The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-12-05 00:00:00

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ai
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v -diet,- but
. Was 1114, Or was it not,
ladd 'l‘ft 44 Mr. Martin
, in/V.116d no alienis-
t as .‘
tint the option of
ooMpe soder the act to
ae. perfustly i &wore of that
. ilea .. sy magidairle if he would
kindly point out anything else in MI report Of which he
had rearm to gemplain.—Mr. 01 , If 4
.he did not
Ty h the subject with a view of ' the merits of
i t report-, but for the. purpose of as in; in futere
e thing that was Mid might be reparted..-t-I replied
th t to adopt suoh a course would be impamilble, as it
would swell our reports beyond all bound, always
endeavoured to.givrvall that! oansidefed re ut to the
ease. The subject iruheersteintlylropped., 4 the usual
petty ressionel busineu was proceeded With.
As my report has . by_ _interested parties, been
charactercd ti "one-aided' and "sensational," I may
ante that having been conceded . with the preen for
nearly 20'yeare, I have had abundant tpe ti, learn, e'er
this, that nothing is, so calmilateti.ts, bring • reporter'
into diuirase or the paper he represents into disrepute.
as to give .• one-eiderl" reports. I bus.also learned to
abhor seturational paragraphs, written titnply for gen.
setional purposes, and to gratify a Ta appetite.
hope this will be deemed oufliMent to at that in my
i' report of the ease in question, I neither intended the
1 ope'nor the other; When Croat teas .arreigned before
'tlieniagidrates, he made his statenleot, on pleading
'g4ty, before any evidence *as givem ' I et once per.
\indeed the cue ess an important one, and accordingly
took a full note Of all that vu Mid, .both by maple
traits and witneseest. I have since Ogainksoked over mp
notes tpollee ill WM really justified in gisisip the report I
did. and having done es, I can come to no other eon.
closlon than that the parties who base been so loud
Ii Breit -complaints would have acted far mote
"prirdently and sensibly, if, instead ef lading fault with
what I wrote, they had presented me with • piece of
, pin ,te
_Neither the s muter, nor Oge. -prosecutor,
aertaiidy would have shone more brightly' bad r
.rl7ported all that was said. Mr. Martin, I may i...9*
' nay, said a great deal more than he would have been
allowed to say before any stipendiary Mediate. He
professed, indeed, to kno* a Vast desalinate than Mr.
Bartlett admitted he knew himself. id.b, went go
fir as to flatly contradict the p I tail
insisted on prosecuting.
Mr. Bartlett, whim quettionedi Would inittnairtake
to positively contradict the prisoner as he would not
tell, he said, without referring to his firr-book, what
work Cross had done. In short he, eliglik seemed
to know far leas than a person standing in ibe telation
he did with the prisoner might reasonably be expected
to know.. By degrees, however, after to. Martin had
said, "Don't you know," so and so, Mr. Bartlett! and
"don't you do" so and so! Mr. Bartlett seemed to
think that Crabs had more than four moothe' tut-work;
he afterwards felt confident he had, and at last was
"pretty sure" be might say the man worked at trit•
work eight months out of the twelve. lint he ac-
knowledged he could not say bow much it wax, not
having his hibour-hook.
I may add, that neither Mr. Martin nor Mi. Bartlett
gave evidence upon oath. And even bad they been
sworn, what they said would not have been received as
evidenee by • single judge or stipendiary magistrate In
the land. Was I then wrong in omitting from toy
retort haphazard statements, not given se evidence,
and which have since proved to be utterly
.inourrect, to
the prejudice of John Cross? I stated in my report
that Mr. Bartlett gave the prisoner egood character,
and that he had the thatching and other tuk.work. -..Pid
I do the master an Injustice? I, mercifully to Mr. Martin,
forbore to state that he pressed for • conviction, and
that, in order to prejudice the magistrates he told them
that he" knew Cross was far bitter paid then he had
stated." Did Ido Mr. Martin an injustice!
.• ' If then neither the prosecutor nor master have cause to
,Ind fault—unless, indeed, that I forbore to say anything
•akainat them—what have the magistrates to And fault
with? They wish all that was ,aid reported. Well,
'Oppose that in my report I had said that Met Bartlett
.etelted that Crises used to have more mosey, and might
kiwi more money now had he not taken his boy. away,
when the Chairman turned round upon Oroas and said'
.eharply—" Oh, you have a boy, have you? You never
told us that. We thought we should find you out it
we sent for your master I" I did not report that the
Bench treated Mr. Bartlett's "thoughts" for "facts."
amd that when the prisoner attempted to speak, he was
told by the Chairman, sharply, to bald his tongue. I
- dbleot report that when Mr. Bartlett said the prisoner
I had all hia thatching, the Chairman said he knew •
farmer who A few days ago paid Itiathatelur 210, there.
by implying that Cross had -210 for that work. I did
not report that the magistrate' whispered something
about seven days, but that when they jumped to the
oonclusion, without evidence, that John Cross had told
untruths, notwithstanding his previous good oharaeser,
they gave him 14 days' imprisonment. Did I then,- pi
.., ,
my report, do the magistrates MI injuiltioe!
I consideratedly and mercifully, towards all perdu,
left out all the bye-talk not given in evidence. I
simply stated the ohirge and the prieoner.ii 'tenoned'.
I perceived, what I thought, a case of great hardihip..; I
threw aside all the false garments that it was widen.;
soured to throw over the monster—oppression—and
*owl it upon a pedestal that all /night use it in its
naked deformity. I admit that I knew, fall well, It
aribuld attract the noises of Samaritans, and I was
7ra3iir well satiated that it would call forth remarks
m them who would be far better content for me to
Port the case as it wee reported in all the other local
papers. As leporter, however, to a free and indepene
dent press. I felt I bad a 4tity to perform, and I did it.
DM I act right or wrong. I leave the world to judge.

