A case decided in the High Court on Saturday has
called atten- tion to the extreme harshness with which the Stamp Acts some- times work. Messrs. Sassoon insured some opium for any Chinese port north of Hong Kong for £30,000. Half the opium was lost, and the underwriters, Mr. Harris and others, resisted. payment, partly on the ground that the plaintiffs had misdescribed the voyage, and partly because the stamp on the policy was invalid. The amount of duty ought to have been for £7 15s., and was for £7 10s. The Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Blackburn, and Mr. Justice Lush all decided for the plaintiffs as to the voyage, but all gave their opinion that the claim was void on account of the failure to comply with the Stamp Acts. They declared the case discreditable to the law, and denounced the conduct of the underwriters in putting forward such a plea. Mr. Harris has explained and proved that although determined to fight the case, he never intended to stand by this plea if it proved success- ful, and he has paid the money; but the incident shows that any underwriter less upright could with ease cheat his customers, and it renders some reform in the law inevitable. There should be a right to amend the stamp, with a fine for negligence.
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