The Express.
London, England, 1847-07-09 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

Nut Paine—Before the Inrd Chief Justice end •quoin' Jury.
POWELL D. BILADBOKY AND EVANA—THE DAILY
Haws—Mr. Serjeant Wilkins, Mr. Hugh Hill, and Mr.
Huddlestone for the plaintiff The Attorney General and
Mr. Wells for the defendants. This was an action brought
by Mr. Powell, formerly sub-editor of the Daily New,
against Mean. Bradbury and Evans, the registered pro-
prietors of that paper, to recover compensation in damages
for en alleged breach of contract on the part of the defend-
ants, in having dismissed the plaintiff from their employment
without reasonable and probable cause. The defendants
pleaded that they did not eager the plaintiff—that they
did not wrongfully dimities him—and that they did not in-
ansa him without reasonable and probable cause. There was
also a special plea, setting forth the reasons upon which the
defendants justified their sada* towards the plaintiff. The
plea wee in substance to this effect : that in the month of
August last, whilst the pletatiff was in the employ of the
defendants, as subeditor, ire, at the request of one William
Alfred Wearing, than abs beteg in their employ, ad.
dressed a letter from the dies of the Daily News to
the correspondent of the saiiipmer at Bristol, re-
questing a report of esalata cep which were ex-
pected to take plats in the easel or bankruptcy in
the matter of William Henry Bed*, and that he did so,
knowing at the time that W wee influenced by
feelings of hostility towards the said Maws Hoary Smith.
That is enesequeose of this • detailed report
won haableed of the said est wee nesived by
the phi fa hie apathy of ikert
saw theal, reseipt of the said report, Nth ea. the aim day, ly
a
bitter yr received et the moe of the News, ad-
dressed by Wiliam Hoary Smith to the of that
jeeraeL, itheather thew thatWeeriagledrepreeented himself
as the idler of the Daily Na.,,a had stated that he
would piabiiik In tbet payer a region is d1e414,0 of his peen-
Bier, odes; awl be (the writer of the letter) hoped
they would net dhow their paper to be used for
the purpose of greeffeag any vindictive feeling, and
to give rabbi* to matters which were of no in.
tenet to the pal& That the plaintiff, well knowing
the existesese of pereonel hostility between Wearing and
Smith, ingjggedr. and without the knowledge of the pro-
prietors, ilittuell sie aid report and letter to Wearing in
or tape* hi pempeal animosity and vindictive feel.
; est them easeneWlthe letter from coming to the know-
Wes of the prepeinais. That the same did not, in conse-
quote, emit. their knowledge' and that he (plaintiff )
permitted garbled. and partial, end unfair report of the
proesediapia the wetter of the said Win. Henry Smith,
which ripen bed ben prepared by the said Wm. Alfred
Wearing, is appear is the Deily Nose. That the plaintiff,
in order to enable West* to pagan the same, delivered
the report from Bristol to
_art that with conduct was
not calculated to musky thepaWd boat, but was likely to
prove injurious ill Ilimunder et the paper ; and that on
these grounds ditheopat the plaintiff, Ice.
Mr. thejthat fa feria the thee, said that the
*Mined Ow thew years bees metheited with the London
:wlirsod that he was now reduced ti considerable
ieaitansegammas of the tesetatent he had received from
the deMhiawta in the salmis of 1846 when arrangements
were Way made the starting the Doily New, an applica-
tion wee ark by Mr. Jolla Mims to Mr. Powell, the re-
sult of whisk wee that Mr. Powell wee thopd to perform
the duties lot twit yew, at seam OW*" week. The
paper wee started, faiths giaistiffaimtkraol be perform the
duties elsaluedlior. The leented sawed mat as to deseribe
that on the 13th of Aiwa, 1848, the deibmisnts sent plaintiff
a letter: bin he havingaluseted himself ; where-
assksol the letter het
ttr,.dLo.ster, the
soils, car fhom Nmeelf,
diewdante by
iths him were ethrbei lasiatnfong holiday at their ex.