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THE "DORSETSHIRE LABOURER," JUSTICEFF
JUSTICE, AND OUR REPOuTER.
To the Editors.
Gentlemen,-As a ri.le, I sin not an admirer of hero
worship. When I reported the ease of JohtfOrdie wi'aia
was charged before the Wimborne Bench with stealing
a hurdle, I had no idea of making A hero of him. The
man was an utter stranger to me. He pleaded Katy,
and stated how he was situated. It struck me foreihte.,'
that he was a type of many others so landed in erre as
being " the bold peasantry, their country's pride," and
that public attention ought to be directed to the matter.
I have been accused ef giving a false report. Mr.
Bartlett, the man's master, does not say so in words,
but in his letter which appeared in the Express of last
week his language implies it. Mr. Martin, the prose-
cutor, writing in vindication of the eourse he took.,
comes out more boldly and, calls it an exparte statement.
And a gentleman who is evidently connected with the
Wimborne Bench, writing to a contemporary, after-
taking the trouble to state that Mr. Bartlett 4 "a
most kind-hearted man," goes on to say that all the
sensation raised about Cross "has been ceased through
an untruthful paragraph appearing in • local paper,"
Jo vindication, therefore, of that " local paper," with,
which I have been connected between four and' five
years, and of my own veracity as your reporter Of that
"paragraph," I feel it incumbent on-repel! to, offer &
few remarks. I challenge • reply. Let the public', be
the judge.
Whether Mr. Bartlett is or is not " • most kind.
hearted man," cannot, so far as I can see, hate much
to do either with the stealing of the hurdle, or the
truthfulness or untruthfulness of my report. Cross
himself stated before the Bench that he had "no fault
whatever to find of him as • master," and as his true.
scendent benevolence has been imported into the case
for • specific object, by one who is "not a farmer," I
am perfectly willing to encode the point that he is "a
most kind-hearted man." Belden. does not Mr.
Bartlett sing his own praises on that score, when he
, tells us in his letter that Cross's circumstances 'are
I and have often been relieved from my own house?"
But unfortunately, like a great many of us, Mr.
Bartlett has such a curious way of displaying his
" kind-heartednese," that, however much the Crone
1 family may appreciate it, the outside world cannot, or
will not, see it. Indeed, some of the public have the
ill-nature to think that Mr. Bartlett's letter was
ambulated, if not intended, to stop the tide
of public charity which was beginning to flow
In. Mr. Bartlett has lived long enough in
the world to know that people are sometimes
. very inquisitive-that they often want to poke their
nose into things that don't concern them. Well, as he
. has been at so mush pains to inform the world through
tlie medium of the Dorset County Express and the
Daily Telegraph that the circumstances of Cross "are
reasidered and relieved" from his house, the public
wish to know what he gave towards the support of the
wife and ehildren while the husband and father was in
! gaol. Did he give them a single farthing besides the
51. that was at the time owing the man for labour?
There is another thing the public are also very curious
about. As there have been sollaa strangeramoure afloat,
they would very much like to know, if Mr. Bartlett
Would be PO good as to inform them, whether he re.
eived any letters containing remittances for the support
of the family while Crosi was in gaol, and if he did,
whether those remittances were returned to thesendere,
or appropriated as requested? Two such letters in-
tended for Mr. Bartlett, farmer, of Shapwick, through
being improperly directed, fell into the ludds of Mr.
Beriett, farmer, of Lreigharn. The latter gentleman
perceived, on opening those hatter', that the man's
master had no further business with them than being
requested to be the medium of conveyihg them to the
wife, and he very wisely and humanely saved his name-
sake that trouble. He went over to Mrs. Croft himself,
first to be assured that the objects for whom the remit-
tances were intended were deserving of dimity, and i
secondly, if they were, to assure himself that they had
St. Be did not require to beer the womah's tale, lie
NM the tidy, yet poverty-stricken condition of the
