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^ 


TEANSACTIONS 


OF  TUP. 


NATIONAL    ASSOCIATION 


FOR    TriF. 


PROMOTION    OF   SOCIAL   SCIENCE. 


TRANSACTIONS 


OP  THE 


NATIONAL    ASSOCIATION      ^, 


FOU  Tits 


;.  ./riV' 


PKOMOTION  OF  SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


LEEDS    MEETING,    1871. 


EDITKI)   IlY 


EDWIN   PEAKS,   LL.B., 

GCXERAL  SKCRETARV  OF  THE  AISOCrATIOX. 


LONDOK: 

Longmans,  green,  ]{eai)ei{,  &  dyeh. 

1872. 


\ 


^MBRARY  ^ 


;9.^(p3irjt 


LONDON : 

PRl.NTKD   BY    IIKAI),   IIOLK  St   CO.,   FABBINODON   8TKRET,   AXD 

PATBONOSTRR  ROW,  B.C. 


CONTENTS. 


vxaz 

Introduction .    xxiz 

Opening  AddreM.    The  Right  Hon.  Sir  John  8.  Paki.ngto.v,  Dart.,  M.P., 

Add!  ----...-.- 

COU] 

Address  on  Education.    Edw^bd  Brines,  H-f?  « »*.' 
Address  on  Publio  Healtli.    Georqe  OoDWix,^tIL&»  . 


ress  on  Juriiprudence  and  Xia^nf\iKi«MAf^io^Mr.    W.  Feuxox  Hak 
COURT,  Q.C.,  M.P.  .        «' "1.-.   .  t*"***^.^  ;  '.•       . 


Address  on  Economy  and  Trade.  ^  Wiluam  N^wmabch,  F.K.S.   . 
Address  from  the  Council.    George  Woodvatt  Hastings    . 


22 

70 

96 

109 

134 


SELECT  PAPERS,  NOTICES  OF   PAPERS, 

DISCUSSIONS,  ETC. 

I.— JURISPRUDENCE   AND  AMENDMENT   OF   THE 

LAW. 

MuNicit>AL  Law  Section. 

Legal  Education. 

What  steps  ought  to  be  taken  to  establish  a  better  systoin  of  Lc^pxl  Education  ? 

W.  A.  JivoNs.    TnoMAs  Marshall 151 

Discussion 1^^ 

The  Laws  relating  to  Land, 

What  alterations  are  expedient  in  the  law  relating  to  the  Devolution  and 
Transfer  of  Land  ?    Arthur  HoonouiiE,  Q.C.    Mr.  Si:rje4XT  Cox.  W. 

•    Stkes  Ward.    Jacob  Waley 173 

Discussion 106 

Constitution  of  Local  Courts. 

What  is  the  best  Constitution  of  Local  Courts,  and  what  should  be  tlieir 

Jurisdiction?    W.  T.  S.  Daniel,  Q.C.    0.  W.  Rvall8,  LL.1).      .        •     20S 
Discussion *'231 


vi  ConteiiU. 

JiUerHutUfHol  ArOiiratiM. 

On  the  \Va»hington  Treatj,  and  iU  influence  oo  International  Arbitntion. 

Prf)f««or  Leosk  Leti,  P.8.A. 237 

Keport  of  the  Special  Committee  appointed  to  inquire  "Whether  eomo 

Genfral  Scheme  of  International  Arbitration  or  Conciliation  cannot  ho 

ueef  ull  J  n  com  mended  for  adoption?" 289 

Scheme  for  an  International  PeAoe  Organization,  to  be  promoted  bja  FestiT&l 

of  Nation!  »fter  the  model  of  the  Olympic  Gmnef.   0.  Christtav  Mast    2H 


On  the  Amendment  of  the  I«w  of  Procedure.    H.  P.  Jexckix  .        .       .    245 

Grand  Juries  and  the  Pleas  of  Criminals.  Joiiv  Liscellzs  .  .  250 
On  the  requirements  of  Unanimity  in  Juries.  Bobkkt  BvtJOin  .  253 
The  liacao  Slare  Trade.    F.  W.  Cnissoir 2^3 

BBPRKsaiai  or  Ceihb  Sictiom. 

Address  on  Repression  of  Crime.    Lord  Teionmoutu  ....    258 

The  CMviar  tiystan. 

How  far  ought  the  Cellular  System  of  Imprisonment  to  be  adopted^  and 
how  far  does  it  necessarily  interfere  with  Productive  Labour?  William 
Tallack.    Hcv.  Jonx  Field 264 

Discussion 277 

Secondary  Jhmiihmtnt, 

By  what  principles  ought  the  amount  of  Punishment,  other  than  Capital,  to 

be  regulated  ?    Mr.  Serjeant  Pulling.    T.  B.  Ll.  Baker      .        .        .    284 
Discussion 287 

TVading  in  StoUn  Property* 

By  what  Measures  may  the  Trading  in  Stolen  PropeHy,  whether  by  par- 
chasing  it,  or  receiving  it  in  pledge,  be  most  effectually  prevented  ?  ' 
Edwin  Hill.    Georok  Attekborough 205 

Discussion 309 

Prevention  <^  (Mme» 

Some  practical  suggestions  at  to  the  best  means  of  preventing  Crime  in 

England  and  Wales.    Bev.  T.  B.  W^ltoit  Pearson      ....    315 

On  a  more  efficient  system  of  punishments  with  a  view  to  the  Bepression  of 

Crime.    J.  H.  !Balfovr  Browne    .        .        ,  '     .        . '       ,        .        .    $1G 


I'.  .        ■       ,  I 


CantenU,  vii 

PAGK 

Some  Bemuiu  on  the  International  Congress  for  1872.    Bight  Hon.  Sir 

Waltsr  Oaonoif ,  0.B 317 

Aneodment  of  the  Law  relating  to  the  Proteotion  of  Animals,    Jon5  Colam    322 

MisoellaneouB, 

Baitriotions  upon  Imprisonment  under  summary  Jurisdiction  for  minor  and 

first  offences.    Ser.  W.  C.  Osborxb 332 

gsoukr  Instruction  in  Prisons  and  Unions.    Ber.  W.  0.  Osborve        .        .    333 
Certified  Industrial  Schools  and  their  Belation  to  the  School  Boards.    Miss 

HaBT  CARrE5TCB 334 


II.— EDUCATION. 

Education  of  Neglected  Children, 

How  may  the  Education  of  Neglected  Children  be  best  provided  for  ?  The 
question  considered  in  regard  to  Industrial  Schools  and  Iheir  relation 
to  the  School  Boards.    Miss  Mart  Carfxkter 335 

Dmraion *        .        .    337 

Hov  ID&7  the  Education  of  Neglected  Children  be  best  provided  for  ?  Deal- 
ing with  the  second  point  in  the  special  question — In  what  form,  if  any, 
rnaj  Compulsion  be  best  applied  ?  Bct.  Bkooke  Laubkrt.  Ect.  A. 
W.  WoRTHixGToy 342 

Discussion 353 

Large  Schools  v.  Small  ScJiods, 

\^Iiat  are  the  Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Largo  as  compared  with 

SnuJl  Schools?    Eev.  J.  11.  Kigo,  D.D :Jo4 

Discussion 363 

Educaiion  of  Girls, 

>Vliat  are  the  Special  Bequirements  for  the  Improvement  of  the  Education 

of  Girls?    Mrs.  Grey.    Miss  Mart  Qurxey 366 

Difeussion 300 

The  Work  of  Universities, 

On  the  work  of  t^e  Universities  in  Higher  Education.    James  Stuart  .        .    r>72 
Subjects  of  Examination  for  College  Scholarships  and  Fellowships  at  Oxford 
and  Cambridge.    Jamks  Heywooo,  F.B.S 376 


Education  in  India. 

Education  of  the  Masses  in  India uTO 

Female  Education  in  India   .        .        .        .        .     • 38  < 


viii  Contents.  . 

PAGE 

Science  Teaching. 

On  the  Teaching  of  Social  Science  in  Elementary  Schools.    Wiutkly  Ck>0Ki 

Taylor 384 

On  the  teaching  of  Elementary  Science  as  a  part  of  the  earliest  instruction  of 

Children.    Josepu  PAY^s 3^ 


III.— HEALTH. 

lioiwval  and  Utilization  of  Sewage, 

What  are  the  bent  and  most  Economical  Methods  of  Removing  and 
Utilizing  the  Sowago.of  largo  Towns?  Ciiristopheii  Bawsox.  Robert 
Elliott,  M.D.    W.  T.  McGowex.    Robert  Symington         .        .        .    408 

Di-cussion 412 

Sanitarf/ Improvetnent  of  Dwellinffa, 

On   certain   important   points  in  the  Sanitary  Construction    of   Villaget. 

n.  W.  D.  Acland,  M.D.,  F.R.S 418 

What  are  the  best  means  of  securing  the  Sanitary  Improrement  of  Human 

Habitations  ?    P.  H.  Holland 4:!:) 

Discussion 42G 


Health  of  Operatives, 

Wlint  are  the  best  means  of  promoting  the  Health  of  Operatires  in  Factories 

and  Workshops  ?    J.  H.  Stallahd,  M.B 4:)2 

Discussion 4^ 

On  the  Factory  Acts.    G.  H.  L.  Rickauus 438 

Discussion 443 


On  the  modes  of  dealing  with  Outbreaks  of  Pestilent  Ferers  sanctioned  by 

the  Health  Authorities  of  Merthyr  Tydfil.    T.  J.  Dyke         .        .        .444 

Excrcmental  Pollution  a  cause  of  Disease,  with  Hints  as  to  Remedial  Mea- 
sures.   Ain)REW  Febguh,  M.D 450 

The  Sanitary  Laws, 

Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the  British  Medical  and  Social  Science 
Associations  on  State  Medicine,  on  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Sanitary 
Commission 459 

On  Sanitary  Law  Reform.    Joiix  Lascslles        .        .        .        .        .        .    462 


On  t  he  Progressire  Physical  Degeneracy  of  Race  in  the  Town  PopukitaaDt  of 

Great  Britain.    IIk.nky  W.  Rumsey,  M.D 466 


Contents,  ix 

PAGE 

On  tke  Diseaaes  Prevalent  amoniC  Potton.  J.  T.  Arlidob,  F.R.C.P.  .  .  472 
A  Cheap  Mode  of  Prerentmg  Waste  of  Water  when  oontiDuouftly  supplied. 

P.  H.  HOLLAHD 480 

IheSsnitary  ImproTement  of  Leeds.    M.  K.  Bobixsok,  M.D.     .  .  486 

On  the  Sanitary  and  Economical  Adrantagea  of  Smooth  and  Imperincablo 

StreH  Surfacoa.    Eowix  Ciuowick,  C.B 489 

Miacellaneowt, 

The  Ssnitarj  Conttruotion  of  Schools.    Eowih  Ciiauwicic,  C.B.  .                .  501 

Cottage  Homes.    W.  G.  Habbbshox 502 

On  the  Bealifiition  at  Home  of  any  required  Climate  for  the  liOcoTcry  of 

InTalids.    J.  D.  HouRiiON 503 

On  the  Ventilation  of  Ships  and  Sowers.    JosErii  Sbatox,  M.D.                   .  503 

On  the  Purification  of  Waters  and  Sewage  by  Spongy  Iron.    Professor  liisciior  504 

On  Sulphate  of  Iron  as  a  Disinfectant.    J.  Moffatt,  M.D 504 

AtrooipUeric  Poisoning  of  Houses  by  Arsenical  Wall  Corerings  .  .  500 
Filtered  Water,  Shower,  or  Swimming  Baths,  to  be  placed  on  River?. 

CnARLBS  Slagg,  C.E 500 

On  the  Action  of  Heat  on  Protoplasmic  Life  dried  an  in  Cotton  Fabrics. 

P.  Geacb  Caltibt,  F.B.S 500 

IV.— ECONOMY  AND  TRADE. 

The  Lit^nsing  Laws, 

What  Amendments  are  needed  in  the  Existing  Laws  for  tbo  Licensing  uf 
Houses  for  the  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Liquors  ? 
Papers  on  the  Question,  dealing  mainly  with  the  Licensing  Authority. 

Mr.  Aldkrmax  Tatuau.    H.  C.  Greenwood 507 

Difcossion  500 

Papers  dealing  with  Topics  other  than  tbo  Questions  of  the  Licensing 
Authority.     Sam I'Eb  ^otueroill.     E.  K.  Foudii.vm.     Rev.  Dawso.v 

Burns.    Ber.  Hugh  Sxytu 517 

Difcuasion 520 

Dwellings  for  i/te  Lower  Claj<ses. 

m 

h  it  Desirable  that  the  State,  or  Municipality,  should  assist  in  proriding  Im- 
prored  Dwellings  for  the  Lower  Classes,  and,  if  so,  to  what  extent,  and 
in  what  way?    James  Hole.    T.  B.  Smithies.    J.  Buuham  Saffoud       5J.'i 

Disruseion 5.'U 

Loc<il  Taxation. 

What  principlei  ought  to  regulate  the  Assessment  and  Administration  of 
Local  Taxation  ?    E.  K.  Fohuham.    J.  Blrham  Saffokh      .        .        .     .^oO 


X  Contents. 

PAGR 

Ducuasion ,               ,  5S8 

Pavpfrism  and  the  Poor  Laws, 

On  Poor  Lbw  Out-RelUf .    Sir  BAtDirtif  LcioutON^  'Bhrt.    ;      ; .        .        .540 

The  Migration  of  Paupers.    E.  Herbert  Draper 547 

The  Influence  of  the  Poor  Law  on  tba  Deterioration  of  Labour.  Alsagbr  H. 

Hill 548 

Suggestions  for  the  Suppression  of  Vagrancj.  George  Hurst,  F.S.S.  .  .  550 
On  some  of  the  principal  Causes  of  Porerty  and  Pauperism  In  Engkncl,  and 

the  needful  Remedies.    Francis  Boult 551 

Contagious  Diseases*  Aots^ 

On  the  Contagious  Diseases'  Acts.    Jonv  Armstrong 553 

On  the  Contagious  Diseases*  Acts.    H.  N.  Mozley 500 

Arc  Strikes  necessary  for  the  Protection  of  Workman,  or  Lock-outs  for  that 

of  Employers?    Frederic  Hill    .        .        .        .        .     '  ;     •  .        .  566 

Landlords  and  Labourers.    Sir  Baldwyn  Leiqiiton,  Bert 572 

On  the  Law  of  Weights  and  Measures  in  its  BeUtion  to  the  Introduction 

of  the  Metric  System.    Professor  Leone  Levi,  F.S. A.    ....  578 

Co-operation --its  progress  and  present  condition.    John  Holmes         .        .  581 

MisceUaneous. 

The  United  Kingdom  and  Spain.    Senor  Don  Arturo  de  Marco artu  .        .  587 

Taxation  with  reference  to  the  Xatioral  Debt.    Colonifl  Oldfield         .        .  588 

On  the  Question  of  Free  Trade  in  relation  to  Taxes. .  Thomas  Briggs  .        .  589 

Uniyersal  Free  Trade, — the  first  condition  of  Peace.  J.  F.  Bottom  let  .  589 
Some  of  tlie  Evils  arising  from  the  present  Training  and  Social  Position  of 

Women,  and  their  Remedies.  Mies  March  Phillips  ....  590 
British  Workmin  Public  Houses,  or  Publift  IIou'cs  without  the  Drinlc.    MrJ. 

Hind  Smith 591 

CofiPee  Houses  v.  Gin  Palaces.    Miss  i .  B.  Le  Geyt 591 

The  growing  importance  of  Working  Men's  Clubs  and  Institutes.     Rev. 

Henry  Solly 592 

The  Leeds  Benevolent  and  Strangers'  Friend  Society.    J.  Myers  Gardner   .  592 

The  Leeds  Social  Improvement  Society.    James  Holrotd    ....  593 


Xi 


FORMER    PRESIDENTS, 


BIRMINGHAM,  1857. 

Presidint. 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Bbouqham. 

Presidents  of  Departments, 
I.  The  Right  Hon.  Lokd  John  Russell,  M.P. 
IL  The  Right  Hon.  Sie  ^ohn  S.  Pakinqton,  Bart.,  M.P. 

m.  The  Right  Hon.  and  Right  Rev.  Lord  Bishop  op  Lokixin. 

17.  Thb  Rigbt  Hon.  Lord  Stanlbt,  M.P. 

y.  Sir  Benjamin  Collins  Brodie,  Bart.,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 


LIVERPOOL,  1858. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  John  Russell,  M.P. 

Presidents  of  Departments, 
I.  The  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Chancellor  op  Ireland. 
11.  The  Right  Hon.  William  Cowper,  M.P. 

III.  The  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  op  Carlisle,  K.G. 

IV.  The  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  K.G. 
7.  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  James  Stephen,  K.C.B. 


BRADFORD,  1859. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  op  Shaptesburt. 

Presidents  of  Departments. 

I.  Vice-Chancellor  Sir  W.  Page  Wood. 

II.  The  Right  Hon.  C.  B.  Adderlet,  M.P. 

Iir.  Richard  Monckton  Milnes,  M.P. 

IV.  The  Right  Hon.  William  Cowper,  M.P. 

V.  Sir  James  P.  Kat  Shuttleworth,  Bart, 


xii  Former  Presidents. 

GLASGOW,  1860. 

President. 
The  Right  Hon.  Lobd  Bsovgham. 

Tregideivta  of  Departments, 
I.  The  Lobd  Advocate  pob  Scotland. 

II.  SiB  James  P.  Kay  Shuttleworth,  Babt. 

III.  The  Hon.  Arthur  Kinnaird,  M.P. 

IV.  Viscount  Ebrington. 

V.  Sib  James  Emerson  Tennent. 


DUBLIN.  1861. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Brougham 
Presidents  of  Depart^netUs, 
I.  The  Right  Hon.  Joseph  Napieb. 
II.  Sib  John  Geobge  Shaw  Lepevre,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S. 

III.  The  Right  Hon.  the  Attorney-General  roBlBEiaNU. 

IV.  The  Right  Hon.  Lobd  Talbot  de  Malahide. 
V.  The  Hon.  Judge  Longfield. 

VI.  MoNS.  Michel  Chevalier. 


LONDON,  1862. 

President, 

The  Right  Hon.  Lobd  Bbouguam. 

Presidents  of  Departments* 

I.  Sib  Fitzboy  Kelly,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

n.  The  Veey  Rev.  the  Dean  op  St.  Paul's. 

III.  Thomas  Chambers,  Q.C. 

IV.  William  Faibbaibn,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 
V.  Richard  Monckton  Milnes,  M.P. 

VI.  Tbavers  Twiss,  Q.C,  D.C.L. 


EDINBURGH,  1863. 

President. 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Brougham. 
Presidents  of  Departments* 
I.  The  Hon.  Lord  Cubbiehill. 
II.  Nassau  W.  Seniob. 
in.  The  Hon.  Lobd  Neaves. 
IV.  Professor  Christison,  M.D. 
V.  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  John  McNeill,  G.CJ.B. 
VI.  The  Hon.  Judge  Longweld,  LL.D. 


•  •• 


Former  Pr^xidenh,  xiii 


YORK,  186  <.. 

PreBident, 
Thb  Right  Hoy.  Lord  Brougham. 

Presidents  of  Departments. 

I.  The  Right  Hon.  Sir  J  axes  P.  Wilde. 
II.  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  op  York. 
m.  Sir  Charles  Hastings,  M.D.,  D.C.L. 
IV.  Edwin  Chadwick,  C.B. 


SHEFFIELD,  1805. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Broughaii. 

Presidents  of  Departments, 

I.  Sir  Robert  J.  Phillimore,  D.C.L. 
n.  Thomas  Chambers,  Q.C,  M.P. 
m.  Edwin  Laniester,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 
IV.  Edwin  Chadwick,  C.B. 


MANCHESTER,  1866. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Shaftesburt,  K.G. 

Presidents  of  Departments, 

I.  Hon.  George  Denman,  Q.C,  M.P. 
II.  Right  Hon.  H.  Austin  Bruce,  M.P. 

III.  William  Faeb,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

IV.  Sir  James  P.  Kay  SnunLEwoBTir,  Bart. 


BELFAST,  1867. 

President. 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Duefebin  and  Clandkboye. 

Presidents  of  Departments, 
I.  The  Right  Hon.  Mb.  Justice  O'Haqan. 
II.  Thomas  Andrews,  M.D.,  F.U.8. 

III.  Sib  James  Simpson,  Bart.,  M.D.,  F.ll.S. 

IV.  Sir  Rodebt  Kane,  F.R.S. 


XIV  Pormer  PresidenU. 

RIRMINQIIAM,   18G8. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  this  Eabl  of  Carnarvo?! 

Presidents  of  Departments, 
I.  The  Kioht  IIo^i.  \\.  N.  Massbt» 
II.  The  Bight  Hon.  Lord  Lttteltox. 

III.  Henbt  W.  Rumsbt,  M.D. 

IV.  Profemos  Fawcstt,  M.P. 


BRISTOL,   1869. 

President, 
The  Right  Hon.  Sift  Stafford  Northcote,  Babt.,  M.P. 

Presidents  of  Departments, 
I.  Qeorgb  Woodtatt  Hastings. 
II.  Rev.  Canon  Kikoslbt. 

III.  John  A.  Stmonds,  M.O.,  F.H.S. 

IV.  Right  Hon.  Stephen  Cave,  M.P. 


NEWCASTLE-UPON-TtNE,  1870. 

President, 
Ilis  Grace  the  Duke  of  Northumberland* 

Presidents  of  Departments, 
I.  The  Hon.  Lord  Nravbs. 
I  J.  Db.  Lyon  Playfaib,  C.B.,  F.R.S.,  >f.P. 
I  If.  Robert  Rawukson,  C.B.,  C.E. 
IV.  Sir  William  Armstrong,  C.B.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.R.S. 


.  I 


^■i^UMfeirtl^i 


XV 


COUNCIL  FOB  J  871-72. 


Thosi  nuivktd  With  an  asterisk  are  Representatives  of  Corporate  Bodies, 


Acknd,  H.  W.  D.,  M.D..  F.B.a 
AeUnd,  Sir  Thomas  D.,  Bart,  M.P. 
Adderlej,  Right  Hon.  Sir  Charles  B., 

C.B.I  M.P. 
Aldis,  0.  J.  B.,  M.D. 
jkrmitrong,  Sir  William,  C.B.,  LL.D., 

D.CX.,  F.R.S. 

Bnines,  Sdward,  M.P. 

Baker,  T.  B.  LL 

Barclar.  A.  W.,M.D. 

Baring,  Thomas,  M.P. 

Barton,  Be?.  Canon 

Bast,  olL.  T.,  M.P. 

Bastard,  T.H. 

Batenum,  J.  F.,  C.E.,  F.E.S. 

Baxter,  B.  Budlej. 

Baylis,  C.  O..  U,D. 

BeggB,  Thomas 

Bereiford-Hope.  A,  J.  R,  M.P. 

^Bourne,  Alfred 

Boyle,  Rer.  G.  D. 

Bndj,  Sir  Antonio 

Brawy,  Thomas,  M.P. 

Branner,  J.  A. 

Brodrick,  Hon.  Georgo 

Brooke*.  W.  Cunliffe,  M.P 

Brown,  A,  H.,  M.P. 

Brown,  Joseph,  Q.C. 

Brown,  Samuel,  F.S.S. 

Bruce,  Right  Hon.  H.  Austin,  M.P. 

Burgew,  Ker.  Canon 

Burkitt,  Edward 

Butler,  RcT.  H.  Montague,  D.D. 

Campbell,  Hon.  Dudley 
Ginterburr,  Xx>rd  Archbishop  of 
Camarron,  Barl  of 
Carpenter,  Alfred,  M.D. 
Care,  Right  Hon.  Stephen,  M.P 
OiTendisb,  Lord  Frederick,  M.P. 
Cbadwick,  David,  M.P. 
Chadwick,  Edwin,  C.B. 
Chambers,  Montagu,  Q.C.,  M.P. 
Chambers,  Thomas,  Q.C.,  M.P. 
Chancellor,  The  Lord 
Chancellor  of  Ireland,  The  Lord 
Chichester,  Earl  of 
Chriitison,  Sir  Robert,  M.D. 
Clanricarde,  ^larquis  of 
Clark,  Charles. 
Clarke,  T.  Chatfield 


WOODYATT  HASrilfOS. 

Clerk,  Lord  Justioe 

Clodc,  Waiiam 

Colebrooke,  Sir  Thomas  E.,  Bart.,  M.P. 

Colman,  JeremtAh  J.,  M.P. 

Colonsay,  Lord 

Cookson,  W.  Strickland 

Corrance,  F.  S.,  M.P. 

Cowper-Temple,  Rt.  Hon.  W.  F.,M.P. 

Cox,  Mr.  Serjeant 

Crofton,  Right  Hon.  Sir  Walter,  C.B. 

♦Crook,  Richard  J. 

Curgenren,  J.  B. 

Dalglish,  Robert,  M.P. 

Dalrjmple,  Donald,  M.P. 

Dalway,  W.  B.,  M.P. 

Davenport,  E.  G. 

Delahunty,  James,  M.P. 

Denman,*XiOrd 

Denman,  Hon.  George,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

Derbr,  Earl  of 

Dickinson,  S.  S.,  M.P. 

Dilke,  Sir  Charles  W.,  Bart.,  M.P. 

Dixon,  George,  M.P. 

Droop,  H.  R. 

Druitt,  Robert,  M.D. 

Ducie,  Earl  of 

Dudley,  Earl  of 

Dunn,  E.  (J. 

Dunsanv,  Lord 


Ebury.  Lord 

Eigar,  Andrew,  LL.D. 

Ewing,  A.  Orr,  M.P. 

Fairbairn,  Sir  William,  Bart.,  LL.D., 

F  R  S 
Farr,  William,  M.D.,   F.R.S. 
Field,  Rev.  John 
Fitch,  J.  G. 
Forteacue,  Earl 

Fortescue,  Hon.  Dud  lev  Fr.inci9,  M.P. 
Fowler,  R.  N.,  M.P.     ' 
Freeland,  H.  W. 
•Fry,  Lewis 
Fuller,  Fruiicis 

Gael,  S.  If. 

Godwin,  George,  F.R.S. 

Goldsmid,  Sir  Francis  H.,  Bart.,  M.P« 

Q^ldsmid,  Julian,  M.P. 

Gray,  William,  M.P. 


XVI 


oiwn 


il. 


Grrenhow,  E.  Jloadkni,  M.D. 
Oiirney,  Rt.  Hon.  Ruwell,  Q.C..  M.P. 

Iladfield,  George,  M.P. 

Hancock,  John 

♦Hancock,  W.  Xidson,  LL.I). 

Harcourt,  W.  Vernon,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

Hardwicke,  William,  M.D. 

Hare,  Thomas 

♦Harris,  Stanley 

♦Hastinn,  Gkorge  Woodyatt 

Hawes,  William 

Hawkins,  Charles 

Headlam,  Rt.  Hon.  T.  E.,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

Heywood,  James,  F.R.ft. 

mn,  AUager  H. 

HiU,  Edwin 

Hill.  Frederic 

Hill,  M.D.,  Q.C. 

Hobhouse,  Arthur,  Q.C. 

Hodgkin,  John 

Hodgson,  Professor 

Holland,  P.  H. 

Hollond,  E.  W. 

Houghton,  Lord 

Howard,  James,  M.P. 

Hughes,  Thomas,  Q.C.,  M.P. 

Hurst,  Qeorge 

Hutton,  John,  M.P. 

Jerons,  Professor  Stanley 
Johnstone,  Sir  Harcourt,  Bart,  M.P. 

Keating,  Hon.  Justice 
Kelly,  Lord  Chief  Buron 
Kettle,  Rupert  A. 
Kimberley,  Earl  of 
Kennaway,  J.  H.,  M.P. 
Kingsley,  Rey.  Canon 
Kinnaird,  Hon.  Arthur,  M.P. 

Laird,  John,  M.P. 

Lambert,  Rey.  Brooke 

Lamport,  Charles 

Lankcster,  Edwin,  M.D.,  P.R.S. 

Lawrence,  Lord 

Lefeyre,  G.  J.  Shaw,  M.P. 

Levi,  Professor  Leone,  F.S.S. 

Lewis,  John  D.,  M.P. 

Lichfield,  Earl  of 

Londesborough,  Lord 

Longfleld,  Hon.  Montifort,  LL.D. 

liowo,  Rt.  Hon.  Robert.,  M.P. 

Lushington,  Rt.  Hon.  Stephen,  D.C.L, 

Lyyeden,  Lord 

Lyttelton,  Lord 

Macfie,  R.  A.,  M.P. 
McArthur,  WUliam,  M.P. 
♦McClelland,  James 
♦McLagnn,  Peter,  M.P. 


Mann,  Horace 
Marline.  Samuel,  M.P. 
Marshall.  Jtmes 
l^fassey,  Rt.  Hon.  W.  N. 
Matthews,  Henry,  Q.C.,  M.P. 
MaxweU,  Wellwood  H.,  M.P. 
Maurice,  Rey.  Professor 
Melly,  George.  M.P. 
Micliael.  W.  H.,  F.C.S. 
Mill,  J.  Stuart 
Minto.  Earl  of 
*Monk.  C.  J.,  M.P. 

Montagu,  Rt  Hon.  Lofd  Robert,  M.F« 
♦Moreton,  John 
Morley,  Samuel,  M.P. 
'  Morriicm,  Walter,  M.P. 
Mouat,  F.  J.,  M.D. 
Mozley,  Herbert  N. 
MundelU,  A.  J.,  M.P. 

Napier,  Right  Hon.  Sir  Joseph,  Bart. 

Neaves,  Hon.  Lord 

Kewdegate,  C.  M.  P.,  M.P. 

Newton,  A.  V. 

♦Newmarch.  William,  F.R.S. 

Noel,  Ernest 

Norris,  Rey.  Canon 

Northcote,  Right   Hon.  Sir  Staffordy 

Bart.,  M.P. 
Northumberland,  Dnke  of 

Oldfield,  Colonel 
O'Neill,  Hon.  Edward,  M.P. 
O'ReiUy,  Myles  W.,  M.P. 
Oyerstone,  Lord 

Pogliardini,  Tito 

Pakington,  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  John,  Bt.,  M.P. 

Palmer,  Sir  Roundell,  Q.C,,  M.P. 

Pankhurst,  Richard  M.,  LL.D. 

Payne,  Joseph 

Pears,  Edwm 

Peel,  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Lawrence,  D.C.L. 

Perciyal,  Rey.  John 

Phen<?,  J.  S. 

Pitman,  Henry,  M.D. 

Plavfair,  Dr.  Lyon,  C.B.,  F.B.S.,  M.P. 

Potter,  Edmund,  F.R.S.,  M.P. 

Powell,  F.  S. 

Pratt,  Hodgson 

Pulling,  Mr.  Serjeant 

>  Ramsden,  Sir  John,  Bart.,  M.P. 
Ramsay,  F.  W.,  M.D. 
Rathbo'ne,  P.  H. 
Rathbone,  Wflliam,  M.P. 
Rawlinson,  Sir  Christopher 
Rawlinson,  Robert,  C.B.,  C.E. 
Reilly,  F.  S. 
Richard,  Henry,  M.P. 
Riohson,  Rey.  Canon 


Comicil. 


xvii 


Rigs,  Ber.  J.  H.,  D.D. 
Ripon,  MaiquU  of 
RothKhild,  Buoh  LioimI,  M.P: 
Rotbadiild,  Baron  ICayor  de»  M.F. 

Ramnr,  H.  W^  ILD. 

Kaiiell,  Bari*  K.Q. 

Rutaon,  A.  O. 

Ryland,  Artliur 

St  Dafid's,  Lord  Bishop  of 

Silomons,  Sir  BaTid,  li.P. 

Safford,  A.  Herbert 

8^MD,ReT.  Biefaard 

ghaen^WiUiBm 

ShaftesbuTj,  Earl  of,  K.G. 

Shuttleworth,  Sir  Jamee  £ay,  Bart. 

8initiuflt,T.  B. 

•Spotton,  William 

SUllard,  Dr.  J.  H. 

Steinthal,  Ber.  S.  A. 

Stflpbinion,  Ber.  Kaeh 

Stepnej,  W.  F.  Ck>weU 

SteTeQBOD,  James  0.,  M.P. 

Stewirt,  A.  P.,  M.D. 

Tiylor,  P.  A.,  M.P. 

TftTlor,  B.  W.  Cooke 

TWrnnoiith,  Lord 

Teuon,  Seymour 

lite,  Sir  William,  F.R.S.,  M.P. 

T^mline,  George,  M.P. 


Torrens,  Bobert  B.,  M.P. 
Tnfndl,  B.  Carlton 
Twining,  Thomas 
Twiae,  Sir  Trarers,  D.CX. 

Taughan,  Jamee 

Vemey,  Sir  Harry,  Bart,  M.P. 

Waddilore,  Alfred,  D.C.L. 

Waley,  Jacob 

*Walicr,  John 

♦Waller,  J.  R.  LL.D. 

Ware,  Martin,  Jun. 

*Warrack,  John 

Waterhotue,  Samuel,  M.P. 

Watson,  Sir  Thomas,  Bt.,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

Webster,  Thomas,  Q.C,,  F.R.S. 

Weguelin,  Thomas,  M.P. 

Wendt,  £.  E. 

Westlake,  John 

Wheelhouse,  W.  St  John,  M.P. 

♦White,  Peter 

White,  Robert 

Whitwill,  Mark 

WilliamB,  Arthur  J. 

WiUiams,  Sir  F.  Marti q,  Bart,  M.P. 

Wilmot,  Sir  J.  E.  Eardley,  Ban. 

Wines,  E.  C,  LL.D. 

Wingfield-Baker,  B.  B.,  M.P. 

Yeats,  John,  LL.  D. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 


AldiB,  C.  J.  B.,  M.D. 

Clflde,  William 

Cuobon,  W.  Strickland,  Treasurer 

Droop,  H.  B. 

EJgar,  Andrew,  LL.D. 

Gael,  S.  H. 

H&rdwicke,  William,  M.D. 
H&itings.  G.  Woodjatt,  President 

Hawes,  William,  Treasurer 
Hill,  Frederic 
HoUond,  E.  W. 


of 


Lambert  Rer.  Brooke 
Lamport,  Charles 

McClelland,  James 
Marshall,  James 
Mozley,  H.  N. 

Pears,  Edwin,  General  Secretary 

Rigg,  Rer.  J.  II.,  D.D. 

Safford,  A.  Herbert 

Teulon,  Seymour 

Waddilore,  Alfred,  D.C.L. 
WesUake,  John,  Foreign  ikcreiary 


FOREIGN  CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS. 

Monsieur  Lb  Covtb  J.  AtRiVABEyE,  Bnaelles. 

Marquis  D*Avila,  Ministre  d'Etet  de  S.  M.  Tr^  Fidelf ,  Lkbon. 