that Mr. P
reinstated ha
Mr. Weanmoinext.w.m.ell'auds.:7ehituinted4.6amosanmanwirdanthoifeasio:f.fibonlAainepliolrb7yobiariilltPluile:iio,
that mamma Mr. Powell did not know that such a person es
Weariag existed. The duties Wearing were to reed
and manse mob soasegal with the law and raise

meats Ono of the great objects of oho proprietors of the
'Daily Yews was to secure a large circulation in the pro-
vinces, and with that view correspondents were employed in
Liverpool, Birmingham. Bristol, and other large towns. In
course of time the price of the paper was reduced to 2id.,
and the sub-editors received instructions to condense the
matter as much es was consistent with its interest and
importance. In the month of July, 1846, a report wu sent
up from Bristol, containing an acoouat of contain mooted-
burs in the district bankruptcy court in repo mss to the
agars of a Mr. Smith, but previous to this dile ib• *tin-
tiff did not know of the existence of suck a prom an the
Mr. Smith alluded to. It appeared that two meetinge took
edam respecting the affairs of Mr. Smith, and that the report
tarnished of the procoadines at the first meeting +ea not
Insertid by Mr. Powell. The second meeting was hold on
the let of August, and • report of what took place was for-
warded by the correspondent in Bristol to the Daily News
°dice in Londe'. After the proceedings had terminated,
Mr. Smith addressed a letter to the proprietors of the paper,
begging them to suppress the report. On the 4th of August
the report reached the otSee, and was abridged according to
the system adopted in the establishment, and was inserted
on
the 6th August, under the head of " Provincial." This
was the report upon which the defendants pretended "
thst they had discharged Mr. Powell. He (Mr. Serjeant
R"ilk us) submitted that it was a very fair and moderate
report of what took place. There was no indication of a
suppreesion of the truth, or any ground for pitying that an
undue prominence had been given to any circumstances
which were calculated to injure Mr. Smith. It was the
custom of the manager of the paper, Mr. Dilke, every morn-
ing carefully to reed the paper shortly after it came out, and
when he discovered any ground of complaint to mention it
to the sub-editor. On the morning on which the report in
question appeared he made no complaint whatever, but after
Mr. Nike had received certain information respecting the
eonduct of Wearing, he thought it neresary to see Powell
upon the subject. He was however allowed to go on with
/us usual duties for a fortnight, and at the expiration of that
period he was discharged from the employment of the
defendant'. He should prove that the defendants had no
reasonable ground for dismissing him ; and it would be for
the jury to say what damages he was entitled to for so
serious an injury.
The agreement between Messrs. Bradbury and Evans
and Mr. Powell wee thus pat in, and also letters of the 13th,
14th, and 16th Aped—berg theos=donee Mtwara the
ts defendan and the he the priatiffs
absence from daty us lie Metioned. A letter of
the 24th August. WM, em then read. It was fame the
defendants to thisplariC sad was in the following arm :
nr,—we Yam leaned la shim at of Mr. him tea reheense to
the pint etheard le le am *emir Maw born, and lt men= the
revert dear ailelles We lath throthre, alteresthe hat to
Wethare thearesientlestmea anima will be greed to re-
«We this sea mirefbe determartenthered boa ids day. we
have ditto:oooft aseemst of your Wry mw the arrest week
shptl tie matte yea is year application, bat erasures without prejo-
itioe.—we are, it yew mement servants, BLOW= and EY.43.0.-
To J. IL Powell, flew
Mr. John Dither; wee then called, to prove that Mr.
Powell entered upon his duties as sub-editor on the Ist of
January, 1846.
