The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-25 00:00:00

gardener. Here is the last week in October (with
the climate of November) bringing more ap-
preciably within view the advent of Cinist-
mas. And the strike even now, with
this miserable scrap of a possibility of
work before us, the strike even now has yet to be
terminated. The beginning of the end has not even
yet been commenced. We are talking of it now,
on the 25th of October, simply as a possibility, or,
to employ the most sanguine phrase, as a mere pro-
bability. But even supposing it already ended—
supposing the workmen so long out of work-actually
at work again—how far can they make good lost
ground, lost time, lost wages before winter cuts the
" ground" from under their feet, ends the yearly
" time" for building, and puts a stop to their chance
of " wages 2" Wages so long refused, and refused
by this time to an amount the computation of the
proximate aggregate of which it is painful
to the very last degree to contemplate—
more particularly, to contemplate with the Regis-
trar-General's last few weeks' reports lying before
us, during the process of computation. All this
money in hard cash, to the tune of thousands upon
thousands of pounds have been virtually, and wil-
fully, and obstinately thrown out of windows by
the promoters of the strike—and lost now, so far as
the past is concerned. it is certainly needless to
demonstrate, beyond the possibility of redezution.
All that can be done now will be the sorry reme:!y
expressed by the old proverbial phrase of " lock-
ing the stable-door when the steed is stolen."
That is all, at any rate, that can be attempted in
regard to the past; in regard to the work
lost, the time spent, the wages gone,
the misery suffered, the deaths lamented.
And, as for the rest, as for the narrow space of the
little fragment of the portion remaining before them
in 1859—even at the happiest calculation, even upon
the supposition that the strike were brought to a
close tomorrow—it would be idle to dream of even
the moiety of the goods and chattels now at the
pawnbrokers, being redeemed before the end of the
building season. Furniture and clothing even
such as it was, the humblest furniture and the
poorest clothing, will have to be done without in
numberless homes in this great city, all during the
oncoming winter. Those households will have, for
1859-1860, to rough it more severely and harshly
than ever. And all because of this rash and obsti-
nate and most ill-considered strike. We say nothing
whatever here about the principles at stake between
the working men and the employers—there is very
much indeed to be said for the working men, in re-
gard to the great, affecting principle at stake, in
what is called the nine hours' movement. All that
we would insist upon in this matter, from first to
last—all that we would especially insist upon now
is, the.folly and cruelty, if we might not even say
the absolutely criminality of the strike. Triumph,
the Nine Hours' movement ! If you will, let that
be the cry ringing trumpet-toned among all the
millions of our working meu. But—not (triumph)
through the Strike ! Perish the Strike ! It has
I lasted over long already. Let it end now in GOD'S

name!

The diminution of the number of convictions a

the Birmingham Sessions (commenced yesterday)
was estimated, as the learned Recorder intimated

in his charge to the Grand Jnry, at 15 per cent,
during the entire twelvemonth. The diminution

observe in the number of convictions ! Thai

diminution implying, at the first glance, necessarily
a diminution in the number of crimes. Yet the
learned Recorder of Birmingham at once, upon
announcing this gratifying estimate (the estimate
formed, by the way, by the Governor of the
local Borough Gaol) endeavoured to disabuse
the minds of his hearers from any
false impressson that might thereby have been
almost instinctively produced. "We must dis-
tinguish" he said, "between the diminution of
convictions and.the diminution of crime. I wish to
guard your minds against the common fallacy of
confounding the numbers of convictions with those
of offences committed. Convictions are only of
offences detected and brought to justice, and it may
happen that in one place you may find the convic.
tions increase by the zeal and activity of tne police,
or by addition to their numbers, when that very in-
crease of convictions causes a decrease of crime—
while, on the other hand, any laxity of the police or
any cause acting on the minds of prosecutors disin-
clining them to prosecute will show a decrease of con-
victions it may be coincident with an increase of
crime." Not of course—we might be sure of that—
that the Recorder of Birmingham would wish for
an instant to insinuate that the diminution in the
number of convictions to the extent of 15 per cent.
upon the year was attributable to anything like
laxity on the part of the borough police or
negligence on the pars of the local, meaning,
of course, for the most part his own judi-
cial authority. Mr. HILL, in fact, then went
on to argue thus candidly :—" I look around me,"
said he, " for causes of a decrease in crime ; and I
hope I may. vouch (though ytu know better than I
do) that the general prosperity of the country is a
cause of the diminution of crime. This is a well-known
and acknowledged cause, for in seasons of prosperity
throughout the country the number of convictions
fall to a few, when the zeal of the police remains the
same and when the disposition to prosecute remains
the same." He is constrained to add, however, imme-
diately, that " though modern propriety tends to a
diminution of crime, yet a sudden access of prospe-
rity among the working classes, I am sorry to say'
it, tends to an increase of offences ; because a su d
den rush of prosperity brings to the working classes
money beyond their usual requirements, and their
habits of lift not having prepared them for saving
the money that they earn beyond what they require
for their usual expenditure, many of them yield—
nat all thank God—to that sorest of temptations, the
drinking intoxicating liquors." The Recorder is,
therefore, not by any means prepared to argue that
here—in the mere increase of prosperity—there is
discoverable the veritable source of this extraordinary
diminution in the number of convictions. He goes
on to acknowledge frankly—" I must confess that
15 per cent. is such a sudden diminution, that hav-
ing given many years to the consideration of this
subject. lam not satisfied that we owe entirely
to the prosperity of the country the present dimi-
nution of crime." There aro other causes, he con-
ceives, to be at work, and these causes,
he then goes on to enumerate. First,
and foremost among these, we rejoice to observe that
Mr. HILL puts the establishment of late years of
so many admirable Reformatories. Another reason
\ immediately afterwards specefied is not by
1 any means so satisfactory. " Since February,
1858," he reminds his grand jury, " there
has been such a diminution in the scale of
payments to witnesses and officers of justice—
such as the police—as must, according to all
the evidence which I have received upon the
subject, have had a pernicious effect in preventing
and discouraging prosecutions." This, however,
we find good reason to believe is an evil now likely
to be removed through the judicious interposition
of the SECRETARY of STATE for the HOME DEPART-
MENT. In spite of all drawbacks, however, we
cannot but rejoice in a diminution of the number