At the Mixed Court on Wednesday morning Mr. Kuan (Magistrate) and Mr. tenney (American ASsesser) rendered a decision which will doubtless have an important bearing on procedure in civil cases that may come up for trial at the Mixed Court in the future.
The case was one in which a Chinese shopkeeper of Chapei sued four of his employees for alleged debt, and a fifth party for security he was alleged to have given for the first four defendants. Mr. F. J. Schuhl represented the plaintiff, and on behalf of the guarantor Mr. J. E. Lemiere made a_ motion, claiming that his client lived in Chapei, where he was employed in the plaintiff's shop and that, therefore, the Court had no jurisdiction over him in the present case.
Mr. Lemiere's client gave evidence to this effect and said that he was sent by his employer on an errand to a house within the Settlement, where he was served with a summons to appear before the Mixed Court.
The Court decided that it had jurisdiction in the case, as it was of a civil nature and the summons was served within the Settlement.
Mr. Lemiere asked the permission of the Court to cite the decision as a precedent, on account of its great importance, and his request was granted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.