The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-09 00:00:00

TDB SIIN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 9, 1862.

to innocent persons, even to passers by, if the prac-
tice of self-protection with such weapons beeome
general. To prevent this, however, our Home
Secretary must be wide awake. Persons will not
risk violent attacks without the means of counter
attack. And, whether London is to become a New
Orleans or a Charleston, 'where every man must
guard against a foe in his neighbour, depends very
much on what our police authorities, and, if neces-
sary, onr legislators, can do for us.
But what can they do?—we shall be asked ; and,
we admit, fairly asked. They do not certainly feel
any want of suggestions. Journalists and letter
writers tender their advice in ample abundance.
Now, it is surely their province to weigh it all in
the scales of their own greater experience and
knowledge, and to do something—the evil being
simply intolerable at home, besides disgracing us in
the eyes of the world. The means suggested—all
resolve themselves into two classes—the directly
protective and the preventive. The first is ex-
pensive. To protect effectually every street—not
only those with much traffic in them, but the side
streets and those of the suburbs, would require an
army, a sen ty actryeverorner, and to every " ter-
race," or " place," or road lined with " villas." The
expense would not be endured. The limits per-
mitted by law for a police-rate would not permit
it, if ever so well administered. And here we
may say that, whatever faults may be charged
against the police the common one—" and a police.
man nowhere to be seen"—is not quite reasonable ;
even the boys in the streets watch the policemen
out of the way to practise their common sportive
but interdicted tricks, and it is quite certain that,
either personally, or by means of coadjutors, these
" garotters" take pretty good care to be sure that
no,policeman shall be within sight or hearing when
they make an attack. Unless, therefore, the police
were sufficiently numerous to be never out of sight
of each other, complete protection, by police, is an

impossibility.
Of the preventive schemes proposed, terror and
literal physical withdrawal of the rogue from social
life, are the chief. Frighten the villains if you can.
Keep them in prison as long as the law will let
you, that we may at least have fewer of them in the
streets. The cat o' nine tails, and longer sentences
seem to be the most approved recipes for the garotte
mania which seems to have seized on the thieves of
London, and in some of the provinces too. As to
the justice of a flogging for the coward who has
stealthily injured another to rob him of a little
money, there can be no question. He merits it
far more than most soldiers or sailors who re-
ceive it. It does not seem, however, to have
worked well in the army. It certainly is rather a
hindrance than otherwise to reformation. Still we
)
cannot but think that its uniform infliction
whenever the robbery had been accompanied by
violence to man, or by terrifying females, would have
a most salutary effect. It would throw the
rogues on their ingenuity, and make them afraid to
indulge their brutality ; and, of course, it would be
a great point gained, if robbed we must be, to have
it so done, that we were not injured for weeks, it
may be for life : only let there be no mercy—let the
punishment be certain. Whatever followed of im-
prisonment, let all the violent have a taste on their
own backs of what violence means.
The ticket-of-leave system as at present
worked, is now. all but universally condemned.
If good behavour in prison obtain any reward, it
must be that of escaping further detention for bad
behavour, The sentence must be carried out to the
letter, but it might be law that, for every day of bad
behaviour certified to by the visiting justices, a day
would be added after the prisoner would have, other-
wise, been liberated. This will be sufficient to en-
sure good behaviour in prison. Care, however, must
be taken not to confound the ticket-of-leave system
as practised in England, with the really reforma-
tory system adopted in Ireland. On this, however,
we cannot uow dilate, we can only warn our readers,
for the present, not to confound two systems which
are, really, the very opposites of each other.