Dean C. Worcester, Plaintiff and Appellee, Versus Martin Ocampo, Et Al., Defendants and Appellants - Appeal From The Court of First Instance of Manila - Brief of Plaintiff and Appellee
Dean C. Worcester, Plaintiff and Appellee, Versus Martin Ocampo, Et Al., Defendants and Appellants - Appeal From The Court of First Instance of Manila - Brief of Plaintiff and Appellee
Dean C. Worcester, Plaintiff and Appellee, Versus Martin Ocampo, Et Al., Defendants and Appellants - Appeal From The Court of First Instance of Manila - Brief of Plaintiff and Appellee
CORNELL UNIVERSriY
Li.i
riH/iCA.N.Y. !'
CO'INELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924073778890
In compliance with current
copyright law, Cornell University
Library produced this
replacement volume on paper
that meets the ANSI Standard
Z39. '^8-198'^ to replace the
irreparably deteriorated original.
1993
R. G. No. 5932 .
Dean C. Worcester, \
W. A. KiNCAID,
Thomas L, Hartigan,
Attorneys for Plaintif^and Appellee.
MANILA
Pruss of E. C. McCur.LouoH & Co., Inc.
leio.
81489
UyiTED STATES OF AMERICA
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
Dean C. . Worcestei
Worcester, "^
/ ;
'
"I have visited all of the provinces; all
of the important islands, and vcr}^ many of
the unimportant islands. My acquaintance with
them is very extensive.
"BIRDS OF PREY.
"On some were
the surface of the globe
born to eat and devour, others to be eaten and
devoured.
"Now and then the latter have bestirred
themselves, endeavoring to rebel against an
order of things which makes them the prey and
food of the insatiable voracity of the former.
At times they have been fortunate, putting to
fhght the eaters and devourers, but in the
majority of cases they did not obtain anything
but a change of name or plumage.
"The situation same in all the spheres
is the
of creation: the relation between the one and
the others is that dictated by the appetite and
the power to satisfy, it at the fellow-creatures'
' -
-
.'expense, ^>:; •:-ii:-''v.-.i^,.--r=^ ^--^'f^?^?/:. a. , .
.'^ •"
immortal legend:
"OH, EL ESPERANTACO!"
"The rage of this tongue is so widespread
that governmental hereos are already able to
understand each other in it. For one thing
the matter of the cows belonging to Lack and
Davis was backed by the Honorinda Wor-
questta in 'esperinko,' and the 'Honorondo Sin-
kokobo Diputonto, por Samarmerluza,' is at
present very busy in drawing up a bill asking
for more camotes for his district, which bill
iswritten in esperantaco, to prove to the people
the utility of fhis fellow countrymen, and his
20
"VIOLATION OF ORDINANCES."
"The Authorities Complicated."
"Have we eaten infected meatV
—
"This morning as was not expected the —
Municipal Board, whose ordinances do not
appear to reach others than cocheros and other
small folk, had one moment of justice and
rejected an application for a privilege, made by
Lack and Davis.
"In past days we have echoed a violation
of an ordinance that the fathers of the city pre-
ferred to conceal in order not to give rise to the
ire of no less a man than the Secretary of the
Interior, under whose authority that infraction
has been committed."
"In bay aboard of a vessel a large number
the
of had
cattle been slaughtered, and the meat
was subsequently sent to a market, in violation
of the rules for the introduction of foreign cattle.
Last Thursday Alcalde Roxas made a motion
to the municipal Board ord,ering the prosecution
of Lack and Davis, the importers of said cattle,
2a
'
joT a viQldtion of the ordinance relative to the
slaughtering. Lack and Davis produced in their
behalf the authority of Mr. Worcester, and that
of Mr. Nesom, the Director of Agriculture. Hav-
ing invoked those names, members McDonnell,
Welch and Wylie opposed the Roxas motion.
"Roxas asked if the letter of a Commission-
er justified the infraction of a Municipal Or-
dinance. Welch said that it did not, but that
it would serve no purpose to be at outs with
Worcester.
