The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-15 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE. —William M` Laughlin, a poor
unhealthy looking tailor, was brought before the Lord
Mayor upon the charge of having beaten his wife, a
powerful and resolute-looking woman.
Mrs. M‘Laughlin seemed to be unwilling to state the
particulars of the assault, and said that she and her hus-
band would go on well together if the Lord Mayor
would prevail upon Mr. M‘Laughlin to keep good hours
and to contribute something towards the support of the
house. Upon being told that she must give a full de-
scription of the transaction of which she complained
at the station-house, and on account of which she had
raised the neighbourhood with cries of murder, she de-
clared that between twelve and one o'clock on Saturday
night, the defendant had returned to his home without
bringing anything to support it ; and, upon being re-
minded of his duty, which he frequently neglected,
showed fight, which she returned. She believed be got
as good as he gave, and as be had been confined from the
time of the row up. to the present moment, she wished
him to be handed over to her again, in the hope that he
would be prevailed upon to act better for the future.
The Lord Mayor—How long have you been married ?
The defendant (with a deep sigh)—Since October last,
your lordship.
The Lord Mayor—And how long were you acquainted
before marriage ?
_ _

The defendant—Three months.
The Lord Mayor—And what answer have you to make
to this charge ?

The defeti-dant--I only tried to defend myself from
her, for if she once gets hold of a man I defy him to get
loose without the help of another, so that I was thank-
ful to the policeman for coming when she cried murder,
to save me from being murdered.
The Lord Mayor—Then you are in the habit of dis-
agreeing ? _

—The defendant—She chastised me twice immediately
after our marriage. (Laughter.)
The Lord Mayor—Chastised you! Then you mean
that she is the better man of the two ?

The defenthnt—Lord bless your lordship ! I'd stand
no chance at all with her. Her own daughter, who is
a married woman, has cried shame upon her, when she
has been walloping me. She used to throw cups and
saucers and crockery at me, and I only stopped that by
telling her to use pewter pots, as they would not be apt
to break against my head. I never struck her but once,
and that was when she took up a knife to open my
windpipe. Then I did give her a buster that probably
saved both of us from a violent death.
Mrs. M`Laughlin—l do not complain of him, your
lordship, about anything but his not bringing home any
money, for as to fighting, I believe he won't get the
better of me there ; but you see how ill he has been,
and I have been supporting him all the time he has been
laid up. Still he expects that I am to support the
house.

The Lord Mayor—How long is it since your first
husband died, Mrs. M`Laughlin ?
Mrs. M`Laughlin—Five years, my lord. I never had
a word with him in my life, and I'll take very good care
to make inquiries before I run the chance a third time.
(Laughter.)
The defendant—lt isn't possible for any one to live
with her without being laid up. I have been in the
station-house without a bed since Saturday night, and
I'll be on my oath it's the only happy time I've spent
since I married her.
The Lord Mayor—Had you not seen something of
each other's temper before you became man and wife ?
The defendant—l did observe that she had a spirit,
but I thought it was nothing but pluck. She has told
me often since that she did not care for me, as I had
not pluck enough to knock her about when she de-
served it.
Mrs.llinaughlin laughed at the last assertion of her
husband, but did not contradict it. She requested that
the ,Lord Mayor would allow her to take him home
once more, and try how he would conduct himself after
the day's lesson.
The Lord Mayor—l shall discharge him, hut I assure
you both, that if you disturb the neighbourhood any
moYt.with yonr quarrels I shall punish you both, and
the police shall turn a particular eye upon your house.
The deibudant—Sho told me many a time that elie

would put me out of the way some way or other, but I
wasn't worth being hanged for.
Mrs. M'Laughlin—Yes, yes, you are ; come along,
you poor devil. (Laughter.)

