Sedition by Example XXV: Paddy Webb

(Being an attempt to excite hostility against our archaic law of sedition)

Patrick Charles Webb, MP, addressing a Labour Party meeting during local body elections, Greymouth, April 19th, 1917:

The miner is fighting against conscription, and would go to jail rather than shirk what they feel to be their duty to the country. That is their sentiment at the present time. They are not fighting for themselves alone. They are fighting for thousands of people who are not able to fight for themselves., and when the true history of the part played by the miners during this great struggle is written I am certain that the miner will stand out in letters of gold as compared with any other section of the community.

For saying this, and for a similar speech at a meeting in Taylorville in February, Webb was charged with sedition. After a trial which saw acting Prime Minister Sir James Allen called as a witness, he was convicted and sentenced to three months imprisonment. His seat was later declared vacant after he was conscripted, court-martialed, and sentenced to two years hard labour for refusing to serve, but Webb had the last laugh, serving as Minister of Mines in the First Labour Government.

Two other men who addressed the meeting - Greymouth Borough Council candidates James O'Brien and P. O'Rourke, were also prosecuted and imprisoned over speeches they had given. The use of the sedition law to persecute opposition candidates (and an opposition MP) for speeches made during an election campaign makes this the worst abuse of the sedition law in New Zealand history.

(Source: Maoriland Worker, May 16, 1917)

Sedition by Example XXIV: John Roche

(Being another example of the absurdity of our archaic law of sedition)

New Zealand's pettiest sedition prosecution is undoubtedly that of Father John Roche. A Catholic priest visiting from Australia, Father Roche got into a discussion with a soldier in the bar room of the Waverley Hotel. According to the subsequent report, "after a discussion on Irish politics, the conversation turned to conscription, and the recent referendum on the question in Australia". The discussion "heated up", and at some stage Father Roche said

The Germans are a better civilised nation than the british; you are a fool to go to the war.

For saying this, Roche was charged with sedition. While the judge was sympathetic, he was "surprised that a clergyman, presumably a man of education, should say the German nation was more civilised than our own". That remark lent "an unpleasant flavour" to the discussion, and suggested disloyalty. Roche was convicted, and fined 5 pounds plus costs; he subsequently returned to Australia.

(Unfortunately I neglected to note the date on the photocopied newspaper article, but a reference to it can be found in the notes to Sweetman's Bishop in the Dock: The Sedition Trial of James Liston).

Sedition by Example XXIII: Sidney Fournier

(Being an incomplete history of the abuses perpetrated under our archaic law of sedition)

Watersider Sidney Fournier speaking to a meeting in Wellington, Sunday, January 7th, 1917:

I belong to an organisation that has for its purpose to make inoperative or to repeal an Act that has been placed on the statute book called the Conscription Act,and by the provisions of which you may be forced against your will overseas to fight to fight in the war that is now going on. The chairman has called your attention to the fact that, upon a charge of unlawful assembling, the speakers who addressed you last Sunday have either been arrested or summoned, and I think the conclusion to draw from that is, of course, that we all here are unlawful assemblers. I want to give you this fair warning of the fact that if you listen to me you are doing what the law forbids, and I think under such circumstances that law is an offensive law that we, as good honest citizens and workers, should not obey. The view of us workers is that we should be fighting the only war in which we can at least become victorious - that is, the class war, or the war between the classes of people who own and control the wealth in all the countries that are now at war and the people who labor and are exploited by the wealthy classes in all countries. The truth is this war is being forced on by conscription, because as we know they take an opportunity that will produce them more wealth and give them more opportunity of oppression, until a peace could be brough about to their advantage, as they conceive it.

The immediate objective of the anti-conscriptionists is the repeal of the Act, or to resist the Act, and in operation we approve of both methods, and by us they will be put in operation. If I should be sent to intense privacy as the result of my present action, you people will see to it that the moment shall come to us that we have not spoken in vain. I hope I have put this clearly before you , and that you will remember that those whose interests it is to prolong the war will not stop it till you stop them. We call upon New Zealand, the working class associations and their allies, to join in getting the COnscription Act repealed and rsisting its operation.

For this "audacious advocacy" of repeal, Fournier was charged with sedition under the War Regulations of 1914. he was convicted, and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour.

(Source: Maoriland Worker, January 24, 1917).

Sedition by Example XXII: Christopher Russell

(An occasional series chronicling the uses and abuses of our archaic law of sedition)

Last year, I noted that police had recently laid a charge of sedition against a Rotorua youth. I recently submitted an Official Information Act request seeking the details of the case, and received a response today.

The defendant was Christopher Russell, a 17-year old youth. He had written a racist essay entitled "Whites Only", which was read out in class, and was subsequently bullied by his classmates because of his views. He responded by sending "an obscenity-littered email" to the New Zealand Herald threatening a Columbine-style school massacre:

The email to the NZ Herald stated Russell was about to become more famous than the Columbine killers - "The murders I do ... shall be greater than those at Columbine."

He claimed a hatred for Maori who beat him up, and black people.

"If black people want to hurt me or insult me then they should be the first to die."

A second email the next day stated that "on October 18 everyone will feel my pain".

Bombs would be used in the massacre, he said.

"I am sick and tired of the abuse I get every day."

He detailed how he would also kill "popular kids who exclude me from everything" and signed off with the pseudonym "Chris Stalin".

For this, he was charged with threatening to kill and sedition. Here's what the police have to say about the latter charge:

The charge of sedition (that had been laid pursuant to Section 84 (b): Crimes Act 1961 ["publication of seditious documents" - I/S]) - was withdrawn. The original decision to lay that charge was made by a senior CIB supervisor, who was the acting Officer in Charge of the Rotorua CIB at the time. Notwithstanding the fact that the charge was withdrawn, the Police are satisfied that there was evidence to establish a prima facie case. Evidence to support that charge included correspondence that Christopher Russell had sent to a major newspaper. In that correspondence Russell stated that he intended to kill an unspecified number of people - based on their ethnicity. His efforts to have his views published in a major newspaper, in the context outlined in his letter, constituted a prima facie attempt to encourage racial hatred and violence.

