The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-17 00:00:00

THE SUN LONDON SATURDAY EVEN NG NO VEMBER l7, 1849.

continued much longer, might in the end have been
goaded even to desertion. Meanwhile the Colonel
of the regiment, after having recklessly and, we can-
not but add, most culpably sown the seeds of disaffec-
tion amongst the men submitted to his authority, left
the evil of his own contrivance to work out its mi-
serable consequence, and, with a thoughtless-
ness deserving the severest reprobation, went
idly forth in pursuit of his own pleasure.
Before a single week had elapsed the ill-fruits of his
irritability of temperament were very speedily and
rather disagreeably perceptible. The Commanding
Officer was suddenly summoned back to Nottingham
by the noise of a very prevalent insubordination.
Matters had reached such an alarming crisis that it
was found advisable to place several of the men under
arrest, and to bring them without much delay before
an extraordinary court-martial. Seeing that these
occurrences are so recent that the details must be in
the recollection of most readers, it is unnecessary to
specify any one of the cases of hardship brought
under the consideration of the President of the Court-
martial and his c olleagues. It was only on Monday
evening, indeed, that we took occasion to refer more
particularly to the circumstances attendant upon the
arrest, trial, defence, and punishment of private
HoLarss ; so that further allusion to the minor points
of the subject would be altogether superfluous.
What the opinion of his Grace the Commander-in-
Chief is upon the cause of all this lamentable disturb-
ance has been very audibly pronounced by
him in a letter, strongly condemnatory of the
course pursued from the commencement of the
transaction by the Lieutenant .Colonel of the
3d Dragoons. Nor can the decisive terms employed
in that communication by the Duke of WELLINGTON
be any subject of surprise, not only from a recogni-
tion of the grievous injustice of the whole proceeding,
but especially from a recollection that it was his
Grace who first endeavoured, some years ago, to
put a stop to all such harassing punishments as the
pack drill for an immoderate number of hours, and
(the very offence committed by Colonel AnTuun)
the improper confinement of men to barracks for
an unlimited period. The humane and judi-
cious order in which the Duke then condemned these
most unjustifiable acts of tyranny was cordially fol-
lowed up in the same spirit by his Grace's distinguished
successor, Lord HILL. Notwithstanding, however,
the opposition shown to this kind of petty despotism
by the leaders of the British army ; notwithstanding
the order issued by the Duke of WELLINGTON, the
support of that order by Lord limn, and the panegyric
pronounced upon it by Sir CHARLES JANIES NAPIER
—recent occurrences have sufficiently demonstrated
that some more stringent measures must be adopt( d
to prevent the possibility of the recurrence of any
similar grievances. What occurred on the 9.h of
October, and on the five days following,
show very clearly that until some more decisive step
-be taken the soldiers are liable to these acts of in.,
tolerable injustice—acts which prove subversive to
discipline, inasmuch as they are direct incitements to
insubordination. At present the iefliction of these
supplementary punishments—punishments beyond
those expressly specified and classified in the Mili-
tary Code—appears to be optional to a commanding
efficer in any moment of ungovernable irritability.
Sorely the matter requires rectification, at
least to the extent of the removal of this
responsibility from the colonels, excepting in
conformity with some scheme reasonably con-
ditional. Until this shall have been accomplished
the soldier will have no security whatever from the
splenectic whims of any commanding officer who
happens to be afitcted with a peppery disposition.
Cleanliness and obedience are, of course, qualities
absolutely essential to the maintenance of military
discipline, but so also are requisite, on the part of
the officers—corn mon justice and reasonable con-
sideration.

