The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-29 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO USE.
The LORD MAYOR said that complaints had been made to
him relative to the manner in which the new Criminal Courts
Bill was carried into effect, and he thought he could not se-
lect a more appropriate place than the Justice Room to an-
swer those complaints, the public being so deeply concerned
in the question. The following appeared to be the nature and
quality of the assertions and arguments of those who did not
think the existing system at all worthy of approbation. Loud,
frequent, and universal as have been, said the objectors, the
complaints as to the mismanagement of the Central Criminal
Court, it seemed almost incredible that no one step had been
taken for its correction. The eighth session, which had just
terminated, had, if possible, exceeded its predecessors in in-
convenience, and, in some instances, in injustice. The source
of all the evils consequent upon the system had been frequently,
in open Court, ascribed by the Bar to the commencing the
trials without having a sufficiency of bills found to occupy the
Petit Juries. Hence the Courts had been often obliged to
wait an hour for want of business. In the meantime 40 or 50
tradesmen, compelled to leave their house to act as jurors, were
left to waste their time in utter idleness, and obliged so to waste
it under peril of a fine. It had been hinted that two Commis-
sioners were necessary to find the bills, and that hence all the
inconvenience had arisen. Surely such was not the case. It
was utterly impossible that persons who seemed to feel so
sensitively the evils of the Clerkenwell jurisdiction could, for
a moment, consult their mere convenience, when the fate of
their fellow-creatures was so vitally concerned. Such a thing
was not credible. But were these not several civic judicial
functionaries in the Commission, upon whom such a duty
would naturally devolve ? These gentlemen must have wit-
nessed, day by day, the evils to which the present system had
notoriously given rise, and surely would be the first to pro..
pose the remedy. Were these functionaries paid by the City,
or were they not? If not, they should be paid, and liberally
too, when the public service was so interested. If they were
paid, surely it could be only necessary to point out the duties
in order to have them properly performed.
The LORD MAYOR said the public derived the greatest be-
nefit from the plan ; and the prisoners, too, whose hard con.
dition excited so much sympathy, were served by the existing
arrangement. To be sure the Gentlemen of the Bar cried out
against the delay which necessarily took place on the first day
of each session, on account of the examination of evidence
before the Grand Jury ; but nobody else cried out. In order
to put a stop to their clamour, however, he inquired of the
Judges whether any alteration could be made to afford addi-
tional accommodation to the Bar; but their Lordships agreed
with' him that any change would be for the worse. If the
Court were kept waiting it was to the advantage of the public
and the prisoners ; for the moment a bill was found, the wit-
nesses were at once taken into Court from the Grand Jury-
room, and the case disposed of to the great saving of ex-
pense ; and if an acquittal took place, to the speedy discharge
of the person accused. The Gentlemen of the Bar wished,
indeed, that the Grand Jury should sit a day before the com-
mencement of the trials, in order that a sufficient number of
bills might be found to keep the Court constantly engaged ;
but, high as his respect for the members of the profession
was, he could by no means consent to the adoption of any
plan for their exclusive pecuniary benefit. The juries were
also described as feeling severely the effect of the existing
plan. He was sure there was no foundation for that report,
for the juries knew well that the greatest facilities were af-
forded by the arrangement, and if they sat idle for a while they
were too patriotic to be impatient of the delay. His Lord-
ship expressed a hope that the Gentlemen of the Bar would
endeavour to accommodate themselves to the matter. He
knew they ought to try to endure the hardship, for he was
convinced it would not be remedied.

MR. BECKFORD'S NEW WORK.—We are re-
quested to state that the new work by the Author of " Italy,
with Sketches of Spain and Portugal," " Vathek," &c., en-
tided " An Excursion to the Monasteries of Alcobaca and
Batalha," in 1 vol. Svo. price 10s. 6d., embellished with a
Portrait of Mr. Beckford, from an original painting by Sir
Joshua Reynolds, is published this day by Mr. Bentley, New
Burlington-street, and may be had of all bdoksellers. Agents
for Scotland, Messrs. Bell and Bradfute. Edinburgh ; for li e-
land, Mr. John Cumming, Dublin. ",,* Orders should be
immediately transmitted to the various booksellers, to secure
early impressions of the portrait.