Star.
London, England, 1818-11-26 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

, cordatisstomEna OF SEWERS OF TI:E DLSTRICT OP
AYI6 it. COMMISSIONERS OF THE HARBOUR OF RYE.
Upon this case the argument postponed on Friday
-was resumed, and
Serjeant CoriAV discussed the grounds upon
At-the ride conditional was granted. The Lear-i
Counsel commenced with quoting the Statute of

the 57th of the King, by which the Commissioners of
Sewers were constituted, ,in order to skew that those
Commissioners were authorized to erect dams and
other works for the preservation of the land .commit-
ted to their care ; and concluded, that the bare pos-
session of any place upon which . any such dam or
work was erected, was sufficient to invest them with
the right of action against any wrong doers towards
such works. With regald to the question of the
Chief Justice, on a former day, namely—Whether
there was any case in which the trustees or conduc-
tors of any public work had brought. an action for
injury done to such public work, those trustees or
conductors stating the possession to be in themselves?
the Learned Counsel admitted, that he had not been
able to find any such case; but he argued, that to
find such a case was not essential to the maintenance
of the rule, as the present was not a case in point—
the plaintiffs in this instance having brought their
action not merely as the trustees or inspectors of the
public work alluded to, but as the persons invested
with the possession of the property uport which the
dam was erected by the Statute of Sewers. As to the
observation, that persons employed by those Com-
missioners could not bring an action for Wages or for
work done, breause the Commission formed a Court
of Record, it did not fallow that, even admitting this
observation to be just, these Commissioners were pre-
cluded from bring ng an action against any wrong-
doers, or for any injury done to temselves. There
were, it was known, three public bodies -who were
entitled to bring such actions of trespass as that un-
der consideration, namely, Commissioners for Drain-
age, Surveyors of Inclosures, and the Corporation of
the Trinity House. Reverting to the allegation on
the other side, that plaintiffs had not such right as
possession as could invest them with the right of ac-
tion, the Learned Counsel observed, that it was in
evidence, that these plaintiffs had purchased the ma-
terials of which the dam injured by the defendants
was constructed, while that dam was constructed
under the immediate direction of the plaintiffs, who
continued in the possession up to the period at which
the injury complained of took place; and these cir-
cumstances constituted, he thought, a sufficient right
of possession to entitle them to bring this action.
.The CHIEF Justice observed, that the Commis-
sioners of the'Dock-yards must have a stronger right
of possession in the Yards under their controul, than
the present plaintiffs ; and yet he apprehended that
there was no instance whatever of these Commissio•
ners having -brought any action against wrong-doers,
stating the possession of those Yards to be in them.
Mr. Serjeant COPLEY begged, with deference, to
remark, that the case adverted to by the Learned.
Judge was totally different from that before the
Court; for the Dock-yards were not the property of
the Commissioners alluded to, but that of the King.
These Yards were, indeed, as much the property of
his Majesty as the Palace at Windsor; and, cons:'
quently, the Commissioners of those Yards could not
describe them as their property in any respect.
Mr Serjeant LENS spoke in support of the rule,
maintaining, that his Learned Friend who had pre-
ceded him had throughout argued upon a petitio
principii, inferring the right of possession from use,
-and the right of use from possession. His Learned
Friend had not, he contended, uttered a word to chew
that she plaintiffs had any such possession in the place
upon which the dam alluded to was erected as could
entitle them to bring the present action.
The Cuter Jusrtes expressed his concurrence in
the opinion of the Counsel for the defendaut. His
Lordship observed, that from the enactment of the
Statute of Henry VIII. constituting Commissions of
Sewers, not a single instance had occurred of an ac-
tion similar to the present ; and it was an observation
of Judge Buller's, that if no precedent could be found
for any proposed course of proceeding, that circum-
stance furnished an argument against the propriety
of such proceeding. After reviewing the arguments
on both sides, the Learned Judge concluded with
pronouncing his decision, that the rule should be
made absolute, and that judgment should be entered
as in the case of nonsuits,—The other Judges con-
curred in this decision.

Mr. Serjeant BEST intimated that further proceed.
ings would be instituted in this case.

This morning the several prisoners who stand com
mined on charges of felon were removed from the
different Jails in London and Middlesex to Newgatc,
preparatory to their taking their trials at the ensuing
Sessions at the Old Bailey, which commences on
Wednesday next.
A Circular Letter has been forwarded from Lord
SIEMOUTH'S office to the High Sheriffs, Mayors, and
other chief Officers throughout the Kingdom, re-
quiring returns to be made in the first week of Ja-.
nuary next, containing....“ An account of all the Jails,
Houses of Correction, or Penitentiaries in the United
Kingdom; specifying the number of persons tom-
mated to each, and the greatest number of persons
confined in each, at any period of the year 1818 ;
distinguishing tried from untried, males from fe-
males ; those under the age of 17 from those above it ;
also under what jurisdiction and superintendence
each prison is placed, what number of prisoners each
it calculated to contain, into what number 9f sera-
Xate classes or departments it is divided, and how far
the number of those divisions can, without great in-
convenience or expense, be increased ; also an account
of all allowances of food, money, or clothing mad?
to prisoners; of the value of labour done, and the ap-
plication thereof ; and generally of the snbsistin.g re-
gulations for the discipline and government of each
prison, and in what instances those regulations have
been deviated from in the course of the year ISIB,
and what has been the occasion of such deviation.
and under what authority it has been allowed, in all
such prisons respectively." •
PENITENT PICKPOCK EL—Tuesday morninz, as Mr.
Drury, of the Borough, was passing the north end of
Fleet-market, at eleven o'clock, he was attracted by
the miserable and wretched condition of a poor man,
who had fallen down, and apparently from want of
food; while he was affording some trifling assistance,l
and endeavouring to 'ascertain the residence and the
particular circumstances of the poor man's situation,
his pocket was picked of a silk handkerchief, which
he almost immediately discovered, and he could not
refrain at expressing his indignation at the wretch
who could be so depraved as to rob him at that par-
ticular time, In a few momenta, to his amazement,
his handkerchief was returned to him, as he con-
cluded, by the penitent pickpocket.