"It clearly results that Mr. Worcester
is the one responsible for the violation; but as
Secretary of the Interior the Board pre-
he
ferred
is the
report.
lowing :
3—814S9
34
"It is well.
"We shall go to the sacrifice without hesita-
tion. To conviction, — if we are convicted
including the painful martyrdom to which our
conviction.and our ideas take us. * * * * *
The day will come when, as a result of our censure,
the powerful shall be less powerful, the tyrants
less tyrannical, and those who exploit more hu^
man." * * * *
subscribers.
On January 4, (Exhibit B)
1907, El Renaci-
miento published the following article:
Mr.
i' Worcester desires to Tpturn to these, his
very beloved islands, is why we write this edito-
rial in 'protest.
" 'This
Committee would with pleasure
second this movement, and would even make
it its own, as well as whatever the executive
na 3000 pesos. ;,
'
In common
parlance in Spanish, the word ac-
cionistameans not only a stock holder in a company
or corporation, but is also indifferently applied to
the individuals in all sorts of joint ownerships and
holdings in common, such as partnerships, joint te-
nancies and the like.
The witness Martin Ocampo, who was the last
to testify on this subject, brought out a little more fully
than did Arcadio Arellano or Angel Jose the idea of
77
established. . . . .
the owner?
A. yesterday that we had collected
I said
7,500 pesos for the purpose of improving the
paper, for the purpose of purchasing linotype,
etc., and putting it on the standard of a modern
European paper. But Mr. Kincaid himself
knows that 50,000 pesos are not enough to
make a newspaper in the Philippine Islands.
With 7,500 pesos we did not have enough to
start it.
"Q. Now,
wish to ask you again if this
I
caricature in Lipang Kalabaw, (The vision of
Belshazzar) doesn't refer to Aves de Rapiiia
(Birds of Prey), or if Aves de Rapiiia doesn't
refer to this caricature.
A. Iwhat I have already said in
ratify
regard to this point, that the last words of the
article of Aves de Rapiiia are the same words
as appears in this caricature, but that does not
mean that A^'es de Rapiiia refers to this cari-
cature, because this caricature appears to refer
to a historic legend.
Q. It refers to the Secretary of the Inte-^
rior, doesn't it and says so?
A. What Interior? It says here "Port-
folio (cartera) of the Interior", but what in-
terior? It might be a cartera which is an in-
side pockets case.
Q. But what
the portfoUo of the inte-
is
rior in the Philippines?
A. WeU, I can carry a "cartera" in the
inside of my coat.
87
now adays.
BIRDS OF PREY."
"On the surface of the globe some (as the
Spaniards and Americans) were born to eat
and devour, others (as the Fihpinos) to be eaten
and devoured.
91
POINTS OF LAW
We propose, in the first place, to take up our stat-
ute on the subject of Ubel and from that, in the light
of the authorities, attempt to ascertain the
ELEMENTS OF DAMAGE
Our statute is larger, wider and much more libe-
ral on the subject of damages, for libels, than the Eng-
lish and American common law. It sets at rest, too,
some questions which are open to discussion in the
courts in the United States.
Section 7 act 277, the libel law says:
"In addition to such criminal action, any
person Ubeled as hereinbefore set forth shall
have a right of civil action against the person
99
"The enjoyment
of private reputation is as
much a constitutional right as the possession of
life, liberty, or property. It is one of those
rights necessary to human society that underlie
the whole scheme of human civilization.
'
for."
Elmar v. Fessenden, 154 Mass. 427, 28
N. E. 299.
EXEMPLARY DAMAGES
The authorities which we shall presently cite
may be of assistance on this point.
There is some conflict in the decisions at home
as to whether injuries to reputation and feelings are
actual damages, as distinguished from exemplary
damages, but our statute here settles that question
by ranking them as actual damages, wholly distinct
from exemplary damages. The language is: "and the
person so injured shall be entitled to recover * * *
damages for injury to his feelings and reputation,
and in addition such punitive (exemplary) damages
as the Court may think will be a just punishment to
the libeler and an example to others."
