SCURRILITY AND LIBEL.

Thames Star, Volume III, Issue 1666, 2 May 1874, Page 2

SCURRILITY AND LIBEL.

(To the Editor of ,the Evenino Stae.)

Sib,—Haying been art inhabitant of the Thames district almost from its com* mencement, I consequently feel some interest in what concerns it. For obvious reasons I,wholly .dissent from the resolution come:tio by the friends of out worthy magistrate on last Thursday evening: its a mistake; its a blunder. The writer or Publisher of scurrilous effusions ougfifto c dealt with as the law directs, that others may take warning as w^ell as himself and clothe thei» criticisims iv more seemly language. Ttiis taste for scurrilous writing is on the increase in many parts; iQjf theqWjijjrld, and,w ; ould soon obtain a footing here if an effectualcheck is not put .upon ,jj(jj.,,;it is .unwarrantable and quite unnec^^s^ryi it, suits, a certain large class of the^,de^moi?sacy. np jdoubt, and thus unscruplous writers pander to the vicious, taste of this class, because it; sells their prints, but such, writing can only lead to evil action. Rulers and magi; trates are a terror jto ; evil, doers; if the law is righteously dispensed^ but if those who dispense ; {that; law • are ?to „be held up to public ridicule and scorn, where will -be,-the terror;;which their decisions ought to instil into the minds of the community.. If they are to be despised instead of that honor and respect being accorded to them which; their office de-. man'ds, a Very ugly state of things would certainly .follow. .There is manifest, all over the world a growing disposition to .lawlessness; jwhile at .the. same time there is manifest also a looseness in bringing the law tp bear, upon the guilty, with a disposition to condone offences. A righteous man needs no law outwardly, for,..having.tihelaWjwritten on his, heart, he is a law! to hiiaself.., Bnt^he great mass of society are not strictly righteous, Were the law to be set aside only for one week, a state of things would exist which would fully prove this assertion, and be terrible to witness. The mass of society are ever more or less seeking to evade just .law. in every variety. of way and manner, andhere the ones areas bad or worse than the little ones; they are just as guilty, if not more so, only from their greater knowledge and influence they are able the more successfully to evade the law^ provisions. ? -^Recent pro^ ceedings in the States.of America amply testify tofthis,"- and I am afraid it is moreor less the case everywhere, and an increasing evil.; All this goes to prove, the necessity, for strictness L in*the law's [application. I have resided in several British Colonies and in one especially where;jo^nalistic ( writing WM £» W>V9 fl»9 thftß it Hkwo J

and yet I don't rememb#«i^eiW% ? where such unscrupulous language.wa#,iised towards a publiq administrator /of jostipe, as' that lately Yused"/by t#e -Auckland Evening Star towards Captain Fraser. I do say therefore that the only effectual way to put a stop .to such,,writers is to make them feel thajpfull weight of the law. It is not merely a private matter, it is a public question in which the whole Thames^community^aresinvolved:^ while 3 both parties;,.are public characters. I -hope therefore that the; friends of our ..worthy^ magistrate wjll. r_ecpnside;r^j;hefc decision, for that decision looks very? muljKlikfe a^ond^ffiptfjoFlielhiatfer^ J^ should xroubied^you^witn 4his; letter, it being out of my groove, but I "thought it was needed, as it expresses thej views ,o£ all, right minded men on the i Thames ; /you lrself' I think amongst the i number. *-<"*' , i 'J , '-OisEEVEU. j ■May Ist, 1874. i * #.♦* j | P-S—You will perceive that this) Tetter was penned previously to the re| ceipt of the telegram which appears "in| this nioiyiing's A dvertiser concerning the! abo } ye majiter. rr (yn ,