The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-16 00:00:00

Ckraina ;7 Am

LONDON, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1851,

The beneficial results of the recent statute, 14 and
15 Vic., cap. 55, are already becoming apparent. The
committals for trial to the Central Criminal Court are
perceptibly diminished, and the persons who are
called upon to discharge the arduous and important
duties of grand or petty jurors at the Old Bailey
will be saved from a considerable portion of inconve-
nience, formerly occasioned by the protracted attend-
ance required, while the profuse expenditure occa-
sioned will also be materially reduced. The voice of
public opinion had long demanded the salutary change
that has at length been effected, it was further strongly
recommended by persons of practical experience,
whose opinions would necessarily carry with them
considerable weight and authority, and it bas been
spoken of in terms of the highest approbation by the
Learned Assistant Judge of the Middlesex Sessions,
and more recently by the Right Hon. the RECORDER.
And yet, although there was no doubt or controversy
on the subject, although all persons were unanimous
in their Lcondemnation of the then system, and cor-
dially concurred in the magnitude of the
existing evils, and the nature of the required
remedies, many years were suffered to elapse before
the introduction of a suitable measure, its provisions
being of the very simplest character. An additional
illustration was thus afforded of the delays and
difficulties incidental to every improvement in the
administration of the law, no matter how urgently
such improvement may be required.
In his preliminary charge to the grand jury on
opening the September sessions of the Central Criminal
Court, the RECORDER spoke, in terms of unmitigated
satisfaction, of the " unprecedentedly" small number
of prisoners contained in the calendar, when com-
pared with the corresponding periods of former years;
and although he ascribed some portion of the happy
result to the prosperous condition of the people and
the abundant employment afforded to all persons able
and willing to work, a circumstance which leaves
crime of any description without the faintest shadow
of an excuse, he also attributed it in a great degree to
the working of the new law that restores to the Middle-
sex and 'Westminster sessions their ancient jurisdiction,
for hearing and disposing of all cases triable at quarter-
sessions. They may now try compound felonies,
such as burglaries, stealing in dwelling-houses, &c.,
and we are perfectly satisfied that neither the pri-
soners themselves nor the community in general will
have any cause to regret the extension of powers
conceded to Mr. Sergeant ADAMS ; for, despite some
occasional and very venial eccentricities, that Learned
Gentleman has invariably discharged his arduous
duties conscientiously and efficiently, and held the
scales of justice with an equal and impartial hand.
The RECORDER told the grand jury that " the
consequence of the alteration would be, that the
Central Criminal Court would no longer be over

loaded with business, and would be relieved from
having to try a number of trivial offences, and
consequently that gentlemen who filled the position
of grand jurors would also find their labours at that

(the Central Criminal) Court very materially dimi-
nished." This diminution, however, is the least
valuable result of the alteration. In say-
ing this we fully and duly appreciate the
convenience of the numerous and influential
class concerned ; but at the same time we feel satis-
fied that they themselves sl ill concur with us in

thinking that the due administration of justice and
the interests of the unfortunate prisoners committed
for trial is still more important. Neither is it the
saving of expense, although it must be admitted that
the rate. payers have quite sufficient demands to en-
counter, and that any reduction of the
_expenditure
will be received as a welcome boon. No, the most
beneficial effect will be the prevention of the demo-
ralizing influence necessarily at work during the
period when all the prisoners for trial should be
brought into contact without the checks and re-

straints that were previously enforced, when young
and comparatively innocent—nay, perhaps the cow-

pletely innocent (for let it be remembered tha

every person is supposed to be innocent until duly
convicted before a jury of his countrymen)—are asso-

ciated with the most depraved and infamous, and re

ceive lessons of moral turpitude of the most fatal de-
scription. All attempts at classification are
immediately abandoned, and a saturnalia is necessarily
suffered to prevail among those awaiting their trials.
The poisonous seed has but too frequently been sown
on such occasions, and many have had to deplore the
ruinous consequences of the protracted sittings, and
the conversations taking place among the parties who
are kept ready to give full occupation to the Court.

There is another point, too, in which the prisoners
were seriously injured, by the numerous post-
ponements of their trials. In the great ma-

ority of cases they are without the means

of paying for the expenses of witnesses, who in turn
are unable to attend gratuitously without some
payment for loss of time and necessary refreshment.

No allowance whatsoever is made for these expenses,
which must fall on the prisoner, whether innocent or

guilty. There are instances where witnesses who
could prone the innocence have attended from a

considerable distance, day after day, until at
length their funds being exhausted, they have

been compelled to withdraw, and the pri-
soner has been deprived of the benefit of their
testimony, and consequently convicted of an offence
of which he was absolutely guiltless. This is indeed
a calamity of no ordinary magnitude, one that may
shake the confidence of every man in the most
cherished institutions of the land he lives in. It is
far worse than " a failure of justice," and the escape
of twenty guilty persons. The law becomes not
merely ineficient, but positively mischievous. It
seizes within its meshes those whom it was in-

tended to protect, and creates the very evil
it WAS meant to cure. This formidable danger
will be materially diminished, if not altogether re-
moved, under the new system ; and that simple fact, if
it stood alone, and were not supported with other

powerful recommendations, would be quite sufficient

to justify the praises that have been applied to it by
so many persons competent to arrive at a sound con-

elusion on the subject.

The acquittal by a jury of the persons accused by
the French Ministry of being concerned in what was
denominated the Agen conspiracy, induces us to re-
cur to the case of M. ALPHONSE GENT and his compa-
nions, who were convicted by a court-martial of
being concerned in the Lyons conspiracy for
the subversion of the Republic, neither of which
conspiracies ever bad, we verily believe, any
existence, save in the fertile imagination of the
police authorities, who, as all such persons
on the Continent have ever done, seek to
make themselves of importance by pandering to
the prejudices and panic fears of the members of
the Government. We repeat that it is our deliberate
opinion that M. ALPHONSE GENT and his co-accused
have been convicted without the production of one
scintilla of evidence to prove the crime of which they are
accused. M. ALPHONSE GENT conspired, it is said,
to subvert the Republic, in order to substitute for it—
what ? The Legitimatist Monarchy—the right Divine
of kings to govern wrong ? Throughout the length
and breadth of France there cannot be found an in-
dividual who would even suspect M. ALPHONSE GENT
of any Such intention. Perchance he conspired to bring
back the reign of the House of Orleans. Impannel all
France as a jury, and you will have an unanimous
verdict acquitting him of any such in ten-
he Did he plot to ;Overt the Re-