·
T
carcer.
THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1948.
Case of the
M.P. who stole a
German's
Of all the sensational cases in which Sir Patrick Hastings, K.C., the appeared in
courts, none aroused more intense feeling than that of Mr. Gruban, a German, who sued Mr. Handel Booth, a member of Parliament, at the height of the anti-German feeling during the 1914-18 war:
THE case of Gruban v. secrecy might still defeat us, but we
Booth
was the turning should see.
The Prime Minister would know point in my professional it such a letter had been written; no would the Home Secretary. We had
of them. both Mr Gruban was a German. He subpoenaed had served in the German They or their representative must
court attend the
and state before Army, and although Ite bad
the Jury wheller suth ॥ letter lived in England for many existed
1 no did they object pud years, his home of origin was on any ground to its production
Į called pon them both to apparent in his speech..
subpoena, and flatly Answer their
He had built up a very consider-éclined to say aunther word until able engineering business. Pros-
they attended. perity seemed to be smiling upon him until the first World War. Then Defence begins everything was changed.
is birth, his speech, even als activities all made him suspect, He found himself in momentary terror of the loss of all his property, even of his liberty, and he sought -desperation for
influential friend upon whose belp he might be able to rely.
some
Unfortunately he turned to a cer- tain Mr Handel Booth.
Handel Booth's
ultimatum
Handel Borth was a member of most Parliament. He appeared. anxious to be helpful; he propound- ed many schemes. Finally he pro- pounded what was practically
ultimatum.
1121
Mr Gruban, he said, was in the direst peril, and there was only one means by which that danger could Handel Booth, uvorted. He, be
must take its pince.
If Gruban would consent to hand over all his Interest in his business to Handel Booth, who would ot course hold it merely as a nomines, the authorities would be entitled. and Gruban would be safe; if not, his property would be forfeit and he himself would be incarcerated.
In desperation and in complete Grubun his friend, reliance upon
consented. Handel Booth became possessed of everything. Within a week Gruban was arrested and in- terned.
At that time on internee was on- titled
a statutory to appeal to tribunal against the order for his detention. That tribuna!
was con
tralled by two of our greatest law- yers, Lord Sankey and Lord Blues-
burgh.
They Inquired deeply into the Unfortunately whole transaction:
all the evidence before them was necessity given under the pledge
of
of secrecy: even Gruban received no Indication as to the facts and docu- ments which the tribunal heard or saw, but they must have been cont clusive.
tee recommended his The committee
they went immediate release, and
indicated that even further. They Mr Gruban would be well advised to place the whole facts before independent solicitor who might ad- vise him as to his future actions.
Fighters for
justice
in
Gruban was practically destitute, but fortunately for him there are some solicitors who place justice far beyond mere cash receipts,
to crack
The effect was electrical. The represents Allarney-General, who the Government, was not in court. he had not expected his attendance would be required so soon; people began to shuffle; the Jury began to
whisper.
Handel
fortune
...which proved to be the turning point in the career of“
Sir
Patinely Hasting
The action had an amusing sequel, It was taken to the Court of Appeal, one of the chlet grounds of appeal being that counsel for the defendant had unduly influenced the Jury.
Lord Justice Scrutton was
Those of us member of the court. who knew him so well remember him as a man possessed of a keen And somewhat cynical sense GI
humour.
ศ
On reading this particular ground of appeal the Judge asked genty who was the overbearing counsel who had appeared to represent the underwriters, 1 was indicated as the offender.
"But surely the plaintif WOR represented by adequate counsel of his own?"
Four distinguished members of the Bar headed by Mr Duke rose In their seats.
"Dear, dear?" said Lord Justice Scrution.
Booth
K.C.
advocale, if only by reason of the fact that Wootton In effect alleged that Slevier's acquittal
the criminal charge was totally un- Justified,
on
My delight at being retained by Woolton WHS, however, marred by the fact that I had still au other leader; it was again to be Edward Carson.
