The Sun.
London, England, 1850-10-05 00:00:00

febleidita /111'6

Cam►'
LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1850.

A coroner's inquest has recently been held on the
body of a person whose death was said to have been
occasioned, or at least accelerated, by the violence of
public officers, and a verdict of manslaughter was re•
turned against the accused, without entering into the
merits of the question which must hereafter be in-
vestigated before a competent tribunal. It was
clearly and distinctly proved that great and un-
necessary cruelty was exercised by parties
whose business it was to afford protection to
the public, and there is but too much reason
to suppose that such conduct is habitually pursued by,
many persons holding similar situations, who are en-
couraged by the comparative impunity with which
they are permitted to violate the law and ill-treat the
unfortunates who come within their power ; indeed
it would almost appear as if harshness were considered
a necessary qualification for their offices.
The case was that of a relieving officer, named
EDWARD MoR►N, who was charged with having
caused the death of a casual pauper, named
ANDREW MURPHY. It appeared that the de-
ceased, who was only twenty-two years
of age, and who described himself as a tailor in
search of employment, applied on Wednesday, the
18th of September, at the Tib-street vagrant ward
of the Manchester Workhouse for a night's shelter.
The tramp-master, FRANCIS DALTON, informed him
that he would be required to perform three hours
severe task work in the morning in return for his
supper and breakfast, to which the unfortunate
young man replied that "lie had no money, and must
get in." He then entered the ward ; shortly
afterwards DALTON saw the deceased struggling with
MORAN, who had hold of his arm, and was trying to
open his hand, saying at the same time, " You bad
better give it up." DALTON declared that on hear-
ing that Meanly had something in his hand, "he
took hold of his left wrist with one hand and exerted
all his strength to open his fingers with the other,
but he could not succeed. He believed that MORAN
was bolding him by the other arm at the time. Mr.
HoLus, the superintendent of the Tib-street Industrial
Establishment, who was present, and a pauper named
SMITH, went to assist in searching the deceased
Mr. flows took hold of the deceased's thumb, and
pulled it back, while DALTON got his hand under-
neath the fingers, and a quantity of copper money,
10.,/d., fell out of his hand—the money was swept
away, and placed on a stove in the centre of the
room. Another scuffia then took place between the
deceased and MORAN", the former attempt-
ing to strike the other with a Wellington-

boot, which blow he parried, and struck

MURPHY in the face." This was the statement
of DALTON, one of the parties implicated, who would
of course be inclined to exhibit the conduct of the
authorities in the most favourable light. It would,
however, scarcely account for the marks of violence
that were discovered on the body of the deceased, and
which could only have occurred on that occasion.
The next morning the deceased complained of being
very unwell. His thumb was swollen and disco-
' loured ; one of his eyes was also discoloured, and he

repeatedly vomited a greenish liquor, which smelt
strong of spirits. He was then sent to the workhouse,
where he continued very ill, and never rallied until his
death, at two o'clock on the following Sunday morn-
ing, having in the interim stated that he " had been
murdered by the Governor of the Tib-street work-
house." From the evidence of the medical witnesses
one who attended him during his illness, and
the other who conducted the post mortem
examination—it appeared that death was occasioned
from an injury in the head, which produced a rup-
ture in the membrane of the brain, and led to an ex-
travasation of blood, and Mr. HOLROYD thought that
it could not have been caused by a fall, or by pre-
vious intoxication in a man of his age. Under these
circumstances the jury returned a verdict that " the
deceased had died from a blow of the fist given by
Enw.kßD MORAN," who was committed to
take his trial for manslaughter, and ac-
companied the verdict by expressing an
opinion that " HOLED, the superintendent, and
the tramp-master, had been guilty of great cruelty,"
and recommended that " in cases of extreme resist-
ance on the part of the tramps in future, the aid of a
police officer should be immediately called in."
There are few persons who will not concur in this
recommendation. It is of the utmost importance that
the poor-law officials should not be permitted in any case
to enter into personal conflicts with the paupers placed
under their charge. Such persons are but too fre-
quently inclined to exceed the limits of their autho-
rity, and woe betide the unfortunate tramp who ven-
tures to complain of ill-treatment. He is looked upon
as a wretch placed beyond the limits of the law, who
may bo kicked and buffeted about with impunity
whenever the " relieving officers" or " tramp-
miater3" choose to indulge in that pleasing recrea-
tion. The visits of such parties must they conceive be
discouraged, and guardians are inclined to regard
in a favourable light conduct and demeanour, on the
part of their subordinates, which, although not strictly
warranted by law, may be calculated to deter appli-
cants from seeking shelter, and induce them to prefer
a night's exposure to the inclemency of the weather,
with cold and hunger as their companions, rather
than submit to such tyrannical and oppressive
conduct.
The " right of search" affords a peculiarly fa-
vourable opportunity for inflicting every possible
indignity on the wretched casuals, and it is by
no means surprising that many persons should
revolt and resist the attempt. If the officers
are justified in making it, the aid of the police
may easily be called in, and the party punished
the next morning by the magistrates. But persons
of the class of MORAN, Or DALTON, or HOLLIS, should
not be allowed to take the law into their own hands,
to dislocate the thumb of an unfortunate young
man, and, perhaps, to cause his death, because he
does not yield prompt obedience to their high be-
hests. We trust the Poor-law Commissioners will
cause a searching inquiry to be instituted into the
entire circumstances of the case, to ascertain whether
HOLLIS or DALTON are fit persons to be entrusted
with the extensive powers bestowed on the workhouse
officials.

