The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-15 00:00:00

shopkeeper must not talk aloud to a brother trades-
man in the -street bni "an officer" must collar hiM
forsooth ! and drag him from his home and his
family, and thrust him for a whole night into a
dungeon in the depth of a northern winter. Again,
the poor hard-worked, anxious, industrious opera-
tive, who by accident, or we will say " from habit,"
drinks a little too much, if he be seen to stagger—
fall—get up again—stagger—and fall a second time,
and in the full heat of his misfortunes should
chance to drop an oath, he is instantly seized by a
" rattling officer," who, in his own cups, mistakes
the prostrate mortal before him for a teetotaller,
and inflicts, with no small gusto, the sweets ,of a
tippler's bludgeon ; and after having practised the
usual arts of torture (which, thank Heaven, are
of modern date in old England) on his hands,
arms, and throat, he lodges his cruelly abused
victim in a cold damp dungeon, where, in many
cases, immediate medical aid and a warm bed
ought to be provided for the man whose only
crime is a folly and vice which is almost universal !
In the practical working of this system, which
some wiseacres call " moral restraint," there are
outrages committed of the most revolting charac-
ter, as well as direct and wanton violations of the
rights of the subject. In our police report of yes-
terday, we .find Mr. John MuLLiNs, a grocer and res-
pectable tradesman, while talking to a friend, was
seized by a policeman, dragged to bridewell, and
locked up all night on a charge of being "drunk and
disorderly." The charge is brought before the
Magistrate, when it appears that Mr. MuLmtis
was no more drunk than the friend he had with
him, who was not taken into custody. The police
admit Mr. Mux.r.nis's friend was not drunk, and
Mr. MumaNs's friend swore that Mr. MuLLnkis was
as sober as he was. The case was consequently
dismissed, and the fact appears to be that Mr.
MULLINS was " a marked man by the police."
Now, we ourselves talk a great deal about the
iniquitous acts of !the Inquisition, and the fearful
state of the law in bygone times, when no man's
limbs or life were worth an hour's purchase, but
we seem to have forgotten what is going on around
us daily. But if we have been slumbering, now
that we are alive to the enormities of the whole
system, we will not fail to exercise the utmost
vigilance henceforth. And what was our horror
on Tuesday night, when we witnessed a police out-
rage of the most brutal character with our own
eyes. The gentlemen of this office hearing a noise
which sounded like that of a person being ill-used,
hasten towards the sound. On arriving at the corner
of South John-street and Lord-street, two police-
men came up, holding a tipsy man, whom they had
handcuffed, with his hands behind his back.
The man was walking as steadily as a man could
walk in his position ; and when he had gone a
short distance from the corner of John-street, in
the direction of Castle-street, the policeman who
walked between the unfortunate man and the wall,
suddenly gave the poor fellow a jerk by the collar,
when he) fell with great violence flat on the
flags.

On seeing this we instantly ran to the spot,
where we found the man perfectly insensible, and
bleeding most profusely, from a frightful gash in
his face. To have interfered at this moment
Would have involved us in the certainty of being
dragged to Bridewell, and charged with inter-
medling with "an officer" in the discharge of his
duty. We went, however, to the Bridewell, yester-
day morning, where we were told " that some man
had been taken to the Hospital in a cart, or a
truck, or something, in the course of the n;gllt
And we find by our Police rppc,,t of yesterday,
that gnmo mam. ;,Hargett by the police was in the
Hospital, and too ill to attend. To applaud the
London Drayman for flogging a Haynau, while
such a system as this is suffered in our streets, is
simply to hold up England to the contempt and
ridicule of the world. The last case, to which we
have alluded, shall not be lost sight of, as it is one
of great public importance.
Since writing the above,. we have ascertained
that the ill-used man alluded to is in the Northern
Hospital, and the account given of the affair there
is very different from the facts of the case. Our

reporter was informed that tho man's name was
JAMES WILLIAMS, and that "he had been taken to
Bridewell by a number of boys, and from thence
forwarded to the Hospital ; that his face was much

cut and bruised, and that he was a little better."

