Lord Desberough, the Chairman of the Thames Conservancy Board, was
the plaintiff in two libel actions in the Court of King's Bench which were withdrawn on Tuesday on the defendants unreservedly apologizing. The libel was contained in a letter which appeared in two Windsor newspapers from Mr. Stoneham, a member of the Windsor Town Council. After stating that the Conservators had decided in 1895 that all structural improvements should begin at Teddington and work upward, the letter, as it appeared in the Windsor Chronicle, went on to say that since Lord Desborougb. became Chairman the plan was abandoned and "thousands of pounds are being spent on Boulter's Lock on his lordship's property at Maidenhead." We congratulate Lord Desborough on taking the course he' did—a course which recent events have proved to be, unfortunately, out of fashion with politicians when similarly assailed. The Windsor papers did not say anything half as damaging about Lord Desborough as did the Eyewitness about Mr. Samuel and Sir Rufus Isaacs, yet they did not prosecute. Let us hope that Lord Desborough's example will not be thrown away.
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