The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-25 00:00:00

of 22. Now, he could not help complaining that they
should be driven into these slovenly modes of legislation.
He eheuid be sorry to raise any impediment (ir occasion
any diffintlty in bringing the session to a clos=e; but it
did appear to hires that 'fmy of those Bills, might have
• been brooglit forward at an earlier period of the session,
and he did not see why they should have been so berg
delayed,
Earl GREY said that the 'complaint just made by the
Noble Lord opposite was, to a certain extent, well
founded; but it was a complaint at least 50 years old;
it was made during every Administration and at the
close of almost every session. He was afraid that such
delay must be regarelOd as a neesseary consequence,
proceeding from the constitution of the two Houses of
Parliament. He had himself not long since supported
13:11 which he had hoped would have mitigated the
evil, but he regretted that that proposition had not been
agreed to elsewhere, and he still believed that it would
have worked well. On the present occasion, however,
he thought there were no just grounds for complaining
of delay, and the Noble Lord inust remember that the
forms of the other House gave only two days to the Go-
vernment, and even those were often taken away from
them by motions as amendments to going into Com-
mittee of Supply, and thus the time left for carrying
the important measures of the session was circum-
scribed within a very narrow compass. Now, as to the
present year, there were many measures of consi
derab!e moment, which were brought up to their Lord-
ships' House at an early period of the session, amongst
which he might mention. the Navigation Bill. As to
those that remained, they were little more than continua-
tion Bills, or annual Bills; and with regard to the Pilot-
age Bill, it was merely a metteure to give the Trinity
House and other authorities power to relax their rules,
if they so thought fit.

14)id STANLEY admitted the difficulties to which the
Noble Earl re'erred, but observed that the Government
might have obtained leave to bring in the Pilotage Bill
long before the 12th of July. As a proof of the slovenly,
careless manner, in which -legislation was carried on, he
might mention the Defects in Leases Bill, for the cor
rection of a blunder in which they now had another Bill
before them.

The Earl of lIARROWBY presented a petition from
a place in Devon is favour of a superannuation fund for
officers under the poor-law.
The House then adjourned till half•past four o'clock
to-morrow (Wednesday).

HOUSE OF COMMONS, July 24.
The SPEAKER resumed the Chair at Seven o'clock.
Mr. 11. DRUMMOND gyve notice that at the earliest
opportunity he would move the abolition of all duties
on soap, candles, and malt made by persons for their
own use.

