The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-08-14 00:00:00

JL

THE CHARGE AGAINST MESSRS.
COLLIE.

In London, on Monday morning, at the Guildhall
Police-court, before Sir Thomas White, the case of
Mr. Alexander Collie, of 12, Kensington-gardens, and
Mr. W. Collie, of 8, Aytoun street, Manchester, until
recently carrying on business as merchants at 17,
Leadenhall-street, and Aytoun-street, Manchester,
charged with having obtained largo sums of money
from the London and Westminster Bank upon false
pretences, was proceeded with. Only Mr. William
Collie surreudered to his bail.
Sir Henry James, Q.C., and Mr. Poland, instructed
by Messrs. Travers Smith and Co., prosecuted; Mr.
Serjeant Ballantine and Mr. Pollard, instructed by
Messrs. Hollams, Son, and Coward, appeared for the
defendants; Mr. Serjeant Parry for the Union Bank
of Scotland.

After waiting until eleven o'clock had struck, Sir Henry
Tames said: I have now, Sir Thomas, to ask that the officer
do call for Mr. Alexander Collie to surrender.

Sir Thomas White: I think we ought to allow him five
minutes grace, Mr. Martin (addressing the Chia Clerk). It
is now four minutes past eleven.
Mr. Martin: We generally allow a quarter of an hour.

Sir H. James We are much obliged to you, Sir Thomas.
Perhaps we had better wait a minute or two. W. have sent
to Mr. Hollams, out of courtesy, to ask him if he is going to
appear.

After a brief interval, the defendant not having appeared,
Sir H Tames : I have now to renew my application, Sir,
that Alexander Collie be callei upon to appear in court.

Mr. Serjeant Ballantine : I am instructed to appear for
him; but I had an intimatiun when I came here this morning
that he had not been at heme for a day or two.
Mr. Serjeant Parry: I suppose he will be called formally
now.

Mr. Roe (the Chief Officer) than summoned the absent de-
fendant three times as follows :—" Alexander Collie, come
forth and answer to your nane, or you forfeit your recog-
nizances."

Mr. Martin: An the recognizance% of the bail also.

Sir Thomas White: Yes.
Sir H. James: Now, Sir Thomas, in consequence of the
defendant Alexander Collie not appearing, our first applica-
tion to you is that you will grant a warrant for his arrest
immediately.

Sir Thomas White Uadonbtedly immediately.
Sir H. James: I have also to apply that the amount of the
bail shauld be estreated. However unfortunate it may be
to those gentlemen, it must be done.

Mr. Serjeant Parry: I appear this morning on behalf of
the Union Bank of Scotland to charge the defendant, Alex-
ander Collie, with obtaining money frorft them to the
amount f about £150,000 upon false pretences. Mr. Gardner,
the manager of the bank, has laid an information before
you, but I am not sure whether upon that information you
have granted the warrant. If not, my application is that,
upon the information, you should grant it sow. I may state
that, with regard to William Collie, the Union Bank of
Scotland make DO charge against him. It is not a charge of
conspiracy, but of obtaining money under false pretences
made to the manager by Alexander Collie.

Sir Thomas White: I have gone carefully through those
depositions, and h.ve no hesitation in acceding to the re-
quest of the learned counsel ; in fact I have already granted
a warrant for the apprehension of Alexander Collie.
Sir IL Tames : Will you now call the bail of Mr. Alexander
Collie?

Mr. Roe then called for Mr. Josiah Ratcliff and Mr.
William Frederick Wigg, in the same formal manner. These
gentlemen came forward before the Bench. Being asked
"Where is Mr. Alexander Collie?" they replied -We do
not know." _

Mr. Martin: As the bail have now appeared, the only
question is whether Sir Thomas orders the forfeiture of the
recognizances of the bail.

Sir Thomas White: Immediately. I order that your
recognizances be estreated.
Sir H. James: I think it right that I should now state,
after consultation with my friend Mr. Poland, what we
deem to be the right cnurse to pursue. We do not propose
to proceed now, in the absence of Alexander Collie, upon
the charge of conspiracy against the defendant William
Collie, who is present and has surrendered. It is necessary,
in our view, in order to bring this prosecution to a proper
termination, that Alexander Collie should be present, our
principal reason being that the statements of Alexander
Collie are most material to be given in evidence and placed
upon the depositions, ILA there are many of those statements
which in his absence would not be evidence against William
Collie. Nor do we wish that the course we are taking should
press unduly on Mr. William Collie for the fault of Alexander
Cbllie, who has not surrendered. Therefore, what we ask is
that his recognizancea shall be so framed that he should be
called on to appear on receiving notice from you to come
UP, which means when Alexander Collie is arrested. If we
are net able to arrest him within a reasonable period, then
a statement of the course to be pursued will be submitted
to you for your approval.
Mr. Martin (to defendant): Are your bail here? The de-
fendant: They are.
Sir Thomaa White : I beg your pardon, Sir Henry James,
but may I ask you to put that question again?