LAMBETH.—Mr. Francis Robert Newton and Mr.
William Philip Newton, the . young gentlemen who had
been charged on Saturday last at this court with com-
mitting a most savage assault on Mr. Stewart Ker, a
gentleman residing at 56, Brompton-crescent, Brompton-
square, attended before Mr. Elliott in discharge of their
heavy recognis'ances.
Mr. Wontner, for tbe prosecution, observed that so
critical was the present state of Mr. Ker, from the
effect of the assault committed on him by the defendants,
that it was far from improbable the injuries he received
would prove fatal. Since the last examination it was
found necessary to call in additional medical assistance,
and after hearing the evidence he should call as to this
fact, and the present serious condition of the sufferer,
Mr. Ker, it would be for his worship to say what
amount of security he should require for the further.
attendance of the parties charged.
Mr. John Bass, the gentleman who had been ex-
anined on Saturday, was again sworn, and said that he
had been present when the wounds were inflicted on Mr.
Ker, assisted in dressing them, and had been in constant
attendance on him since. On Saturday, after the ex-
amination at this court, Mr. Ker was in so serious and
dangerous a state that Mr. Christian, his medical at-
tendant, deemed. it necessary to call in additional
medical aid, and Mr. Henry Charles Johnson was sent
for. He (Mr. Bass) was present when both the medical
gentlemen ireattendance sig►,ed the certificate he then
produced, to be placed before his worship.
The certificate was here read by the chief clerk, and
was as follows :

" 15, Brompton-crescent, Aug. 14, 1551..
"We certify that we.have examined Mr. Stewart Ker
this morning, and find him in such a condition, resulting
from the injuries which he has received, that it is impos-
eible to pronounce him free from danger. Since the certi-
ficate of Saturday last, his Pymptoms are somewhat
aggravated.
(Signed) - "HENRY CHARLES JOHNSON.
"J. STANLEY CHRISTIAN."
_ _ _

Mr. Bass, in continuation, Said that Mr. Ker was at
present in such a state as not to be able to speak, and
must not be spoken to. On Saturday night, on a mustard
plaster being applied to the back of the neck, he exhi-
bited some symptoms of consciousness, but his mind
was evidently gone, and it was plain he did not know
how it happened, for he asked ‘ what it all was about."

.
Mr. Wimtper—Did Mr. Ker lose much blood ?—Mr.
Bass—A great deal indeed—some people said two quarts,
but I should judge, from the state of his clothes, and the
quantity that fell on me when I caught him, he must
have lost a quart.
Mr. Elliot—What sort of a weapon was the whip that
has been spoken of as used by the defendant Francis
Newton—was it what is called a hunting whip, with a
handle and thong ? Mr. Bass—No, sir ; not a hunting
whip, but an unusually long riding whip, apparently
loaded at the thick end, with a metal cap on about three
quarters of an inch in diameter.
Mr. Elliott—How was it used by the defendant? Mr.
Bass—The lash or small end was coiled round the hand or
arm, and the blows were given by the thick end, and
directed towards Mr. Ker 's head, and I should say he
struck him fifty times. The last blow, from its sound,
seemed to be the most severe. It was given on the
head, and the instant he received it Mr. Ker fell into
my arms and said, " My skull is broken."
Mr. Elliott—What sort of weapon had the defendant
William ?

Mr. Bass—A sort of switch, and though he had been
engaged all the time in the attack, I only saw him use it
once.

Mr. Elliot—Mrs. Ker in her evidence on Saturday
said something about a former assault by Mr. Newton,
sen. ; do you know anything about it?
Mr. Bass—No, I do not know anything about it per-
sonally.
The defendants declined putting any question to Mr.
Bass, but said they had retained the professional as-
sistance of Mr. Clarkson, who would attend for them
on a future occasion.

Mr. Elliott remarked that from the nature of the cer-
tificate put in, and the unprovoked and violent nature
and consequence of the attack, the case waa one in
which he should not feel justified in taking bail to any
amount for the defendant, Francis Newton, but should
remand him to a future day. For the other defendant,
William, he should accept the same bail as before—two
sureties in 5001. each, and himself in 1,0001. Bail was
given and William discharged, but his brother was sent
to prison on remand in the ordinary way.

