The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-12 00:00:00

LA TV AMENDMENT SOCIETY.

Yesterday evening the usual fortnightly meeting
of the Law Amendment Society was held at their
rooms, Waterloo-place, Lord Brougham in the chair.
Mr. HASTINGS read the report of the Criminal
Law Committee on the law of false pretence in the
sale of goods. The report, after referring to the
difficulties which surrounded the subject, arising in
some measure from the fear of any in terferenc with
the free course of commerce, a jealous care of the
old common law principle, caveat emptor, and the
diversity of opinions among the most eminent
judicial authorities with respect to enactments re-
lating to fraudulent pretence, proceeded to say that
hitherto the vendee aggrieved by the purchase of
goods bought on the misrepresentation of the ven-
dor had no other remedy than a civil action for the
recovery of his loss, as the criminal law took no
notice of the cheat upon the individual, and allowed
an indictment only when the fraud affected the
public interest. It then reviewed the decisions of
the Court of Criminal Appeal in the case of the
" Queen v. Roebuck" and the " Queen v. Bryant,"
and contrasted the judgments of Chief Baron Pol-
lock with those delivered by Mr. Justice Willes and
Mr. Baron Bramwell. The first-mentioned judge
held that when the false pretence was made in the
case of a bona fide sale, it behoved the purchaser to
be on his guard, and that the vendor was criminally
irresponsible ; whereas the other two held that if
the vendee parted with his money or goods upon
the false representation of the vendor, then the lat-
ter was by statute indictable for the offence. The re-
port concluded with a strong recommendation that
Parliament should be requested to settle the law in
the point under dispute in the spirit of the latter
view of the case.
Mr. VAUGHAN thought some measure should be
adopted to put an end to the growing immoralities
of trade. The remedy of a civil action was no
remedy at ull, for it might so happen that the
plaintiff, instead of obtaining redress, would have to
bear the burden of the cost. As it was at present
a criminal offence for a man to obtain money or

goods by making a false representation of himself,
his character, or employment, so it should be an
indictable offence if lie on the sale of goods made a
false representation with respect to the quality or
quantity of his goods. That would put the law of
buyer and seller on a bona fide and tangible foun-
dation.
Mr. W. HAWES thought it better to allow things
to remain as they are than interfere with the pos-
sibility of doing more harm than good. There
would be a constant race between the law and the
manufacturers, and the latter would win the day.
It was only the other day he had seen some bales
of Manchester goods which were never out of Eng-
land, bearing a French trade mark. The buyer
was not imposed upon by the device, nor probably
would the man to whom he might in his turn sell
them. The false representation was intended for
the colonial not for the home market.
The discussion was continued by Mr. Chisholm
Anstey, Mr. Charles Clarke, Mr. W. Hawes, Mr.
'lasting, and Mr. Edgar; after which the report
was adopted, and the proceedings of the evening
closed in the usual manner.

We learn with satisfaction that the Earl of Derby
and Mr. Disraeli have accepted an invitation to a banquet
to be given in their honour by the Merchant Taylors' Com-
pany at Merchant Taylors' Hall, on Saturday evening
next. The preparations making for the banquet are on a
magnificent scale, and the general company will include the
elite of the great Conservative party.
There is now but one French ship of war before
Venice.

LORD ELGIN'S MISSION TO CHINA.—From
Parliamentary paper just printed it appears that the cost of
the Earl of Elgin's special mission to China amounted to
511,500.
THE RIGHT HON. MR. GLADSTONE'S VISIT TO
THE lONIAN ISLANDS.-It appears from an official docu-
ment just issued, that the expense of the special mission of
the Right Hon. Mr. Gladstone to the lonian Islands
amounted to £2,lba 14s. 9d.
THE WEATHER.—Some idea of the effects of the
long continued dry weather in Dublin may be gathered
from the fact that the Corporation have issued apublic no-
tice stating that the supply of water with which they are
served has become deficient even for domestic and manu-
facturing purposes. The consequence is that the watering
of the streets in the southern districts of the metropolis is
to be curtailed, and the inhabitants of the most populous
and fashionable portion of the city subjected to all the
miseries of a perpetual dust storm. Sue h a deprivation as
a short supply of water is a perfect novel Or in Dublin.