House Of Commons, Wednesd...
The Times, 1824-05-06T00:00:00

Mr. . -_DAWSON preser,e- d a petition from the lodge of free. raasons No. 66, in Ireland, praying to be placed in the same situa- tion as the freemasons in England. Colonel BAGWELL presented a petition from the Society of Friends, in Ireland, praying for the abolition of negro slavery. Sir Ml. IV. RlDLEY presented a petition from Newcastlc,upon- Tine, against the salt duties. A similar petition was presented by Mr. CunwEx from the inhabitants of a parish in Cumberland. Mir. STANLEY presented a petition from the licensed victual- lers of Blackburn, against the beer duties. Similar petitions were presented from the licensed victunaUers of Dudley, in Vorcestershire, and from those of Wolverhampton, in Staffordshire, by Colonel LYGON and Sir J. WfLOTTESLEY, respectively. M r. DENMAN presented a petition from several thousand arti- sans of Nottingham, praying for a total repeal of the cormbination laws. The hon. member said that he warmly supported the prayer of the petition. AIr. WARRE presented a petition from Calne. praying for the repeal of the assessed taxes, which, after a few words from air. MA3sEtrY and General GASCOY2E, was ordered to be printed. On the motion of Mlr. KExr, the bill to authorize the establish, ment of a Dletropolitan Register Office. for concentrating and pre- serving the registers of baptisms, mariages, and burials in ing- land, was read a first time. Mr. P. MOORE presented a petition from the inmates of the King's Bench Prison, complaining of the extortion of pawn- brokers,and prayingthnt the equitable loan bank bill might be passed into a law. Mr. S. RICE presented apetition from a class of Christians com- monly distinguished by the name of "Separatists,"praying the house to afford them relief by passing " a bill b which their solean af- I firmation or declaration should be admitted in place of an oath in all cases where Quaksrshs.ve the same privilege, anid by which tney should be subjected to the same pains and penalties for false affirma- tions as are embodied in the legislative enaetments in favour of the members sf that society." Sir JOHN NEWPORT wished to know from the honourable Secretary for Ireland, whether a prodamation, purporting to come from the Government of Ireland. and consolidating several diocesan schools, was authentic or not ? If it were authendc, he could not but feel surprise at such a measure, being as it were an anticipation of the labours of the commissien which had beer. recently appointed upon his motion. Mr. GOULBURN was not aware what proclamation the right honourable bart. was alluding to. A proclamation had been issued last year, consolidating several schools * but he could not suppose that it was to that proclamation the right honourable baronet al. Iuded, inasmuch as it had been issued long before the commission was thoubt of. Sir JOHN NEWPORT expressed a hope that the honourable Secretary would make some inquiry into the subject. Mr. GOULBURN promised that he would: at present hekiew nothing of such a proclamation. The Sheriffs of the city of London appeared three several times at the bar, with petitions from the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Commons of the eity of London, in Common Council assemb,led. On the motion of Mr. Alderman WOOD, they were read. From the manner in which they were read by the clerk it was impossible to ascertain their purport; but we believe that one of them related to the repairs ot Blackfriars-brilge, and another to the erection of a new market in the stead of Fleet-market. Of the third petition we are entirely ignorant. AMr. DENISON presented apetition from the watermen of Ro- therhithe against the bill for constructing a tunnel under the Thames at Rotherhithe; and praying that if it pass into a law, some com- pensation may be made to them for the injury which it will inflict upon their interests. MR. COBBETT AND THE KENSINGTON TOLL-GATE. MIlr. HUME B said that lie had a petition to present from an indi- vidual of whom every body had heard, namely, Mr. Willianm Cob. bett, on a subiect which he thought the house would consider to be important. the petition related to certain abuses which had taken place at the toll-gate at Kensington, and which Air. Cobbett had been greatly instrumental in removing i and the object of it was to statc certain circumstances to the house which, if it deemed correct, ought to render it more cautious in their legislation on such Matters in future. The petitioner understosd that the Kensington road bill had already been read a second time, and was therefore anx ous to put the house in possession of some information regarding it previously to its beingreadathird time. By a,general turnpike act passed at an early part of the reign of his late Majesty, it was enacted that the accounts of allturnpikeroadsshould be made up by the con- nissioners in the October of eachyear_that they should be deposited in the office of the clerk of the peace, and that they should be ex- posed, upon payment of a small fee, tO the examination of any per- son who wished to inspect them. Ir. Cobbett, knowing rhat the tolls of this gate amounted to 14,0001. ayear, and having doubts as to the correcmess of their management, and finding that the trea surer of them was a justice of the peace, applied at the office of the clerk of the peace, in Octoberl4st, for theaccounits of the Kensington- road. The answer which he received was, that there were no such accounts there. He applied aga in November and Decemberlast, but his applications were in vaiu. Indeed, it wa4 not till the last three days that the account which the act of Parliament required was deposited in the clerk of the peace's office. That account was in a most un-business-like shape-it was actually unbalanced; but it still appeared that there was a balance in the hands of the trea- surer sufficient to pay off all the bonded debt of the road. The act required that this debt should bo paid off as soon as the anount of the tolls would permit it; but though such was the case, the coin- missioners now came forwaril to demand an extension of that act, after tl:ey had acted directly in the teeth of its preamble. WVhat was the fact ? At the bottom of the account, which was signed James Barker, chairman, it appeared that the whole bonded debt, in January last, was 2,500;L and the ju.stice of the peace, who filled the situation of treasurer,actually had more money inalis hands at the time, than would have liquidated it. A