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Title of doctor

WRONGFULLY USED SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING LETTERS PLACED AFTER NAME (By Telegraph.—Press Association) CHRISTCHURCH, Monday The right of the principal of a private engineering school to use the title “Dr.” and the initials “M.E.” and “M.M.” after his name was questioned in the Magistrate's Court today. Defendant was Elmore William Bender, of the Polytechnic School of Engineering, who was charged that he “publicly used in connection with his trade or calling certain initials and abbreviations of words intended and likely to cause any person to believe, contrary to fact, that he held a degree, diploma or certificate issued by a university or other institution, society or association.” The magistrate, Mr E. C. Levvey, held that the use of the title “Dr.” infringed the statute, and fined defendant £2 and costs. Detective-Sergeant F. Sinclair, who prosecuted, explained that for several years defendant had conducted his school of engineering under the name of Dr. Bender. The title and qualifications implied by the letters after his name no doubt went a long way toward inducing pupils to enrol. The police had made inquiries, and Bender claimed that the initials signified “Mining Engineer” and “Master Mechanic.” and that certificates from the Pittsburgh Technical Institute entitled him to call himself “Doctor.” Papers Lost In Wreck Detective J. J. Halcrom gave evidence concerning interviews with defendant, who allowed the police to photograph a diploma purporting to have been issued to him in 1909 by the Technical Institute of Pittsburgh. There were photographs on the wall of defendant’s place of business and of other certificates, but Bender said his papers had been lost in the wreck of the Oceanic off the coast of Scotland in 1913. Witness later produced to defendant an enlarged photograph of the signatures and date on the diploma, and asked defendant if he had interfered with them. Bender said that the diploma was sent out to him in New Zealand, and, as the signature and date were not clearly visible owing to the action of sea water, he had drawn them in himself. Mr F. D. Sargent, who appeared for Bender, submitted that the case should be dismissed. It was an unusual one and of importance to defendant. There was no reported case on which to interpret the meaning of the section under which Bender was charged, but he understood that in a similar Auckland case the prosecution was dismissed. Original Meaning Counsel contended that Bender had not used the title “Dr.” publicly within the meaning of the section. There was nothing of this kind on the window of his premises or in his advertisements, and the prospectus referred to in Court was issued not by defendant but by a company. The section of the statute was ill-drawn, and he submitted further that the words “a degree, diploma or certificate issued by a university, instition, society or association” were quite broad enough to absolve Bender in view of the diplomas he held. The use of the initials would not delude the public and initials now were used for all kinds of things. “The word ‘Dr.’ is not a term of magic and its original meaning was no more than teacher,” said Mr Sargent. Detective-Sergeant Sinclair submitted that if a master mechanic was entitled to use the initials “M.M.” a butcher's assistant was entitled to call himself “8.A.” Moreover, there was a grave doubt, owing to discrepancies in the names and dates, whether Bender was the original holder of the diplomas. He had admitted filling one in in the material parts. Influence of Letters The magistrate said a doubt had been raised in his mind on this point, but the onus of proof was on the police and it had not been discharged. The Court had no doubt that the use of the word “Dr.” by defendant was an infringement of the section. By this defendant held out to the public something that might lead it to believe that he was a fully-qualified graduate of a prop-erly-constituted body, which had the power to grant the title, and had so conferred it on him. The use of the letters might well influence some persons to think that Bender was more than ordinarily qualified in a certain direction, but he was not prepared to say whether this would bring him within the purview of the statute. Defendant would be convicted on his use of the title “Dr.” In fixing the penalty the magistrate said he would not treat the offence from a very serious point of view because of the lapse of time before Bender’s use of the titles was challenged.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT19390926.2.9

Bibliographic details

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20919, 26 September 1939, Page 2

Word Count
767

Title of doctor Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20919, 26 September 1939, Page 2

Title of doctor Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20919, 26 September 1939, Page 2