The decision to withdraw the charge was made by the Crown Prosecutor, in consultation with police, following an indication from Russell's defence counsel that he would enter a plea guilty to the charge of threatening to kill, if the sedition charge was withdraw [sic].

Russell was subsequently sentenced to 200 hours community work and 18 months supervision, as well as required to undergo a psychological assessment and psychotherapy. At sentencing, the judge blamed the original essay and the emails on Russell's mental condition.

There is a troubling aspect to this, in that again sedition has been used in place of or in addition to other relevant charges (in this case, threatening to kill), meaning that police are going for the easier charge or (in this case) trying to charge twice for the same offence. But its also difficult to see how a sedition charge can be justified in this case. While I have not seen the emails, both relevant sections of the law (s81 (1) (c) and (e) - inciting violence or exciting hostility between different groups) seem to require an element of persuasion which is entirely lacking here. Saying "I am going to kill people" is not an "encouragement" - it is a threat, and ought to be prosecuted as such. In the end, it was - but the police's readiness to use sedition charges is not something we should be happy about.

Sedition by Example XXI: Reverend James Chapple

(Being an ongoing incitement for the repeal of the archaic crime of sedition)

Reverend James Chapple, Unitarian Minister, speaking to a meeting in Greymouth, March 29th, 1918:

You are under the heels of the war lords. We have not enough population for our own country, yet we are lusting after the annexation of Samoa. The patriotic poison is in our schools. Childen are taught to salute the flag and taught to sing the National Anthem. I tell my children, when they come home, not to sing the National Anthem. I am hoping with a fervent hope that in this war there will be no victor to pray about. A war is blasphemy. A woman goes down the valley of death to bring a child into the world, she nurses it, sends it to school, sees it through the sixth standards, and then comes the call to arms, and it goes away to war. What for? To die for its country? No; to die for the profiteer.

[...]

Russia wanted war, England wanted war, the upper class in New Zealand wanted war. Never has there been such a wonderful five days (meaning the days of the Russian revolution). The old Russia has gone and the new Russia has come in. I hope before I die to see a similar movement in new Zealand. I hope the day will come in new Zealand when these war lords will be repudiated. I hope not a penny of the war loan will be repaid. You do not authorise them.

For saying these words during the course of a 90-minute speech, Chapple was charged with two counts of sedition. He was convicted, and sentenced to eleven month's imprisonment.

(Source: New Zealand Herald, May 11 and May 18, 1918).

Sedition by Example XX: Thompson v Nalder

(A continuing exposure of the abuses perpetrated under the archaic law of sedition)

Article published in Revolt, a newsletter issued by the Militant Worker's League, September, 1931:

The Single Men

Once again the single men are being made the goats! It does not seem to have occurred to the workers yet how neatly and completely they have fallen into the trap and allowed the fact of men being single or married to create a barrier between worker and worker. No wife-less wages. Even amongst militants, we often hear it, "He's all right, he's single!" And the barrier is erected and the workers ranks split. It is proposed to draft all the single men into the backblocks, into the block of nowhere, where they will be conveniently out of the way upon some highly philanthropic pretext of "food, shelter, and a little pocket money in healthy surroundings." Dear, dear! Kind of the unemployment board, isn't it? For the good of the single men? No - emphatically no! It is to isolate them, keep them away from the main body of the workers and above all, ignorant. To dragoon them and prepare them for their part in the coming war which the scoundrels who rule the British Empire are plotting as a road out of their difficulties. The single men must organise and fight against this wholesale deportation. The married men must fight side by side with them, or they and their families will go next. The employed workers must back them up. The attempts to isolate these men - treat them as criminals - put them beyond the pale, must be smashed. That, or the men will be taken away, gradually forced into a state where they will do as they are told - Fascised, fit weapons against the other workers here or for foreign warlike adventure. The fight for the single men therefore is a direct blow against the boss's Government, a direct attack on N.Z. Capitalism, a blow for the whole working class.

Demand: Equal treatment for married and single men - no distinction, no divisions of the ranks!

No exile from the workers centres on this or any other fancy pretext. If no work, then free food, clothing, and shelter for all workers, married or single.

Rally round the U.W.M. and the Militant Workers League!

Down with fancy employment schemes - work at T.U. rates or full maintenance!

To hell with the United Swindlers Government.

A man caught distributing the above - the "Thompson" of the title - was arrested and charged under the Police Offences Act 1927 with inciting "disorder, violence, and lawlessness". While there was "nothing in evidence to show that any serious disturbance has happened", or anything linking outbreaks of disorder to the circulation of the paper, it was held to be "a mischevious publication which definitely encourages disorder" and "an invitation to its readers to disregard law or rule for the purpose of gaining their ends". Thompson was convicted, and imprisoned for three months.

(Sources: Revolt!, No 1, 1931, Militant Workers League, Auckland; Thompson v Nalder, 32 GLR 61)

Sedition by Example XIX: Tim Armstrong

(An ongoing history of those persecuted under our archaic law of sedition)

Hubert Thomas Armstrong, speaking to a public meeting in Victoria Square, Christchurch, December 31st, 1916:

Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, the chairman has announced and it also appeared in the advertisement in last evening's paper that I would speak at this meeting on behalf of the waterside workers. I want to make it clear to you that although I happen to be a watersider I have no authority from any waterside workers' union in this country to speak on their behalf. But as a citizen and a father, as a native of this country, I claim the right to criticise the government of the country. I claim the right to criticise any piece of legislation enacted by the government of this country, that, to my mind is against the interests of the people of the country, whether military service, or any other Act and I am going to do so. And when we take up that stand, because the nation happens to be at war, and because we say that we differ with the military policy of a hide-bound tory government, the reply we receive is that we are pro-German and unpatriotic. I think I love my country as well as any individual around this ring this afternoon, and I will fight just as hard in defence of the freedom of the people of this country as anyone else I know of, and before many years are gone by I am perfectly satisfied that history will repeat itself, and the men who belong to the working class organisation that are within the four walls of a gaol today for having the courage to give vent to their honest convictions, in the near future will be looked upon as the real patriots, when the Allens and the Masseys and the Wards and the rest of them who are responsible for this piece of coercive legislation will be regarded as tyrants. Semple, Cooke and the rest of them who are in gaol today because they are said to be disloyal to their country. I say their names in the near future will be honoured when the name of the Wards and the Masseys will be looked on as the greatest gang of political despots that ever darkened the pages of this country's history. And after all, why are these people in gaol today? I have had a peep inside of His Majesty's prison and let me tell you I never want to go there. Everything in connection with the institution is repulsive to me. And a man that is anxious to break into gaol wants his head read. And in thinking out what I was going to speak about this afternoon (it is my first time on a public platform for about eighteen months) it gave me a considerable amount of trouble in picking out just what it would be wise for me to say and I found considerable difficulty in arriving at a conclusion as to whether it was safe to say anything at all. However, those of us who have studied the working-class movement, not only in this country but in every other country of the world, know perfectly well that the freedom that we enjoy today is owing to the fact that there have been men courageous enough to defy any law that was contrary to the interests of the people and aimed at robbing them of their freedom.

[...]

The voluntary system has failed, Mr Allen informs us. Why has the voluntary system failed? Because the captains of industry in this country, the food monopolists, and the money burglars have, by raising the price of commodities, and through increasing the cost of living of the dependants the soldiers have left behind, have prevented the young man, and many of the married men, by economic necessity, from volunteering for the front. That is exactly the position... The voluntary system in this country has not failed and I will guarantee this, that if the Government who have enacted conscription will conscript sufficient of the war profits to pay to the men we are asking to go into the firing line, to fight in the defence of this country and freedom - if the Government will conscript sufficient of the war profits to pay the soldiers the same rate of pay that is paid to the ordinary labourer in this city, and it is a fair proposition, if they will do that, there will be no scarcity, and the voluntary system will not fail.

[...]

Now this question of conscription is not a new thing. I have been in the labour movement of this country practically all my life and there has been an element for the last 20 years in season and out of season advocating conscription before ever the war with Germany was dreamed of at all, and conscription is not wanted by those people because of the war, and to beat Germany. We know that conscription is wanted to keep you and I and the rest of the working people of the country in subjection. That is the idea of it. Those of us who have studied the history of the labour movement in conscription countries, know perfectly well that not only do they use a conscript to fight for the defence of the country but on each and every occasion when the working class rise in revolt against the damnable conditions that prevail, asking for a little more of that which their labour produces, the conscript army has been used in every instance by the money burglars of those countries against the working class. So it will be used in England; so it will be used in this country, and it is the very purpose for which the captains of industry are asking for it.

These words were held to excite disaffection against the government, and Armstrong was sentenced to a year's imprisonment. He was later elected to Parliament, and went on to serve as a Minister in the First Labour government.

(Source: Hubert Thomas Armstrong: Miner, Unionist, Politician by Bernard Kendrick. MA Thesis, University of Auckland, 1950).

Sedition by Example XVIII: The Maoriland Irish Society

(An ongoing series intended to excite hostility towards our archaic law of sedition)

Advertisment in the New Zealand Truth, August 10th, 1918:

APPEAL TO THE IRISH PEOPLE AND ALL LOVERS OF FREEDOM IN NEW ZEALAND FOR FUNDS TO PAY FOR THE LEGAL DEFENCE OF THE MANAGER (MR. A. J. O'RYAN) AND THE EDITOR (MR. T. P. CUMMINS) OF THE "GREEN RAY"; ALSO FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THEIR DEPENDANTS DURING THEIR INCARCERATION.

We beg to appeal to the Irish people of the Dominion for subscriptions to the above fund. This is the first appeal of its kind abd your response may be regarded as an indication of the interest you take in the destiny of the land of your forefathers.

We presume you are now aware that both above named Irishmen have been sentenced to 11 months' hard labour for publishing articles dealing with Ireland, which, under the War Regulations, were considered seditious.

One of the articles complained of was written in commoration of the "Memory of the Dead," and referred to that gallant band of heroes who gave their lives during Easter Wekk, 1916, or in connection therewith.

In their zeal for the great cause, Messers. O'Ryan and Cummins did not take time to consider the possible consequences; their mission was to expound the Irish question and place the Irish situation in its true perspective and to advocate the interests of democracy, irrespective of nationality.

GIVE WHAT YOU CAN SPARE!

The "Exiled Sons and Daughters of Erin" should rally to the assistance of their imprisoned countrymen and see that their dependants are provided for while their breadwinners are absent and thereby show that they at least believe in what we hear so much about, "Liberty, Justice and the RIGHTS OF SMALL NATIONS."

All willing to assist please forward names and addresses.

Contributions may be forwarded to
J. TROY,
Hon. Secty. Maoriland Irish Society,
Box 886, Wellington.

The reference to "that gallant band of heroes" was deemed to excite disaffection against the King, and the Society's president, David Griffin, and its secretary, John Troy, were charged with sedition. Each was fined five pounds.

(Sources: New Zealand Truth, August 10th, 1918; Maoriland Worker, October 2nd, 1918; Irish Issues in New Zealand Politics 1868 - 1922, by Richard P. Davis, University of Otago Press, 1974).

Sedition by Example XVII: O F Nelson

(An ongoing attempt to incite the public against our archaic law of sedition)

Samoa mo Samoa (Samoa for Samoans) -- Motto of the Samoan Mau

Other posts in the sedition by example series have focused on the words which resulted in prosecution for sedition. This is difficult to do in the case of Olaf Frederick Nelson. Rather than being prosecuted for specific words alleged to have a seditious meaning or intention, Nelson was prosecuted for his support (and presumed leadership) of a seditious organisation, the League of Samoa, better known as the Mau. The Mau was formed in 1926 to demand "the advancement of Samoa", and specifically a greater voice for Samoans in their own government (Western Samoa then being administered by New Zealand under a League of Nations Mandate). Nelson had been one of the organisers of the public meetings which led to its founding, and was seen by the Administration as being its leader. After the Mau's campaign of boycotts and civil disobedience made the islands effectively ungovernable, Nelson was exiled without trial from the country of his birth for being

the recognised and active head of an organisation called the "Mau" or League of Samoa, the purpose of which is to secure self-government for Samoa and in furtherance of such purpose, by unlawful means to frustrate and render ineffective... the functioning of the Administration of the Territory.

