The Express.
London, England, 1849-01-18 00:00:00

ICU erprefiL

The ataLle kr Gibraltar, Nett; sees, the kens Wands. limn.
MI" Onion, India, Haeg-Ktreg. end Gine,wL litathaaptat, will
be made up on the waning of the 101 A Jan.
The immils, eie Iterwillen to the lialtterrnien. l ypf, Men.
• Sulink liontang, In, will Is made me an the sedanet
the Jan.
Tire mile he Vie% OilLiehan, Madeira, Cadis, end Gibraltar
will he emit op ea the at the 27th Jan.
71te men We Man Livid" end the Galled Brans,
will be made lap an the evonlag at the 27th Jas.
The main ter New dans %Wake. Yen Drina's lAA mad New
inland will he wade up as the waning at the Slat Jan.
The ails
kr the Net 0:44 of Atria and Naddra will be made
an at Use sweslag *hie laa.
Net IMs Nal* insioding Berfads. Nan, Hanna,
n"d New Orions, and Nano, sad excluding lbws tar
liaden. t. Jum.daNiesregua. New Granada, Chili, and PET% will
be made se an the arattetag at the Ind Feb.
The wain Orr Madeira. the Brazils, sad lama Ayr% will be
weds ap an the wenn( at the 4th Feb.

M.D.—The Report of the loe;ilile74 01.a.71;;Trae publiMel verbatim
from the Whig statement at the Dome of Health.

DION Wall •T LONDON MUDD;
1,0,111:.=1::= 27-""'".° 0.
rroo.lo N. pen la.

LONDON, THURSDAY, JAN. 18.
READING, and its gaol, however buttressed and cas-
tellated, form certainly the weakest point of that
party. which may be called the humanitarian in prison
discipline. Mr. CHARLES PDAILSON has taken up a
position in Aidersgate-skeet ag&inst it, and has erected
a battery, which seems to have made a practicable
breach. The chaplain and the governor, able contro-
versialists however, still man this )3:each, and it is
yet to be seen how they will defend themselves and
their fortalice.
Bat Mr. PEARSoN, WI we observed of Sir PETER
LAURIE on a former occasion, batters down more
successfully than he builds up. The exorbitant ex-
pense of both Reading and Pentonville, the lenity and
literary amenity of the one, the clockwork, dull seve-
rity of the other, with the more than doubtful success
of either in restoring the patient—for as inch they
treat the criminal—to honest and self-supporting
habits, have been ably set forth by Mr. Ca.tauts
Peattsoa. But when he comes to tell us what sys-
tem he would substitute in their stead, then, we fear,
he erects an establishment quite as open to objection
and attack as Reading itself.
The financial part of the argument was the most
suceessfully wielded by Mr. PFARSON. His address
was opportune. JOHN BULL is putting both hands
into his pockets just now, with a determination not
to draw out his purse until he sees very good reasons
for it. The advocates of a vast prison expenditure
will have as much difficulty in making out a case as
the advocates of political expenditure. We will help
Mr. PEAR:ON and the City magnates, with a few
facts in sunport of their retrenchment notions.
The matter stands simply thus : we have some-
thing like 120,000 persons in prison annually, for
terms longer or shorter. This number will give us
a permanent average for a gaol population of more
than 20,000 persons. For these, and a margin I
beyond—say, altogether, 25,000—prison acconsmo-
dation must be found. Tnis number is about the
total of what is called the " criminal population" of I
this country—that is, of England and Wales. Scot- I
land and Ireland, with the islands of Guernsey, Jersey,
Man, &c., probably furnish about an equal num-
ber.
But, for the moment, let us only take England
and Wales as an example. To build prisons in vu-
rious
parts of England and Wales for the acoommo-
dation of 25,000 prisoners on the separate s
would require an extravagant sum. See whet= 1
ing cost. The number of cells as given in the last
gaol returns is 248. The prison cost in round number,
50,0001. A palace for 248 unfortunate persons, with
various conveniences not to be foam* in the houses of
the middle classes, cost the ratepayers of Berke an in-
significant trifle under 50,0001. That is. about 2021.
for the apartments of each individual. If the general
magistracy of England and Wales were to follow the
example of their brethren of Berke, they would re-
quire from the tax-payers for building alone not less
than 5,050,0001.
But, it may be said, that Reading gaol is unneces-
sarily expeumve. We don't want a " collegiate, cas-
tellated gothic, or Tudor syle," as Mr. FIELD de-
scribes his prison to be oL Then let us go to the
" model" for all England—Pentonville. It holds
500 persons, and in the first instance cost 90,071/. 155.,
that is, for each prisoner's accommodation 1801. 31.
But since than considerable cost has been incurred in
addition, and the price of the land is entirely left out.
If these two items were added to the amount of the
outlay rendered in the official report, we have doubts
whether the average per cell would be much below
that of Reading. If a difference were to appear, the
" collegiate and castellated" principle would be suffi-
cient to account foe it.
A sum of five millions! But this is not the worst
hataTe of the cue—even as to the simple question of
lacpenss. The eat of carrying on the system merits
no lees serious an attention. The expenses of Pen-
!twills for 1847 amounted to 19,3431. ss. 9d.;
prisoners' earnings and sale of old stores amounted to
1,1441. 17s. lid.; leaving the balance of expenses
against the prison of 18,1981. Bs. 3d. for the year. To
this must be added 5 per cent. on the outlay, say on
100,0001.-5,0001. These sums added together make
23,198/. Bs. 3d. as the total dead loss to the comma-
aity far the "separate" management of a daily ave-
rage of 457 prisoners. In other words, each prisoner
has cost the country—over and above the produce of
his labour—nearly fifty guineas a year! At Reading
it is still more.
And this is the system which is sought to be ex-
tended throughout the empire. Let the taxpayer.
open their eyes. Lancashire is already stirring in the
matter. What would it cost to manage the
twenty-five thousand permanent criminals of Eng-
land and Wales on this magnificent scale of ex-
penditure? Not much less than a million and a half
per annum. A million and a half of taxes to support
criminals in idleness—in well-warmed and ventilated
rooms—furnished, not only with conveniences, but
with positive luxuries! How many—we will not say
of the poorer classes—of the ranks from which the
criminal population rises—bat how many of the eons
and daughters of luxury have their dressing-rooms
fitted nn with patent machinery supplying warm or
cold water at the option of the drawer ? How many
of them can boast of a drawing-room so scientifically
constructed that in the most changeable weather
the temperature will not vary more than two degrees
in a wee& ? These things are so at Pentonville.
It would seem that the promoters of that
scheme considered criminals as delicate, fra-
gile plants rare and sensitive exotics only
to be preserved in conservatories. But what is
to become of these hot-house plants when they are
cast iato the cold earth again to take their chance ?