small part of the debt, about 8501., had been paid off; while by the account which had been produced, it appeared that the treasurer had in hand 4,5001., being double the amount of the debt. Under these circumstances, he hoped the house would not allow this bill to pass without investigating the manner in which this individual had violated the trust reposed in him. A penalty of 501. might be le- vied for not having the account zeady at the time prescribed by the act; and he believed an action was brought to recover that sum from the negligent party. But what was a penalty of 501. to an individual who was allowed to keep a balance of 4,0001. or 5,0001. in his hands? The petitioner prayed, as two years were yet to ex- pire under the present act, that the house would reject the bill which was now in progress. He would now bring up the petition; and at a future period he would move for a copy of the account, in order to see how far it agreed with the actual state of the case. Lord LOWTEIER said, the bill to which the honourable mem- ber alluded had already passed that house, and was now before the House of Lords. The subject of those turnpike tr4sts was well worthy the attention of the house. The trusts about the metropolis produced 150,0001. a-year, beside a large sum which was raised by statute duty; and he believed it would be found extremely difficuft to discover hOW that money was ex pended. The petitoion was then read, and laid on the table. Mr. flUME wished to know whether there was any precedent to direct them in a case like the present ? or whether that bouse could adopt any measure, on diseovering that they had passed a bill con- taining a positive falsehood, while that bill was pendingin the House of Lords ? The SPEAKER said, the bill was now entirely beyond the con- trol of that house. Mr. H UdtE said, some means ought to be taken to guard them.. selves against such an occurrence in future. TITHE-COMPOS[TION BILL. Mr. EIUdlE rose to present a petition from the parishioners of Blackrath, in the diocess of Ossory, and county of Kilkenny against the tithe-composition bill. The petitioD, he observed, was of considerable length, but he would venture to say that a petition of greater importance had rarely been presented to that house. The netitioners complained of a great number of serious grievances wlhicfi they suffered from the present mode of coNlecting tithes. He stated, that, for the purpose otf securing fair-play, the valuators ought not to be appointed entirely by the clergyman. One should be appointed by theperson claiming the tithe, the other by the person who wastopayit. Therewas, however theyobserved,nothinglikefairplay between the public and the church. The valuators appointed were, in general, men of indifferent character, and were not conversant with the business wbich they were caUed on to perform. The petitioners therefore hoped, that if any change were effected in the existing measure, th-ey would be a lowed the privileqe of nominating one valuator, leaving to the clergyman the right ot appointing the other. The petitioners also complained, that if they set out their tithe, it was almost sure to be aZd ; and they were then called on to make *hat damage good, although it did not arise from any improper conduct of theirs. f theydeinurred, they were immediately cited in theConsistorialCourt,and ratherthanlitigate thebusiness, they were obligedfrequen-tly toput upwithacts of great extortion. They therefore prayed that the house would repeal the act of last sessions and not subject the;a to that increased rate of tithe which,-according to the average of the last seven years, and the fall in the price d cof k duri ng that period, they were liable to at preseuf. Hie (Air. Humie) was reilly surprised at the patience of the I[rish uii ider this systemn dluritir,so many years. He was siftified that thy had suffered nore from it than the Greeks had suffered'from the Tutrks.-The petition was reaad andi ordcera to be printed. Mtr. H'UMlE presented &. petition from the butchers of the city of York, in favour of the hides and skina bill; and a similar petition from the fieshers of Aberdeen.-Referred to, the committee on the said bill. Mr. HlUME presented a petition, signed by many thousand arti- firers of Wakefield, against the combination laws.-Referred to the committee on artisans. THE TREAD-WHEEL. Sir T. LETHBRIDGE rose to present a petition from two very respectable magistrates, Sir J.C. RIppisley, who discharged the duties of a Justice of the Peace in the county whichi he (Sir T. Lethbridge) hiad the honour to represent; and Air. Brisoe, h`o was a Juatice of the Peace for the connty of Suirrey ; against tlhe punish. meat of the tread-wheel. As the petitioni was of great length, and em. braced every topic connected withi the subject, it w'ould be quite impossible for him to put the house in possession of the wvhole of its contents. He hoped, therefore, the house would permit it to be printed. It would then be plAcedin thebhands of members, who, in common with the public at large, would duily- appreciate the state- ments aid reasonia.gs which it contained. The petition was against the labour of the tread.wheel-a machine which, he believed, was in pretty general uise throughiout thlis country, as a punishment for crimes. That punishment hiad been, in somne instance-, resorted to before the trial of prisoners ; buthebelieved there was a clause in the bill now before the hoase, whiich woulfiprevent it in future. He had tak-en some pains to read several pamiphlets whiceh had been written on this subjeetby an hon. barL. (Sir J. C. HippiWey) who took great intres inthequetio. H ha inhis wiodeof handling it dis- playd hs uualabiity an he(Si T.Lethbridge) confessed that thefacs ad agumntsaddcedby kathon. hart. had, in some degee,stagerd toseopiion whchhe fonnerly entertained withresectto his odeof unihmet. He would press on the attetio oftheCommtte onPrion iscipline, who had not yet fnished their labours, the propriety of taking into their most Seri- ons consideration the various allegations on this subject. It was well worthy their notice, it was well deserving of their attention, and he had no doubt but a due investigation of this dis- puted question must have a very considerable effect with reference to thie report which that comn,ittee would make. The hion. baronet then proceeded to readacertain passages in the petition (whic:his sqbI joined), and concluded by moving" thatthe petition be hro'.iglit up." Mfr. DENISQNs1aid, the