The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-30 00:00:00

The Recorder of Birmingham on Crime,

At the general quarter sessions of the borough, on
Monday, M. D. Hill, EEq., the Recorder, delivered
the following charge to the graid jury :

Gentlemen,—You have just heard that it is the commend
of her Majesty the Queen that the laws which prohibit idle
and dissolute persons, or indeed any ethers, from drinking
on the Lord's-day to excess must be put into force. I have
great satisfaction in stating that I believe in this borough
these laws are put into force with great rigour, and, I trust,
with corresponding success, but of that I cannot speak of
my own knowledge. I have before me the calendar of the
sessions, which contains 82 names, and I find that of these
82, 35 have been previously convicted. I find that of these
35 seven have had penal servitude, and I also find that, in
addition to the number of prisoners sent for trial at the ses-
sions, there have been since, the last sessions 64 male per-
sons and 20 females convicted under the Summary Juris-
diction Acts—that is to say, those acts which give to the
magistates the power of disposing of cases, sentencing the
guilty and acquitting the innocent without the intervention
of a jury. It was very right and prudent on the part of the
legislature to limit the powers given to magistrates to exer-
cise them without the assistance and safeguard of a jury
within tolerably close restrictions, but I think we may now
say that the experience of many years has shown that there
is no disposition on the part of justices of the peace to
press the laws unfairly and with over severity against those
prisoners who are thus entrusted to their charge. Anl
could wish they were armed with more power—that is to
say, that the sentences which they can inflict should be of
longer duration than they are enabled to pass at the present
time. Gentlemen, I believe that the danger, as I stated at
the last sessions, is rather that justices of the peace should
not give way to their humane feelings too much than that
they should overstrain the laws with undue severity against
the prisoner. Whether it be the fault of the law which too
much narrows the power of the justices, or whether it be
from that sort of humanity to which I have just adverted, I
cannot say, but so it is, that the terms of confinement are
too short, and being too short, the result is that prisoners
come again, and again, and again, so that in this long list
which I have before me 1 find cases in which prisoners
have been previously convicted, either before justices or at
the sessions or the assizes, many times before they come
here on the present occasion for trial. I have before me the
record of a female prisoner who has been previously con-
victed eight times before she comes up on the present occa-
sion. Now, gentlemen, these facts show that punishments
as they are now administered are far from being so effective
for the repression of crime as we could wish, or, indeed, as
we have a right to demand, if there be any possibility of
obtaining it, for the protection of our families, ourselves,
our friends, and our neighbours. It is, indeed, melancholy
their f i
tahl se
visitation ha v e eeafdtyh
ebleaewn ct ohne
yv i
hc taevde. a l
rTe ha
de yy
to think that more than one-third of the prisoners who are
knownhaveelt
wa
iti
waiting
g alreadyw het it is to be guilty,
and to suffer punishment for
their guilt, but they are not reformed ; and, gentlemen, my
experience is that a prisoner who is not reformed by being
sent to gaol is made worse.
No man, no woman, can come
out of gaol the same being he or she Was when they went
into gaol—they are either better or they are worse. If the
discipline which the law has appointed, and which has been
administered upon them, has not had the effect of preventing
a repetition
why they must become more
hardy, moreof
ready their
tooffences,
again; while they have gained
offend
experience, through the previous offences which they have
committed, of how such offences are to be committed with
.
safety. • The consequence they come out again with a
greater determination to do wrong, and with greater power
of doing wrong with impunity.. Not but that they will be
overtaken at last; but my inquiries have led me to believe
that there is a large class of persons always in this, and,
indeed, in every other country, who have skill and cunning
enough to commit crime wit.. impunity for a very long time
.—sometimes for years, sometimes. for many years. Again,
there is an offence which it is thought is peculiar to the
town of Birmingham, and that is the offence of passing bad
money. When I say peculiar to the town, I do net mean
that it is supposed to be exclusively practised in this town,
but we have credit given us for a very large number of
offenders of this class. I believe there is some degree—and
some considerable degree—of popular exaggeration in this
opinion; and, in corroboration of that view, I am happy to
tell you that on the present occasion there is not one single
charge of that kind to bo brought before you. lam glad
of this, because I take rather a more serious view, perhaps,
of these offences than that generally held. I consider it an
offence of a very nefarious kind. I consider that the passing
of bad money presses very hard indeed upon the poorer
classes of shopkeepers, who can ill afford such losses as I
have often seen it proved they have sustained in the trials
which have taken place in this court. Now, gentlemen, it
is satisfactory, and it is very much to the credit of the police,
that it should have been found so dangerous to commit
these offences, at least in this town, that if the offenders
still persevere in their evil courses they, at all events, think
it necessary to go away from a place where they are $3
vigilantly watched. But, gentlemen, there is another
offence of a more heinous nature, more dangerous, and
than the one I have mentioned,
ar/ miserysorry
I to say is very rife among the people
producing
and
hdh
thisawv eh tiinoc theow—
' allude to the offence of embezzlement.
present calendar nine cases of embezzle-
ment to be tried before you. When we remember that a
person who embezzles is one who, up to the period of his
being apprehended and brought under the cognizance
of the law, is a person of character—not one of that
Owe; who is under suspicion, and carefully watched by the
police; but One moving among you, ands if he is in you.