Monsieur  Michel  Chevalier,  Arcnuo  de  rimp^ratrice,  No.  27i  Pari?. 

Monsieur  Lb  Comte  Augustb  Oieskowski,  WierzcniciH  Gnnd-Duob^  de  Pa 

Monsieur  CoRBrVANDBR  Mabren,  Broielles. 

Monsieur  Demetz,  Colonie  de  Mettray,  France. 

Samuel  Eliot,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  Boston,  U.S. 

David  Dudlet  Field,  New  York,  U.S. 

Monsieur  Le  Dr.  C.  Helm,  Wien,  Austria. 

Baron  Yon  Holtzendorf,  Berlin. 

Dr.  Edward  Jarvis,  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  U.S. 

Professeur  Katchenowskt,  Universit4S  de  JCharkow,  Russia. 

Hon.  W.  Beach  Lawrence,  Ochre  Point,  Newport,  Rhode  Isknd,  U.S. 

Monsieur  Le  Dr.  Neumann,  Kopnicker  Strasee,  No.  110a,  Berlin. 

Monsieur  P.  Le  Play,  Conseiller  d*Etat,  &o.,  PUce-Saint  Sulpice,  No.  C,  T 

Monsieur  Le  Do.  Soiiubert,  Konigsberg. 

Monsieur  W.  H.  Suringar,  Prudent  de  Mettraj,  Amsterdam. 

Monsieur  Le  Dr.  Susani,  Professeur  de  M^canique  Industrielle  k  la  Soci^t^ 
Arts,  Milan. 

Monsieur  Le  Dr.  Yarrbntrapp,  Francfort-sur-Main. 

Monsieur  A*  Yihsohers,  Conseiller  au  Conieil  det  Minea,  Bu^  Royalt,  No. 
Bruxelles. 

Count  Zamotsri,  Cmcow,  Ra«ia< 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 

Mrs.  John  ICnox,  London. 
Miss  MarIt  Cabpbnter,  Bristoli 


)c{x 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION  FOR  1871.72. 

President, 
The  Biglit:H<m,  ^IR  Jphjbt  S.  PAiOKqToy,  Bart,  M.P.,  G.G.B. 

Vice-Presidents, 

The  Riglit  Hon.  EarIi  Rttbsell,  K.G. 

The  Right  Hon.  Eab<l  of  >SHArTBsr>uj&Y,  K.G. 

The  Bight  Hon-  Lord  Ditfferin  and  CiiANDBDOYE. 

The  Right  Hon.  Earl  of  Carnarvon. 

The  Right  Hon.  Sir  Stafford  Northcote,  Bart.,  M.P. 

His  Grace  The  Ditke  of  Northumberland. 

Presidents  of  DepaHnierds, 

I.  W.  Vernon  Harcourt,  Q.G.,  M.P. 
II.  Edward  Baines,  M.P. 

III.  George  Godwin,  F.R.S. 

IV.  William  Newmarch,  F.R.S. 

President  of  Council, 
George  Woodyatt  Hastings. 

General  Seereianj, 
Edwin  Pears. 

Foreign  Secretary, 
John  Westlake. 

Trecumrers. 
W.  Strickland  Coo«:son.     |  William  Hawes. 

Secretaries  of  B<imrtnui)iis, 

I.  H.  N.  Mozley.  a.  Herbert  Safford. 

II.  Rev.  Brooke  Lambert.  Rev.  Nash  Stephenson. 

III.  William  Clode.  William  Hardwicke,  M.D. 

IV.  E.  W.  HoLLOND.  Rev.  S.  A.  Steinthal. 

Auditors^ 
Francis  Fuller.  |  John  Knox. 

AssUtanl  Secretary, 
James  Robinson. 

Banlcers, 

The  London  and  Westminster  Bans,  1,  St.  James's  Square,  S.W. 
Messrs.  Ransom,  Bouverie,  &  Co.,  1,  Pall  Mall  East,  S.W. 

Office  oftlie  Association. 
1,  Adam  Street,  Adelphi,  London,  W.C 

b  2 


XX 


LOCAL  OFFICERS  OF  THE  LEEDS  MBETIKG. 

Vice-PrCisUIctUs. 


The  Worabipful  Tiik  Mayor  op  Lesds. 
The  Worshipful  The  Mayor  of  Bauxs- 

LEY. 

The  Woruliipful  Tiik  Mayor  op  13ATLr\'. 
The  Worshipful  The  Mayor  of  Brau- 

FORI>. 

The  Worshipful  The  Mayor  op  Dews- 

BVRY. 

The  Worshipful  THK!irAYORor  IIaupax. 

The  Worshipful  The  Mayor  of  Shef- 
field. 

The  Worshipful  The  Mayor  of  Wake- 
field. 

His  Grace  The  Duke  of  Dlvonsiiire. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Earl  of  Hare- 

\V0(»D. 

The  Right  Hon.  The  Earl  op  Mex- 

BOROUGII. 

The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Halifax. 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  Boltox. 
The  Right  Hon.  Lord  HoraiiTON. 
The  Riglit  Hon.  I>oud  Wharncliffe. 
Lord  Fkederick.  C.  Cavendish,  M.P. 


The  Right  RaT.  Lord  Bcshopop  Eipoir 
The  Right  Hon.  Sir  Johepu  Napier. 
Sir  John  W.  Ramsden,  Bart.,  M.P. 
Sir  Titus  Salt,  Bart. 
Sir  CHARLE.S  LowTHER,  Bart. 
Sir  AxDREW  Fairbairx. 
The  Very  Rev.  The  Dean  op  Ripok. 
The  Very  Rev.  The  Dean  of  York. 
The  Ven.  Archdeacoh  Mus(mAVR. 
'  Tlie  Rev.  Casox  Sale,  D.D. 
Tlie  Rev.  Caxox  Woodford,  D.D. 
Edward  Baixes,  M.P. 
Somerset  Bkaimont,  M.P. 
R.  M.  Carter,  M.P. 
C.  B.  Denisox,  M.P. 
Joiix  Dext  Dent,  M.P. 

JOSHCA  FlELDBN',  M.P. 

E.  A.  Leatham,  M.P. 
L\  M.  Norwood,  M.P. 
Mr.  Serjeant  Simox,  M.P. 
W.  St.  J.  Whkelhouse,  M.P. 
Darntox  LuiTox. 


Trensurcr. 
W.  B.  Denisox. 


Secret ar  if  8. 


Thomas  Wil.son. 
Darxtox  Ll'ptox,  Jun. 


Jonx  Edwix  Eddisox,  M.D. 
Stephen  A.  Marshall. 


iSccrdaries  of  I)cparimeHi$* 

I. — Muiiictjud  Lair  S^rtion, — Thomas  Marshall. 

liftprciiihn  of  Crime  Section. — J.  Rawlinsox  Ford. 
II. — Education, — Hexry  H.  Sales. 

in. — Health. — T.  Clifford  Albutt,  M.D.    M.  K.  Robixsox,  M.D. 
IV. — Jonx  Barrax,  Jun.     William  Hijist. 


Executive  Committee. 

The  Worshipful  The  Mayor  of  Leeds,  Chairman. 

Jonx  Baurax,  Jun.  W.  G.   Joy. 

Rev.  J.  Blomefiklp,  Arthur  Lcitox. 

Thomas  Daw.«<ox.  Darxtox  Luptox. 

J.  R.  FoitD.  Thomas  Marshall. 

J.  D.  Heatox,  M.D.  M.   K.  Robixsox,  M.D. 

James  Holrovd.  H.   H.  Sales. 

J.  I.  Ikin.  Rev.  F.  J.  Wood. 

Rev.  Edward  Jack^ox.  Rev.  Caxox  Woodford. 


Assistant  l^ecretiri/. 
William  Hirst. 


XXI 


PEBSTOBNTS  AOT)  VIOE-PBBBIBENTS   OF  DEPARTMENTS 

OP  THE    LEEDS  MEETING. 

L-4UBISPBUDEKCE   AND   AMENDMENT   OP  THE   LAW. 

President. 
W.  Yebkon  Habcotjbt,  Q.C,  M.P. 

Municipal  Law  Section. 

Vw'  Presidents. 
WiLLLAX.    Bbuce     (Stipendiary     Andebw  Edgar,  LL.D. 


Magistrate,  Leed  b)  . 
Mr.  Sijeant  Cox  (Deputy  Judge 

ol  the  Middlesex  Sessions,  11^- 

corder  of  Portsmouth). 
W.  T.  a  Dakisl,  Q.C.  (County 

Covai  Judge). 


ArTHUB  HOBIIOUSK,  Q.C. 

Professor  Leone  Levi,  F.S.A. 
J.  B.  Maule,  Q.C.  (Recorder  of 
Leeds). 


Rbpbession  of  Cbimb  Section. 

(Tliairmnn, 

The  Bight  Hon.  Lobd  Teignmouth. 

Vice-  Chairmen, 

Captain  Abhttage.  i  Rev.  Edward  Jackson. 

Right  Hon.  Sir  Waltkb  Oeop-      J.  H.  Kennaway,  MP. 


TON,  C.B. 
Bey.  John  Field  (Visiting  Jus- 
tice of  N.R:  Prisons). 


E.  0.  Wines.  LL.D.,  United 
States'  Commissioner  on  Prison 
Discipline. 


Tl.— EDUCATIOX. 

Presidenf. 
Edwabd  Baines,  M.P. 

Vice-  Presidents. 
Sir  Andbew  Faibbaibn.  |     Rov.  J.  H.  Rigg,  D.D. 

Jjlmeq  McClelland.  |     Rev.  Canon  Woodfobd. 

III.— irEALTir. 

President. 
George  Godwin,  F.R.S. 

Vice-Presidcn  la. 


Oh  ABLE8  Chadwick,  M.D.,D.C.L. 
Ebwabd  Fillitee,  C.E. 
J.  D.  Hbaton,  M.I)» 


Frederick  J.  Mouat,  M.D. 

F.  S.  Powell. 

Robert  Rawlinson,  C.B.,  C.E. 


IV.— BCONOMY  AND   TRADE. 

President, 
William  Newmarch,  F.R.S, 

Vice-Presidents, 


Sir  Antonio  Brady. 
Saxubl  Bbown,  F.S.S, 
JIdwin  Chadwick,  C,Bi 
JOHir  JowiTT, 


James  Garth  Marshall. 
Walter  Morrison,  M.p. 

A.   J.  MUNDELLA,  M.P, 
SAMTTEL  WATK»lfOt»SE,  M,P, 


XXll 


LAWS  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION, 


object  and  OrganuaiioH. 

I.  The  object  of  tbo  Association  is  to  aid  the  dcTelopment  of 
Social  Science. 

II.  The  Associfttion  compriges  Four  Departments :  tbo  first,  for 
Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  Law  ;  the  second,  for  Educa- 
tion ;  the  third,  for  Health  ;  and  the  fourth,  for  Economy  and  Trade. 

III.  The  Association  consists  of  Ordinary  Members,  Corporate 
Members,  Foreign  Corresponding  ^Members,  and  Associates. 

Terms  of  Mimbership. 

IV.  Any  person  who  pays  an  Annual  Subscription  of  One  Guinea, 
or  a  Life  Subscription  of  Ten  Guineas,  to  tlio  Funds  of  the  Associd- 
tion,  is  an  Ordinary  Member. 

V.  Any  Public  Body  paying  to  the  Funds  of  the  Association  an 
Annual  Subscription  of  Two  Guineas  is  a  Corporate  Member. 

VI.  Foreign  Corresponding  Members  are  elected  by  the  Council, 
the  number  of  such  Members  being  limited  by  Byo*law.  Foreign 
Corresponding  Members  are  exempt  from  payment. 

VII.  Any  person  who  pays  Ten  Shillings  to  the  Funds  of  th< 
Association  is  an  Associate  for  the  Annual  Meeting  for  which  sucl 
payment  is  made. 

VIIL  The  Annual  Subscription  is  payable  in  advance  on  the  fifs 
day  of  August  in  each  year. 

Officers  and  Government, 

IX.  The  Association  has  a  President,  Vice-Presidents,  Prceident 
and  Vice-Presidents  of  Departments,  a  President  of  Couneil,  i 
General  Secretary,  a  Treasurer  or  Treasurers,  Foreign  Secretary 
and  Secretai'ies  of  Departments,  who  are  all  annually  elected,  an< 
hol4  office  until  ^he  appointments  of  the  following  year  ^^'e  m^de. 


Law9  of  the  A$60ciationn  xxiii 

X.  The  AflBociation  ie  governed  by  a  Council,  and  by  an  ISxecu- 
tire  Committee,  subject  to  the  directions  of  the  Council. 

XI.  The  Council  consists  of  the  following  persons  :— 

1.  The  President,  Vic^-Ptesidents,  Presidents  and  Vice-Presi- 
denU  of  Departments,  General  Secretary,  Treasurers,  Foreign 
Secretary,  and  Secretaries  of  Departments. 

2.  Every  member  who  has  filled  the  office  of  President  or  Presi- 
dent of  a  Department,  or  who  has  filled  for  three  years  the  office  of 
Gjenerftl  Secretary,  Treasurer,  Foreign  Secretary,  or  Secretary  of 
Department. 

3.  Every  Member  who,  up  to  the  3 1st  of  July,  1862,  had  served 
for  three  years  as  a  Member  of  Council. 

i.  Every  Member  of  either  House  of  Pai'liament  who  is  also  a 
Member  of  the  Association. 

5.  Sach  Members,  not  exceeding  fiAeen  in  each  Departmenti  as 
shall  be  annually  nominated  by  the  Standing  Committee  of  each 
Department 

6.  Sach  Bepresentatives  of  any  Branch  or  Local  Association,  not 
eiceeding  two,  as  may  bo  nominated  from  timo  to  time  by  such 
Branch  or  Local  Association. 

7.  Such  Eepresentative  of  any  Society  existing  in  connection 
with  the  Association  as  may  be  nominated  from  timo  to  timo  by 
sDch  Society. 

8.  Such  Bepresentative  of  any  learned  Society,  or  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  being  a  Corporate  Member  of  the  Association,  as  may 
from  time  to  time  be  nominated  by  such  Corporate  Member. 

9.  Such  Members  as  may  be  nominated  by  the  Association,  on 
the  recommendation  of  the  Council,  for  special  services  to  the 
Association. 

JO.  Such  Members,  not  exceeding  twelve,  as  shall  be  annually 
nomioated  by  the  Council,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Executive 
Committee. 

XII.  The  Executive  Committee  consists  of  the  President  of 
Coorcil,  the  General  Secretary,  the  Treasurers,  the  Foreign  Secre- 
tary, one  Secretary  from  each  Department  nominated  by  the 
CooDcil,  and  Twelve  Mcml;crs  elected  annually  by  the  Council. 

XIII*  The  Coiincil  meets  at  thp  tip^o  of  the  Annual  Meeting  qf 


xxiir  Laws  of  the  AtBodaikm. 

the  Assodation,  at  three  other  times  daring  the  yesr,  tai  also  wbeti 
specially  summoned  by  the  Execative  Committee. 

Annual  and  other  Meetings, 

XIV.  An  Annual  Meeting  for  the  reception  of  the  Addreea  of 
the  President,  and  of  the  Reports  of  the  Council  and  Standing  Com- 
mittees, and  for  the  reading  and  discussion  of  papers,  is  held  in  such 
place,  and  at  such  time,  as  may  be  appointed  by  the  Council. 

XV.  A  Business  Meeting  of  the  Members  is  held  in  each  year  at 
the  office  of  the  Association,  at  such  time  as  may  bo  appointed  by 
the  Council,  to  receive  a  Report  from  the  Council  on  the  financial 
and  other  business  of  the  Association,  to  elect  the  Officers  and 
Standing  Committees  for  the  ensuing  year,  and  to  enact  such  Laws 
as  may  from  time  to  time  bo  required. 

XVI.  The  Council  has  the  power  of  summoning  a  General 
Meeting  of  Members,  on  fourteen  days  notice,  for  such  purpose 
and  at  such  time  and  place  ns  it  thinks  fit. 

XVII.  The  Greneral  Secretary,  on  receiving  a  requisition  signed 
by  twenty  Members,  summons,  at  such  time,  being  within  thirty 
days,  and  at  such  place  as  he  thinks  fit,  a  General  Meeting  of  the 
Members,  for  the  purposes  stated  in  such  requisition. 

XVIII.  Special  Meetings  are  held  in  London,  under  the  regu- 
lation of  the  Executive  Committee,  for  reading  papers,  and  for 
discussion,  on  specific  questions. 

Rights  and  Privileges  of  Members, 

XIX.  Every  Ordinary  Member  has  the  right  of  attending  aad 
voting  at  the  Annual  Meeting,  the  Business  Meeting  of  Members, 
and  all  other  General  Meetings  of  the  Anoeiation,  of  being  eligible 
to  any  of  its  offices,  and  of  receiving  gratoitoutly  its  Tranmodtuu. 

XX.  Any  Ordinary  Member,  whose  name  has  been  sabraitled  for 
that  purpose  to,  and  approved  by,  the  ExecuUve  Cooraiittee,  and  who 
pays  an  additional  annual  subsoription  of  One  Guinea,  or  an  addi- 
tional life  subscription  of  Ten  Guineas,  has  the  privileges  of 
attending  and  voting  at  the  Special  Meetings  mentioned  in  I^aw 
^ymri  9f  reoeiving  all  public^tkm9  \fm^  in  oonoe^tiof^  witli  iwh 


ZpoiDtt  (^tJie  Asiociatiati.  xxv 

KijBtiiigi^  and  ef  Ihe  afling  of  the  Library  at  the  Office  of  the  Asao* 
cifttkyn. 

XXI.  Every  Corporate  Member  receives  gratuitously  a  copy  of 
the  Tramioeiionty  and  may  nomioate  two  representatives  to  attend 
the  meetings  of  the  Association. 

XXIL  Every  Foreign  Corresponding  Member  has  all  the  rights 
of  an  Ordinary  Member,  except  that  of  legibility  to  the  Council. 

XXm.  Every  Assoeiate  has  the  right  oF  attending  and  voting  at 
the  Annual  Meeting,  held  by  Law  XIV. 

Siahding  and  other  Committees. 

XXrV.  A  Standing  Committee  for  each  Department  is  annually 
elected  at  the  Business  Meeting  of  Members.  A  Standing  Com- 
mittee has  the  power  of  appointing  Sub-committees. 

XXV.  Special  Committees  are  oppointed  by  the  Association  or 
by  the  Council,  to  consider  and  report  on  specific  subjects  of 
reference. 

XXVI.  The  President  of  Council  is,  ex  officio^  a  Member  of 
every  Standing  Committee,  and  the  General  Secretary  and  the 
Foreign  Secretaiy  are,  ex  officio.  Members  of  every  Committee  and 
Sob-committee.  The  Secretary  of  each  Department  is,  ex  officio,  a 
Member  of  every  Committee  and  Sub-committee  of  such  Department. 

Constitution  and  Conduct  oj  Meetings, 

XXVII.  For  General  Meetinjijs  of  the  Association  twenty  Mem- 
bers, for  Meetings  of  the  Council  seven  Members,  for  those  of  the 
Executive  Committee  ^\q  Members,  and  for  those  of  other  Com- 
mittees and  Sub- committees  three  Members,  form  a  quorum. 

XXVIIL  At  all  the  aforesaid  Meetings  the  Chairman  has  a  vote  ; 
if  the  votes  be  equal  he  has  also  a  casting  vote. 

XXIX.  No  original  motion,  of  which  previous  notice  has  not  been 
given,  is  pat  from  the  Cluur  at  any  Meeting  of  the  Association  held 
under  Laws  XIV,  XV.,  or  XVI. 

Finances, 

XXX.  The  funds  of  the  Association  are  kept  in  it»  name  nt  n 
^llf,    AU  aQtaa  received  on  Account  of  the  AseooiAfion  aro  pf^M 


xxvi  Lawt  I'ftht  Ataoe'uUloH. 

into  tlio  Bank ;  and  all  clieqaes  on  the  Bank  are  drairit  by  order  t^ . 
llie  Council  or  of  the  Executive  Committee,  siguod  by  the  Treamrer, 
and  countersigned  by  the  General  Secretary. 

XXXL  At  the  Bupincss  Mooting  of  Members  two  Auditors,  not 
being  Members  of  the  Executive  Committee,  are  appointed  od 
motion,  by  show  of  handp,  to  audit  the  accounts  of  tho  ensuing  year. 

XXXn.  The  accounts  of  ttic  Association  are  made  up  to  tho  end 
of  Juno  in  each  year  ;  and,  aflcr  being  duly  audited,  are  appended 
to  the  Annual  Beport  of  the  Council.  < 


Vacanci 


t  Offices. 


XXXIIJ.  The  Council  lill»  up  any  vacancy  occuning  during  Utu 
year  in  any  of  the  offices  named  in  Law  IX. 


k  sill 

li;:;: 


niHtioCtts     sa 


|SiSS&i:"=3 


■i  ■- J  i 


in 


S.^.1 


.^«l 


llsef       *^ 


&s  .rHpil.'.lll'i 
•lillPls'SflFIl 


iJ 


Ill 


llSil 

lllii 


liNTKODUCTION. 


1lH£  Annual  Congress^  which  opened  at  Leeds  on  the 
4th  of  October  last  and  terminated  on  the  llth,  was  the 
Fifteenth  which  the  Association  has .  held.  Following  the 
precedent  of  former  years,  the  proceedings  were  opened  by 
a  special  service.  This  was  held  in  the  old  parish  churcli 
of  Leeds.  The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Very  Reverend 
the  Dean  of  Durham.  In  tlie  evening  the  inaugural  ad- 
dress was  delivered  by  the  President  of  the  Association,  the 
Bight  Hon.  Sir  John  S.  Fakington,  M.  P. 

The  addresses  were  delivered  in  the  hall  of  the  Mechanics^ 
Institute;  the  meetings  of  the  several  departments  taking 
place  in  the  Law  Courts,  the  Municipal  Council  room  or 
other  of  the  convenient  rooms  included  in  the  noble  pile  of 
buildings  forming  the  Town  Hall.  The  magnificent  Victoria 
Hall,  the  principal  room  of  this  pile,  was  used  during  the 
day  time  as  a  reception  room ;  on  two  evenings  for  soirees 
and  on  one  for  the  Working  Men's  meeting. 

The  Working  Men's  meeting  continues  to  be  an  exceedingly 
popular  feature  of  the  Congress.  At  the  two  last  meetings, 
in  Xewcastle-upon-Tyne  and  Leeds,  not  only  has  the  list  of 
speakers  been  announced  beforehand,  but  a  given  topic  has 
been  assigned  in  the  announcement  to  each  speaker.  In  this 
way  an  amount  of  definiteness  has  been  given  to  the  speeches 
delivered^  which  could  hardly  exist  without  some  such  plan, 
and  the  danger  is  avoided  of  one  speaker  going  over  the 
ground  occupied  by  a  predecessor.  In  Leeds  the  Mayor 
presided,  and  discharged  his  duty  with  the  same  ability  and 
heartiness  which  characterized  the  whole  of  his  oiHcial  and 
private  demeanour  towards  the  Association  and  its  members. 


xx?^  jttiiroduction. 

Sir  John  Pakington  spoke  of  the  interest  of  the  tvorkina 
classes  in  technical  education,  a  subject  which  every  one  will 
admit  the  President  of  the  Association  was  peculiarly  well  <jn' 
titled  to  speak  on,  both  from  the  consistent  and  persevering 
manner  in  which  he  has  directed  public  attention  to  it,  as  wdli 
as  from  his  great  experience  in  and  knowlcflgc  of  the  whole 
question  of  education.  He  pointed  out  that  the  snbjiect  <Jl 
technical. education  was  one  which  was  of  special  inte^e9t  tc 
artizans  ;  that  the  Paris  Exhibition,  the  reports  of  competeol 
persons  and  of  general  observers  show,  that  the  foreign  artizar 
has  better  opportunities  of  becoming  a  skilled,  a  scientific,  of  an 
artistic  workman  than  the  English  artizan ;  that  there  is  dangch 
ot  foreigners  being  able  to  produce  better  work  than  we  are  ablfe 
to  produce,  and  so  of  attracting  a  valuable  portion  of  our  trade 
to  their  shores ;  and  that  the  only  way  to  avert  this  danger  U 
to  place  within  the  reach  of  working  men  throughout  the 
country  the  means  of  technical  education.  Mn  Godwin. 
President  of  the  Health  Department,  spoke  of  the  interest  ti 
the  working  classes  in  regard  to  the  question  of  public  hedltli. 
He  had  previously  made  an  inspection  of  some  of  the  worit 
districts  in  Leeds,  one  "  honeycombed  with  cesspools,  sttftl 
middens,  and  drains  without  traps,**  and  called  the  attentiotf  d 
the  meeting  to  the  urgent  need  of  making  sanitary  improve- 
ments in  the  districts  which  he  indicated.  He  pointed  oni 
that  it  was  in  such  districts,  which  were  inhabited  excluslvel} 
by  the  poorer  classe8,thatthe  highest  number  of  deaths  occttri^d 
and  that  the  working  classes  more  than  any  othet  section!  ol 
the  community  were  interested  in  the  carrying  out  <rf  laWsj 
which  would  improve  their  health  and  add  years  to  the  lives  bi 
thousands.  Mr.  Newmarch,  President  of  the  Economy  and 
Trade  Department,  was  announced  to  speak  on  the  impoyt- 
ance  of  a  knowledge  of  Economic  Science  to  the  workinj 
classes.  It  is  sufficient  to  mention  his  name  to  show  that  th( 
task  would  be  admirably  fulfilled.  After  comparing  the  9fst( 
of  England  with  that  of  South  Eastern  Europe^  he  maintaiiitij 


hiroduetioH.  sxxi 

tkt  OHi^  aiperlor  poBitioQi  was  duie  in  ,fi  great  meastn-o  to 
tlie  applioaiion  o£  sound  principles,  of  economic  science.    He 
otged  that  these  principle^  ought  to  h^  taught  in  oil  schools^ 
but  especially  in  elementary  .scl\oo^  because  such  instruction 
iharpena  the  facultiesi  ancl  puts  them  in  a  &ir  way  of  being 
developed  by  subsequent  experience  and  observation.     Mr. 
£.  Hollond^    whose   praciical    study  of    the    question   de* 
gervedly    entitled    his    opinions    to    respect,   spo^e   of    the 
qoestion  of  pauperism  as  affecting  the  working  classes.     He 
tspecially  insisted  that  what  working  men  had  to  look  to  was 
not  Government  or  legislation  but  themselves;  and  that  the 
first  requisite  for  the  diminution  -  of  pauperism,  was  an  im- 
provement in  the  habits  of  the  people.     He  urged  also  that 
they  shonld  take  more  interest  than  they  had  done  in  the 
proper  working  of  the  Poor  Law,  and  for  this  purpose  in 
the  selection  of  proper  persons  charged  with  its  administration. 
Mr.  Mundella,  who  had  just  returned  from  Newcastle, 
where  he  had  kindly  acted  ns  the  representative  of  the  Capital 
and   Labour    Committee  in    connection    with  the  Associa* 
tion,  with  a  view  to  putting  an  end  to  the  **  nine  hours' " 
strike  of  the  engineers,  spoke  on  the  subject  of  strikes.     He 
declared  them  to  be  in  the  industrial  world  what  wars  are 
Id  the  political.     He  pointed  out  that  there  was  reason  to 
hope  we  were  going  to  have  fewer  strikes  than  hitherto^  and 
that  those  which  had  recently  taken  place  had  been  con^ 
ducted  in   a  much  more  creditable  manner  than  formerly. 
He  urged  working    men    to    do    their    utmost    to   support 
Courts  of  Conciliation  and  Boards  of  Arbitration,  and  showed 
hoTV  both  masters  and  men  had  benefited  wherever  such  had 
been  established.     He  concluded  an  adilress,  to  which  the 
Vast  audience  listened  with  great  interest,  by  urging    that 
working  men  could  do   more  by  educating  themselves,  by 
freeing  themselves  from  the  slavery  of  bad  habits,  by  tempcr- 
mcei  intelligence,  and  thrifty  than  any  amount  of  legislation 
ooald  do  for  them. 


xxxii  Introduction. 

The  holding  of  a  aanitary  exhibition  in'  coimectiQQ  with 
the  aanual  Congress,  was  a  novel  feature  in  the  history  of 
the  Association.  The  suggestion  was  thrown  out  in  a  letter 
which  reached  me  at  too  late  a  period,  barely  a  montli 
before  the  time  of  meeting,  to  allow  of  its  being  carried 
out  with  anything  like  the  completeness  which  a  longer 
time  would  have  permitted.  But  owing  to  the  indefatigaUe 
exertions  of  two  members  of  the  Leeds  Committee^  Dr. 
M.  K.  Ilobinson  and  Mr.  H.  H.  Sales,  and  of  Dr.  Hard- 
wicke,  the  Secretary  of  the  Health  Department  in 
London,  a  great  number  of  articles  were  brought  toge- 
ther, and  the  exhibition  was  made  in  every  respect 
successful.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  there  has 
never  hitherto  been  brought  together  so  complete  a 
collection  of  sanitary  appliances.  The  presence  of  a 
number  of  health  officers,  and  of  others  interested  in  sani- 
tary reforms,  who  are  always  found  at  the  annual  meetings 
of  the  Association,  was  felt  by  exhibitors  to  be  a  sufficient 
inducement  to  forward  their  goods.  A  communication  from 
a  meeting  of  the  exhibitors,  made  quite  spontaneously^  ex- 
presses their  thanks  for  the  opportunity  which  our  Congress 
gave  them  of  thus  bringing  their  appliances  under  the  notice 
of  those  interested,  and  contains  valuable  suggestions  which 
will  not  be  lost  sight  of,  for  making  any  future  exhibition  still 
more  successful  and  useful.  Most  persons  were  struck 
with  the  great  variety  of  valuable  sanitary  appliances 
brought  together  which  were  worthy  of  serious  atten- 
tion, but  which  were  at  the  same  time  little  known.  The 
interest  taken  by  the  public,  apart  from  our  members,  in 
the  exhibition,  was  great,  and  is  testified  by  the  fact  that, 
though  little  had  been  done  to  make  its  existence  known, 
it  was  visited  during  the  course  of  six  days  by  upwards  of 
forty-nine  thousand  persons.  The  Council  hope  in  future 
years  to  take  advantage  of  the  experience  they  have  gained 
in  this  experiment,   and  with  improved  classification,  care* 


Introduction.  sxsiii 

fllDy  prepared  catalogues,  and  other  meana  that  may  suggest 
Aemselres,  to  hold  exhibitions  which  will  form  centres  of 
■piitary  iuformation,  practical  iUuetrations  of  many  of  the 
ifecQssions  in  the  Health  Department,  good  guides  to  the 
many  persona  througtiout  the  country  who  are  tnming  their 
(ttentjou  to  eauitary  reform,  and  the  means  of  bringing 
into  public  notice  appIianceB  which  might  otherwise  be 
aily  known  locally,  or  at  least  imperfectly. 

The  following  report  from  the  Council  to  the  concluding 
General  Meeting,  held  at  the  Congresa,  contains  a  summary 
of  ihe  business  transacted  in  the  various  departments  : — 

The  Council  have  to  report  with  much  satiafaction  the  sucoess  of 
tli»r  Fifteeutti  Anaual  Meeticg.  Tha  Mayor  and  Corporation  of 
Lr«<Id kit) illy  permitted  the  Association  to  have  the  Town  Hall  during 
^e  neek  of  ibtsir  meetiDg,  and  of  oertalu  rooms  in  it  for  local  oflices 
pKTiDas  to  the  meeting.  The  membem  of  tlie  Association  have  thus 
bnJ  tlie  very  great  a.lvantage  of  having  the  wliote  of  ihe  rooms  for 
lUim-eliiigB  of  the  deparlmenla,  and  for  every  oiher  purpose,  except 
ibu  of  the  addreasea  of  tbe  Presidents,  under  one  roof.  The  meet- 
itg*  of  the  dcpnrtinenta  and  eectioQa  have  been  generally  well 
Oteuded.  The  Working  Meu'a  Meeting,  in  epile  of  uufavourable 
irtulier,  waa  attended  by  a  large  and  inleresled  audience.  The 
^lu  waa  adopted,  begun  at  Newcastle  last  year,  of  requesting  each 
tfihe  tipeakers  to  auuounce  to  the  General  Secretary  beforehand,  and 
furilie  purpose  of  publication,  the  subject  on  which  he  proposed  to 
IreM.  The  Council  believe  that  this  plan  will  tend  to  give  greater 
dtGniteaesa  and  value  to  the  addresses  thus  delivLTed.  All  the 
iddrcMes  giveu  bore  reference  to  the  peculiar  interests  of  the 
Dvfcing:  classes,  in  one  or  other  subject  brought  prominently  before 
lU  As»ociation, 

On  previous  occasions  there  has  been  a  wish  expressed  by 
may  health  ofBccrs  of  towns,  and  others  inlereated  in  sanitary 
inprovemeols,  that  there  should  bo  held  in  eonueclion  with  the 
l.'iii':;rf^-4  au  exhibition  of  eaniuiry  appliances.  Unfortunately  it 
'.  '  ii:il'.>  ujore  ihnn  a  month  before  the  present  meeting  when  tha 
'.^;;i  -111  Ti  n-oB  made.  It  was  at  once  adopted.  The  trustees  of  the 
Uluiii  lidl  kindly  granted  the  use  of  a  lai'ge  and  commodious  building, 
ud  ibroiigh  the  untiring  exertions  ol  Dr.  Robinson  and  Mr.  11,  H. 
E*Im,  to  whom  the  Council  ts  under  great  obUgations  in  this  matter, 
Uui sxhibitiou  waa  ready  to  be  opened  by  the  olh  inst.  Small  as  it 
a,  it  is  not  too  m'tch  to  say  that  so  many  sanitary  appliances  have 
NT«r  Wore  been  brought  together,  and  the  success  with  which  it  has 
mtpf^iaoluarly  to  the  fact  that  a  future  exhibition,  with  more  time 


xxxiv  Introduction. 

devoted  to  its  preparation,  woald  be  at  once  an  ezceedinglj  asefa 
and  popular  adjunct  to  the  Health  Department  of  the  Congress. 

