The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-22 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 22, 1363.

pleasant revelations of the Committee ; but if the
public attention is once fairly aroused on the sub-
ject, and cause and effect are put together, Mr.
LINDSAY may have to lament over the passing of a
more stringent measure, while the President of the
Board of Trade regrets the saving of life effected at
the expense of the additional labour imposed upon
his department.

The Commissioners appointed to consider the
subject of transportation and penal servitude have
recommended various alterations, which for the
most appear to be desirable. It is very important
that this one be adopted at once, " that the prin-
ciple already recognised by the law, of subjecting
econvicted criminals to severer punishment, should
be more freely acted on." The great laxity that
has prevailed on this point has really been a tacit
encouragement to crime, and has been the fruitful
source of garotters. When once those hardened
criminals were convinced that they might go on
lt
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the worst only return to their previous easy form
of imprisonment. It is high time that some strin-
gent course be adopted, and a decided check be put
upon these proceedings altogether, and the result
will be that it will become necessary to revert to
the arbitrary discipline that prevailed formerly in
our prisons, and which, while it may stop the com-
mission of crime, must exercise the most injurious
effects on the minds of the prisoners. Also the
Commissioners recommend that convicts should be
placed for nine months in separate imprisonment.
This is a very wise suggestion, as during that
lengthened period they must naturally calm down
and become more likely to attend to the rules of
the prison, and so fit themselves for a more respec-
table course of life when they emerge from its
walls than if they mingled at once with the same
style of characters as those with whom they have re-
cently come in contact before conviction. It is
suggested that all male convicts who are not dis-
qualified for removal to a colony should be sent to
Western Australia during the latter part of their
punishment. This will no doubt. be a wise plan, as
it must remove them from the immediate influence
of those who before have been mixed np with them ;
but it is a pity that the recommendation did not
extend to the female convicts as well, as previous
experience has shown the desirability of such a
course. It is recommended that those who remain
in this country and are discharged under license
should be placed under strict supervision, which
plan has indeed become imperative, in consequence
of the late events. It appears strange that no
mention is made of the necessity that exists for
maintaining a stricter discipline while the convicts
are actually in the prison. All accounts, public and
private, agree as to the great errors that are con-
stantly made in carrying on the system of secondary
punishments. It would have been far better if the
whole question had come before Parliament and
been thoroughly sifted ; but as it is, the recommen-
dations of the Commissioners are well worthy of
consideration. If they are strictly acted on, they
must be productive of some benefit, and great re-
sponsibility will rest on those who persist in shut-
ting their eyes to the evils of the present system.
It is a reproach to our Legislature that notwith-
standing the enormous sums that are paid for the
purpose, our prisons are apparently productive of
evil, and hold out an inducement to the outcast to
enter them, instead of being, as they should be, the
object of terror to the criminal.

