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HALIFAX DISASTER RECORD OFFICE
ARCHIBALD MACMECHAN, F.R.S.C.
DIRECTOR
HALIFAX, N.S.

June 8, 1918.

JOURNAL

[newspaper clipping]

MAY TRY TO RE-OPEN MONT BLANC CASE
Local Lawyer Advised North End Clients as to Proper Procedure in Matter of Manslaughter Charges

It may be a surprise to the public to learn that there is being considered the possibility of further proceeding in the matter of manslaughter charges in connection with the Mont Blanc-Imo explosion.

J.J. Power, K. C., who has been consulted by clients in the devastated area with a view to having the proceedings advised his clients that at present they have no status in the matter, none of them having been bound over to prosecute, and that the only judicial body in existence that could discharge or set aside the habeas corpus order of Mr. Justice Russell in the case of the King vs. Mackey is the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

The clients were further advised that the cheapest and most expeditious way of proceeding would be to apply to His Worship the Mayor as Chief Magistrate of the City and ask him to request the Attorney General's Department to move the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council at the July sittings in London for leave to appeal from Mr. Justice Russell's order, or to instruct the Chief of Police, as informant on the charge, to apply for such leave and provide him with counsel and fund for the purpose.

Mr. Power submitted that the costs of the proceedings would be well spent in vindicating public justice. The case of Capt. Lemedec, he said, could run concurrently with the Mackey case. The case of Commander Wyatt had, however, been finally disposed of on its merits.

Mayor Hawkins will be approached in the matter and asked for early action in the matter.

MG 1 vol 2124 number 110