The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

altirogolitan.

A MEETING OF TICKET-OF•LEAVE MEN was held
at Farringdon-hall, on Tuesday evening. There
were upwards of a hundred ticket-of leave men
present. The majority were young men under
twenty-five years of age, several of whom appeared
to gain a precarious livelihood by vending fish,
vegetables, and other merchandise in the streAs.
Others appeared professional cracksmen, pick-
pockets, and housebreakers. Some were strong,
burly fellows, well fed, and well clad, while
a few were dressed in broadcloth, wore
moustaches and rings, and quietly smoked their
cigar before the proceedings commenced. No police
were allowed to be present, and the men appeared to
have perfect confidence in the bonti-tides of the noble
chairman and the other benevolent gentlemen who
have professed themselves anxious to assist the
really deserving convict in his efforts to obtain
honest employment. The Earl of Carnarvon took
the chair, and among the gentlemen on the platform
were the Rev. Mr. Portal, Mr. Beach, Mr. Henry
Mayhew, Mr. Augustus Mayhew, Captain Wraxhall,
Mr. Hutton, Mr. Wyld, Mr. Chapman, Mr. W. B.
Jerrold, &c. The noble chairman, in opening the
business of the evening, addressed a few words to
the men present :
In the first place (said Lord Carnarvon), it must be
understood that all who attend and take part in the pro-
ceedings admit that they regret the past, and that they are
anxious to lead an honest life foe the future. You must
feel, if the meeting is to be of any use to you, that the
good can only be accomplished by taking a sensible and
manly view of the matter, and by confining yourselves to
the point before us. 1 do not w;sh to hear anything about
the injustice of your sentence, or the hardships of the
prison or the hulk, or of penal servitude, as that will be of
no use I wish you to tell me what it is that has prevented
many of you, as a class, from earning an honest livelihood
—in fact. I want you to tell me what has happened to you
since you last left the prison.
Several men in succession then addressed the meet-
ing, detailing their experiences, which pointed to
one end—viz., the impossibility of a ticket-of-leave
man obtaining labour in this country. The police
hunted them out of honest labour for fear they should
rob their employers. In the midst of these relations
a burly burglar jumped up, and in a few pithy sen-
tences protested against these meetings. The fact
was Mr. Mayhew " made money " out of them. "He
sucked their brains," and then put it into print.
After some little confusion the renegade was put
down, and a poor, thin, sickly, intelligent man
addressed the meeting at some length, making some
suggestive remarks :

I am ready to work at my trade, or any other work, if II
can get enough to anpport me—that la, to get me the com-
mon necessaries of life, for I don't expect to live like a
gentleman, and I believe the majority of us would do the

THE PRESS.

same if they bad the chance ; but it is the want of assistance
that leaves a man to walk about the streets starving. I was
in Smithfield a few days ago, and found thousands of
honest men out of employment. What chance, then, is
there for us ?

I have heard the public say of ticket•ofleave men—
" They are a parcel of thieves "—" They are not fit for
society," and the like ; but I would like to hear of the
public setting up an establishment such as one of the
speakers suggested, to receive these poor fellows when they
(mule tout of the places of demoralisation in which they
are confined. There is no reformation in the prison or
the hulk, and it is all nonsense to say there is. lam very
sorry to say that I cannot get employment, and I nin
driven t,) do that which I do not wish ta do; but what
am Ito do? lam willing to work to•morrow at 3s. a day,
but starve I never will.

If the public was more earnest in getting a refuge for
these poor men when they came out of prison, it would be
far better than reformatory institutions. Let the Govern.
ment give a man a trial—let him have the chance of get.
tins; honest employment—and if he does not go right,
transport him. I have health and strength, but am Ito
lit. down in the street and die?