WORSHIP-STREE P. —Jolin, Bryant, a shrewd-
looking Irishman, was placed at the bar before Mr.
Hammill, charged with having been concerned with
another man not 'in custody, in hocussing and robbing a
young woman named Ellen Hayes, living with her
mother in Plumtree-court, Holborn.
The prosecutrix stated that some months since she
became acquainted with a man named Daniel Donohue,
who lodged in the same house with the prisoner in
Thrawl-street, Spitalfields. Their intimacy was carried
on in the first instance without the knowledge of her
mother, but witness subsequently invited him to see her
at her }mine ; and about three weeks since, in the course
of-one of his visits, it was proposed by Donohue that she
should clandestinely leave her home to accompany him
to America, to which country he was about to emigrate.
Witness, however, demurred to the proposal, on the
ground that she was not furnished with means pay
the passage money, to which.he replied that she could
easily get over that difficulty, as he understood that her
mother had a considerable sum of money in the house,
a portion of which might be appropriated for- the pur-
pose, without any fear of detection until they were be-
yond the reach of pursuit. Witness for some time re-
sisted his proposals, but ultimately yielded to his impor-
tunities, and it was arranged between them that she
should commit the robbery that night, and meet Donohue
at the prisoner's lodgings on the following morning, to
complete the arrangements for their intended voyage.
Witness accordingly got up at an early hour in the
morning, while her mother was asleep, and abstracted
from one of her drawers a purse containing 141. 10s.,
with which she stealthily left the house, and made
her way to the lodging in Thrawl-street, where she
found the man Donohue and the prisoner waiting her
arrival. COn entering the room she at once apprised
them that she had taken the money, which she had
secreted in the bosom of her dress, and after break-
fasting with them and partaking of a small quantity
of beer, both the men left the apartment, but almost
immediately returned with some rum, a portion of which
they poured into a tea-cup and invited her to drink it.
She noticed at the time that the liquor had a peculiar
frothy appearance, but was induced to taste it, and had
no sooner done so than she fell back in a state of com-
plete stupefaction. The narcotic effects of the draught
were so powerful that she remained insensible for
eighteen hours, and on recovering her consciousness, at
six o'clock next morning, she found herself lying on the
bed with the upper part of her dress torn open in front,
and her purse and .money gone. The prisoner ard
Donohue had both disappeared, and on looking about
her she found the empty puree at the foot of the bed,
together with a smaller purse belonging to her, and con-
taining 103., which they had left undisturbed. On reach-
ing the street, she communicated tho particulars of the
robbery to the police; but they both succeeded in elud-
ing apprehension until Sunday evening, when the pri-
soner was at length taken into custody.
Police-constable G 127 stated that after considerable
difficulty he traced *the prisoner to a house in George-
alley, Holborn, and on learning the nature of the charge,
he admitted having.given the prosecutrix some rum, but
denied having received any portion of her money. The
officer added that the man Donohue had not since been
heard of, and there was every reason to believe that he
had sailed for America.

The prisoner, who protested his innocence, was
ordered to be remanded for the completion of the depo-
sitions.

THE INDIAN BUDGET.

On Tuesday last Sir Charles Wood male his long-
expected statement on the financial condition of India.
The circumstances under which the exposition was deli-
vered were of more than ordinary interest, for this was
the first year of a new system of government—a system
which virtually broke up the old traditional administra-
tion, arid transferred from the India-house to the Impe-
rial Parliament no small portion of authority and re-
sponsibility in these important affairs. Nevertheless,
the attendance of the house was thin in the extreme, and
Sir Charless addressed to empty benches his account of
the finances, position, and prospects of one of the finest
empires in the world. Upon the whole, the statement
of the Minister was received with decided satisfaction by
the few experienced listeners who remained to hear it,
and this reception, considering the various points of
improvement really displayed, was not, perhaps, alto-
gether undeserved. Looking broadly, however, at the
subject, and comparing India as it is with India as we
are assured it might be, we suspect the public will still
find a great deal to desire.
The present condition of the Indian Treasury can be
explained in a few words. The total revenues of India,
when compared with the total expenditure, gave in
1851-52 a net surplus of 531,2651. ; in 1852-53 another
net surplus of 639,4651. ; but in 1853 54 a deficit of
872,3351. Taking the three years together, as Sir
Charles thinks ought to be done, we get a surplus upon
the whole period of something more than 300,0001.
Now, we are quite prepared to admit that the value of
India to this country is not to be measured by the results
of a pecuniary balance ; and we will even go further, and
acknowledge that a statement showing a largeannual sur-
plus would only show a bad system of government. The
true value of India consists, not in its yield of rupees,
but in the field which it offers to liberal enterprise, and
in the honourable occupation which it affords to thou-
sands of Englishmen. But for India, all the home pro-
fessions, already
.over-stocked, would be infinitely more
crowded, and the difficulties of a respectable subsistence
enormously increased. It is certainly not desirable that
any pecuniary surplus should accrue to this country
from the revenues of India, and any great excess of
means annually shown would only prove either that
taxation was too severe, or the expenditure upon
works of utility too small. The proper principle of
action in these affairs is to render the burdens of
the native population as light as is consistent
with the reasonable needs of the Government,
and to apply to public works the chief part of any avail-
able balance. If the taxation of India were notoriously
light, and if all works connected with the improvement
of the country had been liberally performed, we should
consider that a surplus of 100,0001. a-year was a very
satisfactory result. Unfortunately, no such conditions
have been fulfilled. The Indian Government is repre-
sented as oppressive and extortionate in the extreme,
and, though there is doubtless some exaggeration in
the pictuie, it is allowed on all sides that the natives
suffer severely under the vreig4

