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109
The goods were sold "with all faults and errors of description and without
question on the part of the buyer," and the purchaser, therefore, had no
guarantee as to their soundness.
An account of this seizure having been published in the public Press, the
following letter appeared in the Daily Teleg7'aph of the 7th December:—
"TINNED MEAT SEIZURE.
" To the Editor of ' The Daily Telegraph.''
" Sir,
"Referring to the article in your issue of to-day respecting certain tinned
"meats condemned by the City of London Authorities, we beg to point out that the
"statement that these goods formed a portion of surplus Army stores purchased by
"us from the Government in Pretoria is incorrect.
"We believe that most of the goods in question were purchased from the
"National Bank of South Africa in London, and are not connected in any way with
"the surplus stocks purchased by our Company from the Government in Pretoria.
"We shall be glad if you will kindly publish this letter, as we would like it to
"be distinctly understood that all the surplus stocks purchased by us from the
"Government were examined by the Medical Officer of Health at the various depots
"in South Africa, under instructions from the chief office in Pretoria, and none but
"perfectly sound goods were delivered to us by the Military Authorities.
"Yours faithfully,
"p.p. Maisel Bros, and Co. (Ltd.),
" L. Prechner, Secretary.
"62, London Wall,
" December 6th"
Upon enquiry at the Bank referred to the following disclaimer was
received:—
"It should be remarked that the documents for a portion of these
"goods were attached to Bills drawn by a South African firm on a
"London House: that these Bills being in the hands of the National
"Bank of South Africa, Limited, the latter were not directly concerned
"in the matter beyond that proceeds of the goods sold under their
"instructions through an intermediary, were applied by them in
"reduction of the Bills in question."
As in the case of the meat essence before referred to, these tins showed no
external indication of the dangerous nature of their contents. The auctioneers,
who in this case had themselves purchased the tins in question, advertised them
for sale in perfect good faith.
In this connection a question was asked in the House of Commons on the
6th December, 1906, when the President of the Local Government Board was