The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-19 00:00:00

0

LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1848.

We have this morning had sent to us a report of
the judgment of Mr. Baron ALDERSON, in the case of
,Mr. G. W. Dimom (to which we alluded on Saturday
in our observations on Capt. DIXON'S letter), and I
which appears in the Bristol Mirror of the 9th of
September. As Captain DIXON states in his letter,
Mr. Baron ALDERSON in his judgment declares that
Sir GEORGE PREVOST'S conduct was highly praise-
worthy, and not the least to be blamed, and that the
conduct of Dr. Fox in the transaction had
been perfectly blameless ; but Captain DIXON
omits to state that his Lordship also declared that he
had nothing to complain of the society for having
brought forward the case in question. This was
scarcely ingenuous on the part of Captain DIXON, if
we are to consider him in the light of an impartial
observer, but if we are to consider him as the advo-
cate merely of Sir GEORGE PREVOST and Dr. Fox,
then it may be considered allowable. The
Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society, however,
stands in no need of the testimony of even
Mr. Baron ALDERSON to its character. It has
only been in existence three years, and it ha,
restored to liberty some scores of persons who, but
for its interference, would at this moment have been
unjastly incarcerated in lunatic asylums. Captain
DIXON complains of the existence of self-constituted
societies supplementary to the law of the land, and
if the law of the land were perfect there might be
some reason for his complaint ; but while such cases as
those of Mr. DAVIS, of Mr. PATERNOSTER, of Mr.
CAMPBELL, and of Mrs. CUMMING are of constant re-
currence, so long wit the existence of this society
" supplementary to the law of the land" be necessary.
But Captain DIXON is scarcely correct in calling the
Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society merely supplemen-
tary to the law of the land. It certainly is so in one
sense, inasmuch as one of its objects is to procure by
legislative enactment an amendment of the law, but,
in the souse in which Captain DIXON alludes to it,
the society is one not supplementary, but for en-
forcing obedience to the law of the land, and for ascer-
taining that those safeguards which the law has pro-
vided to secure the liberty of the subject from being
trifled with under the pretence of insanity shall
lie duly and properly; observed. We freely admit
that Sir GEORGE PREVOST is a high-minded and an
upright gentleman—we freely admit that he had a
sufficiently painful task to perform; but that painful
task and that painful responsibility which he assumed
was forced upon him by the law. Had the law re-
quired that, previous to the incarceration of any
person as an alleged lunatic, a public inquiry should
take place into the sanity or insanity of the
person so accused, Sir GEORGE PREVOST would
never have incurred the painful responsibility
which he was forced to incur, Dr. Fox would
have been enabled to receive Mr. G. W. DixoN
into his asylum, without sending his servants
riding about the country hunting up an apothecary
to sign a second medical certificate, and the society
would have been spared the expense of instituting an
inthvhesatviegation after incarceration, which the law ought
caused to be instituted before. It is absurd to
argue as we have heard it argued, that the feelings of
relatives would be greatly shocked by the institution of
Well preliminary investigation.isnt Where property is
concerned the law tender of the feelings of '
relatives. Then a public investigation is always insti-
tuted, and in many cases, thel case of M. CAMPBELL, (who was an inmate of an 'a
for fourteen years,
but who at the end of that pseYriuorudLbecame entitled to
Lure ice Inquirendo
property, when a Commission de
was issaed), it is discovered that theu person who has
upon
the strength
been
been incarcerated. in a madhouse
of two medical certificates has never
But in this, as in many other instances, mad at all.
our
of the
is
infinitely more careful of the property than
liberty of the subject. It may be said
that the inspection by the Commissioners of Lu-
nacy is a safeguard, but that inspection, as at
present managed, is worse than useless. In the
neighbourhood of this very asylum of Northwoods, is
another asylum, in which the visiting magistrates
have discovered such irregularities that they
have renewed the license for only six months,
and that on the understanding that the proprietor
shall dispose of it, while the Commissioners of Lu-
nacy, who have from time to time inspected, or

pretended to inspect, this very asylum, speak of it
in very favourable terms. The fact is, that from the
paucity of their numbers, it is physically impos-
sible that the Commissioners of Lunacy can
perform their duties. While the law continues
in its present state the necessity for the existence of
this society will continue, and it is only 'when the
law shall perform those duties in all cases which the
society, in spite of difficulties innumerable, endeavours
to perform in some few, that the Alleged Lunatics'
Friend Society can safely cease from its labours.

