The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-18 00:00:00

• ALLEGED ILL-TREATMENT OF
TWO BOYS IN A UNION WORKHOUSE.
Yesterday, at the Uxbridge Petty Sessions, a woman,
who was accompanied by two boys, stated that her name
was Ann Church, and that she was an inmate of the
Uxbridge union workhouse, at Hillingdon, as were also
the two boys, her sons, twins, 12 years of age. She
had to complain of ill-usage to her two sons by the,
schoolmasters at the workhouse, who had flogged the
boys in a cruel manner. They had been beaten with a
birch rod until the blood flowed. The flogging took
place on last Friday week, but the marks were still
visible.
Mr. CLARK reminded the applicant that the Scriptures
said, " Whoso spareth the rod spoik th the child."
The applicant said she was aware of that ; but chil-
dren were, notwithstanding that, not to be beaten top
severely, as hers had been.
Mr. Woodbridge (the magistrates' clerk) asked Mrs.
Church if she did not know that her boys had behaved
very badly, and that the board had ordered them to
receive six stripes each ?—The applicant replied that
she did know that their conduct had been bad, and that
the flogging was ordered by the board, but eight stripes
had been inflicted, until the blood flowed.
Sir W. S. WisEstAst said every nobleman's son wail
flogged with the birch on their bare in the publial
schools.
The applicant said—But not until the blood ran.
W. S. WISEMA.N replied—Oh, yes ; I have beeN
myself flogged so.
Mr. Woodbridge said, that the board of guardians hall
already inquired into the case, and it had been proved
before them, by the evidence of the schoolmaster and the,
master of the workhouse, that six stripes only had been)
inflicted.

The applicant said, the board had behavedvery shame-
fully towards her : when she complained to them, they
laughed at her, and told her, when she said she had gone,
into the room to bee that the boys were not too severely'
puni:hed, that she ought not to have done so—that it,
was very indelicate.
Sir W. S. WIsEmAN said he really did not see any
necessity for issuing a summons in such a case.
Mr. Woodbridge inquired if four boys had not bee
flogged, and no complaint made on the part cf the othe
two boys ?
The applicant replied, that the mother of one was not,
an inmate of the workhouse, and the other boy had no,
mother.

Mr. DAGNALL said he thought, as the charge had been;
publicly made, it would be better to issue a summons
against the schoolmaster, in order that a full inquiry
might be made into the matter.
Messrs. Cox and Clark concurring in that opinion, a
summons was directed to be issued,.and the hearing wag
appointed for the next bench day.

RENTAL OF THE COUNTY OF
MIDDLESEX.
The official returns of the overseers, &c., of the ea-,
rious parishes of the county of Middlesex, of the rental
4
of their several districts, have been made to the ma 4
gistrates of the county, to enable them to fix the
amount of the county-rate for the ensuing year. 'rho:
amount of those returns is much greater than or,
any former occasion, and which may be attributed t
the following circumstance:—On the returns of last yea
being presented, the Court was surprised to find th
difference in the amount of the parochial returns at at
those which were made by individuals under the Pro.",
perty-tax Act, and the attention of the parish officers
was called to the subject, and an explanation required
of the difference between the two returns. In order Lei show the extent of the difference, the magistrates had se
statement prepared, showing the difference in those re-,
turns as regarded the several parishes, hundreds, &c., i. 14!
the county. Of the extent of those differences soms
idea may be formed by an extract from this document
from which it appears that in the year 1843, the:
rental of the parish of St. George, Hanover-square, watt
returned by the overseers as amounting to 600,796/4
while the return under the Property-tax Act, of the an 4
nual value of the same property, was 909,568/, a dif4
ference of 308,772/. In the parish of St. Pancras, tb
return of the parish officers was 566,3201, while tha
under the Property-tax Act was 1,251,737/, making:
a difference of 685,417/. In the parish of Marylebonea
the parish return was 816,5721., that under the Pro,
perty-tax Act was 1,132,3244 a difference of 315,7524
There were also the following differences between th 4
two returns :--Paddington, 392,955/; Clerkenwelli
127,7361.; St. Luke's, 61,90/, Shoreditch, 147,1541. ; St.,
George's, Bloomsbury, 69,496/, &c. When asked top
explain these enormous differences, the parish officerW
stated that the returns under the Property-tax Act;
were made by the occupying tenants, and set
forth the rents they actually paid, without any'
deduction for repairs and laud-tax, for which se-
veral charges and allowances had been made,
by the parish officers, and which had been fully'
explained in the last return made by the officers of St.
Pancras parish, particularly as regarded the London
and Birmingham Railway. The overseers of St.'
George's-in-the-East attributed the decrease in the
amount of their returns to the falling off of the business
in the sugar houses and other large establishments in
that district, which had gone to such an extent that
many of them were now closed altogether; in addition
to which, owing to the number of workmen who had
thereby been thrown out of employ, a great number of
small houses, formerly occupied by them, were now'
untenanted.

Mr. Jarford wished to know if that was one of the?
parishes in which a great number of inferior houses had,
lately been erected, with the most astonishing rapidity,;
and evidently for the purpose of getting them finished)
before the Metropolitan Buildings' Act came into opera.'
lion. lie feared the erection of such houses would provsk
a great evil to the parish.
The overseer replied in the affirmative, and said thaw
many of them, after having been occupied a short time;
were deserted, and the parish thereby compelled te,
pay a county-rate upon a parcel of empty houses. Tlei
parish officers were anxious that the attention o 4
the magistrates should be directed to this subject, and;
they hoped that they would not be called on to pay ths)
county-rate upon a rental which was never received.,
The officers of St. Ann, Westminster, attributed the de-4
ficiency in their rental to the pulling down of several
houses in Cranbourne-alley and the adjoining courts,
to make way for the recent improvements in that neigh-
bourhood.
A variety of other explanations were given by various'
parish officers, but the returns in general are far greateg,
than those of former years.