labour of the tread-wrhe'el had been re- ceived with approbation in thur or five-and-twenty different counties. If it were not unanimously approved of by- the ma 'strates, certain he was, that a great prprinoMhmwr aorbe to it ; arid, so far as it had gone, he be ffeved it was the best mode of punishment that could be ado pted. It kept the prisoner to hard labour, 4s the law authorized and: directed, without breaking his SpIrit or injuring his h~ealth, One of' ihe petitioners (Air. BIsroe camne before the mragi'strates at telast qjuarter sessions for Surrey, and certainly laid befl,re them certain charges, which, in his opi- nion, and that of the bench, he could not substantiate. He made a complaint respecting the treatment of two soldiers, who not only in- sualted, but actually attackged the gaoiers. They weire in conse. quence put in strict confinement fbr two days. At the end of that time, finidinig they gained nothing by being refractory, they returned to labouir. One of the magistrates, at the time this complaint wvas made, gave no tire that he wouldl, at the next quarter sessions, bring the whjole subject before them, and doubtless it would then be fully dicse. bere were no paols in the kin om where greater attntonwa paftl to thp prisoners, collective y an iniiusl than in those of Surey The surgeon examined the psoners twice a week; and he had the discretionary power, if the helth of a prisoner were 'declining, to exempt him from work altogether. He was likewise authorized to order such previsions as the state of a prisoner's health might require. He (Mr. Denison) was confi- dent, that whien the subject was inquired ilnto2 it would be found that no reasonable srgn4ment could be uirged against this putnishmnent, and that no gaols weii better regulated Aban those in which it was used. On one point, however, his opinion difflired from that of othier mnagistrates. He did not think that women should be employed at the wheel. The petition was then brougt up, and read, as follows: "To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assemnhled. "Tue humble Petition of Sir John Cox Hippisley, Baronet, an Acting MAgitaenad for the County of Somerset,. and of' other COunis inwih the subject of prison discipline has undergon muhiqiyand practical investigation by the resident loa at acy laso of John I. Briscoe, Esq., an Acting agsrtofhecunty of Surrey, Showeth, That a considerable degee of expectation has been excited in the public miind, and which the petitioners, in their official characters, cannot but regard with the deepest interest, in reference to the progress of a bill now in your honourable houes, having for its object an amendment of the general gaol act of the 4th of his pre- sent AMaje%tj chap. 614. wit Thatm petitioners, in commion with many other individuals wihwonthey liave have had communication, entertain a serious apprehension that the introduction, for the first time by name of a novel method and machine of punishmnent into our Statute book, may e cnstuedint animpiedrecgniionof tread-wheel labour, as lealied mplymet fr al pisoerswhio are not the legal subjcts f paticlar xempion.Andthis apprehension is still morestrogly wakeed ba prctiAldgoption of the tread-wheel in anyof he aol an prson ofthe kingdom, as appears in theoffcil cmmnictins ddessdto the Home Department of Tha th peitiner hublyenteatthe attention and consider- atin o yor hnorabe huseto heextraordinary and important circmstnce tht te pnismen ofthe tread-wheel is altogether unknwn t th comon lw o thelan, and is nieitber named nor in any way designated in the Statute Book-the only authorities throughout the realm that can justify the use of any specific punish. ment or penal infliction; and Sthat hence it never has, and, till some change take place in the law, never c-an form. a specific part. of any sentence passed by the j14dges at any assize upon a crimin4l; yet that tis severe, and as they are ready to substantiate, painful anladangerouspealty,hasbeen forseveralyearspastverygenerally inflicted on almost every class and description of offenders by local justices of the peace, whio, in numerous instance, have sat in dlebate on the prepriety and impropriety of employing this new punishiment, in somne instances have decided in favour of it and in others agqainst it, thuas assuming to themselves a power equally unprecedented and alariny an onewhih pacesmagstrtes on a supposed level with Parlsmet, i whch aoneis vste th constitutional right of de- cidng nd stalisingthelawot herealm, and elevates thesi abov til juges f te lad, hoseinfriors in office, agreeably to the iwicipesandproisonsof hecontiution, they have always been "tThiat the petitioners, as magistrates and memibers of society, regard iE further to be their hounden duty, in the presenit crisis, to lay before your honourable house some of' the practical and weighty grouinds of objection which exist against this novel punishment, in. troduced by many of his Majesty's justices of the peace, and which, in the opinion of' the petitioners seem to cell for an immediate in- terference of the Legisl13ature, In the first place, they canniot but submit to your honourable house that the tread-wheel, as a mecha- niical=egie,is an unsafe, and even oii this account an unconstitu- tional mdof punishment; from the complication of its construic- tion, the frequent irregularity of its revolutions, the extent and for. mation of its shafts, especially as applied in thie most considerable prisonis in the kingdom, and the enorm[ous weight wliceh it often has to sustain, in consequence of which it has actually broken, and thiat repeatedly in ihiort periods of tiineiu various houses of correction- in some instances (~where precau,tion is assigned to have been ex- pressly taken without accident, as stated by a visiting miagiqtrate of Shpo.aletwin the last otficinl returns to the office of -he Home Departet n others, occasioning severe sprains and bruises to those prisner who had been thereby thrown off' the wheels, and precipitated to a depth of same feet, as at Coldbath-fields which fact, though not apipearing upon the face of the returns, the peti. tioners are prepared to verify. In one instance the machinery has been the cause of a fractused limb, and in others, of immediate loss of life, to such of the wvorkers as have not been aware of its dan. gers, or not sufficiently on their guard against them. The formier instance occurred at Northallerton, in te case of an untried pri- soner whose arin was shattered so as to render