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63
paragraph (c) is read in conjunction with paragraph (b). If the
argument is sound it should bear a simple substitution process. Let
the porter be a policeman, the milk churns a man, and the offence an
assault; the above argument may then be paraphrased thus:—"The
policeman says he wasn't there and did not assault the man. That
practically amounts to this, that although he was somewhere else he
didn't allow the man to be assaulted, therefore the man wasn't
assaulted." This surely must be the legal analogue of the absent
treatment of the Christian Scientists.
The concluding sentence of the judgment is equally unacceptable.
"The burden suggested was an impossible one for the respondent to
discharge, and to hold that she was liable to be convicted unless she
negatived the possibility of the churns being tampered with during
the short time the) were at Wanstead Park Station would not lead to
substantial justice or a fair application of the Act." It evidently did
not occur to his Lordship that the burden which he says was an
impossible one for the respondent to discharge is being constantly
discharged by reputable milk vendors and might have been discharged
by the respondent with the same ease and in the same manner, by the
simple process of instructing her servant to meet the train instead of
arriving 45 minutes late. Had the train been conveying a young child
or a valuable jewel, Mrs. Sadler would have found no difficulty in
discharging this "impossible burden," and in these days when local
authorities are endeavouring to obtain a pure milk supply, the general
public have a right to demand that reasonable care shall be exercised
in the handling of such an important article of food. That
45 minutes may be considered a "short time" for the milk to have
remained unattended does not affect the question of principle. If 45
minutes, why not 45 hours? Indeed, some months ago in connection
with a previous action, I learnt that it was no uncommon thing for
milk to remain at Wanstead Park Station for long periods, in one case
amounting to 10 hours. Can it be reasonably suggested that
Mr. Warth's warranty to deliver pure milk to Wanstead Park Station