The Budget Leakage and Prosecution The decision of the Attorney-General
to initiate no prosecutions in regard to the Budget leakage was inevit- able, for the very good reason that a prosecution in the ordinary Courts where the established rules of evidence prevail would be far more likely to fail than to succeed, since in such a Court the accused is assumed to be inno- cent till he is proved guilty, and nothing but definite and incontrovertible proof of guilt will secure a conviction. If condemnation by the tribunal had been followed by an acquittal in the Courts the whole affair would have been left in disastrous confusion. It would only half exonerate Mr. Thomas, for the verdict would simply mean " Not Proven." These words are necessarily being written before Mr. Thomas' statement in the House on Thursday. If he were considering tactical advantage he might not unreasonably challenge the Government to prosecute. But the Attorney-General's decision is generally welcome. The only object of a prosecution would be to impose additional penalties, and there. can be no man in the country who wants to see the late Colonial Secretary hit harder than he has been.
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