:
فيا
r.11
US
خلية
177
+
J
The writer devo tas the first three paragraphs of his
letter to comment on the policy of the Government, i.e. neglect
to provide electrical communication between the Police Stations
and Head-quarters, And in the first paragraph he goes out of
his way to explain whom he means by the Government viz. the
Executive and Legislative Councils and the official and
Unofficial Members of those Councils, thus expressly excluding
the Junior officers such as the plaintiff. It is the Govern-
ment he charges with neglect i,e, the Body responsible for
de termining the measures and policy of the Government not the
officers who carry that policy out and who are bound to submit
to it and enforce it whether they agree with it or not. This
if it is comment, is comment on a matter of public interest
but if it is to come within the category of "fair commen t".
as it must to be legitimate, it must be based upon ascertained
facts. The Government must be wiem to have neglected the
question in the ordinary sense of the term, wierege the fact is the subject has been engaging the Government's attention
for some time and the desirability for providing such communica-
tion has, since 1913 been recognised by the Governϐn t. The
furnishing of such communication gave rise to two problema, one
the method by which communication should best be furnished; the
other the difficulty of obtaining material during the war. In
addition there was tue question of wether such a provision
ano uld, un der any circumstances, be properly carried out in war
time.
It appears to have been the view of theGovernment that it
should not. This view may have been right or it may have been
If it was right no question of neglect arises. if it wrong.
was wrong it was no thing more than an error of judgment.
Qui te
apart from this view it further appears that, wireless telegraph or telephone, being out of the question leaving ordinary telephone the only remaining alternative, it was
VA OR.
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