The Sun.
London, England, 1835-04-17 00:00:00

trates in several cases of imputed misconduct have been
correct." (Evidence, p. 58, App. p. 36.) In New Rad-
nor, where the magistrates " either have had, or are sus-
pected to have had, a political bias, which has been a source
of considerable dissatisfaction to persons of the opposite
party, but though the Judges of the Court are such as have
been described, the Court is greatly resorted to." (Evi-
dence, p. 359 ; App. p. 42.) At Carmarthen, where there
are " suspicions" of political bias. (Evidence, p. 213 ; App.
40.) In Launceston, where " evidence was given to prove
that the inhabitants had not implicit confidence in the ad-
ministration of justice." This evidence, however, was given
to prove nothing, except as to the " one case" " particularly
detailed" to the commissioners. It was the liberation, "by the
order of a clerk in the Bank and of a solicitor," of a party
charged with a forgery, but who, instead of being brought be-
fore the magistrates for examination or committal, had been al-
lowed to remain in the custody of the constable at the Turk's
Head public-house for two days. (Evidence, p. 521 ; App. p.
47.) And at Bradninch, where a complaint was made " that a
pathway passing near the property of the corporation to a
public well had been stopped up ; this had been regularly
done by an order of two of the borough magistrates, who
had viewed the place. By the stopping up of the path
the public are compelled to go from a quarter to half a mile
round ; and although in general there is a copious supply
of water from other wells, yet in summer the additional la-
bour of procuring the water from the well in question ap-
pears a public inconvenience." (Evidence, p. 460 ; Appen-
dix, p. 44.) The details of this case must not be consi-
dered as trifling or tedious, because thereupon, and upon
the Launceston case, the general inference or inuendo in
the report of the perversion of justice seems to be founded.
The " inexpediency of entrusting individuals not having
professional knowledge and experience with the powers of
sitting as magistrates in quarter sessions" is an objection not
of a defect in municipal constitutions, but in the general
constitution of the authority of Justices of the Peace.
Another defect pointed out in the Borough Courts, viz.,
"the intimacy between the Judge and the parties," "the in-
terval of a few minutes converting the tradesman and the
customer into the judge and the suitor," exists to the same
or a ;neater extent in the courts for the recovery of small
debts, usually called Courts of Request. Most certainly
all these defects should be thoroughly in% estigated.bnt they
should have been pointed out as defects which the borough
magistracy have in common with other judicatures,
whereas the report in this, as in other instances, concen-
trates the whole sum of abuse upon the municipal magis-
tracy.

The report states that the corporate " magistrates, gene-
rally speaking, are not looked upon by the inhabitants with
favour or respect, and are often regarded with peculiar dis-
trust and dislike." " The corporate magistrates are often
selected from a class incompetent to the discharge of judicial
functions, and the consequence has been a great defect in the
administration of justice." And in support of this position
the report quotes the unprinted case of East Retford, rest-
ing upon the evidence of the " respectable individual who
had been clerk to the magistrates ;" the unprinted Wenlock
case, and the Malmesbury case (Evidence, p. 78 ; App.
pp. 35, 36), where the magistrates are often unable to read
and write. And the report proceeds to state " that the
evils resulting from the ignorance and inefficiency of the bo-
rough Magistrates are heightened by gross defects in other
parts of the judicial system."
The assumptions in these passages bear upon the per.
sonal qualifications of the borough magistracy for the
offices which they hold. The question of personal com-
petency for offices is a question in all cases one of great
delicacy, and involving much consideration of collateral
circumstances ; and whenever it becomes necessary for
the law to designate (either directly or indirectly) any
peculiar class of individuals as fit for peculiar offices, or
(either directly or indirectly) to exclude them as
unfitted, the same question offers one of the most dif-
ficult problems of practical legislation. And it is only ne-
cessary to observe that the data contained in the evidence
are not adequate for the solution of the problem. Malmes-
bury (like Berwick-upon-Tweed) is an isolated case, the
borough being in fact a territorial community, in which the
principal objects of the corporation (except so far as it has
been kept up for Parliamentary purposes) are the distribu-
tion of the town lands, after a singular custom, which is
probably as old as the reign of Athelstane, from whom (as
they suppose) they received their first charter.—(Evidence,
pp. 77, 79, 80 ; App. pp. 35, 36.) The report does not
offer any other example of a similar ancient constitution, nor
of similar want of education and instruction. It is true
that in certain Welsh boroughs, Aberavon, Kenfig, Kil-
gerran, and St. Clear's—(Evidence, pp. 165, 269, 279,
377), the reports state that the magistrates are unac-
quainted with business, and so ignorant of the English lan-
guage that " scarcely any information could be collected
from them" (p. 165) ; but inasmuch as it appears from the
reports that the Commissioners were unprovided with an
interpreter, the incompetence of the magistrates could not
be easily ascertained : and it is submitted that ignorance of
the Welsh language would (in the magistrates) have op-
posed a more serious obstacle to the transaction of business
in a remote Welsh borough, where the inhabitants do not
speak English, than the deficiency animadverted upon by
the commissioners.

