The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-16 00:00:00

COUNTY RATES

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FIRST REPORT OF THE LORDS'
SELECT COMMITTEE APPOINTED "TO INQUIRE INTO
THE CHARGES ON THE COUNTY RATES IN ENGLAND
AND WALES, &C."
That the Committee have met ; and having prosecuted
their inquiries, as well into the extent to which county ex-
penditure has increased, as into the causes by which that
increase has been occasioned, proceed to submit the result
of their inquiries as far as they have hitherto gone, together
with such suggestions as have occurred to them as to the
means by which that expenditure may be reduced or more
equitably provided for.
It appears, upon a comparison of the county expenditure,
taken at decennial periods from 1792 to 1832, that the in-
crease has been both progressive and considerable. The
county rates in 1792 amounted to 303,2671., and in 1832
to 774,8331., being an increase of 155 per cent. ; and, as
the heads of this expenditure have throughout remained
unaltered, the Committee have had little difficulty in ascer-
taining, by an analysis of the returns which have been laid
before them, the causes to which the increase may be attri-
buted, and in forming their judgment as to the best mode
in which any saving may be effected. From this analysis
of the returns, it appears that a large portion of the in-
creased amount of county rates has been occasioned by
causes connected with, and dependent upon, what may be
deemed in themselves evidence and results of the growing
population of the country, and of general improvement in its
condition. .The great extension, during the period above
_ referred to, of improved means of communication through-
out the country, has naturally called upon the counties for
increased contributions for the erection of bridges ; an ur-
gent necessity has at times existed of having recourse to ex-
traordinary expenses in preserving the public peace ; the
great increase of county business generally has swelled the
demand for legal charges ; and various other incidental
items have also added to the general mass of county ex-
penditure. To that portion, therefore, of the augmented
charge the Committee do not conceive that they are called
upon to advert, as requiring the special interference of the
Legislature with a view to relief from it as a burden. But
their serious attention has been directed to another branch
of charge which has greatly increased of late years, and
which presses with peculiar severity upon those county re-
sources from which county rates are levied ; they allude to
the large expense incurred for the administration of criminal
justice throughout the country. The crimes, for the repres-
sion of which this expense is borne by the landed interest
exclusively, mainly affect personal property, as far at least as
regards many of the minor felonies ; and the Committee
cannot but consider that such a mode of providing for such
an expense is no less partial than onerous. They are desirous,
therefore, of calling the attention, somewhat in detail, to
its nature and progressive amount. It appears to have
been, in some degree, occasioned by the altered construe-
ton, as well as the increased number, of gaols and houses
of correction ; by the system of classification and more
strict discipline which has been generally introduced into
prisons of late years ; and by various regulations of a ge-
neral nature which have been deemed necessary for the
improvement of places destined for the reception of cri-
minals. But that portion of the increased expenditure
which is caused by the allowances for the expenses of pro-
secutions appears to the Committee in a far different light,
and requires particular consideration. In the year 1792
the country charges for prosecutions in England and Wales
did not exceed 34,343/. ; in 1832 they amounted to
150,5251., being an increase of 338 per cent. It is true
that during this period the augmentation of population
might fairly account for part of this excess ; but an aug-
mentation of population from 55 to 60 per cent. is insuf-
ficient to account for an increase of allowance for prose-
cutions amounting to 338 per cent. ; and the Committee are
of opinion that much of it is to be ascribed to the opera-
tion of the 58 Geo. 111., c. 70.
Previous to the passing of that act, the statutable re-
wards for the conviction of certain offenders operated as
an adequate encouragement for the prosecution of persons
guilty of counterfeiting coin, burglary, housebreaking, rob-
bing in shops, warehouses, coach-houses, or stables, or
stealing horses, or stealing or destroying sheep or cattle.
These crimes constitute the great mass of offences tried at
the Assizes, and the statutable rewards for the conviction
of the offenders were payable in the first instance by the
Sheriffs, and were taken as far as they went, to defray the
expenses of the prosecutions, and allowed to the respective
Sheriffs in accounting with the Crown. The costs of such
prosecutions to that extent were thus charged upon the
general revenues of the country.
The 58 Geo. 111., c. 70., at the same time that it repeals
all such parts of former statutes as provided that rewards
should be paid to prosecutors upon conviction for the above-
recited crimes, provides that the county rates shall in future
be charged with the allowance to prosecutors in such pro-
secutions.
To this transfer of payment for prosecutions from the
public purse to the county rates is to be added the increased
charge arising from allowance of costs in the prosecution of
certain misdemeanors, which has been allowed by subse-
quent statutes. Thus, then, the recent change in the law
has thrown exclusively upon the land the whole expense of
prosecutions, in the carrying on of which personal property
is equally interested.
It is not immaterial to add, that the allowances for pro-
secutions at the Assizes, over which the county magistrates
have no control, are generally three-fold the amount of
those which are given for similar prosecutions at the Ses-
sions, where the magistrates possess and exercise a direct
and rigid supervision.
Upon a review of all these considerations the Committee
feel themselves warranted in calling the serious attention of
the House to the equity, not to say necessity, of making
some alteration of the law in this respect ; and therefore
strongly recommend that the costs of prosecutions at the
Assizes should be borne by the general revenues of the
State, under such regulations as may effectually prevent all
abuse and unnecessary expenditure.
It further appears to the Committee, that the county
rates, which have hitherto been submitted to with passive
indifference, have been rendered liable to many payments
which in principle and analogy should be charged upon the
general funds of the country.
They would exemplify this observation by the charges of
conveying transports to the places of embarkation. The
expenses of transportation from the place of embarkation
are charged upon the public purse, and there appear no
reasonable grounds for exempting the "same from the ex-
pense of conveying the convicts from the prisons of the in-
terior to the places of embarkation.
The same observations apply in principle to the charge
of supporting smugglers in gaol at the county expense ; and
the Committee are of opinion that all such revenues should
be defrayed out of the revenue of the department whose
laws are broken.
However much the Committee may have reason to la-
ment the increase of county expenditure in minor points,
and more especially in the:payments to Clerks of the Peace,
as well as in the salaries of officers, and other incidental
expenses, they abstain from making further direct observa-
tion upon them, inasmuch as any abuse in such respects
may be remedied by the existing powers of the superintend-
ing magistracy.
The attention of the magistracy has been directed to
the importance of economy in county expenditure, as has
been lately evinced in more than one county, by their re-
fusal to sanction charges upon county rates for returns made
to Secretaries of State, or either House of Parliament,
which, although generally complied with, are, nevertheless,
not warranted by law ; and the Committee cannot but en-
tertain the opinion, that the public revenues should be liable
to all disbursements incurred in obtaining statistical or other_
information for the use of the Legislature or any public de-
partment.

