New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-10
LONDON TOPICS.
A LIBEL CAsE-THE TUNNEL-A PRINCE oN
THE PRESS.

tho nrocoed,nCs are the question at issue Is simple
euouph Mr. Lawes, the defendant hiinScH' INC
the plaintf sculptor, undertook some tihe s'''oo
IN convince the public that Mr. Belt Is an ipos.or'
Ue declared that the buSts and statues OF whch MI
po,t is the reunited author were not, III fact. the
work of Mr.. Belt, but Of people whom ne
emnloved notably one Mr.. Verhyden. Mr. Belt,
ocoriino to Mr. Lawes is or rather was. incapable
of modelling a good bust and his artistic career
which has been pecuniarily successful though Oref,
has been. if Mr.. Lawes may be believed, fraud on
the public From these strong propositions Mr. Belt
naturally dissented, and his dissent has taken
the form of two libel suits one against DIT. Lawes
and two other persons ; one against the puDnsher
of Family Fair which gave currency to the alleged
libel.
In all this there seems hardly enough to
account for the general interest taken III
tile quarrel. But Mr.. Belt has had the
good fortune to secure the sympathles
of a number of rather important people. He got
the contract for the Byron Memorial statue. He
has made, or somebody for him, busts of many ce-
lebritles More than that he presents himself to
the public in the attractive character of a sef-made
man. He tells an effective story about his early
wears of poverty and humble toll how he worked
IN a printing establishment, and swept out the
Offices. and took to art lfrOm the irresistible
impulse of genius modelled bust out OF an old
brick or some such matter, and scratched in the
hair with rusty nail Among the audience III
court which is of miscellaneous composition, feel
ing runs high III Mr.. Belts favor, so much so that
Mr. RUSSELL who leads for the defence felt himself
Obliged to protest against the introduction into
an English Court of the French claque system The
Judge sides with Mr. Belt, should that happen to
influence ANYBODY The Judge is Baron Huddeston,
perhaps the weakest man on the bench with
persistent habit of trying his causes to the gallery
His judicial jokes have reached the lowest known
level and the lowest of them all is his suggestion
that stage should be fitted up in court and Mr..
Belt make a bust of himself. the presiding
Judge during the trial To the judicial
mind of Baron HuddcstOn this expeii-
emit promises to convince the jury that
Mr. Belt was or was not five years ago a sculptor
of real artistic capacity and that he did did not
himself design the Byron memorial; which
questions at ISSUE Not is this the only example of
Baron Huddleston's judicial eccenricity. His COM
ments the other day of such peculiar charac-
ter that Mr. Russell felt called to tell him that
he was melting applause III his own court. a
strong thing surely, to say to Judge, and perhaps
il was a stronger to intimate. Mr.. Russell pro-
ceeded to do that if the judge persisted in the line
he was taking counsel would withdraw from the
case
With all'this in Mr.. Belts favor, it remains to be
added that the whole art world is dead against him.
Sculptors of every grade and position, successful
and unsuccessful, good and bad, agree in saying
that Mr. Belt is sculptor at all. Artists who can
not he supposed to come into competition with him
in the remoest degree painters for example are of
the same mind. | have not met one who does
not say that Mr.. Belt and is
absolutely incapable of artistic work. That he
Of oh rod rtatn
degree of mechanical facility in modelling, is admit
ted If Baron Huddeston's grOteSque scheme is al
lowed TO be carried out, Mr. Belt, they say will I'M
doubedly be able to produce some sort of head in
clay, very possibly likeness good enough, at any
rate to convince the cheesemongers of Cbswick,
who are tho majority of the jury, that be is SLAM
dered and all injured man. The artists may be right
or wrong in their opinion. | don't know that l
ever saw a bust by Mr. Belt, and as
for the Byron Memorial. whoever designed
it, it is a dreary failure. But l am disposed to
think the artists quite as likely to be right
about Mr.. Belts art the bakers dozen of worthy
citizens who at present disposed to take con-
trary view. bakers dozen, an aware, is thir-
teen; but this is in which the judge has gone
INTO the jury-box The postponement to November
is due to the necessity of Baron Huddlestons de-
parture on circuit, aud to the occurrence of the
Long Vacation, which yearly hangs up all sorts of
cases for three months to give lawyers and judges
comfortable holiday. II is certainly, remarks one
very conservative print, a reflection on English
judicial machinery that q case Of such interest in
London should be interrupted and postponed be-
cause one OF the judges has to go and try apOaching
case in North Wales.
A duel between Mr. Chamberlain and Sir Edward
Watkm is among the latest sensations. The public
heard of it for the first time last night in the House
of Commons. 1t has been going for nearly three
months. SO long ago the 1st of last April Mr..
Chamberlain, as president of the Board Of Trade,
wrote TO Sir Edward Watkin. as chairman of the
Submarine Continental Railway Company, to stop
his experimental" boring under the Channel AT
or about the same date Mr.. Chamberlain,
amid general cheers, told the House the
work bad come TO end. 1t was any
thing but an agreeable surprise TO the House
TO hear last night that the work had not been
stoppcd-that, so far as Mr.. Chamberlain knew. it
had been going on all this time. On the 9th of
April Sir Edward appealed to Mr.. Chamberlain to
be allowed to pursue his boring up to certain
point to avert danger to lifep Mr.. Chamberlain,
simple son agreed, and said he would send down
an inspector at once. Sir Edward who IS by no
means simple soul, put oil the inspector. DIT.
Chamberlain again proposed TO send his officer on
the 9Th Of May, and again and again at SIX
or seven different dates, and each time Sir
Edward pretext or another declined
the pleasure of the inspectors company. And
to this day no inspection has been made, and MIR.
Chamberlain is reduced to the admission that he Is
now consulting the law officers of the Crown to
find out how he can compel Sir Edward to submit
himself and lns experimental tunnel to examination.
1t is not week since we heard of Sir Edward in
vitng NJ de Lesseps TO Inspect" his tunnel, and
Boosting of the number of yards he had already
gone under deep water-beyond, that is the point
where Mr. Chamberlain three months ago
ordered him to stop And Mr.. Chamber