The prosecution of Albert Giesel, the German head of Giesel & Ca.,! for alleged participation in the bottling and sale of spurious liquors in Shanghai was concluded before the President, M. Crépin, and Magistrate Nich at the French Mixed Court last Friday. Judgement was reserved. A. C. Mack, Giesel's former employee, who was re manded on bail at H. M. Police Court on the previous day' in connexion with the affair, was not present during the proceedings.
Maitre H. lo Gouellec prosecuted Giese] had been trying to fool the Chinese. Hennessy and Noilly Pratt were two well known names, but the others were fictitious. It was obvious that they had tried to shift the responsibility on to one another's shoulders. Giesel passed the bad liquor to Mack, Mack passed it on to Battistuzzi and s9 forth. This man Giesel, whose counsel had stated that he had 22 years of business experience in Shanghai, actually said he did not know whether the cases of vermouth were in the godown. M. Blumenthal had been deceived by Mack in the godown where the bottling, corking and labelling was being carried on. An honourable wie merchant out here usually received bottles, ce! and labels from the houses with which he was doing business. Only in a few cases were the labels made here. When they were, the local representative of a big house in France made himself responsible for them, The prosecution asked that the defendant be convicted for manufacturing spurious liquor sold te Shanghai people. Dr. Fischer mentioned that Giesel had been well known as a business man in Shanghai for a long period in which no harsh words and no criticism had been levelled at him. Nevertheless the defence, and Dr. "0. Fischer appeared for 10 tad by false pretences succeeded Resuming his speech for the pre-section, Maitre lo Gouellee said that ai fact the defendant could not. controvert was that spurious Noilly Pratt vermouth and Hennessy's brandy was found in his godown. When he bought up the stock of Reid's, Ld., ihe employed Mack and gave him his entire confidence. Mack might have taken orders foe Giesel & Ca., but he still was only the employee. The Italian Battistuzzi was another who worked for Giesel. Battistuzzi_ worked for Giesel every night after five o'clock in the godown. He had been engaged in manufacturing and bottling the liquor after the usual office hours. This was at the time Reid's, Ld., went into bankruptey and their entire stock was taken over by the defendant.
Referring: to the proceedings at H. M. Police Court on the previous day, Maitre lo Gouellec said. "'Giesel is trying to get rid of Mack because he knows too much."
Why had not the defendant made it his business to find out what Mack and Battistuzzi were up to in the godown after office hours? How could anyone believe that defendant was ignorant of the imitation and falsification of labels carried out by his employees? The machinery came from Reid's, Ld. How could anyone suppose that the defendant could have taken the labels to be genuine? The names of the places where the liquors were manufactured were not even printed on the labels. That was suspicious in itself. Moreover, in connexion with the seizure of the "Marie Noyon," the absinthe and grenadine, supposedly the products of reputable French firms, the names of those firms could not be discovered in tha Bottin." Counsel had jocked through that. directory in vain for any mention of those firms. in selling liquor not only to people who could afford it, but to small Chinese merchants. He manu factured a vile substitute—purporting to be the fabrication of a big French house whose reputation was international.
In his final remarks, Dr. Fischer insisted that it was not in accord with the principles of law that a master be held responsible for the actions of his servants. On a num-Ler of instances, Maftre lo Gouelles had, said Dr. Fischer, referred to the' nationality of the defendant, th Those remarks had prejudiced the Court. Giesel had been neither directly nor indirectly responsible for the crime he was charged with. In view of these circumstances and others mentioned by counsel, he asked the Court to give the defendant the benefit of the doubt.
The President said he would deliver his reserved judgement on the following Frid:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.