The  number  of  tickets  sold  has  exceeded  that  of  the  last  thre* 
or  four  meetings.  The  best  thanks  of  the  Association  are  dm 
to  the  Right  lion.  Sir  John  Pakington,  Bart,  M.P.,  G.C.B.,  foi 
his  services  as  President  of  the  Congress,  and  to  the  President! 
Vice-Presidents,  and  Secretaries  of  Departments,  for  the  able  an< 
efficient  manner  in  which  they  have  performed  their  duties.  The] 
have  also  vcrj  cordially  to  thank  the  Executive  Committee,  the  Loca 
General  Secretaries,  and  theTreasurer,  for  having  brought  the  businesi 
of  the  Congress  to  a  successful  issue.  The  thanks  of  the  Associa 
tion  are  likewise  due  to  the  Very  Reverend  the  Dean  of  Durham,  foi 
preaching  the  sermon  at  the  opening  service ;  to  the  Worshipful  th< 
Mayor  and  Corporation,  for  the  use  of  the  Town  Hall,  and  for  the 
great  personal  interest  and  exertion  which  so  many,  and  especial!] 
the  Mayor,  have  shown  in  the  work  of  the  Association ;  to  th< 
Trustees  of  the  Cloth  Hall  for  its  use  for  the  purpose  of  the  Sanitar] 
Exhibition ;  to  the  Committee  of  the  Mechanics'  Institution  for  the 
use  of  their  ^hall  for  the  addresses  of  the  President  and  the  President 
of  Departments,  and  for  the  news-room  and  library ;  to  the  Poo; 
Law  Guardians  for  the  use  of  their  board  room ;  to  Mr.  Wheatley 
Balme,  for  inviting  and  entertaining  the  visitors  at  the  reformator 
at  Mirfield  ;  to  the  Corporation  of  Leeds,  for  an  inspection  of  ch 
Sewage  Works  ;  to  the  heads  of  the  various  institutions  and  manu 
factories  who  have  kindly  thrown  open  their  premises  to  the  visiton 
attending  the  Congress ;  to  the  Post-office  authorities,  for  the  con 
venience  afforded  to  the  members  in  the  reception  room ;  to  th* 
inhabitants  who  have  so  hospitably  entertained  the  visitors  durin] 
the  Congress ;  and  to  the  members  of  the  press,  for  the  admirabl 
manner  in  which  the  proceedings  of  the  various  departments  an* 
sections  have  been  reported.  The  Council  have  also  to  express  tbei 
thanks  to  Miss  Carpenter,  for  the  address  on  female  education  L 
India  delivered  by  her  to  a  crowded  audience  at  the  second  soir^. 

JURISPRUDENCE. 

The  special  questions  discussed  in  the  Municipal  Law  Section  o 
the  Jurisprudence  Department  were — (Ist.)  How  to  improve  th 
system  of  legal  education  ?  (2nd.)  How  to  improve  the  laws  relatin, 
to  the  devolution  and  transfer  of  land  T  (3rd.)  The  question  of  locii 
courts.  On. the  question  of  legal  education  the  prevailing  opinio: 
was  that  the  system  of  compulsory  examination  should  be  extende 
to  the  Bar.  The  section,  however,  were  not  unanimous  in  recoa 
mending  the  establishment  of  a  law  school.  On  the  subject  of  th 
land  question  a  long  and  interesting  discussion  took  place.  Th 
great  inconveniences  of  the  present  system  of  land  transfer  were  th 
subject  of  almost  universal  condemnation.  It  seemed  also  to  be  th 
general  feeling  that  the  devolution  of  real  property  ab  %nie$tai 
should  be  assimilated  to  that  of  personalty  ;  but  this  point  was  onl 
slightly  touched  upon.     Upon  the  question  of  local  courts,  the  mis 


Intrtxiuftiori. 


Hpfii  Kritiing  oiit  of  Lbs  exerRise  by  ibe  samo  court  of  a  number  uf 
ideut  jurUdiclioijs  wern  aniinadwerled  on,  and  Uie  advantage 
it«iti  or  luL-ul  admin  is  I  rat  ion  of  jiialiue  was  gi-iierall/  recognized 
liou  to  tliiTSB  aubjeolB,  t)ie  report  of  the  Cummill«u  of  this 
>ctation  upon  the  question  of  inturnutioniil  arbitration  was  read 
b/  Professor  Leone  Luvi,  and  was  followed  hy  discussion  in  the 
Mctliin.  Tbe  pruvuiliuu  opinion  was  in  favour  of  an  attempt  being 
muds  to  establish  a  court  fur  the  purposes  uf  international  nrbitratiou, 
1^  adTcrse  to  auy  proposal  for  the  emjiloyment  of  force  to  aupport 
lie  decisions  of  any  eucli  tribunal. 

The  opinion  of  ibe  Eepreesion  of  Crime  Section  seemed  to  be  tbat 

■hile   (lie  cellular  ejsiem  mu;  in  certain  cases  be  adopted   with 

kniag«k  the  cuiployweut  of  priauiiera  in  prodmaive  labour  aliould, 

^utucb  wa  poaBiblu,  b«  enouuruged.     Atletitiou   was  culled,  In  con- 

jetioQ  witli  the  discussion  on  the  apucial  iiuestion  reiulin^;  to  the 

Bnuiplra  by  which  the  aioount  of  punishment  ought  to  be  reguiaii^d, 

i  tkn  uuccstilt^  wliicb  prevails  for  securing  greater  uniformity  in  the 

s  of  judges  ami  magistratea,  and  an  opinion  wns  generally 

^tcHolQal  that  this  end  might  be  attained  if  these  functionaries 

uqU  meet  together  IVom  time  to  time,  to  lay  down  general  rules  for 

Itcir  guidance.     The  special  question — "  By  wbat  measures  may  tlie 

KvviiDg  in  stolen  property,  wbelbcr  by  purchasing  it,  or  receiving  it 

Till  Iiledgc,  bo  most  effectually  prevented!"  woe  opened  by  papers 

r  ulidi  led   U)  a  valuable   diecusslou,  and    to   a  resolution,   recom- 

f  m«ad!iig  tliat  the  subject  mutter  of   the  popcr  be  referred   U>  the 

CouucI^  wUii  a  rcqutst  ilmt  it  will,  at  iU  earliest  convenience,  report 

I  Mptclally  ou    the  ri'medius   tliercin  suggested,  and   ou  any  others 

I  tldeb  may  lie  brought  under  notice. 

EDUCATION. 

Ill  the  dlBcussion  in  the  Edueatloo  Department  on  the  part  of  the 

llpMlal  r{u«t)on,  referring  to  tbe  practical  application  of  compubtiun 

I  n  eilucatfon,  it  was  held  that  the  extension  uf  the  provisions  of  the 

§Half-lime  Act.  so  as  to  exclude  from  all   labour  cbildreu  who  Imd 

!ed    the  "  third  standard,"  and    to  exclude    from    full-time 

[hboar  all  who  were   not    provided    with   an    inspector's  certificate 

btiDg  tbat  they  hud  passed  a.  higher  standard,  would  be  practical 

fad  adv«Dtsgenu$.     In  connection  with  the  operation  of  the  new 

Uioot  boardf,   it  waa  almost   inevitable    that   tho  question  of  tlie 

~  A  raliie  of  large  and  small  scboola  should  occupy  tbe  atten- 

I  of  the  section.     Large  elementary  schools  were    held    to   be 

nferahlff  to  smaller  schools,  both  on  tbe  ground  of  economy  and  of 

Rcicney,  and  H  is  hoped  that   tlie  attention  of  school  managers,  sa 

I  Dell  u  of  school   boards,  will    be  eoun   called    to    this    impori«nt 

f  fiMtian.     A  suggeltiun  made  in  connection  with  the  subject  tliat 

mixed  or  infant  schools  should  supply  the  wants  of  children  up   to 

Ui(!  ngpof  liinir,  and  that  nil  older  children  should  be  relegated  to 

•chODls  under  superior  tcMcliere  of  their  own  sex,  seemed  worthy  of 


xxxvi  Introduction. 

further  consideration.  The  altogether  unusually  large  attendaneat, 
when  the  subject  of  the  education  of  girls  was  under  discaoeion^ 
points  to  the  ^o'eat  and  increasiog  interest  felt  bj  our  members  oc= 
this  subject.  The  dissatisfaction  expressed  with  the  present  state  0*3 
female  education  was  especially  great  in  connection  with  that  pro- 
vided by  private  adventure  schools  for  the  lower  middle  class ;  an^ 
the  feeling  was  apparently  unanimous  that  much  good  might  be 
effected  if  some  portion  of  the  endowments  intended  for  the  edn-— 
cational  purposes  served  by  the  Endowed  Schools'  Commissioners 
could  be  used  in  supplying  middle-class  schools  for  girls.  Th^ 
attention  of  educational  reformers  was  called  to  the  necessity  of  8(il9 
continuing  their  efforts  to  extend  the  usefulness  of  the  UniyersitieSs 
both  by  flJtering  the  subjects  of  examination  for  the  prizes  of 
Universities,  so  that  their  influence  on  the  general  education  of 
country  may  not  be  lost,  and  also  by  allowing  fellowships  to  b^ 
held  on  a  tenure  of  work  in  education  throughout  the  country ;  such^ 
for  example,  as  lecturing  in  large  towns^  as  well  as  at  the  Universities 
themselves.  The  report  of  the  work  of  this  section  would  not  bs 
complete  without  reference  to  the  extraordinary  fact  that  a  deaf  and. 
dumb  person  was  introduced  to  the  audience,  and  spoke  in  answer  U> 
questions,  and  repeated  words  spoken  to  him.  This  gentleman  was 
taught  on  the  German  system. 

HEALTH. 

In  the  Public  Health  Department,  the  first  special  question, 
relating  to  the  disposal  of  sewage,  excited  unusual  interest  There 
was  a  very  general  feeling  in  fkvour  of  sewage  irrigation  schemes 
for  the  disposal  of  the  excrement  of  large  towns.  On  the  special 
question  as  to  the  means  for  promoting  the  health  of  factories  and 
workshops,  the  papers  of  Dr.  Arlidge  and  Dr.  Stallard  deserve 
mention;  and  amongst  the  voluntary  papers  brought  before  the 
notice  of  the  members,  that  of  Dr.  Rumsey,  on  the  progressiTe 
degeneracy  of  race  in  the  town  populations  of  Great  Britain,  and 
of  Dr.  Acland,  on  the  habits  of  the  labouring  classes  in  rural 
districts,  were  of  great  interest  and  value.  A  large  amount  of 
interest  in  the  sanitary  improvement  of  Leeds  was  aroused  by  the 
paper  of  Dr.  M.  £.  Robinson,  on  the  measures  which  have  been 
taken  by  the  Corporation  to  improve  the  sanitary  condition  of 
the  town  within  the  last  three  years.  The  report  of  the  Joint 
Committee  of  this  Association  and  the  British  Medical  Association 
on  the  report  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  was  discussed  both  in 
the  opening  address  of  the  President  of  Council  and  in  the  depart- 
ment, where  it  was  unanimously  agreed  that  the  Joint  Committee 
should  still  continue  their  labours,  both  with  a  view  of  obtaining 
some  modifications  of  opinion  expressed  by  the  Commission  in 
relation  to  large  areas  for  the  administration  of  health  laws,  and  for 
securing  officers  of  health  with  better  qualifications  than  what  is 
proposed.    In  connection  with  this  department  it  may  be  menUoned 


:  the  Sanitarj  Exhibition  ties  pxcil«d  gre&t  iuter«at,  and  Iim 
n  viaileJ  hiiliei'to  by  3d,0U0  persons.  A  special  report  tipoD  it 
*  tx^eii  dr&wti  up  by  the  .Socrelarj  of  the  Ilealih  Department, 
1  wiil  bt)  re»dy  for  picaeniiitJon  at  the  next  Council. 

ECONOMY    AND    THADE. 

TThe  speoifil  question  on  the  licensing  luws  occupied  the  nltenlion 
^  the  Econonij  anil  Trndu  Department  two  days,  the  Grat  being 
rotod  to  the  subject  of  the  licensing  authority,  the  second  rather 
i  points  of  secondary  public  interest.  The  several  propaeals,  to 
■kve  the  power  or  licensing  as  at  present  in  the  bauds  of  the 
%gi9tni(ea,  to  appoint  licensing  boards  directly  repreaeniing  the 
Irpayera,  and  to  allow  total  prohibition,  were  respecrively 
ITOOted.  The  preponderance  of  opiuion  Beemed  to  be  in  fuToiir 
J  the  continuance  of  Ilie  power  in  the  bands  of  the  magistrHtes, 

pider  revised  condilions,  wLich  should  give  greater  weigbt  thau  at 

[iretent  exists  to  the  wishes  of  the  ratepayers.     The  genernl  opinion 
of  the  section  was  unanimously  in  favour  of  early  legiahition  on 
the  geuerul   questiou   of    diminution    in    tlie    number  of    licensed 
bousea,  and  of  the  hoars  during  which  sucb  houaes  should  be  open. 
'Die  section  have  forwArded  a  resolution  lo  the  Council  urging  tbera 
10  continue  their  endeavours  lo  ohtuin  au   efficient  measure   from 
Puliniuent  dealing  with  the  whole  subject     Opinion  was  divided 
OB  the  (iiieslions  whether  the  State  or  municipality  ougLt  to  assist  in 
providing  improved  dwellings  for   the   working   classes.      In    the 
«nune  of  the  discussiun,  however,  a  remarkuble  instAnce  was  given 
of  a  working   mau'tt  dwelling   company  which  had   succeeded   in 
providing    excellent  and    cheap  accotntnodation,   and   hud   paid   a 
dirldeud  of  7^    per   cent. — a  result  which    has  bad   the  effect   of 
Induoing  a  private  speculator  to  put  up  similar  bouses  as  an  invest- 
ment for  bis  owH  money.     The  section  recommends  the  Council  to 
Uke  luto  its  consideration  what  legislative  action  can  be  taken  to 
improve  and  render  more  effective  the  Public  Health  Acts,  giving 
power  to  close  or  remove  property  found  unfit  for  habitation,  and 
lo  collect  statistical  information  as  tu  the  experience  of  the  various 
coiapauies,  societies,  and  other  organizations  which  are  engaged  ia 
ptOTidiog  dwellingii  for  the  working  clasaes.     The  special  question 
rehtiog  to  the  assessment  and  administration  of  local  taxation  le<l 
I  i4>ft  dideuBsion  which  brought  out  tlie  extreme  difUculty  of  assessing 
iiud  property.      The  example  of  Belgium  was  dwelt  upon  a>i 
iug  the  satisfactory  result  derived  from  the  opposite  plan.     A 
olution    was    passed,    after    the    discussiou    on    the    ContagiouA 
mues  Acts,  requcsiiog  the  Council  to  consider  the  propriety  of 
moralising  the  Government  in  favour  of  the  repeal  of  those  Acta, 
song  Oliier  papers  which  were  read  iu  the   section  on  Economy 
1  Trndu   was  one  on  the  question  wbether  atrikus  are  necessary 
t  the  protection  of  workmen  or  loch-outa  fur  that  of  employers. 
mSha  writor  expressed  it  aa  hia  opinion  that  these  violeut  proceed- 


xxxviii  Introduction. 

ingB  are  whollj  unnecessary,  and  the  general  feeling  of  the  sectioiL 
was  evidently  in  accordance  with  this  opinion.  The  Indian  Com* 
mittee  of  the  Association  have  resolyed  to  send  a  resolution  of 
sympathy  with  the  promoters  of  the  reformatory  at  Nagpore,  and 
have  requested  Babu  Baoeijee  to  become  tlio  corresponding  secretary 
of  the  Committee,  on  his  return  to  Calcutta. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that  many  of  our  Associates 
and  Members  resident  in  the  country  are  unaware  of  the 
fact,  which  indeed  they  could  hardly  gather  from  our  annual 
volume  of  Transactions^  that^  in  addition  to  the  week  of 
meetings  of  the  Congress,  the  Association  holds  a  meeting 
at  its  London  offices  every  Monday  evening,  from  about 
the  middle  of  November^  when  its  session  commences, 
until  about  the  end  of  June,  when  it  terminates.  These 
meetings  are  divided  among  the  four  departments  of  the 
Association,  and  are  often  of  a  moat  valuable  character. 
At  them  and  at  the  committees,  which  also  meet  in  London, 
many  of  the  papers  read  at  the  yearly  Congress  are  more 
fully  considered  than  they  can  possibly  be  during  the  week. 
In  addition,  many  other  subjects  are  brought  under  discus- 
sion. 

During  the  last  Session  twenty-five  evening  meetings  were 
held  at  the  rooms  of  the  Association,  in  London,  and  twenty- 
four  papers  were  read  and  discussed.  The  papers  and  dis- 
cussions are  printed  in  the  Journal,  which  is  circulated 
widely  during  the  Session.  Ordinary  Members  pay  annually 
One  Guinea  extra  for  this  privilege. 

During  the  year  the  Labour  and  Capital  Committee 
made  three  endeavours  to  put  an  end  to  the  Nine  Hours' 
Strike  of  the  Engineers  at  Newcastle.  Mr.  Walter  Mor- 
rison, M.P.,  and  the  General  Secretary  met  the  League 
Committee,  representing  the  men,  and  saw  some  of  the 
masters.  Subsequently  Mr.  Mundella  visited  Newcastle. 
The  Committee  have  reason  to  believe  that  these  endeavours, 
though  temporarily  unsuccessful,  materially  assisted  in  briug- 
ing  about  the  ultimate  settlement  of  the  question  in  dispute. 


Tntrodwtl/m.  xxxis 

Since  the  issue  of  the  last  volume,  the  Council  have 
fflemfnializcd  the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education  as  to 
nesa  of  women  For  the  work  of  education  generally. 
The  memorial  urged  the  employment  of  women  as  teachers 
B  schoola  of  every  grade,  as  members  of  School  BonnN 
toiler  the  Elementary  Education  Act,  and  as  tnepectora 
i  infants'  and  giria'  schools. 

A  memorial  has  again  been  presented  to  the  Committee  of 
Council  on  Education,  in  favour  of  re-introducing  into  the 
Some  of  Commons  the  Endowed  Schools  Bill,  Part  II, 
Rie  Cottncil  trust  that  in  the  next  Session  this  important 
measure  will  he  re-introduced,  and  carried  successfully 
Krough  both   Houses   of   the  Legislature. 

A  memorial  to  the  Secretary  of  Slate  for  the  Home 
Department  on  the  subject  of  Boards  of  Arbitration  and 
Onndliation  has  been  presented,  calling  attention  to  the 
Inirability  of  providing  a  cheap  and  simple  legal  means  of 
•Trying  out   a   system   of    Trade    Arbitration,   and    of   en- 

Tcing  awards  in  caaea  where  both  parties  voluntarily  adopt 

icli  legal  powers. 

Resolutions  in  favour  of  the  Trades  Union  Bill  were  pre- 
MleJ  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Depart- 
I  Bad  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons  by  the 
ffovenunent.  This  Bill  adopted  several  of  the  principles 
hcommended   by   the   Committee   in   their   circular  of    last 

s  a  basis  of   legislation. 
'  A  series  of  resolutions,  expressing  the  opinion  that  pro- 
bctire  labour  in  prisons  is  an  essential  part  of  every  good 
fetem  of  prison  discipline,  were  communicated  to  the  Secretary 
fSlate  for  the  Home  Department. 

'The  Council  memorialized  the  Government  on  the  subject 
['the  Haljitnal  Criminals  Act,  and  suggested  various  altcr- 

Dns  which   in  their  opinion  would   conduce   to  the  more 

cient   working  of   the    Act.      These    suggestions   related 

toog  other  matters  to  the  important  question  of  lessening 


xl  Introduction. 

the  number  of  harbourera  of  thieves  and  of  receivers  cf 
stolen  property^  and  to  the  re-insertion  of  the  clause 
omitted  from  the  original  Bill  by  which  habitual  criminals 
were  compelled  to  report  themselves  monthly.  The  Council 
also  petitioned  the  House  of  Lords  in  favour  of  the  Preven- 
tion of  Crime  Bill  which  embodied  these  suggestions. 

The  Council  feel  much  pleasure  in  recording  the  successful 
issue  of  the  labours  of  the  Association  towards  the  aboliticm 
of  Grambling  Farms  at  Hong-Kong.  The  representations 
made  in  1868,  1869,  and  1870,  to  Her  Majesty's  Govern- 
ment have  been  followed  by  orders  putting  an  end  to  the 
system  and  providing  against  its  re-establishment. 

On  the  20th  April  last,  a  meeting  was  held,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Association,  to  hear  a  statement  from  M. 
Demetz,  the  founder  of  the  Colonie  of  Mettray,  in  regard 
to  the  disasters  which  had  befallen  the  Reformatory,  in 
consequence  of  the  Franco-German  war.  The  meeting 
expressed  deep  sympathy  with  him,  and  passed  a  resolution 
recommending  the  Executive  Committee  to  sanction  the 
opening  of  a  subscription  list  at  this  office,  in  order  to  assist 
the  Reformatory  in  overcoming  its  difficulties.  A  total  of 
1500Z.  was  raised. 

The  Joint  Committee  of  the  British  Medical  Association 
and  of  this  Association,  on  State  Medicine  and  the  Administra- 
tion and  Organization  of  the  Sanitary  Laws,  have  issued  their 
second  Report.  The  Committee  feel  bound  to  express  their 
views,  because  the  Royal  Sanitary  Commission  may  be  said 
to  owe  its  existence  mainly  to  their  eiforts,  it  having  been 
appointed  in  compliance  with  a  request,  submitted  in  1868 
to  Her  Majesty's  Minirters  by  a  deputation  from  the  above- 
mentioned  Associations.  The  Report  enters  at  length  upon 
the  subject,  and  points  out  certain  primary  defects  in  the 
method  and  scope  of  inquiry,  and  certain  errors  of  conclusion 
which  have  naturally  resulted  from  those  defects.  The 
Report  concludes  with  a  desire  for  a  careful  personal  inquiry 


Introductioiu  xli 

in  the  various  localities  throughout  the  country  before  legis* 
(atlog  permanently  on  the  details  of  sanitary  administration. 

In  addition  to  those  already  mentioned^  the  following  are 
fifflong  the  subjects  which  have  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  various  Committees  during  the  Session: — The  Public 
Prosecutor's  fiilli  the  Repression  of  Crime,  the  School 
Boards,  the  Opium  Traffic,  Adulteration,  the  Metric  System 
of  Weights  and  Measures,  International  Coinage,  the  Licensing 
System,  International  Arbitration,  Prison  Labour,  the  Sani* 
tary  Laws,  the  relations  of  Labour  and  Capital,  and  the 
Mines  Begulation  Bill. 

The  Council  have  to  report  with  regret  during  the  past 
year,  the  loss  by  death  of  the  following  members  of  the 
Association — William  Murray,  £Isq.,  Alexander  Collie,  Esq., 
of  Glasgow,  Henry  Bobinson,  Esq.,  of  Settle,  Sir  Baldwin 
Leighton,  Bart,  Mrs.  Manning,  W.  Pollard-Urquhart,  Esq., 
M.P.9  Edward  Lawrance,  Esq.,  J.  B.  Jeffrey,  Esq.,  Charles 
Buxton,  Esq.,  M.P.,  E.  W..  Field,  Esq.,  A.  J.  Johnes,  Esq., 
Right  Hon.  Edward  Lucas,  J.  Eolge  Manning,  Esq.,  James 
Newlands,  Esq.,  C.E.,  Caleb  Williams,  Esq.,  M.D. 

The    next  Annual  Congress   will  be  held  in    Plymouth 
and  Devonport. 


EDWIN  PEABS. 


January,  1872. 


pams 


THE  RIGHT   HON.    SIR   JOHN    S.    PAKlNGT0yp6uiT,i' 
JI.P,,   G.C.B.,  ' 


PRESIDENT    C 


HE    aSSOCIATION. 


F  il  eliould  be  thought,  aa  I  fear  it  may  be,  that  I  am  guilty 
of  presumption  iti  having  conscntcfl  to  accept  an  office, 
bich  hii3  been  lield  through  a  series  of  ycnrs  by  a  eucceealon 
tbe  must  nhlc  niiJ  distinguished  men  of  our  time,  I  trust  you 
ill  nllow  me,  at  least,  to  share  the  blame  with  those  at  whose 

Bueat  I  bnvc  ventured  to  umlertake  it. 
thas  been  my  rule  in  life  to  leave  others  to  deci^le  in  what 
HilionB  they  thought  I  could  be  useful,  anil  then  to  da  my 
tst  to  justify  the  selection ;  and  that  is  the  principle  on  whicli 
am  acting  now.  Fourteen  years  have  passed  away  since  I 
i  ihc  honour  nf  taking  part,  at  Birmingham,  in  the  first 
leeting  of  ihis  Aasoclution.  Under  the  presidency  of  tiiat 
pent  and  didtinguiiihed  friend  of  progress,  Brougliam,  whose 
iiierest  in  our  usefulness  and  success  ended  only  with  life,  and 
•illi  Lord  John  Russell,  Lord  Stanley,  the  then  Bishop  of 
Lomlon,  now  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Sir  B.  Brodie, 
41  my  colleagues  in  the  chairs  of  Departments,  I  was  entrusted 
0 tiiat occasion  ^vith  the  Department  of  National  Education; 
oil  a  considerable  portion  of  the  address,  to  which  it  is  now 

Sut  iif  my  duty  to  request  your  indulgent  attention,  will  be 
evuted  to  the  present  position  of  that  most  imporlant,  but 
pill  unsettled  and  anxious  subject. 

If  I  remember  rightly  the  character  of  the  opening  addresses 
jleJivored  by  my  predecessors,  they  have  usually  einbodied  the 
fttwi  of  the  president  upon  the  special  questions  suggested 
H  discussion  during  the  progress  of  the  Congress. 
I  Jo  not  propose  to  follow  those  precedents.  The  special 
UHioQS  which  now  await  the  consideration  of  this  Annual 
teCJag  have  been  selected  with  great  judgment,  and  involve 
bjects  which  ought  to  be  settled  as  soon  as  possible  by  the 
tgiJature,  as  being  of  the  highest  importance  to  the  public 
leresls.     They  include  our  systein  of   legal  education,  the 


2  Opening  Address. 

beet  constitution  of  our  local  courts^  our  sjsten^  of  prison  duci- 
pline^  the  education  of  girls^  and  the  care  of  neglected  children, 
the  utilisation  of  town  sewage,  the  laws  for  licensing  public- 
houses,  the  principles  of  local  taxation,  &c.     Subjects  of  such 
magnitude  and  difficulty  can  only  be  considered  satisfactorily 
when  brought  forward  separately,  and  when  I  see  how  eminent; 
and  distinguished  are  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  to  whom^ 
respectively,   the  introduction  of  these   questions  has  been 
entrusted,  I  think  it  would  be  most  presumptuous  on  my  par€ 
if  I  were  to  attempt  to  anticipate  the  subject-matter  of  thosG 
addresses  to  which  we  all  look  forward  with  interest. 

I  prefer  to  touch,  during  tlie  time  for  which  I  shall  ventura 
to  detain  you,  upon  some  of  those  questions  which  affect  mora 
or  less  directly  the  character  and  position,  and  thereby  the 
happiness  and  contentment,  of   the   working   classes  of  thia 
country.    The  Importance  of  this  subject  cannot  be  over-rated  5 
and  there  are  few,  if  any,  questions  of  the  present  day  which,  in. 
my  opinion,  more  urgently  require  attention.     It  involves  not- 
only  the  temporal  and  eternal  welfare  of  vast  masses  of  our 
countrymen ;  not  only  our  character  as  a  civilised  and  Chris- 
tian people ;  but  it  involves  also  the  permanence  of  that  manu- 
facturing and  commercial  prosperity,  upon  which  our  national 
greatness  and  power  so  much  depends.     I  hope  I  shall  not  be 
misunderstood  if  I  here  express  a  wish,  founded  upon  my  long 
experience  as  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the 
attention  of  successive  administrations  and  successive  Parlia- 
ments could  be  somewhat  more  devoted  to  those  questions  of 
domestic  importance  to  which  I  am  now  referring,  and  some- 
what less  occupied  by  questions  of  mere  party  interest. 

I  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  the  question  of  trades  unions. 
It  is,  I  think,  now  generally  conceded,  that  the  objections  to 
trades  unions  have  arisen,  not  from  their  use,  but  from  their 
abuse.  This  Association  had  been  in  a  high  degree  instru- 
mental in  producing  in  the  public  mind  a  juster  and  wiser 
estimate  of  the  objects  and  rights  of  these  bodies.  The  report 
of  our  Special  Committee  on  Trades  Unions  and  Strikes,  pub- 
lished in  1860,  as  a  separate  volume,  contained  a  large  amount 
of  useful  information  on  the  subject,  and  anticipated,  in  a 
considerable  degree,  the  labours  of  the  subsequent  Boyal 
Commission. 

To  such  combined  action  as  may  be  fairly  required  to  pro- 
tect the  interests  of  industrious  men,  and  as  may  be  conducted 
without  injury  to  the  interests  of  the  public,  or  to  the  personal 
liberty  of  individuals,  no  reasonable  objection  can  be  felt. 
The  Legislature  has  now  passed  an  Act  to  place  these  unions 
upon  a  proper  footing,  and  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  in 


By/Afl  Ri.  JTm.  Sir  John  S,  Paltiti^,  St.,  M.P.,  G.G.B. 

most  Cttsea,  if  not  in  all,  the  differeoces  which  may  from  time 
to  time  ariao  between  m;isters  and  workmen  may  be  settled 
lunicably  by  nibitratioTi,  rather  than  by  those  angry  and  pro- 
tmcied  struggles  which  have  too  often  inflicted  severe  and 
'listing  injury  on  botli  jmrtics. 

r  But  I  confess  to  tho  belief  that  it  is  to  improvement  of  the 
hDcial  status,  the  intcltcctual  training,  and  the  moral  tone  of 
the  sldlled  workman  that  we  must  mainly  look  to  avert  an 
visional  repetition  of  that  violence  and  crime  which,  not  in 
ptoo  locality  alono,  but  in  several,  have  shocked  the  moral 
KQse  of  the  public,  and  tarnished  the  good  name  of  the  British 
vtiaaa. 

At  (ho  head  of  those  questions  which  affect  the  welfare  of 

*  c  working  classes,  slill  stands  the'grcat  subject  of  national 

tducatioTi.     I  have  already  alluded  to  this  subject  as  being  in 

Ksrtatc  not  free  from  anxiety.     It  is  much  to  the  credit  of  tlic 

Tpresent  miuisters  that  eince  their  accession  to  office,  two  most 

1  valaable  measures  for  the  promotion  of  education  have  been 

I  pa^^d.     The  Endowed  Schools  Act  passed  in  the  Session  of 

,  and  the  Elementary  Education  Act  of  1870,  are  two 

I  Erent  steps  in  advance,  but  they  nuiet  be  regarded  as  the 

laundBtion  of  the  changes  which  arc  necessary,  rather  than  as 

the  final  settlement  ot  the  problem  which  has  been  so  long 

uiii  Eo  warmly  debated. 

I  rejoice  to  see  that  the  Education  Department  is  to  be 
under  the  guidance,  on  this  occasion,  of  so  old  and  able  a 
I  diiuiniou  of  National  Edueation  as  my  honourable  friend 
Mr.  Baines,  your  respected  ropresenlativo-  My  honourable 
(rieuii  and  myself  have  long  been  fellow  labourers  in  this  great 
cw»e,  and  though  we  may  sometimes  have  differed  as  to  the 
aixlut  ofieraiidi,  I  believe  we  have  ravely,  if  ever,  differed  as 
tofither  the  Ciid  to  be  achieved  or  the  principles  on  which  it 
I  oi^lit  to  be  established. 

I  Ilio  special  questions  appointed  for  discussion  in  this  dc- 
I  parlDtent  are,  no  doubt,  important,  especially  the  two  iirst, 
relnting  to  the  requirements  for  the  improvement  of  the 
eJucotion  of  girls,  and  the  difficult  subject  of  compulsory 
ittendance;  but  I  trust  that,  under  the  competent  presidency 
nf  my  honourable  friend,  our  discussions  will  be  further  ex- 
tended, and  that  the  whole  state  and  prospects  of  National 
EducattoQ  in  England  will  come  under  consideration.  This 
ippearB  to  me  to  be  very  desirable  on  several  grounds,  but 
cipecially  ou  the  ground  that  notwithstanding  the  two  great 
me«gures  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  they  must  be  admitted 
to  be  great  measures,  I  think  there  are  signs  that  the  Govern- 
mint  are  not  duly  impressed  with  the  extent  to  which  the 


4  Opening  Address. 

future  of  this  country  depends  on  the  manner  in  which  this 
subject  is  treated,  or  with  the  absolute  necessity  that  prompt  ' 
attention  should  be  given  to  those  important^  practical  points 
which  arc  as  yet  unsettled— some,  indeed,  as  yet  almost  un- 
touched.    In  expressing  this  opinion  I  desire  to  guard  myself 
against  any  suspicion  that  I  am  influenced  by  party  motives. 
I  am  aware  that  anything  like  party  feeling  on  the  part  of 
the  President  of  this  Congrc.<s  would  be  improper;  but  I  also 
think  there  are  some  who  now  hear  me  who  can  confirm  me 
when  I  say  that  I  have  never  allowed  my  connexion  with  politi- 
cal party  to  influence  my  conduct  for  the  last  twenty  years  on 
the  subject  of  National  Education.      Indeed,  if  my    humble 
eflbrts  on  that  subject  have  at  any  time  involved  me  in  party 
diflerence,  it  has  been,  not  with  my  political  opponents^  but; 
rather  with  the  friends  with  whom  I  have  usually  acted  iim. 
public  life.    It  is,  therefore,  with  reluctance  and  regret,  rather" 
than  with  any  party  feeling,  that  I  feel  bound  to  avow  my^ 
opinion  that  the  present  administration,  like    most  of   theic~ 
predecessors,  under  our  present  system  of  government   ar^ 

}>rone  to  think  too  much  of  what  is  good  for  the  party,  and  to<^ 
ittle  of  what  is  good  for  the  people. 

I  wish  also  to  guard  myselt  against  any  appearance  of 
speaking  with  the  least  approach  to  disrespect  of  the  right 
honourable  gentleman  the  Vice-President  of  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil, to  whom  we  must,  I  presume,  for  the  present  look  as 
being  in  fact,  though  not  in  form,  the  Education  Minister. 
On  the  contrary  I  shall,  I  am  euro,  meet  witli  the  unanimous 
concurrence  not  only  of  all  who  hear  mc,  but  of  all  true 
friends  of  education,  when  I  say  that,  although  differences 
may  have  arisen  between  certain  parties  on  isolated  points, 
we  are  all  indebted  to  the  right  honourable  gentleman  for  the 
great  ability,  the  perfect  mastery  of  complicated  details,  and 
the  admirable  calmness  and  temper  with  which  he  prepared  and 
carried  through  the  House  of  Commons  the  Endowed  Schools' 
Act  and  the  Elementary  Education  Act. 

