The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-03 00:00:00

BRUTALITY 20 IfrOJIRN.

It is not to be supposed that the fortuitous majo-
rity obtained by Lord Raynham upon the propriety
of flogging the brutes who, taking advantage of
their superiority in physical strength, wound and
beat their wretched wives, will ever pass into law.
Still the fact that such a majority has been ob-
tained is a public event which we are bound to
notice. Here is one of the cases in which reason
and feeling are absolutely at variance. Of course,
every man would be but too willing to tie the
wretches who commit these assaults upon helpless
women up to the triangles, and lay on with a hearty
good will, if he could not find a public officer to
discharge the duty on behalf of the nation. So far
there is no doubt about the case. These men ought
to be flogged, and soundly, and we should all be
too delighted to lend a hand in furthering so good
a work. Here, however, is the difficulty :—Under
the existing state of the law, and now that the
wife-beaters are only exposed to the penalty of im-
prisonment, the utmost difficulty is found in induc-
ing women to come forward as accusers. True, it
may be said women reason thus :—" If we go be-
fore
the magistrate and give such testimony as
causes the breadwinner to be locked up in gaol for
two, three, or more months, what is to become of
us and our little ones ?" Practically, women do not
reason in that way, and their reluctance to pro-
ceed against the men who have illtreated them
arises from a totally different series of causes. What
would be the case if the penalty of flogging were
substituted for the penalty of imprisoment ? We
know not how this point may strike different minds,
but to us it seems that, even as far as a wife's
chances of securing support for herself or her chil-
dren are concerned, she would not have much aid to
expect from the savage brute who came bleeding
from the turnkey's hands, and still more savage
than before. This, however, is not the real point.
If you attach a penalty of corporal chastisement to
the crime of wife-beating, there is not one woman
in five hundred who will come forward to bear wit-
ness against her husband, simply upon the ground
that, brutal as he may have behaved to her, she does
not, on the whole, choose that the brute should be
flogged. The repression under the existing state of
the law is not worth much; but still, of the little
hope of repressing the crime by positive law there
would be a like end if Lord Raynham's injudicious
proposition for flogging the husbands were to pass
into law. There is no class of questions which
gives more trouble to the metropolitan police magis-
trates than this one—" What can you do with the
brute who is brought before you on the charge of
beating his wife, with the moral certainty
.upon
his mind that any punishment you may inflict
upon him will in all probability only lead to
a repetition of the offence, and with the abso-
lute certainty that when you order the man to
be locked up you are practically sending the wife
and children to the workhouse ?" Every now
and then an obvious six months' ease is brought
up, and that is plain sailing enough. If the
woman lies in danger of her life from the man you
can protect her for the space of six months, and
then it must be as it must. We would simply call
attention to the fact that• Lord Raynham had by
chance obtained a majority upon this point, hut we
have such confidence in the common sense of our
legislators that we feel certain the error will be
rectified before the bill passes into law.—Times.

THE LONDON HOSPITAL—The London Hospital
is the sob., general hospital, not only for a fourth part of the
metropolis, but also for the neighbouring portions of Essex
and Hertfordshire. It is surrounded by docks, factories,
and workshops, and receives, with few exceptions, the ac-
cidents and urgent cases which occur among a population
exceeding 500,000 persons. During the year 1859, 25,290
patients were treated in the hospital, of whom 1,230 wererecommended by governors, and 2,439 were admitted with-
out recommendation. The annual expenditure has hitherto
averaged about £17,500, and its fixed income is about
£12,000. The charity has this year sustained a loss of
£1,500 per annum by the cessation of the Long and Ter-
minable Annuities, and it has also been necessary during
the past year to expend £1,500 in repairing the foundations
of the building. The 120th anniversary festival of the
charity was held last evening at the London Tavern, when
about 250 gentlemen sat down to dinner. The Duke of
Cambridge was in the chair, and made an earnest and em-
phatic appeal on behalf of the institution, which was libe-
rally responded to. During the evening the secretary
(Mr. Nixon) announced subscriptions to the amount of
£23,849, the largest amount which has ever been published
at any charity dinner held in London. The band of the
Fusilier Guards occupied the gallery, and played a selec-
tion of music during dinner, and afterwards a party of
vocalists, under the direction of Mr. Francis, performed a
selection, of Toed muoio, Mr, Ilitrkor acted as toastrnaker,