The Sun.
London, England, 1828-07-30 00:00:00

j convictiOns, now . contrive to have the convic-
tions six times as numerous as the acquittals.
Who has not read the novels of Fielding and
Smollett, both of whom held up this practice of
committing without • investigation to deserved
execrationi? Few Magistrates have not read.
Joseph Andrews," in which tie evil which
prevailed to our own days is described by the
hand of a master. 'f The clerk having finished
the depositions as well of. the fellow himself as of
those who apprehended the prisoner, delivered_
them to the Justice ; who, having sworn the
several witnesses without reading a syllable, or-.
dered his clerk to make out the mittimus.
Adams then said, ' he hoped he should not be
condemned unheard.' ' No, no,' cries the Jus-
tice, ' you will be asked what you have to say
for yourself, when you come on your trial : we
are . not trying you now ; I shall only commit
you -to gaol f if you can prove your innocence at
Size, you will be found ignoramus, and so no
harm done.' Is it no punishment, Sit, for an
innocent man to lie several months in gaol ?'
cries Adams. , I beg you would at least hear
me, before you sign the mittimus.' ' What sig-
nifies all you can say,' says the Justice, ' is it
not here in black and white against you ?J I
must tell you, you are a very impertinent fellow
to take-up so much of my time—So make haste
with his mittimus.' " Common humanity, one
should think, would impress a Magistrate with
the importance of committing for trial as few in-
nocent persons. as possible, and induce him to
spare no pains in sifting such cases as come be-
fore him, in order to be assured.that he is not
exposing the innocent to almost certain ruin.
Yet we see how inefficacious the humanity of
INlae°istrates has been when the prisons continued
to be crowded with persons who ought never to
have been committed ; and hoW efficacious, on
the other hand, the dread of exposure has been
when, suddenly after public attention had been
drawn to the subject, the commitments exceed
by little the convictions. No means by which
men are to be influenced to discharge their. duty
more attentively are to be neglected. There are
individuals of such inflexible virtue that their
conduct would be' equally meritorious under all
circumstances. But there are others who alight
occasionally be somewhat more indulgent to
themselves than necessary, if they were not kept
in check by, the consciousness that the , eyes of
many are upon them. It has been s often oh-.
served that numbers keep each other iu counte-
nance. But it may, also, be observed, that
where censure is felt, no man who feels himself
innocent likes to share the blame of those who
have misconducted themselves.' Hence, in a re-
gitnent, there will be little disposition in Officers
anxious for the character of their regiment,- to
countenance. •an Officer tyrannically disposed, by
whose acts that character might suffer.. We
may be sure, too, that when, as in Essex, the
Magistrates are so far alive to what they owe to
their reputations, as to wish to escape the dis-
grace of frequent acquittals, they will not look
with indulgence. on those of their number who
..
nugnt act in a contrary spirit. The same prin-,
ciple which leads wrong-doers to keep each other,
in countenance, leads the meritorious to dis-
countenanceahose who, may deprive them of the
credit due to their virtues. We are no great
admirers- of the Institution of unpaid ; but we
rejoice 'to see them priding themselves . on the
conscientious discharge - of their duties, and
aiming at results indicative of the success of their
endeavours. Essex is no doubt in many re-
spects a favourable specimen. It contains a '
more thin usual proportion of able Magistrates,
and among others Mr. Western, the Member
for the County, who again and again raised'
his voice against the demoralising effects of
the accumulation of untried prisoners in gaols,
and succeeded in obtaining a third Session for
the Home Counties. His excellent letter, lately
published, advocates powerfully the importance
of extending
.the improvement, by more frequent
Sessions—a measure which would be attended
with the most beneficial effects to the country.
On a future (la) we shall advert more particu-
larly to this production.—Morning Chronicle.
We present our readers, in another part of
our paper, with a portion of the Report of the
Select Committee appointed to inquire into the
system of Metropolitan Police, and the cause of
the increase of criminal commitments in London
and Middlesex. To the good intentions which
prompted the inquiry, and the zeal with which it
has been prosecuted, we are willing to bear the
strongest testimony ; and it would afford us equal
pleasure to speak of the Report as either explain-
ing the causes which have led to the deplorable
increase of crime which has taken place within
the last year, or as suggesting a remedy which
would diminish its amount in future ; but in
neither the one case nor the other, do we feel
ourselves at liberty to do so ; and when we state
that the Committee have reported to the House
of Commons, °ein-drinking, and the high rate of
wages awarded to the working classes, as the
main causes of- the increase of crime, we think
our readers will agree with us, that, however
abundant in zeal, a Committee more deficient in
knowledge, or more incapable of reporting on so
important a subject as the increase of crime,
never yet presented a Report at the table of the
House.—First, as to gin-drinking. The Com-
mittee state in their Report upon the evi-.
dence of what they term " a mot intelligent
officer," that " you may have very good
gin at two-pence halfpenny a quartern, ten-
pence a pint ; that what is called famous is
threepence—that is, a shilling a pint ; and that
this shilling a-pint gin is what is called ' blue
ruin t"' Now this evidence of' " a most intel-
ligent officer," is neither more nor less than a
gross rnis-statement—falsebood, some persons
would probably terra it ; for the lowest price of
anything entitled to the name of gin, is four,
. pence, and that which is denominated famous in
his evidence is firepence per quartern—being
-exactly double the price which his
and experience" was
. " intelligence
pleased to put upon it !
But this is not all. If gin-drinking is now the
Cause of crime, in consequence of its low price,
Ihow comes it diat crime was increasing at even
rate than it now is, previously to
cheap, which is only three years
truth his, that cheap spirits of
any kind never
led, either in this or in any other'
gontry, to drunkenness and habits of intoxi-
cation,
ttlQieb:opnrtrpacrytir.ed,\Vishagteinserraariely,
but rather
dear, and difficult
ht after • wbat is uncap, and
an object that is song : ,
.. • , .. . ,
generally despispcl; and
ConSesiliently common,
experience to hold
this rule has bean proved by .
s Cheap in the
good in every instance, Wino l
South of trance ; but the wine-growers ire gene-
rally the most sober part of the population: Opp,
sional drunkenness was a general vice in Scot,
: land previously to the reduction of the duties on
Iwhiskey-=-now it is. fast wearing out of fashion.
So much for the gin-drinking part of the Report.
of the Select Committee. Let us-now see whe-
ther the Report respecting the high wages of the