But with respect to inefficiency, it may be collected that
the opinion of the inhabitants is not entirely in unison with
the opinions expressed in the report. For in that same re-
port, when treating on the borough courts, it is said, " not-
withstanding these defects, a very general desire was ex-
pressed on the part of the inh aßitants of these boroughs
where the civil courts had fallen into disuse, for their
'rival." It is not unworthy of notice, that in the par-
ticular case of Chard the circuit commissioners argue
strongly against the opinions of the inhabitants, asserting
that "the boon"—the extension of the powers of the civil
court—" which many of the inhabitants appear to desire,
would not be valued by them, nor answer its proper ends,
unless it were accompanied with an alteration in the mode
of choosing the members of the corporation.—(Evidence,
p. 1,242.) In the case of Newbury, where the court, re-
cently revived by the corporation upon the request of the
inhabitants, is very useful, and much resorted to by the
tradesmen of the town, the commissioners report hypothe-
tical abuses and dissatisfaction ; " whether upon a longer
experience abuses and inconveniences may not arise in a
court so constituted may be doubted ;
.no dissatisfaction
was, however, expressed on this head.--(Evidence, p.
91.) And, lastly, where there is no abuse, and where
corporations appear to be popular on the part of the inha-
bitants, the commissioners, on their parts, doubt the pro-
priety of the existence of corporations.—(Henley, Evidence,
p. 74 ; Newbury, Evidence., p. 93 ; Tregony, Evidence,
p. 652.)
(9.) The report states, as before observed, " that the
evils resulting from the ignorance and inefficiency of the
borough magistrates are heightened by the gross defects in
other parts of the judicial system ;" and the defective com-
position of the juries of the borough courts is instanced,
which being sometimes exclusively composed of burgesses
are strongly tainted with party feelings : and they instance
three specific cases, Northampton (unprinted,) Carmarthen
and Haverfordwest.--(Evidence, pp. 213, 239 : App., pp.
40, 41.) There can be no doubt but such a mode of se-
lecting juries, often coupled with the immunity of exemp
tion from county juries, is a great obstacle to the impartial
administration of the law. But the condemnation so justly
pronounced against the custom, would perhaps have ac-
quired additional strength, if the report had not taken two
out of the three specific examples from the Welch counties,
where trial by jury is notoriously tainted by local factions
and prejudices ; and where the same perversions of feeling
which cause civil trials to be held in the next English
county must operate with even greater force in criminal
prosecutions.
(10.) This is followed by a section noticing another
abuse of considerable importance, so far as relates to prin-
ciple. The report having, as before quoted, alleged " that
the evils resulting from the ignorance and inefficiency of
the borough magistrates are heightened by gross defects in
other parts of the judicial system," and having pointed out
the bad composition of juries as the first of such defects,
then states, as another defect, the union of the most in-
compatible offices in the person of the town-clerk ; and,
amongst other instances, they state that at Reading the
town-clerk, during his mayoralty, tried and taxed the costs
of a cause in which his partner was one of the attornies.
" This union of conflicting duties," the report proceeds, is
very adverse to the proper administration of justice ; it is a
frequent cause of suspicion and jealousy amongst the inha-
bitants, even where the character of the officer is a security
against improper conduct." But it might have been ex-
pedient to add that the latter sentence contains not a
supposition, but a fact. In the Reading case the circuit
commissioners add that they were " satisfied, upon a
careful and minute investigation, that there was no ground
for the charge of individual misconduct ; that the cause
was properly conducted and decided, and the defendant
had never complained of the decision of the jury, or of any
part of the proceedings." (Evidence, p. 114 ; App. p. 37.)
In the analogous cause of Newport, Isle of Wight, there
appeared " not only an absence of the slightest ground for
imputations of malversation in any office, but an absence of
anything like a definite suspicion of the sort." (Evidence,
p. 776 ; App. p. 60.) At Bridgewater, it is stated, that
,‘ when the town-clerk tied his son were in partnership, it
appeared that writs had been issued in the name of the son
on the partnership account. We did not find that in the
instances proved before us, the practice had been abused for
anyimproper purpose, but it is obvious that the union of the
two characters is highly objectionable." (Evidence, p. 464 ;
App., p-. 44.) Most unquestionably the practice is highly
oit;ecti3nable ; but it would be as legitimate an inference as
any which the commissioners Lave drawn that "-the defects
in the borough system are not unfrequently dini:n:sl..ccl by
the honour and integrity of the corpuyate_officers."
(11.) it is- not easy to understand the principle upon
which the acts of mismanagement of charitable trusts