The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-15 00:00:00

,rht o§l/11°

LONDON
SATURDAY MORNING. OCTOBER 15, 1342.

One of our Contemporaries, yesterday, stated
that England, iccluding Wales, has, a criminal
population of 80,000 persons, who live as it
were out of the pale of the law, and are conti-
nually exposed to its penalties. Another, with
great feeling, adverted to the vast number of

persons, the connexions of those who are im-
plicated in the late riots, who will be involved
in the consequences of their acts.• If we sup.
pose that the friends and relatives of-those ac-
tually exposed to the operations of the law are
fourfold as many, we shall have a floating and
fluctuating population of 300,000,-. who are, as
it were, degraded and outcast. Sueh amass of
persons rendered familiar with all the terrors of
the law, which for them loses all its power to
deter from evil, can bode society no good..
In truth, the general familiarity with punish-
ment is one of the least pleasant circumstances
of the times. As we pass our prisons, situated in
the heart of the metropolis, and see persons
coming out or going in, and affording amuse-
merit to idle gazers; or as we see,.the heavy, but
handsome vans, drawn up at the Police-offices,
and crowds of persons looking at those who are
brought forth and seated within them,' and see
them afterwards traversing the streets,_ affording
amusement to idle wanderers, we cannot help
thinking that it is very foolish of men in autho-
rity to carry these terrors home to every man's
door, and make them familiar to all the chil-
dren of the town. Such a general familiarity
with what ought to be the terrible appa-
ratus.of the law, seems like initiating the whole
population in the first step to crime. It utterly
destroys that salutary dread of some unknown
evil to follow on wrong doing, Which, while it
is or can be maintained, is the surest guide to rec-
titude and virtue.. Crime is increasing, and as it
increases this faMiliarity increases Wand spreads
through the whole community, throwing down
all barriers, particularly in the . minds of the
young, which keep men from evil. That this is
a great misfortune is certain ; whether it can be
corrected or not we must leave to the delibera-
tive of thoSe by whose enactments and orders the
evil arises.

The persons implicated in the late rio ts, amount-
no- to several hundreds, many of whom were
not before classed with the criminal population,
are s 6 many added to that population in the_ pre-
sent year. • All their connexions and friends will
share their lot, participate in their degradation,
and becoMe like them, for the first time,..familiar
with the terrors of law. They will in the. end, we
are afraid, fearfully swell
,the great mass of the
population which live in defiance :of the law and
in violation of the rights of othersY 4VY inter
from the daily records of crime that it-; is rapidly
growing, arid we tear that the criminal popula-
tion will augment quite as fast as it is possible to
augtuent the means of repressing crithe.-*.
With the great number of 'outlaWs we are
forded to connect the great mass of paupers.
BePore winter comes to an end there will pro-
babb, be an eighth or a tenth of our population
redtfbed to extreme and dependent poverty,
which levels' the guards of virtue even more
surely than the familiarity with the eriminal ap-
paratus- of , the law. Poverty now,. ,whatever
nury T.!ave- been its characteristics in early times,
is ii7kicru and insatiable deity, on Whose altars,
fro-Iti; tear, honesty and chastity, and with them
every- other virtue, are continually saerificed.
Theinoral and. physical condition of Our popu-
latioh is bad at present, but if we do not mistake
nor 4erstate the effects of poverty and, familiar-
' isiii.;_cJe community with crime, its future con-
dition, unless a timely remedy be applied, will
be infinitely worse. The most alarming circum-
stance of the whole is that penal laWs, on which
society rests for protection, and perhaps for cure,
are obviously, as now administered,- inflaming
the mischief. The more extended is their Opera-
tion the greater is the familiarity of all with
crime, and the less they operate as a means of
prevention. Circumstances such as these, which
can scarcely fail to be confirmed by general ob- I
servation, are sufficient to make those who are
responsible for the future fate of 'the community I
take.sret heed. to the paths of their feet. Are

they quite sure that our penal code is founded
on just principles, and that to it the safety of
society may unhesitatingly be committed ?