family' he saw the husband's certificate for good con,
dnin hanging against the wall, and he delivered his
welcome message.
Of Cross's alleged average earning of 12e. a week I
will speak hereafter. If I give the master credit for
giving the man tutwork four months out of the
twelve, I give credit for a great deal more tut•work
than, according to my calculation, is dna to him. For
eight months in the year, then, Cross had but 83 per
week, Is. of which was deducted for rent. One of tie
London illustrated papers, this week, gives a sketch of
the interior of a labourer's house in Dor at. But the
sketch is not that of John Cross, for the engraving shows
three chairs, whereas John Cross has but two, An
old table and • stool or two make up the
rest of the furniture down stairs. It is not •
model cottage; but to the honour of the builder-it was
a long time ago-no sparse is lost by useless staircases.
John Cross and his family were well content to climb to
their loft by means of a sort of ladder. I have been at
some pains to inquire as to the man's moral character,
previous to the late unfortunate affair. I have spoken
to several farmers, and, from all that I have been able
no learn, it wee irreproachable. He attended his
church, and all his children, who were able, attended the
Sunday echool. The wife keeps her children dean and
tidy, although, necessarily, poorly clad. One thing
puzzled me while prosecuting my inquiries-it was to
End out the "bad managereent at home" of which Mr.
Bartlett complains; but I think I have found out the "
key la. unlock that mystery. , It is this: Although
Jahn Cross had but seven shillings a week to parches('
food for nine persons, the wife expended siepenoe of
that sum to pay for the edecation of four of the children
gout to the National School. Does not this show reek- :.
Pea extravagance ! What ambition, too, on the part of .
the father and mother to wish their children to learn to .
read! This reduces the sum left to Mrs. Cross to nue. •
phase food for the household, to say nothing of clothe,
soap, candles fuel, Ste., to 81d. per head per week.
Who, after thle, will not agree with Mr. Bartlett that
the cause of the man's poverty was "bad management
at home?" It is no intention of mine to act the part of
• special pleader. I shall not take upon myself to vin-
dicate all or any one of the ache of John Cross. If he '
enteric-tad an ill-advised marriage, his, unfortunately,
is not an isolated ease. Bat it could not have been the
lM family of either the man or the woman, as ham been
alleged, that ceased his present poverty, seeing that the ,
ehildren of those former insmages have all left the ,
rental roof, being capable of providing for themselves. i::: •
' 'When the fortunes of the two familia" were first united, "A SLIGHT COLD,* 00110111 L-Few are awaire-4-4he
the Irian was in better ciniunateneee than he was either Importance of checking • cough or "Slight Gold" in its
before that second marriage or at the time of hi appro. Ere stage : that which in the begining would yield to
bension, several of the children being able to go to work a mild remedy, if neglected, soon attacks the lung&
and thereby add to the income. If there were more "Brown's Bronchial Troches" give sure and almost
mouths to feed there were more hands to earn bread. iremelMte relief. ' "The Troches" have proved their
Let us now tern to the tutwork, by which means, it efficacy by a teat of many yeses, and have reserved
has been asserted, the man's earnings of Bs. per week testmoniala from eminent men who have used them.-
were raised to an average of 123., per week for the sold by all Chemists, at ls. lid. per Box.- Bee
a O.
whole year. I suppose the 70 "lug" of hedging was Adrertisment in another column.
performed before last Christmas, as in the record of .
• the man's labour for the present year, Ido not flied it IMPORTANT TO Momises.-Mrs. Witalow's Soothing ?
mentioned_ At this hedging the man's earnings wee Syrup, for children teething, is perfectly harailose. It 'sr.
about 10a. per week for three weeks. From January produces natural quiet sleep by relieving the child -......
to the end of May, the whelp of the work' seems to from pain, and the little cherub swam "RD bright as
have been done_ be the do. _lnJaae theretireetWo' i button. It awes wiod, °olio, and regulates the bowies,
