The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-08 00:00:00

affections. Already, if our information be correct,
the trade of the metropolis is suffering considerably
from apprehensions entertained of some undefined
changes, and a change of the Ministry,
which would let loose such fearful elements
of commotion as those we have indicated,
would add much to the derangement and distress. A
change of Ministers might for a moment gratify the
landowners and the clergy ; it might excite the
hopes of the bigot and tile oppressor; it might de-
light the Orangeman and the soldier, who would
rather try his sword on his countrymen than allow
it to rust in the scabbard; but, to the bulk of the
community—to the tradesman whose custom it
would diminish—to the Catholic who would dread
persecution, and would be ready to take up arms to
prevent it—to the Chartists threatened in their
meetings--to the whole people, fretted and harassed
by an open conflict of opinion between the ruling
power and the ruled—a change of Ministers,
substituting :the Tories for the Whigs, would be a
serious calamity. It might gratify also some
Journalists ; it might be considered a tribute to their
sagacity, or give delight to their envy, but we decide
that it would be injurious to the country.
Are the Radicals, then, to get nothing but con-
tumely from the present Ministers ? We answer,
no. Let them, as the Weekly Chronicle recom-
mends, unite on the 15th to support Ministers and
keep out the Tories, but that done, let them insist
on a new compact, a new alliance, and if necessary
a new leader in the Commons. Let some new
blood he infused into the Ministry, let some prac-
tical plans of reform be opened up, which shall,
above all things, embrace a means of giving satis-
faction to the enlightened working classes, and let
an endeavour be made to retain the present Ministry
in power, and impel it more firmly and faster in a
reform direction. The 'nature of the vote and the
division on the 15th will, we believe, con-
vince the Ministers that their fate hangs on
their Radical friends, and induce them either
to resign office, for which there will then be
no help, or frankly concede some of the Radicals'
demands.

Some attempts are made before-hand to impugn
the decision of the Commons, supposing it to be
favourable to the Whigs, by summing up the
number of Ministers and their dependents who will
vote that their policy has been proper. If the tri-
bunal were not a party one, we should think the
observation just. But if the Whigs vote in their own
favour, will not the Tories vote against them ? For
every possessor of office who declares the policy of
the Ministers just, will there not be two expectants
who will vote it to be unjust ? If the Whigs, being
in office, must not vote, neither must the Tories,
who desire to take their places. That such an im-
portant question should be left to the decision
of a party tribunal may be regretted ; but it is
only a specimen of the general system of this
country, the Government of which has always
been carried on with the sole view of seeming the
domination of one faction or another. To the
squabbles of party the pubhc good has always been
sacrificed, and if it were not so now we should have
arrived at a new era—a delightful epoch—in our
history.

Returns have just been published by the Com-
missioners of Police showing the number of persons
taken into custody by the Metropolitan Police, and
the results for the year 1838, with comparative
statements for each year from 1830 to 1839. One
distinguishing feature in the returns is the increased
number of convictions compared with the commit-
ments. In 1831, when the population of the me-
tropolis was a million and a half, the total number of
persons taken into custody was 72,824, the number
committed for trial, 2,955, and the number
convicted 1,952; while in 1838, when the
population must have been above 1,700,000,
the numbers respectively were 63,936, 3,295, and
2,546, making it appear tl'at, under the
present system, the constables have made fewer
arrests that would not bear examination be-
f :re the Magistrates, and also the Magistrates fewer
commitments, which would not stand the test of a
Jury—important points, both as regards the cer-
tainty of punishment and the liberty of the subject.
Thus, taking only the commitments and con-
victions, in the former year 1,023, nearly one-third,
were acquitted by Juries, and in the latter only 749,
or little more than one-fifth. On examining the
lists, we find that convintinns for offences which
were ronnerty capital, such as horse-steanng, forgery,
&c., as compared with the acquittals, have increased
enormously. Formerly it was difficult to get a ver-
dict against persons accused of these crimes, be-
cause Juries thought the punishment exceeded the
offence; and, disregarding their oaths, preferred
mercy to judgment. How stands the case now ?
Of 58 persons accused of breaking into a dwelling-
house and stealing 47 were convicted ; of 11 ac-
cused of horse-stealing, 8 were convicted ; and of
16 indicted for forgery, 12 were convicted. Only
three out of such a vast population, which, ex-
cluding the City London, cannot amount to less

than —a
million and a half, were indicted for
murder, and not one convicted, the Juries re•

turning verdicts of manslaughter. In the course
of last year there has not been one execution in
London, and for the whole of England and Wales
the number has been below that of any previous
period on record, only eight persons were executed,
all of whom were convicted of murder of an atrocious
character. What relief to a humane mind to look
at the leniency of the law and the administration
of it now, compared with what they were but a few
years back. But twelve years ago, in the year
1827, 17 persons were executed in London alone,
more than twice the number for the whole of
England and Wales in 1838. If we go a little
farther back, to 1821, the number of executions
for this part of the kingdom was 143, of which
29 took place in London. Since 1827 the execu-

tions in London have decreased in the following
proportions, for the three years ending 1829, 63 ;
three years ending 1832, 16 ; and three years end-
ing 1835, 2, and notwithstanding the great mitiga-
tion of the law, with one or two exceptions, there
has not been any apparent increase in crimes for
which the punishment had been diminished.
In 1834, several years after the law was altered
with respect to the crimes of horse-stealing and
sheep-stealing ; and two years after capital punish-
ment for forgery, except for two sorts, was abolished,
the number of persons tried in England and Wales
for forgery, had increased a little ; the number in
1831 being fifty, and in 1834 fifty-six. The trials
for sheep-stealing had also increased, and those for
horse-stealing had fallen from two hundred and
twenty-nine in 1827 to one hundred and seventy in
1834. According to official statements, made up
to the end of 1837, there has been a considerable
increase in sheep-stealing and in forgery, and
offences against the currency, an increase of 27
per cent., but in many others a great proportional
decrease, and particularly in violent offences against
the peison and against property.
Taking into account, however, the number of
instances in which humane persons would not pro-
secute when the offence was capital, but who now
prosecute, we should infer that all these crimes have
actually decreased. Humanity never gained a more
remarkable, or more speedy triumph, than it has
done in England since the bloody Whigs came
into power.
On looking over the returns from the Metro-
politan Police, it is afflicting and humiliating to
find what a vast proportion of the accused can
neither read nor write no fewer than 26,636 out
of 63,936, and of the total number, only 6,130....
one in ten, can read and write well.
We subjoin the comparative statements.