i We are likely, we are afraid, to part company
from the Whigs on the question of the internal
, government of Canada, as-we parted company on
the ASHBURTON Treaty,: They seem inclined,
but we hope are not, to censure Sir C. BAGOT for
calling to his' councils the leaders of the French
and of the tiemocratio_.part,y. With a view to
consolidate .the : two provinpes, and secure an
ascendancy to a particular interest, a new Consti—
tution. was given to the colonies, and the two,
• provinces were united in one legislature. Every-
thing which was thought conducive to the good'
government of the provinces was adopted in that
Constitution, and Lord SYDENHAM, who had first
to carry it into effect, was successful, though with
difficulty, in obtaining a Parliamentary majority
for the party out of which he had formed his Ca-
binet. Parties have now assumed a new cast in
Canada. The French Canadians and the Radi-
cals of Upper Canada, heretofore opposed to
.the
Government, but acting against it each after its
own fashion, and for different objects, have found
out, apparently, that they are more likely to ob-
tain their ends by operating in union. -They
have accordingly coalesced, and together con
stitute a great majority of the House of.
Assembly. To this majority, which must be re-
warded as expressing the will of the majority of
the constituents, Sir C. BAGOT has yielded, and
has taken their leaders into his councils. The
House of Assembly has thanked him for having
done done so. His conduct, according to the custom
of this country, is strictly constitutional, and he
will no doubt change his Ministry, as Ministers •
are changed_ at home, when another party ob-
tains a large Parliamentary majority. Canada
can only be governed in peace, probably, by.the
Government taking ,its Ministers from the- ma-
jority ; though, peopled as it is by men of various
lineage, adverse religions, and very strong con-
flicting political opinions, we are not over san-
guine that even this method will be successful,
in preserving Canada in peace, or maintaining
the connexion between the two countries. If it
be not successful, the Government will have the ..
satisfaction of knowing that it has done what
reason and experience recommend. The course
taken by Sir C. BAGOT, however, is not exactly-
the course that was taken by the Whigs; '.or
would be taken by them, we are afraid, were
they again in office. As we approve of his form. 7,
ing his Government on the principle of consult-
ing the majority, as their wishes are made known
by their representatives, we anticipate that' on
this point, as on some others, we shall not agree
~.,...
in opinion with the Whigs.

Sir CHARLES SHAW, late Chief Commissioner"
of Police at Manchester, has just publishe&a.
letter—in reference to some remarks mate‘
the Attorney-General at Chester—which gives a
curious and interesting account of the sayings
and doings of the local Magistrates on the 9th'of
August last, when, it may be remembered;:a
vast body of Turn-outs marched in procession .
through some of the principal streets of. the
borough, committed various excesses, and tiir
several hours kept the inhabitants in a state of,
serious apprehension, not only for their property
but their lives also. Sir CHARLES cotnnieriaS:
his narrative by observing, that on the afternoon
of the Bth of August, he heard a rumour that a
meeting was to be held at Ashton on the fulluw
ing morning, at which the Turn-outs were to con-
sider the expediency of marching in " peaei
able" procession through Manchester. Doubt-
iug, under the circumstances of the case, that the".;
procession would be a " peaceable" one, the Chief'
Commissioner—who, by the bye, seems to havd.
had singular difficulty in obtaining any • accurate.l
information—took such steps as seemed to him'
to be necessary, in the emergency; and on the
morning of the 9th found the military placed.
in such a manner that, up to that moment, Man-
chester " was all safe," the mob being still in the.
power of the authorities. What followed, on the
procession entering the town, we give in the
writer's own words :

