The Express.
London, England, 1866-06-30 00:00:00

THE POLICE COURTS.

MANSION-HOUSE.
A question of considerable importance in reference to
the rights appertaining to seamen's allotment notes,
yesterday arose before Mr. Alderman Ennis, who sat for
the Lord Mayor.
Mrs. Hannah Slater, the wife of the second mate of a
vessel called the Sir G. Pollock, preferred a complaint
against the owners ofj that vessel, that they had neglected
and refused to pay her the sum of 31. 3a., to which she
was entitled upon an allotment note, to be paid monthly
during the absence of her husband on board the vessel.
The case, upon the statement otedf the complainant, and
which did not appear to be dispu, seemed to be a very
hard one. Her husband sailed in the vessel on a long
foreign voyage, and, as is customary in such cases, she
received an allotment note for a portion of his wages, upon
the amount so received she and three children being
almost entirely dependent for support. For some time
after the vessel sailed she was paid the amount to which
she was entitled regularly, but latterly difficulties ap-
peared to have arisen with regard to the payment, and
after repeated applications for the money, she was at
length compelled to institute the present proceeding
against the owners to recover the amount to which she
was entitled upon her allotment note.
A gentleman from the firm of Kimber and Ellis attended
on behalf of the owners, and stated that he did not deny
that the complainant was entitled to the amount she
claimed, but the fact was that there were no funds from
which she could be pail. The vessel was mortgaged for
more than she was worth, and she was now working under
inspection, the actual owner having become bankrupt,
and having placed his interest in her in the hands of in-
spectors to account for the freight and earnings of the
ship. He relied upon the t9dth section of the Bankruptcy
Act, which enacted that in the case where protection had
been granted by the court, such protection should be a
sufficient answer to claims and debts of every description
to which the bankrupt might be liable.
Alderman Finals, who has had a great deal of experience
in matters connected with shipping, said that this section
did not, in his opinion, apply to seamen's allotment notes.
Seamen who were working on board a vessel stood in the
same relation to a bankrupt's estate as servants, who were
always paid in full.
The magistrate's clerk said that the question had been
distinctly decided in one of the superior courts, and it was
laid down that bankruptcy was no bar to the liability
upon an allotment note.
Alderman Finnic observed that it would be a very great
injustice if the law were otherwise. The complainant's
husband was at work on board the vessel earning his
wages, and all she had to depend upon was the amount of
these wages to which she was entitled under the allotment
note ; and if the money was stopped, what had she got to
subsist upon?
The complainant said she had had to come six times all
the way from Poplar, where she resided, to try and get
her money, and. she and her family were in great distress
for want of it.
The gentleman who attended on behalf of the defend-
ants admitted that it was very bard upon the poor woman,
but he said that the only answer he was in a position to
make to the claim was under the section of the Bank-
ruptcy Act to which he had called the attention of the
court.
Alderman Finnic said he warn clearly of opinion that
the complainant was entitled to the money, and he was
quite prepared to enforce the payment if it became neces-
sary. He would, however, allow the matter to stand over
for a day or two, with a view to some amicable arrangement
being come to, and in the meantime he directed that halt-
s-sovereign should be given to the complainant, to supply
her immediate wants.
WORSHIP-STREET.
Mary Finlay, an elderly and very respectably-dressed
person, was charged with drunkenness.
Police-constable 4d5 N said—Between two and three
o'clock this morning this lady was brought to the Lap-
land dation-house in a cab ; she was intoxicated.
Mr. Ellison—What do you may to this?
Defendant—Well, sir, I certainly most admit that I had
taken a little too much wine. I discovered that almost
immediately after I had left my friends.
Mr. Ellison—Where did you leave them?