--he' thatching. to July 14 days' turnipalsOelig, whee gives rest to the mother, and health to the chit& lt
sing from five o'clock in the memeft till eight Eas been thirty years in WM ill America, audio so* sold
it he earned El 10s. 9d. above the umal day n this Country by all thx princiapal medicine dealer at
In August he hod four days' harvesting, earning is. led per bottle, .-Ste Advert/emelt iii another
above day wages, and during the remainder of Gelman,. -f ' ' re, ' 'Or ' 'I '• ,'-'• il
,g ' -
ahe was engaged in thatching. In September $
....,„_-' ei 61 - —..
nog gpreading one week, earning le. extra,
obey brought him tee days' more tut-work, by min- MOttipsiCoasegs `OO, .
THNES l 1 I
CRESTI
s,
Ds. A r u
Logos,i 11E11 ,
01 t sti :
e was enriched another le. 44. Aooording \tm co" 114•11419 r" W"ifi•L-Pro• liL "C'• °rd,
tement, then, we heel i2S. days' tut-work-ed. diseases of the chest
idamthrk.,et-panlaede,otlieekher moodwicke : nres
of the that/shim-daring the-first 10 months Of cotrica.nuemr.pktico.,4„
*sent year, whereby John Cross received mid lungs, regelarla • ooeurring. One person in
41. more than he would have done had he tied Vleeredge. named Jame Riehedeon, who has been an
work. Ido not know through what source my
arithmetical man for ,oearly twenty years, dealaree that
' ' ,
nt derived his figures-whether from the she,' are mrirtr.,'et_baa (rising his r'." words). H.
_ "'• . ‘ ' '
labour book or the account Cross kept himself, feels quite.-•
a . !spilt= through this truly valitable
had double this atuouut of task labour been meialeimee-
..rmied, what become* of Mr Bartletee statement, ~.,,:fe.. _.,
•
' speaking without his book," Oaths man had tut-
work it months out of the 12 ;or of Mr. Martin's, elle a raP
id cure of asthma, oonsumption, amen and
1....r.,14000,
.. 1.8 POLKONIC WAPIEtS give indent lettof
3utor's, that Cross was employed chiefly ou .
u allowing One occasion•
toes are immediately y
s ? ally to dissolve in the month. To Singers and Public
all disc of the breath end nog& All throat aff
left the thatching to speak of in • separate • d -.
or They have a pleasant Mee. Prise ls. lid.,
he other tut-work, it is quite evident, was • SPo:kela they
„Aisne. But the thatching was • perfect God.
i2ngfir 4.. 6d., and 11 - box. Sod byill Medicine
It brought in the enormous sum of Bit for, ...s. ' .-,',
are invaluable for clearing an strengthen'
something like five or tie reeks' work, Jilin . • words "1)s. admires has the worsts De. LoOOCICS WAPilia."- ix
'. the whole of the thatching both on the home m
white letters on a red ground in the government Shine.
Vendors. i:ADTION.-B.7.Pervery box of the GINOINU
il an Dean's farm, four lam dilatant. He. ' without woc •
from early dawn till dart at, niglit--eay 17 -
Wi
'day, and was obliged to have an maistept. , AN 11‘434n19N.
h words ets, Mal 000sTsarms AND
or lie had his eldest girl to meta bias.' •flad .. Flui.Low•l's.Orrraitywr • Flues-Ready to Hand.
, her, he would have had to pay a bottom,: ~_siery g „a sadgpilvon‘ mon tele, • natural ern.
ssee El or 30s. out of the tB.
.Whila wsi)EIPIt ont path, t nike Presreice of 50 rings keit/slow much more
_ Je Berm, being four miles front limn ,he send:lna& graceful would lhat compassion be if it could supply the
daughter slept among the rough striae on the farm, in means of relief. Professor Holloway offers to everyone
order to be at their work every moment of day-light, the never failing power of thus rendering the most
and to avoid having to pay for extra lodgings. "Thus essential service to afflicted humanity. His noble
much for the tut-work." remedies reach the seat of every malady, whether it be on .
In your last week's impression appears a letter from the surface or bidden in the darker recesses of the
Mr. Bartlett, in which he states that at the time John interior of the system, and thus estimate it, if that be
Cross was taken into custody he was paying him at the possible. Plainly printed instructions for the guidance
rate of lls. per week. I was so astounded at this state- of invalids envelope every package of the e restoratives,
meat, after his declaration before the Wimborne bench the reputation of which is notonly European, but extend
that he paid only Sc. for day work, that I resolved, if throughout the globe.

