The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-20

and even more ambitious efforts
1t also put Henry Labouchere upon his
mettle, and Truths denunciations there
after became so vigorous and telling that
Brooks income began to diminish, and
finally he resolved upon the daring and
desperate expedient of prosecuting Truth
for libel. No more impudent action was
ever brought fn any court of law, but
such is the operation of the English law
OF libel in protecting scoundrels like
Brooks, that the action was by no means
as hopeless as II looked at first sight. The
case occupied the high court of justice
for three days this week, and resulted, on
Thursday, in Mr. Labouchere's trium-
phant acquittal 1t was shown in
the evidence that in a period of five years,
Brooks by the simple method of begging
letters, gathered in a no less sum than
$40 600. and that while posing as a broken
down, deserving man of letters plunged in
the deepest distress, he was keeping up
country houses, with servants and horses
and carriages. The jury practically stopped
the case and thus unfortunately prevented
the calling of Mr.. Arthur Balfour as wit
ness TO show the means by which Brooks
duped him and the queen, and the world
therefore will probably never be given the
opportunity of enjoying that story. but in
the able hands of Sir Frank Lockwood,
who represented Mr.. Labouchere, the case
was lul Ol lun from beBllAiuS " StlNls anu
the entire country roared and roared over
1t every day.
Mr.. Labouchere is now engaged in hunt
ing Brooks for the costs of the action, but
he is not likely to get anything. Brooks
Is sufficiently astute to have conveyed his
money to his wife or to have put 1t In
some other way out of reach. The costs,
in all probability, will have to be added TO
the big total which Mr.. Labouchere told
the judge he had spent since he had been
the owner of Truth in exposing the swim
dlers of various descriptions. That total
already exceeds 100000 and II Is likely to
increase regularly as in the past. The
amount seems large, but against this ex-
pendlture has to be set the gain of most
interesting matter for Mr.. Labouchere' 5
paper. IL was estimated few years ago
that quite 10000 stern tories who detest
Mr.. Laboucheres radical politics, buy his
paper solely for the sake of a couple OF
pages or so of entertaining exposures of
swlndling money lenders or scoundrels OF
the Brooks type, without which number
of Truth is never complete. Even now
virtue Is not without its reward for it
will be strange indeed II the enormous
publicity given TO the paper and its editor
does not result In a vastly increased cir
cuation.
The latest report OF the matrimonial IN
tentions Of young King Alexander of Ser
via credits him with aspiring to the hand
of daughter of one of the Austrian arch
dukes. He has, however, so the story
runs, met with unexpected difficulty from
the ladys parents. This imperial couple,
although able to trace their pedigree
through untold years, graciously waived
their objections to the young kings suit,
objections being based on the ground of
the upstart character of his family, but
pointed out that the Austrian royal and
imperial house could not possibly receive
In its bosom a young man whose parents
lived apart thus giving rise to a scandal.