THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

July 10, 1914.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—June 30.

Before the Lord Chancellor, Lord Shaw of Dunfermline,
and Lord Moulton.

Miner’s Claim for False Imprisonment.

Herd v. Weardale Steel, Coal and Coke Company
Limited.—The House delivered judgment in this appeal
from a decision of the Court of Appeal reversing a decision*
of Mr. Justice Pickford. The action was brought by the
appellant against the respondent company and two of its
officers for damages for false imprisonment. The appellant
was employed by the respondent company as a hewer at the
Thornley Colliery. On May 30, 1911, the appellant, who
was employed on the second shift, which would normally
have come to an end about 4 p.m., descended the mine about
9.30 a.m., with the intention of working. The only means
of access to or egress from the mine was by the cages in the
shaft, one ascending and the other descending. The cages
were used for the conveyance of workmen and coal, but
when being used for coal workmen were not allowed to
enter them, and vice versa. After descending the mine the
appellant and two other men were ordered to do certain
work, but, in breach of their contract, they refused to do the
work, believing it to be unsafe: About 11 a.m. the appel-
lant and these two men, and 29 other men acting in sym-
pathy with them, requested the overman, the respondent
Turner, to allow them to ascend the shaft by means of the
cage, as they desired to leave the mine, but Turner told
them that he had orders to prevent them from going. On
several occasions during the morning the cage came down,
but it was being used for hoisting coal.

. Proceedings were taken subsequently by the company
against the appellant before the justices under the Employers
and Workmen Act, 1875, in respect of the appellant’s breach
of contract, and the company recovered 5s. damages and
costs. The appellant by his statement of claim alleged
that the respondents wrongfully prevented him from using
the cage, which was the only egress from the mine, whereby
he was falsely imprisoned in the colliery until 1.30 p.m.
The respondents denied the alleged false imprisonment, and
alternatively pleaded the appellant’s breach of contract as a
justification.

The action was tried at the Northumberland Assizes with-
out a jury before Mr. Justice Pickford, who afterwards gave
judgment at Leeds for the appellant. The Court of Appeal
(Lords Justices Buckley and Hamilton, Lord Justice
Vaughan Williams dissenting) reversed this decision, being
of opinion that there was no false imprisonment, and directed
judgment to be entered for the respondents.

The House, without calling upon counsel for the respon-
dents, dismissed the appeal.

The Lord Chancellor, giving judgment, said that by the
laws of this country no man could be deprived of his liberty.
without authority in law. If a man chose to go into a
dangerous place, such as the bottom of a mine, from which,
through the nature of the circumstances, he could not
escape, it did not follow that he could compel the mine
owner to bring him up whenever he chose. There was
another proposition which was to be borne in mind in this
case and that was the proposition expressed in the maxim :
Volenti non fit injuria. When a man went down a mine,
he was only entitled to the use of the facilities of egress on
the terms on which he had entered the mine. That principle
was laid down by the Privy Council in Bobinson v. Bal-
main New Ferry Company ([1910] A.C., 295). He did not
wish to be understood as saying that no other question but
that of contract came into this case, for the Coal Mines
Regulation Act, 1887, laid down certain regulations for the
use of mines, and included a provision that proper apparatus
for raising and lowering persons at each shaft should be
constantly available for use; but on considering the pro-
visions of that statute he found nothing which entitled a
miner to use the cage at any moment he pleased. It might
be that the cage was being used for the haulage of coal. It
was enough that the statute gave no such right as was
claimed by the appellant. Here the usage of the mine was,
as the appellant must be taken to have known, that the work-
men were to be brought up at the end of the shift. The
appellant refused to do some work which he was ordered to
do, believing, as he said, that it was dangerous, and then
requested to be brought up to the surface. The person in
control of the pit refused to let him come up, and the appel-
lant was in consequence under the necessity of remaining
at the bottom of the shaft for about 20 minutes. There was
no refusal to bring him up at the ordinary time, but there
was a refusal to bring him up at the time he wanted, and
his lordship was quite willing to admit that the motive of
the refusal was to punish the man for his breach of contract.
Did that amount to false imprisonment? He thought not.
The appellant had no right to leave the mine when he
chose, either under the terms of the Act or under his con-
tract. The facilities for egress were not available to him,
at any rate, as of right, until the end of the shift. In these
circumstances, the maxim, Volenti non fit injuria, was a com-
plete answer to any claim founded on false imprisonment.
What their lordships were concerned with was that no con-
ditions existed which entitled the appellant to the right
which he asserted, and that there was nothing in the acts
complained of which amounted to false imprisonment. He
was, therefore, unable to come to any other conclusion than
that Mr. Justice Pickford was wrong, and that the majority
of the Court of Appeal were right.