The account of the late serious accident that
occurred to two gentlemen in a railway carriage,
naturally suggests the importance of devising some
remedy for the recurrence of such disasters. It is
time that some means of defence be provided for the
protection of passengers, who are placed in pecu-
liarly awkward circumstances when such events
occur. Many patents have been taken out and
several schemes suggested for effecting a communi-
cation throughout a train, either between guards
and drivers or between passengers and guards. The
objection that many urge against the adoption of
this wise plan is, that advantage will be taken of
such facility for the purpose of amusement by reck-
less persons; and also that timid or ignorant parties
will be sure to give a great deal of trouble and
occupy unnecessarily the time of the officials, to the
hinderance of the strict performance of their duties
and the general discomfort and disarrangement of
all concerned in the transit. On these grounds it
is easy to understand why the companies are slow
to entertain the matter, but a little reflection will
prove that these difficulties can be easily obviated.
On the Continent the carriages are so constructed
that the tickets are collected while the train is in
motion, as the guards are enabled to walk round it.
What reason can exist that prevents the English
railway carriages from being similarly constructed ?
Why should not footboards extend from carriage to
carriage, and thus enable the guard, if summoned,
to repair at once and in safety to the point of call to
ascertain what may be required, and not needlessly
stop the train. Fortunate was it in the late serious
encounter on the Eastern Counties that there hap-
pened to be two gentlemen in the carriage, for had
Mr. WORLAND been alone his death must in-
evitably have resulted. As it was, the in-
trepid interference of Mr. MACLEAN prevented
such a catastrophe, but even with that result gained
and the maniac secured, the consequences were
serious. The wounded men had for a long time to
hold the maniac while their wounds were in great
need of being attended to, the train, an express one,
stopping at no intermediate stations. Thus for
forty miles they were placed in a perilous position,
while assistance, although in close proximity, was
unavailing to them. Railway companies while
they cater for the convenience and necessities of the
public, have always in view the prospect of remu-
nerative dividends ; a short sighted policy too often
induces the directors to act on the penny-wise and
pound foolish system, which not only defeats the
ends they have in view, but entails disgrace upon
the company and loss of profit upon the shareholders.
It is useless to look to the present administration to
expect any good in this matter, but we think that
the common sense of the eminent engineers and
practical managers of our great railway companies
should induce them to forestall a legislative enact-
ment by the adoption of some remedial measure
which would enable passengers in railway trains to
communicate, when necessary, with the officials in
attendance. Across the Atlantic there is but one
class of carriages.
At first sight this may seem a dis-
advantage ;
to the fastidious, but it has the merit of a
thorough communication, the guards and ticket col-
lectors being able to pass from one end of the train to
and passengers who wish for fresh air are indulged
in it at either end of the cars, and can likewise ob-
tainthe other. In winter the trains are heated by stoves,
s are equal, if
not superior, to the first class of t
In Germany the second-class carriage
this country.
refreshments on long journeys at their leiauie.
Why should it be that the country that gave
birth to railways, and which at the present day
supplies engineering talent and capital for the con-
struction of lines throughout both hemispheres,
should be so wofully neglectful of the safety and
comfort of the thousands who daily travel through
the confines of its own empire.

Governor-General, Prince Drucki Sokolinski, to
the local authorities of the province :

" The peasants of the Government of Volhynia
frequently address petitions to me, saying that as
they are compelled unceasingly, by day anti by
night, to pursue rebellious Polish bands, and take
all possible means to assist in pursuing and exter-
minating them, they are not at present in a position
strictly to fulfil their duties towards their landlords,
and they therefore beg to be clearly informed as to
their relations with regard to their landlords,w hether
they still owe any corvees to them, or have been
liberated therefrom.

" Considering, that the duty now imposed on the
peasants, the prevention, both by day and by
night, of the assemblage of suspected persons, may
render them incapable of properly fulfilling the
duties required from them by law, I have the honour
to request that you will call upon the nobles of the
Government of Volhynia, in return for the protec-
tion of their estates by the peasants, not to exact
the fulfilment by them of their duties before the
disturbances in the country are put down, and, in
view of present circumstances, not to prevent the
peasants from liberating themselves from their cor-
vees in the usual manner--by payment. The nobles
should also observe that a peaceful arrangement
with the peasants is likely to be more beneficial to
them than measures of compulsion, which, moreover,
would be improper, for the peasants, being occupied
in protecting quiet inhabitants, loving the throne
and their country, and risking their own lives
against the criminal acts of the rebels, have a right
to expect consideration from the landlords and the
Government.

(Signed)

"Prince DRuciu SOKOLTNSKI,
The Governor."

The cynical assurance of this decree, which speaks
of a horde of half-drunken peasants, pillaging and
murdering every noble they can find, as defenders
of the peace of the country, and protectors of the
nobles, is evident on the face of it. As for the

liberation of the peasants from the corvee, any pea-
sant may be so liberated, in the most complete
manner, by the national Government; but it is too
much to expect of a Polish nobleman to grant even
a partial benefit to his peasants, when they destroy
his estate, threaten his life, and hunt to death the
soldiers of the only Government which enjoys the
confidence of the Polish people.