NORTON v. STRINGER. WELLINGTON. October 22.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 38

NORTON v. STRINGER. WELLINGTON. October 22.

Tns co'n-t took the case, Noiton v. t 'Stringer, an appeal from the decision of Mr Justice Dennaston refusing to gran-t a new trial in an action for libel, in which 1 the plaintiff, Thomas Walker Stringer, i K.C., ihe Crown Prosecutor at Christ- ' church had recovered £2000 damages ■ from John Norton, proprietor of a newspaper call 3d Truth. The grounds of the ( application for a new trial were — (1) i 'That the damages vere excessive ; (2) ! that counsel for the plaintiff (Mr Skcrrett}, in addressing the jury, had re- ; ferred to the character of the naper in J which the libel appeared in a disparaging I manner, although no evidence had been , •called, or could have been called, as to its character, and had thus inflamed the ! jury into giving punitive damages , (3) | that the presiding judge had misdirected | the jury, in not defining what libel was, ' and directing that it was a question of f whether the libel was intended or not. {'' The argument for the application before ! Mr Justice Denniston was taken by the ' defendant Norton in person, but in the court appeal he was represented by Mi* | Dunn, Mr Skerrett- and Mr Wright appearing for the respondent. Mr Justice Williams, Acting Chief Justice, and justices Edwards, Ccoper, and Chapman wero on the Bench Mr Dunn, on behalf of the appellant, contended that Mr Skerrett's address to t the jury had, by Jitroducing matters not ■ in evidence, and not admissible in evidence as to the character of the paper, 1 had so inflamed their minds as to make them give excessive damages. The words used by Mr Skerrett which were objected to wee as folio a's : '"What was tho reason fo? the existence of such a paper? | He would ask the jury was there in tho ■ paper any high mission, any pursuit of. respectable ickals? "Was there anything but sordid money-grubbing ar.d wicked- . ■ness within it? Let this sort of paper in. r and, as *ure as I stand here, you will have a different state of things. You will have a degraded press, and a degraded moral tone. You will have an unclean community." There was no evidence to -upport this attack, and if such evidence had been tendered by the plaintiff it wo ild have been inadmissible. Mr Dunn qaoted authorities at great length to show that if counsel commented on mattois not in evidence, a new trial would be granted. Argument was continued all day. Mr Dunn contended that the putting in of a. ' paper in which the article complained of was published did not make the whole of j the contents evidence, but only the article itself. It was not, therefore, permissible for counsel to refer to the paper gonerally. The judge in the court below had misdirected the jury in that lie had laid down the test of libel or no lib*l a.s being whether the "writer of an article had in- j tended to libel the plaintiff, whereas the '. Int.3n.liou of tha writer was irreveiant, ( and the s-01-e question for the jury was whether a reasonable man would think it defamatory ' Counsel had not concluded when the _ w-onrt adjourned till Monday morning. AN APPLICATION ADJOURNED. WELLINGTON. October 22. , On the Court of Appeal resuming this morning, judgment was delivered in re Quinn. The motion by' the applicant for admission as a solicitor was adjourned : until July 1, 1910. with liberty to apply again than upon the same material, md , with "liberty both, to himself and to the 1 Auckland Law Society (who opposed the present application) to pdduce further evidence. C-sts in the meantime weie reserved. \

An' umb-ella o.i fire caused wm o _ amrse- i in«nt in the Avc-nna at Wanganui a few days a<jq. A spark from another pedes triair'-> pino or cigar evidently caused the conflagration, but the umbrella carrier walked along ohli\ious of the spectacle ho was causing and he was \eiy much c-ton-i-hed when a well-kr.own citizen -.nauhed his umbrella aird -pnt it in the gutter. Tlio contrpofc for the now oijan for th" Auck'an-cl Town Hall hu< 1 <?e*n eomp'''-K-.1-and Mr Hen/v Broit. who i^ ■jievjnriii'.tho organ to tko city, has f-.avl ('own £10CO a 5 a fim instalment of the i;urcii?-e moii-^> . "When completed. th-"> organ will lrive cost ' over £6000. It is to Lo o::e of the nsost up- + o-dat3 organs in the woikl. i Tho latest up-to-date gun ea'-f-Mires are load-cd up with an air chamber bet'.veoir the powder and shot instead of wad-, as has been the usual method, thereby getting ■ greater penetration arrd more shot to the ! 30in circle. One of the ftcol diecs shot at on Saturday by the Otago Gun Club Association was found when brought in to have no fewer thair 28 pellet dents from one barrel at the full height of flight, ■which ?poaks w<l! for the ammunition and better for the jrui. r lhe shot used was No. 6 out of a 2iin oas«. J