BRITISH TELEPHONES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 202, 15 January 1913, Page 5

BRITISH TELEPHONES.

STAT E CONTROLLED. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright, London, January 13. The National Telephone Company. whose system has been taken over by the State, has been awarded £12.515',- . 000 as purchase money. In the case the National Telephone ; Company v. the Post Office, the judges ascertained the cost of construction and piant, and then deducted the depreciation. The telephone stock fell to 109 a drop of 30. A recent cable mentioned that the Solicitor-General (Sir John A. Simon) ''ji'l. "I the great telephone ease, lowered all forensic records by deliveri'ii", in the Kings Bench Division, a speech on hehalt of the Crown's view that occupied nine and a half continuous davs and contained (so 'tis said) over' .|oo.<loo words. According to one of the scribes Who heard Sir John's great effort from beginning to finish, it" was An extraordinary performance when all the circumstances are reviewed The highly technical issues arising from .the controversy demanded unusual mental clarity and concentration; but Sir John's familiarity with every aspect enabled him to dispense with all save the briefest, notes, and he was free from exhaustion when his task terminated. Then, too, his evenings were occupied with political work. He was making speeches in the country, and in the House of Commons on Wednesday he smote the Tories in the matter of Home Rule with one of the most slashing contributions to the long debates on that subject. The SolicitorGeneral possesses a rare tvpe of mind —a mind in which the different interests and activities are as neatly pigeonholed as the documents in a'lawyer's office. Lis brain must be "departmenlalised" as are the brains of few men. The evidence fills three quarto volumes, comprising 2927 printed pages, and there have been 20,000 questions in the course of leading and cross-examination. The fourth volume was brought into court yesterday (November 25). It was, with the'exception of interpolations and interruptions from the Court and opposing counsel, exclusively his speech, which contained, according to a shorthand writer's computation, 410,000 words, and filled 031 pages. And a mighty big riddle it is that Mr. Justice Lawrence, is called upon to solve. The National Telephone Company, whose business and plant were taken over bv the English Post Office,, claim £15,871','005 for their goodwill and stock, which the Government experts assess at £7,334,974, so that there is the modest sum of' S'/ 2 millions sterling in dispute. For the Government there, appeared Sir John A. ■Simon. Mr. Buck-master. K.C., and two juniors; while the Telephone Company were represented by Sir Alfred 1 Cripps, K.C., three other K.C.'s, and two juniors. Leading counsel for the company ..received a fee of £ISOO with his brief, besides a daily refresher of £150; the fees of the other K.C.'s were in a descending scale of two-thirds of what their chiefs drew. What Crown counsel will , receive will be determined by the Treasury after the ease is finished, but it is sure to run into several thousands. And over and above it all are the expenses of attendant solicitors and an army of expert witnesses, to say nothing of the j shorthand writers and the expense of | printing the evidence day by day. Nor will the conclusion of the proceedings in the King's Bench Division end the litigation over the transfer of this telephone business. As soon as this point concerning the value of the plant taken over is determined, others—as, for instance, the value of bindings—will have to be examined; and, in the event of no agreement being mutually arrived at between the parties, will be the subject of future litigation, and a pleasant prospect of /'pickings" is opened to the legal fraternity.