The cruelty and oppression practised through the
intervention of the Palace Court had long excited the
public indignation, and eventually led to the Act for
the extinction of that notorious tribunal. It was, of
course, desirable that means should be afforded for
the cheap and expeditious recovery of small demands.
The creditor ought not to be deterred from seeking his
just rights by the expenses and delays incidental to
their recovery in the superior courts ; and the
debtor ought not to be ruined by extravagant costs,
far exceeding the amount of his- original liability.
The establishment of a new jurisdiction, and a com-
plete code for such cases was, therefore, regarded as
a boon to all parties—to defendants as well as to
plaintiffs ; and so it would have proved if the law
were judiciously administered, and the extensive
powers accorded to the presiding judges exercised with
prudence and discretion. Very wide limits were,
however,
.necessarily allowed. Cases of gross fraud
and dishonesty must frequently arise, which should
be visited with stringent punishment, but there would
likewise be cases of unavoidable misfortune, in which
every possible indulgence should be afforded to the
hapless debtor. It never was the intention of the
Legislature, when framing the small debt code, that
all cases should be dealt with in a similar manner,
and that the power of commitment should be need-
lessly exercised, more especially when• the plaintiff
did not wish to enforce the utmost rigour of the law,
or call upon the judge to display his authority.
According to the true spirit of the Act a committal
should only be ordered in cases of fraud, and any
period (not exceeding forty days) might be fixed
as a specific punishment, the imprisonment not in
any degree affecting the debt, which would still
remain in full force and effect, as if such imprison-
ment had not taken place. The debtor could not be
discharged from custody, if once arrested, on pay-
ment of the full debt and costs, until the " leave of
the Judge of the Court in which the order of im-
prisonment was made" had first been obtained ;
and even a " protection order or certificate of any
Court of Bankruptcy, or for the Relief of Insolvent
Debtors," would not be available to discharge any
defendant for such commitment.

Under such circumstances it is manifest that the
power should be cautiously and sparingly exercised,
that a well disposed but unfortunate debtor should
not be branded as a fraudulent or dishonest person,
on light or trivial grounds. The 99th section of the
Act specifically sets forth the causes for which im-
prisonment may be directed. If the party sum-
moned shall not attend, or allege a sufficient excuse
for non-attendance, or if he refuse to be sworn,
or to make full disclosures as to his
estate and effects, and the manner and circumstanccs
of his incurring the debt or liability, and as to the
means and expectations he thenhad, and the property
and means he still has of discharging it ; and as to
the disposal he may have made of any property ; or
if he do not answer to the Judge's satisfaction ; or if
it appear to the Judge, on such examination, that such
defendant, in incurring the debt or liability, had ob-
tained credit under false pretences, fraud, or breach
of trust, or had willfully contracted the debt or
liability without having had at the same time a rea-
sonable expectation of being able to pay ; or had
given or transferred any of his property, or charged,
removed, or concealed it, with intent to defraud his
creditors; or if it appear that the party summoned had
then, or since the judgment obtained against him,
sufficient means to pay either altogether, or by such
instalments as ordered, and had not done so—then,
in any of such cases it should be lawful for the Judge
to order the party to be committed to prison for any
term not exceeding forty days.
From this it clearly appears that if the Judge com-
mit the defendant for any cause not above set forth,
he will exceed the authority confided to his hands
and be guilty of a very illegal and improper act. The
causes of committal are sufficiently wide and exten-
sive, and should not be unduly increased. The party
imprisoned will not only be taken from his family
and business, and exposed to the degradation and
demoralization inseparable from confinement in a
common gaol, but a stigma will be affixed to his name,
from which he may never be enabled to escape. Though
e exoneratedbank ru ompt or other
inasllolv e n
tlaws,
debtsaws, by h
e tho
may
still operationha have
e to
tshustain the full term of imprisonment decreed by the
County Court Autocrat. The decision, too, will be
final and conclusive
—zio appeal will lie for any ex-
cess of jurisdiction, mistake, or Error of judgment.
The presiding Judge should,i therefore be doubly
cautious, and avoid any petulance or irritability that
might lead him into acts which on cooler reflection
he would himself be the first to condemn. He
-hould not suffer himself to be made the instru-
ment of persecution for the gratification -of "th 6