"Wliere defendant published an out of town
dispatch, which was rendered libelous by an error in
transmission, without having the same repeated to
insure accuracy, punitory damages are justified on the
ground of a wanton disregard of the rights of others,
though repeating the dispatch would have involved
extra expense and loss of time. Press Pub. Co. v.
McDonald, 63 Fed. 238, 11 C. C. A. 155, 26 U. S. App.
167, 26 L. R. A. 53."
"If the jury find from the tone and tenor of an
article of criticism that the writer is actuated by
general malice, a disposition to scandalize the plaintiff's
works, though not arising from personal ill will, grow-
ing out of any personal acquaintance with plaintiff,
they may award exemplary damages. Spooner v. Da-
niels,Fed. Cas. No. 13, 244.a"
"Actions of libel, so far as they involve questions
of exemplary damages, and the law of principal and
agent, are controlled by the same rules ias are other
8-81489
114
AMOUNT OF DAMAGES
"The court is not authorized to set aside a verdict
for $45,000 in an action for libel, appeared
where it
the libelous matter had been taken, was, a little later, dis-
missed as to the plaintiff and another name substituted
in lieu of his; the paper which had published the libel
immediately published this change, stating that plain-
tiff's name had been included in the complaint by
who, with his own funds, sets up, and puts in operation,
an agency, as fraught with danger to the public as is
a newspaper, placing it in charge of agents of his own
choosing, would escape responsibility for injuries in-
flicted by it, on the theory that he has donated it to
some entity which does not admit its ownership and
consequent responsibility for it, must show a valid
execution and acceptance of such donation by the clear-
est kind of evidence.
we cite arts. 621, 623, 626, 628, 629, 630, 631, 632
of the Civil Code, and the legislative history of the
world (including our own libel law and Sec. 5 of the
Philippines Bill), on the subject, which shows that
have sought to solve the news-
legislators, in all ages,
paper problem, by endeavoring to secure to the public
the benefits of newspapers, and at the same time to
protect it against the dangers and abuses of them.
Sec. 5 of the Philippines Bill provides:
difficult of comprehension.
It being therefore the general rule that all things,
capable of appropriation, have an owner, he who alleges
the contrary must clearly prove it, since" exceptions
against general rules are construed as strictly as pos-
sible." 1 Bart. Conv. 68; 5 Jones N. C. 63.
To the proposition, advanced especially in the
interest of Galo Lichauco, to the effect that he is not
liable, because Martin Ocampo testified that he had
defaulted in his contract, by not contributing the
funds subscribed by him, we reply that, even on the
supposition that he could escape responsibility by
alleging his own failure to comply with his contract,
the coiirt below, in view of the state of the evidence
and the failure of Lichauco to testify as a witness in
explanation of the facts, correctly held him to be a
joint owner with the rest.
The ownership of Lichauco having been publicly
announced in El Renacimiento, without contradic-
tion or protest from him, notwithstanding the long
period of time which had elapsed and during which
he presumably would have contradicted such announce-
inent had it not been true, and Arcadio Arellano, who
We we beUeve it necessary
also cite, not because
to do so, but simply because we happen to have it at
hand, the following from the decision of the Supreme
Court of Spain of the 23 of December 1903:
"El "principio de nuestra legislacion tra-
dicional, consagrado nuevamente por los arts.
1.137 y l._138 del Codigo civil, de que la obliga-
ci6n unica contraida a cargo de varios deudores
6 en beneficio de varios acreedores es man-
comunada cuando expresamente no se pacte
la solidaridad, no es aplicable al presente caso,
ya porque no cabe pacto algiino en obligacio-
nes que no tienen su fuente en la convencion,
ya tambien porque la naturaleza del acto jurf-
156
353;
Singer Man. Co. v. Holdfodt, 86 III, 459;
Quigley v. Cent, Pa. R. R. Co. 11 Nev.
364-5;
Redf. on Ralw. 515 et seq.
W. a; KlNCAiP,
Thos. L. EU-rtigan,
Attorneys for appellee.
October, 1910.