ve been
weeks' th,
by wofrk'
tt night
rages,
t. Bd4
menth
had dung
Optober I
,ioh the was
ais ststemeni
elusive a the
9 present
190. 4i
t day t.
.nformant
masters 1
but even
performed,

and .
which

l.the
Li
:

eta months out
proseoutor's, that
-.work
14113 :
The
a *at
send. It
perhaps,
Crone had
farm fdad
worked j fi
es par.
I Year
, had
li!e E.
s Isrm,
itet ale'

tsek•
I ha)

item.
IN"

worke
hours

This
I. not

I ought, I-think, in conclusion, to say that I extmedii
infilY regret baying come into oolliaion with the Wim-
borne Bench of inagistrates. I have, parentally, ex-
perienced from them the greatest kindness. If -1 hate
ever required information, it has always been afforded
me with the greatest urbanity. As arida, Iheve found
them to act with great leniency toWarda prisoiters—and
edoecnally towards these who have come before them with
geed charm:item But I pesir,e respectfully to infant' them
that, for about seven years, my daily otionmation was to
report the police proceedings of two. 'ours., presided
over by a atipendary magistrate. One day a partyaame
into cants to complain of cease I had reported, The
magistrate told him that reporters, graeraily, under-
stood their business romarkably well, and if they did pot,
their employers would soon find it out, and hat-be had
always found it best to let them take their own course.
With respect to the atse in question, be said he himself bad
been so pleased with my report, that on taking his seat
on the Bauch that day he had taken the opportunity of
saying that he would like to see it inserted in ever paper
in the country. Had that, or any other gentlemsn, ex-
pressed • wish that the " figiapwick Caw' ahould appear
in all other papers tic y would have bad their wish
gratified, except in regard to a few local oontempo•
ratios who' through jealousy of ourselves Of tear of
offending their friends, took no notioe of it.
I am, Gentlemen, kc., _
WM. BROOK&

I 'ea.:,

iltritioirteritlAforart:lOT-=-1 --
ard
- tlatrl ;Malt e
eat reported hard I-
Ihtt 1)60 labrr-
'abort *Atm O. i
'arOaig,l ?ordered
mace rermedithal a,
thee it• taartli flut
ild
broil& atotTo. let, ereter
ireetlerhai e ~, h
he 'wee t4O aid ' for, teat
thatil labour 1-11* Olra'
inmated cetP4w7.44111 The
'tivelm4 to4t
tt4 •,e •tlii4
impo.Tg were
I,