Lord Shaw of Dunfermline and Lord Moulton gave
judgment to the same effect.

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE.

KING’S BENCH DIVISION.—July 2.

Before Mr. Justice Bailhache, sitting as the Commercial
Judge.

Checkweigher as Inspector of Mines.

Date v. The Gas Coal Collieries Limited. — Plaintiff
claimed a declaration that, as he had been duly appointed
by the workmen employed in the Meiros mine of the defen-
dants to inspect the mine on behalf of the workmen under
the provisions of section 16 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911, he
was entitled to exercise all the powers conferred by the
section upon the persons so appointed.

Mr. Justice Bailhache,. in giving judgment, said that the
plaintiff was a checkweigher at the defendants’ colliery,
and he was duly appointed in October 1913 by the workmen
at that colliery to be one of the inspectors of the mine under
section 16 of the Act. Notice was given to the defendants
of the appointment, and he subsequently asked to be allowed
to perform his duties as inspector. The defendants declined

to allow him to inspect the mine, on the ground that, as he
had been appointed checkweigher, he was precluded from per-
forming the duties of inspector of the mine on behalf of the
workmen under section 16. His lordship, after dealing with
the construction of section 16 of the Coal Mines Act, 1911,
section 13 of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1887, section 2
of the Coal Mines Regulation Act, 1908, and section 1 of
the Coal Mines (Weighing of Minerals) Act, 1905, came to
the conclusion that the fact that a man was a checkweigher
at a mine did not prevent him from being appointed to
inspect the mine on behalf of the workmen under section
16 of the Act of 1911. He accordingly held that the plain-
tiff was entitled to the declaration which he claimed.

RAILWAY AND CANAL COMMISSION.—July 6.

Before Mr. Justice Bankes, Mr. A. E. Gathorne-Hardy,
and Sir James Woodhouse.

Increase of Railway Rates.

Butterley Company Limited and Others y. Midland Rail-
way Company and Others.—The court delivered reserved
judgment in this case, which came up originally on June
24 last. The applicants complained that certain proposed
increases of rates made under the recent Act had not been
published in the rate books in the way required by statute,
and that publication of the notice of proposed increase was
not made in the statutory form. The application was
exactly similar in nature to that decided in favour of the
railway companies on May 4; and Mr. Justice Bankes now
said that the court must follow its previous decision. Formal
judgment was therefore entered in favour of the respondents,
and Mr. Justice Bankes said that if it was desired to take
the matter to the Court of Appeal, the appeal should be
entered within a reasonable time.

July 7.

Alleged Increase in Railway Rates.

Beesley (W. T.) and Company Limited and Others v.
Midland Railway Company and Others.—The applicants,
who were steel manufacturers in the Sheffield district,
sought to have certain rates declared unreasonable.

Mr. Balfour Browne said that the ground of complaint
was an increase of rates, not a part of the recent general
increase, but an increase made two years ago. Ordinarily
the onus in such a case was on the railway company to
justify the increase; but here the company denied that there
had been any increase at all. For many years the appli-
cants had been engaged in making, among other things,
steel strips. For 30 years the railway company had charged
class C rates for the carriage of these strips, but in 1912 they
gave notice that they were going to charge class II. rates
for the future. They alleged that they had not known
before what the goods actually were which were contained
in the applicants’ packing cases, and that the rate for steel
strips of this nature had always been on the higher scale.
But, he contended, the result was in fact an increase of
rate, and it could not be maintained unless the company
could justify it. If a company accepted and carried an
article at a particular rate, even if under the impression that
it was something else, it was immaterial that the rate in
the books for that article might be higher; any attempt to
raise the rate in fact charged to that shown in the books
must be justified.

Judgment was reserved.

COAL, IRON AND ENGINEERING COMPANIES.
REPORTS AND DIVIDENDS.

American Car and Foundry Company Limited. — The
report for the year ended April 30, 1914, shows net earnings
$5,810,889, of which renewals took $2,052,918, leaving a
balance available for dividends of $3,757,971. Preferred
dividends took $2,100,000, and common dividends $600,000,
leaving a surplus of $1,057,971; mortgage and improvements
$700,000, surplus $357,971; previous surplus, $25,255,169;
total surplus, $25,613,140.