Sir Henry Jamsos : The course we thought it better to pur-
sue—having reglad to the uncertainty of the time when
Alexander Collie may be secured to appear here through the
authority of the law—would be to call upon William Collie
that his recognizances should be so framed that he shall
appear at any time he may be required. I think this is
fairer than that the defendant should be brought here week
after week.

Sir Thomas White: I am very glad you think it worth so
much consideration.

Mr. Serjeant Ballantine : I thought I should have had
to appear here for both these parties. With regard to
William Collie, he has appeared here in dne form, and he is
entitled to that consideration. Having, I say, appeared here
to answer the charge preferred against him, he is entitled
to it and it is not a question of concession.
Sir Henry James: We cast no fault) upon him.
Sir Thomas White: In what form do you desire this bail?
Sir Henry James : Well, Sir Thomas, it appeared to me that
they should agree to surrender Vl, :Main Collie ripon his
receiving notice to appear before you when called upon.
Sir Thomas White: On the present bail.

Sir Henry James: On the part of the prosecutlan there Is
no objection to the present bail.

Sir Thomas White: And the same amount

Sir Henry James: At the same amount. We do not wish
to alter anything that has been done.
Sir Thomas White: Jilt is your wish that the same bai
should be taken, it shall be done. The present bail is what
Mr. Martin: In two sureties of £.2,000 each, and hhnsel?
In £4,000.
Sir Thomas White: There is no objection to that.
Mr. Martin: Sir Henry, it has been suggested that some
particular day, as a mere matter of form, should be stated
for the appearance of the defendant.
Sir Henry James: We do not wish to put the defendant's
bail to unnecessary trouble. We will say a fortnight.

Mr. Serjeant Ballantine : On his behalf it occurred to me,
and I made the suggestion to my friend, Sir henry James,
that a particular day should be mentioned; but I am not at
all sure that you have the power of oidering bad except from
week to week.
Sir Fenry James: Oh, no.

Mr. Serjeant Ballantine : I don't know; the practice has a
good deal changed since I formerly had the honour of ap-
pearing here.
Sir Henry James: Oh, yes, it can be done.
Mr. Martin: Yes, we can name a particular day.

Mr. Serjeant Ballantine : I beg pardon, my friend, Mr.
Poland, explains to me the difference. The man is not in
custody. Well, I think I ought to say that Mr. Hollams
Instructs me to state—and it is quite in accordance with the
view I take of what is his duty and my own—that from this
time we cease to appear here to represent Mr. Alexander
Collie; that his firm will not represent Mr. Alexander Collie
for the future; therefore, I have nothing further to say upon
the subject.

Sir Henry James : Then, on the part of the prosecution, we
ask that the defendant present will be remanded to this day
month. Having regard to the time of year, and also as to the
time when Alexander Collie may be arrested, we ask for a
lengthy remand, instead of appearing here from week to
week, which will be very expensive and inconvtuient. We,
therefore, ask that he should be directed to appear upon his
recognizances this day mouth.
Mr. Serjeant Ballantine: That, Sir, I agree to.
Sir Thomas White : This day four weeks, you say?

Sir Henry James: Yes.
The proceedings were then formally adjourned for a
month.

A curious detail of the career of Gutenburg, the
-inventor of printing, has been discovered in an old Italian
manuscript, recently brought to Paris by a monk. The
manuscript avers that Gutenberg was tried at Mayence in
1422 for the assassination of his uncle, and was only acquitted
after a long imprisonment. No biographies of Gutenburg
mention this circumstance. —Graphic.

THE CASE OF COLONEL BAKER.

The Amy and Navy Gazette says that as soon as
Colonel Baker was convicted, his resignation was
placed in the bands of the Field-Marshal Commanding-
in-Chief. The Gazette adds :

When Colonel Baker ceased to be an officer on the Staff he
passed out of Hoise Guards' jurisdiction, and became sub.
ject to the control of the War Office. When his resignation
was placed in the hands of the Duke of Cambridge it de.
volved on his Royal Highness to consider whether he should
advise the Queen to accept it, and we believe that the Field-
Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, looking at all the circum-
stances of the case, felt that he could not recommend that
Colonel Baker's resignation should not be accepted. There
have been serious consultations at the War Office, and as far
as we can learn the Secretary of State for War has not yet
decided on some points of minor interest in the case. But
the resignation of Colonel Baker is accepted, and it remains
to be seen if the circumstances under which he is to leave
the service will be mitigated by regard for his previous
career, or if he will be treated with the utmost severity."