Mr. Thomas Hodgkin stated that he was a retired cont-
sunder in the navy, and that he bad been joint sub-editor
of the Daily News with Mr. Powell. He had been
con's cted with the press for 26 years. The whole respon-
ability of that piper devolved upon Mr. Powell, with the
exception of the leaders and other political matters, which
were entrusted to the editor. It was a matter of great im-
portance to arrange the provincial intelligence ; and any
Information coming from the provinces respecting proceed-
ings about to take place would, in proper course, be commu-
nicated to Mr. Powell, whose duty was to employ a reporter
to furnish an account of such proceedings. Regular reporters
were employed by the Daily News at Bristol, Birmingham,
Liverpool, and other large places. In the ordinary course of
business letters addressed to the proprietors, and coming
into the sub-editor's room, would be opened by the sub
editor. The contents were then sorted by him,
end distributed to the different departments of the
paper. Letters addressed to the proprietors frequently
came after the proprietors had left the oifiee. It was
al the greatest importance that those letters should be opened
immediately, and if they related to public matters intended
for the newspapers it was not usual to show them to the pro-
prietors. Wearing was employed to revise some of the re-
ports under the superintendence of the sub-editor. It was
not an ustrequent occurrence for the editor to receive letters
begging that reports might be suppressed, and it wu the edi-
tor's duty on each occasions to be influenced by the report
iteelf, and not by the letter referring to it.
Cross-examined: The necessity for showing letters to the
proprietors of a newspaper must depend upon the nature of the
communication. If the sub-editor, who might open a letter
addressed to the proprietors, knew that the person from whom
the communication came was on bad terms with a party
connected with the establishment, it might in the ordinary
course of business be kis (the sub-editor's) duty to hand it to
that party to look over ; but witness would not dose. A
letter referring to private matters, and involving • com-
plaint against • person connected with the establishment he
should show to the proprietors. It was the duty of the edi-
tor to be at the office the greater portion of the time that
Mr. Powell remained there.
Mr. Soutar, rib-editor of the Morning Advertiser, Mr.
M'Kearn, Mr. John Byrne, Mr. James Griffin, Mr. Moran,
Mr. Morgan, Mr. Searle, Mr. Thomas Beard, and Mr.
Mack, gentlemen connected with the press either u sub-
editors or in other capacities, were ailed to speak to the
Satre of • person occupying Mr. Powell's position upon the
Duly News. The witnesses all agreed in the evidence of
Mr. Hodgkin, that the propriety of showing letters to the
proprietors would depend upon the nature of the communi-
math.
Mr. John 0. Powell stated that he was the corre-
spondent of the Times at Bristol, and that he attended the
proceedings in the district bankruptcy court in the month
et August last. He had read the report which appeared in
the Doily News. and he should consider it • fair report, but
It woo very much condensed. Various matters which had
been stated against the bankrupt were omitted, and there
were purges also left out which appeared in favour of the
bankrupt.
Creseexamined.—During the inquiry the bankrupt very
often mid, that although Messrs. were ostensibly the
opposing creditors, the affair had been got up by Mr. Wear-
ing, who had a personal animosity against him. Mr. Phinn,
who was the counsel opposing the bankrupt, then inter-
fered, saying that he deprecated any attack upon Mr. Wear-
ier in his absence. Throughout the discussion the bank-
rupt and his counsel (Mr.Btone) endeavoured to impress upon
the court that Wearing was edema to the bankrupt. There
was no mention of Wearing's name in the report which ap-
peared in the Doily News.
Copies of the Daily News of Nov. 11, 1846, and March 3,
1847, were then put in, for the pupae of showing that the
defendants themselves had thought proper to call the atten-
tion of the public to certain legal proceedings at judge's
chambers and Westminster-hall, in which the name of
Basith wu mentioned as a bankrupt. One of these reports
was headed " Gambling by a Bankrupt"
The Attorney-General, in addressing the jury for the de-
fondants, said, that the defence which they had thought it
right to set up was founded upon a doe respect to the inter-
seta of the public, and upon a proper sense of that principle
which ought to actuate the proprietors of newspapers in tle
conduct of their affairs, It was upon the jury's sanction of
that principle that he model their verdict in this meet im-
portant case. He mostlree make a complaint of the COWIN
which had been ;taken Iry the learned serjeant on the other
side. Without applyieg his Mai WM reel *rue between the
parties, he had thought littorals mei matters which might
comport with the view taken by lie chant, but which were
altogether collateral to the permalariey. He had stated
that the defendants had remmesil el thelly elfalthunts and
that they had pot forth the WM 11111161•01 is the spatial
plea to relieve themselves from OM ~MP imbelhh.
