May 28.
A telegram the other day briefly announced that Mess Waterlow & Sons had paid the huge sum of $610,392 and costs die from them to the Bank of Portugal in respect of a law suit in which the two parties have been involved since 1930. The case was remarkable for the apparent simplicity of the method whereby a rogue named Marang took over from Messrs. Waterlow & Sons a quantity of bank-notes. they were printing for the Bank of Portugal and by means of them was able to manufacture forged notes and put them into circulation. This happened in 1925 and when the forgery wa: discovered the Bank had to withdraw notes from circulation and honour all which were presented, thus suffering considerable loss. They therefore claimed slamages for breach of contract, negligence or conversion from Messrs. Waterlow. The details of the case have already been published these columns and it is sufficient to mention that it went from the King's Bench, where Mr, Justice Wright had' entered judgment for £569,421 in favour of the Bank of Portugal to the Court of Appeal which reduced the damages to £300,000 and to the House of Lords, on the appeal by the defendants, which gave in favour of the Bank and, owing to the disagreement of the House with Mr. Justice Wright's selection of the last date on which the Bank were entitled to pay out good notes in exchange for spurious notes, enhanced the damages to the sum already mentioned. The case first came on in the King's Bench Division in November 1930. The Court of Appeal dealt with it in 1981, judgment being delivered on March 26 of that year. The House of Lotds gave their final verdict on April 28 of this year. The magnitude of the case can lbe judged from the fact that in. the' King's Bench Division the hearing occupied twenty-one. days.
British judges liosyneracies. Thi of tempera-sted as between Lord Justice Scrutton land Mr. Justice McCardie. It be seen, however, that even [that exhibition of human failings receives due disciplinary treatment, But on the broad question of justice, given without fear or favour, the British courts have a reputation to which the whole world looks with admiration not untinged with envy. Here was a case in which an eminent British firm—the ead lof the firm was actually Lord Mayor in 1980—was in danger of being mulcted in a sum of $1,000,000, for that was the stupendous original claim, in respect of a fraud for which the printers were expressly acquitted lof any reprehensible conduct and jin which, in fect, they were the victims of one of those impudent strokes occasionally delivered with success by the superlatively lelever criminal, 'The plaintiff in ithe case was a foreign Bank. At' ithe time of Mr. Justice Wright's judgment against Messrs. Water-low, "The Times" said:
"If, as the Judge held, it is impossible to credit. them' with the exercise of the highest standard of vigilance, it is equally impossible to withhold sympathy from the victims of an imposition jinest unique in its audacity and scope.
To most firms the danger of losing on a case of this kind would be disastrous to contemplate, and, jumping forward to the conclusion of the case, it Imay be noted that Messrs. low & Sons had actually made provision for this di Jsoon as they knew that it was likely to occur. And although it is generally recognised that the ate Sir William Waterlow's death was almost directly due to the double strain of this private distress and his faithful performance of his public duties, ithe firm has met the obligations, colossal as they have been, without flinching and apparently without serious dislocation of their work. 'Their reputation will have' been enormously enhanced by the sturdy mi ner in which they faced this crisis. But the reflection which comes most pointedly to the mind is the striking proof which this case affords of the fearlessness of British justice. The fact that the plaintiffs were foreign firm made not the slightest difference in the manner of handling the ca: Within two years they were able to go through the three courts of Great Britain and in each they Jwere able to obtain substantial recognition of the justice of {their claim and, finally, a decision which has been received in Portugal with most gratifying comment on its implicit, vindication lof the standards of British justice. In these days when repudiation of obligations is lightly held in some parts of the Jworld and the very springs of justice are poisoned to protect a Ispurious nationalism,—proceedings of this kind create a feeling lof intense satisfaction. It shows Ithat there is still at work in the world machinery which can operate, smoothly and without fear of obstruction or interference, to the maintenance of principles which fundamentally ensure the security of human relationships.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.