APRIL 29, 1908

SEVENTY HINDUS SUE
GOVERNMET
------------------------Dr. Monro Is Nominal Defendant in Biggest Suit Ever
Entered by Orientals – Verdict in Accident Case.
Seventy writs, rolled up in one, were to-day hurried at the head of Dr. A. S. Monro as
Dominion medical inspector and immigration officer by Hindus, “wrongfully detained
and imprisoned,” as the court said under the defective order in Council Judicially
annulled four weeks ago by Mr. Justice Clement.
Its invalidity chiefly consisted in its giving to the Minister of the Interior powers
which the Governor-General in Council could alone exercise, as the Dominion
Government later admitted by leasing a new order, on the lines suggested by the
court.
The Dominion Government is therefore virtually the defendant in this combined
consolidated suit, the largest ever issued by Orientals in Vancouver.
The amount of damage sought by each one is not named in the big writ entered in
their behalf by Messrs. Brydone-Jack & Ross. As a test case it names six plaintiffs,
Behari Lal and Jewalla Singh being the chief, and all six living at the Maple Leaf refuge
on Granville Street.
In the event of decision in their favor, it is probable that the Government will speedily
settle with the rest of the seventy held as prisoners under that defective first order in
Council. A jury which will assess the amount of damages in the test case, will hear the
action at an early date. Messrs. Macdonell & Jones will appear for the doctor.
A verdict of $3260 has been awarded by the jury to Johny Meehan, aged fourteen, in
his suit against the Woodward Department Stores, in which he sought $10,000 for
serious injuries, including the loss of one eye. He had been employed in running the
elevator, and the injuries resulted from contact with the weight while he was
adjusting a part of the works. Sir C. H. Tupper, K. C. acted for the plaintiff and Mr.
Joseph Martin, K.C., and Mr. J. E. Bird for the defendant.