Nelson continued to argue for Samoan independence from Auckland. Meanwhile, the Mau continued without him. In 1932, he returned to Samoa, having served his term of exile - but again became involved in the Mau. He was quickly prosecuted under the Samoan Seditious Organisations Ordinance for "aiding and abetting", convicted, and sentenced to eight months imprisonment (to be served in New Zealand) and a further ten years exile. The election of the First Labour Government in 1935 led to a change in policy towards Samoa, and Nelson's sentence was remitted in 1936. He returned to Samoa to a hero's welcome.

(Source: Mau: Samoa's Struggle Against New Zealand Oppression by Michael Field, A H & A W Reed, 1984).

Sedition by Example XVI: Te Whiti and Tohu

(An occasional history of the abuses committed under our archaic law of sedition)

Address by Erueti Te Whiti-o-Rongomai III to a meeting at Parihaka, September 17th, 1881 (as recorded by C. W. Hursthouse):

This is the chief quarrel of this generation. We quarrel with all to-day. There is no other word but quarrel. Mine is the land from the beginning. I say to all Kings, Governors, Prophets, and wise men stand up with your weapons to-day, but the land will not be released. The quarrel is arranged by us to be here. Neither the King not the Governor shall turn us off the land to-day. Carry on to the land the quarrel; let them be the ones to use the weapons. We quarrel for the place which is said to be the land of the Government. Take to-day your guns and weapons. Pakehas, come with your guns; Maoris, come with your guns - by the weapon alone shall things be settled in these days.

In the wake of the invasion of Parihaka, with the government looking for reasons to imprison him, Te Whiti was charged with sedition for uttering these words. Notably, the charge included not just the talk of quarrels and weapons, but also the phrase "mine is the land" (naku te whenua). His fellow prophet Tohu was charged with a similar offence. Both were jailed to await trial, but that trial never came. According to Crown prosecutors, the case was weak, and the reports of the meeting "garbled" (likely due to problems with both transcription and translation). Rather than risk an acquittal, the government enacted the West Coast Peace Preservation Act 1882 - an act of attainder - which allowed both men to be detained indefinitely at the pleasure of the Governor. They were not released until February 1883.

(Sources: Taranaki Herald, November 12th, 14th, and 15th, 1881; Waitangi Tribunal Taranaki Report, chapter 8).

Sedition by Example: Index

Posts in the "Sedition by Example" series:

• 15/08/2007 Sedition by Example XXV: Paddy Webb
• 15/08/2007 Sedition by Example XXIV: John Roche
• 15/08/2007 Sedition by Example XXIII: Sidney Fournier
• 28/03/2007 Sedition by Example XXII: Christopher Russell
• 16/06/2006 Sedition by Example XXI: Reverend James Chapple
• 09/06/2006 Sedition by Example XX: Thompson v Nalder
• 08/03/2006 Sedition by Example XIX: Tim Armstrong
• 22/02/2006 Sedition by Example XVIII: The Maoriland Irish Society
• 27/12/2005 Sedition by Example XVII: O F Nelson
• 06/11/2005 Sedition by Example XVI: Te Whiti and Tohu
• 04/06/2005 Sedition by Example XV: Edward Hunter
• 25/04/2005 Sedition by Example XIV: The Christchurch Second Division League
• 12/04/2005 Sedition by Example XIII: Robert Semple
• 05/04/2005 Sedition by Example XII: Walter Nash
• 28/03/2005 Sedition by Example XI: James Kellman and accompanying correction.
• 17/03/2005 Sedition by Example X: Tim Selwyn
• 16/03/2005 Sedition by Example IX: The New Zealand Celt
• 14/03/2005 Sedition by Example VIII: The Green Ray
• 09/03/2005 Sedition by Example VII: Harry Holland
• 06/03/2005 Sedition by Example VI: Hatty Weitzel
• 25/02/2005 Sedition by Example V: Rua Kenana
• 22/02/2005 Sedition by Example IV: C.O.B. Davis
• 14/02/2005 Sedition by Example III: Bishop Liston
• 04/02/2005 Sedition by Example II: Peter Fraser

See also the sedition index.

(This is an index page so I have a central location to point to in future)

Sedition by Example XV: Edward Hunter

(An ongoing attempt to excite disaffection against our archaic law against sedition)

Excerpt from an address by Edward Hunter, Newtown Park, January, 1913:

The strikers control the Coast, and have set aside all law and order. The men on strike were told by the leaders that they had the freedom of the city there, and, having that, could do anything they thought fit. There is a Mayor in Westport, but he has been set aside, and everything is controlled by the strikers. They can bring the 'specials' round to the Coast, in fact, we give them a special invitation, and I swear this, in the name of the party most concerned, that for every one 'special' they care to put down on the Coast, up to one thousand, we can put down one beside him, just as good a man, and if this is going to be a contest as to who is going to control, then we are prepared to make it a contest. More than that, we men know that this Government is shedding blood. we had our fellow-workers brutally murdered in Waihi. There is no one instance from the workers' ranks where we have caused any bloodshed. Now, if they are going to shed our blood, why should we look on at our women and children being clubbed, and offer no retaliation? Now if they want a revolution they can have it. If they force it on us they can have a revolution.

Hunter was tried for sedition, but the jury could not agree on a verdict. A retrial convicted him of "uttering seditious words", and he was sentenced to 12 months probation.

