LAW, LIBERTY AND JUSTICE 249

Justice, however, must be considered, not only in the legal
sense, but in relation to the whole political and social framework;
and for a proper appreciation of a legal system three questions
must be examined. First, do the differences in the incomes of
individuals hamper the efforts of the courts towards impartiality?
Second, is it properly understood that criminals have rights—
that justice to them means not only punishment, but an attempt
to help them become good citizens? Third, does the law, and
the courts' interpretation of it, uphold that freedom of opinion,
without which neither justice nor progress can continue?

JUSTICE FOR RICH AND POOR.

A very large proportion of offences are punishable by a fine
with the alternative of imprisonment. Magistrates endeavour to
proportion fines to the offenders' means, though they cannot
have sufficiently detailed knowledge to do this "exactly, and it
must be remembered that many people have little money to
spare after the necessities of life have been bought. The use of
discretion by the magistrates has also the undesirable result that
the same offence committed by offenders in similar circumstances
will receive widely different treatment from court to court. The
extent of the problem can be seen from the fact that about.
one-sixth of those who go to prison are persons who have refused
or failed to pay fines. The result is that everyone assumes, without
any desire to be unfair, that imprisonment is more natural, for
the poor than for the rich; the growth of motoring offences and
the treatment of them has made this clear. It is not easy to
suggest a remedy; the wider use of imprisonment "without the
option*' would please no one, and, at least until the prison
system has been carefully examined and reformed, would do no
good. Meanwhile, some progress is being made by granting time
in which to pay fines, and the volume of this unnecessary
imprisonment is declining.

Persons not yet convicted of any offence may find themselves
imprisoned. When a case is brought before the magistrates all