The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-05 00:00:00

. -----------
i------ vKa '. importent with a view to
resp
present moment he was Willing to accept it ; but if , fondant would bc
it was refused, of course the case must go on. as each of them might be.
'„costs of the prosecution 1£
onsib tybletorferc( )tsbtse,,
Chief Justice Erle, looking at the eon for the severally .
ev were found guelty,
defendants, asked if the 'else could not he erranged. 1 eh „
1 The necessary formal r •oof having been givee,
Nix. Lush said that his clienes could say no mein
Mr. Be•vill, in erese_exte ruination, elicited that
than they had already said—that they never meant
-e had been a petition froan the parish signed by
to make any imputation upon the lady, and that the thei • , ins in favour of the' tramway.
letter was mere humorous comment and banter 11,500 'erst•objected e
hers that this could not be
upon 'a report which was admitted to be fair. Mr. bit' \i'a i-
ea v peiateort had been. regularly proved.
Chief Justice Erie observed, that it was quite in- stated until theren pen produced the petition (a,
telligible to any lawyer what the counsel for the Mr. Bovill .te hit.: desired to know it he should
in
plaintiff wanted. huge docnera o:
,e,e re ad. (Laughter.)
[lt was understood to mean an apology and have all the nan. eadetired proper proof of the peti-
nominal damages.] Mr, Chambers eneel friend proposed to make any
Mr. Lush could say no more than he had done. tion, and if bis lea.
tit in evidence.
The case then went on. use of it he must pu ,
,s, let it
lie on the table.
An attorney's clerk was called to prove the pub- Mr. Bovill—At all eevent '
lication of the alleged libels ; and this was the case (Groat laughter.) it there had not been a peti-
for the plaintiff. Mr. Chambers asked
Mr. Lush, in cross-examination, elicited that the tion against the scheme.,
ha 'I been two, and he pro-
Plaintiff, Miss Walrond, was not in court, and was The witnese said theres
et of paper, which he
about to ask some other questions of the witness, doted a wrotcheci-looking she
when said was one of thorn.
up, amid roars o
Mr. Chambers objected that the witness could Mr. Bovill therepon hole
it f
r evevict.y
entl in favour of
only know anything as the attorney for his client, derisive laughter anud. chee .t ,
and the communications were confidential. the defendants; of wPieh
Mr. Chambers, in summing up the case for the Mr. Chambers complained; and
plaintiff, pressed that the letter did not h manifee-
give a fair The Lord Chief Juetico el sire
that stee ,
version of the report, in regard especially to the tations of feeling on one side or the other should be
magistrate's decision, which he said was in favour repressed, as unsuitedited that' to a court of justicewas another
of his client. Mr. Chambers elic the ee
Mr Lush then addressed the jury en behalf of the petition, signed by 400 persons, awe inst t ,he seheme.
defendants, and ridiculed the idea that the alleged Witnesses were then ,ealled on be. half of the pro-
nway, and the
libel was likely to do the lady any real injury. His secution as to the nature.- of the trete
clients had fromthe first declared that theyi had no objections made against iht, as interfee Sing with the
The traffic and causing danger to the public;
design to make any imputation upon her.
scope of the letter, they had published was to cal. Mr. Bovill, however, elicited from the first of the
attention to a case they deemed worth noticing ; nilitnsses that the carriage s were extremely
pas-
and if it was a ridiculous case it was the fault of the foe to ride in, and had Advantages for the
theladies in bringing it forward. Both the ladies were sengers therein. This was not disputed,. ut r
question in the cause was whethertboe
commented upon, and there was no imputation on subetaddial
caused danger or difficulty to
the moral character of either. There was nothing not the t`YamwaY
Cc of the public. On tnis question a vast
more than mere humorous banter, which could do general tie,'
eitnesses on both sides were in attend_
no harm to either of them, which had not already number of w
been done by their appearing before the public in ante to be exa.'nL'led•
6,tated by the witnesses on behalf
such a case. It was admitted that the report was The objectionLl
Ncere—that it was not possible to,
fair, and therefore no action could be maintained of the prosecution
fin.- it. The comments upon it were equally fair, keep the flanges levc-o: with the road ;that the stone
and so far from the ODieeL tieing to make any part wag worn awa,vo while the iron flanges re-
imputation upon the plaintiff, the scope of the mained; that thus the pat
of the road would ba
letter was the very reverse. It was argued interfered with, and tha i would not be safe for
that the magistrate in the former case was traffic, the level of the sur ea, ce constantly varying;
wrong in holding that there had been any dog- and the action of wheels pa„ el ig from the iron flanges
stealing, and the fair inference was that the magic- off on the lower ?nd softer .materials, tending to
trate would have been wrong in so holding in the make deeper cuts and ruts in' the road, and thus
case of the plaintiff. There was nothing libellous, wear it more away.
and, even if there was, there was no real damage. Mr. Greig, Clerk of the Peace' for the County of
Chief Justice Erle, in summing up the ease to the Suitrey,,the prosecutor, was one oft he first witnesses
jury, said that they were to determine the question called. He lead he prosecuted not an his public but
whether the letter was a libel, and he was bound in his private capacity. The tramway, ran along the
to tell them that a publication might be libellous, front of Surrey-lodge, the official res idence of
the
the
although it imputed no moral offence or miscon- Clerk of the Peace. There were 16 ft
between
duct, if it tended to bring the plaintiff into ridicule edge of the road (on his side of it) and. thie tramway.
and contempt, and make her position in society less Driving from Westminster-bridge, on his proper
pleasant and comfortable. The lady probably occu- etdo, he almost always found it necessary to go on
pied a certain position in circles of society in which the tramway, and his wheels clung to the laangese
the Morning Post was supposed to have a consi- so that it was difficult to get off; going in the other
derable circulation, and which, to her, might be the direction, towards London.bridge, he crossed the
world, just as to mercantile men, who never moved tramway at right angles, and he always suffered
much in drawing-rooms, the City or the Exchange from severe wrenches. He had not had any acei-
might be the world, and the question was whether dents himself, but e
he had seen traces of accidents.
these publications tended to lower her position in He had seen cabs, &ie.-, damaged with their wheels
such society, or make her position uncomfortable. off, on the sides of the tramway.
The whole letter was conceived a little in the spirit Mr. Bovill objected to this. How did they come
in which ladies might be supposed to write of one there?
another. (Laughter.) The tone throughout was The Lord Chief Justice aselted if the witness had
[ rather against the plaintiff, who was spoken of as seen the accidents occeur.
' the " tall" spinster, whereas her opponent was called The witness said no ; nor ceitild he state ties
t
[ the " young" spinster—(laughter)—a very marked they had arisen from the tramWEl)".•
distinction, made still more invidious by the phrase His lordship said he could not ta.:e the evido