I spoke to the Stipendiary Magistrate, who. in
formed me they were asking permission to have a
procession through the town, promising to be peace-
able, and to return to their homes after passing
through certain streets. I was then quite close to the
Magistrate. I reined back a few paces, and said in a
loud, distinct voice (which must have been heard by
the military), "Sir, I must protest in the strongest,
manner against these people passing. Sir, I report to
you officially that these very men, who tell yo‘t
that they are going to be peaceable, infOrmed'
me this morning in Ashton that yesterday they had
turned out all the mills round Staley-bridge, and that
they were coming this morning to Manchester to'do
the same, and get bread." The Magistrate on this
came nearer to me, and said, " They promise to be
peaceable." I shrugged my shoulders and answered,
" You have heard what I said." The Magistrate then--
held further conversation with the leaders. I again re-
peated loudly—" Kow, Sir, recollect I have reported
this to you officially" (putting a very strong emphasis'
on the last word). He then addressed the Military
Commandant, who ordered the troops to move, and
the Magistrate, placing himself at the head f the
mob, proceeded down Ancoats-street. I drawing-`
back ; loudly exclaiming, " I will not be mixed up
with this affair ; all I can now do is, to count the.;
enemy who are attacking the town." I placed myu.
self at the head of Store-street, and counted those
who were arm in arm. When the rear of the mob
had passed, I was riding quickly, to see if the police,
were formed according to my orders, and on reach-
ing Portland-place I saw the head of the mob op,
posite the Infirmary, with the Military Commandant
on its right flank. He called to me that the
" procession" did not seem inclined to !Keep their
promise to the Magistrates, and rrAuested me to
show the leaders the nearest road, to Ashton. I did.
what I could to induce them to go down the London-
road, but they insisted on passing through Portland-
place (which at this part is very wide), and we could
not prevent them.. 'Shortly after this the Stipendiary
Magistrate came up, declaring that the leaders of the
procession bad not kept their promise to him, and ask-
ing me where was its head ? I answered, " You
will be clever to find it, as by this time it has fifty
heads ; in fact, they are all loose, but still, if you will
permit me, I will, and can, stop them, as I have got
about 200 police close at hand." His answer wa:,,
" No, no, we must have no collision."
We halted here for some little time, we doing by
persuasion what we could with the mob, who jeered
us in return. One man was most insolent to the
Commandant. I proposed his being apprehended, but the Magistrate would permit of no interference. The mob then passed through Minshull-street part assembling in Granby-row-fields, their chief
speaker calling on them to preserve "peace, law, and
order," as their meeting was legal, the procession
having been conducted into the town headed by the
civil and military authorities, who were then listening
to them. The Stipendiary, accompanied by another
Magistrate, escorted this assemblage from Granby-
row-fields as far as the Ashton road ; but while this
was going on, the mob were attacking in other
quar-
ters, and continued to do so, but were so rapid in as-
sembling, destroying, and dispersing, that the town
was in a state of anarchy. Such were the events of
the " evil hour."

If the facts really be as Sir CHARLES has here
stated them—and his letter bears every mark of

strict truth—the Manchester Magistrates must
have acted in a manner only to be accounted
fbr on the presumption that they were
either indifferent about the safety of the
town, or that fear and astonishment had

wholly deprived them of their senses. What,
trust to the pacific assurances of a mob
who but the day before had been turning out
all the mills in the neighbourhood, and h
openly declared that it was theirirT Theentio iug
intention
peat the same game at Mancheste
trate who exhibited this absurd confidence,
confiadAenLse,;
despite the urgent remonstrance of Sir
who better understood the temper of the mob,
proved himself utterly unworthy to be entrusted
with even the authority of a parish beadle
It was not his fault that the town,wasnot pillaged
from one end to the other, and many valuable
lives lost. The apprehension of a " collision,"
which he seems to have shared in common with
his colleagues, was the very way to bring
it on ; but worse even than this, was.
the parleying of the civil authorities with
the mob, under circumstances that demandedt,
the promptest show of energy and decision ;
for, in the first place, it implied a distruk
of their own power ; and, secondly, amounte4-
to a sort of tacit acknowledgment that•
the proceedings of the mob were not,
In all cases
wholly unauthorised by law.

Vpi
44 A ,
4,
• , • .
vs;ae.' • ',ft:L.,