SUPREME COURT.

Evening Star, Issue 3408, 23 January 1874, Page 2

SUPREME COURT.

CIVIL sittings; Friday, January 23. (Before Bis Honor Mr; Jnstice Chapman and a Special Jury.) ; ( , , , LIBEL. ; ■ 1 ‘‘ . Orkney v. Bell.— This was an action brought by Captain Orkney, Deputy Harbor Master, to recover damages, laid at LI,OOO, frdm Mr . George Bell, proprietor of the Evening Star for an alleged libel Contained in a letter polished ° A n |j»e. 2nd October. The jury were—Messrs A. W. Moms_ (foreman), James Bunciman, James Finch,, Thomas. Brebaer, William - Martin, Robert Paterson, Alexander Burt F. H. Irwin, Danuel Haynes, Henry Tewsley! George lurnbull, James Scoular. ■'•' ■ ° Mr Masassey with Mr W. D. Stewart for the plaintiff ; Mr Stout for the defendant. The following is the letter on which the action is founded

“OFFICIAL BUMBLEDOM. tto , “To:tlie Editor. : bIR Colonial soil is not favorable to the prorogation or growth of Bumbles; but now and again a specimen n ill crop up, and we have a magnificent one hete at present in the person of our lately appointed Deputy Harbor Master. Jerom your columns this evening I see he has been summoning one of those objectionable unofficial creatures called importers for having the supreme impertinence to think that wharves were made to land his goods upon, and that, perhaps, .deputy; harbor masters were made to facilitate that object. .Luckily, the Magistrate had more sense than the Bumble,'and dismissed the case. • ,

Captain Otkney knows right well that the 01st section, which he throws at the heads of the importers dally in his most offensive and absurd official letters, is one more honored in the broach than in the observance; that it is ? 1 m Possiblo to apply it to timber cargoes, and it was clearly never meant to be applied to them.-; ■ ...

But, Sir,. Bumbles .were never guided by such common attributes'as sense orjreasbta, and Captain Orkney is a Bumble of the first water, lie is puffed up to bursting point with erroneous notions of the importance of his official position : and before learning the nature and method of carrying on his simple duties, .lie proceeds to pester and irritate all and sundry with a lot of orders and requirements, all the because quite unnecessaxy., 1 * , late much-beloved Capain Dickie had, .twice the work to do that his successor has. There was no’ railway: and ' less Wharf room, and he managed matters' without re--, course to moving people’s goods, to their loss, or summoning them to Courts; He never offended, far less insulted any of us, either hv word or letter. * ... _ “Sir, I waa shewn to-day a letter sent by this pompous Bumble to, an importing firm in this Uty, whiohior its tone-of official importance andtits bad grammar,..would have beenamusing.had ,it pot been galling through its dpwnnght impertinence. I ain collecting some of these officer curiosities, ' and if I am permitted I shall publish a few specimens, just to show what poor human fleih may come to if it is suddenly transfomied into the exalted,shape of Deputy Harbor Master or a Bumble.— Yours, &c. „tw 'j-- ci * “Importer. ; Dunedin, September 30. , /*[As a'' rule W’e.db. not’give insertion to letters attacking pupfifc officers, and allow, this merely: bn account of its, public importance, although, we should . haVe preferred it had our correspondent confined, his observations .to’ the .impediiqeuts to public business caused by injudicious, arrangements bn' the part of the Deputy Harbormaster. We' trust, howeVer, that the letter will have the effect of leading that gentleman to facilitate commerce in every-possible way at the least possible inconvenience to oiir merchants,—Ed. ■ The following is the evidence : i . ' John Orkney: I have been for six months' Deputy-Harbormaster at Dunedin. . I am a manner. Was formerly master of the Cheviot, and alaa brought the s.s. Maori, gut from Glasgow. My present salary is L 275 per aimum, the lowest I have ever had. Mr Stevens and jhe late Captain _ Dickie preceded me in that My duties consist in arranging the. .Derthing of ships and seeing the wharves kept clear of goods when landed. I tried to introduce a new system,, with the object‘of getting people ta remove their gpgds sdonejr, for things were out of joint” when I took office. I didonce take proceedings against Messrs Findlay Mayor’s Court, th e,' Mayor' anil ,f r "• J.P., tjie presiding'magistrates, dismissing the charge f on the ground of its being the first case pf phe sort, -. The first time of my being compared to Bumble was in a letter to the Evening Star of October 2, last year. I suffered in consequence by bemg rendered the object of ridicule and contempt in a hundred nameless jtways, but perhaps not in a tangible way. For ohother thing, if X am the s.grt of person deputed in that letter, I must be unfit for the office I hold. I am also an examiner for the Board of Trade, a Colonial appointment, and a very responsible situation. I then placed the matter in the panda of my solicitors, anil was uiiable to oljof the writer, Cfoss-e^amipefi

