The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-18 00:00:00

PARISH CONSTABLES BILL.

Mr. DEEDES moved the second reading of this bill.
The great object of the bill was to improve the provi-
sions of the Rural Police Act, and to make them
more extensive. The measure he now proposed to
read a second time had been referred to a select com-
mittee.

Mr, RICE opposed the bill on the ground of the
heavy local taxation it would impose. The hon. mem-
ber was understood to prefer the extension of the rural
police to the whole of the country. He moved ai an
amendment that the bill be read a second time that day
six months.

Sir J. LLO PE opposed the bill as expensive and
unnecesFary, and stated that in consequence of the im
proved condition of the people crime had so decreaqed
that the gaols were half empty. In his county the gaol
was constructed to accommodate 76 prisoners : it had
now only 30 inmates. Under such circumstances be
shoulthbe extremely unwilling to entail the expense of
the rural police on the counties, even in the modified
form proposed by his hon. friend.
Mr, COWPER would support the second reading,
deeming the bill a great improveinent on the existing
system. _ _

-Mr. W.-MILES thought that Government, havin g
let a flood of crime loose on the country by the establish-
ment of the ticket-of-leave system, should of itself pro-
pound a police system, and give the counties material as-
sistance in bearing the expense. He thanked his hon.
friend for bringing in the bill, which was a step in the
right direction, but thought that the responsibility of
providing for a state of things which had been created by
themselves rested with the Government.
Lord PALMERSTON said the hon. member bad
brought twq unfounded charges against him. In the first
place, he said it was owing to the Government that
transportation bad ceased, and, as a consequence, crime
had increased ; in the next place, he said Government
had not originated any measure upon this question of
rural police. Now, ie. the first place, it was perfectly
well known that the cessation of transportation was not
at all the decision of the Government—the British Go-
vernment reluctantly submitted to it as a necessity im-
posed upon them by the decisions of the colories. It was

6ecause those prosperous and improving communities, feel-
ing that their civilisation and, character were injured by
the perpetual influx of crime from this country, had re-
solved that they would not have any further increase, of
transported criminals that the system of transportation
was abandoned. Therefore, as far as the first charge
was concerned, the Government were perfectly guiltless.
A great deal of inconvenience arose from the cessation
of the power of transporting to the colonies, and it then
became a question what should be done with those per,
suns who had gone through either the whole-or part of
their sentence of imprisonment. Many persons sug-
gested that penal settlements should be established in
various islands that were marked out, some nem. our
coast and some in remote parts of the world ; but the
objection to all those plans was this—Government were
at no loss for places in which to confine convicts during
I the period of their sentence of imprisonment, but there
was difficulty in the way of disposing of them after-
wards, or of doing that which was accomplished by
transportation. After a criminal had undergone his
term of imprisonment be was allowed to be absorbed
in the free population, and there he bad a chance

