The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1866-07-10 00:00:00

WEDNESDAY.

FIRST COUUT.—Before the Lord PoßTwAii Chairinar.
Tile e mar% was ei cue 1 at ten o'clock Pio rosining.
The grawl jar. I'm vials tewn sorOril, and the ptoolain
Via.: and isiowiraltir read, his lordship delis, ri d
the

CHM= TO TIM GIANCD JUST.

Chet'omen. of the Ogan.d
..7try

Tarn bers ono,

more to adlteT. 100, but I'dia beim that.

m.gittrates thin smoky, who bays been at all
•inies emir. ding!, kind to me, would base been obibe
to egret, upon tame gentlemen who would become the
assistant of my extol,. ut Mend, Mr. Player, in admini.-
teeing the ciinsinal Potiee of MOB eosety. I feel th.t
I 1e..., perhaps% at this *Mona ef the year just xtrength
eni.och to di the duty of to-day, but I cannot antici-
pate that at other twrioda of the year I be able to
do Stet Justine which ever? auto ought to do who
undeitaltes the criminal bonier of the e nutty. The
eiv.l bosineee of the isintity I hope a little time longer
he able I. ascot in adminbacting bat I trout that
. _ .

bef.;• the next reersions, th. Otakr.vill h-a•-• selected
some genth man in ahem they eat place et infidenee to
as.ist Mr. Floyer, who will presi le in this omit, be
Inking the business in the other eriminal court of
this county. I have always felt great comfort
from the way in which the grand jury of the
county have resisted me, and I shall do my beat girder,
but I feel that A is hardly lik.ly I shall be able to
undertake the duty again. B. fore alluding to the Moll
on the caloodar. I will just touch upon two or three
topics which I think it mi.,' be worth while to mention
to you. I litid in the very valuable decrement which
oar Chief Constable lays before the Court annually.
one or two (sett to which I should very moth like to
tall !attention. Amongst the returns whieh are given is
one which shows the cornier of vagrant. taller d by
the constabulary since their appointment as assititant
relieving officers. They have already been appointed '
in Ire distlicts, and I must say ttat if the
rest of the county look carefully into Vies°
returns, they will and every encouragement for employ-
ing tia police for that purpose, as the diminution of
profelaional mendicants silk" the relief has been under
their guidance is Fem.-thing very atriking indeed. In
the Sherbert,e division the number of goolesaional
vagrants in 1863 was 306. That division ham still •
large number of vagrants of that clam, but they were
reduced to 281. But in Winshorne division where thee*
men amounted to 126 in 1863, they have amounted in
1665 to 153, bowing that in the two district. of
Wimborn• and Sherburne, which are on the great
lined of toad, the professional mendicants have
increased ; and, th• refore, it is exceedingly important
that the police should have cognisance of them,
as these are the clue of men -ho ought to he
brought before the magiatrats s and punished.
unfortunate mendicants have been greatly reduced in
numbers, and the professional vagrants have very much
increked. Ti,. totsl number relieved previous to toe
•ppoint meat of the polies in the five unions was 2,369,
and the total relieved noes the polies have had the
cliar‘e of them, is reloced to 1.432. Really the diminu-
tips is so striking, although the professional mendi-
cants have increased in number, and the c.sual vagrants
diminished, that it is very desirable, as I think, other
parts of the county should outsider whether they
would not do well to avail themselves of the
services of the polices in this matter There is another
subj et en which I have always felt anxious. I think
it is exeendingly desirable that men should not be sent
for trial either at seseions or anises without there is stair
and reasonable prospect of obtai-log • conviction which
ought to follow upon any oommi Intent to prison. By
looking at the Aatement No. 8 in the chief constable's
returns we find that of 88 persoos committed for trial in
18611,86 were acquitted and against 8 others no hills
were found, shoeing that something like one-third of
tb• parties committed for trial were declared to he
Innocent, Now I find on ex•inineing similar
returns for the whole of England that the
proportion of perkss not tionvieted who are
sent for trial is cots* fifth, and I. Dorset we have as high
a Proportioe as one-third What can be the Caine of
It? Since I have had the honour of sitting in this
chair, I have dons everything I can to discourage the
eominittal of persons tubes it is foood the charges will
bear the investigation of the greed jury and that of
the petty jury afterwards. boast say this, I can °lily
attribute it the fact that for the most part Duch
persons have been committed for trial by men
whose experience as magistrates is not such
as would lead them to discriminate carefully in such
ease.; sad that a little Dinkins I am afraid of
the feeling which in my youngm days was very
well knows, bat is little manifested now,
though the sooner it is extinct the better,
