ADMIRALTY PAYS TWICE

Evening Star, Issue 17954, 27 April 1922, Page 4

ADMIRALTY PAYS TWICE

WOMAN CLERK'S MISTAKE.

JUDGE'S CAUSTIC COMMENTS. A claim by the Admiralty to recover £3,740, which it was stated bad been paid in 'mistake to Messrs Baird Brothers, Ltd., engineers!, North Shields, came before Mr Justice Bailhacho in the King’s Bench Division recently. The Attorney General (Sir Gordon Howard) appearing for the Admiralty, explained that in November, 1918, the steam tug Ulysses, owned by the Lawson-Batcy Tugs, Ltd., came into collision with a submarine. The tug wa.s sent to Baird’s for repairs. Through some error it was thought in one of the departments of the Admiralty that the repairs were done under agreements which the Admiralty had with the clefcndanls, and ill consequence Bairds were paid £3,740, in three instalments. The tug owners also received payment, so that in substance the Admiralty paid twice over. Tho error was found later when a check was made of accounts in another Admiralty department. It then, appeared that tho Ulysses was in the service of the Admiralty in 1917, but had ceased to be so by 1918. When the error was detected Messrs Baird were asked to refund, and were reminded that tho order for the repairs was given by tho owners and not by tho Admiralty. They replied that the Admiralty’s official for the Tyne district gave the orders, and that they looked to tho Admiralty for settlement. The Admiralty mistake was due to tho error of a woman tomporarv elork, who thought the Ulysses was in Admiralty eoivico at the time of the accident.

The judge, alluding to the presence during tho examination of witnesses of many Admiralty officials, observed: “I suppose work at Whitehall has come to a standstill. Is there anybody loft there?” Mr Stuart Bcvan, K.C. (for the defendants): “The ‘axe’ has pot cut yet.” Both sides having been heard, Mr Justice Bailhacho observed that there wore many departments in tho Admiralty. They seemed to bo largely watertight departments, having no connection with one another. Ono department did not know what tho other deportment was doing, and that was ono of the reasons why the other mistake arose. In tho Claims Department was a book with tho names of shipa for tho repairs of which tho Admiralty was liable, including ships under requisition. The Ulysses had been on requisition before this accident, but it was not on requisition at the time of the collision, and the duly of examining the book waa placed on a temporary clerk, who, unfortunately, did not take sufficient cars to ascertain that the vessel was not on requisition to the Admiralty. If she had noticed this tho claim would have been rejected at once. Where this clerk did purely mechanical and clerical work which anybody could do, and involved no responsibility, she was supervised two or three timeo; but tho only responsible thing she had to do was not subject, to supervision, and her error hero led to tho claim being sent forward and a first Instalment paid, the other payments being made later automatically. It was clear that tho action was really undefended. The Admiralty was in no way liable, as it had never ordered, the work. There must be judgment for tho Admiralty for tho sum claimed, with costs.