[512]. The statement of the case, the arguments of counsel, the judgment of Mellor, J., and portions of the judgments of Crompton and Blackburn, JJ., are omitted.
[513]. Hibbs v. Wilkinson, 1 F. & F. 608; Turnbull v. Bird, 2 F. & F. 508; Hunter v. Sharpe, 4 F. & F. 983; Hunt v. Star Co., [1908] 2 K. B. 309; Walker v. Hodgson, [1909] 1 K. B. 239, 253; De Mestre v. Syme, 9 Vict. L. R. (L) 10; Davis v. Duncan, L. R. 9 C. P. 396; Queen v. Carden, 5 Q. B. D. 1, 8; Crane v. Waters, 10 Fed. 619; Kinyon v. Palmer, 18 Ia. 377; Bradford v. Clark, 90 Me. 298; People v. Glassman, 12 Utah, 238 Accord.
[514]. Stuart v. Lovell, 2 Stark. 93; Macleod v. Wakley, 3 Car. & P. 311; Green v. Chapman, 4 Bing. N. C. 92; Parmiter v. Coupland, 6 M. & W. 105; Whistler v. Ruskin, Odgers, Lib. & Sl., (5th ed.) 196; Wilson v. Reed, 2 F. & F. 149; Morrison v. Belcher, 3 F. & F. 614; Hedley v. Barlow, 4 F. & F. 224; Risk Allah Bey v. Whitehurst, 18 L. T. Rep. 615; Joynt v. Cycle Co., [1904] 2 K. B. 292; Massie v. Toronto Co., 11 Ont. 362; Burt v. Advertiser Co., 154 Mass. 238; Cooper v. Stone, 24 Wend. 434; Reade v. Sweetzer, 6 Abb. Pr. N. S. 9, n.; Ullrich v. N. Y. Co., 23 Misc. 168 Accord.
[515]. See contra, Williams v. Spowers, 8 Vict. L. R. (Law) 82.
[516]. Honest belief is no defense apart from privilege. Van Wiginton v. Pulitzer Pub. Co., (C. C. A.) 218 Fed. 483; Brandt v. Story, 161 Ia. 451; Tanner v. Stevenson, 138 Ky. 578; Reid v. Nichols, 166 Ky. 423; Sweet v. Post Pub. Co., 215 Mass. 450; Clair v. Battle Creek Journal Co., 168 Mich. 467; Ivie v. King, 167 N. C. 174; Spencer v. Minnick, 41 Okl. 613; Williams v. Hicks Printing Co., 159 Wis. 90.
Fair comment on public affairs and public officers. See Gandia v. Pettingill, 222 U. S. 452; Lowe v. News Pub. Co., 9 Ga. App. 103; Diener v. Star Chronicle Pub. Co., 230 Mo. 613; Cook v. Globe Printing Co., 227 Mo. 471; Merrey v. Guardian Pub. Co., 79 N. J. Law, 177; Bingham v. Gaynor, 203 N. Y. 27.
Fair comment on candidates. Walsh v. Pulitzer Pub. Co., 250 Mo. 142; Schull v. Hopkins, 26 S. D. 21; Ingalls v. Morrissey, 154 Wis. 632.
Fair comment on persons seeking public patronage. Ott v. Murphy, 160 Ia. 730.
[517]. Dibdin v. Swan, 1 Esp. 28; Heriot v. Stuart, 1 Esp. 437; Stuart v. Lovell, 2 Stark. 93 (semble); Tabart v. Tipper, 1 Camp. 350 (semble); Dunne v. Anderson, Ry. & M. 287, 3 Bing. 88; Soane v. Knight, M. & M. 74; Thompson v. Shackell, M. & M. 187; Macleod v. Wakley, 3 Car. & P. 311; Fraser v. Berkeley, 7 Car. & P. 621; Evans v. Harlow, Dav. & M. 507; Paris v. Levy, 9 C. B. N. S. 342; Eastwood v. Holmes, 1 F. & F. 347; Hibbs v. Wilkinson, 1 F. & F. 608; Turnbull v. Bird, 2 F. & F. 508; Strauss v. Francis, 4 F. & F. 939, 1107, 15 L. T. Rep. 674; Henwood v. Harrison, L. R. 7 C. P. 606; Jenner v. A’Beckett, L. R. 7 Q. B. 11; Mulkern v. Ward, 13 Eq. 619, 622; Whistler v. Ruskin, Odgers, Lib. & Sl., (5 ed.) 196; Duplany v. Davis, 3 T. L. R. 184; McQuire v. Western Co., [1903] 2 K. B. 100; Crane v. Waters, 10 Fed. 619; Snyder v. Fulton, 34 Md. 128, 137; Gott v. Pulsifer, 122 Mass. 235; O’Connor v. Sill, 60 Mich. 175; Dowling v. Livingstone, 108 Mich. 321; Cooper v. Stone, 24 Wend. 434 (semble); Reade v. Sweetzer, 6 Abb. Pr. N. S. 9, n. (semble); Adolf Philipp Co. v. New Yorker Staatszeitung, 165 App. Div. 377; Press Co. v. Stewart, 119 Pa. St. 584 Accord.
“The defendant was, in my opinion, entitled to have the jury’s decision, as to the plea of fair comment, whether or not, in all the circumstances proved, the libel went beyond a fair comment on the plaintiff and on the system of medical enterprise with which he associated himself, as a matter of public interest treated by the defendant honestly and without malice. The plea of fair comment does not arise if the plea of justification is made good, nor can it arise unless there is an imputation on a plaintiff. It is precisely where the criticism would otherwise be actionable as a libel that the defence of fair comment comes in. But the learned judge put aside that defence, and told the jury that unless a justification was proved they were bound to find a verdict for the plaintiff, and that, unless justified, the libel is not fair comment and cannot come within the region of fair comment.” Lord Loreburn, L. C., in Dakhyl v. Labouchere, [1908] 2 K. B. 325, 326–27.