(Source: Coal, Class and Community: The United Mineworkers of New Zealand 1880 - 1960, by Len Richardson, Auckland University Press, 1995)

Sedition by Example XIV: The Christchurch Second Division League

(An ongoing history of those prosecuted for ThoughtCrime under our archaic law against sedition)

Motion put to a public meeting at the Christchurch Opera House, April 28th, 1917:

"That this meeting of Christchurch citizens is of the opinion that no Second Division man should leave for camp unless the demands of the Second Division League are conceded by the government, and that a general election be held immediately"

(The Second Division referred to above is married men. The government had initially applied conscription only to the First Division of single men; furthermore, it had set military pay rates at an artificially low level, so as to discourage married men from volunteering for service. The Second Division League - a nationwide organisation of those about to be called up - wanted pay rates and allowances increased so that soldiers' families did not starve to death in their absence).

The motion was carried, with only four dissenting from the 1600 in attendance. Several days later, the proposers of the motion, a pair of watersiders named Ernest Langley and John Flood, as well as its seconder, Christchurch City Councillor and former Social Democratic party president Hiram Hunter, were prosecuted for sedition. Langley and Flood were each sentenced to six months imprisonment, and Hunter to three months. They were released after 19 days, following an enormous public outcry. The Mayor of Christchurch, who had chaired the meeting and ultimately put the motion to the vote, was not charged.

(Sources: King and Country Call: New Zealanders, Conscription and the Great war, by Paul Baker, Auckland university Press, 1988; New Zealand Herald, 9th May, 1917).

Sedition by Example XIII: Robert Semple

(A historical illustration of the abuses perpetrated under our law against sedition)

Robert Semple, speaking at the Globe Theatre, Auckland, December 3rd, 1916:

I have a message of fraternal greetings from the Australian people. It is the Australian people's message that the people of this country shall not under any circumstances permit this country to be lassoed by that Prussian octopus, conscription.

Despite all the strongest opposition, slander and vilification and journalistic perjury of the hypocritical tongue of that polished wowseristic gang, the democracy stood on their feet and wiped from the sunkissed hills of Australia every vestige of Prussianism. In years to come generations of the future will look back with glowing hearts and benevolent souls upon the men and women who broke the chains of despotism that were about to be put about their bodies. It is only a repetition of the past, anyhow. In every war it was the opportune time for the reactionist and commercial vulture to do his dirty work in the name of patriotism. They are doing that now. What other guarantee could the politicians of the world give to the Shylocks who are lending money to conduct this dreadful tragedy? No other guarantee, only a servile slavish people.

Conscription and liberty cannot live in the one country. Conscription is the negation of human liberty. It is the beginning of the servile state. It is the one forged chain that can be applied to the legs and minds of men and women. Conscription was not intended in this country to fight the Kaiser, but to fight trades unionism and the working classes. They are more afraid of the trade unionists, the capitalists are, than the Kaiser. Why? The Kaiser belonged to the same school that they belonged to. The Kaiser stands for despotism, robbery, plunder, oligarchy. The workers stand for liberty. They fear the rising of the working class population a sight more than the Kaiser because the Kaiser belongs to the same school as the rest of the robbers in the rest of the world.

The psychological effect of my experience in Australia has kindled a flame of rebellion in my soul, and, regardless of the consequences, I intend to fight, by God, that infamous rotten law (to wit, the Military Service Act, 1916), that has been passed upon the heads of the people in New Zealand. The men who fought the campaign in Australia feared nothing. We have, too, the same kind of soul. I believe similar blood flows in the veins of men and women such as flowed in the veins of the martyrs in days gone by. It has got to do things and say things, and the time has arrived in New Zealand to do it now. We're not going to allow Australia to say we haven't got a kick. They have said to me, 'Semple, whatever you do, we will be with you morally, financially, in spirit as in every other way.' We are going to make it damned hot for this government. How long are the working classes of New Zealand going to be the apathetic tools of the employing classes that they are to-day? Something has got to be done in this country to resurrect the fighting energy of the working classes. Miners in this country are ready to pay their share of the battle, no matter what it might be. I have a wire in my pocket which I got last night to the effect that every coalminer if he is drawn in the ballot (to wit, the ballot for service under the Military Service Act, 1916) has received instructions not to present himself. He is exempted by instructions of the Government. The miners don't want that exemption. They will say: 'Take your bribe back again.' They will say: 'You are not going to bribe us and conscript our labour. You are not going to play us against the other fellow. To hell with your bribery.' We are going to see before many weeks how much there is in them. We are going to try them. Make no mistake about that.

I know that everyone talking against this infamous law is knocking at the jail door. But we have to take these risks. I refuse to have my tongue bound in my cheeks. I have the freedom of my children and the dignity of my wife to fight for, and I am going to do it regardless of what I may personally suffer in the process. The gong has got to be sounded. The forces of manhood have got to be mibilised, and things have got to be done in order that the sun of liberty may shine upon the people of this country. The political system has its roots in hell. The wowser churches are infamous dens administering chloroform and 'dope'.

For this, and similar speeches in Wellington and Christchurch, Semple was charged with sedition. He was convicted, and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment. Concurrent charges that he had published (spoken) "matter likely to interfere with recruiting, discipline, or administration of His Majesty's Forces, or with the effective operation of His Majesty in the present war" were dropped.

(Source: 1916 Sedition Trials, Maoriland Worker, 1917)

Sedition by Example XII: Walter Nash

Leader of the Opposition Walter Nash, speaking on the Police Offences Amendment Bill, 30th November, 1951:

Let me mention a personal experience, one which has often been twisted by members of the National party... I went overseas in 1920 - that was before I was in Parliament - for the purpose of obtaining agencies from various publishing organizations. I succeeded in obtaining the agency for several large publishers and I brought back with me specimen books. On the return jouney I travelled as far as Australia on the "Sutherlandshire," and when the vessel called in at Adelaide or Melbourne - I forget which - I went into the Socialist book shop run by a Mr. Andrade, who said to me, "You are in the Labour party, are you not, Mr. Nash? Could you sell some of our pamphlets?" I said, "I do not know, but I will have a look at them. Put some of them up," so he packed a parcel of twenty or twenty-four. I took the parcel and placed it in the case that I had the other samples in. I did not see what was in the parcel.