"I know he is a had fellow, whether lie is guilty HI this
ease or not, and am quite suns it will do him no harm
to be locked up for • couple of months, and began stand
his chance at the triad." Another way in which this
feeling was manifested was, "1 won't take this m.n
before that justice became he will sift the eke, and I
shall not get hint committed. but I will take him before
this magistrate who has had less egperience, and he
will be committed, and then we shall see what mimeo of
it" 'rho magistrate who does not commit freely is
looked on by the prosecutor ea • man who has
not done hiss justice; hut, we must harden
onr hearts on this matter, sad if we do, we
shall bring our aveeage of honsennvicitions at trial in
comparison with Ilse number committed, as low as
other parts of England. These are matters upon which
it is well to observe at Uinta, and they may be useful
hereafter. I would say one word upon • subject which
Ike pressed on the whole kinriom, and has premised
upon this part of the country—thanks to God for his
money--very lightly; I mean the cattle plague. The
cattle plague, as you know, has been in some
',keels excessively destructive. In Dorset we have Ind
very little of it, but we have been obliged as a Court to
aceept the evidence orbieb men who call the cuselveslearned
in this matter have cloven to give, and have mesa-
queutly been obliged to believe that the canes brought
before us have really bees the rinderpest. It would be
very presumptuous in me to say that I did ant believe
it. but l think it is quite as presumptuous for these
men who have never seen eases of cattle plague before I
to assert that "This I. the worst ease I have ever seen,
and anima the whole of the animals are kills d at once
there will be no safety stall for the county." No doubt
oar discretion has been limited so the evidence before
es, and if it has been the riaderpest I bops we have been
tolerably suomseful in preventing the spreading of it by
adopting the measures which as prudent and reason-
able men we might he expected to take. Our great
deities has been to prevent animals coming from infected
phioes into this county ; we have done our best to kesp
snob cattle out, and by that I think have saved
the ciente from a great scourge. But I have felt
throughout the whole matter, that the great body of
the people of thi, country have been put to more inoon-
venieni • bg the arrangements of man, than they have
suffered at the hand of God. I have never felt other-
wise than that we should have trusted more to Prowl- t
denies and Isle to the imperfect knowlelge of men, who
have been obliged to plead their ignorance as tames for
taking the steps they have done. I trust that before
our next Quarter Seeidons, we shall be able to obtain
the consent of the Privy Council to deebue
that Genet is not an infested county, so that
we may be able to carry on huskies/ as ee used to do.
But this Court has no authority to permit the fairs earl
I markets to be opened, Or for cattle to be moved with.
l out eareilleates. Until Dorchester and Chickerell, have
for • suMeieut length of time, hese proved to be free ,
from the disease, we secant ask the -Privy Council to
allow us to carry on our basins.a without any restric-
tions. It so happens shall bevels my possession lb.
meson of the live and dead stock in the county at the
time the invasion was expected. and I byre ken th.i
details of the life stook wording to the retires asked I
for by the Government daring this arida& Bat them
last returns. I am afraid, were not eery fally =We
out, and not very generally supplied. The tioneequessee
I. that in this county we appear to hats leareked in
cattle only to the number of 4,400, while our sheep
have Increased only at the rate of something like five
per cent. I e isnot believe that that represents the in-
crease of our live stook between the years 1798 sad
1866. I attriliute the non-compliance of cattle owoers
with the retreat of Government in this matter to
timidity, in 1,1 belief that if they supplied the statistics
It would lead to greater taxation or soma trouble or
other. I think that the molter each a feeling is
got rid of Use better. The consequence of igno.
ranee is always to augment primes, but the
great mks of the people must slake when a
high prigse is charged for that which really oaght not to
be 'barged if it were known that there was sufffeient
stock for the requirement, of the 0040147. The report
from the Privy Council is Cab the cattle plague is
' decreasing very fast. ski I trust that before the next
sessions my friend on my right (Hr. Moyer) will be able
to tell you that the county is no longer infested. Having
briefly adverted to • few of thews* in the ealoodar, hie
lordship dismissed the grand Joey to their duties.
110110 Pf.
•

awns Union apriten a, Dorehater Union norpowdelus.
—Yr. W. nooks gave ootios of • notioe to enter an
&opted &gains* the removal of William Gomm Rad
Joseph Gomm, Ida child, from the poor law union of
Dorchester to that of Cern*.