The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-27 00:00:00

144 IV INTELLIGENCE.

i'II:AGI-E AND THE.CONSERVATIVE
The ca PRESS.
tried it:uBe of Brooks v. Sowler, which was to have been.
went
Off Liie
Common Pleas at Guildhall, this morning,
alld th --there being ten Special Jurymen present,
totec e,e9oosel for the plaintpff having refused to call .d.i.
Mr. B 'lr,Thomas Wilde, Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, an
torn ,c1„,"103', were counsel for the plaintiff, and the At-
Cit. e•'.','eneral and Mr. R. S. Sowler (of the Northern
1 eult) for the defendant. Our readers will probably
nteatriernber that this was an action brought by Mr. Alder-
(and ',John Brooks, a leading member of the League
iii4unberliesrhnerinogfttihi ee
briCyc,epf we're all for ourselves in this world" cele-
ugainst Mr Thomas Sowler, the proprietor and
said National
Courier, for an alleged libel
co concerning the said John Brooks, and of and,
National Anti-Corn Law League.
Y„.„e4fusing to call a tales the plaintiff has virtually given
a '''''o7l to the Conservative Press in the person of the
proprietor of the Manchester Courier, since, in effect,.l.
Fel:lse
though not i fact, he has entered a nollc prosequi. A
though thenManchester C( urier has been put to the ea-
of his own costs we 'cannot help congratulating him
`thl) the result of this abominable attempt to stifle his voice
e birth-place of the League. Our satisfaction, how-
firle
er, is somewhat qualified by the circumstance that a
opportunit of heing up the League has be lost
forr the present ;y fors wew are assured that such facts would
have Come out in the course of the trial as would have
socured a verdict for the defendant. The League, in this
ease, has nct DARED to try the issue ,• and the fair pre-
sumption is, that they well knew beforehand that their
character and their acts would not bear the scrutiny of a
British jury.--John Bull, Feb. 24.

IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL CASE.
First conviction under the New Bankruptcy Law for
obtaining goods with no prospect of providing payment.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, MONDAY, Feb. 19.
(Sittings at Nisi Prins. at Guildhall, before Lord Den-
man and a Common Jury.)
THE QUEEN V. GOODENOLIOR.—This was an indict-
ment which charged the defendant, that he, being a wool-
len draper at Newton Abbott, in Devonshire, and a trader
within the meaning of the bankrupt laws, became and was
adjudged to be a bankrupt ; and that three months before
such bankruptcy, namely,
on the 10th of December, 1842,
he had obtained goods from Me-qrs • Pawson, of St. Paul's
Churchyard, upon a credit of three months, under the
false pretence that he intended to deal with them in the
usual way of trade, whereas his real intent was to defraud
the said Pawson, &c. contrary to the provisions of the
statute of the sth and 6th of Victoria, c. 122.—Mr. Erle
stated the case for the prosecution, and called Mr. Paw-
boo. who proved the sale to the defendant of the goods in
question to the amount or £l2B. The payments of the
defendant bad been quite regular • and Messrs. Pawson
'would have no difficulty in giving him credit for double
the amount of goods which be then required, nor in con-
tinuing to deal with him afterwards upon the same foot-
ig as before, if the bankruptcy had not occurred.
William Quilter, an accountant, deposed, that on the
6th of January, after the obtaining of the goods, the
witness and the petitioning creditor went on board a yes.
!el called the Parkfield, bound for Sydney, and there
'Pond the defendant, passing under the name of Robert
./raharo, and having on board several packages of goods
In m,
with the name of Graham, together with in-
:ices from Pawson and some other merchants, from
11°to goods bad been obtained. From this statement, it
;Itneared that the goods had been removed on board the
prkfield almost immediately after they had been obtained
r°,1,,, the Messrs. Pawson.
add Cockburn (with whom was Mr. M. Chambers)
;.ressed the jury for the defendant.
t, i-ord Denman hoped, whatever might be the result of
orpresent inquiry, that the public would be made aware
jest of
fact, that such conduct as that which was the sub-
e," of the present indictment, and which formerly only
thrlsed the guilty party to a civil action, might now be
liub.lect of a criminal prosecution.
of q„:,JorY, after a short consultation, returned a verdict
recorns'"tY ; but, under the circumstances of the case,
del Inended him to mercy—Lord Denman sentenced the
enda_. .
eaten, lit to be Imprisoned in the Queen's Prison for six
hit:3l.
sat: a.rtir;; 14
PAGET V. THE EARL OF CARDIGAN.
it come on, at the Court of Common Pleas,
(TusdaY)• Sir Thomas Wilde and Sergeant
°en°erarji-are counsel for the plaintiff, and the Solicitor-
retain,:d on behalf et Lord Cardigan.

