Middlesbrough & Stockton Gazette and General Advertiser. — 1875-07-01 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

NORTH 'RIDING QUARTER  SESSIONS.  (IS(.M OUR OWN REPORTER.) - WI" LS OF PRISONERS.  •On We, .e.day, the Midsummer Quarter Sessions for the North Ridirg of the County of York, ope-ed at the Court House, Narthallerton, for the L. . pt:soners, J. R. W. Hildyard, Esq.. chairman, tak g his seat on the Bench at nice o'clock. The Chairman delivered his charge to the Grand Jury. He enid he calendar was beyond the average in point of numbers, and greatly beyond the average as res.. Os the charaeLer of the offences therein °unmet- ted. It contained the names of 37 pi goners, involved in 34 cases. The calendar was also a vety se.ious one. There were no fewer than eight tom of unlaw;ully wounding and inflicting grievous boti'lf knrm, a vol., unusual number to ap- -vr at these sessions, and the cr Res 'pre r "so of an unusual There Was a o of as atrocious kind, of a person entnelly knowing his own child. This and many of the o'her offe ices were committed by persons more or less under the influence of drink. There was a ease to; a-iemp.ed suicide, and there were two cases of housebreak'ng. The remairing cases partook chiefly of the nature of robberies in houses or from the y iron, and of obtaining goods or money under false Ptetences. The cases were of a more than . usually grave nature, one or two involving a considerable amount of property. Turning to the statistias of mime 'n :be North Riding duilul the past grader, the nurnbee committed to the Northallerton Gaol was 277, an exce7-1 of 63 over the corresponeliug period of last year. The cause of the offences appeared to be drunkenness. No fewer than 80 persons had been commied tither during the past quarter for . drunkenness, as compared with 52 in the corresponding quiet ter co: the previous ye r•-. Having instituted inqu-ries as to the circumstances under which these cases of di nukenness had been commit ed to Northallerton, he was informed that with the exception of one, the whole of them arose with persons who had been allowed to get drunk on licensed premises, and when drunk had beou tanned out into the public streets to avo'd the penalty attaching to the public •-• ^ t was an offence which was liable to be visited by a severe penalty, and WRS one of the most grievous offences against the tenor of the publicans' liecnSCP, which were granted upon certnin conditions one being that the landlord shall not permit drunkenness on his premises. There bad been 79 cases of violation of the tiler of the terms upon which the licenses were granted, and the publicans were in each Me liable to a !eeslty, and upon the repetition of the offence to have their licenses tAten away. Hencefoe lb the justices would be particular in investigating cases lifis;ng in connection with public. houses, and publicans would be dealt with strictly with rzgard to the tenor of their licenses. The numder of cases of felony had somewhat inerea, ed, those committed during the past quarter being 56, as compared with 50 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. The number of assault cases Was on the increase, which was a natural consequence of inc-easing drunkenneas. 43 persons had been commi-cd for vr- ions kinds of tumults, as compared with 37 in the corresponding quaCier of last year. The number of vagrancy CRS3B bad likewise increased, there beinl 45 cases as against 30, an increase of 15. -.he lack of education appeared to be the chief cause of crime in the country. Among the 277 persons committed, there was not a single one who had received a good education ; 67 were just able to read, and 109 able to read and write veij imperfectly. This would account for their being found under circumstances which led to their being sent for trial.