Then the gods
smiled on me
The trial took place before Lord Reading and a special Jury. and Sievler was no doubt delighted to learn that his judge should be the very man who had defended him upon the earlier Indletment.
Wootton and his witnesses were first examined and when the court rose on the second day all that re-. cross-examination mained was the of Robert Sievier. And then the Carson told gods smiled upon me.
summoned me that he had been urgently fo Uister. And in con- sequence Stevler would be left to ine,
To say I was overjoyed would be an under-platement, but Iny delight was not unmixed with some degree of natural anxiety, Sievler strong was, in racing pariance, favourite. Even the precincts of the courts echoed with shouts of "Good old Bob!"
But "Good old Bob" and lived somewhat hectic life, and every detail of that life I knew.
The cross-examtention Wos.one under-
of the longest I had ever
taken; but then Mr Slevler's life
was long and varied.
He had so much
to explain
At the beginning my cars still rong with the cries for "Dear old Bob," but as the hours went by the enthusiasm seemed to disappear.
He had so much to explain that had passed quite easily upon a racecourse, but did not sound well in the calmer atmosphere at court.
AD
we
He began to flounder; he sought to find excuses that did not quite
und ring true,
then at lant
of the Win- came to the episode ning Post and his one-time friend, Jack Joel.
In vain he appealed to the sym- pathetle hearing of the judge; sull more in vain he relterated that fact of his acquittal.
Sternly he was reminded that this court would be guided solely by the evidence which was brought before it to the exclusion of all outside considerations.
When
case
Slevler left the box tho his gone werd was over;
Those that sycophantle followers.
The plaintiff lost his appeal. These Awo cases made
all the remained stayed only so that they difference in the world to
my night cheer his enemy. Sievler wos position.
The judge suggested that I should continue while we waited. refused; Then the defence commenced to crack. Rigby Swift, that most powerful advocate, was in whis. Now, another
He
milestone
pered consultation with his juniors. He felt the atmosphere swinging Against him, and he decided upon the valiant course. He rose in his place and said that he had a copy of letter which might be, what I wanted.
Our handed me the copy.
Once again I stood in the Middle I had stood belief was justified. If it was not Temple Hull, just as
before. exactly 15 years had wanted, it was almost
Rows of students lined the walls, Mr Synnot was one of those. I was to him that Gruban owed his
Booth lind indeed even their faces looked the same. subsequent vindication. I shall al-
It was not the Treasurer of the From that moment the case was ways be proud to think that Mr Syn- Proved himself an unfaithful friend. But this time it was different. waiting for who, stood Inn Gruben not
obtained to me, and between us we over. Mr
with a kindly
smile worked for many months up the
Booth had been welcoming verdlet that Mr
to the newcomers to the Bar, but the Lora .nelion that was started.
with damages
Chancellor of England handing to From the outset we were satished fraudulent,
extent of £5,000.-
the Royal Patent each one of us that Gruban's internment was at
which signified that we were one of least to some
hls Majesty's Counsel.
catie
all that I chugh.
Mr Handel
extent the work of The duel with Handel Boots; the few days which, Edward Duke olapsed between the complete trans-"
fer of Gruban's.property and his in-
a mere coincidence.
To
the
Anished.
I become the
Attorney-General
pinnacio
The time was rapidly approaching: There was one further when I should have to consider an to be attained, and that I reached
Tn within a comparatively short time. application to be made a silk.
Twenly years from the date of 1919. I applied for and was granted
Ваг. my call to the
his Majesty sille.
appointed me his Attorney-General, and during my period of office 1
the Leader became
the Bar. After that I could go no higher.. On the night of my appointment I walked home from the Law Courts ruminating on the changes which 20 years had brought in their train.
saluted as I left the Officials building, and policemen held back the traffic for me as I crossed the
And yet I did not Strand. particularly different. I wondered if I was any happler than I had been 20 years before.
It was another milestone.
Racing men in.
libel action
114
Two
From my very beginning as a silk I was extremely fortunate. well-known racing men decided to sue each other for libel.
Where I used to
cadge a lift
landmarks.
.consider one case as tho ternment were too significant to be turning point in a whole career is perhaps an exaggeration. Fortunately which followed Handel Booth must have sold or I had another written somethiant which assisted in almost immediately, although of a that strange result. But how to very different kind,
Putney. I began A Jeweller alleged that he had 'prove it?
fost n vast quantity of Jewellery The tribunat who pledged to
while travelling in Brussels. *He secrecy; the authorities would give us Do assistance, Handel Booth had was insured at Lloyd's, and made the underwriters, that he had a claim against sworn upon his oath
which they resisted upon the groundl written nothing.
Our one hope lay in extracting the of fraud, truth, either by cross-examination or I was passionately anxious to fight else by some miracle which might the case, and the underwriters were happen at the trial, and upon that persuaded to agree. miracle wo rolled.
Atmosphere was
against us
The trial opened under singularly Inauspicious circumstances. It was
almost at the precise moment of the
sinking of the Luritanie.
The feeling against Germany had
Robert Stevier..
feel
same
As I walked away I found myself Involuntarily following the road which I had known so well on the interminable pilgrimage to to find familiar
Mr Wootton was a trainer, a part
There was the flower-girl at the of whose success was no doubt due corner of Norfolk-street; she had she was to his two sons, Frank and Stanley, been a very pretty girl; both of whom were jockeys of out- there sill, fatter and a trife blowsy. standing merit. His opponent was but her flowers were just the same. walked through Trafalgar- The nume of Sievler Was u square: I could almost remember the household word upon the English number of flagstones along Cock- Turf, not only s
the owner of spur-street. The case depended almost entirely world-famous horses, but also as a upon a cross-examination of the great gambler. plaintiff, and ho came into court
But he had experienced a still represented by all the weight of the
Edward Duke an his greater claim to totoriety. Bar, with leading silk.
years before, he had been tried at It was the first time I had ever the Central Criminal Court upon a been opposed to Duke, and his charge of attempting to blackmail the early hours from Covent Gar- រ further on tho public- slodge-hammer attack upon the Mr Jack Joel through the publication
Some
Piccadilly had not changed, Although the women who nightly walked the streets had altered.
At Knightsbridgo was the pince where I used to cadge a lift from the vegetable wagon returning in
den.
risen to unprecedented height, Peor underwriters for daring to oppoon of the Winning Post, a periodical of house where there were usually a
the plaintiff's claim must have
ave which he was the proprietor been drunken couple brawling, and then ittle Gruban must have felt more depressed them almost as much as
unhappy as he entered court.
than
I opened the case by a mera
rocitalion of the facts. I told
it.dld me.
But fortunately he put his cap fury that our case dependied in the too high. Once he had attacked the
underwriters main upon one incident.
trusi? Had he obtained the financial
It gave mo my
"
trial At
he had
an archway in South Kensington prosecuted by Edward Carson and where I used to shelter from the defended by Itufus Isancs Nater rain. Lord Reading), and largely through It was raining as I walked that his counselin was trium- night па the newly appointed
Attorney-General, phantly nequitted,
and then I re- too Each of these sporting gentle membered that I had walked
the other, far. I was not obliged to walk to from the out- Putney, so I called a taxi and drovo my trial would back to my home in Curzon-street.
probe very deeply into the lives of
Had landel Booth betrayed his 23-0xamined the plainUff for men elected to defamo advantage that ho sought by pre- the best part of a day. Áo Mr Duke and it was obvious
and
and then written to the authorities than fumilled in attacking his disparaging Gruban in order that he
At any ralo, it was successful. The bath.
should keep the fortune for himself? Jury
returned a vordiet for the A cross-examination of Robert Inevitably provoa But I could not prove it. I fold underwriters, and the plaintiff lost Slevier would.
high spot In...the life of any them that the claim of privilege and his case.
NEXT WEEK:
A case that shook society
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