The Express.
London, England, 1855-01-30 00:00:00

LOD intelltanut.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.-JAw. 29.

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THI citl3lN O. £A11I)ON. CRIMINAL.

AGAIIIIII? MI TIMM 1/1W111.1,11.--•
This was a minima information for libel &Oast William
Harrisee, the palase of the Times newspaper, for hay.
ins, am the Mil K hievelelse, 1843, published an article
relleedsg ea the dimities of the Hoa. Francis &Mt, the
chairman, and other gentlemen, the directors of the South.
Western Railway Company. The defendant simply pleaded
me guilty, and the ease acme ea for trial at the sittings
altar last seem is London, totem Lord Campbell sad •
lepedaljuureyy, whale a verdict of guilty wee returned.
The -General now prayed the judgment of the
Meet ma the defesdaut.
As setilie. "'Wished in the • Times newspaper on the
Milk of Dessialme 13.4, lobotomies to the trial, was then
Patin in
Sir F. T Niger upraised his great regret that the prose-
cutors bad thought it necessary to apply to the court for
sentence on the iskadent, but he premised it would be ssid
that it was in esensquenee of the publication of the article
which bad just bees read that they found It necessary to pro-
ceed further is this matter. Butwhan he oalledtheir lordships'
attention to the article, he thought there would be no
intend for saying that the writer had been influenced by
private mulles or motives of hostility. The prosecutors had
of amuse desired to 'indicate their characters, and
when they had made the applieation for a criminal infor-
mation they bad as opportunity of stating all the facts upon
their oaths. Their lordships had thought that some of the
szprossioss in the article—and here he would say he
thought some insular expreseions had been unfairly seized
on—were very strowg, and afforded ground for the applica-
tion, and the parties then proceeded to trial. As
the prosecutors came forward with the view of vindi-
cating their personal hemmer, he, as counsel for the
defendast,had allowed them every possible latitude—all the
circumstances of the osse were fully inquired into—the
directors themselves were examined, and the result was
that seder the direction of his lordship the jury returned a
verdict of guilty. By that lading of the be wee sew
Item saying that the 'atlas meesell
gria.,664dies the matter had pawed away helm the
tees it beams their lowlehips' duty to orsidder t sea-
Pap should be peased on the defendant. In the first ,
plow, he would disclaim any private feeling of hostilitgoa
the part of the writer of the article towards the defeadint,
and would ant unequivocally deny that in its
preparation he had bean influenced by such a feeling,
and at the same time expressed his regret that any tap/a-
eon had bees used calculated to affect the preseenems.
Their lordship, in considering the soutanes, would reed.
less that • question of great public importance was bi-
valved. The public press had clearly a right to comment pal
the couductof public uses ; and if the article had kept
'dais its proper limits, there amid be no objection to It
in point of law. This article wee not a mere fabricatioe.
but wee the reiteration of charges made at the public meat-
lags of the company, en which the writer bad
expressed his opinion. No person who read it
meld believe that malice lurked under the ex-1
widow used against these directors. It would be doubtles
said that it was an aggravation of the offsets* that asset ee
article had bees written, in which the accusations bad sea
bees setrseted. All that the Timm in that article said wee,
tint k was saint to say that they had not brought dine
assimstisseulatkeit own authority—that the matter was 011111
belwest the shereholden and the directors, on which they
were Incompetent to form an opinion—and that they m-
f:tany emissions hastily written, unpalatable to Mr.
tlteuld his brother directors. Could • jcurnalist be called
upon tv withdraw a charge not emanating from himself,
and to apologise for accusations preferred by others ? He
was sure that it their lordships thought there was no lurking
Molise in the article, but that it was written on public
gees des, they would not say it was necessary to pass a
serious sentence on the defendant.
The Attorney-General cordially assented in the ex
of regret of his learned friend, that the prosecutors rntid rs
lasuabent on them to bring up this respectable gentleman
he judgment. If this matter had been allowed to test
after the trial, nothing more would have been heard about
it. The prosecutors were influenced by no feelings of hos-
tility towards the defendant, but instead of the nays sub-
mitting in silence to the verdict, or what would have been
Mae gracious, saying they were bound to admit that the
Oman emanating from the shareholders had been ex-
raizthe satisfaction of a joy and to themselms—what
to ,do ? They put the prosecutors is the same posi-
tion as -before; they said, we did not make the charges, they
were made by the shareholders, therefore the matter was
still to be settled between Mr. Scott and the share-
holders. Here, then, was a reiteration of the charges, put-
ting those charges in the mouths of the shareholders, in-
stead of adopting them as their own. Bat no such charges
as "creating fictitious votes and tampering with others"
were ever made at any public meeting of the company. The
prosecutors had no alternative, after this article, but to call
for the judgment of the court. They could net say that
the verdict wee a complete vindication, when the charge was
reiterated. He did not ask for any punishment which
would cause annoyance or pain t, the defendant, but he
hoped that **sentence would be such as to show that the
characters of public men could not be wantonly or unjustly
assailed.
Mr. Bramwell and Mr. Bmill followed on the same side.
Mr. Justice Coleridge, the senior piens judge, after
consulting with the other learned judges, then proceeded to
pass the sentence of the court, which was, that the defend-
ant pay a fine into her Majesty's Treasury of 3001.,
and that until that fins be paid he be imprisoned in the
first class for misdemeanants, in the Queen's Prison.
The fine was immediately paid, and the defendant left
the court.