amputation necessary; andI th latter cases at Leicester, where two men were killed while engaged at the wheel and at Swaffham, where another prisoner was in6tantaneoirdy crushed to de4th. And the petitioners beg also to observe, that from the evidence of enlgineers of the highest reputa. lion, there appears to be no possible mode of obtaining an adequate security against many of these casualties, fronii the insuperable frangibility of the iron, whether cast or malleable, that enters so largly ntothecontrutionof he rea-whels whnce such cala- mitis mst e reardd a inhren inthe iscplie, and cotise- quenlyalikey t reur a log asit ontnuesto e eforced. "Th peitiner sumitnex, tatthis instrmetnt of punish- mentis urter bjetionblefro it inurious effects on the health of tosewhoaresenence soit.Thearebleto prove as oath before your honourale house, foalrgmssof evidence from medical practitioner of name adrptio,from prsnat- tendants, and very extensivelyfo thswo have sufee as prioners from its itillictisonghut who are now at libeityi that it can- rarely be employed it the usu;4 'rate' of exertkin for maore than ten mninutes or a quarter of an hour w~ithout causing some or all of the attendant symptoms of a prejludicial excitement and dangerous exhaustion of the animal powers, and particularly so violent and morbid an acceleration of tie pulse as to quickeni its beat to nearly double its nataral range, raising it from thie ordinary rate of froni SixtY to seventy strokes ii, a miinute, to an average of one hirndred and twenty-three in the male,and one hundred and fortytfoui in thie female prisoners, as has been proved by different medical prac- titiQners of high respectability, and is coDnfirmed by a minu'te entered on the prit,on journial at grixton, by those represented to be magis. trates favourable to this species of labour, and who thierein refer to an experiment made on thleir own persons ; that, together with iso baneful an exciteinent. itecauset lmturas and adhes in t~ifferent parts and organs of the b~j according to the peculiarity of dilferent con- stit,utitins, or the circumstances under which the labour is inflicted ; that women whe, from the comparative weakness of their sex, suffer with additional severity, have in many instances dropped off the wheel in a swoon, have ha.d their natural indispositions profusely and painfully aggravated, sometimes forced prematurely, and at others suddenly and totallyobstructed; that when in a state of preg. nancy, which, in its earliest and most dangerous stages, is not un. frequently undetected, they are in imminent danger of abortion, of which an instance occurs in the official report from the prison in Coldbath.fields; and that as nurses, they cannot, without mna. nifest injury and suffering to their infants, as well as to them. selves, perform the office of suckling on descending from the tread. wheel, though they are generally caUedI upon to do so by the cries of their children exposed in the wheel.galleries to the cold, and con. fided, while their mothers are performing their turn upon it, to the care of strangers; on all which accounts female prisoners have in many houses of correction been humanely allowed a general exemp. tion from the tread-wheel. "The petitioners beg leave also to submit, that a familarity with this labour, instead ofrendering it lighter and less mischievous, augments its injurious consequences to the health and ssrength in almost every instance, as well in men as in women; such effects increasing with the increasing debility of the frame. That.the petitioners are aware that a different account of this penal infliction has been given in most of the official communications addressed by order to the Home Department of his Majesty's Government ; but they humbly beg leave to represent that they are unable to place the confidence they coald wish in these communications, notonly from the wide discrepancy of their own experience, bttt from the partial sad irregular nature of the reports themselves, which contain no account of the average proportion of labour_of the intervals of its cessation-of the rate of revolution of the wheels-of their di. rnensions or space between the treadles or steps, though all these circumstances materially influence the natute and effect of the task. work, and which are likewise returned from several places- as Pem- broke and Haverfordwest, with the signature of a single magis- trtte, witho.ut.any statement on the part of the sur$eon5 ornoti?eof conisultation with him ass the subject, s'it'hdligh sudh con eulation ig expressly directed in the official letter uddressed by the Secretary, of State to the visiting mnagistrates of the several gaols and houses of corection ; while only twenty-one returns rire printed, ats laid before your honourable liouse: thougb it is capable of proof, that at least In fifty-three prisons, there are tread.whleels erecte.d, or actually in operation, at the period of official iniquirv. "Thsatthe.inability of the petitioners to confide in the above re- ports is nota little augmented by the utter and irreconcilab,le coa.. flict which exists between their several statement-, some of them admitting thle labour to be of so severe a natuire that the inifliction for women has either never been allowed, or has actually been abandon- ed or reduced, both in time and degree, to so short a period, as to leave the greatest part of the day unemployed; while it is elsewhere described, even when maintained at its highest scale, as of so lharm- less and pleasant a nature, that untried prisoners have expressed a desire togo upon the work-have voluinteered to do so or would be gladl to he so emnployed if allowed. In addition to wkltic?, it is con- tend-ed, that there is nothiing in the emnployment repugnant to com- mon delicacy. All which assernions, your petitioniers big leave to observe,'are incompatible with that necessity, of a greatly increased diet of meat and beer, which thoughi accompanied with an enor- moons augmentation of expense, is now found indispensable in every establishment where the tread-wheel is in use, in consequence of the exhausting nature of the labour as before stated. The petitioners bepg further to submit that the only mnedical committee (as they txnderstand) which has hithearto been consulted by the Home Departmnent of hiis Majnesty's Government, has been limited in its inquiiry to tne effects of working female prisoners on the wheel ; and that the rep ort of such commiittee, in the opinion of the petitioners, recommnends