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

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

—'4
LEAGUE AND THE CONSERVATIVE
The PRESS.
tr' d
le in th roo sv.
is mornin_,
"'llse of B k , Sowler, which was to have heean
Went w e Common Pleas at Guildhall, th
and the there being only ten Special Jurymen preslelnta,
4//es. eQc9llllßel for the plaintiff having refused to
kr, g Sir Thomas Wilde, Mr. Sergeant 1 alfourdc,aand
t v"(z.tu'l were counsel for the plaintiff, and the At-
Cirrnee,,•;:`rehei:al and Mr. R. S. Sowler (of the Northernbi
reme-rni! for the defendant. Our readers will probably
(and y
roan j er that this was an action brought by Mr. A er-
( °lla Brooks leading member of the League
,and he ' a ' in this world" cele-
nrityl - xve'r. all for ours elves
tubli- '' against Mr- Th as Sowler, the proprietor and
sher of the 'ilia' n he° sinter Cormier, for an alleged libel
„?of and concerning ethe said John Brooks, and of and,
..04creefrunsiinuggtthoe said National Anti-Corn Law League.'
to tire Conservative
a victory call a tales, the p
proprietor of th Press in the person of the
laintiffhas virtually given
thoughthotigh It t •
in tact d fla proseq t
'
,e .111anchester Courier, since, in effect,
mond he has entere
been
pense of his
own ester aurier has put to the ex-
pense
the result of this ' attempt tto stifle his voice
zer, is somewhat
e"tR, we cannot help congratulating him
in the birth-place of the abominable.eague. OuPr satisfaction, how-
_ e opportunity of sheaving qualified- by the circumstance that a
up the League has been lost
for the Present ; for we 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
case, has nct DARRD 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 Errll2 Feb. 24.
IMP

ORTANT 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 Prius. at Guildhall, before Lord Den-
man and a Common Jury.)
THE QUEEN a. GOODENOUGII.—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 bad obtained goods from Messrs. 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. Erie
Stated the case for the prosecution, and called Mr. Paw-
son, who proved the sale to the defendant of the goods in
question to the amount or £l2B. The payments of the
defendant had been quite regular ' • and Messrs. Pawson
Would have no difficulty in giving him credit for double
the amount of goods which he then required, nor in con-
tinuing to deal with him afterwards upon the same foot-
ing_as before, if the bankruptcy had not occurred.
William Quitter, 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 ves.
fel called the Parkfield, bound for Sydney, and there
fu the defendant, passing under the name of Robert
!arahan3, and having on board several packages of goods
Inscribed with the name of Graham, together with in-
voices from Pawson and some other merchants, from
whom goods had been obtained. From this statement, it
IPPeared that the goods had been removed on board the
atkfield almost immediately after they had been obtained
fl'lol the Messrs. Pawson.
add
r. Cockburn (forwitthe defendant. h whom was Mr. M. Chambers)
essed the jury
t, Denman hoped, whatever might be the result of
oft present inquiry, that the public would be made aware
',dile fact, that such conduct as that which was the sub-
e of the present indictment, and which formerly only
the the the guilty party to a civil action, might now be
7,Zubject of a criminal prosecution.
of GLjury, after a short consultation, returned a verdict
r ""tY •, but, under the circumstances of the case,
econtudmanetnd.oed. him to mercy—Lord Denman sentenced tbe
months.mcalendar t bprisoned in the Queen's Prison for six
Logy

Th, 71? ILLI AM PAGET V. THE EARL OF CARDIGAN.
thisiStitillal Will come on, at the Court of Common Pleas,
11,41 f rd (Tuesday). Sir Thomas Wilde and Sergeant
koeti°er are counsel for the plaintiff, and the Solicitor-
al is retained on behalf of Lord Cardigan,

On Saturday week, the Lord Chancellor confirmed the
judgment of Vice-Chancellor Wigrani, which decided that
the legacy of the late James Wo,sd to the city of Glou-
cester was void, from the uricer ainty of the purposes in-
tended by it. The sum amounted to £200,000, respecting
which there has been so much litigation.
NORTH LANCASHIRE ASSIZES.—The judicial laboura
of the northern circuit cemmenced on Monday, at Lan-
caster, before Mr. Justice Colt man and Mr. Baron lbilfe.
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 lord..iiips 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.