A SERIOUS CHARGE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 1066, 12 July 1917, Page 2

A SERIOUS CHARGE.

INTERFERING WITH LETTERS. CORPUPTION IN POSTAL SERVICE ALLEGED. Prr.'s Association. AUCKLAND, July 11. Allegations regarding the Postal service were made by the Rev. Howard Elliott in the course of a speech at a meeting of the Protestant Political Association to-day. He slated that there had been an attempt to stifle the meeting, alleging that it had revealed corruption in the Postal service. Envelopes which had contained an invitation to Ihe meeting had, he declared, been opened and the contents abstracted. He knew of letters so posled and delivered empty. Other letters posted in luc time had not yet been delivered. Tickets and notices of the meeting sent to Protestant clergy and posled in time for delivery last Saturday were, he asserted, held up by the military censor till Monday, so thai in the Protestant churches last Sunday no announcement of the meeting could be made. During the City Council elections a censorship over the Protestant Viffilance Committee's letters hart, he said, been carried out entirely in the interests of Roman Catholics. He read Idlers which he asserted had been stopped in the post. The chairman (the Rev. Principal Garland) said that the charge made by Mr Elliott against the Post Office was the most serious charge thai had been made in Ihe meeting that night. He hoped that Mr Elliott was certain lhal he could prove his statements. "I hope the Postmaster will hear what has been said here to-night, and that he will lake proceedings against Mr Elliott for we are not men if we can sil quietly down here and believe thai this is the condition in our !'';sf Office, which we believe to be above suspicion, and take no action and submit lo it." lie added thai on Sunday last he was asked after service, "How is it you did not announce Ihe meeting for Wednesday?" His reply was lhal he had received; no police. His police was delivered ((■ him on Tuesdav. '