But  the  right  honourable  gentleman  must  not  suppose — 
indeed  he  cannot,  he  does  not  suppose — that,  having  added 
these  two  measures  to  the  Statute  liook,  his  work  is  done ;  it 
is  only  commenced ;  and  I  must  in  candour  say  that,  whatever 
may  be  mv  feelings  as  a  party  politician  as  to  the  hands  in 
which  I  should  desire  the  government  of  this  country  to  be 
placed,  I  should  regard  any  change  which  caused  Mr.  Forster 
to  leave  the  Education  Department  as  being,  to  that  extent,  a 
public  misfortune.  And  I  am  thus  led  to  refer  for  a  moment 
to  one  serious  blot,  as  I  venture  to  think,  in  the  Elementary 
Education  Act,    I  mean  the  omission  of  any  change  in  the 


Pv'A-J  Itl.  ITon.  Sir  John  S.  PaBnfffm,  Bt.,  M.P.,  G.C.B,    5 

constitution  of  the  Education  Department,  with  a  view  to  the 
sppointinent  of  a  distinct  Education  Minister  as  a  High 
Officer  of  State,  with  a  scat  in  the  Cabinet.  It  is  true  that 
we  have  at  present  two  education  ministers,  bolh  in  the 
Cabinet.  The  two  miiiistera  who  sit  in  their  office  as  chief  nnd 
luhordtnate — president  and  vice-preeident — ait  in  the  Cabinet 
aseqiiuU;  and  when  they  appear  in  Parliament  to  transact 
the  bnsiness  of  tlie  deparlmect  there,  their  departmental  posi- 
tions are  reversed — the  vice-president  is  practically  the  chief, 
and  the  president  practically  the  subordinate  !  Thia  state  of 
ftRairs  is  eo  anoaialous  as  to  approach  the  ridiculous,  and  it 
must  not  be  allowed  to  continue. 

And  as  a  practical  result  of  this  absurd  division  of  authority, 
I  will  ask  you  to  bear  in  miud  that  during  the  late  Session  of 
'Parliament,  we  may  almost  be  said  to  have  had  no  education 
ister  at  all.  In  as  much  as  one  of  the  two  halves  which 
Ipose  the  education  minister,  as  at  present  constituted, 
I  sent  oft'  to  America  to  negociate  a  treaty  with  the  Govern- 
icnt  of  the  United  States,  while  the  other  was  called  upon 
nndertnko  the  arduous  and  difficult  duly  of  conducting 
Dugh  the  House  of  Commons  a  warmly  contested  Bill  to 
estnbjisli  voting  by  ballot  at  parliamentary  and  munioipal 
(lections.  I  am  not  surjirised  at  the  selection  of  Mr.  Forster 
for  that  duty.  It  was  not  an  easy  task,  and  it  required 
eiactly  those  qualities  of  which  he  had  shown  himself  to  be 
in  an  eminent  degree  possessed;  but  this  consideration  offers 
no  consolation  to  the  rriends  of  education,  thou";h  it  explains 
vhythc  arrangement  suited  the  convenience  of  the  Govern- 
ment; the  result  of  all  this  has  been  that  while  numerous 
imptirtant  questions  have  been  pressing  for  settlement,  little 
hs  been  done.  It  is  not  possible  that  a  minister,  thus  bur- 
dened with  extraordinary  duty,  can  properly  attend  to  the 
details  of  his  own  department ;  and  can  he  be  blamed  if  when 
the  labours  of  such  a  session  are  concluded,  he  feels  obliged  to 
seek  complete  repose  ?  Yet  it  is  notorious  that  at  this  moment 
lliB  Education  Office  is  overburdened  with  work,  and  that 
liie  progress  of  its  duties  has  been  seriously  impeded,  because 
tliere  has  been  no  official  at  baud  of  sufficient  authority  to 
liltend  to  the  business.  Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  this 
misfortune  could  not  have  occurred  if  the  Vice-President  had 
Dul  been  withdrawn  by  party  exigencies  from  working  out 
the  provisions  of  his  own  measure? 

I  must  repeat  my  hope  that  my  motives  for  what  I  have 
just  said  will  not  be  mistaken.  The  friends  of  education  feel 
the  importance  of  having  an  able  minister  placed  at  the  head 
of  a  distinct  department.      A  change  more  important   than 


6  Opening  Address. 

ever  since  the  passing  of  the  two  Acts  to  which  I  have  re« 
ferred)  and  I  venture  to  think  that  if  the  country  had  had  the 
benefit  of  such  a  minister  during  the  present  year,  the  Govern- 
ment would  not  have  ventured  to  send  him  either  to  Americi 
or  to  the  Ballot  Bill ;  and  I  further  think  that  if  Mr.  Forster 
had  been  that  minister,  he  would  have  declined  at  so  critical 
a  time  to  leave  the  duties  of  his  office. 

I  trust  the  Government  will  be  sensible  of  the  necessity  of 
putting  an  end  to  such  anomalies,  and  that  one  of  their  earliest 
measures  will  be  to  create  the  new  office  so  urgently  required, 
and  to  enable  the  country  to  feel  that  all  the  various  branches 
of  this  most  important  and  difficult  subject  are  in  the  hands  of 
a  competent  minister,  bound  to  conduct  it  with  undivided 
responsibility,  and  to  devote  to  it  undivided  attention. 

Mr.  Forster  brought  to  the  fulfilment  of  his  official  duties, 
an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  whole  subject,  and  I  think  he 
acted  with  wisdom  in  devoting  his  attention  in  the  first  in- 
stance to  those  educational  endowments  scattered  in  useless 
profusion  over  the  whole  country — intended  by  their  founders 
to  supply  in  their  respective  localities  those  educational  de- 
ficiences,  of  which  intelligent  men  even  in  those  days  felt  the 
extent — but  which  have  dwindled  down  under  the  influence 
of  long  neglect,  till  we  see  them,  in  a  great  majority  of  in- 
stances, mere  valueless  illustrations  of  the  good  intentions  o£ 
the  past,  and  painful  proofs  of  the  short-sighted  negligence  of 
the  present. 

I,  at  least,  may  be  allowed  on  the  present  occasion  to  ex* 
press  my  satisfaction  at  the  determination  of  Mr.  Forster  to 
grapple  vigorously  and  immediately  with  that  great  blot  in. 
our  educational  system,  for  this  was  one  of  the  subjects  to 
which  I  ventured  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Social  Science 
Association  when  I  presided  over  the  Educational  Department 
at  their  first  Congress  in  1857.  I  then  said,  "  We  are  very 
apt  to  suppose  that  the  only  difficulties  are  those  which  have 
arisen  with  respect  to  the  working  classes." 

I  hold  this  to  be  a  great  error,  because  I  know  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  middle  classes  find  themselves  in  a  position  of 
great  difficulty  on  this  subject.  It  is  the  small  tradesmen, 
tiie  small  farmer,  and  others  of  that  class,  who  know  not 
where  to  obtain  good  education  for  their  children,  and  who 
find  themselves  obliged  to  pay  dearly  for  a  bad  article. 
Connected  with  this  part  of  the  subject  there  is  another 
of  great  importance  —  I  mean  the  small  endowments  in 
England  for  education.  I  am  happy  to  state  that  papers 
on  this  subject  will  be  read — with  regard  to  the  miadle 
classes.    I  have  already  alluded  to^the  difficulties  they  fed» 


hy  the  St.  Hon.  Sir  John  S.  Pahington,  Bl.,  M.P.,  G.  C.B.     7 

^^  which  have  been  preesed  upou  mc  in  many  communica- 
(Ds  from  persons  in  that  clasa,  pointing  out,  in  touching  terma, 
p disadvantages  under  which  ihey  suffer.  These  observntiona 
■e  followed  up  on  several  occasions  by  my  eucce^Eora  in 
Chair  of  Education ;  and  in  1864  our  Council  sent  a 
putation  to  Lord  Palmerston,  then  Premier,  to  urge  iho 
ipointment  of  a  Koyal  Commission  to  inquire  into  these 
idowments.  This  application  was  grunted,  and  the  Sohools 
quiry  Commission  led  to  the  fiassing  of  the  Endowed  Schools 
^,  and  the  existence  of  the  Endowed  Schools  Commission. 
«ae  schoola  are  thus  being  brought  once  more  into  useful 
Mvlty,  and  the  Association  may,  I  think,  look  back  with 
{culiar  gratification  on  the  history  of  tbis  question. 
But  the  Endowed  Schools  Ac^  na  submitted  to  the  Hoase 
Commons,  was  not  limited  to  the  clauses  relating  to  endowed 
iWla.  There  was  attached  to  it  a  second  part,  by  which  it 
yu  proposed  to  create  a  Council  of  Education,  to  which  were 
Ib  be  entrusted  several  important  functions,  and  especially 
K»e  which  related  to  tlie  supply  of  duty-qualified  masters  for 
i(  different  classes  of  schools.  Before  the  Bill  left  the  House 
I  Commons,  this  second  part  was  given  up,  and  wo  have  as 
jrel  beard  no  more  of  it :  1870  passed  by  and  Mr.  Forster  was 
Wcupied  with  bia  great  task  of  the  Elementary  Education 
Kll — no  one  will  complain  of  that — but  1871  has  passed  by, 
ud  Mr.  Forster  was  occnjiicd  with  the  Ballot  Bill ;  the  Ballot 
liU  will  no  doubt  be  brouglit  on  again  next  year,  but  let  ua 
iofi  that  Mr.  Forster  will  not  again  be  requested  to  take 
.dirge  of  it.  Let  us  hope  that  in  his  skilful  and  competent 
ktada  we  shall  then  have  the  second  part  of  the  Endowed 
Schools  Bill  introduced  as  a  separate  measure.  I  do  not  wish 
to  be  understood  as  committing  myself  to  every  detail  of  that 
fKand  part,  but,  speaking  of  it  as  a  whole,  I  do  feel  regret, 
ud  I  have  beard  it  made  the  subject  of  much  complaint,  that 
>e  whole  of  the  Endowed  Schools  Bill,  with  such  amendments 
I  Parliament  might  have  adopted,  was  not  passed  at  once. 
ie  increased  progress  to  which  we  may  now  look  forward 
I  the  various  branches  of  our  educational  system,  makes  the 
ly  of  quahfied  masters  a  matter  of  primary  importance, 
tne  loss  of  even  two  years  is  serious. 
In  considering  the  present  noaition  and  prospects  of  elcmL-nt- 
y  education,  it  is  iuripossible  not  to  be  struck  on  the  one 
nd  with  the  magnitude  of  the  task  before  ua,  and  of  the 
brts  which  will  be  required  to  compensate  for  long  and 
imeful  neglect,  and  with  the  importance  of  points  which 
bain  unsettled  or  untouched;  and,  on  the  other  baud,  wc 
tet  in  justice  acknowledge  and  admire  the  bold  and  compre- 


8  Opening  Address. 

heneive  spirit  In  >yhich  the  Vice-President  shaped  his  grei 
measure  of  last  year,  and,  steering  it  with  infinite  skill  throng 
all  the  ^conflicting  views  which  arose  from  opposite  qoarten 
succeeded,  to  the  delight  of  all  true  friends  of  proness  an 
intellectual  cultivation,  in  passing  a  measure  which,  if  nc 
supported  with  unanimous  approbation  in  all  its  parts,  all,  i 
least,  were  willing  to  accept.  Thus  fulfilling  'a  prophec; 
which  I  once  ventured  to  make  in  an  address  on  this  questie 
at  Manchester — "  No.  This  subject  can  only  be  settled — an 
I  believe  it  will  be  so  settled — when  the  Ministers  of  th 
Queen  shall  determine  to  mpple  with  it,  with  courage  an 
determination."  I  am  glad  I  have  lived  to  seethat  prophec 
fulfilled. 

But  I  have  just  declared  my  opinion  that  the  task  befor 
our  Government  is  still  one  of  magnitude  and  difficulty. 

What  have  been  the  specific  demands  which  have  bee 
persistently  urged  by  the  friends  of  education  through  thei 
protracted  fight?  They  asked  for  religious  freedom  undi 
the  protection  of  a  conscience  clause,  and  that  what  wi 
called  the  religious  diflSoulty  should  no  longer  impede  ^enen 
education.  This  has  been  conceded,  not  perhaps  in  tli 
shape  most  to  be  desired,  but  it  is  conceded.  They  askc 
for  the  power  of  levying  rates  so  that  education  shoul 
no  longer  be  subject  to  the  uncertainty  of  voluntary  efiTort,  < 
be  impeded  by  financial  difficulty,  and  that  public  aid  shoo! 
no  longer  be  confined  to  those  districts  whicti  were  best  ab 
to  provide  for  themselves.  This,  too,  has  been  concede 
They  asked  that  excessive  centralisation  should  be  supersede 
by  a  system  of  local  agency,  in  connection  with  central  auth 
rity.  They  asked  that  the  unequal  area  of  parishes  should  I 
disregarded,  and  school  districts  be  established  in  such  mann* 
that  every  child  should  have  a  school  worth  attending  with 
reasonable  distance,  and  that  the  numerous  educational  endoi 
ments,  now  almost  useless,  should  be  reformed  and  ma4 
available.  These  demands  have  also  been  conceded*  At 
lastly,  they  asked  that  the  anomalous  "  Committee  of  Count 
on  Education "  should  cease  to  exist,  and  that  a  minister 
public  instruction,  with  a  properly  organised  Departmen 
should  be  established.  This  nas  not  been  conceded  as  yet,  h 
it  must  come. 

We  thus  see,  and  we  should  thankfully  acknowledge,  th 
the  comprehensive  Act  of  last  year  has,  with  the  one  excepti< 
mentioned,  fully  and  generously  met  the  deficiencies  whi< 
had  so  lonff  been  the  subject  of  complaint,  and  ior  whi< 
legislators  of  all  parties  had  repeatedly,  but  vainly,  attempted 
provide  a  remedy. 


ifihe  Rl.  Hon.  SirJohnS.  i^Lt^t^ttm,  Bl.,  M.P.,  6.C.B.     9 

Hcnr  tlieii  am  I  jtistifie<J  in  eajing  that  tins  great  subject 
i  in  an  ansetlletl  state  ?  One  reason  requiring  the  early 
in'l  c«reful  attention  of  either  central  or  local  authorities  is 
the  great  and  unduubtetl  inferiority  of  a  large  proportion  of 
\ksm  ecliooU  which  wo  include  in  all  statistical  statements 
Dt  cur  educational  means,  and  to  which  we  at  present  trust 
I  fur  the  training  of  children  in  those  numerous  areas  for  which 
they  profess  to  act.  Ample  proof  of  this  inferiority  may  be 
found  throughout  the  last  report  (1870-Tl)  of  the  Educational 
Department. 

Id  the  report  of  the  department  the  following  passage  occurs. 
After  referring  to  the  unsatisfactory  results  of  esaminationa, 
it  in  said — '*  These  results,  though  they  show  a  slight  improve- 
i  u])oii  previous  years,  are  far  from  satisfactory.  We 
Ini9t  tnat  the  provisions  of  the  new  code,  and  the  working 
of  the  Education  Act,  will,  ere  long,  cfieot  a  marked  change 
iothe  number  of  children  found  in  our  schools,  in  the  regu- 
\aiij  of  tbeir  attendance,  and  in  the  standard  of  instruction 
Ipwhich  they  rise."  If  we  turn  to  the  Inspector's  reports 
'  la  general  statement  from  the  central  office   is  more  than 

ifirmetl. 

I  The  Itev.  Mr.  Mitchell,  after  stating  some  improvement 
■ihe  schools  of  his  district,  adds — "  There  is  still,  however, 
■Jearful  amount  of  back-w;iy  to  mnke  up,  and  it  is  only  those 

'aols  marked  good  (i.c,,  leas  than  halt),  which  can  be  said 
logive  anything  like  a  real  substantial  education  to  the  ma- 
jorily  of  their  scholars,"  The  fair  inference  from  these 
sUtements,  supported  by  numerous  others  of  a  similnr 
nature,  is,  as  1  have  already  said,  that  Ihe  education  minis- 
ter hoH  still  before  him,  a  large  and  heavy  work;  and  so 
fur  as  these  deficiencies  are  concerned,  we  may,  for  the 
present,  be  content  with  joining  in  the  hope  expressed  by 
'  tlic  Department  that  they  will,  under  the  operation  of  the 
"new  Code  and  the  new  Act,  be  gradually  corrected. 

But  there  is  a  more  serious  cause  for  anxiety  in  the  present 

icpeet  of  that  religious  difKculty  which  so  long  constituted  a 

^mful  aud  fatal  impediment  to  the  adoption  of  any  national 

9jatm.     I  think  I  am  not  exceeding  the  truth  when  I  state 

Dij  belief  tlmt  it  is  dc.<ired  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of 

tile  people  of  England  of  all  religious  denominations — Church, 

■fiotestant  Nonconformist,  Roman  Catholic  alike — ^that  reli- 

)  teaching  should  not  be  excluded  from  our  schools,     I 

Eelievo  the  advocates  of  secular  schools  to  be  in  a  very  small 

Isunarity — I   am    of   course   assuming,   when    1   express   this 

1  ciMuiun,  that  a  secular  school  is  one  in  which  no  religious  or 

iripture  teBching  is  penmtted ;   and  I  believe  that  of  the 


10  Opening  Addrui. 

small  minority  who  would  send  their  children  to  euch  a  8oho( 
the  greater  part  would  be  influenced^  not  by  any  desire  thi 
their  children  should  not  receive  instruction  in  rcliffioni  bi 
by  a  fear  lest  from  the  instruction  given  they  should  be  led 
form  opinions  of  which  the  parents  would  not  approve. 

I  think  it  will  be  admitted  by  all  who  concur  in  the  beli 
that  a  great  majority  of  the  people  desire  to  have  religioi 
instruction  in  our  schools^  that  the  enactments  in  the  Edue 
tion  Act  upon  this  most  important  subject,  touching  as  it  do 
the  deepest  feeling  of  our  nature,  are  in  fact  a  compromise 
conflicting  opinions,  and  a  compromise  of  a  most  liberal  cha 
acter.  It  is  left  to  denominational  schools  which  contini 
their  independent  action,  to  teach  just  as  they  have  hither 
taught,  suDJect  only  to  the  indispensable  condition  that  tl 
conscientious  feelings  of  all  parents  of  pupils  who  dissent  fro: 
such  teaching  shall  be  respected.  In  schools  established  I 
School  Boards  perfect  liberty  is  given  to  the  boards,  subje 
only  to  the  restrictions  that  no  religious  catechism  or  distim 
tive  religious  formulary  shall  be  taught — that  whatever  n 
ligious  teaching  is  given  shall  be  ^iven  at  specified  hours — an 
that  objecting  parents  may  at  their  own  option  withdraw  thei 
children  from  the  religious  teaching  of  the  school  whatever  i 
may  be.  Whatever  objections  to  this  compromise  may  b 
felt,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  any  can  be  founded  on  it 
not  being  sufficiently  liberal.  It  is  a  compromise  to  whid 
the  sincere  advocates  of  full  denominational  teaching  in  ele 
mentary  schools  gave  a  reluctant  assent,  and  it  might  haT< 
been  sanguinely  hoped  that  it  would  have  been  accepted  oi 
all  sides  in  a  really  liberal  spirit. 

But  we  are  told  that  these  hopes  are  to  be  disappointed"- 
we  are  told  that  not  only  in  Local  Boards,  but  in  Parliamenti 
this  painful  battle  is  to  be  fought  over  again,  and  that  du 
portion  of  parliamentary  time,  which  might  be  devoted  tc 
continued  progress  in  the  great  work  of  intellectual  cultivir 
tion,  is  to  be  occupied  in  petty  stmggles  for  sectarian  ascend* 
ency.  I  will  hope  for  better  things.  In  contending,  as  ] 
have  always  done,  that  the  religious  question  in  educatioi 
ought  to  be  settled  on  a  basis  of  liberal  consideration  for  tb 
views  of  all,  I  have  met  with  much  of  that  narrow  and  in 
tolerant  spirit  which  is  too  often  the  result  of  excessive  zeal 
and  of  implicit  faith  in  the  correctness  of  our  own  opinions.  \ 
have  met  with  it  in  Churchmen.  I  have  met  with  it  in  Noo 
conformists.  I  have  experienced  the  difficulty  of  indudn; 
conscientious  men  of  strong  opinions  to  make  liberal  concea 
sions  to  views  which  they  honestly  believe  to  be  erroneom 
But  when  an  overwhelming  sense  <»  the  necessity  for  brin^ 


ftht  RuBon.  Sir  John  S.  Paiaiffton,  St.,  Hf.P.,  G.C.B.  U 

protracted  agitation  to  a  close  had  led  that  aide  in  the 
overey,  which  I  think  certainly  has  not  the  best  of  the 
lin,  to  acccjit  the  Act  as  it  stande,  and  to  reaolve  to  carry 
At  in  good  faith,  I  feel  that  we  had  a  right  to  expect  that 
, should  be  met  in  a  eimilar  epirit.  It  ia  ileeply  to  be 
^ted  that  an  intention  to  revive  this  agitation  has  been 
Sunced.  It  appears  that  one  ground  of  complaint  has 
fcdy  arisen,  and  that  another  is  likely  to  arise.  That 
Hi  has  arisen  relates  to  the  power  conferred  by  the  Act 
School  Boards,  where  compolsory  attendance  has  been 
ted,  to  pay  the  fees  of  school  children  in  cases  of  proved 
irty  of  tne  parents, 

is  now    sought  to  impose  a  restriction  on  the  exercise 

is  power  hy  making  it  a  condition  of  such   payment  of 

'that   the    children  shall   only  attend   schools  connected 

'  the  Board,  and  shall  not  be  allowed  to  attend  any  de- 

balional  school,  whatever  the  wishes  of  ihe  parents  may 

'  Considering    the   quarter  from    which    this    suggested 

l!ctioa   is  said    lo  proceed,  it   is  impossible  to  regard  it 

out  surprise.     It  ts  probable  that  in  practice  such  ques- 

I  will  not  often  occur,  but  the  principle  involved  is  im- 

int;    it   is   in  fact,   so   far  as   it   goes,  the   principle   of 

pou9   liberty,   and   1  do  not  see  how  it  can  be  thought 

Kslcnt  with  cither  charity  or  true  libendity,  to  take  ad- 

Btage  of  the  poverty  of  a  parent  to  compel  him  not  to  send 

n  children  to  that  school  for  which  on  account  of  its   re- 

p'TUa   teaching,   or   on   any   other  ground,   he   may   feel  a 

micrence.     Let  us  suppose  the  case  of  a  Roman  Catholic 

^Id  whose   parent   is   reduced   to   poverty,  and   applies   to 

'  School   Board  to   pay   the   fees   of    a    Roman    Catholic 

dOI,  and  that  the  answer  of  the  Board  should  be,  *'  No, 

irill  I>ay  your  fees,  but  only  on  condition  of  your  child 

IE  to  one  of  our  own  schools."     I  think  such  an  answer 

i  only  be  regarded  as  nn   act   of   tyranny   towards  the 

Hunatc  parent,  and  let  us  hope  that  the  Education  De- 

uent  will  be  firm  in  their  determioation  not  to  sanction 

iye^aws  which  would  so  control  the  discretion  and  liberty 

^onts. 

B  other  cause  of  difficulty  which  seems  too  likely  to  arise, 

vhich  will,  I  think,  require  much  caution  and  cure  on  the 

'of  both  school  boards  and  the  central  authority,  is  the 

uon  In  what  manner,  and  to  what  extent,  can  religious 

tction  best  be  given  without  violating  the  spirit  or  the 

of  the  provisions  of  the  Act?     It  is  distinctly  enacted 

lUso  14  that  in  schools,  provided  by  school  boards,  "no 

DU8  catechism  or  religious  formulary,  which  is  distinctive 


12  Opening  Address. 

of  any  particular  religious  denomiuation^  shall  be  tanglit  in  ib 
school.  H0W9  then^  is  religious  instruction  to  be  rifwtJ 
We  must  hope  that  in  a  great  majority  of  cases  school  bondll^ 
will  not  consent  to  exclude  religious  teaching  from  thoi^ 
schools?  If  SO9  is  it  likely  to  be  generally  satisfactory  thift 
religious  teaching  should  be  limited  to  simple  reading  of  thi 
Bible!  I  believe  not.  There  remains,  tnen,  the  difficdl 
question,  in  what  manner  religion  shall  be  taught?  A  eola- 
tion of  this  question,  which  seems  well  worthy  of  consideralaoa, 
has  been  suggested  by  a  reverend  friend  of  mine  (Oanoft 
Melville),  to  the  effect  that  in  schools,  in  which  religioni 
instruction  is  to  be  given,  boards  should  authorise  ikt 
teaching  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  the  outline  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  best  mode  ot 
accomplishing  this  latter  object  would  be  by  the  Apostles* 
Creed,  but  if  that  should  be  held  to  be  inconsistent  with 
the  restrictions  in  the  Act,  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in 
selecting  passages  from  the  New  Testament  well  adapted  to 
effect  the  same  object. 

I  will  dwell  no  longer  on  this  part  of  my  subject  than  to 
repeat  my  hope  that  we  may  be  spared  a  repetition  of  a  painful 
conflict,  and  that  the  points  of  difficulty  to  which  I  have  re* 
ferred  may  be  adjusted  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  charity,  rather 
than  of  sectarian  jealousy. 

Another  subject  connected  with  this  great  effort  to  improve 
the  education  of  the  people  T  cannot  pass  over.  I  mean  the 
novel,  difficult,  and  all-important  question  of  compulsory  at- 
tendance  at  school.  I  see  amongst  the  special  questions  for 
our  consideration — **In  what  form,  if  any,  can  Compulsion 
be  best  applied  ?  "  As,  therefore,  the  subject  will  bo  discussed 
in  our  Education  Department,  and  we  shall  have  the  advan- 
tage of  hearing  the  views  of  its  experienced  President,  I 
shall  at  this  time  limit  my  own  observations  to  saying  that^ 
while  I  am  conscious  of  the  difficulty  of  the  first  commence- 
ment of  a  system  of  compulsion  in  the  present  state  of  this 
country,  I  consider  it  indispensable  that  the  attempt  should 
be  made.  I  observe,  with  very  great  satisfaction,  in  the 
Report  of  the  Education  Department  for  this  year,  not  only 
that  the  Department  is  giving  to  this  subject  "the  careful 
attention  which  is  demanded  by  its  importance  and  novelty," 
but  that  bye-laws  enforcing  school  attendance  have  already 
been  approved  for  the  Boroughs  of  Liverpool,  Stockport,  and 
Bootle-cum-Linacre,  at  the  request  of  the  education  boards  of 
those  places,  and  that  similar  bye-laws  for  several  other  im- 
portant towns  were  under  the  consideration  of  the  Department 
when  that  report  was  published. 


fduJii,  Hon.  Sir  John  S,  Paiwgton,  Bi.,  M.P.,  G.C.B.  13 

Its  looks  well ;  but  it  ie  in  tbc  rural  districts  that  the 
;eet  difficulty  in  the  adoption  of  a  compulsory  system  will 
lund,  and  it  is  there  that  tho  most  careful  consideration 
ic  Education  Minister  will  be  required. 
iDuat  uow  ask  your  permission  to  ailvert  for  a  short  time 
branch  of  this  great  subject  which  lias  hitherto  received 
— I  may  almost  say  no — attention  from  either  Parliament 
le  public,  which  nearly  aft'ects  the  welfare  and  prosperity 
«ur  i^killvd  artisans,  who  arc  conscious  ol  their  own  disad- 
vautages  in  this  respect,  and  anxious  for  their  correction, 
uid  which  touches  no  less  directly  the  manufacturing  and 
enoimercial  interests  of  the  country.  I  allude  to  technical 
eiiocation. 

\\'e  cannot  wonder,  when  we  remember  through  what  a 
length  of  time  the  elementary  education  of  the  people  has  been 
left  to  chance  aud  cliarity,  and  what  was  and  is  a  national 
doty  has  been  treated  as  an  individual  hobby,  as  part  of  the 
putoral  duties  of  benevolent  ministers  of  religion,  and  sup- 
ported in  a  great  degree  at  their  own  expense,  from  their  own 
uRow  means — wo  cannot  wonder,  1  say,  when  such  has  been 
tlie  treatment  of  indispensable  elementary  education  by  this 
great  and  enlightened  country,  aa  we  consider  ourselves  to  be, 
tliat  the  scientiSc  triuning  of  boys,  to  tit  them  fur  those  occu- 
pations and  trades  by  which  they  were  to  live  and  prosper  and 
gaia  reputation  for  themselves  and  their  country,  has  been 
almost  winJly  neglected.  We  must  take  care  that  we  do  not, 
btfora  long,  suffer  very  seriously  for  this  neglect,  and  without 
gloijjung  to  consider  where  the  blame  should  rest,  let  us  rather 
look  lo  the  future,  and  remember  that  "  it  is  never  too  late  to 
mend," 

There  are  consequences  of  this  neglect  easily  to  be  Been,  and 
which  we  cannot  atford  to  disregard.  "  We  must  take  blama 
to  ourselves  for  having  allowed  many  branches  of  trade,  skill, 
and  commerce,  which  yielded  to  England  the  greatest  remu- 
nenitiim,  brought  to  her  commerce  the  greatest  reputation, 
mi  afforded  to  her  people  the  highest  wages  and  best  work, 
to  pass  away  into  the  hands  of  better  educated  people,  in 
foreign  l^inds  guided  by  wiser  heads."  These  last  words  are  a 
ijuoiation  from  Mr.  Scott Kussell's  able  work  upon  "Technical 
Kducation,"  a  work  which  1  wish  was  in  the  hands  of  all  who 
feel  interest  in  either  the  national  mauufactures,  or  our 
URtioaal  education. 

In  England  technical  education  may  be  said  to  be  provided 
for  some  of  the  higher  classes  of  professions  in  our  universi- 
ties, and  in  other  bodies,  such  as  Medical  and  Engineers'  Col- 
wes,  and  something  has  been  done  in  lioyal  Schools  by  tha 


14  Opening  Address* 

Government.  I  have  myself  taken  a  humble  but  zealous  pirt 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Royal  School  of  Naval  Architi^ 
ture,  which  is  flourishing  and  doing  good  service  under  moit 
able  management,  at  South  Kensington.  There  is  also  ihi 
School  of  Mines  in  Jermyn  Street.  There  is  the  Collie  d 
Chemistry,  the  Agricultural  College  at  Cirencester,  and  soiii 
others  ;  but,  in  the  sense  in  which  T  am  now  speaking,  I  agree 
with  Mr.  Scott  Russell,  that,  ''  as  a  rule,  technical  educatiot 
does  not  exist."  And  what  is  technical  education  ?  Mr.  Biu» 
sell's  answer  is — 

'*By  technical  education,  I  mean  not  that  general  education  whidi 
we  all  ought  to  have,  and  which  helps  to  make  us  intelligent,  abl% 
good  men,  but  that  special  education  in  our  calling,  which  should  It 
and  enable  each  of  us  to  discharge  in  the  best  manner  the  special 
narrow  round  of  duty  by  which  each  citizen  fills  his  own  personal 
place  in  social  life." 

I  have  said  that  the  more  intelligent  of  our  English  artisans 
have  become  conscious  of  their  own  disadvantages  in  tliis 
respect. 

At  a  meeting  of  representative  men  of  this  class,  held  in 
London  early  in  the  present  year,  their  views  as  to  their  own 
most  important  requirements  were  drawn  up  under  sever 
heads,  oi  which  the  fourth  was — 

''  In  addition  to  schools  for  elementary  education,  there  should  b 
provided  schools  for  practical  knowledge  and  technical  skill  in  th 
midst  of  their  homesteads." 

This  is  a  sensible  and  reasonable  demand. .  It  is  creditabl 
to  the  men  who  make  it,  and  it  behoves  our  Government  no 
to  disregard  it.  This  feeling  on  the  part  of  our  most  intelli 
gent  artisans  may  be  mainly  traced  to  the  lessons  they  hav 
been  taught  by  those  international  exhibitions  which  hav 
been  one  of  the  leading  features  of  the  history  of  the  last  fei 
years,  and  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  wisdom  and  fore 
siffht  of  that  great  and  good  prince,  whose  loss  we  still  lamen 
The  best  tribute  we  can  pay  to  his  memory  is  to  bear  in  min 
his  example,  and  to  follow,  as  best  we  may,  in  the  road^  h 
pointed  out.  These  exhibitions  have  taught  the  nations  < 
jSurope  to  know  their  true  position,  and  to  understand  thei 
real  advantages  and  their  real  deficicnces.  It  was,  I  think,  th 
Paris  Exhibition  of  1867  that  more  than  any  other  opene 
the  eyes  of  Englishmen  to  the  rapid  rate  at  which  other  pad 
of  Europe  were  passing  us  by.     Other  exhibitions  had  give 


\B<jt}te  Rt.  Hon.  Sir  John  S.  Pahiujton,  Bt.  M.P.,  G.C.B.  15 

0  broiul  hints  nntl  mnde  ns  unoAsy,  but  by  the  Exhibition  of 
1867, 08  Mr.  Scott  RuescU  well  says — 

"We  were  rudely  awakened  and  thoroughly  alarmed.  We  thon 
jurned,  uot  that  we  were  equalled,  but  that  we  were  beaten — not  on 
une  points,  but  by  some  nation  or  other,  on  nearly  all  those  poiuta 
n  which  we  had  prided  ourselvea," 

*  Our  Government  was  at  last  alarmed  and  eent  commis- 
lo  report  whether  the  alleged  defects  of  our  technical 
II  were  reiilly  as  j^reat  a»  supposed.  The  Schools  Inquiry 
/nmini^sioQ  also,  then  silting,  requested  information  from 
bme  of  the  eminent  jurora  who  represented  England;  and, 
uHy,  the  Society  of  Arts  adopted  the  simple  but  most  wise 

■purse  of  oiTcring  to  pay  the  travelling  expenses  of  such  Eng- 

uh  artisans  as  wished  to  study  their  own  branches  of  trade — 
equiring  only  in  return  that  each  should  report  in  writing 

plutlhe  had  seen  and  learned.  All  these  sources  of  inforraa- 
■  valuable  in  no  ordinary  degree,  but  I  think  the  last 

jii  the  moat  so.  These  reports  which  are  published  and  open 
0  all,  show  what  is  thought  by  the  ablest  members  of  this 

[^Bssof  their  own  state  of  skill,  and  culture,  and  knowledge, 
2  them  a  fair  right  to  approach  the  Government  of  their 

Boumry   with  that  rational   requirement  which   I  have  just 

^  (Kited. 

[  (Some  of  the  answers  of  the   Paris  jurors   to   the  Schools 

!^m mis'! ion,  are  most  striking  and  most  painful. 

''  Dr.  Lyon  Plnyfair,  who  must  be   ailmitted  to  be  a  high 

mthority,  eaya: — 

"  Out  of  ninety  classes  there  are  scarcely  a  dozen  in  which  pre- 
emiiieDCQ  is  unhesitatingly  awarded  to  ub.  .  .  .  The  one  cause 
o(  ihia,  upon  which  there  was  most  unftnimity  of  oon»iclion,  is  that 
FnDcc,  Prussia,  Austria,  Belgimn,  and  Switzerland  possess  good 
•ystems  of  inJustrinl  education  for  the  ninsiers  aud  managers  of 
nuiDufactoriea  and  workshops,  and  England  posKSiea  none." 