JUVENILE?: E IIIGR ATION.
Lord ASHLEY then rose, according to notice, to
bring under the no:ice of the House the state of a por-
tion of the juvenile population of the metropolis, and to
move that it is expedient that means he annually pro-
vided for the voluntary emigration, to some of her
Majesty's colonies, of a certain number of young per-
sous, of both sexes, who have been educated in the
schools ordinarily called ragged schoels, in and about
the metropolis. He was very anxious to excite some
interest, and to obtain some support, in pointing out
the importance of a really repressive system. Prison
discipline was a question which at the present moment
excited greet and general interest. The separate, soli-
tary, and mixed systems of confinement had each their
several advocates, but if he could show that the proven-
titive system was the best, he thought he should be en-
titled to support.—(hear, hear.) Last year he had
stated that the number of this class in the metropolis
was about 300,000, from subsequent inquiry he had very
much under-estimated the real number. He had then
fully described their habits, lives, and modes of obtaining an
existence, and had shown the danger which arose to society
from the existence of such a mass of persons of such che.-
meter and pursuits. As a means of enabling the
House to ju,ige of the extent of the evil for which he
was anxious to provide a remedy, he would call atten-
tion to a return he had prepared, showing the compara-
tive number of males committed in the years 1847 and
1848. In 1847 the total number of committals was
41,479, of these 8,405 were under twenty years of age
—between ten years and fifiecn years of age there
were 3,228, and under ten years 360. The total num-
ber of mates committed in 1848 was 42,933, and there
was a similar proportion of committals above the age of
ten years, while in the number of those under tea years,
the age during which they were in the ragged schools,
there was a decrease.—(Elear, hear) The total in-
crease cn the year was 1,464, and of these one-half
were under twenty years of age. The proportion of the
committals from ten to twenty years of ego was
12,693 to 18,000 persons from twenty-five to fifty, being
one-third more of the latter ; but when they came to
trials and convictions the case was reversed, of those
bet ween bin and twenty years of age the convictions
were 1,237, while the convictions of those between
twenty-five and fifty was 1,059. He found the same
rule prevailed at Mauchester, from which he had returns,
and which ho instanced because i was a large town, sub-
ject to somewhat similar influences, and because accu-
rate returns were kept. These fects showed a most
awful and fearful proportion of juvenile crime, and that
if it was at all possible to apply a preventive system,
they were bound to do so, and to look directly to that
class among whom the seeds of crime were sown in early
life, which the utmost amount of after care might not be
able to eradicate.—(Hear, hear.) In order to ascertain
the opinions of those most conversant with the facts, he
addressed a circular to city missionaries, teachers of
ragged schools, gaolers, and others. He put the ques-
tion to them, "Do many adult males become criminals
for the first time after twenty years of age ? ' To that
question he had received answers, from 43 committees,
" very few."—(Hear, hear.) Some replied that a very
small proportion indeed became criminals for the first
time after twenty years of age, and these were chiefly
caused by drunkenness and want of employment; but
they were very few—not one in fifty. Another reply
stated that "of the poorer classes in cities hardly one
becomes criminal after twenty years of age." Now,
what was the condition of that class who thus grew up
to be criminals ? A short time since, feeling
anxious to know the actual condition of this class, he
had perambulated a greet part of the City in which they
had their haunts.—(Hear, hear.) He had penetrataal
into the lanes and courts where these children and young
people were crowded together. In other places he found
that most of them who had no other shelter lived in the
dry arches of unfinished or uninhabited houses. These
arches were small and dark. A hole had been made
sufficiently large to enable him to creep into them, and
no ore could see who was there until a lantern was
thrust into this hole. The House might imagine the
condition of these miserable creatures. They were
asked to come to a model lodging-house the following
day, and thirty-three of them did so, whose ages varied
from twelve to eighteen years of age; of these twenty-
four had no parents--(Hear, hear)—six had but one
parent, three had stepmothers. Most of them had been
once in prison, and one boy, only fourteen years of age,
had been in prison twelve times.—(Hear, hear.) The
whole of them were a prey to vermin, begrimed with
filth, in rags, and not a few of them suffering from
eieltness.—(clear, hear.) He examined most of them
personally, and privately, as to their previous lives,
and he had reason to believe they told him the
truth. He took them separately into a private room,
and he said to them, " Now, I am going to put
a few plain questions to' : you, not with any view to
your injury, and I hope you will answer me truly.
When I have done I will answer any question you may
put to me."—(Hear, hear.) They thought the terms
were fair and agreed to answer him. He asked how
often have you slept in a bed during the last three years?
One said twice, another said three times, and another
could not remember ever having done so. He then
asked them how they lived, and they frankly confessed
they had no other mode than begging or stealing. The
only legitimate mode of earning a pinny which was
open to them was to pick up and sell old bones.—(Hear,
hear.) But they freely confessed to him that they and
their class bad not and could not have any other mode
of living but by begging and stealing. Now, he wished
the House to observe what was the condition of this
class—they were almost trained to crime at an early age.
They replied, when asked to give up that kind of life,
that it was no use, they had no other means of living.
They formed a most dangerous class to society,
and were ever ready to create or take advantage of
popular commotion. The Noble Lord illustrated this
fact by an. anecdote of a lad of seventeen, who went
over to Paris, about four years sire?, with his mother,
and who had fought in the barricades in the late French
revolution. These
.boys received no education from
society, and could they be surprised at the fact that they
not only did not respect the rights of property, but glo-
ried in violating them.—(Hear, hear.) As an instance
of this feeling, he might relate an anecdote which had
been stated by a teacher of a ragged school. Fourteen
lads entered the school, one Sunday night, who were
not known to him. The practice was to receive and
teach allewho came. They sat very quietly till the clock
struck eight, when they rose in a body and marched out
of 'the school. The master stopped one little fellow, and
said, " You must not go, school is not over yet." The
reply was, " I
.must ego, don't you hear the clock has
struck eight, and I mast go to work ?" " What kind of
work ?" " Why, to cluster round the chapel doors as
the people are coming out."—(Hear.) Such, then, being
the moral condition of these outcasts, he would ask if
they could refrain for art hour longer in instituting
measures to reclaim them ? There were two modes
of proceeding ; the first was, to wait until they commit-
ted crime, and then bring them to trial, and imprison or
transport them. The other was, to take a preventive
course, and anticipate the gaoler by education,
indus-
trial training, and a better position. It was said
that this was a hopeless case ; and, as far a.s the pre-
sent mode of prison discipline went, perhaps it was true.
It was in their case altogether inoperative in deterring
from the commission of crime. It might deter those
who committed crime from wantonness, or who had

means to fall back upon; but the class of whom he spoke
bad no such means. H wished to call the attention of
the House to what might bo termed the various causes
of juvenile crime. These were, the example and neglect
of parents, the careless exposure of articles, especially
of food, in shops, and the existence of those places called
the casual wards. Oat of 250 persons that be once
met, no less than 42 had told him that it was to the
casual wards of the union they treced their every misery
and their first step in crime. The want of employ meat
was another prolific source of crime. The goal system
was not that on whic't they could rely for the re:ortna•
tion of criminals. At one time he recollected having been
requested by 150 of ihc most notorious thieves in the me-
tropolis, to meet them and give theta the benefit of his
council as to the nao loin which they could extricate them-
selves from their career of cr:me. He found as,einbled in
the Mitiories no less than 250 persons. They oLe and
all declared thew:elves tired to death of their lives, beset
by every kind of misery, for a long period not knowing
how or whera to g!: .t a ine,sl. He told them that the.
question they hau propounded to him was one of a most
difficult character to answer, inasmuch as employment