employment, enjoying your confidence, it is a dreadful
thing that confidence reposed in those whom you employ
should be so often abused. It destroys, or has a great ten-
dency to destroy, and must certainly injure that feeling be-
tween master and servant, of kindness on the part of the
master, of fidelity and loyalty on the part of the servant
which it is much to the interest of society should be culti-
vated and strengthened, but which must be greatly and in
many cases utterly destroyed by the prevalence of this
crime of embezzlement. I may say with truth and sincerity
that the prevalence of this crime has often caused me most
painful reflection; and whether it is that I am influenced
by the pain which this thought has caused me I do not
know, but I fear that this discription of crime is on the
increase. I have watched it carefully for many years, and
that is the impression which rests upon my mind, Having
given this offence much of my attention, it appears to me
that while the criminality is on the part of the servant,
therehas often been much imprudence, to give it its lightest
term, on the part of the master; and I throw it out for
your consideration whether imprudence which has for result
the fall from rectitude of a fellow creature is not to some ex-
tent tinctured with criminality. Now, I have frequently
observed that persons are put in trust of money by their
masters as stewards, to receive debts for them, and in
various ways to handle their masters' money, who could
not reasonably be supposed to have the caution which every
person ought to have who is clothed with such a trust.
Surely it is wrong when a master receives a servant, cape- •
cially a servant without a character, as frequently happens
—sometimes from the very kindest motives on the part of the
master—surely it is wrong to admit such a person immedi-
ately into a place of trust and confidence. Surely there ought
to be a reasonable time of probation, that the master should
have some evidence, some testimony on which he can rely,
that the servant iraruatworthy. But even them let him not
subject the servant to trials above his strength ;' let him
proceed gradually in the degree of confidence which he re-
poses. For instance, let him not, when he first entrusts
the servant with the power of receiving money, trust him
at the same time with the power of paying out from the
monies which he receives sums for his master, and thus pro-
duce a complication of accounts, but for a time let the mas-
ter say, Bring to me the exact coins that you receive;
don't change them. Bring the gold, or the notes, or the
bills of exchange that you have received. Do nothing with
them, but carefully and punctually bring them to me.'
And, gentlemen, let the intervals of auditing accounts be
very short indeed. At first, at all events, they cannot be
too frequent, nor can the master be too punctual himself in
this matter. Let him not upon slight reasons postpone and
say, ' Come again to-morrow with your money and your
accounts, and we will balance accounts.' Let him do it at
the appointed time with a fated certainty, so that the ser-
vant may know that at a given hour he must render up an
account to his Blaster. If unnecessary time be allowed to
intervene, neither the master nor the servant will be able to
bring his mind to the subject with anything like certainty.
With these safeguards I trust, gentlemen, that it would be
found that many a person who has been tempted and ulti-
mately fallen could have been saved a life of disgrace ; and
the master and the clerk would, if all acted on these prin -
ciples, be spared that most painful and harassing feeling of
distrust of those about them," After a few other general
remarks upon the calendar, none of the cases calling for
special observation, the learned Recorder dismissed the
grand jury to their duties.