The Sun. — 1857-07-06 (London, England)

CRIMINAL COURT.—(This Day.)  The July sessions of the Central Criminal Court commenced this morning in the Old Court, Old Bailey, before the Lord Mayor, the Recorder, Aldermen Sir Geo. Carroll, Sir R. W. Carden, M.P., Wire, and Hale, and Under-Sheriffs Anderton and Crossley. The learned Recorder, in briefly charging the grand jury, congratulated them on the small number of prisoners for trial, and there being but one case of a serious nature, namely that of Michael Crawley for the murder of his wife at Stratford. The other cases did not require any comment from him, but it was as well that he should allude to the bill that had recently passed the legislature for the abolition of transportation, and the substitution of penal servitude. It must be admitted that some considerable advantages were derived from transportation by the isolation of the party, and his separation from all his former associates in crime, and also that when the term of punishment had expired there was the opportunity of his being absorbed in the population of the colony where labour was in demand, and where he consequently had an opportunity of obtaining an honest living by honest labour. Circumstances, which he should not then stop to consider, had rendered it impossible to send oar criminal population to colonies that had formerly received them, and it bad been a matter of consideration with the Government what punishment to substitute for transportation, and the result had been the substitution of penal servitude. If transportation was considered by the criminal population as a terror, it was right that the substituted punishment should partake of the same character to prevent the increase of crime. The sentence of penal servitude hereafter to be passed on criminals would be found to be of a very severe character. The prisoner for many months after his conviction would be kept in separate confinement, and then removed to one of our penal establishments, where he would be placed to severe labour, and pass from the condition of a free man to that of a slave. The period of servitude would be rigorously enforced, and in no case would any of the punishment be remitted, except where there had been permanent good conduct during the incarceration, and then the remission would only be from one-sixth to one-third of the period. The effect of this change would be to confine the whole of our criminal population within the limits of our island, and then it would be for the consideration of well intentioned individuals how that population could be kept within as small a limit as possible. Various means might be adopted for that purpose ; first, by such measures as would prevent the people from contracting criminal babas, and next, which was a very difficult matter, reforming those that had given Ray. All were personally interested in solving that difficulty, and it was their duty to do what they could to check the progress of crime by bringing that amount of intelligence to bear on the question which they did on all others connected with the welfare and prosperity of the country. He could not doubt that means would be discovered to attain the end so important to the interests of all and the repression of crime.