Argentine Iron and Steel Company (Pedro Vasena 6
Hijos) Limited.—The report for the year to February 28
states that the profit on trading amounted to £63,485 (as
compared with £130,362). After deducting amortisation of
debentures and further depreciation and interest, etc., the
balance was £19,776, which, together with the amount of
the general reserve, £8,000, has been applied in making pro-
vision for bad debts. During the first eight months of the
year the sales showed an increase of £130,543. The last
four months of the year, however, witnessed a decrease of
£94,025. The present position of the company has been
carefully considered by the board, and various conferences
with Senor Don Pedro Vasena have culminated in an agree-
ment between the company and that gentleman, by which
it is proposed to reduce the ordinary share capital by 8s.
per share, or £240,092, and to apply this sum as follows :—
In writing down stock to the present cost of materials
delivered in Buenos Ayres, £130,792; in writing off discount
on debentures, preliminary expenses, and the expenses of
carrying out this scheme, say, £47,000; in writing dcwn
goodwill (by approximately one-third), £62,300. The pre-
ference shares receive special consideration, Sefior Vasena
having agreed, subject to the reduction of capital being
approved by the shareholders and the court, to pay the divi-
dend thereon for the year 1913-14 at the rate of 6 per cent,
per annum on the amounts paid up in respect thereof, the
sum required for this purpose, £22,063, to be repayable to
him only out of the surplus profits of future years remaining
after payment in those years of the fixed 6 per cent, cumu-
lative dividend on the preference shares.

Bessemer (Henry) and Company Limited.—The directors
have decided to pay an interim dividend of 5s. per share,
less income-tax, on the preference shares, and 6d. per share,
free of income-tax, on the ordinary shares.

Breyten Collieries Limited.—An interim dividend of 5
per cent. (Is. per share), amounting to £4,500, has been
declared for six months to June 30, 1914, being at the rate
of 10 per cent, per annum.

Brown Bayley’s Steel Works Company Limited.—It has
been decided to pay an interim dividend of 5 per cent.

Crompton and Company Limited.—The accounts now
presented cover 12 months, and show a gross profit of
£48,672. After deducting general charges, depreciation,
interest on debentures, and other items, there remains an
available balance of £13,551. Of this there has been set
against the purchase price of the business, as representing
approximately the profit earned up to June 19, 1913, £2,970.
The directors recommend that the balance be disposed of as

follows :—To be placed to general reserve fund, £2,500; to
be written off preliminary expenses, £1,500; to the payment
of a dividend on the preference shares at the rate of 5 per
cent, per annum, £4,392; balance to be carried forward,
£2,189.

East Indian Coal Company Limited.—For the half-year
to April 30, 1914, after making usual allowance for deprecia-
tion of plant, etc., and writing £8,000 off development
account, profit was £10,287, and £1,347 was brought for-
ward. Directors recommend dividend of 8 per cent, (free of
tax), making 15 per cent, for the year, £9,600; carrying
forward £2,034. The output was 292,464 tons, compared
with 273,069 for half-year to April 30, 1913. Loss of coal
by exhaustion of workings was 31,100 tons, and additional
coal won 50,495, giving net gain of output 19,395 tons. Total
raisings during year to April 30, 1914—511,878 tons—have
exceeded 500,000 tons for first time in history of the company.
The new sinkings have made good progress. Water has
now ben met with in all three of the (South) Bulliari pits,
Kendwadih district. At Kendwadih preparations are being
made for an attempt to recover No. 5 pit and a small area
around it. The efforts to re-open Nos. 2 and 3 pits, in which
the explosion occurred in 1911, have so far not been rewarded
with success. The purchased coal account for the half-year
left a profit of £1,514.

East Kent Colliery Company Limited.—The petition of J.
Fox for the compulsory winding up of this company came
before Mr. Justice Astbury in the Chancery Division on
Tuesday. Mr. F. Russell, K.C., for the petitioner, said the
company had just put in an affidavit of considerable length,
which he desired to answer, and he asked that the petition
should stand over for a week. His lordship assented.

Harrington Coke Ovens Limited. — The directors have
declared a dividend of 10 per cent., making 15 per cent, for
the year ended June 30.