wliat is equivalent to a virtual renunciation of the punishment, by restrictn its apjplieasn vnfo teon and robust, to two hours anid a alf of atiun, evenbour tai ey,. undl lowng nteval ofentre estto all for a whole week, once in every mionth, (exemptions uinknown to, and unnecessary for healthiy fe- males in any ot' the usual species of hard lahious performed by their sex, and which indisputably decide in the affirmative the question proposedab Mr. Secreta-ry Peel to this committee-namely, whe- ther the effects on the female constitution are greater than result from the ordinary occupations of women in the lower classes of soci etY) ; while the same cotinit,tee still farther recommends a total prohibi- tior. of the wheel to the very grreat numnber.1 who are in any respect infirm or diseased. "The petitioners humbly represent, that the indiscriminate emi- ployment of an ignominious and corporal punishment, degrading to thie mind and hurt.ful to the body of the prisoner which destroys all due classification, and implies the same kind ana measure of iniflic- tion to every degree of crime and difference of age, sex, and habit of life, appears to them equally hostile to justice, humnanity, and sound policy ; and that, to subject to the tread-wheel correnio'n, as is done at present, the feloni, the misdemeansnt, fdud the vaErant- the robust and the weak-men afRlicted with ruptures, snd women with infants at their breast, is contrary to every principle of discri- mninate subdivision and mioral imnprovement, wh ich the genera pro- visions of the statute niow before youir honourable house for the pur- o~se of simeni1ment are principally designed to promote.- That sol- ~ters who have hazarded their lives in defence of their country, and whose feelings of honour and sense of shame it seems peculiarly im- portint to cherish, form another description of prisoners frequentiy consigned to the tread-wheel, sn pursuance of the orders ot courts- mnartial; and that in the JHouse of Correction at Buixton, soime of this class of individuals have been actually fastened to the wheel by chains attached to the arm andsuspended from the faee-.board above the wheel, being from such an extraordinary exercise of severity exposed to the casualities resulting fromn a false step or a sudden paioxysm of disease, or exhaustion,by which their limbs and even their lives are puxt in immninent peril, while they are deprived of every possibility of extricliting themselves. Thtthe petitioners, after extensive and. cautious investigation, have reason to fear that the great and important hope at first in- dulged, that the discipline of the tread-wheel would materially di- minisli the aggregate of offenders, has completely failed ; and that while it is fully ascertained that it promotes no habit of industry or means of earning a livelihood wheni discharged from gaol, they be- lieve it both hardens the heart anid demoraliizes the mind, at the same time that it injures and enfeebles the body; and thus, by lesseNing the mneans and opportunities of amendment, by preparing the prisoner for crimes of greater magnitude, and rendering him in- different as to then future. has a natural tendency to fill rather than empty our prisons, anti to renider them ischools of wi crime andl desperation, rather than of reformation and moralwdiscipiplne. And in proof of this, the petitioners refer to the greater number of recoin. mitments that seem almo -t uniformly to take place where the tread- wheel is established, compared with those in houses of correction where it is not yet introduced, so as to give fearful and abundant evidence of the resistance opposed in the former to the influence of that moral and religious instruction whicli is so wisely and whole- somely attempted to he introduced into the economiy of our prison establishments. "1The petitioners beg leave to submit on the ot'her hand, that MVr. Howard,whose considerations and recommendations of the subjectof prison discipline were formerly matter of Parliamentary discussion andapprobation,hasenumerated.nolesthangg modes ofprnson em- ployment,which arecapableof being rendered subservient to the health and morals of a prison population, of engendering habits of industry, and consequently of promoting the means by which prisoners may be enabled to provide for thiemselves when liberated, and thus of car- rying into effect the important anid salutary remarks advanced by Mr. Justice Bayley in his late imapressive charge to the grand jury at the Durham Assizes, in which he says-, he bad alWays thought that the employment of prisoners ouight to be as far as possible so regulated, that they could afterwards ob- tain a livelihood by it.' Vhilst at thke same time it should be observed, that most of the methods of employment al- ludd t byMr.Howrd ay e rndeed contributory to the se- verst egre o had lbou inthep rperand legitimate acceptation of he er, ad wllbe oun sffiietly to weary the workers witoutwasin thir onsittioal trngth, lia& been amply esta- blihedin arius oues f crretio whchhave had recourse to them long prior to the use of the tredw el and particularly (as atated in the reports of the Prison Disiln Society) in those of Preston, Knutsford, and Mlaidstone, whl h comimittee of this society lias, wiith great truth andt candlour remarked, in their pubil- cation 'On the Governmnent of Gaols,' that 'preferenceshould be given to those trades whiclh require bard labour, the knowledge of which may enable the prisoners to earn their subsistence on their discharge fromn prison'-an observation whtich is followed by an enu- mieration of corresponding emnploym-ents little short of that by Mr. Hloward. "'And here the petitioners hope they may be permitted to remind your honourable house, that both the spirit and letter of the laws of our country have, from its earliest times, provided that no inflic- tioni of punishmnent ought to endanger the health of the body, or expose it to casualties, beyond the strict intent and bearing of a pri- soner's sentence, insomuch that in the statute of the 51st of Henry Ml., entitled I Judicum Pillorie,' it is expressly enacted, ths5t the penalty should be futlfilled, without bodily peril of man or woman; uvhile anothier statute of a date not long subsequent, provides that the pillory should be of convenient Strength, so that execution may be done upon the offenders without peril of their bodies. "While thje petitioners thus presume to avow their own humble opiion an coscentousfeas wthreference to the adoption