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still for centuries. The San On district of to- ! day must be much, the same as it was four or five hundred years ago. But when British rule is established, and the people realise that justice prevails, that they are allowed to pursue their avocations in peace and freedom from illicit ex- tortions, and that there is no unnecessary inter- ference with their manners and customs, the spirit of enterprise will soon manifest itself, capitalists will be attracted to a region where their capital is not liable to official squeezes," the resources of the country will be developed, and its prosperity will continue to increase."
Still more authoritative and still more to the point is the following extract from a despatch of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Governor of the Colony, bearing date the 6th January, 1899. In this despatch Mr. Cham- berlain communicates to the Governor the views of Her Majesty's Government as to the future administration of the leased district, and in paragraph 24, dealing with the question of titles to land, there occurs the following passage:-
The examination into titles should not be of too technical a nature, and where lengthened occupation or improvemente can be shown, with no adverse claims from private individuals, 2 Government title should be granted, even if no other is forthcoming. Security for all reason- able rights in regard to land will be a great inducement to content and loyalty and to the popularizing of British rule."
This direction of the Secretary of State seems to be in accord with the following proposition which was advanced by counsel for the defen- dants arguendo in the case of Attorney-General for British Honduras v. Bristowe supra :-"As to the nature of the right and title acquired by the defendants against the Crown, there is no instance on record where the Sovereign of England, having assumed the territorial dominion over a colony, has ever attempted to onst the rights of private individuals acquired by long possession and long industrial occupa- tion." I have been unable to trace the reference given for this proposition to Dana's edition of Wheaton's International Law, but I believe the proposition correctly states the practice of the British Crown, when assuming the sovereignty of new territory.
I regret that the Crown was not represented at the hearing, since the validity of the lease Igranted by it to the plaintiffs has been called in question. It would seem that the Crown was entitled to have this suit restrained and its rights on the subject-matter of the litigation determined in proceedings to which it was itself a party Attorney-General v. Barker, L. R. 7 Exch. 177. In that case Cleasby, B., said, at p. 186 :-" I have understood it to be a general rule of law that where the title of the Crown to property comes in question, the Crown has the right to prevent that title being decided in any suit between subjects, and is entitled to have it decided in a proceeding to which the Crown itself is a party."
On the whole case, then, I am of opinion that the defendant has established the right to which he makes claim; that the letting of the premises by the Crown to the plaintiffs involves à denial and deprivation of that right and is an expropriation of the defendant within the mean- ing of the Convention; that by the terms of the Convention the Crown was unable to confer on the plaintiffs a title involving such expropria- tion, and that the plaintiffs are consequently unable to make title to the premises in exclusion of the defendant when acting in the exercise of his right. In my opinion, therefore, the plain- tiffs are not entitled to maintain this suit against the defendant, and judgment must ba entered for the defendant, with costa.
The Puisne Judge arrived at a conclusion ‹ at variance with that of the Chief Justice, hold- ing that the plaintiffs were autitled to $10 as damages and to their costs of suit.
A full report of the Acting Puisne Judge's remarks will be given on Monday.
Judgment for the defendant was given.
Mr. E. Hamilton Sharp (instructed by Messrs. Deacon and Hastings) appeared for the plaintiffs and Mr. M. W. Slade (instructed by Messrs. Wilkinson and Grist for the defendant.
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