The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-08-05 00:00:00

ws. Burns soon went down, but found the
fastened. She asked Jose to onen it_ hot ivA

earl he could not leave

itthews. During the time she
s standing at the door she heard Matthe As groan and a
child cry strongly. She at length got into the reom, and
saw Matthews, Jose, and a baby. George came down, and
then Jose asked George to help Matthews up stairs, which
he proceeded to do. As MattheWs was going ont of the
room. she told Jose to stop the child's crying. After George
and Matthews had left the room Jose thrust his finger down
the throat of the child with great violence, but that did not

destroy its lifa. He did this for five minutes. He then
said that would not do, and he went into another room and
fetched a pan, into which he poured a quantity of water
from a pitcher, and he then put the child into the water and
drowned it. After the child was destr.)yed the hotly was
placed in a cupboard in the kitchen, but Burns said she
would not• work in the room if the body remained there,
and Jose then took it up stairs into Matthews's room, and
put it in a box. Burns went up to Matthews, who asked if
the child was dead. At a subsequent period of the day
Matthews told Burns not to tell, for, if she did, Jose would
be hung, and she should get into trouble. The two men
Went to their work and reurned in the evening about six
o'clock ; • a conversation then arose as to how the body
should be
,disposed of, and Jose asked George to go with
him to a certain pond, and he took down a basket and put
the body in it, and he and George took the child from the
house and carried it to a p-nd about a mile ortwo from Truro.
Jose then -attached a stone to the body by a cord, and threw
it into the pond. On their return Matthews asked what
they had done with the child, and Jose told ber: Matthew;
said it, would be sure to be found ; bat Jose said he was not
afraid.of that ; people might go.to Australia and not find it
Matthews begged them to say nothing, or Jose would
be hang. On Friday, the 28th of March, Burns,
who was dreadfully flurried with what she had seen, left the
house and went to her mother's. On the 29'.,h March, about
3or 4 in the • afternoon, a boy named Truscott, was
fishing in the pond, and observed the appearance of the
hand of a child in the water. which was unusually low at
that time. He give an alarm, and told a man named
Snell what he had seen. Snell went to the pond and took
up the body of a child, disunited it from the stoma to which
it was tied, and took it into the town of Truro, to the
Union Hotel, and then informed Mr. Painter, surgeon,
who went and saw it. He found it to be the body of a
female child full grown, and that it had been born alive,
and that it had come to its death by saification. A coroner's
inquest was held, and a verdict of " Wilful Murder against
some person or persons unknown" was returned. On that
evening Borns went to see Matthews. As they weri talking
Matthews's little child came in, and said the body of a
childhad been found in the pond. Matthews said she was
sure it was her child, and bagged Burns not to say anything
about it, or Jose would he hung. On Sunday, the 30th
of March, the body was placed in a coffin and buried, and,
on that day, inq shies having been made by the constable
and other persons,'Mr. Painter and another surgeon went to
the house of Malthews for the ptirpose of .discovering

• •
whether she had had a child. She denied it at first and
refused to be examined, but aftarwards consented, and, upon
examining her, they found she had been delivered within a
few days, Matthews then went to the housa of Burns's
mother, and im -bored her not to make any revelation on the

Oa Monday, the 31st of March, Matthews and

Jos- were taken into custody, and subsPquently George
and Burns. An inquiry took place before the magistrates,
and Jose then said the child had been deeroyed by poison.
The body was then disinterred and again examined, but it
was evident that that had not been the case, and that it had
been suffocated, although the injury to the mouth and throat
was snfficient to have caused death very speedily. All four
was then committed for trial, but Barns was admitted
Queen's evidence.
Of course the chief witness was the girl Boras, who sup-
ported the above statement, adding that, when Jana had
his fing,r down the child's throat it struggled, and that she
begged Jose not to kill the child. She also said that the
child was alive when Jose put it in the pan of water, and
that she again 1.,..0.fre.d him not to kill it
The, tea'' "'`.1713 -;null the

~,imony of two surge&. ,iho had exams.
ant to show that the deith was caused by suffoca),
lescribed the injuries in the throat. The appear.
antes were consistent with Burns' statement of what had
taken place.
Mr. Baron Martin, in summing up, said there was no
evidence to fix any one with the murder but that of E!izsbeth
; still they were quite at liberty to act upon her evi-
-, and, if they believed her, it was as foul a murder as
ever was committed as regarded the prisoner Jose.

child T

They also d

The jury retired for some time, and then sent in a nofe to
the judge, who sent for Mr. Sergeant Channel], and 'bey
retired into their private room to consult together. Baron
Martin then came into court, and sent an answer, but in a
few minutes he sent for the jury into court.
His lordship then begged them not to be guided by any
opinion of his, but to give their verdict quite independently
of it.

