COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Dec. 13.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1327, 26 February 1859, Page 3

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Dec. 13.

(Sittings at Nisi Prius, iv London, before Lord Chief Justice Cockburn aud a Special Jury.)

Gibbs v. Pearson and a .other.—postal commdxtcatiol. between new zealand and ...stoalia'

This was an action to recover commission in reference to obtaining a contract for a Hue of mails, and also for a sum of money for expenses incurred. Air. Lush, Q.C., and Mr. Karslnke appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr. Bovill, Q.C., and Mr. Honeyman for the defendants,

The plaintiff, Captain Gibbs, had formerly been a broker, but latterly he bad been at sea. and the defendants, Messrs. Pearson and Coleman, were merchants in London. The claim was for £2,400. for commission, and between £800 and £'900 for expenses. In 1853 Capt. Gibbs was sent to Australia by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company, in'command of a vessel of theirs, and he was commissioned to proceed from thence to New Zealand, to examine and report on the state ofthe coalfields there. Captain Gibbs had been concerned succssfully in two or three negotiations as to procuring mail contracts, and he was well acquainlcd with the want uf additional mail ] accommodation in that part of the world in which he then was. Having completed his enquiries in reference to the coal-fields, be set himself to enquire as to the best mode ot estab- : lishing a satisfactory postal communication between New Zealand Australia. Various meetings were held in New Zealand, and Captain Gibbs put himself in communication with Sir George Grey, the jr.ivernor. Ho also made inquiries and devised plans whicli would enable him tv form the basis of a postal communication. It was intended at first to establish a company in England to cany out the scheme, but the breaking out of the 'Russian war inter tercel with the establishment of any such company. Captain Gibbs went to the Crimea in eoinmmid of a vessel, but at the conclusion of the war he provisionally established a coin puny, and ho obtained a cimtri.ct from the Government fur carrying the mails. The G&vernnient was to give a subsidy of -£24,000 a-year, for

four years, and £2-2,000 for an additional six years. The state of the money inaiket was an impediment to getting the company competely established, and it was ultimately arranged that the defendants should take the contract and carry it nut themselves, Captain Gibbs in a letter asked the defendants _, .rive 2 per cent, on the subsidies to be paid by Government, and his preliminary expenses, and also a salary of £400 a-year, for which he was to render services. The defendants did not answer very definitely, but they said that they were quite prepared to deal liberally with Captain Gibbs, and having placed every facility in their way they obtained the contract, and it was stated that it had turned out so profitable that they had since disposed of it at a considerable premium.

The Lord Chief' Justice, in the course of the case, several times "suggested that the waiter was one which could be most satisfactorily settled out of court.

After some discussion this suggestion was acceded to, and it was agreed that a verdict .should be entered for the plaintiff, subject to a reference.

Mr. But-ill begged to state that his clients believed that they had a satisfactoiy answer to the case, and that it would be unfair to form any opinion!! upon the matter without having heard the defendants' answer.- Loudon Morning Advertiser, Oec. 14.