The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-29 00:00:00

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A MONTH'S IMPRISONMENT FOR TRiS-
PASSING ON ONE'S OWN LAND !NEWSPAPER

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(From the No; folk News of this day ) -
We had hoped that we should hoar no IC) ew, - 47-L4
the Holt rabbits, and 'that the claims of tli6tfot'T-'
,zl4l
men to every advantage from their own 'fkileitili7".-
would be acknowledged, or at least not ob3vcW.--.4-6.:, 4r,;%c,
to, by the parish authorities. But the poWsws
have ordained otherwise. And at the momea s
that we are writing, two of the labourers belonging
to the class for whose benefit " The Lows " was al-
lotted nearly half a century ago are in prison and -
at bard labour, under sentence of the petty sessions
at Holt, for insisting• on what they believe, is in
law, and what all know is in equity and common-
honesty, these poor men's just and inalienable
rights.

On Saturday last, Lord Hastings, the Rev. J. H.
Sparke, Col. Astley, Mr. Pemberton, and Mr.
Cozens-Hardy, sat to try the two culprits, whose
names are John Loads and William Flagon. The
charge was that they had trespassed on "The
Lows" in pursuit of rabbits. The defence was that
the land was in fact the property of the occupiers'
of certain ancient houses in Flolt specified in the
schedule to the Holt Inclosure Award, in two of
which houses Loads and Flagon lived. " The rec-
tor, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor, and
the visitor and guardian of the workhouse," were
by the award appointed trustees, with no beneficial
interest, but only for the purposes of the award and
for the proteCtion of the parties entitled to the ad-
vantages conferred by the allotment. The occupiers
of the above houses were to have, under the award,
all that could be derived from the land, whether as
pasture, or from the cutting of Hags, ling, brakes,
and furze. This land, it appears, grows rabbits as
.well as ling, brakes, and furze ; and the poor men
who, it is admitted, may lawfully feed stock on the
land, and consume what the land produces in wild
bushes, &c., are sentenced to imprisonment and hard
labour if they dare to catch a wild rabbit fed and
housed on their own soil. They may take the furze, but
not the rabbit in the furze. The rector and his
coadjutors have let the shooting over the poor men's
land—under what authority no one can tell—to a
gentleman known to our readers, of the name of
,Barker. This gentleman claims the rabbits, and is

r - ------.-- ,,,,,erillfriffiwillowloau'"gowirmiewt,""•...
item; thotgli be knows tliat they provender ea the
poor
,men's-land. We presume Mr. Barker or his
gamekeeper is the prosecutor in this case. The rec-
•toi and .the "parish officers were friendly to the pro-
'' seetktien) and thej ustiees above-named-A—all of whom ,
~.:
,we are informed; ganie.preseivers, or-ge least ',.
to ,a deep interest in the preservation of gable?— ;
, -
were the judges. Our correspondent does net•tbll Os
whether the poor men had any advocate, nor deo We
kAelv the details, of the trial. But our readerklillive
- -enotigh before theni id justify the coublusiOn trko
a nibre.disgraceful case has rarely come before the
pq..)lic,. even'in connection with game-law aboMilifa- .
• tielig.- I.3ute, we do , not regret that the 'poor. men •
have-been consigned to prison, because we libpeapd
believe tkat this -extreme measure will ,exe:kle,ta
illeir favoui asentiment of sympathy and a-willing-
ness.,to help which. 4 too letillifeglqpnislic might n'eti
under ether circumstances, have Planifeisted.
.- We •
are also glad that at least one magistraAiefuied to ,
eanetir in the conviction. ;.-.,
We' hold it to be a Oryink evil that in questions
of thii nature, magistrates- who know and feel that
tjleylia ,ve a strew, bias towards a rigorous enfoice- '
went of the ,aliiplaws should sit on the bench and
imononnce judgment affecting the rights and liber-
ties Of almost friendless men. If magistrates have
a. bias; let theni deal fairly with their own con-
tepienCes, and act honourably in the face of the
.public,- by referring the question .in dispute. to ,
those who can deal with it impartiaily,atid 'ac- !-,
cording to its 'Merits. Under 'the ~-sextise
l'avvg, a magistrate .is not allowed to - inter-
fere .in a case . ielating.. to any, artiClit in
:which he deals or',li.as au, iffieresti.,,..)flay should
the law make a distinction between questions of
game and questions of tobacco ? i It is, we repeat,
it crying evil; and it brings discredit on the admi--.
' nistration of British law.
- We hope the case of these two poor men wilt not
be lost sight cf when Parliament meets. alt :neY.
'be that in strict law the magistrates are rigbt.- ;It
is not for us to pronounce au opinion on that point.
tat it also may bd- that the magistrates have mis-'
taken the law. In that case, we trust the law will
. be vindicated against-anal-administration. But.if
it be that these poor Men have brokeh the law': and
trespasse,clOn their own land, we kap again the law
itself is a crime--a wicked trespass on 'the rights of
the'poor ; and though they whostrausgress such an
arbitrary and unjust law,riay incur its penalty, 0.
'awl magistrates may be found to enforce- it, yet
the'transgression carries with it no moral stigma,
and' public - opinion will even applaud- they men
whets. the law has deprived of liberty.
But other 'Considerations are suggested* by this
• case. Each _kli the slefendants was .fined Ahree',
shillings, and ordered to pay costs amounting to
eleven shillings. In default of the fourteen shil-

~..,~.

Hugs each was sentenced to imprisonment and
hard labour for one month. The month's imprison-
ment and hard labour was the consequence of their
being too poor to pay the fine and costs ! This
system of punishing by fine, and in default of pay-
ment by imprisonment, is manifestly unjust to-
wards the poor. The rich man convicted of a vio-
lation of the law takes out his purse, pays the
penalty, and walks off with an air of unconcern, if
not of insolence. The labourer is fined ;he has no
money and no monied friends ; magistrates who,
had they been left to earn their own living, might
have been poorer even than he, order him to prison
and the treadmill, and consign his weeping wife
and children to the workhouse. Money makes the
only difference between the convict at large and
the convict at the wheel.
But of what avail are these coniplainings and
protests, if the victims are to work out their time
and no effort is made to reverse the past and pro-
tect them for the future ? If there be in this large
County any who have manliness and energy enough
practically to protes t against a wicked law, or against
a shameful straining of the law, if such it be—if
there be any disposed to help friendless men in their
extremity, let all such speak out, as it becomes
them, without delay. If it be possible to effect the
discharge of these men by setting aside the conviction,
let that be done. If it be possible (notwithstanding
the laws for protection of magistrates from the cour-
se eds e
foefn
dt h
theireir md
ei
cs
itsai ko ens
0) e
iteor
emaa khei
gthheors et r
hangni sa
ondaercmalisitn., and let
qlt ettrelh at be done. If nothing else be. possible, let
to confirm public n
joepn in ion
calledp ron °nip]. nocno

4 . • ,44.40.44.4.: