NEW ZEALAND LAW CASES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11807, 9 August 1900, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND LAW CASES

ACTIONS IN ENGLISH COURTS,

(Fnoii Our. Own CoerEßpondent.)

LONDON, June 22,

On Tuesday afternoon, at the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr Justice Mathew had before him a. summons in the ease of Borlhwick v. the Bartk of New Zealand. The ca£e, it will bo remembered, turns' oil the defendants having taken out " all rifle.'' policies to cover a consignment of frozen mutton, maintaining that those policies were the best obtainable in the colony at tho time, and that tho plaintiff know of them when he took up the drafts. 'J.'hc plaintiff now applied that an early date be fixed for the hearing, the sort of application .which just suite the judge, who has the reputation of being tho soundest and the speediest, as well as one of tho least amiable, occupants of the "English Bench. For the Bank of New Zealand it was urged that there was no hurry, .for there had been enormous delay on the part of tho plaintiffs. The first that tho bank had heard of the matter was as tar back as May. 1897. the alleged loss being brought to their notice in September of that ->-car. They had heard nothing more of the matter till January, 1899, when the claim was sent in and liability repudiated. Mr Justice Mnthew thought, in his characteristic way, that past delay was all the more reason why an early date should be fixed. Mr Scutton. for the bank, replied that his client? had had to send out to Now Zealand for the necessary papers, and that probably a commission would have to sit there. They had not been able to write tcTthe colony till tho 12th April, and the first date on which an answer could bo expected was the 11th July. Upon Ibis the judge suggested that the 12th July should be pet down'for hearing. Mr Scutton objected,-and said that would hardly give sufficient time. And then (he papers might not come until the next mail. August 12 was then surjfrestod as tho.date of trial, but eventually July 25 was set down, counsel for the bank stating that he 'might yet have to ask for a'later date.

Three Lords Justices sat on Wednesday to liear an appeal in the case of the owners of the wool cargo of the p.s. Waikato versus the New Zealand Shipping Company, which was tried soiho months ago before Mr Justice Bighairi, when a verdict for the defendants was given on the following ground*;—(l) That it is doubtful whether ventilation is necessary for the cafe carriage of pound wool: (2) that if it is necessary the menus of ventilation at the disposal of the Waikato's officers were sufficient; (3) that tho want of ventilation war, not the real cause o£ the damage to the wool; and (4) that the rea' cause of the damage was probably rlarnp packing, or pome other condition of thA wool. There was but little new in the argument beyond that Mr Asquith. Q. 0.. ex-Home Secretary, paid that exports' opinion wan that the average moisture in wool was 6 T)sr rent., while to do the damage complained of it would have to hayo been 16 per cent. He suggested oxidation in consequence of non-vnntilation. Two interesting.sets of nrguments were placed one against the other. In the case of the plaintiffs it was argued that as (lie wool had come from different places, and yet all Buffered, there must have been a common cause of damage—that cause being the ship. On the other hand, the ship had carried wool in her insulated chambers before, under the same conditions, without damage, and this point was Dressed on behalf of the defendants. T-iords Justices Smith, VaughanWilliams, and Romer all agreed in upholding Mr Justice Bigham's decision, and dismissing the appeal with costs. They agreed with Mr Justice Bigham's four conclusions, and pointed out that, there could not be much in tho oxidation theory, as the worst damage to the wool was in the middle of the bales and not on the outside, as might have been expected had want of ventilation been the cause.

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