We can scarcely believe that the Commissioners of
Sewers can have read the " Report of the General
Board of Health on the Epidemic Cholera of 1948
and 1849 ;" for had they done so they would have
scarcely ventured to countenance the plan which has
been recently laid before them by their engineer for
the draining the Surrey portion of the metropolis.
We are told over and over again by the Commis-
sioners of Health that there is no more fruitful source
of disease than offensive sewers and cesspools, and
yet the Commissioners of Sewers propose to make
an enormous cesspool, extending from Chelsea to
Woolwich, the contents of which shall be kept to
ferment for twenty-four hours, and then be poured,
without having been subjected to any previous de-
putrifying process, into the Thames, to be carried by
the tide down to Gravesend on the one side, and by
the return tide up to Chelsea on the other, thus pro-
pagating pestilence on both sides of the Thames.
The Commissioners of Health inform us that the
cholera last year was most fatal on the banks of the
Thames, and, on looking at the tables attached to.
their report, it will be found that the outbreak of
Cholera on the banks of the Thames was contempo-
raneous with the commencement of the system of
flushing the sewers, and that an increase of cholera
.folloriea each siivdeilaive flushing.; thus proving to (le-
moratration that the pollution of the stream by

sewage, if it did not occasion, at all events greatly
aggravated the disease, and yet it is proposed to pour
the concentrated essence of all the filth of the metro-
polis en masse into the Thames, to poison its waters,
while the inhabitants are to be exposed to the pesti-
lential influence of the neighbourhood of an enormous
cesspool, kept perpetually charged with gases of the
most poisonous quality. We repeat what we have so
frequently stated in former articles, no plan for the
sewage of the metropolis should be entertained which
does not preserve the Thames free from pollution,
The Commissioners of Health have given numerous
instances of the influence of impure water in predis-
posing to the disease; we will content ourselves with
quoting two only. The first is as follows :

"The privies of a number of houses in Silkmill-row,
Hackney, were pulled down, and cesspools substituted.
In Dr. Gavin's report it is stated—
" • The first cesspool was sunk in the middle of July
within one yard of the only well which supplies with
water 12 houses containing 85 inhabitants. Three other
cesspools were made at the distance of 3,5, and 12 yards
from this well. About a fortnight or three weeks after
the first cesspool had been made, the inhabitants ob-
served the water become tainted and offensive; it gra-
dually became worse until, when I SAW it, that fresh
drawn in the morning was as thick as thin soup, with
feculent matter. The landlord's agent employed himself
an hour every morning in pumping off the thickened
water in order to fit it for consumption and use. Atter
his morning's work he declared the water to be quite
good enough for the inhabitants. Those who do not
choose to drink and cook with this most foul water are
compelled to catch the surface water which flows along
the kennel from the road and neighbouring field. This
water, which at other times would be considered foul,
appears pure when compared with that used by the un-
fortunate inhabitants of this place.'
" Of these 85 inhabitants, 22 did not use the water of
the well: these remained free from disease. Of the re-
maining 63, 46 were attacked with severe diarrheas, one
of them approaching cholera."
The next is a still more remarkable instance ; it is
given on the authority of Dr. EVANS, of Bedford,
who says—
" A few years ago he was staying at Versailles with
his lady, when they both became affected with ague, and,
on inquiry, the following facts were disclosed:—The
town of Versailles is supplied with water for domestic
purposes from the Seine at Marli. At the time in ques-
tion a large tank, supplying one particular qaarter, was
damaged, and the mayor, without consulting the medical
authorities, provided a supply of water consisting of the
surface-drainage of the surrounding country, which is of
a marshy character. The regular inhabitants would not
' use this polluted water; but Dr. and Mrs. Evans, who
were at an hotel, drank of it unwittingly, and it was also
used by a regiment of cavalry. The result was, that
those who drank the water suffered from intermittent
fever of so severe a tyre that seven or eight of the
soldiers. fine young men, died on one day, September 1,
1845. On a careful investigation it was ascertained that
those only of the troops who had drunk the marsh-
water were attacked, all the others, though breathing
the same atmosphere, having escaped, as did also the
town.people."
The Commissioners themselves furnish further
proof of the deleterious effects of using polluted
water, although they do not draw from the fact which
they record the inferences which they might draw.
They state that cholera was more prevalent on the
south bank of the Thames than on the north bank,
but seem at a loss to account for the circumstance.
To us the reason is evident. The inhabitants of the
south bank depend upon the Vauxhall and Lambeth
companies for their supply of water, and those corn.
panics depend exclusively on the Thames as the
source of such supply, and it is to the exclusive use
of polluted Thames water that the greater prevalence
, of cholera on the south bank of the Thames is to be
attributed. The Commissioners of Sewers themselves
! have admitted that the great majority of the in-
habitants of the metropolis must necessarily derive
their supply of water from the Thames, and there-
fore we impress upon the authorities the necessity of
at once rejecting every plan of sewage that does not
keep the waters of the Thames throughout their
whole coarse free from pollution.