OCCASIONAL NOTE

The memoirs of von Tirpitz have ceased to be of serious interest save as material for the study of morbid psychology, and, but for the fact that it is necessary to understand the kind of brutes from whose designs the world has been delivered, it would be pleasanter to bury his revelations out of sight. In the latest instalment of his explanations how he would have won the war if the Kaiser, Bethmann-Hollweg, and the rest, had not interfered with him, he argues that the Huns ought to have made it their primary objective to occupy the Channel coast; that Cape Grisnez should have been made an artillery centre, and that London should have been subjected to “a really effective concentrated bombardment” by “all available means from the land and air.” So we know, now, what ought to have been done with Berlin, according to von Tirpitz’s principles, when the Allies had the command of the air in their hands. The Huns openly and ostentatiously trampled on every principle of international law which stood in the way of their designs, but it is characteristic of von Tirpitz that he should accuse England of disregarding international law, by way of excusing the atrocities which the Germans did commit and the still greater enormities which they would have perpetrated if they could. We may be thankful that Tirpitz and his gang can now do nothing worse than gnash their teeth at each other over their failure.

FOREIGN INCOMES & INDIAN INCOME TAX

Judgment was delivered today in a case referred to the High Court by the Board of Revenue regarding the assessment of foreign incomes for the purposes of income tax. The reference of the Board of Revenue was at the instance of Mr. Ramanujam Chettiar, carrying on business not only in British India but also in French Cochin China. The question was whether income derived from a business at Saigon was taxable as income which accrues or arises in British India within the meaning of Section 3 of the Indian Income Tax Act. Their Lordships delivered separate but concurring judgments, holding that Mr. Ramanujam Chettiar’s foreign income was not assessable in British India. In short the Full Bench ruled that unless the foreign income was actually remitted to India it was not assessable for the purposes of income tax in this country.

SHIPPING COMPANY SUED

At the High Court, Justice Coutts Trotter disposed of a case in which Mr. V.T. Krishnawami Iyer, of Valavanur, sued the British India Steam Navigation Company of which Messrs Binny and Co., are local agents, for the recovery of damages for the non-delivery of 88 bags of ground nuts out of a consignment of 500 bags entrusted to them for carriage from Madras to Calcutta per SS Mercara. The plea of the defendant company was that by virtue of a clause contained in the bill of lading, the company was not responsible for any shortage as the goods had not been tallied, and that they were exempt from any liability. His lordship gave a decree for the value of 88 bags at the rate of Rs 11-4 per maund, and directed the vakils fee to be allowed.

AGRA CHEATING CASE 

A case of alleged cheating has been filed by the late manger of the Agra Bank in the court of Mr. S.H. Thompson, I.C.S., Joint Magistrate of Agra, against Mr. Rampershad Goyal, a well known citizen and a municipal commissioner of Agra. It is alleged by the complainant that a sum of Rs 5,000 was deposited by him with accused, which the latter subsequently denied having received. The complaint produced in support of his allegation a letter written by him to the accused, bearing an alleged endorsement by the accused acknowledging receipt of the amount. The defence is that the said endorsement is a clever forgery. Complainant was under crossexamination when the court rose for the day.

OIL BARGE WRECKED

An oil barge belonging to the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, en route from Yenangyaung to Seikkyi with 1,200 tons of petrol for the Indo-Burma Petroleum Company, became a total loss in the Bassein Creek on Sunday night. While the barge was on her way through the Bassein Creek she ran aground and efforts to get her off failed. The water fell and left her in such a position that her back broke and oil leaked out on to the water. This was the signal for the villagers near and far to go after the floating oil, which later caught fire. No damage was done by the fire and there was no loss of life or injury