slip
ence-
" failing human admirers of the male sex." (Great The witness stated be had known ho
laughter.) The scope of the letter seemed, more- on the tramway.
over, to be dissatisfaction with the magistrate's Mr. Bovill—Have you seen them ?
decision in favour of the plaintiff, and showed a dis- The witness said he had heard th n
slip
e the hor..see' feet
position to suggest that it ought to have been slip while in his carriage, and had felt
against her. It was contrasted with the decision and; become restiff. The witness went on
to ail
in the other case, and the argument appeared to be that he considered the tramway "at times clang&
that, as the man had been convicted in the former rous and always inconvenient," to the general traffiee
case, she ought to have been convicted in this. Cross-examined by Mr. Bovill—The witness said
Then there was the phrase "dog fancier," and, if he considered the chief source of danger was the'
the scope of the letter was to hold the plaintiff clinging of the wheels to the flanges. Asked if
up to ridicule, it did not matter whether or not ever knew the wheels cling to the iron gutters et
there was any charge of dishonesty or perjury. No the sides of the city streets, he said he was 111
doubt it was important to maintain the liberty of forced always to go into the gutters ; he had folly"
the press. But all the members of society had no danger from them. As to th,e horses being rem
e
their rights, and it was important that these rights tiff, he admitted that horses die; not at first lik-
should be maintained. One most important right what they were not used to, but they became
he
to which they were entitled was the protection time more or less accustomed to it. Asked as ,
of that place and position and estimation in jolts, whether he did not know of ter.rible jolts all
society which fairly belonged to them. Now, if a about town, he said ho did not know el' four sue;
newspaper violated this right, then the almost om- cessive jolts; and, besides, some jolts Were legal'
nipotent power of the press must be controlled by (Laughter.)
the law. If redress was demanded and refused (as Mr. Bovill—And we say that these are leg'3,lf
it had been in this case), then the appeal lay to a you know. Then as to holes, &c., the witness yr'
jury. The jury, then, must consider whether the mitted that they were to be seen on other road 9;
alleged libel tended to hold this lady up to ridicule, but not so much on a continuous line. The Wee
and was such as to make her uncomfortable in collected all along. the sides of the rails.
society—that is, such as would make, not an over- The case oecumed the court until the close of it;
sensitive, but a rational and sensible person less sitting, and will probably occupy all to-morrow
comfortable in society. If se, they should find for (Saturday).
the plaintiff, with such damages as they thought I
she was reasonably entitled to.
The jury consulted a few minutes, and then re-
turned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages, one
farthing.
Mr. Chambers asked the Judge to certify for
costs, but
His lordship said, the the matter being one 'for
the jury, he did not like to appear to differ from
their decision, but he would consider of it.
THE KENNINGTON TRAMWAY.
THE QUEEN V. TRAIN AND OTHERS.
This was an indictment against the well-known
Mr. Train and a number of gentlemen, members of
the vestry of St. Mary's Lambeth, for laying down
his iron tramways in the roadway leading from
Westminster-bridge to Kennington-park, and mak-
ing it dangerous to the public.
Mr. M. Chambers, Q.C., Mr. Hawkins, Q.C., and
Mr. Joyce were for the prosecution ; Mr. Bovill,
Q.C., Mr. Knapp, and Mr. C. Pollock were for the
defendant Train; and Mr. Lush, Q.C., Mr. Serjeaut
Ballantine, and Mr. Garth were for the other de-
fendants.
The case excited the greatest interest, and the
court was densely crowded with inhabitants of
Lambeth.
In November, 1860, a committee of the vestry
recommended the vestry to adopt Mr. Train's
proposal to lay down the tramway. In this re-
port the committee contended that " the vestry
have the right to pave the streets and roads of
the parish either with wood, stone, or iron, pro-
vided it does not interrupt the public traf-
fic or be productive of danger." " That there
would be no obstruction to the ordinary traffic, but,
on the contrary, the facilities of transit are in-
creased. The rails are laid down almost at a
level with the pavement, and so constructed as to
present no ridge of any kind, and the whole surface
of the road is Just as available for ordinary traffic
as it would be if no line of rail were laid down.
Any vehicles passing along can use
the
line of rails
on the side of the road as the drivers
may think
proper. If they are using the '
rails and overtake
the omnibuses they have to move off and keep to
the outside, as in ordinary
cases, and when they
have pass •ed they can re-enter the line of rails, there
being just as much room to pass and
rail had been laid down." The committee also
stated that " no danger to the traffic could be ap-
prehended. The rails are roughed, so as to prevent
slipping, and the ridge to contain the sides of the
wheels does not project upwards more than five-
eighths of an inch, while at the same time the lines
of rails are kept upon the same level as the surface
of the road." The committee then considered the
practicability of the scheme, the benefit to the pa-
rish by its adoption, and the convenience it would
be to the parish,winding up thus:—" To the public
the new omnibuses will not only prove to be a con-
venience, but also a luxury. They are very highly
esteemed both in America and at Birkenhead, and
are very superior to the omnibuses now in use.
When full there is ample room for passengers to
walk up and down without incommoding each
other. They have an ease of motion and a regula-
rity of speed that cannot fail to give the utmost sa-
tisfaction. There is an absence of loitering and
furious driving, without the possibility of there
being any of those dangerous omnibus races that
now take place in the streets of London. Indeed,
the committee are fully convinced that many of the
objections which have been urged against the
project will vanish so soon as the first new Omni •
_
bus makes its appearance in the Westminsteteroad."
(Dated Nov. 8, 1860.) This report, which was
produced in evidence on the part of the prosecution
(to 'show the complicity of the vestry), states the
nature of the tramway, and the ground en which i
was sanctioned by the vestry. The vestry having t
adopted the report and resolved to
sanction the
tramway, on the 13th of March, 1861, a contract
was entered into between the vestry •
and Mr.Train
by which he was to complete the lay •
e lasing down of the
tramway within three months, and lie indemnified
'
them against all indictments
or actions for
laying it down, and also against the expenses of re-
moving and replacing it if he should be required so
to do. Tcompleted he tramway was in September,
to run.
1861, and the trains began
1861, this indictmentln November,
was found. A struggle arose
at the outset as to the formal proof of the liability
of the different defendants who were sought to be
made liable, as heaving in, .
voted favour of the reso-
lutions sanctioning the
tramway.
The Lord Chief Justice said the resolutions and
proceedings of the vestry would speak for them-
selves, and a their legal effect, together with all
questions of law which might arise, would be re-
served for the Court.
lkir, Lush co
giervecl that the liability cf each de-

