The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-08 00:00:00

THE CIII3IINAL QUESTIOI'

In his recent letter to the Times on the subject of
criminals, Mr. Baker observes that those who have
made a life-long study of the question can appreciate
its. importance far more than the general public is
likely to do. The case of those men who become
hardened in crime through long practice attracts the
notice of all experienced persons, and it is to be
remembered that few can become skilled in crime
without this practice. In the year 1859 Mr. Baker
took a census of all the boy-thieves in London, and
.
was found that many of them had been frequently
convicted. They all agreed upon two points_
first, that boy-thieves are always instructed by
boys ; and, secondly, that no boy-thief ever
attains proficiency without from four to eight
imprisonments. The decisive course taken to
check
the spread of juvenile delinquency was not
without its effects. Every boy on his first conviction
was subjected to a short imprisonment, and on his
second to a long reformatory sentence, and Middlesex
juvenile crime fell from 41,113 convicts to 1,511 in
six years. Mr. Baker believes that great advantages
would follow upon the adoption of a nearly similar
system with adults. It would be advisable to warn all
offenders that a first conviction will entail a month's
imprisonm. a, second twelve months, a third seven
years' penal tilde, and a fourth penal servitude
for life. He considers that far more justice would be
done by this system than by following the
present plan ; and he forcibly follows up his sugges-
tion by declaring that if the prevention of
crime be an object, it is necessary that those
who are to be deterred should understand the sen-
tence that awaits them. Mr. Baker thinks that
more care should be taken in tracing the antecedents
of the offender, and if inquiries fail to meet the
desired end, the prisoner should be called upon to
shew where he has lived for the last five years.

GENEItAL CUST AND COLONEL ITAMLEY.
General Cust has answered Colonel Hamley's
remonstrance through the columns of the Times.
He denies the charge of personality, and declares
that the strictures in the pamphlet which Colonel
Hamley complained of were directed against the whole
school of writers to which the Colonel belongs, with
the Quarterly reviewer at their head. General Cust
considers that Colonel Hamley supports the theoretical
study of war rather than the practical, and reminds
him of the great Puke's aphorism, that the most useful
teaching for a soldier is to see service. His reason
for circulating his pamphlet at this moment was to
bring the whole subject.. before the Crown Commis-
sion now sitting on military education. The general
belongs to
the old
is school, the colonel to the new,
and unluckily each too conscious of the merits of
his own plan to perceive any merit in the other.

STEEL PROCESSES.
Mr. Bessemer invented a cheap process for maAng
steel which has superseded old methods, and
has made a name and a fortune for him. Mr.
Heaton, trying for the same result, has discovered
another process. The steels produced, however,
are in some respects dissimilar. Mr. Bessemer likes
his own child best. Mr. Heaton considers his
steel greatly superior to Mr. Bessemer's. The
two inventors • have been disputing finely in
the Times for the last fortnight. It puzzles
a " non-professi▪
onal" to know what it is all
about. But words have run high, and the passions
of the disputants have evidently been excited. They
have called in professional evidence. Dr. Percy
thinks the quantity
of phosphorus in Heaton's
steel such as to injure it. Professor Miller, assayer
to the Royal Min• t, however, has recorded a totally
contrary opinion. And_ so the professional evidence
falls to the ground. The ultimate decision must be
left to the steel-buying public.

A DISCOVERY IN JERUSALEM.

Mr. Grove, the honorary secretary of the Palestine
Exploration Fund, has addressed a letter to the Times,
stating that a very important discovery has recently
been made respecting the exact position of the
Temple, by Lieutenant Warren, of the Royal Engi-
neers. Mr. Grove reminds us that the discovery of
the site of the Temple is a point of great import-
ance in the successful exploration of the Holy Land.
Everything, he thinks, will come right if that is
found out, so that he regards Mr. Warren's disco-
very as highly important. Mr. Warren, accord-
ing to his own account furnished to Mr.
Grove made his discovery in consequence of
the displacement of the ground by heavy rains.
He has ascertained that the north wall of the plat-
form of the Mosque of Omar is built on the
edge of a perpendicular scarped rock. If the present
flooring of the Haran Area were removed, a sudden
artificial gap, running from east to west, would be
visible in the surface of the rock. Mr. Warren
succeeded in examining this gap for some distance,
when he found a subterranean arcade about thirty-
five feet in width, which apparently runs the whole
length of the platform, 520 feet. It supports the
flooring of the Haran Area, and has no appearance
of being constructed for a tank ; there is not a sign
of plaster about it, and the rock seems to have been
scarped for view.Th e arches appear to be Saracen ic,while
the masonry in the walls is of a very miscellaneous
character. This discovery will probably affect the
plan of future operations, as it does not tally with
previous conjectures. The great difficulty about the
matter is the unwillingness of the Turkish authorities
to concede permission to explore inside the Harm.
Mr. Warren says that he has been for several months
waiting an opportunity to examine the ground on
the northern side of the mosque, as he is convinced
there are vaults there, and he now thinks it likely
the souterrain extends all along the northern edge of
the Mosque platform. It is to be hoped he will soon
be able to follow up his discovery.

Twenty-six Chinamen attended the Bibl© class of
a Methodist church at Santa Clara, California, and are re-
ported to be interested and learn rapidly.
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