The Warrington & Mid-Cheshire Examiner. — 1893-11-25 (Warrington, Cheshire, England)

THOMAS SUTTON.  THE EXAMINER. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25. 1893.  s„t„„, THERE have, this week, been two at or three cases at Liverpool Liverpool As'es'Assizes which are fairly open to a little public comment. Two of the cases sprang from the neighbouring colliery village of Haydock. In one instance a man was charged with having stabbed his wife with a knife with intent to murder. He pleaded guilty of unlawful wounding and Mr. Justice Day, who said he always treated the "real working man "with indulgence, simply bound the prisoner over to come up for judgment when called upon. This was a merciful sentence, and no doubt the judge took into account the man's previous good character, and the pleadings of the mnch-injured but forgiving wife. In the other case from Haydock, seven young, but real workingmen" were concerned. These young miners were charged with having "riotously assembled with other people in order to disturb the public peace." The "riot "it may at once be said, was not on the largest or most destructive scale. Its importance was mainly derived from the fact that it was one of the results of the coal lock-out. In other circumstances, it would, as likely as not, have been described as a " breach of the peace." The prosecution certainly did not display any vindictiveness, and the prosecuting barrister admitted that the men had not been previously convicted. But Mr. JUSTICE DAY seemed to think that this was a much more serious offence than the other, or, perhaps, he thinks that a locked-out workman is not a "real workingman." Whatever might be the reason, he, at all events, committed these seven men. to. gaol for three months hard labour—a penalty which did not err on the side of leniency. These two cases form a suggestive contrast. We believe that notwithstanding till- decision of the judge, nineteen out of every twenty persons will consider that the stabbing of a wife with a knife is at least as serious an offence as unlawful assembling at a time of great public excitement. The other matter to which reference may be made is the wholesale resort to flogging in cases of robbery with violence. According to the "Liverpool Daily Post" there have been twelve of these cases at the Assizes, and in eleven the lash has been ordered. This seems a falling back to the old idea of brutal punishment with a vengeance. What is the object to be served? The "Daily Post" denies that there has been any revival of outrages in Liverpool; the police reports for the last three years, in fact, show a diminution (ifstaLuhig atid  wounding crimes. Therefore, these sentonots, cannot be intended as an exceptional deterrent to meet an exceptional emergency. If they are meant to reform the individuals flogged, the expectation is not supported by criminal history. A man can not go through such an ordeal without being still further degraded and embittered against all laws,. human and divine. We noticed a few days ago a protest in a London newspaper against the "flogging sentences" of another judge in another part of England. It is to be hoped that the judges, or some of them, are not adopting thisebrutalising remedy of set purpose. The laws for many years past have been gradually humanised, and it would be a pity if these judges revived any further than is absolutely necessary, old and discredited punishments.  Some Remarkable AT a time when Mr. R. PIERPOINT, the member for Warrington, and other Tories are doing their best to impede and mutilate the Employers' Liability Bill, it is desirable that people should keep in mind the great need that there is for such a Bill. "Labour's Death Roll" was the title of a lecture given in London this week by Mr. John