of thenovl dscplie hrei ojeced o,they cannot observe without dee reretthestrnuos efors wichare making to extend its in- troucionino amot eer cosieralestate of L4urope. What- ever ineed isconectd wth he oodof civil society, oughit not to e cnfied ithn he ounaris o asingle nation ; but before experiments upon this important subjc r lavishly recommended to the world, it seemis most reasonableta incontrovertible proof should be furnishted, thiat the benefit othcmunty is thiereby likely to he piromoted, It does not, hoee,apaLht the tread- wheel, with all the fostering sup port ihadevdfrm the well-in- tentioined society that first brought it into notice, instituted in our metropolis and its vicinity under the auspices of many of the most disinguishied characters in. tthekingdom, has been hailedwith an equal approbation by various illustrious foreigners engaged in the same laudable pursuit, and availing themselves of every means of inquiry afforded by the instituitionsoatour own couintry. The petitioners, in proof hereof, may be permiitted to advert to the interesting report on the state of prisons in F'rance,hby Mi. Le Mauquis die Barh6 Mlarhois, as the organ of a similar society constituted by an ordinance of the King of France, of the 9th of April 1819, andI composied of 24 mom. hers, under the presidency of the ASinister of the Interior, the ma- jority of which are peers of France, while thte rest are appropriately distinguished by their official station in the Government. Speaking in this rep.~rt of the application ofthectread-wheel,after anminute examination of this machine, by adepultation from the society in Frane, drecl cargd to observe it effects irnlEndln, and to obai alpatclifrmation from our own Prison Diiiscipline So- ciety, the noble marquis thus expresses himself.... The intro- ductio of anew kind of torture in I rance appears to me an evil of greater naiagnitude than even indiscipline itself,which demands other remedies. The tread-wheel isa real torment. This is evident froM the diescription given of it; from the ackntowledged falls and fractures caused by this maLchine; and, latstly, froim the dread with which it inspires the prisoners. If physicians have been found capable of asserting that this horrible exercise strengthens end preserves liealth, they have indulged in a cruel mockery.' The distinguished writer of these remarks,who is a Minister of State andI FirstPresident of the I'Cour des Comptes,' also dwells with particular rinphasis on thie mischief of suchi punishments as stamp lasting disgrace, and he shows that a very larg prp ion of crimaes is, commiitted by convicts returned from the gallies. ',IThe degraded man,' observes the noble marquis, I'think.s he has the right to becmom the enemy of eociety, becuse it disowns him.' ~'- The appearanice of such a report at such a crisis as the pres6nt, may he considered as offering in itself an ex-y cuse for introducing it beoeyour honourable house; and to none is the value of this royal establishmnent in France cttret known or more, energetically acknow- ledged than by our ow~n corresponding institution, expressly orga- nized as it is for the promotion of' similar objects, and whicih in sucessive reports of its own has placed at the head of its foreign cor- iespondence the proceediings of this very society, with a detailed ac- count of its institution, and vaiious referenees to thie reports it has peetdto theDiske de Rochefbucauld,togethier with en anteccdetit report ofthe SlArquis de Barbd Lulrbois. "From the circumstancesalready adverted tobytlie petitioners,and none arementioned butwhaLt thyosdrhyae h otsifc tory meansofproving at the bar,orin the commicteesofyourhon.house, together with other weighty reasons which press upon their minds, they are themselves convinced of the inefficiency of any discipline founded on a principle of unmixed terror and degradation. They aso feel great anxiety in respect to the interpretation of the clause respecting untried prisoners introduced in the bil now before. your honourable house, as indirectly sanctioning a mode of punishment, against which, as magistrates and as En ishmlen tbey hubRbly pro.! test, from its inherent evils, mechanicl, medica, and moral x and the more so, as the same instrument of terror has for some time past been introduced into a considerable workhouse in the country, con- taining an incorporated aggregation of eighteen parishes, and unless restrained by the interposition of Parliament may be adopted in all sach establishments, under the denomination of hard labour. " And your petitioner, Sir John Cox Hlippisley, kegs leave to ob- serve for himself, that he has individualy undertaken, from the ob- vious exigency of the occasion, and stands also iiidividually engaged to the county in which is his principal residence, for the conpletion, by prison labour exclusively, of one of the most considerable houses of correction in the kingdom, situated in the vicinity of considera- ble manutacturing towvns andvillages which are but too often in a state of great insubordinadoii-and of a considerable colliery district, which has more than once called for exertions beyond the ordinary means of the civil magistrate: and consequently that, should the principle at present so mouch encouraged and Dromoted by the majo- rity of the magistracy charged with a visitation of prisoas, find any countenance by a concurrent enactment of thue legislature, every fbrot to persevere in thle completion ot the provincial house of cor. rection . at Shiepton allaet, by p?rison labour, nnust unfortdfiately be abanrlonedtconcerninp whie prisdl, hopever, so far as it has ad- i vanced, tlie S6clety tof I ior)iscitiiiehbas been plesued to airm, ' That it has afflbrded-mahy instances of thle reformation of indivi. d~uals-that great benefits hate arisen f.roi the instruction t here. Nu?le,particularly in respect of j4uyerAf 1 plisMieg~ti '1Cti has long been adopted there -t msiergt avnae an t hat manylpemowns have been taught toe wor wifsi cadvantae an tailors, ant shoemakers, who are now mananig-h the.trades they have so learnied.' To thiis tegtimon,anwic no other thanm the fact, th e petitioner, who has long ieenocuiedi the auperintendesce of the said prison, and ss,yet respofliblort executionl of the works undertaken for its extepsion indoplo In the terms of his contract, can add, frOnt 106g erpel d Ineta ddpiobmmntsof aiia esrswudbe found to iaav in thetphubim disursmens o cunties, en amount of expmens,whithi, arc larly cited could. hardly be