When I arrived at Wellington I was met at the wharf by Detective Lewis, who had been sent to meet me because I was on the national executive of the Labour party and had been to a conference in Geneva of what was called the Second International. The detective said to me, "Have you got anything in the nature of literature with you?" I said, "Yes, I have several cases of it." The detective then went through the cases and he picked out the parcel I had picked up in Australia. I told him what the parcel was and how it came into the case. He said, "Can I open it?" I said that he could, and he opened the parcel in my presence and then asked if he could take it away. I said that he could, and six weeks later I received a summons to appear at Court on a charge of importing seditious literature...

What happened next was reported by the Dominion of 1st March, 1921 (as read into the record later in the same debate):

Walter Nash was charged in the Magistrate's Court yesterday morning before Mr F. K. Hunt, S.M., with bringing into New Zealand a document entitled 'The Communist Programme of the World Revolution,' which encouraged violence and lawlessness. He was also charged with bringing into New Zealand a pamphlet, 'To the I.W.W., a Special Message from the Communist International, Moscow,' which indicated and encouraged, advised or advocated violence. Mr. Macassey, for the Crown, in opening, stated the information was laid under War Regulations which prohibited the introduction and circulation of Bolshevik literature, and quoted the regulations bearing on the matter. The defendant was a publisher's agent, and made a trip abroad last year in the interests of his business. He returned to New Zealand via Australia on 4 January, and was interviewed by Detective-Sergeant Lewis, who secured the documents.

The Magistrate described the material in question as being "as dangerous to the body politic as typhoid germs deliberately placed in a city reservoir", but accepted that it was not a serious case, as there had been no real intent to distribute. Nash was fined five pounds, plus costs. He later discovered that the forbidden works were present in the Parliamentary Library - but of course, they weren't "dangerous" there.

(Sources: Walter Nash, by Keith Sinclair, Auckland University Press, 1976; New Zealand Parliamentary Debates, 296 (1951), p1221 - 1229).

Sedition by Example: A correction

I have a correction to make relating to my most recent post in the "Sedition by Example" series. On checking the court judgement in the case (Kelman v Browne, [1940] NZLR 941), I have discovered that he was not prosecuted for sedition, but subversion under the Public Safety Emergency Regulations of 1940. While there is some overlap - statements "intended or likely to cause disaffection to His Majesty" are considered subversive, just as "exciting disaffection" is considered seditious, Kelman was not charged under this section. Instead he was prosecuted as calling government Ministers cannibals and murderers was "intended or likely to cause undue alarm to the public", and because the final line - "Mothers! Would you entrust your son's life to these people?" - was "intended... to cause unlawful resistance... to military training or service". The Supreme Court found for Kelman on the first argument, ruling that defamation was not per se subversive, but against him on the second. So, still a crock, but a different one.

I've avoided using the great WWII conscientious objectors (such as Ormond Burton and A C Barrington) as examples for precisely this reason. But despite my efforts, it seems I was caught out by the sloppy language used in my source. Obviously, I will be more careful in the future.

Sedition by Example XI: James Kellman

(A continuing protest against the existence of ThoughtCrime in New Zealand law)

Poster distributed in Wellington, July 1940:

Fraser, Mason and Semple - Guilty of

MURDER!

A wave of horror has swept Wellington on receiving the following word from Keva Bronson :

"24/6/40 - We are nearing Panama and I am writing to you for all members of our organisation. Many thanks for all they did for Golda (Mrs. Bronson) and myself. I think they understand how much we appreciate it.

I am not writing much except that Golda lost the baby five days ago. The distress caused her by our "friends" Peter and Robert had its effect. There was no doctor on board and not even another woman, and Golda and I had to manage with the assistance of the steward. Golda had a bad time."

Keva Bronson was seized and, without trial placed on board the ship "Port of Wellington", for deportation because of his anti-war activities. Mrs. Bronson chose to go with him rather than remain here, unprovided for, and facing the permanent or indefinite separation from her husband.

We recall to you that leaflets and deputations at the time of the deportation publicised the fact that Mrs. Bronson, an expectant mother, was being placed on a boat without a doctor, and had, after a period of great anxiety, to travel over war swept seas.

Mr. Fraser as Prime Minister, Mr. Mason as Attorney-General and Mr. Semple because of his personal antagonism to Bronson, which was in part responsible for his deportation (Semple referred to Bronson as "a dirty East London Jew"), are directly indictable for wilful murder of a human life.

These twentieth century cannibals deserve the greatest scorn and contempt from all workers and humanitarians!

Fraser assured women in Wellington that Mrs. Bronson would be alright - he assured women in Auckland that there was a doctor on the boat.

Perhaps it is not surprising that those gentlemen who occupy so much of their time in organising the destruction of human life have no sympathy for the creation of life.

MOTHERS ! Would you entrust your son's life to these people?

Protest by letter, by telephone and by telegram to private residence of Ministers and direct to the Government! Demand to know where the Bronsons are now!

ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE PEACE AND ANTI-CONSCRIPTION COUNCIL.

The poster's author, James Kellman, was prosecuted for sedition and jailed for twelve months.

(Source: Out in the Cold: Pacifists and conscientious objectors in New Zealand during World War II, by David Grant, Reed Methuen, 1986)

Correction: I have been led astray by my source; as explained here, Kelman was not prosecuted for sedition, but subversion - a slightly different (though equally odious) "crime".

Sedition by Example X: Tim Selwyn

(An ongoing attempt to procure the alteration of our archaic law of sedition)

Text of a pamphlet left near the scene of the axe-attack on the Prime Minister's electorate office:

Confiscation Day

This morning concerned Pakeha vented their anger and disgust at the Government’s attempts to steal, by confiscation, Maori land in the form of the Seabed and Foreshore Bill that is currently being disgracefully rammed through Parliament as part of a desperate back-room deal.

By attacking the electorate office of the chief instigator, the Prime Minister - who is due to abandon the mess she created by fleeing the country today - we signal that a threshold has been crossed.

The broken glass symbolises the broken faith, broken trust and shattered justice, our axe symbolises the steadfastness of our determination.

The ruthless Prime Minister will leave behind a vindictive law that will haunt this nation should the M.Ps be mad enough to pass it. Maori M.Ps complicit in this farce will never live down their betrayal.

If this is destined to be Confiscation Day, then we have marked it.

We call upon all like-minded New Zealanders to take similar action of their own to send a clear message that such a gross, blatantly racist injustice to the Maori people will never be accepted.

Ake! Ake! Ake!

The alleged author of this document, Tim Selwyn, has been charged with seditious conspiracy and making a seditious statement for inciting "violence, lawlessness, or disorder". These charges rest not on his alleged involvement in the attack itself - that is covered by a seperate charge of conspiracy to commit criminal damage - but on the above words alone. He will appear in court today for a pre-depositions hearing - 83 years to the day of Bishop Liston's infamous speech.

Sedition by Example IX: The New Zealand Celt

(An ongoing series aimed at exciting contempt for the administration of justice regarding the archaic law of sedition)

Article from the New Zealand Celt, 21st February, 1868:

Demonstration of the Irish in Charleston.
(From Our Own Correspondent)

A numerously attended meeting was held at the Belle de Union Hotel, on Monday evening, 10th instant, for the purpose of forming a committee to raise funds for the widows, wives, and families of Allen, O'Brien, and Larkin, and the Irish state prisoners, and to express condemnation of the British Government in regard to the murderous executions of Allen, O'Brien, and Larkin.

Mr A. M'Carthy, having been voted to the chair, said - Gentlemen, you will allow me to testify my thorough appreciation of the objects for which the present meeting has been called. I am sure there are none amongst you who will not sympathise for those brave and patriotic men who laid down their lives for their fatherland. it now remains for you to testify your admiration for those martyrs to the cause of Irish liberty by subscribing liberally towards those who have thus been impoverished by the acts and oppressions of the English Government. He would now call on Mr. Cullen to move the first resolution.

Mr. C. Cullen said - Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, before reading the resolution, I beg leave to make a few remarks. This meeting has been convened, in the first place, to express sympathy for those brave men who have suffered for the cause of Irish independence, and to aid their wives and families; secondly, to express our views of the course adopted by the British Government towards Allen, O'Brien, and Larkin; thirdly, to form a committee to receive subscriptions at the present meeting, and all over the Charleston diggings, the same to be forwarded to the editor of the Nation or the Ladies' Committee in Dublin, as the meeting shall decide. I am quite sure there are none in this room, but sympathises with the object of this meeting. Great sympathy has been expressed in England towards the executed men - not by Irishmen alone, but also by Englishmen. It is now high time that we take immediate steps to show our thorough disapproval of the tyrannical and bloody course pursued by the English Government. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, did these men die as felons? No. (A voice: 'They were murdered.') Hear what Allen, that brave boy of nineteen, said: - 'If I die, I die not as a murderer, but as a martyr for Ireland.' The mother of this brave youth is reported to have said, 'That she would sooner see her boy on the scaffold than to see him standing beside Corrydon, the informer.' All honour is due to such a mother. Let us look at O'Brien, in his lonely cell, no friends or relatives to cheer him, but that Friend, the best that he or any other man can have sustained him through the trying ordeal. He had faced death on many a battle-field, and was not afraid now to meet it. He died as a Christian should - bravely and honourably and religiously, the victim of an unjust and tyrannical Government. in England large meetings have been held to sympathise with these brave and patriotic men. As many as 15,000 or 20,000 men had attended those meetings, and stigmatised the course pursued by the Government as bloodthirsty, cruel, and unjust. If those men had the courage to beard the lion in his den, although many thousand miles distant from the scene of the action, it is no less our duty to appreciate the mighty sacrifice made by those noble-minded men for the good of our country.. .. Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien met their doom bravely. Although an ignominious death was their fate, they died gloriously, proudly, and defiantly, and deserve the admiration and respect of every patriotic Irishman .. ..

The speaker (Mr. Cullen) drew attention also to the partiality shown by England towards the rebels of other nations. He said they always sympathised and aided them; but because those rescuers of Deasy and Kelly were Irishmen, and trying to aid in Ireland's freedom, the British Government thought they should be hanged, executed, and murdered! Gentlemen, I say, murdered. (Great applause.) ... Now, gentlemen, it may be said we are sowing the seed of dissension amongst the community of Charleston, but I say whoever makes such a statement, is guilty of a great falsehood. I say we are here not as sectaries, but a mixed body of cosmopolitan sympathizers, as the Hyde Park people were in London. No, gentlemen, we have not assembled here tonight for any such purpose, but here have we assembled to show to England and the world, and most particularly to suffering Ireland that there are Irish, English, and Scotch, 20,000 miles away who sympathize with her, and denounce the conduct of the British Government in those late executions. (Hear, hear.) I shall now, gentlemen, conclude and content myself by calling on all of you to arise and bestir yourselves to immediate action in aiding the cause of poor old Ireland. (Immense applause.)

