The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-21 00:00:00

PRICE SEVENtEIENCE.

Scotland and Ireland, may be combined with those of England,
it may be proper briefly to describe the origin and constitution
of those Boards in the two countries respectively.
By the Act of the Union of England and Scotland, the re•
venues of the two countries were incorporated, and the same
rates and duties were thereafter made payable throughout the
United Kingdom, with certain exceptions particularly specified
in the act.

The English Boards of Customs and Excise were thereupon
directed by the Treasurer to report what, in their judgment,
would be the fittest mode of managing those revenues ►n
Scotland.

From their reports it appears, that at the period of the Union
the Customs and Excise in Scotland were let to farm ; and that
the Excise duties were collected wholly by composition, al-
though establishments for charging them by survey and gauge
existed at Edinburgh and at other principal towns.
Commissioners were thereupon appointed for the future
management of those duties in Scotland, the instructions for
which were prepared by the Boards in England, with a view
to establish them upon the same principle as their own ; but
with powers to continue the then existing methods of composi-
tion and farm in Scotland, wherever it might be deemed ex-
pedient, so as gradually to introduce the English system.
These commissions consisted of five members for each
branch of those revenues. English officers were sent to Scot-
land to occupy the principal places under the new Boards, and
persons of an interior rank in either department were appointed
to assist u introducing the English methods of collection ins
Scotland.

(To be continued.)

THE TREAD-MILL AT BRIXTON.

The following is a description of the Tread-
mill at Brixton, published by the Society for the
Improvement of Prison Discipline :

The wheel is exactly similar to a common water-wheel ; the
tread-boards upoa its circumference arc, however, of consider-
able length, so as to allow sufficient standing room for a row of
from 10 to 20 persons upon the wheel•. Their weight, the
first moving power of the machine, produces the greatest effect
when applied upon the circumference of the wheel at or near
the level of its axle ; to secure, therefore, this mechanical ad-
vantage, a screen of boards is fixed up in an inclined position
above the wheel, in order to prevent the prisoners from climb-
ing or stepping up higher than the level required. A hand-
rail is fixed upon this screen, by holding which they retain their
upright position upon the revolving wheel.
By means of steps, the gang of prisoners ascend at one end,
and when the requisite number range themselves upon the
wheel, it commences its revolution. The effort, then, to every
individual is simply that of ascending an endless flight of steps,
their combined weight acting upon every successive stepping.
board, precisely as a stream of water upon the float-boards 01
water-wheel.

During this operation, each prisoner gradually advances from
the end at which he mounted towards the opposite end of the
wheel, from whence the last man taking his turn, descends for
rest, another prisoner immediately mounting as before to till up
the number required, without stopping the machine. The in-
terval of rest may then be portioned to etich•man, by regulating
the number of those required to work the wheel with the whole
number of the gang :—thus, if 20 out of 24 are obliged to be
upon the wheel, it will give to each man intervals of rest
amounting to 12 minutes in every hour of labour. Again, by
varying the number of men upon the wheel, or the work inside'
the mill, so as to increase or diminish its velocity, the degree of
hard labour or exercise to the prisoner may also be regulated.
At Brixton, the diameterof the wheelbeing 5 feet, and revolving
twice in a minute, the space stepped over by each man is 2,19..1
feet, or 731 yards per hour. •
To provide regular and suitable employment for prisoners
sentenced to hard labour, has been attended with considerable
difficulty in many parts of the kingdom; the invention of the
discipline-mill has removed the difficulty, and it is confidently
hoped, that as its advantages and eOcts become better known,
the introduction of the mill will be universal in houses of cor-
rection. As a species of prison-labour, it is remarkable for its
simplicity. It requires no previous instruction; no taskmaster
is necessary to watch over the work of the prisoners, neither are
materials or instruments put into their hands that are liable to,
waste or misapplication, or subject to wear and tear ; the inter-,
nal machinery of the mill being inaccessible to the prisoners,
is placed under the management of skilful and proper persons,
one or two at most being required to attend a process whith •
keeps in steady and constant employment from ten to two hun-
dred or more prisoners at one and the same time ; which can be
suspended and renewed as often as the regulations of the prism
render it necessary, and which imposes equality of labour an •
every individual employed, no one upon the wheel being able '
in the least degree to avoid his proportion. •
The arrangement of the wheels in the yards radiating from,
the Governor's central residence at Brixton, places the prison- •
ers thus employed under very good inspection—an object known
to be of the utmost importance in prison management. With
the exception of the very few confined by the casualties of sick-
ness or debility, all the prisongs are steadily employed uneer
his eye during a considerable part of the day. •
The classification, also, of the prisoners according to offences,
&c. may be adhered to
,in the adoption of these disCipline
wheels ; the same wheel or the same connected shafts can be
easily made to pass into distinct compartments, in which the
several classes may work in separate parties. in the prison at
Brixton, a tread-wheel is erected in each of the six yards, by
which the inconvenience and risk of removing a set of prison-
ers from one part of the prison to another is obviated.
As the mechanism of these tread-mills is not of a compli-
cated nature, the regular employment they afford is not likely
to be frequently suspended for want of repairs to the ma-
chinery ; and should the supply of corn, &c. at any time fall
off, it is not necessary that the labour of the prisoners should be
suspended, nor can they be aware of the circumstance ; the
supply of hard labour may therefore be considered as almost
unfailing.
With regard to the expence of these machines it may be ob-
served that although their original cost may appear heavy, the
subsequent advantage from their adoption, in point of economy,
is by no means inconsiderable, and it is derived in a manner
which must be most satisfactory to those who have the important
charge and responsible control of these public establishments--
viz. from the diminution in the number of persons committed.
Such have been the results already experienced at these prisoni,
where this species of corrective discipline is enforced. The
saving to the country, (in consequence of a reduction in the
number of criminals) in the public charges for their apprehen-
sion, committal, conviction, and maintenance, cannot but be
considerable.

It is unnecessary to occupy much time in proving the advan-
tage which the invention of the stepping-mill presents as a
species of preventive punishment. Although but very recently
introduced, and hitherto but sparingly brought into action, the
effects of its discipline have, in every instance, proved eminently
useful in decreasing the number of commitments. As'a correc-
tive punishment, the discipline of the stepping-mill has had a
most salutary ettect upon the prisoners, and is not likely to be
easily forgotten ; while it is an occupation which by no means
interferes with, nor is calculated to lessen the value of, those
branches of prison regulation Which provide for the moral and
religious improvement of the criminal.

The wheels erected at the House of Correction; at Cold-
bath-tields, are each capable of containing 40 or more prlson-
era, and the joint force of the prisoners is expended in giving
motion to a regulating fly, which, by expanding of itself in
proportion to the power, will keep any number of mer., fr,:m
2U to 220, at the same degree of hard Latour.

. The Court of Examiners for regulating the
practice of Apothecaries, under a late Act of
Parliament, have determine& that attendance on
the Physicians' practice of Provincial Hospitals
(which must be for six months at least) shall
confer the same eligibilities as a similar attendance
on Hospitals in London. This privilege is likely
to be eminently useful to students in the medicai
profession, inasmuch as it will afford to many of
them an' opportunity of completing an important
branch of their- education in the country, and of
thus exclusively devoting the period of their at-
tendance in London :u other professional objects.