Ha related an anecdote or two in support of his
statements :

I saw a poor fellow the other day in the street ' • he was
twenty-six years of lige, strong and healthy, and he was
trying to hook out of the gutter a piece of bread covered
with mud; and, when he got it, he ate it. Was not this a
dreadful thing to witness in a great and civilised country?
I went up to him, and asked him was he hungry? He
said he was ; and he says " t will work two hours for you
or any other gentleman for a piece of bread." I said,
" [lave you no home ?" and he said, " None but the streets."
I had no money, but I took him where I got him a piece
of bread, and he offered to work for me two hours that day
or the next if I could employ him. Tho fact is, there is
not enough employment for honest people, and, as long as
that is so, how can we expect work?

In conclusion, he strongly advocated tho formation
of some labour institution for convicts on coming out
of prison :
It is my opinion the Government would save hundreds
of thousands of pounds in the maintenance of prisoners
in goals under criminal prosecutions, if they were to
establish an institution for the convict when he came out
of those dens of demoralisation—the prisons and hulks
I believe the convicts would take advantage of it if they
had it. I have had experience of them, and I have seen
them to possess some reason and good sense. Why, they
look upon us as if we were not flesh and blood like them-
selves. I have seen a lady of rank taken over the place
where I was, and she actually exclaimed when she saw us,
Lord bless me, how quiet they are; why, they walk
about !" I do not believe the Government will check
crime by transporting men. Look at the thousands of
honest men out of employment; and when you consider
the thousands of convicts who are coming home, where do
you expect they can get week ? Give me a trial and I will
go to work this moment, and then you can see whether a
ticket-oqeave man can lie reformed.

Lord CARNARVON, having obtained a unanimous
expression against tickets of leave in England and in
favour of them in the colonies, in a few feeling words
dismissed the meeting.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY held its fortnightly
meeting on Monday evening, when Captain Yule, of
the Royal Engineers, read some extracts from his
notes upon the geography of Burmah. Having re-
capitulated the labours of previous geographers,
Captain Yule gave an amusing instance of the
watchful jealousy with which the Emperor of China
endeavours to intercept any approach of foreigners
to his dominions. The brother of the sun and
moon, it appeared, hearing that English sur•
veyors and engineers were traversing Burma),
wrote to the King of Ava something to the following
effect .

Ycungest brother should know what is the opinion of
elder brother. Elder brother strongly advises younger
brother, now that war is over, and peace has been wade,
not to allow the English to continua traversing his
country, for the English are like the peepul.tree, and
spreatt and take root wherever they have once been allowed
to set their foot.

A subsequent portion of the paper was devoted to
corrections of latitude and longitude in the existing
maps ; after which the lecturer proceeded to trace
the various revolutions in the political geography of
Bunnell. With reference to popnlat ion, he (Cap •
tarn Yule) believed that the population of Burma!)
proper was about 1,200,000, and that that of the
empire had never been more than about 3,000,000.
Colonel O'Connor next read a paper upon the
Island of Trinidad, famous fir its bitumen or pitch
lake, of which the gallant colonel told an anecdote
with which a countryman of his was connected.
This man, it appeared, lived near the lake, but had
never seen it. Ashamed to confess his ignorance, he
replied, when questioned about it, "To be sure; it
is a tine lake. The ships sail in quite conveniently,
get their bottoms pitched, and sail out again." The
fertility and mineral resources of this island are
great. °ranger it produced sometimes four hogsbeags
to the acre, and to the produce of cacao there need
be no limit. There was an abundant supply or
cocoa-nut oil, also, fit for candles, and spices grew
in profusion. The tea plant throve in the island,
and coal had been found in various places; so that,

105

taken altogether, it was an island that ought not to
be neglected. Colonel O'Connor censured the
British apathy which had disregarded the vicinity of
Trinidad to " The Mother of Rivers." The banks of
that great river, the Orinoco, were most admirably
adapted for the raising of cattle, horses, and mules :

A Scotch gentleman had established himself on its
banks, raised horses and mules, and sold them all at an
immense profit at Port of Spain, but not in quantity at all
equal to the demand. Surely, with our present appliances
in steam navigation, such vast capabilities might be
utilised. Br:eding•pens on the banks of the Orinoco would
offer a fine field for emigrants, and he could testify that the
life of the hunter was both exciting and healthful. He
trusted, in conclusion, that the capabilities of Trinidad, the
Queen of the Antilles, and the advantages arising from the
vicinity of the great Orinoco, would not be left mach
longer neglected by this country and her Majesty's Go•
vernment.

