On Monday a libel action brought by Sir John Ramsden
against the Daily News was heard before Mr. Justice Darling. In an article from a special correspondent published last October it was said that glassworks at Brotherton had ceased work under compulsion because the smoke injured Sir John Ramsden's trees, and that a hundred workers had been thereby thrown out of employment ; that Sir John Ramsden had charged an extortionate price for land for public works; that he let his cottages fall into ruins ; and that he had attempted to filch public rights. It was proved in court, and admitted by the defendants, that there was not a shadow of foundation for any of these charges. The accusation that an employer has callously brought the employment of the greater part of a village to an end for selfish reasons is peculiarly cruel. As a matter of fact, the firm who rented the glassworks left of their own accord, and Sir John Ramsden has since done his beat to find another tenant. Sir John Ramsden behaved most generously in not asking for damages. We wonder whether a Tory newspaper which cruelly libelled a Radical manufacturer could hope to be let off so easily.
Previous page
