The Express.
London, England, 1851-05-26 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, MAY 26, 1851

VAN DlEmEys LAND.

Return to an address ofthehonourable the House
of Cmnnions, dated 19th May, Mil, for " Copy of Sir Wil-
liam Denison'. despatch of the 1 It'a day of January, 1831,
addrewed to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, upon
the withdrawal of tirkets-of.leare from certain prisoner; in
Van Diemen', Land." D. 11.twr.s.
Colonial.ottice, Downiorr..treet, May 19, ISSI.
curl O' A DENP VP !I FlOol LIEU? -fitIVERNUIt SIR W.
. _

,1 •: T.. EARL ORLY:

Van 1iii111,1.4 Lend, Government House,
Jan. I I, 1851 (received May 2, lWil).
Lortn,—ln my despatch, Ni. 175, dated Use. 11,
1849, I informed your lordship that I had, in accordance
with the iustruetions a-manmade:aced to me in two deqedehes,
marked contact:mint of dues sth and 27th of Jun.., 1819,
issued to the eons-acts named in the margin tickets-of-
leave, upon n distinct engagement on their part th tt they
would nut make use of the comparative liberty which the
indulgence of a ticket of-leave would give, iu order to at-
tempt to escape from the colony.
2. I have now to report to your lordship that I Lave been
obliged to withdraw this indultence from the three pri-
sonen named in the margin, in consequence of their mis-
conduct in :wting in direct disobedience of the regulations
applicable to ticket-of-leave holders, and, ae a conquence
of such withdrawal of indulgence, to send them to the sta-
tion on Tasman's Peninsula, where they is ill be subjected
tot and labour for a period of three months.
3. I should not have thought it necessary to trouble your
lordship with the details 11f apt ordinary question of convict
discipline, had I not felt certain that the friends of these
piisoners in Eu4land would strive to make out their case as
one of great hardship, and would probably make some re-
ference to the subject in the Monaco( Commons, to which it
would be desirable that the government should be in the
position to make nn answer.
1. In my despatch, No. 175, before alluded to, I pointed
' out to your lordship the inconvenience which would proba-
bly arise from the unusual privileges conferred upon these
prisonere, and I regret to say that my anticipations have
been fully realised; tl.e inhabitants of the districts in which
these min have resided hare looked rather to the conduct
of the government in conferring certain indulgences up sit
them than to the character of the otfence which has sub-
jected them to the punishment of transportation, and
their pesition has, therefore, rather excited sympathy than
any other feeling. This hes catenated even to the police
mazistrates, whoss duty it is to sec that the prisoners com-
ply strictly with the usual convict regulations. These
officers, who would under otalinary ciremustances sentence
I a convict to three ow four months hard labour, ore content
in the case of their men to admonish them, and they have
thus been enabled in several instances to set the govern-
ment at defiance. This, however, wes a state of thing+
which could nut be allowed to continue, and as ditinct
evidence was brought begunme of the fact that the
three prisoners before mentioned had deliberately
lett their districts without 1,1(e, and, in the case of M.:Vann.,
after I had twice refusA tint permissienb I directed their
tickets-of-hare to be w ithatrawn, and sent them, as before
stated, to tie convict statlan on Tasman's Peninsula, where
they arc subjected to the ordinary rules of convict dis-
cipline.
5. In thus awarding, to these men a greater amount of
punishment titan that to which they had been wain-awed by
the pans magistrat s, 1 have only exercised a power vested
me as lieutenant-governor, and which h:e always been
funnel essential to the Liaintenanee of proper order and dis-
cipline amongst the convicts.
I may t +lse this opportunity of informing your lordship,
that Smith O'Brien has accepted a ticket-of-leave for six
months, upon the same conditions as those under which
similar indulgences base been granted to his fellows.-1
have, &c., (Signed) W. DENISON.

