"OLIVER TWIST" RECALLED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 194, 11 May 1908, Page 9

"OLIVER TWIST" RECALLED.

MR. DICKENS, K.C., ON HIS FATHER'S ', WORK. Mr. John Scrace and Mr'. Jamos Rawlings Elliott, Poor Law relieving officers in , the Chatham and Rochester districts of : tho Medway Union, 'London,' recently. - sued Mr. Thomas -Macnamara, an aiderman of ; the borough of Woolwich, aud general secretary of tho Woolwich Workers' Onion; for damages for alleged libel contained in a letter to tho " Chatnam, Rochester, and Gillingliam News." :: /. . Tho defendant in that letter wrote: — .. ." On August ;Bank Holiday a young Chatham woman took advantage, of the cheap fares from London to . come back to her father, a doser.ted wife with a baby sick unto death. . . . My object was to try and get the girl into the workhouse, so that the authorities should mako her husband keep, her and tho baby, but tho treatment sho received frightened her, and I am afraid she will not go now. I. am a member' of tho Town. Council of ' Wcolwich, and havo had dealings with municipal , officers, so I can claim to have some knowledge of officialism, but I never thought there were two men in England'who would treat any human, being in tho way that I saw at the Medway Union. .. .. /. ' Sliade of \ Dickens, in tho Chatham division of the Medway Union, too!" Mr. Dickens, IC.C. (a sou of Charles Dickens), who appeared for, tho plaintiffs, said that Charles Dickeals no doul)t did, a great deal to ameliorate tho sufferings of tho poor in workhouses and- elsewhere, and'tho allusion was meant to'give a .final sting. Mr. Macnamara. wished to.recall tho days of "Oliver; Twist" and to ! suggest that • this woman and her child .had been treated by the plaintiffs in the ways of 'officialdom in tho days of Charles Dickens. '.The defence pleaded fair comment on a matter of public interest. Bbth plaintiffs gavo evidence denying that they; wero harsh in t their treatment of Mrs. Evans, who was the stepsister of tho defendant. Mr. Edward A. Billinghurst, chairman of tho Medway. Board of Guardians, said a meeting of tho Board was held after tho letter was published, and tho general opinion was that it was a .charge of cruelty against the two. relieving officers. .. For the defonce, Mr. Clavell Salter, K.C., .said. tho- guardians and their employees should not bo so thin-skinned. Tho question ,to bo decided was whether Mr. Macnamara, who did only what; he could to assist Mrs. Evans, mado tho 'statements complained of truthfully and in £,".od faith. Mr. Miir.iiamara gavo evidence in support of his ca-se.' ' , , . Mr: Dickens (cross-examining): You say in your letter, " Shade of Dickens!" Was not that to imply that what was called attention to was as had as what happened in " Oliver Twist"? ' Mr. Macnamara : "Oliver Twist " reminded mo of the'two relieving officers. I was reminded of Bumble. Well, he was as bad as ho could be. You scorn to say their conduct was as bad as Bumble's? —They were not quite so,bad. And you add: " And in the Chatham division of tho Medway Union, too! That was to point your remarks about Dickens?—lt was to give an illustration of what I meant. You appreciate that Oliver Twist" had a good deal to do with the reform of the Poor Law?— Yes. You did not anticipate that T should crossexamine you? . (Laughter.)—l barn often wished to mpet you. (Much laughter.) Perhaps you thought it would bo someone who had never read Dickens?— That would be hard to find in England. " I nnreo with you," said Mr. Dickens. Tho jury awarded plaintiffs £5 damages.