On Saturday week, the Lord Chancellor confirmed the
judgment of Vice-Chancellor Wigrana, which decided that
the legacy of the late James Wood to the city of Glou-
cester was
m
void, from the uncertainty of the purposes in-
t ded by it. The sum amounted to £200,000, respecting
which there has been so much litigation.
NORTH LANCASHIRE ASSIZES.—The judicial labours
of the northern circuit commenced on Monday, at Lan-
caster, before Mr. Justice Coltman and Mr. Baron Rolfe.
The high sheriff of the county, John Fowden Hindle, Esq.,
of Woodfold Park, near Blackburn, arrived in Lancaster
on Saturday with his retinue; and, in the evening, pro-
ceeded to the railway station, where their lordships arrived
by train from London at half past eight o'clock. On
Sunday, their lordships attended divine service at the Old
Church, where the sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr.
Whittaker, vicar of Blackburn, the high sheriff's chaplain.
It was currently reported in the town, that the business
of the assize would be very limited in amount : and this,
indeed, proved to be the fact, for there were only 23 pri-
soners for trial ; and, as to the cause list, there were only
three civil cases on the paper, and these were undefended.
On Monday morning, the learned judges proceeded to the
courts, at ten o'clock; Mr. Justice Coltman presiding in
the Shire Hall (the Crown Court), and Mr. Baron Rolfe
in the Nisi Prius ; where the courts were opened with the
usual formalities. Mr. Justice Coltman then proceeded
to deliver his charge to the jury.
LODGERS' RIGHT TO VOTE FOR MEMBERS OF PAR-
LIAMENT.—The Court of Common Pleas, under the pro-
visions of the late Registration Act, has decided that a
" room " is, within the meaning of the Reform Act, such
a " building " as will confer the right of voting upon its
occupier. The room in question was described as a dis-
tinct or separate portion of a factory, and each tenant
had the exclusive use of his own room, and the key to the
door thereof. The Co, rt declared that such a description,
and such a mode of occupation, brought it as much within
the meaning of the word building, as a shop or counting-
house, which are expressly specified in the act. As to
whether there was an exclusive occupation in each tenant,
as required by the act, the Court decided that, inasmuch
as each tenant had the exclusive use of his room, and the
key of the door thereof, the landlord's engagement to
work a steam-engine communicating with each room did
not make the occupation of the room itself by the tenant
less exclusive, any further than if the landlord had con-
tracted to furnish manual labour for the service of the
occupiers in each separate room or to provide a light to
illuminate equally all the rooms. In another case the
Court allowed a vote for a building consisting of a cow-
house or stable. The judges observed, that if they were
to put a different construction on the act, many buildings
would be excluded. such as a room built up for the pur-
pose of obtaining a prospect, or a dairy standing detached
from other buildings ; these would be included under the
general term " building." The act includes all buildings
constructed for the purposes of dwelling or business, and
even a building erected and used for the purpose of a
reading-room would be sufficient to confer the franchise.
The cow-house or stable in question, if goods were stored
in it, might become a warehouse ; or if they were sold
there, it might be a shop. By the Registration Act the
decisions of the Court are final and conclusive, and bind-
ing upon every committee of the House of Commons.