The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-14 00:00:00

IMPORTANT PRESENTMENT BT THE G& JURY.

The gentlemen of the grand jury, on bringing up the last
of the bills, banded to the court the following present-
ment :—" The creed jury of the December Semmes, 1864,
desire to coolirm the several presentments made by
previous greed juries as to the uselessness of the
greed jury system in advaociog the administree
Mon of justice and protecting the Liberty of the subject.
For the following reasons they urge the abolition of this
court as far as the metropolitan districts are coacerned:—
That the cases brought before the magistrates' courts and
committed for trial having been carefully examined by
highly qualified and experienced legal men should go direct
to tri►l, and not pus through any intermediate court,
where necessarily only an imperfect examination can be
made ; for if the accused be innocent, his innocence would
be more manifest to the world by his acquittal in open
court than by his escape by a secret tribunal ; while to the
guilty it affords a chance of amps, for it the prosecutor has
been tampered with, since tbs.:armament he can give such
weak, imperfect, and unsatisfactory evideoce that the greed
jury, rejecting the charge as not sustained, throw out the
bill; wherca if the case went direct into the superior
court the duplicity or reticence of the witness would at
once be detected, as the original depositions would be
before the judge. While we believe that there is
no protection afforded by this court to the
accused which would not be foetid is the
superior court, we entailer that it entails upon prceecutors
great unnecessary trouble, inoonveniecos, and expense, by
compelling them to attend with all their witnesses for
several days in cold stow lobbies and passages, which seem
constructed for the united purposes of excluding this light
of Heaven and admitting the wind from every quarter. The
effect is that prosecutors consequently permit the riuilty to
,escape rather than expose themselves to such locative-
triremes. The power the court has of sending up indictments
meant individuals which may be brought Woes them, but
which have never been iuvestieated by a magistrate, we
consider most objectionable, for we regard it as a most sacred
principle of justice that the accused and the accuser should
be face to face. For the above and many other equally valid
reasons we consider this court au annoyauce rather than a
help to the administration of justice, and we beg most
respectfully that oar presentment may be transmitted
by the judges of assize to bee Majesty's government.—
(Signed) GEOZGL SWAN NOTTAGE, Foreman.—Old Bailey,
I Dec. 13, 1861 . _ _

" ADDENDA. —Thersod jury would call attention to the
large itimberof robberies, attended with great personal
vWencts. ooeurring in the neighbournood of Whitechapel,
and would recommend that a larger staff of police should
he put on that district. and that a more vigilant super-
version be kept over the well-known bad characters that
abound iu that neighbourhood."
The Rewriter replied that the presentment should be for
to the proper quarter, and after thankiog the grand
jury for their services, discharged them from further at•
ten lance. _ _

The court, after disposing of cases of no public interest,
adjourned. . . _

(Before the Common Serjeaot.)
Aired Teattrs, 31, who last session pleaded guilty
to an indictment charging him with forgery and
fraud, and morseling his goods from his creditors, he being
a bankrupt, wee brought up for judgment.
The Common serjeast, in passing museum, said be had
put the prisoner back in order that some inquiries might be
made as to his former respectability, el he was eery gist
to bud that up to the time of committing this crime he had
borne the most irreproachable character. Under all the
circumstances of the case, he thought he should be justified
in refraining from passing a sentence of peel servitude.
He should therefore sentence him to be imprisoned and kept
to hard Libour for the space of IS calendar mouth..
Elizol4lA elm-stake, 40, a woman poorly dressed in
widow's weds, and who exhibited great symptoms of
dit-
tress. pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with
fraudulently obtaining the slim of 41. se. from the City of
London Union.

Mr. Seeley appeared for the uoion, and in laying the
facts of the case before hie lordship the learned counsel said
be was instructed to it term the court that the City of
Loudon Union had no desire to press heavily oa the
prisoner ; in fact. they booed the court would deal
lisaiestly with her, but they had been compelled
to give her into custody as an example to others.
It would appear that the prisoner's mother had
been in the habit of receiving pariah relief, and in June
bet order expired, and an otheer went from the union to
where she lived and gave her anotber order for we mooths.
At the end of that six mouths be again went to her house
to renew her order. He found the prisoner there, and she
told her that her mother had goo out, and would cot be