Mr.  Mundelta'e  statement  hajj  peculiar  value,  because  he 
hM  been  lon^  connected  with  Inrge  manufacturing  establish- 
ments in  England  and  in  Saxony,     lie  says: — 

"  I  hare  for  four  or  five  years  past  been  increasingly  alarmed  for 
our  induatriat  etipretnacy,  and  my  experience  of  the  Pui'U  Exhibition 

ha*  only  confirmed  and  strengthened  my  feais The 

mnirasi  between  the  workpeople  of  Saxony  and  England  engaged 

hi  (hu  stuns  trade  is  most  humiliating ;  I  have  had  statistics  taken  of 

irorkjhDpe  and  rooms  iu  factories  in  this  district,  and  the  frightful 

I  Ignomuce  they  reveal  is  disheartening  and  appalling.     In  Saxony  our 


16  Opening  Address. 

manager,  an  Englishman  of  superior  intelligence,  bas  never  met,  it 
seven  years,  with  a  workman  who  canDOt  read  and  write— not  in  tli 
limited  and  imperfect  manner  in  which  the  majority  of  EngU 
artisans  read  and  write — but  with  a  freedom  and  familiarity  tfat 
enables  them  to  enjoy  reading,  and  to  conduct  their  correifiondeM 

in  a  creditable,  and  often  superior,  style I  am  o( 

opinion  that  the  English  workman  is  gradually  losing  the  race,  throii|^ 
the  superior  intelligence  which  foreign  governments  are  carefnUj 

developing  in  their  artisans If  wo  are  to  maiotua 

our  position  in  industrial  competition  wo  must  oppose  to  this  natioml 
organisation  one  equally  effective  and  complete;  if  wo  continue  the 
fight  with  our  present  voluntary  system,  we  shall  be  defeated.  Qm 
orations  hence,  we  shall  be  struggling  with  ignorance,  sqaabr, 
pauperism,  and  crime  ;  but  with  a  system  of  national  education  uaA 
compulsory,  and  supplemented  with  art  and  industrial  education,  ] 
believe,  within  twenty  years,  England  would  possess  the  most  intelfi* 
gent  and  inventive  artisans  in  the  world." 

I  wish  time  permitted  me  to  quote  more  of  these  in8tructiv< 
and  intereeting  reports,  but  I  must  read  a  passage  in  Mr 
Scott  Russell's  booK,  relating  to  Prussia  : — 

''An  English  statesman,  after  long  residence  in  Prussia,  one 
assured  me  that  he  regarded  the  despotism  of  Prussia  as  more  absc 
lute  than  that  of  Russia,  and  the  high  aristocracy  of  Prussia  main 
tains  its  power  to  this  day,  yet  the  king  consented  to  pavo  the  wa^ 
to  democracy  by  universal  education,  and  the  aristocracy  consente* 
to  raise  the  middle  and  lower  classes  to  that  kind  of  social  equaltt 
with  themselves ;  there,  too,  as  with  us,  religious  scctarianiio 
flourished,  Calliolics  and  Protestants,  Lutherans  and  Calviuists,  hatet 
each  other  with  the  same  cordial  hatred  with  which  we  Christians  ii 
England  hate  one  another,  yet  the  despot,  the  aristocracy,  the  middle 
class,  and  the  people,  all  united  in  one  great  national  act  of  seU 
culture." 

I  cannot  add,  as  I  should  like  to  do,  extracts  from  th< 
reports  of  the  workmen,  but  they  are  nil  to  the  same  sm 
effect,  and  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  read  them  withou 
sharing  the  profound  conviction  of  the  writers,  as  Mr.  Scot 
Russell  justly  says,  first,  of  the  pressing  peril  of  the  natioi 
with  regard  to  manufacturing  pre-eminence,  second,  of  tb 
culpability  of  the  educated  classed,  and  of  the  Executiv 
Government,  in  having  £0  long  neglected  the  education  of  th 
people. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  doubtingly  nskcd,  are  these  things  true 
and  the  late  satisfactory  returns  of  the  Board  of  Trade  may  b* 
appealed  to ;  the  evidence,  however,  is  unimpeachable.  I  ma] 
be  told  you  are  repeating  an  oft-told  tale — ^I  answer  it  is  knowj 


\ByfheJiL  Bon.  Sir  Mn  S.  PaHngton,  Bt.  M.P.,  G.C.B.  17 

h)  the  fev,  I  wi«b  to  make  it  known  to  tlie  nmny.  The  object 
ri  such  ui  Association  as  this  is  to  bring  together  those  who  are 
mveraant  with  these  sociii]  eubjecta,  so  that  each  xaa.y  tnnko 
ii  wntribution  to  the  stock  of  knowledge ;  and  that  tlms, 
i^rou^h  the  agency  of  the  public  press  and  our  own  reports, 
0  miiy  disseminate  information,  and  influence  the  opinion  of 
Btfie  nation  and  the  proceedings  of  Parliament. 
W  The  question  of  technical  instruction  of  the  people  is  one 
Bwhich  cannot  wait.  This  is  not  a  time  for  the  Minister  of 
VEJucation  to  be  n^otiating  foreign  treaties,  or  beljiing  to 
■Iteer  difficult  party  Bills  through  the  rocka  and  quicksands  of 
^e  House  of  Commone.  The  enemy  is  at  the  gate,  not  in 
■the  sh«pe  of  fleets  or  armies,  but  in  the  shape  of  a  rivnlry  in 
ft]iuDufa«ture6  and  trade,  in  which,  if  wo  fail  to  maintain  the 
■irailion  we  have  hitherto  held,  our  national  prosperity  will  be 
I  undermined,  and  England's  weallh,  and  power,  and  greatness 
I  iriil  be  a  story  of  the  niist.  Let  us,  then,  be  wise  ere  it  is  too 
I.Ule.  The  train  is  behind  time,  and  if  the  guard  cannot 
|tsc<>vcr  bis  lost  ground,  there  will  be  a  collision,  in  compa- 
i  rison  with  which  the  laie  prostration  of  unhappy  France  will 
\  he  K  nothing.  The  depression  of  Franr.e  will  be  ephemeral — 
I  tfaeruin  of  England  would  be  enduring. 

But,  important  as  I  consider  this  subject  of  technical  educa- 
ioQ  to  be  (and  1  earnestly  hope  that  the  views  I  have  ho 
"-tlronjrly  expressed  will  go  forth  as  sanctioned  and  approved 
by  this  Association),  we  should  bear  in  mind  that  there  are 
other  respects  in  which  the  skilled  workmen  of  this  country 
_Cwisider  thetr  position  to  be  nnBatisfnctory,  and  especially 
1  they  compare  their  position  with  that  of  men  of  the  same 
s  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  This  is  a  delicate  and  difficult 
,  especially  at  the  present  time,  when  we  are  didly  dis- 
rbeJ  by  rumours  of  iuternational  organisations  for  political 
Mir  poses,  and  when  we  know  too  well  that  there  are  not  want- 
B'^  men  who  devote  themselves  to  attempting  to  inspire  the 
unds  of  our  working  classes  with  feelings  of  discontent  and 
^lisaffection,  and  so  to  make  them  instruments  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  revolutionary  objects. 

jpe  it  will  be  the  opinion  of  this  Association  that  I  am 
touclting  on  a  subject  immediately  within  our  proper 
whereof  action;  that  it  is  a  subject  from  the  dii^cussion  uf 
yhich  honest  politicians  ought  not  to  shrink;  and  that  it  is  a 
"lubject  with  which  our  Goveniment  and  Parliament  ought 
mptly  to  grapple  in  a  bold  and  conciliatory  spirit.  It  Is  not 
y  to  imagine  any  object  more  noble  in  itself,  or  more  worthy 
f^  the  higheat  ambition  of  a  patriotic  statesman,  than  to  avert 
uwontent  and  disloyalty  amongst  the  industrious  masjics  of 


18  Opening  Addresi. 

our  countrymen,  by  the  timely  concemon  of  moderate  idi 
reasonable  requirements.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  ea^  fi 
imagine  any  conduct  more  wicked,  more  to  be  condemned  hj 
every  honest  mind,  than  the  attempt  to  sow  discord  and  w- 
union  between  class  and  class,  by  exaggerated  statements  and 
mischievous  representation,  which  con  only  end  in  bitter  dis- 
appointment to  the  man,  and  serious  injury  to  the  StatSi 
What,  then,  are  the  principal  requirements  now  felt  and  mmd 
by  working  men? 

I  have  already  referred  to  their  great  need  of  technical  ednp 
cation,  and  this,  if  we  value  the  prosperity  of  England,  muit 
be  given,  and  on  fair  terms ;  but  the  object  which  staiidi  lA 
the  head  of  their  requirements  is — **  To  rescue  the  familiet  d 
workmen  from  the  dismal  lanes,  crowded  alleys,  and  unwhole- 
some dwellings  of  our  towns,  and  plant  them  out  in  the  cdear.'' 

Another  of  the  requirements  to  which  they  attach  impoit- 
ance,  is  one  which  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  almost  a  matter  «f 
course  in  every  locality,  viz.,  an  adequate  supply  of  good  fool 
at  fair  cost  Now,  are  these  demands  for  healthy  homes  at  im 
rents,  and  wholesome  food  at  fair  cost,  reasonable  or  unreason- 
able ?  What  is  the  present  position  of  the  English  artisan  ia 
these  respects,  in  many  of  our  most  important  seats  of  indoi* 
try  ?  Is  it  not  that  he  is  destitute  of  that  training  whieh  ia 
essential  to  successful  skilled  labour — that  his  home  is  of  thft 
meanest  and  most  comfortless  class,  but  for  which  he  ifl 
obliged  to  pay  an  extravagant  rent — and  that  his  food  ia  o4 
inferior  quality,  but  of  excessive  price  ?  I  do  not  wiah 
draw  any  too  highly-coloured  picture,  but  I  ask  again, 
these  tilings  true  ?  If  they  are,  even  though  with  trade 
tensive  and  wages  high  our  labouring  class  may  be  in  fli 
certain  sense  prosperous,  do  not  expect  them  to  be  loyal  anfl 
contented;  with  no  proper  training  within  his  head,  and 
decent  roof  above  it,  the  British  artisan  is  not  as  be  ought 
be. 

This  question  of  the  workman's  home  is  a  very  seriouB  on^.^ 
It  involves  not  only  the  discomfort  and  dlicontent  of  theitf 
parent,  but  the  physical  and  intellectual  inferiority  of  tke^ 
child.  I  have  lately  read  the  following  statement  with  regard  J 
to  the  two  great  cities  of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  :-— 

**  As  to  dwellings  alone,  how  suggestive  are  the  statistics  of  larg« 
cities.  For  example,  in  the  better  parts  of  Glasgow  the  inhabitanU 
only  average  34  per  acre,  aad  in  those  parts  the  aonual  death-rale  is 
5  per  1000.  In  the  squalid  parts  (not  the  worst)  the  average  is  228 
persons  per  acre,  aud  the  death-rate  34  per  1000,  that  is,  29  per- 
sons per  1000  die  annually  from  mere  difference  of  habitation     In 


iythelit.  Bon.  Sir  John  S.  Pakinfflon,  Bt,  M.P.,  G.C.D.  19 

ibnrgh  (he  ilealh-rate  in  tho  worst  parts  ia  60  per  1000,  tJiat  ia 
w:  1000  <lifl  ia  conBequcnce  of  Dbcii'  poTorlf,  How  luucti  liUcase, 
>tio(^,i&S)inil7,  wul  mime  &ro  bere  iavolved  iti  additiou  to  tho 

pi/ff .■ " 

y  authority  for  these  startling  figures  is  a  paper  pnblisliod 
lasgow,  by  flio  Rct.  Mr.  Kirk,  in  tiic  Ch-istian  News,  and, 
if  correct,  I  ilo  not  nieaa  to  my  that  they  are  of  general 
Itcatton.  But  it  is  too  certain  tliat,  In  and  around  many  of 
(great  eenttea  of  population  find  industry,  tlie  home  of  the 
kman  is  not  conaistent  ivitli  Jiifi  comfort  or  contentment, 
Mhnt  the  uioral  and  physical  ofibcta  of  such  Uiscumfort  and 
(tateut  are  worthy  of  serious  consideration. 
tith  respect  to  the  supply  of  wholesome  food  at  fair  price 
-.supply  indispensable  alike  for  the  labour  of  the  parent  nnd 
growth  and  well-doing  of  the  child — I  fear  it  is  too  true 
>  the  workman  often  finds  himself  suffering  under  great  and 
wtiog  disadvantages.  It  is,  therefore,  not  unnatural,  in 
I  days  of  increased  intei-conrae  nnd  information,  that  the 
who  is  emorting  under  such  die^ad vantages  should  look 
td,  and  compare  hia  own  position  with  that  frf  liia  fellow- 
»arer  in  other  lands.  He  will  probably  only  look  to  the 
I'Oa  the  surface,  and  I  fear  auch  comparisons  will  not  tend 
fothe  his  discontent. 

he  tarns  to  Switzerland,  he  will  find  that  to  a  great  ex- 
)  the  skilJeil  workmen,  and  even  the  factory  labourers, 
gla  with  and  are  part  of  the  iudciiendent  peasantry  of  the 
Dtxy,  and  he  may  feel  with  some  justice  that  those  who 
ibliahed  free  trade  forgot  that  it  was  due  to  thoso  who  were 
ed  npon  to  embark  in  open  competition,  to  enable  them  to 
3o  »o  on  equal  terms.  Ho  will  feel  that  a  Spitalfielda  weaver, 
Mpag  a  rent  for  his  hovel  of  5.«.  per  week,  and  a  Lake 
ideV  wcaTer,  fitting  rent  free  in  the  middle  of  his  liome- 
' — with  house  and  food  around  him — can  hardly  be  said  to 
^^tiag  fair, 
Ror  i*  this  all.  The  state  of  village  and  town  education  in 
ptserland  is  each  that  the  workman's  children  receive  au 
tttion  that  fits  them  for  practical  life,  and  those  meant 
-e  ekilJed  workiaen  get  drawing,  geometry,  physics,  me- 
inic9,  taught  at  a  cost  nearly  nominal,  and  which,  in  case  of 
i,  becomes  gratuitous.  This  description  applies  equally, 
rimoBt  equally,  to  the  valley  of  the  Khine,  and  other  parts 
Bemany.  but  eueh  comparisons  ought  rather  to  stimulate 
I  Government  than  to  depress  our  people.  Lot  tlie  English 
vkmaD  bear  in  mind  that  as  regards  Germany  and  Stvitzer- 
'  \  when  compared  with  England,  the  social,  political,  and 
2—2 


20  Opening  Address. 

physical  differences  between  the  countries  are  such  aa  to  main 
lair  comparison  almost  impossible.  Let  him  bear  in  mind  the 
points,  and  they  are  not  a  few,  in  which  his  position  ii  u 
superior  to  that  of  the  Swiss  as  in  others  the  Swibs  is  superior 
to  him.  Let  him  reflect  on  the  advantage,  which  bejood 
almost  every  people  in  Europe  he  possesses,  in  the  vigour,  the 
energy,  and  the  aptitude  of  his  national  character,  and  above 
all  let  him  remember  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  Parliament  of  his  country  to  remove,  or  at  least  to 
modify,  those  disadvantages  by  which  he  feels  himself  over- 
weighted in  the  great  race  of  competition. 

In  Mr.  Samuelson's  report  to  the  Government  on  the  rapid 
progress  of  the  manufacturing  establishments  of  France,  Swit- 
zerland, Germany,  and  Belgium,  he  says,  "Meanwhile,  we 
know  that  our  manufacturing  artisans  are  imperfectly  taught, 
and  our  agricultural  labourers  illiterate — neither  one  nor  the 
other  can  put  forth  with  effect  the  splendid  qualities  with 
which  Providence  has  endowed  our  people."  This  is  confirm- 
ation, and  from  a  very  competent  quarter,  of  Mr.  Mundella's 
opinion  that,  with  proper  culture,  '^  England  would  possess  the 
most  intelligent  and  inventive  artisans  in  the  world. 

What  then  is  to  be  done  ?     I  submit  that  the  people,  for 
this  is  not  a  question  interesting  to  the  working  man  aloae, 
have  a  right  to  appeal  to  the  Government  for  active  aid  in  this 
pressing  matter.     I  agree  with  a  distinguished  friend  of  nuiie» 
who  was  one  of  mv  ])redeces8ors  in  this  chair,  that  we  should 
''  impress  earnestly  upon    our  countrj^men   the  incalculable 
value  of  self-reliance  and  self-help,"  and  that  in  the  domestl^^ 
affairs  of  the  country,  we  should  seek  the  aid  of  Governmex^^ 
only  in  the  last  resort ;  but  the  reforms  for  which  our  working 
classes  ask,  are  on  too  large  a  scale  to  be  entrusted  solely  t:^ 
the  self-reliance  and  self-help  of  the  people  themselves.     TDm- 
establishment  of  a   system   of  technical   training  could   nc^ 
possibly  be  accomplished  by  the   people.     With  all  the  ai  - 
that  he  might  derive  from  the  precedents  of  Holland,  Berlicr: 
Stuttgardt,    Austria,  Hanover,   Carlsruhe,   and   Zurich,   tb 
task  is  one  which  would  now,  in  England,  require  all  th— 
energy  and  power  of  an  able  minister,  supported  by  a  coDBent— 
ing  Parliament. 

With  regard  to  the  dwellings  and  food  of  the  workman,  'M 
may  be  asked,  *^  Has  not  the  self-help  of  the  people  already^ 
established  building  societies  and  co-operative  stores,  and  ar^ 
not  these  sufficient  T  "  I  answer,  no.  They  are  admirable  sop 
far  as  they  go,  and  they  deserve  every  possible  support,  but- 
the  people  can  no  more  make  them  what  they  ought  to  h9 
without  further  help,  than  they  "could  themselves  have  estab^ 


the  Rt.  Bon.  Sir  John  S.  PoMitffttm,  Be,  MP.,  G.C.B.  21 

Id  the  Post  Office  SavingB  Bank?,  which  miiHt  be  counted 
me  of  the  best  ileeda  oE  the  present  Prime  Minister. 
T!ie  GoTeriimcnt  have  the  necessary  information.  It  be- 
tea  theoi  now  lo  act  unon  it.  To  effect  euch  reforms  aa  I 
re  ventured  lo  Biiggest  is  beyond  the  power  either  of  private 
ividuals  or  even  aesociatiou!)  such  as  thiA.  They  can  only 
^effected  by  a  government  which  will  approach  the  task  in 
'MTDe  earnest  spirit  which  Iriiiniphed  over  the  difficulties 
;liO  late  Education  Acti<,  iind  which  «honld  undertake  this, 
Ibnbly  not  Ices  ditficnlt  duty,  with  %-i^roua  actiou,  with 
»l>t  applicalion  of  iwwers  given  by  existing  laws,  and 
judicious  legislation. 

the  Tiews  I  have  thua  presumed  to  advance,  upon  ques- 
I  which  I  believe  to  be  of  priuiary  national  importance, 
favour  with  this  Association,  wb  may,  I  think,  at  least  be 
tf  by  calm  discussion,  and  by  collecting  and  disseminating 
h'lnstiun,  to  afford  valuable  assistance  in  a  great  cause. 
el  may  look  back  with  antisfoction  to  the  part  we  have  taken 
bringing  about  several  not  uiiimptirlant  elianges  iu  our 
d  system  and  in  our  laws.  I  havenlrGudy  adverted  to  the 
that  to  this  Association  i^  primarily  due  the  credit  of 
ging  about  the  preat  movement  with  respect  to  middin 
I  eotteation,  which  ended  in  the  pasBin^of  the  Endowed 
kob  Act,  and  the  appointment  of  the  Endowed  Schools 
I  mission. 

I   the  laws  of  bankruptcy,  in  establishing  the    office  of 
lio  health,  in  the  improvement  of  our  convict  system,  iu 
'treatment  of  discharged  criminals,  and  on  other  matters, 
^orcant  changes  may  be  directly  traced  to  the  effurta  and 
epreeeutations  of  this  Society.     I  trust  the  Society  may  long 
oDtloue  its  DBcful  and  beneficent  action,  and  if  to  its  other 
;tK)d  works  it  shall  hereafter  be  able  to  add  that  it  has  aided 
D  effecting  reforms  in  the  position  of  our  labouring  classes 
rhich   have  increased  their  linppinesa,  elevated   their  social 
tatns,  improved  their  intellectual  cultivation,  and  strengthened 
iieir  attachment  to  the  institutions  under  which   they  live, 
;tioee  friends  and  officers  of  the  Society,  who  have  through  years 
rf  honourable  exertion  watched  over  our  interests  and  guided 
our  proceedings  with  patient  care,  will  have  established  addi- 
tional claims  to  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  their  country. 


22 


^Vintm 


BY 

W.  VERNON  HABCOUET,  Q.C.,  M.P., 

ON 

JURISPfiUDENCE    AND    AMENDMENT    OF    TAB 

LAW. 


ri^HIS  Association  has  always  a»ii^nc(l  a  prominciii  post  ii 
X  its  discussions  to  tkoso  questions  which  belong  to  the 
amendment  of  tho  law^  and  no  one  will  bo  disposed  to  dispute 
the  justice  of  giving  to  such  a  topic  a  leading  if  not  a  paramonnt 
placo  in  tho  pursuit  of  social  science.  In  a  law-abiding-^I  was 
almost  about  to  say  a  law-loving— country  liko  our  own,  the 
framework  of  society  itself  is  compacted  and  held  togother  l)lf 
tho  law,  and  that  perhaps  not  so  much  by  its  positive  sanctitA 
and  actual  enforcement,  as  by  the  temper  of  mmd  and  mode  of 
thought  which  it  impresses  upon  all  our  social  relations,  from 
tho  mere  fact  that  it  is  the  law.  TIio  law  in  this  respect  acU 
towards  society  as  tho  parent  or  the  master  does  towards  fh^ 
child — it  forms  to  a  groat  degree  its  spirit  and  its  character* 
No  Englislnnan  can  have  studied  with  any  attention  the  history 
of  his  country  even  from  the  earliest  times  without  being  awiue 
how  largo  a  part  tho  law  has  played  in  tlie  development  of  ito 
liberties  and  tlie  growth  of  its  greatness.  The  law  in  this 
respect  has  had  a  double  and  reflex  action,  for  as  tho  law  cf 
past  times  has  formed  the  character  of  the  people,  so,  aa  that 
character  has  expanded  by  the  progress  of  an  advancing  civiliaa* 
tion,  tho  people  have,  by  slow,  sometimes  it  would  seem  by  awk- 
ward steps,  surely  marched  towards  a  progressive  reform  of  the 
law.  Nevertheless  it  ought  to  bo  tho  first  object  of  assodatioDB 
such  as  this  to  impress  strongly  upon  tho  public  mind— I  mean 
upon  those  whom  tho  old  Norman  lawyers  somewhat  su^r- 
ciliously  termed  tho  "  lay  gents  " — how  deeply  they  are^  indi- 
vidually and  collectively,  concerned  in  tlie  reform  of  the  Uir, 
and  how  entirely  that  reform,  if  they  choose  to  comprehend  its 
bearings,  rests  in  their  own  hands. 
I  waa  much  struck  in  reading  the  other  day  some  obienmtiraa 


Addren  on  Jurisprudenee  and  Anmidimnl  0/ the  Law.      23 

■lya  most  onligtitened  lawyer,  alas  too  early  lost  to  liis  pro- 
¥  fctfion  smi  his  country — I  mean  Mr.  W.  D.  Lewis — in  n  paper 
I  wliich  lie  contributed  to  tlie  Juridical  Society,  entitled  "  Popu- 
I  lar  Errors  concerning  Law."     Ha  says  : — 


Judging  from  the  obscrvation§  rhJ  coniluct  of  many  people,  it 
KcniR  that  they  suppose  (lie  law  to  be  some  power  exUaueoua  and 
jiirrigQ  to  the  tialion,  ruling  it  by  Banclioos  over  which  tho  people 
tiire  DO  control,  and  presiding  over  their  conduce  by  virtue  of  noma 
■utiiorily  imposed  upon  them  ab  extra,  and  which  they  are  wliolly 
reriess  to  control.  People,  in  fact,  peraonify  luw  and  invest  it 
\i  attributes.  In^ad  of  looking  upon  it  as  an  emanation  from 
Uiemgelves,  the  offspring  mainly  of  tlieir  own  will,  and  a  represcnla- 
IJTs  aimply  of  their  own  spirit,  for  which  they  are  themselves 
icfpensiblc,  they  regard  it  as  if  it  were  soma  separate  influence  with 
Tiliidi  tliey  have  no  other  relution  than  as  being  concerned  lo  praise 
erio  blame  it  accordiug  as  it^  operation  in  Individual  ioalaiices  may 
*  conformable  or  not  lo  the  tastes,  Itebits,  and  tendencies  of  llie 
iple  for  tlie  time  being.  Whether  wc  read  Bentham  or  the  public 
inpapers,  or  listen  to  the  eommon  conviction  of  soeioly,  we  m-e 
irced  to  conclude  that  tlie  luw  is  regarded  by  multilu<li:s  us  some 
leubus  resting  upon  tlie  nation — which  judges,  barriak-ia,  and 
illonicyt  indeed  may  be  able  to  struggle  with — some  oraelo  which 
lliey  may  be  able  to  propitkli^ — but  with  which  the  public  at  lurgc  have 
■uullier  eonneclion  than  that  of  yielding  to  it  a  blind,  helpless,  and 
I  rEuedilesa  submission.  What,  however,  is  the  truth  on  tbi3  subject? 
Does  any  law  exist  or  possess  the  smulii  st  force  except  aa  expresaing 
Bore  or  less  directly  the  will  of  (he  people,  as  being  the  result  and 
njiresenlation  of  that  will,  and  invested  with  ritality  no  longer  than 
Ihat  will  shall  suffer  itT  However  the  rule  of  law  may  Itate  arisen, 
♦helLer  it  be  embodied  in  the  form  of  a  statute  or  constituted 
BWWly  by  custom ;  however  old  or  however  reoeiit  its  origin,  is  it 
not  dear  (bat  the  public  are  themselves  responsible  for  it?  The 
tmlli  of  the  mutter  is  that  on  questions  of  luw  this  public  opinion  iit 
nM  manifested)  speaking  generally,  in  any  earnest  or  couNstent 
form.  The  very  error  of  which  I  am  speaking  leads  people  to  think 
sod  act  as  if  the  law  were  some  domain  on  which  they  caunol  intrude, 
a  if  it  were  some  behest  oracularly  delivei'ed  from  some  power  which 
[lupular  sympathy  could  never  approach,  or  upon  which  geueral 
ujanioii  could  ncTcr  produce  any  impression.  It  results  from  this 
iLat  there  is  in  reality  an  indifference  to  legal  quesiions  on  the  part 
**"  the  public.  Such  feeling  as  exists  upon  the  subject  spends  itself 
ft  desultory,  lilful,  and,  as  it  were,  hysterical  discontent,  but  is  not 
iDifeBlcd  by  steady,  abiding,  and  intelligent  exertions  proceeding 
•m  an  instructed  and  well-informed  public  opinion.  People,  how- 
«Tcr,  are  not  entitled  to  exhibit  discontent  with  the  law  unless  ihey 
will  first  endeavour  to  understand  bow  far  their  own  true  relation  to 

kihe  law  gives  them  the  means  of  moulding  it  to  their  own  tastes  and 
■^prehensions,     If  they  will  act  as  if  the  law  wore  not  something 


^LLat 


24     Address  on  Jurisprude^xce  and  Amendment  of  the  Law, 


for  whicli  they  are  themselves  responsible — as  if  it  were  a  mTStor} 
too  recondite  for  them  to  have  anj  concern  with — as  if  it  ware  in  iti 
very  nature  something  antagonistic,  and  not  (as  it  reallj  is)  a  flexibU 
representation  of  the  public  spirit  whenever  there  really  esisU  I 
public  spirit  to  bo  represented — why  should  there  be  any  surprise  ai 
the  tardiness  of  law  reform,  or  the  obstinacy  of  ancient  legal  rules,  oi 
the  inveteracy  of  antiquated  legal  traditions  ?  Is  it  to  be  said  tha 
judges  and  lawyers  oup;ht  to  see  to  these  reforms,  and  that  they  art 
charffcablo  with  the  delay  and  the  resistance  to  change  which  i 
complained  of?  What  more  can  be  required,  I  would  ask,  of  judge 
and  lawyers  than  that  they  should  bring  their  own  special  knowledgi 
and  special  aptitudes  to  assist  in  giving  effect  to  any  wcll-ascertainei 
public  opinion  upon  the  law?  Clearly  they  are  not  to  obstruct  nor  t< 
mislead  that  public  opinion ;  but  in  reason,  surely,  they  may  jastlj 
ask  to  be  allowed  to  soo  that  the  sentiment  which  is  said  to  exist  i 
a  deliberate  and  intelligent  one." 

Now  it  is,  I  conceive,  in  order  to  enlighten  public  opinion  oi 
such  8u))jccts  as  these ;  to  mako  the  people  understand  how  thi 
law  affects  them,  for  good  or  for  ovil ;  what  are  its  defects,  an( 
how  they  may  bo  remedied;  and  to  bring  to  bear  upon  lai 
reform  the  irresistible  leverage  of  public  opinion^  that  thi 
Association  invites  discussion  upon  these  topics  in  the  grea 
centres  of  population,  who  ought  to  understand  they  are  no 
only  the  creatures  but  tho  creators,  not  the  slaves  but  th 
masters,  of  the  law.  The  field  is  vast,  and  the  interests  i 
involves  are  immense.  The  progress  of  law  reform  is  notorious!' 
slow.  The  cripples  crowd  round  the  pool,  but  unless  there  i 
some  one  to  help  them  in,  tho  work  will  never  be  accomplished 
How  many  measures  of  law  reform  urgently  needed,  I  might  sa; 
universalfy  approved,  have  been  for  years  in  process  of  gestation 
and  yet  there  seems  no  strength  to  bring  them  forth.  Coin 
missions  without  end  upon  land  registration,  upon  judicature 
upon  fifly  other  matters  of  capital  consequence^  have  aat  am 
reported,  and  yet  nothing  has  been  done,  and  nothing  will  b 
done  till  a  pressure,  an  irresistible  pressure,  is  exerted  froi 
without.  You  might  just  as  well  expect  a  man  to  lif);  himsel 
up  in  a  basket  as  ask  tlie  lawyers  by  themselves  to  reform  th 
law.  It  is  you,  the  public,  who  must  lift  up  the  basket  with  th 
lawyers  in  it.  If  you  expect  or  desire  anything  to  be  done,  yoi 
must  mako  Parliament  and  the  Government  understand  that  thes 
are  matters  on  which  you  are  in  earnest,  and  to  which  it  is  wort 
their  while  to  attend.  You  must  comprehend  yourselves,  an* 
you  must  make  those  who  have  the  making  of  the  law  oompre 
Lend,  that  questions  which,  in  fact,  ailect  and  govern  the  whol 
of  your  social  relations,  are  of,  at  least,  as  much  consequence  a 
the  details  of  budgets,  the  organisation  of  armies,  or  even  th 


f^.Sif  W,  VamOH  Hartourty  Q.C.y  MJ*.  iS 

i}te  sntfrage.     And  then  you  will  cease  to  find,  what 
^^  [  liav6  obwn'wl  with  deep  regret,  that  in  the  ilin  of 

iiiical  struggles  tlio  fortunes  of  law  reform  are  yoar  by  year 
■  an«l  less  heeded'  TJie  questions  which  are  awaitiug  a  solii- 
m  are  so  numerous  and  ao  extensive  that  I  cannot  hope  6veii 
touch  upon  R  tithe  of  them.  I  will  eeloot,  therefore,  only  a 
If  which  apiienr  to  be  of  capital  importance,  and  upon  which  I 
Bocive  comparatively  little  ditl'ereitce  of  opinion  can  arise. 
I  need  hardly  point  flut  to  you  that  tlie  law  divides  itself 
nerally  into  uio  written  and  the  unwritten  law.  The  un- 
Stkn  law  may  he  takeu  as  the  basis  of  the  whole.  Its  origin 
obscure,  but  its  operation  is  certain,  and  its  principles  in  a 
^t  (Je^ree  ascertainud.  It  has  crown  b;^  long  tradition,  by 
tunnhited  precedent,  by  successive  decision,  into  a  body  of 
lolnne,  which  it  is  the  business  of  lawyers  to  study  and  of 
Jjres  to  declare.     The  laws  of  succession,  the  laws  of  contract, 

I  lawa,  iu  fact,  whicJi  govern  Uie  daily  relations  of  lite,  depend 
la  great  deirreo  solely  upon  this  un'^ritteit  code.  The  Statute 
w,  which  IB  maltcT  of  positive  eunctment,  is  little  more  than 
accretion  upon  this  unwnttan  law,  and  represents  the  changes 
i  ibe  growth  to  which  the  public  opinion  of  successive  times 
>e  given  rise.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  these  different 
loiee  of  lutv,  for  law  reform,  if  it  ia  to  be  et!ective,  must 
irate  npou  both,  and  it  will  bo  found  that  in  both  great 
isndinent  isneefled.  As  regards  tli©  Statute  Law  the  thin^  is 
Iple  enoogh.     You  may  repeal  an  old  law  which  you  dig- 

Dve  on  any  particuliu'  subject,  and  enact  a  new  one  iu  its 
'-  But,  as  rejjards  the  unwritten  law — which,  as  I  have 
],  is  far  the  most  important  part — yim  reipiiio  a  good  deal 
1^  If  yuu  want  to  etiect  a  change  in  that  you  must  reform 
t  judicial  iutfUigence,  the  legal  temper  of  tho  minds  by  whom 
S  unwritten  law  is  administered,  and  to  a.  great  degreo 
ict«d.  And  this  reform,  I  need  hardly  tell  you,  lies  a  good 
d  (lee[)er,  and  is  far  more  "difficult  than  that  of  which  I  Lave 
t  spoken.  And  this  brings  us  to  tho  consideration  of  the 
lat*^  and  most  capital  ai  all  questions  of  legal  reform — I 
IU  iJie  reform  of  our  legal  education. 

LEGAL*  EDUCATION  AND   THE   IKNS   OF   OODItT. 