The Daly Xcirs thus continents on the foregoing:
A veer curious document appears in another
column of this day's impression : a delbatch from
the governor of Van Diemen's Land to Earl GREY,
intinuding that he has done something which he
knows will expose him to blame, and calling upon
government to defend hint. (),11 s'exense s'aceitse, is
a doctrine front which few dissent; and the pre-
sent cast is not likely to be held an exception from
the general rule.
When the six gentlemen, sentenced to transporta-
tion for their connexion with the Satins O'BRIEN
insurrection, were sent to Van Diemen's Land, the
governor was instructed to issue tickets of leave to
them, upon their entering into an engagement not
to avail themselves of their "comparative liberty "
to attempt to map: from the colony. Sir
\VILLEIN! Demobs has withdrawn their tickets
of leave from three of the prisoners. Ile does
not allege that they had made any attempt
to escape from the colony; he does not even allege
that he suspected them of an intention to make such
an attempt. Their whole and sole offence consisted
in leaving their districts without leave; in the ease of
one of them, after leave had been asked and refused.
This would be " sharp Factice" even as we have
here stated the case ; but Sir %Titillates own account
lot the matter shows that his conduct towards the
prisoners has been wantonly provoking and op-
pressive.
In the first place, with regard to their offence :
It is clear that the governor has forgotten to draw
the necessary distinction between political nnd ordi-
nate criminal °Hinders. lle says in his despatch that
he had anticipated " inconvenience" front " the un-
usual privileges conferred upon these prisoners," iu
other words, he wished to treat them as ordinary Mons,
and he felt it " inconvenient " to be debarred the
liberty of carrying out this praiseworthy intention.
The governor hoes on to complain that the inhabi-
tants of the districts to which the prisoners wen:
confined, and, horrible to relate! "even the police
utagistrates," regarded the prisoners rather with
sympathy than any other feeling. 'rite reason as-
signed by Sir WILLIAM hbr this sympathy is " the
conduct of government in conferring certain indul-
gences upon them." It is new to be told that men
are sympathised with because they are allowed to
enjoy unusual indulgences: it is clear that the syin-
parity was excited by the grudging utanuer iu which
the governor obeyed his instructions to give these
indulgences. It is not surprising that iu these cir-
cumstances the very best understanding should nut
have existed between the governor and the prisoners.
SirWi Witt DEN isoN was offended because the police
magistrates, "who would underordinarycircumstances
sentence a convict to three or four months' hard'
labour, UM content, in the ease of these men, to
admonish them;" and be therefore lay in wait for an
excuse for doing what the police magistrates had too
like a sense of justice to do. "This," he says, " was
a state of things which could nut be allowed to Con-
tinue: and, as distinet evidence was brought before
me of the fact that the three prisoners bethre-men-
tinned had deliberately left their districts without
leave, and in the ease of 31'MA:sus' after I had twice
refused him permission, I directed their tickets of
leave to be withdrawn, and sent them, us before
stated, to the convict station on Tasman's Peninsula,
where they are subjected to the ordinary rules of
' convict discipline."
The last clause of the sentence we have just
quoted outrages every feeling of common decency.
Three individuals who have enjoyed the education,
and have moved in the sphere of gentlemen—whose
offence was political, free front any taint of felony—
are condemned to herd with, and be treated as
felons, ostensibly for a trifling breach of discipline,
but, in reality-, because the police magistrates would
not treat them as felons. " This state of things
could not be allots-ell to continue:" that is the true
reason why they have been subjected to " the ordi-
nary rules of convict discipline." Even this is not
the worst feature of the ease : the trifling offence
was not merely laid hold of with culpable haste, the
prisoners were obviously provoked to commit it. The
trifling indulgence of permission to pay a visit out-
side of his district was refused to NOlaNts : with
rash, perhaps, but not unnatural indignation,
he took the leave that was causelessly re-
fused; and the other two gentlemen did not put
themselves to the trouble to ask what they knew
would not be granted. This incident fully explains
what Sir Wittaam DEsasos means when he saes
that the prisoners had, " in several instances, set the
government at defiance ;" they had resisted attempts
to curtail the " comparative liberty " which the home
government had given orders that they should
enjoy.
It is pretty clear, even from the exparte statement
of Sir %%lutist Di:slims, that he is better fitted by
nature to have played the part of the keeper of a
round-house in the days of Jo:camas WILD, than to
be placed in charge of a modern well-regulated
prison; and that ho is utterly incompetent to
the delicate task of dealing with political
offenders. :red making the necessary- distinc-
tion between them and felons. Ile has all the
unscrupulous truculence of the gaolers of the old
school who have been pillurised in the pages of
FIELDING and SWUM. He is a worse and pal-
trier Sir HUDSON LOWE. The Colonial-office has
rather au indifferent reputation, on account of the
reckless manner in which it supports its nominees
right or wrong; but we cannot bring ourselves to
imagine that even the Colonial-office will endeavour
to extenuate the extraordinary proceedings of Sir
WILLIAM Dr'trsox.

WATr:I.:*.11:11 AND LIMMICK RAILWAY.—The com-
mittee OA this co:upany's bill for lease, mob; mullion, &vi-
allow, and other objects, have &eland the preamblo
proved.