Kyshtim Corporation Limited.—The report, which covers
the year ended January 13, 1914, states that the holders of
£603,000 debentures had exercised their rights of conversion,.
241,200 shares being issued in redemption of these deben-
tures. Since that date further debentures have been pre-
sented for conversion, and the debenture and share capital
of the company is now as follows :—6 per cent, convertible
debentures—issued, £650,000; lodged up to June 16, for con-
version into shares, £634,500 ; outstanding, £15,500.	£1

shares—original issue, 1,000,000; shares allotted in redemp-
tion of debentures, 253,800; total, 1,253,800. Held in
reserve against conversion of remaining debentures, 6,200
shares. The interim dividend of 2s. per share, free of
income-tax, paid on January 20, 1914, absorbed £123,988,
and there remains a balance for appropriation of £205,072,
including the balance on appropriation account at January
13, 1913, after payment of dividend and income-tax to that
date. The directors recommend as a final dividend the pay-
ment of 3s. per share, free of income-tax. This will absorb
£188,070, and leave a balance to be carried forward of
£17,002, of which it is estimated that £11,000 will be
required for payment of income-tax. The total distribu-
tion for the year 1913 amounts to 5s. per share, as compared
with 4s. 6d. per share for the year 1912.

Lochgelly Iron and Coal Company Limited.—The directors
have declared a final dividend of 20s. per share, or 15 per
cent., less tax, on the ordinary shares, making 20 per cent,
for the year.

Mitford (Calgary) Colliery Company Limited.—K general
meeting of the first mortgage debenture holders will be
held on July 17, to consider the position and affairs of the
company and the report of the trustees thereon; to approve
the steps already taken by the trustees for the protection of
the property; to consider the trustees’ proposals for provi-
sion of further capital to carry on the colliery by formation
of an English company; and to consider the scheme for
sale of the company’s colliery and all its rights, property,
and assets by the trustees to a new company to be formed
under the laws of Alberta. The scheme of arrangement
provides that the capital of the new company shall be
$500,000, divided into 60,000 preferred shares of $5 each,
and 40,000 deferred of $5 each. The preferred shares will
be entitled to a preferential non-cumulative dividend for
each year at the rate of 8 per cent, per annum. After pay-
ment of 8 per cent, in any year on preferred, the deferred
shall be entitled to a non-cumulative dividend for such year
at rate of 6 per cent, per annum, and thereafter to a further
dividend, out of surplus profits, not exceeding 6 per cent.
The new company shall have power to issue debentures
either at a premium or a discount to the nominal amount of
£100,000, carrying interest at rates not exceeding £7 per
cent, per annum.

New Hucknall Colliery Company Limited.—The directors
have declared a second interim dividend of 2J per cent, on
the ordinary shares.

NEW COMPANIES.

Anglo-Scandinavian Minerals Limited.—Private company.
Registered office, Milburn House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Registered July 2. To carry on business of mining and
metallurgy in all branches, and to acquire any mining rights,
claims, concessions, to explore and search for minerals and
metals, etc. Nominal capital, £15,000 in £1 shares. First
directors to be appointed by subscribers. Subscribers :—J.
D. Dodds, 12, King Edward’s-road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
assistant secretary; J. G. Rickarby, 208, Prince Consort-
road, Gateshead-on-Tyne, clerk.

Balkan States Development Trust Limited.—Private com-
pany. Registered July 1. To acquire petroleum, asphalte,
coal, or oil bearing lands, to sink wells, obtain and turn to
account any of the aforesaid; also to carry on business as
financiers, capitalists, etc. Nominal capital, £2,000 in
1,900 £1 participating preference shares, and 2,000 Is.
management shares. Subscribers (one share each) :—C. S.
Baggs, 8, Plato-road, Brixton, S.W., clerk; W. Webb, 27.
Bessborough-street, Westminster, S.W., secretary.

Brindley (Isaac) Limited. — Private company. Regis-
tered July 1. To acquire business of coal merchants carried
on at Blythe Bridge Station, Staffordshire, by Isaac
Brindley, and carry on business as coal merchants, barge
owners, team owners, etc. Nominal capital, £100 in £1
shares. Directors and subscribers (one share each) :—E. C.
Jones, 4, Bowden-road, Liscard, accountant; H. N. Brown,
6, River-grove, New Ferry, accountant.

Cardon and Company Limited.—Private company. Regis-
tered office, 61, Chancery-lane, W.C. Registered July 3.
Manufacturers of and dealers in fencing of all kinds, iron
and steel founders, wire manufacturers, timber merchants,
builders, and contractors. Nominal capital, £4,100 in
4,000 £1 preference shares, and 100 £1 ordinary shares.
Directors :—Henri Achille Cardon, of Penshurst, Kent,