. The jnry then said they had agreed, and they found Jose
guilty of manslaughter, George guilty as an accessory after
the fact, and Matthews guilty of concealing the birth.
_ _

The Judge then said it was his duty to state that in
the paper the, jury had sent in to him they had asked him
whether they could find Jose guilty of manslaughter. He
had some doubt about it, and had consulted his brother
Channell, and the answer he had sent the jury7was that he
himself should either find him guilty of murder or acq'iit
him ; but he did not know any legal obstacle to their finding
him guilty of minelaughter. The jury had taken a most
merciful view of the case. His opinion certainly would have
been that he should have either found him guilty of murder
or have acquitted him, but it was the verdict of the jury,
and he should, therefore, sentence Jose to be transported
for life, and Matthews and George to twelve mouths'
imprisonment.

Every one was struck with the gross absurdity of the
verdict ; for, if thy believed the girl, a more horrible
murder cannot be cunceivel ; if they did not believe her
the man was entitled to an acquittal. It was evidently a

compromise.

BIRKENTIVAD POL CE-CouaT.—Yesterday, Mr. Jackson
preadEd in this court, and disposed of the ordinary business,
whisk chi, fly consisted of assault cases of a minor descrip-
tion, to which no public interest was attached.

MASTERS AND OPERATIVES CcoMMITTEE.-00. Saturday
nyriing was iss•led the report of the select committee ep•
pointed to enquire into the exp diency of establishing equit-
able tribunals for the adjustment of differences between
masters apd operatives. The committee have examined a
great number of witnesses of different positions in life, all of
whom expressed themselves favourable to the establishment
of B. ards of Arbitration, but theydiffered as to the consti-
tution of the roposed boards, and still more so as to Heir
jurisdiction. ,Havinglinted one that the (x.isting Law of
Arbitration between masters and workolqi as established by
the 6th Geo. IV., c. 96, is neirly inopOitike, the report
goes.on to say that to obviate the objections taken to the
machinery and working of that act, it had b?on proposed to

establ'sh 'in 'the N.rar

s InaliuNcturinT districts c"pr

coaciii ,rion similar to the "C
which exist in France. Same of the or. _
nr.pood that these courts should have a inure ex-
_

Ipcili i

tended jurisdiction than those of FranceOrthat'reeognijed
by the arbitration acts of England, while other; had ex
preFsed a.desire that they should also have power to regUlate
the rate of. wages. On the other hand, the employer 3
examined hefore the committee had diff,,rea in opinim as
to the propriety of establishing such tribunals at all; some
thought that they would prodttee more evil than good ;
others were strongly favourable to their establishment.
" On the whole," the report slys :—" Your committee
Cannot but arrive at the conclusion that the attention of
the legislature might with 'advantage be directed to the sub-
. .
j‘Tt of this enquiry, and are of. opinion that the forinatvm
of courts of conciliation in the country, more particularly in
the -large commercial and manufacturing P d mining dis-
tlicts, would be beneficial. Your committee would sug-
gest that such a mnswe might be introduded as an
amendment in the present arbitration sct, by a recon-
struction of that act in the 10th and 13th sections, by
,which means both masters and operatives would be enabled,
each from theirAown class Or calling, to appoint referees, an
equal number by each party having power to elect

a chairman unconnected v, i h either side having a casting
vote. &eh a tribunal to be appointed fr a cirtain period,
PIA not for any particular cmirov.rsy." ne committee
further suggest that the existing boards of arI)CIT ition such
as that established in the Potteries should he liecnipd by
the Secretary of State so as to invest them with power to
determine existing contracts, and to enforce their decisions,
but they believe it would be impossible to give these or any
other tribunals any power whatever of forcibly regulatiug the
Irate of wages.