Mr. T. Keenan in moving the second resolution, said: - We are called here for a just and noble object. As Irishmen we are bound to respond to this call - it is a duty which is due to our country and to humanity - it is a duty incumbent on all to hate oppression, resist tyranny, and to sympathize with, and relieve suffering; but with you, Irishmen, how much more imperative is that duty, when it is connected with a cause which is embalmed by the noblest blood of your countrymen. Irishmen, cherish that cause, hate oppression, and resist tyranny, for they reign over Ireland at the present time, and have sent many of her bravest sons to prison and to death. Talk of the great and equitable laws of England, the liberty of the subject, their trial by jury - they are high sounding titles signifying nothing. the laws cannot be equal or just which imposes a church and Government on Ireland opposed to the wishes of the people, opposed to their religious opinion and reason and common sense. The liberty of the subject is not safe when they can imprison at their pleasure, and keep men in jail till their health is impaired, without even the form of a trial. I say you would be as safe amongst the most barbarous tribes of Africa or under the sway of King Theodore of Abyssinia as you would be this day in Ireland. Their juries applied to political cases are but farce-like tragedies which end in imprisonment or death. We are called here tonight to express our sympathy with these sufferers of English injustice, but more especially with those three brave fellows who have laid down their lives for the cause of their country, and to condemn as base, brutal and bloody, the Government that condemns such men to a death fit only for a murderer of the blackest type, such as Burgess, Kelly, and Levy. But though they would brand them as murderers, and disgrace their memories, they have miserably failed in the attempt. They have only made their names glorious as three of the noblest and bravest patriots that ever suffered on a scaffold in the cause of liberty. To ask you for sympathy for those, I know, is needless, for I know that there is not an Irishman here worthy of the name that does not heartily sympathize with them. Ah yes! well I know your feelings, with many, it assumes a silent, determined hatred of British rule, and though you may not openly express it, yet your feelings are as true as those who suffered death for the cause. Alone in your tents in the midnight gloom, or in the silent woods with none present but God and your conscience, you clench your hand and wait only for the time to be revenged. Wait awhile. 'God is slow but just' are the words of our dead patriot - that is a prophecy from the grave - a prophecy bequeathed to Irishmen, and one which will surely be fulfilled, for God would not be just if a day of retribution did not follow. Yes, it will follow, and may the wrongs which Irishmen have suffered be revenged both soon and sudden. Take off your hats, gentlemen! Stand uncovered! I am about to mention three names which are sacred to you and to generations to come. Allen, Larkin, and O'Brien are dead. They were hanged, Irishmen - they were hanged by the common hangman for the cause of Ireland. May God rest their souls! They died for our country. It is theirs no longer; they are citizens of a brighter and a better kingdom; they have died the founders of freedom in the vanguard of liberty, and a noble example have they left to their countrymen. Fitzgerald was a lord; Lowe a soldier; and Emmett a scholar.

They died nobly in the same cause, but not more nobly than our last three heroes - the carpenter, the tailor, and the draper. They died as became the cause they represented, as Christians and patriots. All the sable engines of death were visible to their sight, and the train of thoughts they suggested; but in spite of all they bore themselves like men through the fearful trial. Ah! it must be a trying moment for men in the prime of youth and health, and guilty of no crime but serving their country too well, to meet death so willingly. 'Oh,' said our brave countrymen, 'However much I would like to live, I cannot regret dying for Ireland.' Surely they were brave men. Such are the men they would brand as murderers and assassins. What robbed death of its terrors, and the gallows of its shame and ignominy, but the conviction that their memories would not be disgraced but honoured and revered by their countrymen, and we are here tonight to pay our tribute of honour and respect to their memories. Yes; let us cherish their names in our hearts as martyrs who, could they inspire us with the same noble fortitude and heroic resolution, would teach us to defy England with all her power, persecution, and perjury, and be again,

'The land of song, the home of the free;
First flower of the earth, first gem of the sea.'

But our brave countrymen are gone to prison and to death. Sympathy with them will never bring them back to their dear friends and dearer country; it will not reck them in the prison or the grave, but they have friends who will suffer by this loss, and it is our duty to testify our respect to their memories, not merely by words, but by more tangible proofs, that we are sensible of the great sacrifice they have made for the cause of their country ...

Moved by the speaker, seconded by Mr. C. Molloy, and carried nem. con.:

'That this meeting strongly condemns the action taken by the British Government in executing the Manchester prisoners; and that we consider such an act as brutal tyranny which would not be perpetrated at the present time by even the most tyrannic and despotic government in Europe, except in England; and that we sincerely sympathise with all who have suffered for political offences in Ireland, more especially those three men who have died for the cause and liberty of Ireland.'

Mr. Hehir then moved, seconded by Mr. M'Carthy, and carried - 'That the minutes of this meeting, together with the names of those subscribing to this object, be published in the New Zealand Celt, the Dublin Nation, and the Irishman, and that all moneys collected by [sic] transmitted to the Ladies Committee in Dublin without delay.'

For publishing this and other similar articles, the Celt's proprietors, John Manning and Father William Larkin (no relation) were prosecuted for sedition. They eventually pleaded guilty, and were sentenced to one month's imprisonment. Those who actually made the speeches reported above were never charged.

(Source: The Lion and the Wolfhound: The Irish Rebellion on the New Zealand Goldfields, by David McGill. Grantham House, 1990).

Sedition by Example VIII: The Green Ray

(Being an ongoing series exposing the abuses perpetrated under our archaic law against sedition)

Editorial, The Green Ray, May 1st, 1918:

The Memory of the Dead.

Once again it is our privilege to commemorate the men and deeds that made Easter Week, 1916, the most glorious pages in the annals of our race. "Life springs from death," said the first president of the Irish Republic, and fully believing in the truth of his words he ventured everything, and gave up all. We see that the vision God vouchsafed him was interpreted faithfully by the scholar and soldier, for can we not see rising from the rim of the northern ocean the resusciated Irish nation. Seventeen graves there are in Erin on which no man or woman may lay a flower, but vain! vain! vain! is that malice that extends beyond this world - to the tyrant it returns with redoubled fury, confounding him and laying him in the dust before the eyes of the nations, and raising up in power before him the little nation he attempted to destroy. To-day we see the value of those seventeen graves upon which no man or woman may lay a flower; we realise that the spirits of the martyred are permeating the soul of Erin, and that never before did she present so united a front to the world as she presents to-day. Truly God exalts the humble and cast down the proud. Precious to us should be the memories of the brave who gave up everything that the soul of Erin might be saved.

Let us remember the words of the First president of the Irish Republic, as, standing over the grave of O'Donovan Rosa in Glasnevin, he spoke for Ireland's untameable soul: "While Ireland holds these graves Ireland unfree will never be at rest." - The Editor

These words were deemed seditious for exciting disaffection against the government, inciting disorder, and encouraging the commission of offences against the public order, and both the newspaper's manager, Albert James Ryan, and its editor, Thomas Padraic Cummins, were prosecuted. Both were convicted and sentanced to 11 months imprisonment with hard labour.

(Source: The Green Ray, May 1st, 1918; New Zealand Truth, August 3rd, 1918 - though the latter has an extended version of the seditious editorial. I have gone with the primary source)