The last annual report of the Registrar-General of
Births, Deaths, and Marriages contains something more
than an abstract of the births, deaths, and marriages
registered during the last year. It contains a faithful
but melancholy retrospect of the fluctuations of trade
and the vicissitudes of th popular condition during
recent years. It contains, moreover, what is far more
valuable—a very lucid exposition of the causes which
have contributed to the recent depression, or rather
stagnation in trade, and some very valuable sugges-
tions, which, if generally adopted, would prevent any
future recurrence of a similar calamity from being pro-
ductive of such a state of suffering as has recently
afflicted us. The retrospect unfolded in this report,
ranging from 1841 to 1848, embracing the years of
plenty and the years of privation, presents a subject
of deep importance and powerful interest to the con-
sideration of the political economist and the philan-
thropist. The former will exult over the records of
such years as 1846, when trade was seemingly at the
ne plus ultra of prosperity, and " demand" and " sup-
ply" went hand in hand in the race of reciprocal benefi-
cence, while the latter will sigh over the heart-breaking
chronicle of the years Hof panic and privation. In
order to facilitate his statistical explanations, and the
better to illustrate the theory which he has based
upon them, the Registrar has taken the case of one
individual town, Birmingham, as an example for all
the rest. In 1845, 1846, and 1847 trade was re-
markably active at Birmingham. Various causes
co-operated to promote this activity ; but, whatever
the causes, the effects were unmistakeably apparent,
and are thus described in the Registrar's report :

" Because there was a demand for double the usual
quantity of goods the retailers' shelves were emptied ;'
all the workmen were fully employed and worked over-
time ; the masters meanwhile realised liberal profits ;
the men's wages were raised, and boys got the wages of
men, for promotion among 'these gardes mobiles of in-
dustry is rapid in times of crisis. Youths married, and
furnished houses or lodgings ; the expenditure of fami-
lies increased ; employers enlarged their establish-
ments, and young men opened new factories—for this
extraordinary prosperity appeared at the time per-
petual."

But a change was at hand. " Experience," so
continues the Registrar, " proves that this prosperity
has but a limited term ; and, viewed calmly at a dis-
ance, there appears no reason why all the world, if
they buy twice as many lamps, buttons, fire-irons, &c.,
in any given three years, should do the same in the
three years following, but, on the contrary, it is
probable that the abundant stock of articles laid in
will not be consumed immediately. Is it not quite
possible, then," he asks, " that Birmingham, at the
same time that its permanent trade was extended, did
part of the trade, anticipated the profits, and earned
the wages of future years in the three years 1844, 1845,
1846?" This is an exceedingly ingenious and
most plausible supposition, but we should hesitate
fully to coincide with it, nevertheless. According to
the established doctrines of political economy, con-
sumption multiplies with more than geometrical
progression. The greater the quantity of anything
consumed, the more will be required, and the more
will be consumed again, and so on for ever. This
rule, however, like many others, works better in
theory than in practice. But whether the Regis-
trar's supposition be correct or no, there cannot be
two opinions as to the excellence of the advice that
he has based upon it—namely, frugality in time of
prosperity, as a preservation against suffer-
ing in the time of scarcity. This advice
is, in the main, excellent, and, as we have
said, there cannot be two opinions. Still, in accord-
ance with the doctrines of the political economist, we
could not, even in this instance, entirely agree with the
propositions of the Registrar. He says, and with
sufficient plausibility, that it is only when wages and
profits are expended, as well as gained in prosperous
years, that the population is afterwards distressed, panic-
struck, and driven to the brink of ruin. This assertion
is indeed not only plausible, but to a certain extent
truthful. Prosperity, and especially sudden and un-
looked-for prosperity, too often engenders a wasteful
and reckless extravagance, which, as.is daily evidenced
by families and individuals, only results in ruin and mi-
sery. A sober frugality is, next to industry, undoubtedly,
the best preservative against want. But the Regis-
trar's theory (if we do not misapprehend his mean-
ing) goes beyond this. He speaks of the " lean"
years following the " fat" years, and it is evident he
had the history of the son of JACOB in his mind. His
proposition of putting aside the products of the day
of plenty, in order to use them in the day
of want, is an exact counterpart of the system
by which Egypt was preserved. That system,
originally most successful, would undoubtedly
be similarly successful under similar circumstances.
If it were as certain that the day of panic must suc-
ceed the day of plenty, as it is that winter must suc-
ceed to summer, then, indeed, the plea of hoarding up
might be very advantageously advocated. But as it
is such a system would only be productive of the
evils it is now intended to counteract. The diffusion
of capital is well known to be the best stimulus to
trade, and the best preservative of prosperity. Hav-
ing thus expressed our dissent from this particular
assertion of the Registrar, we can the more heartily
concur in his denunciations of extravagance and im-
providence, and the more conscientiously commend
the philanthropical tenor of his remarks.

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