Apology from Charles Scribuex's Sons; Grant of a Perpetual Injunction Inthe King's Bench Divisiun of the High Court of Justice, recently, before Mr. Justice Avery, when the case of the British North Borneu Ca. v. Charles Seribner's Sons was mentioned, Sir John Simon, &.c., for the plaintiffs, said the action was brought for very serious libels contained in a book recently published by the defendants. The latter had intimated their desire to submit to a perpetual injunction against any further circulation of the book (they had withdrawn it altogether from circulation), to repeat in open Court the apology already written to the plaintiffs, and to pay the plaintiffs a sun which would abundantly covey the expenses to which they: had been put in bringing the matter before the Court.
The book appeared to be written by some American gentleman, anil it purported to be an account of his travels in the Far East—not at all limited to Borneo, but travels in Siam, in Cambodia, in Java, and in various East Indian islands. In the course of the book, he maida some reference to his alleged experience in Borneo, and he alleged that the North Borneo Company "administered the powers granted to them by the Charter in a dis-' graceful and iniquitous way; that they allowed the planters in the State of North Borneo to treat their employees with brutality and cruelty: that their sole object was to exploit the territory and those who lived there for the purpose of earning dividends for the shareholders." In point of fact the British North Borneo Company was primarily a company for adminis. trative purposes, and not for the pose of profit.
Russel Davis.—The defen here are an American Corporation, incorporated under the law of New Jersey. They carry on business primarily in New York, but they have a selling agency in this country. This book was published in New York, and copies of it were sent for sale to the agents in this country. As soon as the attention of the firm in this country was drawn to the contents of the book they immediately realized the grave defamatory nature of certain passages which were pointed out, and they immediately took steps to withdraw the book from circulation. They communicated with their head-house in New York, and I have instructions to offer, on behalf of the defendants here, an unreserved apology and an expression of regret that they were parties to the publication of these defamatory statements.
The injunction was granted.
Sir John Simon.—Subject to that, the niatter can be withdrawn, because we have arranged the whole matter for ourselves,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.