military Court to which his chsc was referred, Mr Knyvett could not see his way to submit to the discipline which his judges prescribed. An apology does not. involve any sacrifice of manhood, even when the offender acted in ignorance and in good faith, and no one would have thought any the less of Mr Knyvett if lie had accepted the verdict of the Court and taken the place among the reserve officers that had boon offered to him. We can regret his decision, but wo cannot alter his purpose, and it only remains to say again that as a soldier he has a very admirable record, which the public as well as the Military Court would have been glad to set against the unfortunate incident which lias deprived the Dominion of an excellent officer, and himself, proha lily, of a still metre creditable career.”