I cannot specify the particular cases in which the letter the Evening Star caused me to be ndicuitjj, ■ • but, for, example, m my orders being " t obeyed inv an unsatisfactory way.' of 'the lighter Secret, told me t once that Ke;s%.w&d soon shut me uprby writing a letthr fo the I was hot afraid of that; but it causpd me to be ridiculed; My objection is not against letters that indy he written, butagainst throne that was inserted.; itaccusesme-: Pt ignorance and incapacity. These-airo con/ veyed m the sentences “Bumbles were never guided by-sepse or reason, and Captain Crimpy is a Bumble of the first water ;” and “before learning the nature and method of carrying on Ins simple duties, &c.” Both these.irritated me, the latter perhaps the most, but both pretty much alike. The whole letter, and no particular part, irritated me. I read “ Oliver Twist” when I was a boy. lam not possessed of considerable m'ealis, but may have got a little money v My charge against Messrs Findlay was dismissed, but I do not remember my omitting anything in my evidsnee in that case, and being recalled into Court. The lawyers engaged in that case avoided the real point at issue, and called' the attention of the Bench iv° m " The charge was for leaving timber on the wharf for a longer period than tv/enty-four, hours. I have been in the habit of writing toi •Importers with reference to their goods lying on the wharf. I did not consult Captain lliprason before bringing this,action, but. commenced it directly after demanding thVhariio of the writer of the letter through my solicitors,' Mr J'. la ?, asao y: Mr-Stout was counsel for Findlay at the Mayor’s Court case, and' the Magistrates gbt puzzled." '.■} ; v ! William Thomson. Harbor-Master of Otago ; I have known plaintiff; since 1859, and from; that knowledge appointed him to hifi present' post. I have read the letter in the Evening' -October 2,, and it made me ,think better 1“ than before," because it was so se'vere; ■that -1 thought it would induce sympathy for him instead of, pressure being brought against' r read Oliver Twist,” and never discovered plaintiffs resemblance'- to Bumble.! 1 know Mr Bell, the present defendant,! and hayp seen him one or . twice since this! action was pending. He did not say much! about the .aption,. but ,we talked in,,a sort .-of gpperal.way, both-agreeing that it’would be better ,if plaintiff .vfithdrew it.The first cbhversatioiVwe had was 'at the Quarantine Isl’an'd,; on a visit of tlie Board Of Health to it. Wm’i not say that defendant commenced it; it was' casual conversation. I certainly looked! ) v °Md be better for me to see plain-' tiff and mention it to him.- I often meet defendant' and, converse with him. Grogs examined ; The! people, who “ bring.pressure against ’’ plaintiff, 1 are such .as prevent his carrying out ,hia duties, by not removing “their goods when called upon by him to do so.. There was ‘ onde a dlsiiute about soine obstruction on the jetty, but 1 received no written! coniplaiht’about it; atid ai(i not hold an official inquiry.' I wont-'refund and inquired into the facts, and told (plaintiff not to enforce regulation 61 too stringently, though it limits the time for goods to lie on the wharf to twentv-four hours. T have heard of a bumble-bee, but scarcely know the meaning of; the word in that instance;- ' D - Branson > barrister: I conducted; ■ plaintiff fl case against Messes, Findlay, at, the; Mayor s Court, when the Magistrates dismissed it as it was the first of the kind,” but I be-: ,U?ve they were thoroughly fogged:l have read Oliver Twist and also the letter in the Evening Star. From that letter 1 should have taken plaintiff to be an officious, pettifogsort of man. ’ Cross-examined ihe term’Bumble may express simply officious- 1 ness, as it is often used in London * Punch.’ In Hotae papers I have noticed the words applied to vestries,-and I have always wondered when .sean-; .th® expression used that an-action mr libel has not arisen. I.dp, not remember the Provincial Council being accused of {Bumbledom. i

Evidence was also given that the defendant is proprietor of the Star. ; ! [We are obliged to hold over the speeches of counsel and his Honor’s summing up.] The issues presented to the jury and their replies thereto were : ;

1. the defendant falsely and maliciously print and publish of and concerning the plaintiff, as Deputy-Harbor-master for the Port of Dunedin and in relation to bis said office and the conduct of the duties thereof, in a newspaper called the Evenins Star, the words in Yes de ° laratloa meatioai3d M herein, alleged?—

2. Were the said ‘ words a fair ! and "bond. fide comment upon the several matters and premises therein referred to, and were they printed and published without any malicious intent or motive whatever as in the second plea alleged?— No. ... •. , ~, .. What .damage (if any) is the plaintiff entitled to recover from the defendant?—Lso, " !