The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-28 00:00:00

undergo the agony and peril of a public trial; and I am not
satisfied to leave interests so momentous in the hands of a
single magistrate, however able, honest, and experienced.
Again, you must combine with the consideration of this
topic that of the contemplated institution of a putlic pro-
secutor, and the projected great augmentation of the sum-
mary powers of a single magistrate. All these are topics of
infinite moment; but I must pass on, with the expression of
an anxious hope that the Le,,eislature will not suffer itself to
be precipitated into rash and pernicious action. The treat-
ment of the criminal section of our population continues to
excite the utmost anxiety among all thinking men.
There really must be a reconsideration of what I shortly
designate as the ticket-of-leave system, the serious evils
of which are multiplying around us in all directions.
The subject, however, is one of great difficulty, and re-
quires profound consideration by the Legislature. As to
youthful criminals, a hearty but cautious effort has been
made by the Legislature during the last session to meet the
wishes and requirements of the country and the age. This,
also, is a subject remaining environed with practical diffi-
culties ; and I, for one, am watching the operation of the
great experiment with the utmost solicitude : curious also
to see how far the country's voluntary efforts will second
those which the Legislature has been so urgently pressed by
the country to make. _I wish from my heart God speed
to this noble effort ! I am alluding now to statute
17th and 18th Vic., c. 85, passed on the 10th of August
last, and entitled " An Act for the better care and refor-
mation of youthful offenders in Great Britain." Under its
provisions, the managers of any voluntarily established
institution for the better training of juvenile offenders
may apply to the Home Secretary to order the institution
to be inspected by! one of the inspectors of prisons ; and on
a favourable report it may be declared by the Secretary
of State to be a "Reformatory School" under the act.
It is then enacted that any youth under sixteen years of
age, convicted on either indictment or summary conviction,
may be ordered by the court or justices, in addition to the
sentence, which must not be less than 14 days' imprison-
ment, to be sent, at the expiration of it, to any " Reforma-
tory School" which may be willing to receive him ; to be
detained there fornot more than five,nor less than two years.
The parents of such offender shall be compelled, if able, to
contribute to the maintenance of such offender a weekly sum
not exceeding 55.; payment to be enforced bythe compulsory
powers of the Poor-law Acts. The Treasury is made liable
to pay the whole or such part of the maintenance as can-
not be recovered from the parents; and the act contains
provisions rendering absconding or refractory offenders
liable to three months' imprisonment, with or without
hard labour, in any gaol or house of correction for the
county or borough. Such are the leading provisions of the
Act which might have been set in force within this bo-
rough by either myself at these sessions, or by the stipen-
diary magistrate and justices in cases cognisable by them.
But this cannot now be the case. The Act as regards
this borough is, during these sessions, a dead letter ;
for where is your voluntarily established Reformatory
School? I cannot doubt, however; that this is owing
solely to the very recent passing of the Act; and that
no time will be loot in establishing one, and thus practi-
cally and nobly proving that the enightened inhabitants
of Hull were and are in right earnest in this great cause.
Their sentiments—those of a grand jury, formally pre-
sented to me in court—l myself conveyed, as I promised,
to the Secretary of State, and several of the leading mem-
bers of both Houses of Parliament. Another bold step
taken by the Legislature during the last session, in a vir-
tuatts and philanthropic spirit, was towards securing the
sanctity of the Lord's-day, and thereby, also, diminishing
opportunities and temptations for intemperance, that very
hot-bed of crime. Who can doubt, that were there no in-
toxicating liquors in existence on earth, crimes would im-
mensely diminish, and the happiness and well-doing of our
species proportionately increase ? But as times go, and with
men as men are, and wemust be aware that in bending we do
not break the bow, and impose a kind, and a degree, of re-
straint on reasonable enjoyment, which a free country will
not, and indeed ought net, to tolerate. The recent act for
restricting the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sunday has
made, as I have said, a bold advance in the right direc-
tion ; and I wish that all mayors—all magistrates—would
imitate the example of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh—
and also of my excellent friend the Recorder of Birming-
ham, and with patient impartiality and vigilance watch
the operation of that important act. God forbid, gentle-
men, that such a monstrous outrage on public moralityand
feeling should be committed, as that the upper classes of
society, blessed with every means of complete and luxurious
enjoyment of life, should cruelly debar their less favoured
brethren of such fair and reasonable enjoyment, only,
as their limited means and opportunities may afford ;
that would be to make the rich man continue selfishly
enjoying, amidst increased quietude anti enhanced soli-
tude, that Sunday which his chafed and irritated humbler
neighbour would only feel disposed to curse. But, on
the other hand, do not let us be frightened by phrases,
stereotyped though empty,—such as, " the impossibility
of making men sober, er religious, by Act of Parliament."
Let us give a fair trial to an honest attempt of the
Legislature, set in motion by so many wise and bene-
volent persons, remembering how inevitably it is calcu-
lated at first to provoke resistance and resentment.
Let us also make large deductions in respect of clamour
among those who are selfish and base enough to regard
it as a question solely of pecuniary profit and loss. By
and by, the neck gets accustomed to the soft collar of
social order ; and while the dissolute drunkard is hiccuping
curses against the friends of temperance—his own beat
friends—oh, that the Legislature could catch a sight of the
vast array of wives, of mothers, of sisters, faces, pale with
suffering and fear of a return to old times of domestic
tyranny and debauchery who, in anguished silence,
are inwardly praying for the success of that move-
ment, which is already beginning to make their home
a little heaven ! Who would tremblingly whisper
in the ear of the Legislature—think of us and of our
children—of those who dare not speak for ourselves—
and be wisely and mercifully firm of purpose ; having
set your hand to the plough, oh ! look not back. I can
truly say, that the result of my own inquiries elsewhere
than here, especially in London, has been decisively favour-
able to the new law ; the operation of which I shall con-
tinue, as doubtless will' all really interested in the public
welfare, to watch with anxiety and hope.. I havebeen given
to understand, also, that in this borough, since the passing
of the act, the charges for drunkenness have diminished by
about two-thirds ! and that the beneficial effects of the
act are beginning to be perceived by even those whose
interests might have been imagined to render them
highly hostile to it. This is, indeed, most honourable
to them, and encouraging to the public. So groat have
been the changes and improvements made by an act of
the last session (stat. 17 and 18 Vic., c. 125), in the admi-
nistration of civil justice in England, and which will pro-
bably come into operation during the sitting of the Venire
Court here, that one of tie most celebrated members of the
House of Lords (Lord Brougham) lately declared to a fi iend
of mine that it alone was richly worthy of the exclusive la-
bours
of a session. Gentlemen, I lament to see so heavy a ca-
lendar, nearly 60 eases, while all classes are enjoying so much
prosperity. The learnedßecorder then proceeded to say that,
with respect to the cases in the calendar, though there were
many of a very serious nature, yet there was only one which
called for special remark from him. This was the case of
the man charged with procuring a girl, under 21 years of
age, for immoral purposes. In this case the Grand Jury
would have to see first that the girl was under 21 years of
age 2 • and then that, by false pretences and representations,
and by fraudulent means, she had been led into evil. If a
prima facie base of this kind were made out, then it would
be their duty to find a bill. The Recorder then dismissed
the jury to their duties. —Hull Advertiser.