The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-10 00:00:00

IN CREASE.

Bills discounted not yet due.... 948 millions
Bank notes
... . ...... 507,
„
Current accounts
now
.. 24 1-5 ~
July
prices have slightly receded, Threes, for the Ac-
c lunt, being9.—The market
at 68f. 55c. Little doing in
Railway Shares, but up to the present time the
prices of yesterday have been pretty well main-
tained. The market closed as follows :
Italian Loan 7l 90
Do. end month 72 05
NeW ditto
Do. end month 72 45
Russian
Austrian
Spanish Threes.„
Homo Debt

it per Cents 97
Do. end month —
3 per Cents
Do. end month 6B 60
Credit Mobilier..., 1191 25
►o. end month 1192 50
Bank Shares 3400
Credit koneior

AY&
Cash. Account.
Orleans ................ 1015 .. 1016 50
Northern
3 75
New ditto ............ --
Lyons and Mediterranean 1028 75 .. 1030
Geneva ............... . 472 50 .. 472 50
Southern .............. 662 50 .. 662 50
.......... 572 50 .. 527 50
Western
Eastern .......... 500
Sardinian. ............. 410 .. 412 50
Austrian .............. 452 50 .. 453 75
Lombard ............. 570 571 25
North of Spain ........ 545 .. 545
Saragossa .............. 700 .. 700
Ditto to Barcelona .... 370 371

RA IL

A Tribute to the late Sir Joshua Jebb and
his System of Convict Discipline,

Referring to the recently completed Report of the Royal
Commission of Inquiry into the System of Convict Treat-
ment—an abstract of which has already appeared in the
columns of the Sus—the Cork Reporter observes, in its
issue of Monday, that " the Report" sets at rest at once and
completely the controversy as to the Rev. Charles Gibson's
statistics in his popular book on Convict Discipline. Our
Irish contemporary goes on to remark—" It shows that
of some importance gentleman to have understated not overstated his case.
And, except on a single point,
cer-
tainly, it goes to confirm his views as to the discipline of
our convict prisons, and our treatment, generally, of the

convict class.
missiin our existing system, that of
remitting portions of the
ple which the Com • •
oners agree
shOounled important
be punishment to which the convict
is liable, in case he proves deserving of the remission by
his good conduct, while undergoing his sentence. They
think the length of the sentence should not be " unalter-
ably fixed,"
and they declare that no other advantages
produce an equa
lly good effect on the convict, as the hope
of his
lefun t o Purci nhe c ,
of diminishing the term incarceration by his own
propriety of demeanour.W e are very glad to find the
Commissioners of this opinion, as we have no doubt of the
benefit of properly regulated relaxations and re.nissions of
punishment, both to the convict and to society,
The Commissioners think transportation to Western
Australia should be substituted, in cases of heavy sentences,
They also suggest that greater en-
for penal servitude•
couragement should be given to the emigration of English
s dicharge. ahe extent to which Irish'
prisoners, on -pri-
soners have emigrated they consider has been very useful.
regards the general question, there re •
So far, as main to
be considered the much. controverted differences between
the English and Irish systems—the former established by
the late Sir Jcshua Jebb, whose recent lamented death has
deprived the country of a most able and zealous public
functionary—the latter a modification of it, by Sir Walter
Crofton, for which his friends and admirers have claimed
an amount of credit that, if deserved, would show him to be
one of our highest social benefactors. The two " improve-
ments" of Sir Walter may be described as " inter-
mediate prisons"—to gradually accustom the convict
to self-control—and " police surveillance,'—after his
discharge, on " ticket .of-leave." Mr. Gibson--adopt-
ing Sir Jcshua Jebb's views—was opposed to
both. And, in our notice of his work, we stated that, in
our opinion, he quite established the worthlessness of the
16 intermediate" stage of the Irish discipline. Lusk. farm,
as Mr. Gibson described it, could only be regarded as a
thorough delusion, and the Commissioners report abso-
lutely against this part of the Crofton system.
And here, the Cork Reporter goes on to remark, let us do
justice to the reverend author of " Life Among Convicts,"
by showing how much within the truth he in
was, the
figures which he was charged with exaggerating. Mr.
Gibson alleged that the per centage of relapses in the inter-
mediate prisons was far greater than in the ordinary work-
ing convict prisons, being in the former 13 per cent., in
the latter only 8i per cent. From the Commissioners' Re-
port it appeal's that the ordinary prisons from 1857 to 1863
give 7.1 per cent. of relapses, while Smithfield and Lusk,
the " intermediates," give 18 3 per cent. Nor is this all.
In 1862 these establishments showed over 21 per cent.
of relapses, while the English prisons, on Sir Joshua Jebb's
system, gave only 6'5 per cent. After this, the less said
about the intermediate system the better.
As to the question of polices surveillance, the one part
of the Irish plan approved of, only time perhaps can decide
as to its real utility, The per eentage of relapses as above
recorded, is not calculated to show its great advantage, And
the general decrease in Irish crime, as the Commissioners
show, has bad no connexion with it or with the Croftonian
arrangements, in any wa-.
That decrease began before
fore
Sir Walter had at all appeared on the scene. Still we are
not ready absolutely to contend that the surveillance
should not be tried in England, as well as here,
and its results considered. We cannot conclude
without observing that the report seems fully to justify
the high encomiums passed on Sir Joshua Jebb, and
should somewhat confound those who have sought to de-
tract from his merits, in the hope of thereby adding to Sir
11 Walter C',rofton's fame. The former is now no more, and
praise or blame can affect him nothieg. Bat those who
respect his memory will, in the report of the Commissioners,
find the system which he introduced and ably administered
vindicated satisfactorily from the reproaches hastily or reek.
lessly cast On it,