of redeeming his character, and converting himself
into a useful member of a free community ; but
if you transported him to such a place as Nor-
folk Island he could have nd such chance, because
in that island, and others that were suggested, there was
no population to absorb him. (Hear, hear.) Nor could
we have sent our convicts to foreign countries, b,eause
foreign countries would have justly remonstrated against
our inundating them with what might be called our flood
of crime. Government had therefore no alternative but
to resort to the experiment now in operation—an expe-
riment which had so far succeeded, and which granted
to well-conducted convicts, after a certain period of their
imprisonment had been' gone through, the same condi-
tional ticket of leave at home which Government bad
been in the habit of giving them abroad: Then came
the other‘Charge, that the Government had originated no
measure upon this subject of county police. Now the hon.
member could not have forgotten the manner in which the
measure was met which he had the honour of proposing to
the house in a former session. Government saw that many
counties in England had adopted the permissive act to
establish a rural police, and in those counties crime had
diminished. They saw teat the floods of crime which
had previously overrun those counties had been rolled
back into neighbouring counties, where they had become
unhealthy marshes, and therefore they proposed a gene-
ral drainage system. They proposed that every county
should be compelled to establish a county police upon
the same system. Nor was that measure based noon
the principle of centralisation ; on the contrary, it sett
the management and details of the plan in the hands of
the local authorities ; but in spite of all that, the- propoi-
sal met.wittk a most_extraordivary reception, both from
the members of
.boroughs as well as the members for
counties,, and the opposition to it was so great on all
shies that he saw there was no more chance of its pas-
sing this hou=e than a palish constable in Somersetehire
of appreheeding.a thief. (A laugh.) The hon. member
said the_ reason why the permissive act was not brought
more.inte.eperation.was the great expense which would
attend it ; but if any one Would take-the trouble to place
on one side the account what it cost a county in the shape
of undetected crime, and put on the other hand the cost
of a rural police, he was quite convinced the balance
would be considerably in favour of the latter. If the hon.
member would cast up such a total he would find that
the people of Somersetehire paid a great deal more fur
the pleasure of having, no police at all than they would
have to pay for an efficient police to protect their pro-
perty, to prevent demoralisation, and to clear the county
of its swarms of vagabonds ; but of course that was a
quite a rnattee of opinion, which must be left to the
quarter sessions of counties to decide for themselves.
(Hear, hear.) With regard to the bill now under dis-
cussion, he perfectly agreed with those who thought it
was an imperfect measure ; but the question he had to
ask himself was this—Was ho justified in resisting a
measure which to a certain de;ree mitigated the existing
evil, for the purpose of allowing crime to grow greater,
in order to oompel counties to adopt a better ? He
thought not, and although the measure etas very im-
perfect, yet, under the circumstances he had stated, the
house would perhaps do well to adopt it. (Hear.) The
honourable member who last addressed them de-
nianded that if there was to be a general county police
force, it should be paid for—at least partially—out of the
public revenue; but let the hon. member recollect this,
that if he letin the Government as paymaster, he mu 5t
also let in the Government as commander-in-chief. Well,
then, that proposal went to the establishment of a con•
tral general police, under the control of the executive
Government of the country, and although in some re-
spects that might be the more efficient police, ha never-
theless did not think on the whole that there would be
any advantage in taking the management of the county
police out of the hands of Vie local authorities. There
placing in the hands-of the
inwaagßialstgat
magistracy all the advantageloca in
l affairs of the county, and if you
could
dcotthnipeethem t
gl
that
thoeyhaevhe a county
eeldetil
l police,ha it
vethe wouldmanagle
e)-
a goo
Meat of the force.
Sir J. PAKINGTON said the noble lord had correctly
stated the grounds upon
successful
hsstfural insnpaoertaawtieorningwatshe abo-
lished, but he was not so G
se-
cond charge, namely, that the ov,entnas thbniloloinngthalisQrseubtjheacnt.
this—that
Thethat
answerfaopfedtltiee
noble lord in
rdwa
the noble lord' never tested the ee t
carry such a measure last year
f; but theif
tfahcethl.ovuassethiaiyt
moving the second reading and hetedddencelitnenriedo.
Cl.„.l,laeaslwtwoiticth,hdeliiiiti7feroucrhittrhfa,e;tress:.:neeTorheoeaovsnieorhonnbisrllttlibehilnalPltt:(thioesadwiedalthweicithue;sthiourit
it wis the duty of, the Government to deal with difficult
Government,ciftgru:neentB,:ltidioi;naieislu.i;riw i
twith
;11 this
policeth e therefore,
question,ought
whichnn t tow assi in lac
f:bo,swtheileatt;actory state—a state in which it ought not
left the Government, no matter what
nr,,,,migiyit that surrounded it. But this
been materially changed by the experiment
that lord had referred ; for from the time
otheecrteift,eal,
b•-te "ion Was done away with, the *oast class
be
an
effinr,ncrecileutt!r be returned on to society, and it had
turely to condemn rlePnioe,:liirepee,.rni
Inecee:f:nryorthwatoutlildereheshvouenld-
He did not wish prelim-
etnxrpeerti
thelesral Poliee Acton.7,,hich had already-ad6pEed
t looking. oenscaeyotfahtta:ieti t2a raed,n,
u,i.ftiee,fti.urncecen et d, earnlducpotnoEadtehrisintgimtbee;
Rout ot
,t objected to on
the act, lie thought the
to stand in the way of putting
Police had been found I
force. In his own county it was
Cae score of expense, but the rural