respect to public works the case is worse still, for
there is probably no country under the sun where
natural resources are neglected to such an extent
as in India. Enough is not done even to save the popu-
lation from the horrors of famine, though, in some in-
stances, an outlay'of a few thousand pounds would yield
the security desired. These are the circumstances which
give an unfavourable character to the balance-sheet of
India., and the result is not a little aggravated by the
statement that affairs must needs proceed much in the
same track.

Sir Charles Wood explained that, while there was
very little prospect of any diminution in the Indian ex-
penditure, there was equally little chance of any
improvement in its revenues. We think the latter
of these propositions by far the more doubtful
of the two. At present it would probably nut be
easy to effect any material reduction in the charges of
Indian Government, but we are convinced it would be
practicable very 'largely to augment its receipts. As
Colonel Cotton observed on the land tenure of Madras, it
would be easier to raise the land to the value of the
assessment than to reduce the assessment to the actual
worth of the land. How did Sir Charles frame his case
on this point ? He argued that nothing more could be
got out of the land revenue, and that of the other two
chief sources of income opium yielded all that could be
expected, while the customs could only beincreased by,
an increase of exportations. In respect of opium, Ny'3
admit the conclusion advanced ; but, with regard to the
land and customs' revenue, we think the deduction good
for nothing.

Very likely the terms of settlement, or, to speak more
familiarly, the long leases of Indian soil granted by the
gr.nt landlord-Government, forbid much hope of increase
in this direction ; but are there not enormous tracts of
territory at present lying waste, which, by the judicious
expenditure of money, might be made to yield ample re-
turns ? Is there not a prodigious extent of country ee
yet brought under no cultivation at all ? It has been
repeatedly asserted, in reports made to the Indian
Government by officers of its own selection, that the
outlay of a lac or two of rupees would quadruple the
value of whole districts at a time. In India land is not
productive without water, arid, as irrigation in that
country must be artificial, it follows that tanks, reser-
voirs, and watercourses are the creators .rif landed pro-
perty. We shou:d like•to hear an estimate by any com-
petent person as to the extent of Indtan territory which,
for want of these appliances, rein•dns absolutely unre"
claimed and profitless. Again, what has become of our
splendid acquisitions ? We have just brought the Pen*
jab—a province in itself as large as a European king low
—into good settled order ; we have further annexed an-
other vast territory described in Sir Charles's own Fpeeo
as "an exceedingly rich country, producing fine crops
of rice, admirably adapted to the cultivation of cotton,
and containing timber of a valuable description." Over
and above these accessions. of property, we have just
succeeded by inhei•itanco to one of the most valuable
States of India. ' Do all these acquisitions imply n°
substantial gain ?—no prospective increase of land re'
venue ?

Take, in the next place, the revenue from Customs.
" I fear," said Sir Charles, " that until the exports from
India can be materially increased "we cannot exl,e°b
any great augmentation from that sou'rce." Very Pr°
bably not—but why should not.the exports be increased
in the proportion referred to ? This is precisely the
question which has been so agitated for the last 10 years.
Here are we in England with an insufficient and preen;
rious supply of cotton, and with decreasing supplies 43'
hemp and other fibrous substances, in the face of an
urgent demand. On the other side is India, with the'
means of furnishing all these articles, and many others',
in profusion. "They do exist there," said Sir charlen
himself, in great quantities, and but a very inivallfa„.
cient proportion is brought to this country. „'
then, should such an anomaly continue ? And Why
when India can supply what we demand, and 13%,
countries would be infinite gainers by the coniinert:
should things be permitted to remain as they are ?
is the question which Indian administrators will here,'
after be called upon to answer, and. the first step townA
a desirable solution has been made, we hope, in the "4"
termination which Sir Charles announced of providing
the necessary funds for public works from the Tremurri
of Calcutta, instead of measuring such expenditure by
the surplus revenues of the district. It is urn theg.t
public works that the financial progress of India toe,
depend, and fortunate indeed should it be considered
that such mighty improvements can be accomplished
such simple means.-=Times.