We  heard  the  other  night  from  our  respected  President  some 
ighty  observations  upon  the  urgent  need  of  systematic  tech- 

II  education.  But  if  tliis  is  necessary  for  the  due  advancc- 
Dl  of  Special  arts,  it  is  far  more  necessary  for  the  cultivation 
that  greatest  of  all  aria,  the  art  of  distributive  justice,  which 
Bnu  the  relations  of  men  in  a  civilised  society.    It  is  super- 


26     Address  <m  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  (^ihe  Law, 

flaous  to  observe  that  on  tlie  legal  traininff  of  those  bj  w 
the  laws  are  to  be  made  and  administered  must  depend  ; 
main  degree  the  ouality  of  the  law  itself.  This  is  a  sul 
which  has  recently  boon  brought  under  the  consideration  of 
lianicnt  by  one  probably  better  fitted  than  any  other  living 
to  speak  with  authority  in  such  a  case — I  mean  Sir  Eoui 
Palmer.     He  said  in  his  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons  :• 

''If  there  is  oue  poiat  upon  which  public  opinion  may  be  sai 
be  almost  unanimous,  it  is  that  legal  education  is,  and  hsB 
been,  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition.  Ages  ago  chief  jus 
spoke  of  our  Inns  of  Court  as  a  legal  university,  and  not  only 
there  a  strong  desire  to  establish  in  them  an  efficient  school  of 
but  they  were  provided  with  large  resources  and  means  intende 
produce  great  results.  The  whole  of  that  system  has  fallen  in 
state  of  decay,  and  within  the  recollection  of  those  now  living, 
no  untrue  description  of  our  law  studies  to  sny  that  they  have 
unscientific,  unsystematic,  desultory,  and  empirical.  The  want 
scientific  foundation  is  felt  everywhere.  The  great  and  note: 
defects  of  form  and  consistency  in  our  legislation  are,  in  a  | 
measure,  the  result  of  law  not  being  studied  in  England  as  a  scic 
and,  so  far  from  their  being  any  promise  of  amendment  in  this 
spect  under  the  present  system,  there  is  every  prospect  of  ma 
becoming  worse.  The  judicature  again  sufrci*s  greatly ;  for  as  ju 
ore  multiplied  in  the  superior  courts,  and  local  courts  are  establl 
throughout  the  country — a  multiplication  which  is  absolutely  n 
sory  for  the  due  administration  of  justice — that  multlplicatioa  i 
tends  more  and  more  to  bring  into  prominence  the  wont  of  goi 
ing  principles,  and  the  incoherent  character  of  our  jurisprud< 
With  the  multiplication  of  judges  we  discover  constantly  divei 
views,  a  continually  increasing  variety  of  precedents,  and  incre( 
uncertainty  in  their  application." 

This  severe  but  just  censure  on  the  present  condition  of  1 
education  in  this  countrj'  is  fully  connrmod  by  another  of 
most  eminent  lawyers  of  our  time^  In  his  inaugural  addrei 
the  Juridical  Society,  Lord  Westbury  says: — 

''  It  is  indeed  a  singular  thing  to  note  the  contrast  which  e 
between  the  iudifiercnce  of  the  professors  of  law  and  the  aiL 
shown  by  those  who  are  engaged  in  otlier  departments  of  scii 
.  .  .  .  It  is  a  sweeping  censure  that  I  would  gladly  have 
proved  or  largely  qualified,  that,  as  a  body,  English  lawyers  \ 
done  little  for  the  advancement  of  the  science  of  jurisprud 
The  neglect  of  this  studv  is  plainly  evinced  by  the  contrast  beti 
the  legal  literature  of  England  and  of  Continental  couni 
Whoever  will  address  himself  to  the  task  of  directing  a  coars 
education  in  the  philosophy  of  positive  law  will  become  pain 
aware  of  tlie  poverty  of  English  authors,  whilst  the  catalogae  of 
French,  Germao,  or  Italian  library  supplies  numeroua  work 


■  Bg  W.  Vemm  Harwart,  Q.C.,  M.P.  VT 

H  ftilforlhe  eletnenti(r;f  aa  the  more  matured  Btudent  in  juriepni- 
B  Jcnue.  To  what,  tlieu,  is  to  be  attributed  thU  neglect  of  tlie  Btady 
M  of  jorispru deuce  by  lUe  Engliiih  lawyers  T  The  cause  is  prohftbly  lo 
I  lie  fouod  in  the  peculiar  and  luioioaloua  condition  of  the  Bur  of 
H  EngUud,  Bad  iu  tha  mode  of  education  that  has  beeu  hitherto  fol- 
HiavQd.  ....  Ono  of  tlie  chief  obstacles  to  the  progress 
HwDODgst  us  of  the  science  of  jurisprudence  is  the  want  ot  a  systematic 
H  iiiil  ivelUarranged  course  of  legal  education." 

H  It  is  the  more  diacretlitable  tliat  this  oondition  of  things 
l^old  exist,  because,  in  1646,  a  Committee  of  the  House  of 
■llaminons  ^vas  appoiiitod  to  cousidcr  the  questiou.     That  Com- 

■  nittec  repgrteU — 

I '  "ITiat  the  present  stale  of  legal  eduattion  iu  England  and  Ireland 
Bh  reference  to  the  classes  profesaioual  and  non- professional  is 
B'tiifemely  utisatlsfiiclory  and  incomplete,  and  exhibits  a  striking 
Btoclrasl  and  iuferiority  to  such  education,  provided  as  it  is  with 
llmple  means  And  n  judicious  system  for  iheir  application,  nt  present  in 

■  ppcmtion  in  all  the  more  civilised  Stales  in  Europe  and  America. 
~  .    .    .     That  it  may  bo  asserted  as  n  general  fact  to  wliich  there 

ircvrry  few  exceptions,  that  the  student,  proreaslonal  and  unpro- 
ftssjonul,  is  tefY  almost  solely  to  his  owq  individual  oxcrlioas, 
industry,  and  opportunities;  imd  that  no  legal  education,  worthy 
of  llie  name,  is  at  this  moment  to  be    hud   either   in    England  or 

Ireland That  among  the  consequences  of  this  want  of 

scirntillc  legal  education,  we  are  altogether  doltcicnt  in  n  most 
'tii]i'>rlant  class,  the  legiala  or  jurists  of  tbe  Continent,  men  who, 
nenibArriiBsed  by  tbe  small  practical  interest  of  their  profession,  are 
babied  to  Apply  themselves  to  law  as  to  a  science,  and  to  claim  by 
Keif  writings  and  decisions  the  reverence  of  their  profession,  not 
%'onc  country  only,  but  in  all  where  such  laws  are  administered." 

-  The  responsibility  for  the  present  state  of  tbinea  must,  as 
Sir  II.  Palmer  has  pointed  out,  lie  chiefly  at  the  (tour  of  the 
[nns  of  Court,  who,  enjoying  an  immense  revenue,  of  the 
tlisposul  of  which  they  render  no  account  to  the  public  or  to 
the  jirofesaion,  have  done  little  or  notliing  to  discharge  the  trust 
""tJT  which  those  revenues  were  bestowed.  The  history  of  tlio 
Wginal  institution  of  the  Inns  of  Court  has  been  treated  in  a 
mphlet  of  great  learuing  and  ability  hy  Mr.  Thomas  Marshall, 
if  this  town. 

t,Tho  Committee  of  1846  recommended  that  the  Inns  of  Court 
Jould  Lo  Qiuted  so  aa  '■  to  form  for  all  purposes  of  instruction 
^ort  of  aggregiite  of  colleges,  or,  in  other  words,  a  species  of 
iw  univeiaity.  In  spite  of  the  report  of  the  Committoo  of 
Utl6,  aiul  of  the  Royal  Commission  of  1655,  little  bus  been 
le.  It  IB  true  that  lectureahipa,  under  the  management  of 
I  '(Couocil  of  Legal   Education,''  have  beeu  estahlisbod. 


s 


28     Address  ofi  Juriaprudence  and  Amendment  qfthe  Lavs, 

But  Sir  B.  Palmer  justly  observes  that  ^^  the  tiling  has  woAA 
in  a  languid,  imperfect  manner,  because  the  scheme  was  mt 
oomprehonRivo  or  oold  enough  to  produce  serious  and  importHt 
effects."  With  a  view  to  supply  these  great  and  nolorkNi 
defects  in  the  position  of  legal  education,  a  number  of  dittiii- 
lishcd  members  of  both  brandies  of  the  profession,  with  Bff 
.  Pnhnor  nt  tlicir  head,  united  themselves  last  year  into  i 
society  called  tlio  "  Legal  Education  Association,*'  with  the 
oliject  of  obtaining  the  establishment  of  a  legal  university,  whose 
examination  ehall  be  an  indi8|)en8ablo  condition  to  the  admission 
of  students  to  practice  as  barristers  and  as  solicitors^  and  whieh 
would  also  oHcr  the  means  of  a  sound  legal  eduoation  to  those 
l>crsons  who  might  desire  to  ])ur8ue  the  study  of  the  law, 
though  not  intending  to  follow  the  legal  profession. 

It  is  greatly  to  bo  regrette<l  that  a  plan  propounded  on  sneh 
high  authority,  and  sup{)orted  by  such  weighty  reasons,  should 
have  met  with  opposition  on  tlie  part  of  those  bodies  by  whom 
it  should  have  been  chiefly  supnorted — I  mean  the  Inns  of  Court 
In  spite  of  the  concurrence  of  Grsiy^s  Inn  and  the  Middle  Tempk, 
it  seems  that  Lincoln's  Inn  and  the  Inner  Temple  are  resolved, 
if  they  can,  to  keep  in  their  own  hands  tho  monopoly  of  that 
legal  education  to  which  they  have  hitherto  contributed  so  littlSi 
I  am  still  more  sorry  that  in  this  obstructive  policy  they  should 
have  found  an  a1)le  advocate  in  tho  House  of  Commons  in  Mr. 
Jessel,  who,  in  his  recent  speech  in  opposition  to  the  resolutioB 
proposed  by  Kir  II.  Palmer,  seems  to  have  adopted  tiie  dootrine 
of  Dr.  Pangloss,  that  everything  ^^  is  best  as  it  is  in  the  besfc 
possible  of  worlds," — I  mean  of  legal  worlds.     The  conduct  of 
the  Inns  of  Court  in  this  matter  necessarily  challenges  an  inquirT" 
into  their  whole  position  with  reference  to  the  legal  profession. 
I  think  every  ono  who  knows  anything  of  their  character  and. 
administration  will  concur  in  the  observations  of  Sir.  B.  Falmeryi 
when  he  says : — 

**  What  pretcnco  is  ihero  for  the  claim  of  tho  Inns  of  Court  to 
retain  this  exclusive  control  and  management,  now  that  the  country 
at  large  i»  moving  in  the  matter,  after  they  have  so  long  failed  in 
performing  the  duties  for  the  sake  of  which,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
saying,  they  originally  existed  ?  It  appears  to  me  that  they  bare  bo 
just  right  to  claim  the  exclusive  control  and  management  of  the 
future  system.  .  .  .  These  societies  themselves  are  but  ropes  of 
eand.  They  are  bodies  held  together  principally  by  dinners,  by 
occasional  councils,  and  by  other  formal  and  occasional  acts.  .  • 
They  resemble  clubs  more  than  public  bodies,  aud  not  even  clubs  of 
such  a  kind  as  to  unite  their  members  in  any  very  close  bonds  of 
mutual  association.  If  they  have  not,  in  times  past,  though  possessed 
of  large  pecuniary  resources,  though  actuated  by  the  best  intsntions 


Bg  W.  Vernon  ffarcoitrf,  Q.C.,  M.P. 


29 


I  In  tbo  world,  nml  lliongh  preslJeJ  over  by  men  of  the  moat  honour- 
I  tbli'  cbftracler,  sbowo  themselves  equal  to  dealing  with  the  subject,  I 
I  Uko  it  to  lie  for  the  rensoua  I  Lave  meottoned,  and  because  they  had 
\B  corporate  chaiacter,  no  legal  oigiini nation,  no  acknowlcged  public 
mat  or  reHpousibilitj.  Now,  tliei-efore,  tbat  the  interest  of  the 
■piblic  ia  ftrouHCil,  and  that  there  is  a  general  desire  to  see  a  powerlul 
■organisation  established  upon  larger  and  broader  views,  I  cannot 
■leeogniBe  the  claims  ol'  these  societies  to  keep  the  whole  matter  auy 
■(boger  in  their  hands." 

How  it  is  that  these  public  bodies  who  have  entirely  failed  to 

pt^rfoTin  (heir  public  duties — liow  it  is  that  whikt  Corporations 

fid  Uoiverftities  and   other  endowed  bodies   liave   been  coni- 

dled  to  submit  to  rofonuution,  these  Iniia  of  Court  have  so 

9g  nmintained  a  monojtoly  of  uadisturbed  uselessness,  it   is 

BSctilt  to  explain,  except  upon  tlie  ground  that  the  legal  pro- 

saion  is,  of  all  othei-s,  the  most  conscn-ative  and  that  which  is 

Itlie  least  disposed  to  reform  itself  or  to  admit  rotorm  from  others. 

■An  eminent  legal  &iend  of  mine,  'who  has  great  protessional 

l(xp&rieiic«  in  matters  of  that  sort,  told  me  the  otlier  day  that 

I  ^lere  was  ample  material  for  filing  an  information  against  the 

I  Inns  of  Cotirt  for  breach  of  ti'ust.     The  practical  difficulty  in  tlio 

I  ifay  ia  tbat  as  tlio  Attorney- General  for  the  time  being  is  always  a 

I  bencher,  he  would  have  to  proceed  against  liimself  as  pixHieepa  a-ir 

I  Rati'j.  \f,  then,  this  Association  really  desires  to  Ibrward  the  pura- 

'  moiintcMiiseof  a  liberal  and  enlightened  legal  education  accessible 

lo  lh«  whole  community — unprofessionid  as  well  as  professional — 

bo  well  assured  tlmt  the  pressuro  most  come  irom  without.   And 

X  would  counsel  you,  as  the  first  and  iudispeusable  preliminary, 

ta  obtain  by  the  potent  leverage  of  public  opimou  an  eti'ectual 

demand  for  the  radical  reformation  of  the  Inns  of  Court ;  and 

to  seek  from  Parliament  a  measure  which  shall  terminate  the 

»3UB(enco  of  these  "  ropes  of  sand,  held  together  principally  by 

Sinners,"  in  oriler  that  they  may  be  reconstituted  as  a  legal 

jiiveraity  worthy  of  the  cooutry  and  of  the  profession. 


THE   BAB  AND  THE   80LICIT0RB. 

I  confess  I  look  forward,  as  one  of  the  indirect  effects  of  the 
titution  of  a  legal  University,  to  a  gradual  and  beueticial 
Vform  of  that  absurd  and,  I  believe,  mischievous  etiquette  which 
livides  the  two  branches  of  our  ^reat  profession.  When  young 
tnen  stiKly  together  at  our  legal  University  it  will  bo  impossible 
to  separate  them  in  after  liie  because  one  becomes  a  barrister 
and  the  other  a  solicitor.  The  old  circuit  crime  of"  hugging  "on 
uttoruey  has  vanished  before  the  levelling  infiuenca  of  tlie  first- 
dass  railway  carriage.      And  much  as  X  fear  tho  sentiment  may 


30     Addresn  on  Juruprudenee  and  Amenimmd  pfihe  Ijow* 

shock  some  of  my  leam€d  brethren,  I  believe  it  would  be  fir 
the  advantage  of  both  branches  of  the  profession,  and  atill  men 
of  t))o  pubhc,  if  thej  were  more  united  in  responsibility  attl 
action,  as  they  are  in  the  United  States  and  on  the  ContuMlit 
If  you  want  to  secure  a  highly-educated  Bar,  you  must  lunift 
highly  educated  attorneys — not  on  the  principle  that  ^'wk 
drives  fat  oxen  should  himself  be  fat  f  but  because  men  sddon 
appreciate  qualities  they  do  not  themselves  possess.  I  am  hap|if 
to  know  tiiat  on  this  subject  I  may  fall  back  on  the  h!^ 
authority  of  my  friend  Mr.  Justice  Hannen. 

HEFORH  OF  STATUTE  LAW. 

Having  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  a  satisfactory  admiois* 
tration  of  the  unwritten  law  in  a  sound  legal  education,  then 
will  remain  the  department  of  jurisprudence,  which  dependi 
upon  positive  enactment  or  Statute.  The  chaotic  condition  o; 
the  English  Statute  Law  is  a  thing  which  everyone  deplores  and 
no  one  nas  yet  attempted  to  remedy.  A  great  deal,  it  is  troe^ 
has  been  done  to  consolidate  or  simplify  the  criminal  code,  and 
on  that  head,  though  somewhat  unscientific,  I  do  not  know  thai 
there  is  much  to  complain  of.  But  the  rest  of  the  Statute  Booh 
is,  or  was  till  lately,  a  confused  jumble  of  Sibylline  leaves  whick 
seemed  to  hai'o  been  scattered  by  the  winds  and  gatliored  to* 
getlier  without  regard  to  sense  or  order.  The  Statute  Lan 
Commission,  it  is  true,  has  done  useful  work  in  weeding  e«i 
obsolete  rubbish  and  reducing  the  bulk,  if  not  in  consoli(&tia| 
the  matter,  of  the  law.  There  is  at  last  a  prospect  that  tfai 
intolerable  mass  of  the  Statute  Book  may  be  reduced  within 
some  manageable  compass,  and  two  volumes  have  brought  m 
down  to  the  reign  of  George  III.  I  do  not  enter  now  intQ 
the  large  question  of  tko  practicability  of  a  code.  But  eFSfl 
assuming  the  present  system  of  fragmentarv  legislation  oz 
every  possible  subject  to  continue,  much  is  still  wanting 
even  to  keep  the  small  vantage-ground  we  have  reached. 
Tlio  defects  of  our  present  system  are  perhaps  inherent  ir 
our  very  institutions  ;  and  1  for  one  would  not  sacrifice 
those  institutions  to  any  system,  however  symmetrical.  1 
think  it  was  Lord  Salisbury  who  observed  the  other  day* 
that  in  this  country  wo  have  tlie  ^^  weakest  esjecutive  and  toe 
slowest  legislative  action  in  the  world."  This  is  probably  tru^ 
and  I  should  be  the  last  person  to  desire  to  see  it  changed.  Tb 
weakness  of  the  executive  is  the  miaranteo  of  the  liberty  of  th^ 
subject,  and  tho  tardiness  of  our  legislation  is  a  security  againsi 
wanton  and  ill-considered  change.  Still  without  detriment  tc 
our  actual  institutionsi  something  may  be  done  to  remedy  the 


JBfy  W,  Veynon  ffanmfi,  Q.C.,  M.P.  31 

Ifiaclicid  uLCODTenieiiccs  which  arise  from  tliein.     Wo  have,  for 
f  tostaooer  a  series  of  SUtuteB  witli  reference  to  sotue  pai'ticular 
I  (ubjecU  aach  as  TruJes  UuJoiw,  Merchaut  Shipping,  or  anytliiug 
I  «!»)■     Xhe  Aots  aru  passed  at  vftrloua  times,  and  for  ditltirent 
]  gbjecU.     Tlie  author  of  the  Act  is  ignorant — probably  careless— 
of  what  has  been  done  betbre.     And  tlie  Judges  are  colled  upon 
to  adniinister  a  bundle  of  incoherent  documents  of  equal  autlio- 
I   ntj,  wid  very  possibly  of  inconaistent  language.     How  this 
«iiac&  to  pass,  auy  one  acquaiiil(>d  with  that  singular  transaction 
—the  passing  of  a  Bill  through  a  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons   af^r  midnio;ht — will   easily   understand.      Amend- 
ments are  proposed  and  adopted  on  the  spur  of  ttie  moment, 
which  are  entirely  irreconcilable  with  previous  Acts,  and,  per- 
)h|ii,  irith  the  Bill  itself,  and  a  law  comes  into  operation,  for 
wboia  fimmework  658  gentlemen  are  coUeoti^'ely  responsible,  but 
mth  whose  defects  no  one  in  particular  can  be  indiWdually 
diirged.     If  this  is  the  case  with  Bills  introduced  on  the  autho- 
rity of  Government,  it  is  still  more  the  case  with  what  are  called 
/trinita  members'  Bills,  which  slip  through  and  become  tlie  law 
of  the  land,  of^n  without  consideration  or  supervision.     It  is  a 
I  ttn^lar  anomaly,  that  in  the  case  of  private  Acts  of  Parliament, 
'  t|y  which  only  private  interests   aro  afiect^d,  every  kind  of 
saftK^iard  is  provided ;    they  are  examined   by  officers  of  the 
tiousc  oi'  Lords,  and  the  judges,   I  believe,  still  i-oport  upon 
them.     Bat  in  tao  case  of  measures  affecting  vitally  the  inte- 
J-«fits  of  the  whole  eommonity,  no  similar  precautions  are  taken. 
I^he  Statute  Iiaw  Commission  have  recommended  that  a  per- 
^nanent  Board  of  experienced  lawyers,  representing  the  various 
t»ranclics  of  the  profession,  shonld  be  established,  to  revise  and 
^*«{>oct  upon  all  Acta  of  rarliamont  before  they  pass  the  third 
^^adinw.     Such  a  Board  could  fulfil  functions  something  i-esem- 
bling  Uiose  of  the  Thosmothetfli  of  Athens.     Their  office  is  thus 
described  in  a  book  of  authority : — 

"As  the  law-making  power  depeudod  on  the  vigilance  and  sngacily 
*r  privale  cilixens,  Solon  added  a  more  certain  provision  for  coirect. 
'.Kig  defticia  and  iacongruitiee  which  might  creep  in  through  error 
■.ad  inadvertenRy.  The  Thesniothctw,  who  were  naturally  led  by 
nioir  jndicial  practice  to  notice  the  iraperfections  of  tlie  Uw,  were 
l>fifcially  auihoriaed  to  review  tLe  whole  Code,  and  to  report  all 
"'Wtotes  which  they  deemed  void  or  contradictory  Co  the  legii^ialive 

imiltee,  in  order  that  the  law  might  be  restored  to  its  pristiec 

plioity." 

With  tJiis  example  before  ua,  I  think,  the  English  Parliament 
ini^hl  take  a  lesson  from  the  wisdom  of  Solon.  Whether  such 
»  Mwd^  that  recommended  bj'  the  GonimissioQ  woidd  be  the 


32     Address  an  Jurisprudence  and  Amendmeni  cfihe  Law. 

best  body  to  whom  to  attribute  these  fnnctions^  or  whether 
might  not  be  better  to  assign  them  to  the  Judges  of  Appgal| 
whom  I  shall  bj  and  by  refer,  is  a  matter  which  mig^t  I 
considered ;  but  that  some  provision  of  this  kind  for  the  oonatai 
and  pennanent  revision  of  the  Statute  Book  is  absolutely  neON 
sary  in  order  to  deliver  us  from  a  state  of  discreditable  an 
mischievous  confusion  I  think  no  one  can  doubt  The  moj 
efficient  provision  for  securing  unity  and  simplicity  of  the  k 
would  be  to  insist  that  all  amendments  of  the  Statute  Boo 
should  bo  mado  in  the  form  of  consolidation  Acts  of  tl 
former  Statutes  referring  to  the  same  subject.  But  I  fear  tin 
the  difficulty  of  passing  Bills  consisting  of  many  clauses  throq| 
the  House  of  Commons  would  offer  an  insuperable  obstacle  1 
such  a  reform.  We  must  content  ourselves,  therefore,  wil 
some  scheme  which  shall  reduce  the  amending  Bill  ini 
consistency  and  conformity  with  the  previous  law. 

With  these  observations  upon  reforms  required  to  \em  fl 
principles  of  our  written  and  unwritten  law  in  a  sound  ana  efl 
cicnt  state,  I  pass  to  the  next,  but  hardly  less  importantf  malt 
of  judicial  organisation.     It  is  of  little  use  to  have  good  Ian 

good  judges,  and  good  lawyers  unless  the  machinery  by  whi< 
le  law  is  to  be  administered  is  so  organised,  methodised|  ai 
arranged  that  the  best  results  may  be  produced  with  the  mat 
rials  and  workmen  at  our  disposal.  Without  this  we  may  ha 
so  much  waste  of  time,  labour,  and  money,  as  to  defeat  all  o 
other  reforms. 

CONSTANT  SESSION  OP  COURTS  OP  LAW. 

In  connection  with  this  head  of  our  subject,  I  desire  to  pr« 
upon  your  attention  a  matter  which  seems  to  me  of  the  highc 
social  consequence — I  mean  the  importance  of  having  the  cx>ai 
of  justice  constantly  open,  and  accessible  to  the  public  I  knc 
I  am  touching  upon  tender  ground  when  I  propose  to  assail  tb 
great  institution  dear  to  lawyers,  the  ^^  Long  Vacation."  Bi 
after  all^  the  fundamental  prmeiple  of  law  reformers  is  that  li 
and  lawyers  exist  for  the  public  in  opposition  to  that  which 
fear  is  too  much  the  fact,  tliat  the  public  exist  for  law  and  t 
lawyers.  Let  me  be  permitted  to  enliven  this  dull  diaoourae  I 
a  very  pleasant  professional  jest  of  a  learned  friend  and  tutor 
my  own,  to  whom  I  owe  all  that  I  ever  knew  of  law.  He  aai 
referring  to  this  matter  of  vacations,  the  rule  of  law  seemed 
bo  fiat  justitium  mat  cesium  rather  than  fi/Jti  justitia.  For  ti 
benefit  of  the  ladies  (if  in  these  days  it  is  permitted  to  suppo 
that  ladies  know  less  of  Latin  than  men)  1  will  venture  to  e 
plain  that  justitium  was  the  Boman  lawyer's  Latin  £br  ti 
^Tication  or  suspension  of  the  courts  of  justice,  and  the  maxi 


freely  translated  -woald  mean — "  Let  us  Lave  our  long  vacaiion, 
and  the  deuce  take  tbe  public."  *  What  con  be  more  monstrous 
mi  indcfi.'usible  than  that  a  man,  whose  rights  are  invaded,  whose 
prcwrty  is  endangered,  whose  character  is  damaged,  is  substan- 
tially fur  three  months  in  tho  year  without  possibility  of  redress. 
If  a  man  finds  it  necessary  to  commence  an  action  in  Julvj 
lie  cita  make  no  jirogress  with  liis  suit  till  November.  The 
partial  remedy  of  a  temijoraiy  injunction  may  not  be  avail- 
able. In  the  meanwhile,  hia  witnesses  may  die  or  disap- 
pear; his  interests  may  permanently  suffer ;  and,  in  any  case, 
justice  di;layed  will  amount,  in  a  great  def^ree,  to  justice  de- 
jiieii.  As  I  came  two  or  three  days  ago  in  tlie  train  to  Leeds, 
1  fell  in  Avith  a  friend  of  mine,  a  very  eminent  Equity  prac- 
Twinar.  He  told  nie  it  was  notorious  that  [lersons  frequently 
likd  for  the  long  vacation  to  do  acts  of  more  tbun  doubtliil 
legality,  trusting  to  impunity  from  the  difficulty  and  expense 
of  obtaining  an  iryunc.tion  to  restrain  them  in  the  long  vacation. 
And  lie  gave  me  instances  in  which  leading  counsel  had  been 
tikenJownat  Immense  and  intolerable  expense  to  Carlisle,  to 
Sath,  and  even  to  South  Wales,  to  find  the  Vacation  Viee- 
CbanKllor  (who  generally  resides  io  some  distant  part  of  the 
country),  in  order  to  obtain  an  injunction.  I  may  point  out 
Ibt,  if  the  injunction  should  by  error  be  ivfusod,  an  appeal  to 
rei'lity  the  mistake  wonid  be  practically  impossible.  Why  ia 
thU  io  he?  It  will  bo  said  that  Judges  and  lawj-ers  must  nave 
holidays.  Bnt  so  mast  jiei^ons  occujited  in  other  prolessions. 
Yet  it  is  not  foimd  necessary  to  suspend  business  altogether. 
Yoa  don't  shat  up  all  the  churches  and  chapels  in  the  country 
Jbr  a  quart«r  of  (he  year.  If  you  are  ill  you  are  not  called  upon 
p<  wait  three  months  for  a  doctor.  I  don't  conceive  that  in 
3  the  banks,  or  the  counting-houses,  or  the  manufactories, 
»  olo»>ed  for  a  long  vacation.  Tlie  army  and  navy  are  not 
ibanded  for  three  months  to  give  tlie  officers  a  holiday, 
rfay  is  law  to  bo  the  only  business  which  is  incapable  of 
H^g  continuously  conducted?  Clergymen,  ministers,  doctors, 
nkerg,  merchants,  soldiers,  and  sailors,  manage  to  carry 
ll'tbeir  respective  affairs  by  such  arrangements  as  shall  allow  of 
I  having  the  necessary  relaxation  in  a  manner  consistent 
h  the  public  convenience.  If  you  want  to  buy  an  estate, 
cea  marriage  settlement,  draw  a  deed,  or  make  a  will,  you 
1  your  solicitors'  office  open.  The  public  offices  of  Stato 
the    police   courts    are    constantly   at   work.      Why   aro 

■*  The  jtutiiiam,  by  the  way,  was  only  piMcUiimed  on  critical  anil 
'  occaaiouB,   and    became    almost    eynonymoUB  with    a  "  publin 

g,"  in  wbioh  respect  it  differs  materiaily  (rom  the  long  raca- 


34     Address  on  Jurisjnnidence  and  Amendmint  cfths  Lew* 

the  oonrts  of  law  to  be  closed?  I  will  presently  eodetfov 
to  show  that  the  existing  judicial  staff  is  amply  sulBEkdeBt 
if  properly  organized,  to  provide  for  a  constant  Bessioa  o 
all  the  courts  of  justice,  so  that  the  administratioii  o 
the  law  may  flow  in  a  constant  and  equable  atreanii  mk 
yet  leave  to  each  judge  in  turn  a  period  of  rest  equal  to  tlii 
which  he  at  present  enjoys.  But  then  it  will  be  asked  whi 
is  to  happen  to  the  Bar?  I  know  well  that  this  is  the  tra 
pinch  of  the  case.  But  if  constant  accessibility  in  administn 
tion  of  the  law  be^  as  it  is,  a  matter  of  paramount  oonsequenoe  t 
the  nation,  I  venture  to  answer  the  Bar  must  take  care  of  then 
selves.  They  have  no  pretension  to  oppose  their  personal  inter 
ests  to  the  rights  and  wants  of  a  whole  people.  And  what,  afte 
ail,  does  the  inconvenience  to  the  Bar  amount  to?  The  leadii^ 
practitioners  want  a  vacation  likewise.  Well  and  good — fei 
them  take  it  when  and  for  so  long  as  they  require  or  desire  it 
It  will  be  said,  what  is  to  become  of  their  business  in  the  mew- 
while?  I  reply,  just  what  becomes  of  the  business  of  a  grea. 
physician  or  surgeon  when  he  takes  his  holiday.  The  only  ren 
purpose  which  the  long  vacation  serves  is  to  protect  the  mono- 
poly, already  sufficiently  great,  of  a  few  princnpal  practitioners 
In  their  temporary  absence  no  doubt  an  opening  would  be  lef 
for  those  who  are  the  next  successors — a  result  which  I  confeei 
does  not  seem  to  me  very  disastrous  either  to  the  public  or  t( 
the  profession.  The  best  men  will  always  commandf  the  largea* 
practice,  but  it  is  intolerable  that  the  interests  of  a  whole  com- 
munity should  be  made  subservient  to  increasing  the  gains 
already  abundantly  large,  of  a  few  men  who  bv  merit  and  goo 
fortune  have  attained  the  first  place.  The  law  is  a  bountifi 
mistress,  and  richly  rewards  her  favourites ;  but  to  demand  th' 
her  beneficent  influence  should  be  suspended  altogether  (oT 
quarter  of  the  year  in  order  that  the  few  should  monopolise  b 
i'avours,  is  that  to  which  it  seems  to  me  the  many  are  by  - 
means  called  upon  to  submit.  The  recent  scandal  in  the  Tichbof: 
case  has  brought  this  matter  so  prominently  into  view  tha'i 
trust  i)ublic  opinion  may  bo  brought  to  bear  upon  it  in  sucb 
manner  as  to  render  the  demand  for  a  constant  session  of  tJ 
courts  of  law  one  of  the  most  urgent  questions  in  the  programs 
of  law  reform. 

This  matter  of  the  constant  session  of  the  courts  of  justice  leac 
me  to  the  consideration  of  the  present  arrangement  of  the  judicii 
staffs  and  the  urgent  necessity  for  a  reform  in  its  organization. 

JUDICIAL   ORGANIZATION. 

I  need  not  enlarge  on  the  defects  of  the  present  systen 
for  full  justice  has  been  done  to  its  demerits  oy  the  weiglrt 


%  W.  Verrttm  ffarc^trt,  Q.C.,  it.P. 


«S 


Hiority  of  the  Jndicatorc  Coniimsaion,  The  conslitntioD 
onr  courts  of  jnstlce  is  by  universal  ndmission  a  Bole- 
I  in  jurispru<Ieiice  aud  an  annchromBm  in  history.  It  is 
ling  better  than  a  confnscJ  jumble  of  the  traditions — some- 
tae*  «f  tlio  Accidents — of  past  times  whicli  have  left  us  with  a 
Item  of  judicature  wholly  inappropriate  to  the  demands  and 
iccssities  of  an  advanced  civilisation.  All  that  can  bo  said  in 
\  faTOnr  is  what  can  be  said  of  most  English  institutions,  that 
i  pnictToal  common  seuso  of  tho  people  has  done  much  to 
BiMy  the  logical  anomalies  of  their  procedure.  Certainly,  if 
ism  Smith  Had  desired  to  find  a  countGr^iart  to  his  celebrated 
letration  of  tho  advantage  of  the  division  of  labour  in  the 
Biufactnrc  of  pins,  he  might  have  found  it  in  the  waste  of 
rce  exhibited  by  the  clumsy  arrangements  of  our  judicial 
idtistry.  Let  me  place  before  you  the  exact  force  of  judges 
I  it  present  existing  in  what  aro  called  the  Superior  Courts. 
y  are  as  follows  : — 

Ciurls  of  Equity. 

Chancellor 1 

Xjorits  Justices  ...  ...  ...  ...     2 

Master  of  Rolls  1 

Vice-Chan  eel  I  ors        3 

—      7 
Courts  of  Common  Law. 
Queeu'e  Bench — 

Chief  Justice       

PaiSDea 
Excbequer.— 

Cbief  Boron         

Barons      

Common  Fie  AS — 
Chief  Juslice 
Puisnes 

Judge  of  AJmiralty        

Juilge  of  Probnto  and  Divorce  .  . 