The Committee, having thus stated their general views
upon the important matter submitted to their considera-
tion, beg to lay before the House the evidence which they
have taken, together with an appendix, and also an index to
this their first report.--(The evidence is not yet printed.)
June 24.

During the past week twenty four persons were
convicted and fined in mitigated penalties for allowing their
doge to go loose in the streets.—Birmingham Gazette.

Justice is said to be blind. This, we presume, ac-
counts for the curious antics she sometimes plays. At the
sessions held last week at Lewes, a man was convicted of two
distinct offences, of stealing a duck and a drake, and of steal-
ing two hens and two pullets. We should have supposed that
the larger theft merited the larger punishment ; but blind
justice thought differently, for she only imprisons the thief one
week for stealing the hens and pullets, while she transports
him for seven years for taking the brace of ducks. Hence it
seems that the rule is to diminish the punishment as the
enormity of the offence increases.—Brighton Guardian.
On Friday the following affecting particulars were
detailed at an inquest held at the house of Mr. Randerson, the
Scarborough Castle Inn, Hunslet-lane, on the body of David
Hepworth, an elderly man, sixty-one years of age, who kept
a flour-shop next door but one to tho above inn. He was last
seen alive about 11 o'clock on the previous night by his niece,
a little girl 11 years old, who had lived with him since the
death of bris wife,.which ,took place about three weeks ago.
oincO. *is..period he has displayed evident symptoms of insa-
nity, offe ing the barber two guineas to cut his throat, wanting
to procure- reercuus requesting his neighbours to destroy him,
&c. . Besides this, it appeared from the testimony of his bro-
ther-in4aw- that his mother had previously
coming come to her death
by her own hands., On, the little g
room. yesterday morning,. about eight o'clock,
cg through his
the deceased
was fpunci,suspended by the neck witharowplattached to the
post pf his bed. Since the death of his his brother-in-
law had, regularly slept with' him until Thursday
e nighthl last,
wileOletOrtmitted the act which terminated his
iste,o4s. 'Verdict " Insanity." The deceased has earthly
left-
somelroperty, the proper heir to which no one seems to
know: _eels Times.