This he took the libswV ebnandieftg. and, ea the Pat of
the defendants, he humph ha say that they were, and
had gad reason to be, mehoily satisfied with their present
position. It turned cot-that Mr. Charles Dickens (who wee
originally editor of the Daily News), finding that his time
might he more profitably employed, and that, in pointof fact,
he was not exactly MAI li rda management of • daily paper,
withdrew from the esmaro. He was not dismissed by the
proprietors, nor wm their object to decrease their expenses
by any such mama as MI been attributed to them. 8o far
Man their soaking way pretext for dispensing with Mr.
Powell's 'services, he (the Attorney-General) had abstained
hem putting to the witnesses a single question calculated to
disparage the plaintiff. He would rabmit the tuts to the
jury as they appeared upon the record, and be would ask
the jury, upon those facts, for their approval of the conduit
of the defendants. As to the somewhat complex nature of the
spacial plea it had been put upon the noted, lest in the de-
tailed proof of mere technical form they Fight fail to apprise
the plaintiff of the trae ground of his bang cllemired. He
sherd prove that that dismissal was perfectly justifiable;
and as to the numerous witnesses who hail been examined,
the were called for the purpose of lengthening the brief
end accumulating expenses, in the hope that the plaintiff
would succeed is obtaining a verdict. The defendants were
charged with resorting to an expedient for the purpose of re-
lieving themselves from the engagement they had entered
into with the plaintiff. This they utterly denied ; and, ad-
mitting that the plaintiff had a right to open letters addressed
to the proprietors, and to um the greatest possible authority,
ought he net to exercise common caution, common prudence,
nay, common honour, in his mode of transacting his business
br the interest of the paper ? The facts of the case were
these : —There had been a preliminary inquiry at Bristol, prior
is the sth of August, when the publication of the report
im question took place. Noseport of the proceedings at that
inquiry was inserted in the Daily News. Wearing, who was
ohm in • state of great hostility with Smith, the bankrupt,
and was his detaining creditor, and had kept him in prison
ft more than a year, for • debt which was not due, was en-1
gaged in the same room with Mr. Powell before the publiea-
tun in question. His learned friend had dared him to prove
that the plaintiff had a knowledge of any hostility existing;
between Wearing and Smith; he (the Attorney-General)
accepted the challenge, and would prove that, three months
before that publication, Mr. Powell well knew all the circum-
sauces connected with the position in which Wearing was
placed with reference to Smith. He should also prove that
the plaintiff wrote to Mr. Powell, the correspondent of the
Daily News at Bristol, at Wearing's instigation. The terms
of the letter were these "An inquiry is about to take place
at your Bankruptcy Court, respecting certain proceed-
ings, in which a gentleman connected with our establishment
as interested. The person about to be examined is, we un-
derstand, • mauenis met. Will you send us • fair report of
the proceedings ?" On the 4th of August a report arrived,
sled on the same day a letter came addressed by Smith to the
proprietors of the Daily News, but not enclosed in any such
envelope as might, according to the suggestion on the other
aide, have been opened by one of the porters of the establish-
mint. The letter was accompanied by a printed memorial
to the beechen of Lincoln's-inn against Mr. Wearing, who
was at that time desirous of becoming a member of that
essiety.i The substance of this letter was as foliates:
•

I tujoe gisoovered that W. A. Wearing, rite person .sae name

77.