COUN7 MARKEIS.

LIVERPOOL—APRIL 4.
We had to-day a fair attendance of local dealers f. 1134
millers from the country, and, with a moderato ingliol!
wheat sold at about last Friday's rates. Flour met a vet?
good demand, and at a reduction of 6d to 9d per barrel.
Oats and oatmeal difficult to move, and prices as of late;
The same may be said of beans and peas. Indian COM
firmer prices.

WAKEFIELD—APRIL 4.
Business here remains very dull, and sales can only b°
made at prices the turn lower from last Friday. Fine bar
ley fully as dear. Beans, oats, and shelling were rather
cheaper.

EXETER—APRIL 4.
Wheat, white 7s Gd tol7s Gd Barley. 3s 9d to 4s 13
Ditto new .0s Od to Os Gd Oats .. 2s 9d to 3s 01
Flour, fine, 43s to 46s ; seconds, 41s to —s per sack.
CATTLE.
Fat beef,p score,9sod to 10s6d Ewes, per lb 61c1 to V,
Pork carcases, 9s 6d to lOs Gd Wethers, d 0...... 7d to 7it
Lambs, per lb —d to —d. Fnt calves, d0...5d atO 6 •
Rough fat, 31d per lb.
BRISTOL SUGAR—Aruzi, 4.
There have been some arrivals of Ilav=nah, Brat
ilgo
Bahia, and Demerara. The sales during the week 111
been small, at prices about 6d lower than those current 9-
the date of our last report.