credited; exclusive of all thea hereb4 derivable to the health and habits of Prisonir.vna Storender such efforts still more advantageous an rsi that in the wisdom of Parliamnent, -such resources wiln not be.aban doned1 the Petitioner ventures also to SuigeSt the great advantage derivable from a re-enactmeat of the act,cap. 56, Of the 24th vea of his late Majesty, the practicat operatioR of which ha, expf'red and by which one justice of asaize, or two or mnore justices of -th county, might remove any prisoners under sentences u od made by' one or mnore justice or justices of te peace a therdses sions, hr otberwise, upon oDnviction irn a sumnmary way, wtitthoetkt inter'Vention of a jury. If such a power were revived,a eten to convictions when capital punishments did not attach, tI ub conceeived that great public benefit might result, by the'vstigm gistrate8 of prisons being empowered to concert witheahterf the arrangement of removals for any- of the purpoase'fs h at passed in thie Inst sesion, for the consolidating end se~n ~the several laws relating to gaols and houses of correction. 46The petitioner also having presumed early 10 solcthetn [lon of some memibers of the committee of your hoorbl os to the restrictive clause, sespecting the tread.raiIlla toiia stood, ventures further to submit that some pratclitivnec may arise, should the enactment take plaCe even as it now stands on the amendments ordered to he printed on the 15th of April. as, from a cursory reference to the bill, the title will still be found n~ot to cor- respond with the enactment, nor to- have any application whatever to the state of thelargesthouse of correction n this king4oln namnely, that of Cold-bath-felds, where there a?te no ra-il,a ela to many, other considerr.ble prisons. 0 ill,5*ela ISUnider these circumstances, the petitioners bt ~Jesve to close this intrusion upon the patience of your hourable houise, with humbly praying, that for the reasons already stated.nmiy h utter inutihity of the work as exercised in some places, h an h peril, and inequality of the punishment, its, imprpity n decency, and cruelty, in varions circumstances and iutos cits ineficency in all, to answer the intent and purposes of correction~ ad reformation, while it debilitates theboyad demoralizes the mind, without inculcating any habi ?ue ful industry, together with its impolicy and illglty sa present administered-.t..hat from the comparatively, shor eido ise probation as a mode of discipline, the irregular, partil n i. cordant commanieations officially made upon its natureanefht. the parthiular exceptions and limitations carefully recommnended by thle medical committee, appointed to examine iriot its action on one class of the inmates of a single house of correction-a.nd the increase of commnittals andare-comraittals in moat estabhishments where it is in use, the Tread-whcel may not be sanctioned, adopted, or in anv way designated or included in our statute-book as an instrumeiji of puihment, or means of hard labour or employment of prisoners, withu further investigation by your honourable house, and that' Mlagistrates be restricted frorm enforcing its use till such investiga. tion shall be made, and such sanction and adoption on the part of the legislature obtained. "And the petitioners further pray that the bill as at present be- fore your honourable house may not p ass inito a law ; end that such other relief may be granted in the said mnatter as to your wisdom sallU seem expedient. (Signed) 4 J. C. HIPPISLEY. ILJ. I. BaISCOEF. ILThe petitioner, Sir J. C. Hippisley, begs leave furth t ob- sterve, that while the preceding observations were drawing 1, i in cident occurred which seems to render the present appliction ,~ou honeurable housesa duty of themost impeaiencest;i the more especially as it is now occupied witha revision ofte existing Gaol Act. Under the 17th section of this Act, it is provided, I'thai any Justice of the Peace of any county or other division, whether visiter or not, shall, at bis owil free wiji! and pleasure, and as ofter as he shiall see fit, enter into and examiine an rsn of such county orother division; and the Act requires. of hm,fesaldicvrany abuse or abuses therein, that hesalrpottesmehil writing, at the next General orQare Ssio; and that the abuse or abuses so reported,shlbetknit irame. diate consideration, and the mlost efculmas doted fos inquiring into and certifying the saire.' In whc enact. mneat it is obvious, from the report being required to be setL forth, iamuriting wthout any deman or personal attendance, that. Par. limn sgaed to provide for a speedy and effectual redress of any known abuses,even in cases ini which the magistrate acquainted with them should not be able to be present personally at such sessions from indisposition, or attendance in Parliament, or any other cause. IL Inder the authority ef this provison, the petitioner, Sir J. C. Hippisley, bring at the time suffering un'der muchi indisposition, re- ported, in writing to the mnagistrates assembled in the late peneral quarter Sessions oR' the peace for the county of Surrey, of. which county he is an acting magistrate, the existence of ertain abuses ba. houses of correction under their jurisdiction, which in his jdg ment demanded such a report to he made. His report was deliver- ed in due time to the clerk of the peace; and from him he has re- ceived a letter, dated the Ist of the present month, informing bim as follows: IL I laid your statement, or report on the subject of the tread- wheel, before the Court on the first day of the session, anid was pro- ceeding to read it, but the Court declined hearing it, ont the ground that it was contrary to the practice of the Court to receive written statements from magistrates who did nortattend themselves. Ibhare therefore returned your paper. (Signed) I'C. J. LAWSON.' "LSo that while by the penalty of the tread-wheel the maagistrates aTe introducing into our prisons,; and even many poor-houses, a pu- nishmient unsanictioned by either commion or statute law, by the practice of the above court of sessions they, are directly contravening a distinct parliamnentary enactment. It will hence, perhaps, be felt neceassarey by your honourabls house, that some measure should be adopted to ensure compliance with the enactment of so important a part of the statute, especially at a mnoment when the consideration of the house is drawni to a revisal of some parts of the act in qAuestioo, (Signed) "b 4J. C.HIPPISLEY.1'~ Mr. HOEHOUSE said, the great obect Of