The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-16 00:00:00

COURT OF REQUESTS, GUILDHALL.

NEAPOLITAN- AMBASSADOR S„su. THW-COM-
MERCIAL STEAM,srACKET ComrANY.---On Wednes-
day Mr. John Menden, the Secretary to the Com-
mercial Steam-packet Company, appeared'before the
Commissioners in consequence of a summons which
had been taken out at the instance of the Prince Cas-
telcicala, the Neapolitan Plenipotentiary in London,
to compel the Company to refund the sum of two
guineas, which M. Lorenzo Bianchi, a gentleman al-
leged to have been an ordinary passenger on board
one of the Company's Bologne steamers, had been
obliged to pay on the ground of his bearing dispatches
to the Neapolitan Embassy.
The matter of this complaint has already, it will be
recollected, been the subject of investigation before
the Lord Mayor, at the Mansion-house, but as his
Lordship had no authority to decide between the par-
ties, it was brought before tke Commissioners as a
proceeding for the recovery of a debt.
His Excellency was attended by Mr. Maynard, of
the firm of Crow7der and Maynard, as his professional
adviser ; and Mr. Bee, the Director to the Steam-
packet Company, appeared on behalf of the defendants.
From the statement of Mr. Maynard, supported by
the evidence of Mr. Bianchi, it appeared that in the
course of the last month, Mr. Bianchi, who was tra-
velling on his own business, and is not in any way
connected
Boulogne with
in t h
e the
erdEinniarb7 way and paid 11. for thesy, took his passage from
fare ; that he had no more luggage than as a pas-
senger he was entitled to carry with him, and that he
made no mention of having been intrusted with dis-
patches, and therefore received no other attention
than was afforded to the rest of the company on
board ; that on the arrival of the vessel at the wharf,
as Mr. Bianchi was about to land, he held in his hand
the packet which contained the dispatches ; that lie
was challenged with being the bearer of dispatches,
and that on his acknowledgment of the fact, he was
told he must pay two guineas ; that he objected and
referred the party claiming to the Embassy; that he
was, however, followed to the Custom-house, and was
there told that unless he paid the demand, his luggage
would be detained; that he then paid the two guineas,
and that the Ambassador, upon being informed of the
circumstances, determined to have the question de-
cided by a competent authority.
Mr. Maynard, under these circumstances, submitted
that Mr. Bianchi, having paid the money under com-
pulsion, was entitled to have it refunded if the Com-
pany were not justified in demanding it, and he con-
tended that as Mr. Bianchi had not claimed or re-
ceived any facilities or attentions of any kind, which
were not common to all the passengers, the demand
was altogether unwarranted, and could only be sup-
ported in cases where the bearer of dispatches made
known his character, and received from the Company's
servants the extra attention, for which the charge was
intended as a remuneration.
Mr. Wire, on the other hand, contended that Mr.
Bianchi was bound to have made known that he was
the bearer of dispatches, in which case he would have
bean entitled to have them placed under the especial
care of the Company's servants, and would himself
have received every poss
sai
d he was
prepared to prove that the charge was invariably made
in similar cases by all the steam-packet Companies, and
paid without hesitation. Mr. Wire supported his
views of the case by strongly arguing on the grounds
he advanced at the INTansion-house.
The Commissioners, however, were of opinion that
it was not necessary to go in to the evidence alluded
to, as there could be no doubt about the propriety of
the charge in cases where parties made known their
official character, and received in consequence the
extra accommodation which had been referred to ; but
they were unanimously of opinion that the charge
could not be made upon persons who chose to travel
as ordinary passengers, although they might be the
bearers of dispatches, or, in such cases, they would he
paying for services they never received; and they alto-
gether repudiated the idea that individuals were bound
to disclose their official character, or that the Com-
pany had any ground for complaint if they did not
choose to make disclosures of the kind. The Com-
missioners, therefore, decided that the two guineas had
been improperly claimed from Mr. Bianchi, and made
an order directing the repayment of the money to
that gentleman.
Mr. Wire then intimated that he had received in-
structions to resist the repayment of the money.