THE MERCANTILE LAW CONFERENCE have held
meetings this week at Willis's-rooms, under the
presidency of Lord Brougham. Deputations from
the provincial cities were present, and the subjects
discussed embraced the law of debtor and creditor,
including bankruptcy; the Judgment Executions
Bill, asd the United Kingdom Writs Bill; Tribunals
of Commerce, the Registration of Partnerships, the
17th section of the Statute Frauds, and the Com-
mercial Code. Lord Brougham, in opening the
proceedings on Wednesday, congratulated the meet-
ing on the importance of the movement now com-
menced, and upon the effect which such a body
of men must have upon the Government and
upon the Law Society in its attempts at improve-
ment. With regard to the bankruptcy law which
was coming under consideration, he adverted to the
changes which had taken place during the last
quarter of a century, particularly to those of 1831,
1840, 1841, and 1849, by the Bankruptcy Consolida-
tion Act. Some objections had been raised to the
proceedings of the society on the ground that they
were not vast and sweeping enough, and on account
of its want of system. After rebutting many of these
objections, l:is lordship referred to the law of bank-
ruptcy. Much had been said with regard to the
conflicting jurisdiction of the winding-up courts and
the courts of bankruptcy, and he thought these
objections might be got rid of by referring all the
matters to one tribunal. A paper on " The Adminis-
tration of the Bankruptcy Laws " was read Ey Mr.
Commissioner Ayrton, and a pamphlet written on the
subject by a Mr. Hastings, of the Leeds Chamber
of Commerce, was also read. Both gentlemen recom-
mended that tin cost of the Court of Bankruptcy
should be thrown upon the Consolidated Fund ;
that the official assignee should be paid by salary,
not fees; that appeal should be abolished, and that
the existing expenses of bankruptcy proceed-
ings, which at present absorbed half the estate,
should be materially decreased. After some dis-
cussion it was finally agreed that a deputation
should be appointed to wait on the head of bet
Majesty's Government, and call his attention to the
defects in the administration of the bankruptcy law,
more especially with a view of diminishing the
expense of the proceedings, and to throw the cost of
compensation on the Consolidated Fund. At the
evening meeting the subject of Tribunals of Com-
merce was discussed, and the questlon of the estab-
lishment of such tribunals over the country referred
to the committee for consideration. On Thursday
the conference reassembled, when papers upon the
" Codification of the Mercantile Law" and upon the
"Registration of Partnerships," were read by Mr.
Leoni Levi and Mr. William Entwistle; and resolu-
tions supporting the propositions of both gentlemen
were passed. The "Statute of Fraud" was also dis-
cussed, and a resolution passed that the 17th section
ought to be repealed ; provision, if it should be found
necessary, being made for enforcing the employment
of written contracts in particular cases. A deputa-
tion from the conference waited upon, and was
received by, Lord Palmerston at twelve o'clock
yesterday.
THE TOLL GATE QUESTION AT ISLINGTON was
discussed on Tuesday evening at a special general
meeting of the vestry of the parish, held to consider
the propriety of memorialising the Commis:;ioners of
the Metropolitan Roads to abolish the toll-gates on
that district, particularly that which stands in the
High-street, near the Angel Inn. The commix.
stoners' roads, according to a return they had made
to Parliament, cost them 830/. per mile per annum,
and, to meet this expenditure, they levied heavy
tolls, which did infinite harm to the tradespeople.
But, while the cost was as stated, the commissioners
had been in receipt of between 10,0001. and
11,0001. per annum from the tolls they collected. A
petition, sigted by 198 of the principal inhabitants,
praying for the removal of the gates, and moving
that a committee should be appointed to memorialise
the commissioners on the subject, was adopted.
The committee was appointed, and the vestry ad-
journed.
Mr. T. CHAMBERS, M.P., h
<doe of Common Sergeant.

S

has been elected to the