New  Jndges  of  Jadicial  Committee,  under  Act 

of  1871 


31 
To  these  must  be  added  that  singular  clas,'!,  the  ghosts  of 
^rted  Chanci)IlorB,  who,  after  resembling  for  a  time  the  great 
laneellor  of  Henry  VIII., — 

la  full-blown  tUgnity  aoc  Wolaejf  stand  ; 
Law  in  hie  voice  and  fortime  in  his  hand, — 
B  Wolsey,  too,  have  had  their  "  blushing  honours  nipped  by 
3—2 


"Sfl     Address  on  JimvpPudeno»(mdA»mmat^fm*Tjaie. 

a  killin;^  frost,"  and  have  subsided  by  the  political  flccidenta  of 
the  day  into  "  lnw  lords  " — a  aort  of  jndicial  whales,  left  liigh 
and  dry  by  the  receding  ware  of  party  politics — and  wlio 
discharge,  when  Hiei/  please,  the  occasional  luiictioDS  of  m''lil- 
bors  of  a  Pinal  C^urt  of  Appenb  Titking  the  exiierieaoe  of  Uia 
last  few  TBHrs,  vre  may  estimate  the  ex-Cbanccllon  a.i  an 
average  of  not  less  than  four,  receiving  salaries  of  5000/,  a 
year.  This  gives  ws  a  total  nnmber  of  35  judges  of  the  finil 
daaa,  receiving  salaries  ranging  from  10,0(10^.  to  5000/.  a  year 

Now,  the  circumstauoc  whicb  has  tended  to  nmko  law  refi> 
not  a  vory  popular  topic  in  ]iublic  estimation  is  that  it  bas  b 

f»nerally  attended  by  the  ereation  of  new  places.  County  C 
udgea,  ComtnissioDcra  of  Bankruptcy,  Judges  of  Begistn 
Courts,  &c.,  &c, — places  often  filled  by  the  roformars  tliemseln 
— creating  new  jobs,  additional  oxpenditnre,  and  more  taxatlof 
With  reform  c^onducted  on  such  principles,  I  coafcM  I  ban 
iittlo  sympathy.  The  sum  4t  present  voted  annually  undtt 
the  head  of  Law  and  Justice  amounts  to  4,0'07,544^— «■ 
enormons,  and,  I  believe,  a  most  unnecessary  lunounL  I  ana 
firndy  persuaded  we  ought  to  got  a  great  deal  more  work  fi 
B  good  deal  less  money.  I  am  sure  that  no  country  in  i 
world  pays  anything  like  tliiit  imiount  for  results  to  I 
adequate  to  the  oxpondituro.  We  want,  it  is  true,  a  | 
deal  more  judicial  work  done  tlinn  we  get  at  j)rcsent< 
want  a  Final  Court  of  Appeal  constantly  sitting.  Wo  i 
the  courts  of  jiistico  continually  open.  We  want  more  iiq 
quont  circuits  for  civil  bnsiness.  Wo  want  more  natnei 
gaol  deliveries,  iu  order  that  innocent  prisonoi-s  may  not  I 
unjustly  detained  in  confinement.  When  we  say  we  want  i 
these  things,  we  shall  bo  told  that  means  more  judges,-  ma 
money,  more  taxes.  Xot  at  all.  I  am  firmly  convinced,  ikt 
with  the  judicial  sircngth  you  at  present  possess,  if  it  be  a  ' 
proiM?rly  and  sensibly  organized,  you  may  aoconiplisfa  all  i 
IS  (lesired  without  any  greal«r  expense,  and  consistently  ei 
with  large  economies.  Tlie  great  waste  of  judicial  force  " 
which  we  suffer  is  due  to  the  retention  of  a  number  of  obi 
arrangements.  We  havo  three  Courts  of  Common  Law- 
Quecu's  BeiK'li,  the  EMliwjuer,  and  tbo  C«inmon  Pleaa,-k-' 
entirely  distinct  jurisdiction,  tbongh  the  reasons  for  their  a 
ration  have  long  ago  ceased  to  exist.  Vt'f  have  the  great 
crying  evil  of  the  separation  between  tJie  adrainiatration  of' ' 
and  Equity.  Nor  is  it  only  in  the  coustitntion  of  the  o 
themselves  that  we  find  these  senseless  breaches  of  oontinuili 
the  sysfem.  The  waste  of  time,  of  Inbour,  and  of  money,  <]i 
the  dislocation  of  business  by  terms,  vacations,  aittings  in  ( 
Bittings  aft«r  term,  sittings  of  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  ciri 


By  It.  Fffliim  Harcourt,  Q.C.,  M.P.  37 

lie,  make  the  economioal  apportionuiont  of  time  and  of  judges 
I  haprnoticabie.  Just  considei'  the  stute  of  tilings  in  one  of  our 
I  (fenris  of  Common  Law  at  the  present  time.  Before  it  has  half 
I  got  tiirongb  tlie  motions  for  new  trials  it  is  called  off  to  tiike  the 
r  (pecial  paper ;  before  the  epeciitl  (Mijor  ia  cleared  it  Iiaa  to  bj  off 
1  to  GviMhiiil  to  try  causes  at  Nisi  Prins;  before  half  the  list  of 
I  BauF«8  ifi  di»poEe<l  of  it  returns  to  Westrainster,  leaving  the 
tonlbrfcanale  suitiiTB  to  enjoy  tlieir  reuunets  anti  the  counsel 
iheic  refreshers.  No  sooner  has  it  got  back  to  Westminster  and 
oomtnencetl  tlie  business  m  haw,  tunn  it  is  summoned  to  hear 
Nppeals  in  tlie  Escheqoer  Chamber,  and  before  the  appeals 
ar&conclnded,  it  is  dispersed  all  over  the  kingdom  in  circuit. 
Under  sDcb  a  system  as  this  no  man  knows  when  his  case  will 
b©  heard  or  when  his  cansa  wilt  be  tried. 

I  am  not  sufficiently  iamiliur  with  the  practice  of  the  Conrts 
i  Equily,  to  soy  how  far  the  same   objeclions   obtain   there. 
Bmc  I  rMneinber  being  engaged  in  a  suit  of  considerable  iinport- 
ince  before  Vicc-ObancelW  Kiiidersloy,  and  I  recollect  that  in 
nnseijiience  of  the  interpolation  of  other  business  it  was  heard 
bo  Are  separate  days,  at  intervals  varying  from  four  to  ten  days, 
■nd  each  nearing  occupied,  on  an  average,  three-quarters  of  an 
BMik",  the  whole  cause  being  one  which  could  have  been  easily 
Aiiiposed  of  in  a  day's  sittttig.     How  the  learned  judge  managed 
%9  pieoo  tugollicr  the  fragmentary  history  of  tlie  ease  in  his  mind, 
f)arated  as  it  was  by  such  lono;  intervals  of  time,  I  have  never 
Mn  able  to  underetand ;  and  how  any  one  derived  ad\antage 
rom  tbe  arrangement,  except  tlie  solicitors  and  barristers,  who 
^t  addhionaj  lees  for  reduplicated  attendance,  I  confess  passes 
tny  understanding.     Mow,  I  venture  to  think  iJmt  the  block  aad 
tnUrrtiption  of  business,  bo  annoying  and  costly  to  suitors,  and 
o  unsatisfactory   in   respect  of  the  administration  of  justice, 
jiHcs  not  from  any  defect  in  the  quantity  or  quality  of  judicial 
^lower,  bnt  in  the  lamentably  defective  state  of  judicial  organi- 
t  zatioQ.     Every  one  knows  that  with  labour  of  all  sorts,  whether 
r  physical  or  mental,  tlia  amount  of  work  done  depends  upon  the 
proper  distribution  of  available  force.     If  you  make  one  man  do 
nilf  a  dozen  thuigB  at  broken  intervals,  he  will  not  accomplish 
one-half  the  work  whioh  he  would  perform  if  he  worked  con- 
tinuously at  a  single  occupation.     If  you  want  to  make  a  coat, 
^jxru  have  one  man  to  sliear  the  sheep,  another  to  card  the  wool, 
k^BDOther  to  spiu  the  yara,  another  to  weave  it,  another  to  dye  it, 
*•  Eowtlier  to  out  the  ototb  and  sew  the  bnttons  on.     But  in  your 
juiiicial  system,  you  employ  the  same  man  to  shear  the  sheep, 
rud  the  wool,  spin  the  yarn,  weave  the  cloth,  cut  out  the  suit, 
uid  sew  on  the  bnttons,     No  wonder  this  sort  of  suit — I  mean 
tbe  kw  suit — is  very  slow  in  the  making,  very  expensive  in  the 


organized  upon  orderly  ])rincii)le8.  Tlie  foundations  of 
crcat  and  necessary  reform  liave  been  laid  in  tlio  first  rep< 
the  Judicature  Commission.  Tho  leading  principles  of 
report  will,  I  believe,  commend  themselves  to  all  law  refer 
and  it  is  much  to  bo  regretted  that  no  serious  steps  ha^ 
been  taken  to  give  effect  to  its  recommendations.  In  the 
ci[)le8  laid  down  in  that  re|>ort,  there  seems  nothing  left 
desired.  What  seems  wanting  appears  to  be  a  courage  i 
boldness  to  carry  out  the  principles  to  their  legitimate 
sequences.  In  this  respect  I  confess  it  seems  to  me  the  n 
mendations  i'all  very  far  short  of  what  is  really  required, 
faihire  is  probably  due  to  the  ])rcpondcranco  of  tlie  lega 
professional  element  in  tho  Commission,  and  the  unfort 
absence  of  a  lay  and  politicid  corrective.  Tho  Judicature 
mission  have  at  all  events  cleared  tho  ground,  by  cstabli 
tho  leading  principle,  that  the  distinction  between  La\( 
Equity  in  the  administration  of  justice  is  to  bo  abolished, 
second  great  principle  they  have  laid  down  is,  that  all  the 
rate  jurisdictions  of  the  several  Courts  of  Common  La\i 
Equity  are  to  cease,  and  to  merge  in  a  single  Supreme  Coi 
First  Instance,  and  in  which  all  the  judges  are  to  hav 
ordinate  authority  and  a  common  jurisdiction,  subject  t 
revision  of  a  Court  of  Appeal,  which  is  to  be  constructed 
new  footing.  Accepting  these  cardinal  principles  as  se 
and  as  the  starting-point  of  tho  reorganization  of  the  ju 
system,  I  would  venture  to  offer,  for  the  consideration  and 
cnssion  of  this  Association,  a  plan  which,  whilst  founded  c 
principles  laid  down  by  the  Judicature  Commission,  goes  a 
deal  beyond  its  recommendations  in  the  extent  of  the  cli 


B^  W.  Vtruon  Ilmw'trl,  Q.C.,  M.l\  39 

Urit«  tranmction.     If  you  do  tlib  in  nil  other  aH'airs,  why  not 
ia  law  also  ? 

14»w,  (lt)>«anltng  all  tlie  (listinctione  between  Lnw  and  Ei^utty, 

ftiiil  \Su\  otiior  multi'tudinotis  suhdivitiions  into  whiuh  our  judicial 

sjKteni  ia  lirokuii  up,  tlie  ad mtniBt ration  of  the  law  reidly  dic- 

[rihutw  iMelf  into  a  few  very  simple  heads.     We  have  (1.)  Tlie 

'  odameutal  distincUon  between  issues  of  law  and  isauos  of  &ct. 

i)  In   order   to  ascertain   tliese   issues,   wo   have   a   certain 

dun?,  the  object  of  which  ia  to  ntato  Avith  cleamesH  and 

joii  tlic  nntiiro  of  tlie  nintter  in  dispute.     This  is  what  is 

ically  (a»IIi)d  pleading.     Thoec  three  heiuls,  viz. — (\.)  Pro- 

Ivre  to  ascertain  the  nuturo  of  tlie  question  lo  be  trio'l ;  (2.) 

e  trial  of  the  question  if  it  be  nintt«r  of  law ;   (3. )  The  trial 

itlio  qucstioQ  if  it  be  matter  of  fact,  ai-e  the  proper  hnsineiss  of 

"ujireiuo  Court  of  First  Instance,  and,  if  an  npproprittt«  num- 

'«f  jndgfji  ttre  set  apart  to  discbargo  the  business  of  these 

irate  defMH-tments  continuously,  we  siiould  jirobably  arrive  at 

moat  oconoiniciil  cmploynicnt  of  our  available  Ibrce.     When 

Court  of  First  Instance  haa  disposed  of  those  separate  stagen 

litigation,  in  order  to  give  stability,  fixity,  and  authority  to 

law,  it  IB  nfoessary  that  there  should  be  established  a  High 

irt  of  Apl>elltite  Jurisdiction,  which  should  tinally  settle  the 

iudiplea  by  which  tbo  Court  of  First  Instance  is  to  be  governed. 

I  will  Bnaeavour  to  deal,  in  the  first  plnc«,  >vith  tlio  character 

'functions  of  the  appellate  jurisdiction. 

SEW  APFELLATB   CO!  RT. 

kThat  tiie  existing  condition  of  tbinjifs,  in  respect  of  appellaio 

Trisdiction,  is  prolbundly  unsatisfactory,  is  a  matter  universally 

knitted.     Indeed,  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  there  havo  been  a 

^ies  of  ineffectual  attempts  to  remedy  an  acknowledged  scandal 

pnnr  Judicial  system.     The  Judicature  Commission  has  recom- 

kdrn  thf  constitution  of  a  new  Court  of  Appeal.     But  the  re- 

ktiinundation  of  that  Commission  is  afflicted  with  a  fatal  defect, 

1  out  by  one  of  its  members — Sir  Robert  Phillimoro — 

iwly,  that  the  Oommission  did  not  regard  itself  as  having 

horitv  to  consider  the  question  of  the  appellate  jurisdiction 

jhe  House  of  Lords  and  the  Judicial  Committee  of  tlio  Privy 

landl.     To  deal  ivith   the  question  of  appellate  jurisdiction 

Jihout  regard  to  these  courts,  is  practically  to  put  out  of  sight 

■  principal  elements  of  the  problem  to  be  solved.     In  the  Art 

nich  was  passed  last  session  for  the  appointment  of  new  judges 

Inppenl  in  tbc  Privy  Council,  I  am  happy  to  say  clausea  were 

Rrted  at   tho  instance   of  legal   memliers  of  the   House  of 

oimpn*,  which  distinctly  marked  the  measure  as  a  temporary 

1  inadei]iiate  expedient,  and  have  reserved   for  further  con- 


40     Address  on  Jurisprudence  a$id  Amendmekt  of  the  Law, 

Bideration  tlio  whole  of  this  capital  question.     It  is  mji 

conviction  that  no  measure  will  ever  receive  the  assent  of 

House  of  Commons,  which  docs  not  extinguish  the  indepem 

appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  House  of  Lords  and  of  the  F. 

CJouncil,  and  merge  the  whole  into  a  single  Court  of  Ap| 

whose  constitution  shall  not  he  embarrassed  by  any  other.  ( 

Bideration  than  that  of  the  persons  best  fitted  to  discharge  t 

supremo  functions.     Time  would  not  admit,  nor  is  it  necoi 

here  to  enlarge  on  the  various  grounds  which  have  led  tc 

almost  unanimous  condemnation  of  the  appellate  iurisdictio 

the  House  of  Lords.     All  the  expedients  by  whidi  it  has  1 

souglit  to  mitigate  its  inherent  defects  have  proved  deserv 

abortive.    ITic  great  speech  of  Sir  James  Granam,  iu  1856, 

the  remarks  of  others  who  took  part  in  that  debate,  hai 

believe,  finally  disposed  of  any  hoj)e  of  patching  up  a  syi 

which  is  equally  indefensible  in  theory,  and  unsatisfactox 

practice.     Lvery  one  who  has  rcail  the  famous  work  of  1 

Ilale,  on  the  jurisdiction  of  the  House  of  Lords,  knows 

the  exercise  of  this  appellate  jurisdiction  by  the   Peers 

comparatively  recent  usurpation,  and  that  writs  of  erroi 

former  days   were  heard    in    the  concilium  regis  ordinar 

before  the  Chancellor,  Justices,  and  Barons  of  die  Excliec 

What  you  want  in  a  final  Court  of  Appeal  is  a  court 

stantly  accessible  to  the  suitors,  composed  of  the  most  emi 

and  experienced  men,  selected  for  that  express  object 

what  does  the  House  of  Lords  supply?     A  court  which 

barely  one-third  of  the  year  at  irregular  intervals,  compose 

persons  who  find  their  way  there  hy  the  political  accidea 

party  vicissitudes — of  men  who,  when  they  become  judge 

not  cease  to  be  politicians — with  the  additional  disability  tuj 

one  can  be  made  a  member  of  that  court  who  is  not  in  a  sitai 

to  accept  for  his  family  the  burthen  of  an  hereditary  pee] 

for  which  purpose  there  are  two  chief  qualifications — one 

he  should  have  amassed  a  great  fortune ;  the  other  that  ho  si 

have  no  children  (or  rather  no  sons,  for  daughters  are  ad 

sible) :  yet  it  should  seem  that  neither  of  these  two  qualifica 

is  inseparably  connected  with  the  character  of  a  great  lav 

I  will  not  further  detain  you  on  a  matter  upon  whioh 

argument  has  been  long  ago  exhausted.     I  will  simply  try  : 

three  questions : — Is  it  fit  that  the  appellate  jurisdiction  si 

be  vested  in  a  body — (1.)  Which  closes  its  doors  with  the  Se. 

of  Parliament  ?    (2)  Which  excludes  the  most  eminent  \v 

in  the  country  because  he  differs  from  the  party  to  which  h 

longs  on  a  political  question  ?   (3.)  Which  excludes  another 

eminent  lawyer  because  he  does  not  wish  to  take  a  Peer 

I  might  add  a  fourth  question — Is  that  a  fit  oourt  of  a] 


Bj  W,  Verndn  ffarcouti,  Q.C.y  M.P.  41 

1  decided  the  technical  question  which  arose  on  the  trial  of 
mnell,  by  ft  strict  party  vote,  or  which  might  to-morrow 
>  the  decision  of  the  legality  of  the  royal  warrant  for  the 
Ition  of  purchase  to  the  adjudication  of  Lords  Hatlierley, 
ally,  Penzaace,  Cairns,  and  Chelmsford,  who,  by  their  votes 
epeeohea  in  a  party  debate,  had  nlready  declared  their  sen- 
Snt8  as  political  partisans  ?  Tiie  objection  to  the  constitution 
lie  Jndiuial  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council  as  a  final  Court 
Lnpeal  are  of  a  different  character,  but  hardly  less  conclusive. 

I  nigli  reputation  which  thatcourt  has  obtained  has  been  justly 
bribed  as  mainly  due  to  the  happy  accident  which  secured  to 
^  80  many  years  tho  eminent  services  of  the  late  Lord 
^■sdowu.  But  the  fundamental  defect  of  a  body  which,  by 
very  nature,  depends  Ibr  its  constitution  and  existence  on  the 
unre  of  the  Crown,  in  violation  of  the  great  principle  estab- 
ied  nt  the  Revolution,  became  apparent  in  the  discussion  of 
(recent  attempt  to  remedy  the  defects  of  the  court,  when  it 
k  found  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  tho  absurd  expedient  of 
hpoaiDg  tho  Committee  of  Privy  Council  of  judges  who  were 
tntaesaarily  to  be  privy  councillors.  In  addition  to  this  re- 
hsalso  the  fundamental  defect  of  the  limited  and  partial  nature 
tliejurii«itctioD  which  the  Judicial  Committee  has  autliority  to 
Ircise.  It  must  further  be  considered  that  in  the  case  of  tlie 
ivy  Conacil  as  in  that  of  the  House  of  Lords  at  present,  there 
Tio  obligation  (except  iu  the  case  of  the  recently-createtl 
Igee)  upon  any  of  their  members  to  discharge  the  judicial 
ictioDs,  the  result  of  which  necessarily  is  that  the  attendance 
ftniidental  and  precarious,  to  tiie  great  inconvenience  and  loss 

■  o  suitors.  The  simple  and  obvious  remedy  for  this  state  of 
^  is  to  supersede  altogether  jurisdictions  which  are  clearly 

Itbed  for  the  regular  and  adequate  discharge  of  the  appellate 
ction,  and  to  replace  them  by  a  single  court  which  shall  be 
btitntad  of  the  persons  best  fitted  for  the  duties,  which  shall  be 
iBtantly  accessible,  and  composed  of  such  various  elements  as 

II  be  most  adapted  to  deal  with  the  diversity  of  matters  which 
I  come  nnder  its  cognisance.  And  here  wo  come  upon  a  ques- 
B  of  great  consequence  and  of  some  difficulty,  namely,  whether 
re  shottld  be  more  than  one  appeal  from  the  Court  of  First  In- 
Bce.    As  you  may  he  aware,  at  present  there  is  a  double  appeal, 

"It  to  tho  Chancellor,  Lords  Justices,  or  Exchequer  Chamber, 
i  afterwards  to  the  House  of  Lords.  I  confess  it  appears  to 
t  t)i»t  if  Toa  create  a  really  powerful  and  competent  Court  of 
4»eiil,  all  tile  argument  is  in  favour  of  deciding  the  question 

■  single  appeal.  If  that  position  is  accepted  you  will  then  be 
Ib  to  get  rid  of  the  complicated  and  multifarious  jurisdiction 
tiw  Qiancellor,  the  Lords  Justices,  the  Exchequer  Chamber, 


42      Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  Law. 

the  House  of  Lords,  and  the  Judicial  Committee,  and  conoentnta 
the  whole  in  one  great  Auiwllate  Court,  which  ought  to  be  com« 
posed  of  a  sufficient  number  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  cveiy 
department  of  juris|)ru<lence,  wlio,  sitting  continuously,  should 


Supreme  Court  of  Appeal,  witli  a  Vice-President,  and  eight 
other  judges.     This  number  is  that  selected  by  the  Judicature 
Commission,  who  propose  to  compose  the  court  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  the  Lords  Justices,  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  tliree 
permanent   Judges,  and  three  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Conrt 
(to  be  annually  nominated  by  the  Crown).     To  this  method 
of  composing  the  court  there  seems  to   me  to  be  serious  ob- 
jections.    I  cannot  discover  clearly  whether  it  is  the  intention 
of  the  Commission   that   these  judges  should   bo    exclusively 
occupied  in  ap])ellate  business ;  if  so,  I  do  not  understand  whj 
they  are  to    retain    different   titles,    and,    I   presume,   receive 
diflferent   salaries.     If  they  are  still  to  perform  tlieir  present 
functions  the  objection  to  the  dislocation  of  the  regular  functions 
of  the  ordinary  courts,  in  order  to  constitute  an  appellate  juris- 
diction, would  still  prevail.     In  the  second  place,  the  annual 
nomination  of  three  judges  by  the  Crown  seems  to  be  neither  a 
very  convenient  nor,  indeed,  very  constitutional  proceeding.    To 
make  one-third  part  of  the  appellate  tribunal  annually  dc{)endent 
on  the  patronage  of  the  administration,  is  a  proposal  which  I 
feel  sure  neither  the  country  nor  the  House  of  Commons  would 
ever  tolerate.     What  I  woukl  venture  to  suggest  is  that  thii 
highest  court  of  the  kingdom  should  bo  a  permanent  court,  that 
it  should  sit  constantly,  without  interruj)tion  from  other  judicial 
duties,  «and  that  it  should  be  composed  of  all  the  elements  of 
various  excellence  which  every  branch  of  the  profession  can 
aiibrd.     It  has  been  well  observed  that  it  is  only  by  experience 
that  it  can  be  discovered  whether  a  successful  advocate  will  make 
a  good  judge.     But,  in  the  constitution  of  the  Court  of  Appeal 
we  should  be  able  to  select  those  who  have  on  the  Bench  proved 
themselves   endowed   in  tho  highest  degree  with  the  judicial 
faculty.     The  ten  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  would  embraoe 
in  their  number  the  best  commercial  and  real  property  lawyen 
amongst  our  judges ;  they  would  include  at  least  one  eminent 
Scotch  judge  ;  probably  it  might  be  advantageous  to  take  from 
the  Irish   Bench  some  judge  conversant  with   the  particular 
social   condition  of  that  country.     It  would  likewise   include 
Indian  judges,  some  lawyer  who  had  made  colonial   law  his 
s})eeial  study,  and  i)ersoiis  who,  it  may  bo  ho|)ed,  will  be  more 
immerous  in  the  future  than  they  have  been  in  the  post,  whoi| 


B;/  W.  Venm  Ilareourt,  Q.C.,  M.P.  43 

fir  William  Scott,  are  deeply  veraed  in  the  Civil  Law,  tlie 

of  Nations,  and  Qonoral  Jurisprudence.     In  order  that 

It  court  miglit  be  c<mstautly  sitting  whilst  au  adequate  vaca- 

oQ  was  provided  for  tlie  judges,  I  slionld  propose  that  eight 

should  be  continually  on  duty.     Each  judge  would  tuus 

vacatiou  of  ten  weeks  in  tlio  yeax;  two  being  always  off 

;  one  time.     If  the  court  rose  lor  a  Ibrtnight  at  Christmas 

inld  give  a  vacation  of  three  raontha  to  every  judge,  a 

which  no  one  will  bo  disposed  to  say  is  too  short.     The 

gat  Judges  thus  constautly  at  work,  mi^ht  sit  as  was  most 

MiTenicat  in  one  or  two  divisions,  the  cliief  justice  of  the  court 

mo£  iKtwcr  to  arrange  the  busiuosa  as  he  thought  best.     In 

,01  great  coueequeuco  the  whole  judicial  strength  might 

DOgut  to  bear.     In  ordinary  causes  probably  two  courts 

,  be  constantly  sitting,  one  consisting  of  6ve,  the  other 

ee  members,  which  would  be  variously  composed,  nccord- 

the  cbaractpr  of  the  business  to  be  disposed  of — t!ie  Presi- 

^f  the  Suiireme  Court  presiding  in  one  (livision  and  the  Vice- 

bnt  iu  tlie  other.     I  need  hardly  insist  on  the  advantages 

such  a  plan  would  offer  as  contrasted  with  tho  present 

.     Instead  of  precarious  hearings,  at  ancertaln  period)*, 

i^conrt   accidentally  composed,  we  sliould  have  a  eystetn 

lellate  Jurisdiution   constantly  accessible,  whoso   business 

be   regularly  disposed  of  ay  judges  sulected   j'or   their 

E  fitness   for   this   particular   purpose.      It   will   not  be 
that  a  court  of  such  authority,  by  tho  permanence  of 
trader  and  the  fixity  of  its   dcci^ons,   would   give   au 
It  of  certainty  and  stability  to  the  law  which  it  greatly 
ea.    Tho  argument  of  Sir  K,  Palmer,  in  his  evidence  before 
ifda' Commiltee  of  1856,  has  entirely  convinced  mo  that, 
ourt  of  Final  Anpeal,  the  judgment  of  the  court  ought, 
now  in  tlie  Judicial  Committee,  to  bo  unanimous.     In  a 
»  oo  constituted,  with  such  facilities  for  the  despatch  of 
moess,  all  ibiit  delay  which  is  productive  of  so  much  cost  and 
loyance  to  the  suitor  would  disappear,  and  an  appeal  to  the 
e  Court  would  be  no  nior ;  tedious  and  expensive  thnu 
ler  Btago  in  tho  suit.     It  may  be  thought  that  such  a 
would  be  a  too  expensive  luxury,  and  would  make  fresh 
3  on  the  patience  of  the  taxpayer.     But  I  would  under- 
find  the  meaoB  for  its  support  without  adding  a  farthing 
.J  judicial  expenditure.    It  would  bo  a  groat  error  to  under- 
,^  Judges  exercising  these  high  functions.     Yon  cannot 
"  to  get  the  best  men  from  so  highly-paid  a  profession  as 
r  except  by  offering  to  tho  judgea  higli  salaries.     Tho 
:Qt  and  Vice-President  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal 
bo  the  hijghest  judicial  functionaries  in  the  country,  and 
receive  the  salaries  of  tho  Lord-Chaiicollor  and  the  Chief 


44     Address  m  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  cf  the  Law. 

Justice  of  England,  namely,  the  one  10,0002.,  tbe  other  800( 
a-year.  The  other  eight  judges  would  receive  6000t  a-y«i 
which  is  the  salary  of  the  Lords  Justices  in  Equity  at  preMi 
By  taking  the  salaries  now  paid  to  the  Lord  Cliancellor,  ti 
Chief  Justices  and  Chief  Baron  of  the  Courts  of  Commoii  La 
the  Lords  Justices,  the  Master  of  the  Ilolls,  and  the  Bx-^CUi 
cellors,  you  will  find  you  have  a  sufficient  fund  to  provide  \ 
the  payment  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal  on  the  scale  Ilu 
indicated.  A  verj'  groat  economy  might  be  effected  by  the  abo 
tion  of  the  numerous  and  excessive  staff  which  has  grown 
about  separate  Courts,  a  matter  to  which  I  will  presently  t^l 
It  has  been  said  it  would  not  be  easy  to  find  so  large  a  numl 
as  ten  judges  fitted  for  the  duties  oi*^  the  appellate  jurisdiciii 
I  confess,  to  me  the  difficulty  appears  of  the  opposite  nain 
namely,  to  limit  the  persons  who  have  just  claims  upon  sad 
situation  to  so  small  a  figure.  If  it  were  not  inv  dious  to  me 
tion  individuals,  I  think  I  could  produce  double  that  number 
names,  from  any  or  all  of  whom  might  be  selected  the  Court 
Appeal  of  which  any  country  and  any  profession  might  be  jnsi 
proud.  Indeed  I  rcel  half  disposed  to  borrow  from  the  bcot 
and  Irish  establishments  sufficient  funds  to  provide  two  mc 
Judges  of  Appeal,  so  as  to  make  up  the  whole  number  to  twel^ 

THE   OFFICE   OF   LOBD   CHANCELLOR. 

As  I  have  mentioned  the  office  of  Lord  Chancellor,  I  w 
venture  to  remark  that  the  time  seems  now  to  have  arrive 
especially  in  oonnectioYi  with  the  constitution  of  a  new  appdii 
jurisdiction^  when  the  whole  nature  and  functions  of  that  offi 
should  be  reconsidered  with  a  view  to  its  reformation.  Nothu 
but  the  antiquity  and  traditional  splendour  of  the  office  cot 
explain  or  justify  the  existence  of  so  anomalous  a  functiomtt 
Wnilst  all  the  other  judges  in  the  land  are,  by  the  fnndamei 
principles  of  the  Constitution,  made  irremovable  by  the  Cron 
the  Chancellors  share  the  fate  of  the  Minister  of  the  di 
Whilst  the  judicial  office  is  in  all  its  other  departments  careful 
guarded  from  the  infiuence  of  party  politics,  the  first  judge 
the  country  is  essentially  a  party  politician,  and  his  politics  i 
of  the  very  essence  of  j^is  judicial  position.  Since  the  reO( 
reform  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  his  original  jurisdictioa 
Equity  has  been  greatly  contracted,  and  his  appellate  auUieif 
has  become  superfluous  since  the  institution  of  the  Ld 
Justices.  The  absurdity  of  connecting  the  head  of  the  law  * 
clusively  with  one  part  of  the  profession,  namely,  the  administ 
tion  of  Equity,  is  sufficiently  obvious,  and  it  becomes  poaith 
scandalous  when,  as  happens  as  oflen  as  not,  from  the  exifl 
cies  in  politics,  the  Chief  Judge  in  Equity  knows  nothing  of 
principles  or  the  practice  of  the  court  in  which  he  presi 


^  W.  Vernon  tfarmtrt,  Q.C.,  M.P.  45 

me  has  arrived  when  the  bend  of  tlie  law  Bboulil  no  longer 
^Bport  of  tlw  vioissituUes  of  party,  but  should  be  the  per- 
il Dead  of  tlie  ^ent  conrt,  whicii,  in  the  last  resort,  is  to 
ilie  Iaw  for  the  whole  empire-  I  would  therefore  separate 
4ber  the  judioial  i'rota  the  ))oUtic&I  fonetioDs  of  the  otUco 
AuccIIor,  and  make  the  ChaQoellor  in  his  legal  capacity 
ermanent  President  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal, 
the  uature  of  our  Constitution  it  is  necesaaiy  that  aucb  a 
tment  09  that  of  law  and  jostioe,  expending  out  of  the 
)  tasaljon  no  less  than  4,01>U,000/,,  should  be  represented 
trliuaent  by  a  responsible  niiuistor.  I  would  propose, 
^ra,  to  constitute  the  otKco  whicli  has  been  so  lung  wanted, 
«  Minister  of  Justice,  to  whom  would  be  attributed  all  tho 
ioal  functions  now  exercised  by  the  Lord  Chancellor,  and 
file  whole  of  the  legal  and  semi-judicial  business  of  the 
')  Offifij.  There  would  tliou,  I  think,  be  no  reason  why 
lunw  OfGce  and  the  Board  of  Ti'ado  should  not  be  con- 
ited  into  a  siikgle  department,  liaving  cognizanoe  over  all 
Btic  adniiuistration. 

[THE   LAW   OFFICERS  OP   THE   C80WN. 
.is  worthy  of  consideratioa  whether,  as  tlie  judioial  head 
he  law   would  —  as   he   ought  —  cease   to   be   a   member 
K   Cabinet,  the  office   of  A ttomey- General,  who   is  tlio 
too-lctgal   adviser  of  the   GoveiTunent,  should  not,  as  in 
*^Tica,  be  raised  to  a  higher  dignity.     It  has  always  seotned 
y  most  absurd  that  when  political  questions  of  the  greatest 
^aace  arise,  such  iB  those  connected  with  civil  disturbance 
M,  or  iateruational  quarrels  abroad,  the  authority  vouched 
\  Qovemment  is  nut  that  of  their  Cabinet  colleague  the 
Kellor,   but   that  of  tho   comparatively  irreBponsible   law 
m  of  the  Crouu,  whose  opinions  are  always  referred  to  but 
f  produced.    It  appears  to  me  that  the  person  whose  advice  is 
iacted  upon  ought  to  be  a  minister  responsibio  to  the  coun- 
ijl  tiaoaot  but  think  that  the  whole  position  of  tlie  law  ofHcers 
i>  Cvown  requires  to  be  reconsidered.     The  Attorney-  and 
i|ti)r-General  enjoy  an  ofheial  income  of  not  less,  oft«u  much 
than  10,000/. ;  an  income  equal  to  that  of  the  Lord  Chan- 
aod  twice  as  great  as  that  of  the  I'rimo  Minister.     And 
i  a  general  rule,  they  pack  the  aflairs  of  the  public  into 
bberetioes  of  their  private  business.     How  small  a  portion 
itinie  of  a  Crown  lawyer,  with  a  largo  jirivate  business,  is 
ji  to  tlia  State,  is  well  known.     And  yet  for  a  salary  of 
l)Oi-  ft  year,  the  nation  has  some  right  to  expect  that  it 
;have  at  least  liie  "  first  call,"  which,  when  placed  in  oom- 
witb  private  clients,  it  seldom  gets. 


46      Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  Law. 

With  these  suggestions  for  the  constitation  of  a  Sapre 
Court  of  Appeal,  I  pass  on  to  the  consideration  of  the  Ooart 
First  Instance. 

