"I cannot believe the law is quite such an ass as that!" exclaimed Mr.
C. W. Measor, counsel for one appellant, in the course of his argument before H.M. Full Court yesterday in ihe appeal case of China Realty Ca. v. Dr. C. T. Kew and Mr. J. O.
Anderson. Mr. K. E. Newman appeared for the respondents, while Mr. Anderson was neither present in court mor represented. The Full Court consisted of Judge Sir Allan Mossop, Judge R. E. Lindsell (of Hongkong), and Judge P. Grant Jones. Judgment was reserved.
The appeal arises out of a judgment given by Judge Grant Jones in H.M. Supreme Court on June 13, 1936, in favour of the plaintiffs, when they sought the foreclosure or sale and/or possession of certain properties belonging to the partnership of Dr. Kew and Mr. Andersoh, known as the British Flower Shop, and consisting of two lots of land in the French Concession.
The case itself arose out of a series ut mortgages, originally held with the Credit Foncier, and later extended to and increased by the China Realty Ca; the total amount of the mortgages ultimately was $131,856, but Dr. Kew maintained that -he only agreed to raise Tls. 20.000 when approached by his partner, Mr. Anderson, a former member of the Bar of the Supreme Court here.
Continuing his reply to the case for Dr. Kew put up by Mr. Measor on Monday, Mr. Newman yesterday morning said that in his opening Mr. Measor had laid stress on the fact that, in order to ensure that the property would not be dealt with without his knowledge, Dr. Kew insisted on paying for half the insurance and on having his signature to the deed. He failed to see how this safeguarded Dr. Kew in any subsequent dealings with the property.
"Construetive Notice"
He submitted that the Trial Judge had extended the doctrine of constructive notice to "the plaintiffs of Dr. Kew's connection with the property too far. If the name of the partnership had been "Kew and Anderson, the plaintiffs would have had a different case to answer, but there was nothing in the name of "British Flower Shop" to inform them that Dr. Kew was a partner in it, He further submitted that if the judge found that the plaintiffs had actual notice ab initia of Dr, Kew's interest, he was wrong in law in finding that therefore they had -constructive notice in law; the appeal must rely on whether or not in fact and in law his clients had constructive notice.
Mr. Measor said that the position was that Mr. Anderson told Dr. Kew he wanted to borrow some money, and Dr. Kew agreed and put his name to the deed of hypothecation, showing that he and Mr. Anderson were borrowing the money. The Credit Foncier from that time on had to regard that money as lent to both partners.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.