This matter must be followed up by the public,
unless, indeed, we are prepared to submit to a
wholesale system of savage brutality.

The new fortifications at Dour will be ready in July,
1E154.

GLASGOW AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAlLWAY.—Traffic for
the week ending December 10th, 1853, 4,6091, 10s. sd.
Corresponding week, 1852, 3,8731. 108. Bd. Increase in
1863, 635/. 19s. 9d.
Tres CHOLERA.—ADRIATIC PORTS.—The rigorous quaran-
tine lately imposed on vessels arriving from Great Britain,
has been removed in the Adriatic ports of the Roman States ;
and vessels arriving from Great Britain in those ports will
be admitted on the same footing as vessels coming from
the .ports of France, Sardinia, and Tuscany.
EAST GLOUCESTER ELECTION.—On Monday evening a
public meeting of the electors was held at the Booth-hall,
Gloucester, to hear an exposition of the political sentiments
of Mr. Edward Holland, one of the candidates for the
representation of East Gloucestershire. ' The room was
crowded to overflowing, and the result was a motion pro-
posed by Mr. Strange, to support Mr. Holland.
AMERICA AND THE SULTAN.--A letter from Berlin
says :—" A: piece of curious news is circulated here as
authentic, but the truth of which st is impossible to ascertain
at Berlin. Namik Pascha has not succeeded at Paris in
negociating a loan. This was to be expected. But what
could not be foreseen is that the United States of America
have (so it is said) offered a very considerable sum to the
Porte, on the condition that some small island in the Archi-
pelago shall be ceded to them.
QUARTER SESSIONS.--The following persons convicted at
the Quarter Sessions, were sentenced on yesterday :—David
Clarke, four years penal servitude; William Fletcher, one
weeks' imprisonment and hard labour ; William Hunter,"
eighteen calendar months' imprisonment, with hard labour;
Johanna Russell, four calendar months, and hard labour;
Margaret Dee, three calendar months, and hard labour;
Margaret Brown, six weeks, and hard labour ; Mary Dee,
three calendar months, and hard labour ; Thomas Cain, five
calendar months, and hard labour, one week solitary.
SUDDEN DEATH.—Yesterday an inquest was held on the
body of William Lea, who died suddenly the preview
morning. The deceased was 32 years of age, and clerk in
the employ of the London and North Western railway com-
pany at the goods station in Wapping. On Tuesday morn-
ing about 10 o'clock the deceased took an order to one of the
shipping clerks, named John Spender, who was at the
time in a hut under the large goods shed ih Crosbie-street.
After he left Mr. Spender he went through No. 4 door into
Crosbie-street, and immediately fell down side-ways and
rolled over. He was carried into the shed and laid on some
straw, where he died immediately. On searching him a
letter was found that had been written by the deceased to
Mr. Salter, cashier, in that branch of the establishment, in
which the deceased begged most earnestly for the loan of
two pounds on account of his wages which are paid monthly.
Across this was written a refusal saying that it was contrary
to orders, and on the back of the same sheet was a request
that the gentleman would; reconsider the request and that
Mrs. Lea had come to the office and it would be a great
disappointment if she had to go without the money. This
was also refused. There was also what appeared to be a
copy of a letter written on tissue paper making a request
for money to his parents and urgently requesting the loan
of some money to help him out of his present difficulties. It
was stated to the court that the clerks generally felt it to
be a great grievance that their wa;es are paid monthly,
it being a very great loss to their families, who, if their
wages were paid weekly, would be enabled to pay ready
money for goods instead of being obliged to get them on
credit. The coroner said these were arrangements for the
directors of the company and did not come within his
jurisdiction. He put it to the jury whether they ought not
to have the body opened to ascertain the cause of death.
The jury said they would rather first view the body. Mr.
Kelly, of Park-lane, the surgeon, who was called in at the
time of death went with the jury and deposed that the de-
ceased had died of serous apoplexy (without n.aking a post
mortem). The jury were satisfied with the surgeon's evi-
dent eand returned a verdict in accordance therewith.