the hous1e should be to prevent an abuse of the discretionary power which the existing act placed in tie hands of an stratea. Now they muist be alaware thatthiat power was very muchiabused in one or two in.stance. Ha would not enter into the merits of the case alluded to. by hi hionourable friceud, but hie could nor help thinking, that mna- gistrates, when intruste-d with so arbitrary a po"wer, ought to keep a very strict uard over their conduct, It was al.. ways an object in punis Clncut to avoid degrading the culprit in his own eyes and those of others as far as possible; but eera. `ai`ly no mnan could ever look upon himiself as a man was entitled to do, fter being made to run roand like a dog in a wheel, lor the amusement of those who miglht chose to stand and gaze at him. The tread-.wheel might be a very fit and a very proper punishment to be inflicted for some offence, which now subjected those who comimitted them to transportation or tisdeath; but, as applied at pre- sent, it seemed to himi, and he was bound as suich to treat it, to be in the last degree mischievous, cruel, and absurd. The petition was then ordered to be printed. HIDES AND hSKINS. Sir Ii FERGUSON presented a petitida in favour of this biill fromn the butchers of Duindee. Also a petition from the leather- sellers of Dundee in favour of the bill. OIL GAS. Mfr. HOBEIOUSE presented a petition from certain householders is the Strand, against the Oil-gas Comipany's bill. IRISH MILITIA. Colonel DAVIES rose, pursuant to notice, to move for leave to bring in a hill to alter the present state of the militia establishment in Ireland. Thie expense of thte Irish mnilitia staff (taken with reference to its extent) was rather more than a third greater in Ireland than in Great Britain ; and unless a very sufficient cautse for that excesst of cliarge could be assigned, he trusted that the house woud support himn in moving for a reduction. The honourable member then proceeded to state the items in which he thoughit that saving might be effected. Hip did not under~stanid why the appointment of qutarter-master should be continued in Ireland....certny not be- yond thie lives of persons already holding such commission. As it steemed to him, whenever quartermasterships fell in, quartermnaster- sergeantie8e only should he kept up in their stead; nor was it clear to him just now when it wa-s desirable to get rid of every expense which couild Lie avoided, that without even the quarternaster-ser- geants, the necessarv duties might not be performied by the paY- masters. Hze also objected to the very large sums charged, under the present system, for " lodging-mioney," and "1fuel," for the staff when there were abundance of barracks in the country stauiing unoccupied. By reforming the practice upon th-es two points.the last of which amounted, in faet, to an abuse ; for the ch~vge of "Llodging," while barracks were to be had, was miade merely to suit the convenience of colonels of regiments, who wished to keep their staffs immuediately about thnem- by makig these two ilterationa, and cutting the staff generally as low as possible, 20,001.a yar oul prbaby b saed.He should sit down, there- Fore bymovng or laveto rin ina bill, enabling his Alajesty lo rduc th esablshmnt f rgimntsand battalions of Irish mi- Lita; is easre ppling ofcouse,to battalions and regiments Sir GEORGE HILL wished that the galant member's motion sad been brought ferward earlier in the ses.sion. vWith respect to the Future appointment of quartermasters, the arrangement which the lioostabe ad gllnt member proposed (that of substituting sea.. icaecis) as lredyresolved upon; but he (Sir G. Hill) protesteS againt anyfurthr redctionin the numabers of the staff. The b6- sonrblebaroet henproceeded to eulogize the conduct of the lrish~ militia stafl'dnring the late was, in raising and disciplining' troops, For the line. The reduction, as itseemedtohmha~d been, lef strvig ithut rovsin, hanmaknga mtio whchtended speec nad not been touched upon by the konourablebaronet. The ,harge forlodging,when hatraoks were standingempty,had n0tbeen justified or answvered. Hewasfarfromsgreeingthatthereducts,i had ilready been carried too far Iand, on the contrary, he thought that the lonels who had resisted that reduction ought to have been brought :o a courtmartial for their conduct, and dismissed the service. He as distinctly of opinion, that the letters written upon that occasion would havejustified such a course; and hecould scarceywonder at =merecent instances ofdisobediencebyofflcersseeeingthut *hatcourse sad not been adopted. For the distress to whicht men might be re- luced who were discharged from the militia, he regretted it; al- ;bouh it should be remembered, that the non.commissioned officers tfter 20 zear service, had a provision , but the plea of individual listress (howveverrstrong) he could not allow to operate, because the ;aime objection might have been applied to reduction 'f the army dltogether. .Mr. GOUILBURN justified the seductions which had been mnade n the Irish mihitia, and expressed his surprise at the readiness of the ion, merber for Aberdeen to placethat constitutional force at the di- 7ection of the Commander.in.Chief, rather than thecivil power. He .ulogized the promptitude with which the militia staff liad always "teped forth te thoe support of Government in timesof trouble and Iinicu}ty. mr. HUME explained. Mr. C. H. HUTCHINSON bore testimony to the god conduct )f the militia officers, and promnised to support the motion. Colonel DAVIES briefly replied.-The hdusc divided- For the metion 10 1 Against it, 261 Mlajority 16 SCOTCH JURIES BILL. The bil was re-committed, antl the report ordered to be talel ate further consideration on Mlonday next.;, - SLAVX. LAWSI GONSOLIDArTION BILL. This bill. wat recommitted, the report to be .taen into furthtr zonsideration on Tuesday next. DIh. LUSECI~f46oN gave iiotice, that on the tbira reading he 'Wold move. fdr tht consolidation of the bill which bad already Palssdfor Inaldng the traffic in slaves piracy, with this bill. The other orderzof the day were disposed of, and the house ad- journed. LIST OF TE1E MtINORITY Of 10, who voted for leave to bring in a Bill to reduce the Staff of tobhe rh MliEtia to the samne establishmnent as the E1nglish m ilitia. Hohtje j CXn. Hergon Sinr R.ir iL}tuonhengt, Dr. Pelham. J. C. Hutco~1~ fln.regusou. ir RMonk. S U. Syke*. D. *.i. * Kennedy, F. M(aheriy, W. L. .T eIIers.-.Colonel Davies and Joseph Hume. [rTnTT1 XT? i.nAfNA M)NS WEDNESDAY. MAY 5.