The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-08 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR—The report of the proceedings at Guildhall,
respecting my charge against the Licensed Vic-
tuallers' Protection Society, for having denied the
payment to me, on behalf of Mr. Ibbotson, of 25., as a
fee for entering the name of my master, as an appli-
cant for a servant, is likely to do me injury unless you
give an explanation. The Magistrate refused to go
on with the case, as he decided he had no jurisdiction,
as pressed by Mr. Wire. As I did pay the fee it is my
intention to summon the Secretary for the amount. I
paid, and I have no doubt of being able to prove cir-
cumstances, there to be adduced, to show that though
no receipt was given for the money I paid, the prac-
tice hitherto, that I have a claim against the Society.
—I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

GEORGE SMITHERS.
Black Boy and Horse Shoe,
Nicholas-lane, Sept. 7.

YOUNG MOBS.

(From the "Report on the Sanitary Condition of the
Labouring Population of Great Britain.)
Whenever the adult population of a physically
depressed district, such as Manchester, is brought
out on any public occasion, the preponderance of
youth in the crowd, and the small proportion of
aged, or even of the middle aged, amongst them
is apt to strike those who have seen assemblages
of the working population of other districts more
favourably situated.
In the course of some inquiries under the Con-
stabulary Force Commission as to the proportions
of a paid force that would apparently be requi-
site for the protection of the peace in the manu-
facturing districts, reference was made to the
meetings held by torchlight in the neighbour-
hood of Manchester. It was reported to us, on
close observation by peace-officers, that the bulk
of the assemblages consisted of mere boys, and
that there were scarcely any men of mature age
to be seen amongst them. Those of mature age
and experience, it was stated, generally disap-
proved of the proceedings of the meetings as in-
jurious to the working classes themselves. These
older men, we were assured by their employers,
were intelligent, and perceived that capital, and
large capital, was not the means of their depres-
sion, but of their steady and abundant support.
They were generally described as being above
the influence of the anarchical fallacies which
appeared to sway those wild and really dan-
gerous assemblages. The inquiry which arose
upon such statements was how it happened that
the men of mature age, feeling their own best
interests injured by the proceedings of the
younger portion of the working classes, how
they, the elders, did not exercise a restraining
influence upon their less experienced fellow-
workmen? On inquiring of the owner of some
extensive manufacturing property, on which be-
tween 1,000 and 2,000 persons were maintained
at wages yielding 40s. per week per family,
whether he could rely on the aid of the men of
mature age for the protection of the capital
which furnished them the means of subsistence ?
he stated he could rely on them confidently.
But on ascertaining the numbers qualified for
service as special constables, the gloomy fact be-
came apparent, that the proportion of men of
strength and of mature age for such service were
but as a small group against a large crowd,
and that for any social influence they were
equally weak. The disappearance by premature
deaths of the heads of fitmilies and the older
workmen at such ages as those recorded in the
returns of dependent widowhood and orphanage,
must to some extent practically involve the ne-
cessity of supplying the lapse of staid influence
amidst a young population by one description or
other of precautionary force.
On expostulating on other occasions with
middle-aged and experienced workmen on the
folly as well as the injustice of their trade unions,
by which the public peace.was compromised by
the, violence of strike after strike, without re-
gard to the experiences of the sufferings from
the continued failures of their exertions for ob-
jects the attainment of which would have been
most injurious to themselves, the workmen of
the class remonstrated with, invariably dis-
claimed connexion with the proceedings, and
showed that they abstained from attendance at
the meetings. The common expression was,
they would not attend to be borne down by
" mere boys," who were furious, and knew not
what they were about. The predominance of a
young and violent majority was general.
In the metropolis the experience is similar.
The mobs against which the police have to
guard come from the most depressed districts;
and the constant report of the superintendents is,
that scarcely any old men are to be seen
amongst them. In general, they appear to con-
sist of persons between sixteen to twenty-five
years of age. The mobs from such districts as
Bethnal-green are proportionately conspicuous
for a deficiency of bodily strength, without,
however, being from that cause proportionately
the less dangerously mischievous. I was informed
by peace officers that the great havoc at Bristol
was committed by mere boys.
The experience of the Metropolitan Police is
also similar as to the comparatively small pro-
portion of force available for public service from
such depressed districts. It is corroborative also
of the evidence as to the physical deterioration
of their population, as well as the disproportion
in respect to age. Two out of every three of the
candidates for admission to the police force itself
are found defective in the physical qualifications.
It is rare that any one of the candidates from
Spitalfields, Whitechapel, or the districts where
the mean duration of life is low, is found to pos-
sess the requisite physical qualifications for the
force, which is chiefly recruited from the open
districts at the outskirts of the town, or from
Norfolk and Suffolk, and other agricultural
counties. _

In general the juvenile delinquents, who come
from the inferior districts of the towns, are con-
spicuously under size. In a recent examination
of juvenile delinquents at Parkhurst by Mr. Kay
Shuttleworth, the great majority were found to
be deficient in physical organization. An im-
pression is often prevalent that the criminal po-
pulation consists of persons of the greatest phy-
sical strength. Instances of criminals of greet
strength certainly do occur; but speaking from
observations of the adult prisoners from the towns
and the convicts in the hulks, they are in gene_
ral below the average standard of height.
The facts indicated will suffice to show the
importance of tile moral and political considera-
tions, viz., that the noxious physical agencies
depress the health and condition of the popula-
tion, and act as obstacles to education and to
moral culture; that in abridging the duration of
the adult life of the working classes they check
the growth of productive skill, and abridge the
amount of social experience and steady moral
habits in the community; that they substitute
for a population that accumulates and preserves
instruction and is steadily progressive, a popula-
tion that is young, inexperienced, ignorant, cre-
dulous, irritable, passionate, and dangerous,
having a perpetual tendency to moral as well as
physical deterioration.

The Lancashire turn-out still continues. The
very natural,consequence is the announcement of a series
of depredations, and a practice of plunder by night,
which must lead to still further irritation between the
middle and lower classes.—HaYax Guardian.