The Morning Post says that as a "first-class misde-
meanant" Colonel Baker was in the first instance
placed in a different reception-cell at Horsemonger-
lane Gaol to the other prisoners, and throughout his
term of punishment be will be kept separate from
them. He isallowed to wear his own clothing, to buy
hi 3 own food, to furnish his rooms—he has had two
allotted to him—with what is reasonable, necessary,
and not extravagant; to have wine, at his own cost,
not exceeding one pint, or malt liquor, not exceeding
one quart, per diem. He is not required to do any
work, to clean his apartment, make his bed, or per-
form any menial offiee, all these being done for him
by an officer of the prison. He may have any unob-
jectionable books or newspapers which he chooses. He
may write or receive letters or papers, but all such,
sent or received, must in the first instance be examined
or read by the governor. Lastly, he may see his
friends in his apartment between nine a.m. and six
The Daily Telegraph of Tuesday says :

Since the conviction of Colonel Baker a great deal of
speculation has been on foot as to the actual effect of the
sentence pronounced upon him by Mr. Justice Brett, whose
words, as reported, have led to a very widespread misappre-
hension with regard to their technical signification, they
were :

"The sentence I pass is that you be imprisoned In the
common gaol of this county, in such away as shall not subject
you to the physical degradations of which I speak, for twelve
calendar mouths; that you be fined £5OO, or be further im-
prisoned until you pay that fine; and that you pay the costs
of the prosecution, and be imprisoned for a farther time not
exceeding three months until you have paid those costs."
In the absence of a closer definition of the particular sort
of penalty involved in this sentence, it has been supposed
that an altogether exceptional punishment had been meted
out to Colonel Baker; but this supposition is somewhat
erroneous The real fact is that, though not expressly stated,
or even suggested, by the phraseology employed by the
judge, the sentence passed on Colonel Baker was that of a
first-class misdemeanant, and the order for his imprisonment
in the Surrey County Gaol was as a first-class misdemeanant,
and was so signed by Mr. Justice Brett This being the case,
the manner in which the prisoner's punishment is carried out
is in no respect exceptional His position and treatment by the
prison authorities are clearly laid down by en order of the
visiting justices, and sanctioned by the Home Secretary, in
conformity with the Apt of 1565, the last direction from the
Home Office being dated 1866, anti signed by Mr. Walpole.
As a matter of fact, the treatment to which he is subjected is
almost precisely that which in the days of imprisonment for
eight, was applied to debtors of the first class. By the acci-
dent of there being no debtors at present confined in Horse-
monger-lane Gaol, Colonel Baker occupies two rooms of the
debtor's side of the prison. He is permitted to furnish these
rooms in any way he likes, subject to the sanction of the
governor of the gaol, He is not called upon to perform
any of the menial work, such as cleansing his rooms
and making his own- bed, which prisoners in a
lower category have to do, and he is permitted to supply
himself with food, the only limitation being as to the quan-
tity of wine and beer; of the former he is allowed to con-
sume one pint per diem, of the latter one quart. Between
the hours of nine in the morning and six in the evening, Sun-
days excepted, he may receive visitors in strict privacy. On
Sundays he has a pew in the prison chapel, apart from the
other prisoners. He can, at his pleasure, take exercise
alone or in company with other prisoners of his class ; but,
as there happen to be none at present in the prison, he is
not called upon to make election in this matter. With
books and papers he is free to supply himself and it is
only with regard to his correspondence that any special
surveillance is exercised. All letters addressed to him or
written by him to persons out of the prison are scrutinised
by the Governor befere passing to his hands or before being
posted. Such are the regulations, made by the visiting
justices and duly sanctioned by the Home Secretary, under
which the imprisonment of Colonel Baker is being carried
out. Our only purpose in explaining them now is to furnish
Information which would not have been necessary if the
judge had, in passing sentence, made it perfectly clear that
he regarded Colonel Baker as a "first-class misdemeanant."

The War Secretary has, the London correspondent
of the Manchester Guardian hears, decided upon the
case of Colonel Baker. The latter will not be expelled
from the army, but will be permitted to retire. He
will not, however, be allowed to receive the money
value of his commission, or any part of it.