C0UBT8  OF  FIRST   IN8TANGB. 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  order  to  constitute  the  Appellate  Con 

I  have  absor])ed  the  offices  of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Lords  Ji 

tices,  Master  of  the  Rolls,  the  three  Chiefs  of  the  Common  L 

Courts,  and  the  Ex-Chancellors.     As  I  have  before  shown.  th< 

still  remain  undisposed  of  twenty-five  judges  of  the  cfan 

Vice-Chancellors,  Puisne  Judges,  &c.,  including  in  the  nnnil 

the  judges  in  Probate  and  Admiralty,  and  also  the  four  reoen 

created    judges    of   the    Privv   Council.      These   twenty-fl 

judges,  with  their  several  functions  properly  distributed,  will. 

believe,  be  more  than  ample  to  discharge  the  duties  of  Courts 

the  First  Instance,  in  a  much  more  efficient  manner  than  tb 

are  at  present  fulfilled.     For  the  business  to  be  transacted 

head-quarters  in  London,  I  would  take  eighteen  judges.     I  pr 

pose,  in  the  case  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  First  Instance,  as  ; 

that  of  Appeal,  that  it  shall  be  constantly  sitting  and  perpetual 

accessible.     In  order  to  give  to  the  judges,  as  in  the  foruM 

case,  a  proper  vacation,  it  would  be  necessary  that  three  of  fl 

judges  should  be  always  en  congi.     This  would  admit  of  eac 

judge  having  two  months'  vacation,  besides  a  fortnight  at  Chriil 

mas  (which  would  be  the  onlv  universal  vacation),  or  ten  wed 

vacation  in  the  year ;  a  holiaay  which,  I  believe,  most  men  i 

business  or  office  would  envy.      There  would  thus  be  fiftee 

judges  of  First  Instance  sitting  every  day  of  the  year,  with  ik 

exception  of  the  Christinas  fortnight  vacation.     These  judge 

would  fulfil  the  functions  now  discharged  by  the  ordinary  Conrl 

of  Common  Law  and  Equity ;  but  they  would  discharge  thei 

without  the  interruption  introduced  by  vacations,  terms,  cii 

cnits,  and  sittings  in  a])poal.     I  need  hardly  point  out  to  an 

practitioner,  what  would  be  the  economy  of  time  and  labour, 

the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench,  for  instance,  sat  for  the  traiu 

action  of  business  continually  without  vacations,  without  on 

cuits,  without  intervals  of  Exchequer  Chamber  business,  withoi 

sittings  at  Westminster  or  Ouildhall.     I  think  it  would  not  I 

too  much  to  say,  that  its  power  for  the  transaction  of  bustne 

would  be  more  than  doubled.     It  must  be  obvious  to  any  oi 

how   the  business  would   be  simplified,  expedited,   andT  in 

proved  in  regularity  and  despatch.     Now  the  business  of  tl 

Court  of  First   Instance  naturally  divides  itself   into  Htm 

heads,  and  when  the  fusion  of  Law  and   Equity  is  effecte 

will  fall  into  the  following  distribution :  —  (l.)  Practice  az 

Procedure ;  (2.)  Issues  of  Fact ;  (8.)  Issues  of  Law.   It  Beec 


Sij  W.  Vernon  Ttarfourl,  Q.C.,  MP. 


47 


that  what  you  require  is  to  make  provision  for  the 
it  and  constant  transaction  of  each  class  of  business 
these  several  heads.  I  would  assign  to  each  department 
letent  nnmhfr  of  judges  who  should  be  constantly  occu- 
i  despatching  its  business.  Experience  would  show  what 
IB  pro|xirtion  of  judicial  foi-ce  required  for  each  class  of 
p.  For  the  sake  of  illustration  I  will  for  the  present 
them  equally.  There  would  then  be  five  judges  sitting 
II  the  year  round  to  transact  the  hnsiness  of  Chambers  as 
JetL  They  would  take  all  the  business  now  transacted  at 
(TS,  and  it  wonld  probably  be  found  possible  to  transfer 
t  all  tlie  ordinary  motions  now  made  in  Conrt  connected 
jgal  procedure.  Under  them  woidd  have  to  be  reor- 
I  the  whole  system  of  the  Chief  Clerk's  and  Master's  office, 
V  to  secure  a  more  speedy  and  satisfactory  transaction 
jusinesB  of  administration,  by  wliich  the  Court  of  Chan- 
now  BO  grievously  blocked  up. 

[  to  the  question  of  procedure  comes  that  of  the  trial  of 
of  fact.  These  are  now  mostly  confined  to  what  are 
causes  at  Nisi  Prius  arising  in  the  ordinary  piocednre  at 
an  Law ;  but  when  the  special  jurisdiction  of  Equity  dls- 
I,  a  great  deal  of  tiie  business  now  heard  iudisenminately 
i  Court  of  Equity  wdl  resolve  itself  into  its  separate 
to  of  law  and  tact.  We  most  make,  therefore,  a  more 
Te  and  constant  provision  for  the  trial  of  issues  of  fact 
e  at  present  possess,  I  should,  therefore,  propose  that, 
of  the  present  occasional  Nisi  Prius  sittings  at  West- 
[  and  the  Gnildhall,  there  should  be  five  judges  constantly 
hi  London  for  the  trial  of  issues  of  fact,  whether  arising 
nuts  in  Law,  Equity,  Bankruptcy,  Probate,  Divorce,  or 
ilty;  in  short,  to  dispose  of  all  questions  of  fact,  however 
kay  arise  in  any  legal  proceedings.  I  do  not  intend  in 
ly  to  interfere  with  the  functions  of  the  jury  as  it  at 
,  exists,  though  I  do  not  doubt  that  in  course  of  time, 
I  sorts  of  questions  will  more  and  more  be  left  by  the 
;  of  the  partiiis  to  the  decision  of  the  jndge.  I  doubt  if  in 
QS  where  character,  damages,  or  liberty,  are  involved,  n 
lUd  erer  with  advantnge  bo  dispensed  with.  These  judges 
lave  tlie  assistance,  in  matters  of  account  and  business 
j  disposed  of  in  court,  of  the  official  referees  recommended 
Judicature  Commission,  and  to  whom  I  shall  presently 
I  think  any  one  acquainted  with  the  business  of  Nisi 
B  London  would  agree  that  two  or  three  j  udgcs  constantly 
foold  dispose  of  the  business  far  more  satisfactorily  than 

Kit  in  tlie  confused  rush  of  the  sittings,  in  which 
to  be  off  to  Westminster  almost  as  soon  as  they 


48    'Adtlrets  m  Jvri^mt^enet  onA  AmenSmmt  cfttie  Jjme.     M 

have  arrived.  It  woald  bo  easy  to  diajKise  of  tliu  businoin 
classes,  fio  that  criminal  caaes  buould  be  tried  iu  one  iM>nrt|fl 
vorco  cases  in  another,  admiralty  ca^GS  in  anoUier,  nud  so  ftVjH 
Having  tliUB  provided  Tor  tlie  coDstanL  and  i-e^lar  disj^f 
of  trials  of  fact,  it  remains  only  to  consider  how  to  deal  ^M 
the  issues  of  law,  i-e.,  the  class  of  questions  which  nro  now^l 
judicatod  by  the  (!!onrts  of  Westmiuater  sitting  m  banco,  JM 
Judicature  Commissioners  Iiave  animadverted  on  the  groiuwH 
distinction  which  now  prevails  in  the  practice  of  the  CoartiH 
Equity  ftud  Common  Law.  In  Equity  a  single  jtuige  is  con- 
sidered aa  sufficient  in  the  Court  of  First  Instance  to  adjudicate 
Dpon  all  questions  of  law  and  of  fact  which  arise  within  hii 
jurisdiction.  In  the  Courts  of  Common  Law,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  business  is  thought  to  require  the  presence  of 
three  or  lourjudgea.  Yot  the  questions  at  iasuo  iu  the  latter 
case  are  not  more  important  than  those  in  the  former.  As  tbo 
Judicature  Commissioners  justly  obser^-e,  "  there  would  there- 
'  fore  seem  to  be  either  a  want  of  power  in  the  Court  of  Chancenr 
or  an  excess  of  power  iti  the  Courts  of  Common  Law  ;"  and  tlui 
conclusion  at  which  they  arrive  is  that,  "  With  a  Court  of 
Ajipeul  constantly  sitting  and  easy  of  access,  matters  of  gnat 
importance  might  properly,  aa  now  in  the  Court  of  Chancery, 
be  left  to  tlie  jurisdiction  in  the  first  instance  of  a  single  judge." 
Adopting  this  conclusion,  we  should  have  live  judges  composu^ 
five  different  Courts  of  First  Instance  to  dispose  of  issuM  m 
law.  They  would  have  to  discharge  the  business  which  now 
devolves  ujion  the  three  Courts  of  Common  Law  sitting  m 
batico,  and  that  of  the  Viee-CIiimcellora  and  Master  of  the  IvoUs 
in  Equity,  so  far  at  least  as  matters  of  law  are  concerned. 
IJut  wlien  it  is  considered  that  they  would  have  at  tlwii 
disposal  all  the  time  which  the  courts  now  consume  in  LomiaD 
sittings,  circuits,  and  vacations,  and  all  the  time  which  tlie 
Equity  judges  expend  upon  matters  which  are  not  questwni 
of  law,  it  will  be  admitted  that  their  number  would  i>c  fir 
more  tlian  equivalent  in  point  of  judicial  time  made  availabk 
for  tlio  transaction  of  tliis  description  of  business,  tbtj 
woulil  further  be  relieved  altogether  from  that  great  mauM 
business  which  arises  out  of  JSisi  Prius  causes  in  the  Wftfcf 
applications  for  new  trials  and  tlio  deetsioa  of  points  of  Is* 
reserved.  As  it  would  not  be  expedient  to  submit  to  a  single 
judge  matters  in  the  nature  of  an  appeal  from  another  judged 
co-orilinate  authority,  I  should  propose  that  the  whole  of  tUi 
class  of  questions  snould  be  carried  at  once  to  the  Court  o 
Appeal,  which,  sitting  constantly  in  two  chambers,  would  Imv 
Buthcient  time  to  dispose  of  them.  Thus  the  London  itosioet 
of  the  Courts  of  First  Instance  will  have  been  com 


Mm  W.  Vtnum  Ilurcourt,  Q.C.,  M.P.  49 

Joi;.  W^  shall  have  five  judges  constantly  disposing  of 
instDees  of  proce<laro  at  CliamberB,  fiva  judges  constantly 
(;  issues  of  fact,  five  judges  jJcrpetuaUy  occupied  in  the 
of  issues  of  law;  nnil  thus  every  cIjibs  of  buiiness  will 
jed  in  an  uninterrupted  flow;  and  presiding  over  the  wholn, 
giving  fixity  and  unity  to  the  administration  of  tlie  law  in 
^artnientS)  would  be  a  Court  ol'  Apju-al  whose  proceedinga 
constant,  Ej>eedy,  and  uniform  would  act  as  the  pendulum 
n  regulating  the  movement  of  a  clock.  As  regards  the 
X  of  First  Instiincc,  it  will  not  bo  at  all  necessary  to  confii:o 
to  the  monotouons  transactions  of  one  particular  class  of 

Em.    The}'  will   be  all  co-ordinate  and  co-cqual  judges  of 
prenie  Court,  and  each  will  be  able  to  fulfil  the  duties 
pli  department  interchangeably.     As  each  judge  will  bo  on 
aime  months  in  the  year,  ho  might  take  three  months  in 
(Icputoient,  or  those  who  were  considered  to  have  a  spocial 
ide  for  one  particular  line  might  be  exclusively  devoted  to 
Tor  the  purjiose  of  distributinc  their  functaons  properly 
inveniently,  there  should  be  a  Qiiof  Jnstico  of  the  gupreuie 
,  who,  liko  the  general  of  an  arm;-,  would  have  authority 
ex  Uie  work  of  tho  judges  as  he  thought  best.     He  would 
nine  the  rotation  of  the  work,  and  would  direct  how  manj* 
liat  judges  should  undertake  the  business  of  each  court, 
juld  have  a.  Bt-nutv  Chief  Justice  who  would  presido  in 
wnce.     Tlie  Chief  "Justice  would  have  a  salary  of  80U0/, 
,  and  the  Dejiuty  7000/,  a  year.     Tho  rest  oi'  llio  sixteou 
would  have  SIJOO/.  a-year,  which,  as  tliey  would  be  ro- 
from  the  ex]»ense  of  circuit,  would  be   practically  an 
c  of  their  present  salary. 

OFFICIAL    REFEREES. 

order  to  complete  the  organization  of  the  Court  of  First 
!«',  it  is  essential  to  provide  a  maohinery,  which  is  at 
it  tmnentably  wanting,  in  the  shape  oi'  a  standing  body  of 
m,  to  discharge  the  functions  whieh  are  now  delegated,  at 
expense,  and  with  immonBo  loss  of  time,  to  private  arbi- 
B.  There  is  no  part  of  the  Report  of  tho  Judicature  Coni- 
m  which  appears  to  nic  mora  valuable  than  that  which  re- 
loads the  Hppointmeiit  of  official  referees.  Tlie  scenes  which 
place  on  a  Circuit,  or  at  the  London  Sittings,  are  a  scandal 
to  the  Bar,  the  Bench,  and  tho  profession.  The  unfortunate 

who,  at  great  expense,  and  after  an  immense  loss  of  time, 
;  last  succeeded  in  getting  his  case  into  court,  and  thinks, 

M«y  man,  that  at  length  it  in  about  to  be  tried,  hoars  a 
iriana  colloquy  between  the  judge  and  the  counsel,  the 
.of  which  is  ihat  both  cordinlly  agree  the  case  \^  one  not 


50     Address  an  Jurisprudence  aiki  Annfuimewt  of  tlie  Law. 

fit  to  be  tried  in  Court,  and  it  is  suji^gcstcd  that  it  shall  be 
referred  to  some  "  gentleman  at  the  Bar."  This  is  the  pro- 
cess familiarly  known  at  the  Bar  by  the  term  "  opening  i 
reference."  It  is  one  singularly  convenient  to  judges, 
barristers,  solicitors,  and  the  "gentlemen  at  the  Bar" 
waiting  to  be  referees,  indeed,  to  everybody  except  the 
suitors  who  have  to  i)ay  for  it.  The  briefs  have  been  de- 
livered, the  counsel  have  been  paid,  the  witnesses  summoned 
all  the  costs  incurred,  and  then,  just  to  get  rid  of  the  case 
and  escape  from  the  unseemly  hurrj'-scurry  of  on  ill-organizec 
judicial  system,  the  unhappy  litigimt  finds  he  has  to  begin  al 
over  again.  Tlie  "gentleman  at  the  Bar,"  who  is  constituted  the 
judge  at  the  exjKinsi^  of  the  suitor,  has  other  engagements,  the 
arbitration  drags  its  slow  length  along  for  weeks,  months, 
sometimes  for  years,  and  at  the  end  the  suitor  finds  that,  havin/i 
paid  the  costs  of  the  suit,  t  he  costs  of  the  arl)itration  amount  tc 
three  or  four  times  as  much  more.  I  know  that  in  more  recent 
times  this  evil  has  l)ecn  somewhat  abated  by  the  power  giver 
under  the  Common  Law  Procedure  Act,  and  that  in  matters  o: 
accoimt  the  work  has  been  well  d(me  by  the  Masters  of  the  Courts 
lint  their  limited  power  still  leaves  much  scope  for  the  old  prao 
tice.  Of  all  the  anuses  of  our  judicial  system,  this  seems  to  me 
to  be  one  of  the  worst  and  the  most  intolerable.  I  do  not  Aeaj 
that  there  are  matters  of  account  and  of  detail,  which  are  nol 
susceptible  of  being  conveniently  tri<xl  at  Nisi  Prius  (tliongh  ] 
think  the  judges  and  counsel  (jontrivo  to  find  a  good  many  more 
of  such  crises  than  tiny  need),  but  if  the  suitor  is  remitted  tc 
another  tribunal,  it  is  too  bad  that  he  should  have  to  bear  the  ex* 

1)ensc  of  both.  If  he  is  to  Ixi  sent  to  arbitration,  a  competent  ar* 
litrator,  ready  to  do  his  work,  should  bo  found  as  a  regular  par 
of  the  judicial  system.  1  trust  that  under  a  proper  organizatioi 
of  judicial  referees,  the  abominable  hardship,  of  private  reforencei 
will  disappear.  I  i)ropose,  as  part  of  the  plan,  to  establisl 
in  London  ten  permanent  official  referees,  with  salaries  of  1500J 
a-year.  The  number  may  seem  large,  but  their  duties  would  h 
multifarious.  I  shcnild  |)roposc  that  they  should  consist  o 
persons  selected  for  various  qualifications  :  thus  one  or  more  o 
them  might  be  professional  accountants ;  one,  possibly,  a  sur 
vcyor ;  one  a  man  of  science,  who  might  act  as  assessor  o 
referee  in  patent  causes  ;  and  so  on ;  indeed,  tliat  they  should  b 
a  body  of  experts  in  the  different  classes  of  facts  which  wi 
ordinarily  come  within  their  cognisance.  They  should  have  tl 
same  vacation  as  the  judges,  and  their  number  would  adm 
of  eight  coiLstimtly  sitting.  One  of  their  principal  functior 
should  be  to  settle  sjKicial  ca.^es,  in  which  the  facts  would  I 
found,  and  the  matters  of  law  rcfeiTcd  to  the  Court.      Probabl 


Sy  W.  Venton  tTarcoarl,  Q.C,  M.P. 

a  large  part  of  the  wnrk  no^r  transacted  in  the  Mast«r'B 
Bees,  or  in  tliosc  of  the  Chief  Clerk,  might  bo  with  advantage 
msferred  to  these  officials.  There  is  nothing  whicli  seems 
lOFfi  to  require  roform  tlian  the  btnck  of  business  in  these 
Rtemal  avenues  of  the  htw.  Tlie  administrative  business  of 
Qitncerjr,  in  respect  of  trust  estates,  winding-up  suits,  &c.,  &c,, 
Jtquiroa  an  entire  reorganization.  But  this  ib  too  large  and 
Sniicata  a  question  to  enter  upon  at  present.  At  some  future 
ime  I  shall  be  prepared  to  show,  that  by  a  simplification  and 
onfolidation  of  these  offices,  a  more  rapid  despatcti  of  business 
lay  be  efiected  consistently  with  a  large  reduction  in  the  present 
IsOTinous  expense  of  the  staff. 

CIHCCITS. 

It  irill  bo  observed  tliat  I  Imve  as  yet  made  no  provision  for 
He  business  of  circuit,  and  that  I  have  devoted  the  whole  time 
tf  tlie  eighteen  Judges  of  First  Instance  to  London  business. 

Kit,  on  the  other  baud,  I  have  only  as  yet  disposed  of  twenty- 
5I1I  ont  of  the  thirty-five  available  judges.     There  are  seven, 

lerefore,  in  reserve ;  and  I  would  propose  wltli  that  force  to 
Unact  the  provincial  business  of  circuit.  The  present  arrangc- 
ents  of  circuit  are  notoriously  inconvenient  and  unsntisfactorj'. 
^  first  and  great  objection  is,  that  in  order  to  transact  the  busi- 
sa  of  circuit,  the  whole  judicial  organization  in  the  metropolis 
lentirely  susjiended  and  broken  up  twice,  and  in  part  three  times 
I  Ihe  Tear.  ■  Tliis  state  of  tilings,  which  was  tolerabio  when  tlio 
innBictions  of  the  countiy  were  small,  and  necessary  when  the 
Mas  of  communication  were  few,  ia  entirely  inappi-opriate  to 
tt  |ircscnt  condition.  But,  in  spite  of  this  great  dislocation  of 
e  Central  business,  the  arrangements  for  the  benefit  of  the 
antry  are  wholly  inadequate.  Circuit  in  most  places  is  still 
wcrned  by  the  old  geographical  traditions,  and  takes  as  little 
— -tance  of  the  growtn  ot  population  and  wealth  as  did  the 
!  of  Commons  in  the  days  of  Giatton  and  Old  Sarum.  I 
^^  I  that  twenty-two  circuit  towns  have  less  than  10,000 
il)>bitants,  six  jilaces  have  less  than  5000,  and  eight  or  nine 
I^acts  have  little  above  that  uumbcr.  How  many  large  and 
pc^ons  places  have  to  send  their  causes  to  be  tried  in  small 
Bid  unimportant  towns  ?  And,  furthermore,  between  the 
ftniiig  and  snmuier  circuits  eight  months  must  always  elapse, 
.mriog  wluch  no  cause  can  be  tried,  except  by  sending  up  the 
Tritneae«s,  attorneys,  &c.,  to  London,  at  great  expense  to  the 
jiitor  and  much  hardship  to  the  London  jurymen. 
The  remedy  for  all  these  evils  is  one  whieli  has  long  ago  been 
eomniendea,  and  which  seems  to  be  favoured  by  two  membera 
r  the  profession   of  great   authority — I   mean   the  Solicitor- 


si     Addreu  on  Juriiprudenee  and  AmendnuMt  cf  the  L<^^ 

General  and  Mr.  Jnstice  Smith — who,  in  their  note  appen< 
to  the  report  of  the  Judicature  Commission,  recommend  as 
alternative  ^*  that  the  present  system  of  circuits  should  be  al 
gether  discontinued,  and  provincial  courts  estaUiahed  w 
assigned  districts,  having  judges  who  shall  go  frequent  drci 
to  convenient  places  within  such  districts."  i  confess  t 
scheme  appears  to  me  to  be  recommended  by  every  possible  C( 
sideration  of  convenience.  If  England  was  dividea  into  se^ 
districts,  called  circuit  districts,  and  seven  judges  of  the  Supre 
Court  of  the  First  Instance  assigned  to  them,  the  judge  ot  e 
district  mi^ht  reside  in  some  convenient  place  within  the  < 
trict,  and  hold  his  circuit  courts  at  regular  intcr>*a]s  in  all 
principal  places  of  the  district.  He  would  have  all  the  dign 
and  authority  of  a  judge  of  assize — though  he  might  possi 
dispense  with  the  high  sheriff  and  his  javelin  men — and,  in  fi 
fulfil  exactly  the  same  functions  as  the  judges  trying  issues 
fact  in  London.  The  appeal  from  his  decisions  would  be  imn 
diate  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

Let  us  see  how  this  plan  would  work  in  practice.  Supp 
we  divide  England  into  seven  districts,  and  take  ten  princi 
places  in  each  district.  The  judge  might  hold  in  each  place 
assize  averaging  a  week  in  length,  for  ten  successive  weeks 
each  quarter  of  the  year,  with  an  interval  of  three  weeks  betwi 
each  circuit,  which  would  give  him  three  months'  vacat 
yearly.  Thus  every  place  of  any  importance  would  have 
quarterly  gaol  delivery,  and  a  nuarterly  despatch  of  its  ci 
business,  cither  in  the  town  itself  or  at  a  convenient  distau 
I  have  put  down  tentatively  (of  course  without  sufficient  kno 
ledge  to  arrange  the  local  details  perfectly),  the  sort  of  pla* 
which  would  come  under  the  operation  of  such  a  scheme. 

North-Ecutern  District.  North'  Western  District, 

Newcastle.  Carlisle. 

Durham.  Whitehaven. 

Darlingtou.  Lancaster. 

York.  Preston. 

Hull.  Liverpool. 

Leeds.  Manchester. 

Doncaster.  Rochdale. 

Sheffield.  Bury. 

Halifax.  Wigan. 

Bradford.  Macclesfield. 

Midland  District,  East  Midland  District. 

Birmingham.  Bctford. 

Stafford.  Lincoln. 

Wolverhampton.  Peterborough. 

Derby.  Cambridge. 


By  W.  Vernon  Harcaurt,  Q.C.,  M.P.  53 


Midland — canUnued, 

East  Midland^^'continued, 

Coventiy. 

Stoke. 

Leicester. 

Norwich. 
Ipswich. 
Bedford. 

Notttnghom. 

Warwick. 

Bewdlej. 

Northampton. 

Buckingham. 

Bugby. 

West  Midland  District 

South-  fFestem  District, 

Chester. 

Truro. 

Carnaryon. 
Shrewsbury. 
Aberystwith. 
Pembroke. 

Plymouth. 
Exeter. 
Bridgewater. 
Bristol. 

Swansea. 

Stroud. 

Cardiff. 

Hereford. 

Gloucester. 

Salisbury. 

Southampton. 

Portsmouth. 

Worcester. 

Oxford. 

South-Eastem. 

Harwich. 
Hertford. 
Reading. 

Hastings. 

Tunbridge. 

Dover. 

Guildford. 
Brighton. 

Canterbury. 
Chelmsford. 

This  list  of  names  is  merely  suggestive.  Experience  might 
prove  that  it  was  expedient  to  devote  more  time  to  a  fewer 
Dumber  of  places. 

I  need  hardly  point  out  the  advantages  of  such  a  plan  over 
the  present  system.  Instead  of  two  civil  assizes  and  three  gaol 
deliveries  a  year  held  at  three  or  four  towns  at  considerable 
distances,  there  would  be  four  civil  and  criminal  circuits  held 
every  year  at  ten  places  in  each  district.  The  bustle  and  con- 
fusion of  the  assize  would  disappear.  Business  would  bo 
regularly  and  rapidly  transacted.  It  would  probably  end  in 
many  causes  being  tried  on  the  spot  which  are  now  carried  at 
great  expense  of  time  and  money  to  London.  And  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  before  long  these  courts  would  draw  to  themselves 
and  absorb  a  great  part  of  the  business  now  transacted  by  the 
County  Court  judges,  the  recorders,  and  even  the  Quarter  Ses- 
sions. By  the  establishment  at  a  moderate  expense  of  a  circuit 
clerk  in  each  circuit  town  the  judge  would  be  made  aware  of 
the  amount  of  business  which  might  be  expected  at  each  place, 
and  he  could  arrange  tlie  time  to  be  devoted  to  each  accordingly. 
I  observe  that  in  the  annual  estimates  a  sum  of  10,000/.  a  year 
is  voted  for  payments  for  judges'  lodgings.     If  a  sum  of  500/. 


ment  wnich  would  not  conduce  either  to  their  advantage  < 
of  the  public.  Thoy  might  either  serve  in  rotation  witli 
judges  in  London,  or,  which  perhaps  would  be  betti 
younger  judges  on  their  first  appointment  would  tal 
provincial  districts,  and  on  vacancies  occurring  they  woi 
removed  to  London  with  the  advantage  of  the  experience 
they  had  gained  in  provincial  practice. 

LOCAL  JURISDICTION. 

The  whole  question  of  local  jurisdiction  is  one  of 
importance,  and  of  no  less  difficulty.  Tlie  old  idea  tl 
the  business  of  the  law  was  to  be  transacted  ^^  in  the  ] 
Courts  at  Westminster,  before  the  King  himself/'  hi 
come  wholly  unsuitable  to  our  modern  condition  of  s< 
The  palliatives  of  Circuit  and  of  County  Courts  have 
partially  met  the  requirements  of  the  case.  It  seem 
deed,  absurd  that  towns  like  Leeds,  Manchester,  Liv< 
and  Birmingham,  should  be  obliged  to  resort  to  I 
for  their  law.  The  plan  I  have  proposed  would  go  f 
way  to  meet  the  principal  inconvenience,  which  consi 
carrying  the  witnesses  in  trials  of  fact  to  such  a  distar 
wish  I  could  see  my  way  to  localising  the  whole  pi*oced^ 
that  writs  might  be  issued^  pleadings  settled,  the  interlo 
business  done,  and  the  legal  issues  decided  also  on  th( 
But  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  such  a  system  seem  toe 
to  be  surmounted  at  present  It  would  be  impossible  to  ti 
this  sort  of  business  at  very  numerous  points.  It  wo 
necessary  to  have  some  one  centre  in  each  provincial  d 


■  upon  the  present  bnaEnees  is  apparent  from  tJio 
m3  in  the  Judicial  Statistica  of  the  number  of  causes  now 
i  ufion  Circuit. 

Itliink  the  ti^^ires  will  probably  snrprise  some  of  my  hearers 
imiidi  Hs  thcv  hfive  done  me: — Causes  triM  in  1870  : — Home 
iTBiiIt,  207;  "Midlftnd,  143;  Norfolk,  58  j  Northeni,  27; 
hrfot^,  97;  Western,  62;  Bristol,  40;  North  Wales,  35; 
WoJea,  26  :  Palatine  of  Dorhnm,  11  ;  Palatine  of 
tilcast«r,  30t>. 

il,  of  oonrse,  antieipate  a  very  largo  increase  in  these  numbers 
Knt  three  causes. — (1.)  That  when  greater  facilities  are  given 
IrkiCa]  triaU,  many  causes  wliich  are  now  sent  to  London  will 
e  tried  on  the  spot,  (2.)  Tlie  merging  of  all  the  several 
utKiietiooB  in  Equity,  Law.  Bankruptcy,  Divorce,  Probate, 
idrairalty,  Ae.,  into  one  system  will  give  rise  to  separate  trials 
'aialtars  of  fact  to  a  (iir  greater  degree  than  exists  at  present. 
i  facl,  Uie  provincial  jiiilge  will  sift  out  at  Hull  or  Liverpool 
I  thwe  questions  of  fact  which  now  come  in  a  miscellaneous 
!sT before  the  Vice-Cha«cellprs,  the  Jnilm  in  Bankruptcy,  or 
ia  Judge  of  Admiralty  in  London.  And  (3.)  I  anticipate  that 
"htge  part  of  tlie  business  wliicK  now  occupies  the  County 
Inrls  will  eorae  before  the  Superior  Judge,  either  in  the  way 
[liti^Iial  or '^ppejlata  jurisdiction. 

'■'"'    -        '    /;  COtJMTT    COURTS. 

ilSe  tnatier  of  the  constitution  and  action  of  the  County 
imrta  ia  one  which  requires  careful  review.  I  believe  the 
ibject  is  engaging  the  attention  of  the  Judicature  Commis- 
si, but  they  Gave  not  presented  any  report  on  the  subject, 
A  have  not  (what  I  think  is  to  ho  regretted)  allowed  thu 
lliic  the  advantage  of  seeing  the  evidence  they  have 
Ifin.  However,  we  have  snffioient  facta  in  our  possossion  to 
fafy  my  mind  that  there  is  room  and  necessity  for  an  ex- 
refbrm  and  economy  in  the  wliole  organization  of  tlie 
Court.  First  of  all  wo  have  the  appalling  figures  of 
.  '06/.  in  the  estimates  as  tlie  cost  of  tM  County  Courts, 
iides  02,700/.  for  the  judges,  or  "more  than  half  a  million  of 
jODey  in  all.  It  is  trno  a  large  part  of  this  money  is  recouped 
"  tlie  TrcasiiiT  in  fees,  but  that  is  accomplished  by  exac- 
ins  eooruionsly  oppressive  in  proportion  to  tbo  earns  dcait 
tb.  I.  shall  say  nothing  at  present  about  the  stall'  of  tho 
^iimty  Courts  apart  from  the  judges.  Its  cost  is  immejiBB  and, 
Iteiiwe,  quit©  unnecpssary.  Indeed,  I  think  it  may  be  seriously 
estioncd  how  far  a  judicial  tribimal  should  be  made,  what  the 
maty  Courts  practically  are,  a  machinery  for  the  collection  of 
lall  debtB.  My  remarks  will  be  confined  to  the  judicial  body  of 
B  Ooonty  Courts.     I  find  there  are   sixty  judges  at  a  cost 


dwiti' 


should  iinafi[ine  Bufficiently  ample.  But  if  that  were 
work  they  do  at  present  might,  oy  a  oonsolidation  and  n 
tution  of  their  circuits,  be  perfectly  well  done  by^a  nui 
judges  equal  to  two-tliirds  of  the  present  number.  I 
therefore  propose  to  reduce  the  number  of  County  Court 
from  sixty  to  forty.  This  would  be  at  once  a  saving  of  i 
a-year  to  the  country. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  quantity  or  cost  of  the  present 
Court  work  which  requires  to  be  considered,  its  qua! 
has  been  gravely  questioned.  Nothing  can  be  furtlier  fi 
desire  tlian  to  s})eak  with  disrespect  of  a  class  of  funoti< 
who,  I  believe,  on  the  whole,  discharge  their  duties 
exemplary  manner.  Wo  have  amongst  us  lioro  a  gei 
who  fills  the  oiHce  of  County  Court  judge  in  a  neigh' 
district,  who,  by  his  learning  and  position  in  the  pro 
would  be  entitled  to  tlie  highest  post  on  the  Bcnoh 
Superior  Courts,  I  mean  our  friend  and  Vice-Preside 
Daniel.  But  this  is  not,  and  cannot  be  expected  to  be,  t 
When  you  have  an  inferior  office,  with  a  lower  salary,  y( 
expect,  and  you  do  in  fact  get,  as  a  rule,  men  of  a  less 
guishod  order.     I  must  also  beg  pardon  for  observing  tl 

i'udicial  class  seems  to  iiavo  boon  particularly  exposed 
»aneful  influence  of  political  patronage  and  personal  ff 
ism.  To  say  that  tne  solicitors  generally  are  satisfic 
tlie  administration  of  County  Court  justice  would,  I  fear, 
correct.  How  can  it  be  otherwise  ?  You  have  reoentl 
mulated  on  these  judges  a  very  multifarious  and  com 
jurisdiction  in  Equity,  Bankruptcy,  Admiralty,  and  F 
indeed,  their  functions  are  now  more  onerous  and  diiHci 


i1 -  /»      iV  -       ---?  -_.       ?-.    1  TT 


%  W.  Pwmw  Bareom*,  Q.C,  M.P.  B7 

bitmocl  or  guided  by  any  aooessible  appellate  jnrisdiotlon. 
Scost  and  difficulty  of  carrying  an  appeal  from  the  County 
■Tt  to  the  Courts  in  Westminster  ii  such  that  the  number 

Epeds  is  eurioufily  small— attended,  liowever,  by  the  re- 
ibh)  fact  that  the  proportion  of  reveraals  of  decisiooB  is 
iwly  large.  Now,  as  a  remedy  for  these  obvious  defects, 
iEuuld  propose  to  inciorporute  the  County  Court  system  with 
I  Prorincial  SD]iBrior  Courts  which  I  have  auggflst«d.  I 
mid,  in  fact,  make  the  County  Court  Judgos  in  each  of  tlie 
ton  provincial  districts  a  sort  of  puisnes,  subordinate  to,  and 
!(ject  to  un  appeal  to  the  provincial  judge  of  the  Court  of 
nt  Instance  This  would  give  a  readily  accessible  aud  cheap 
peal  on  the  spot  from  their  decisions  to  the  superior  judge  and 
mill  give  to  tlieir  jurisdictions  a  uniformity  of  principle  and 
ike  which  they  at  present  want.  Taking  the  number  of 
inty  Court  judges  at  forty,  as  I  have  proposed,  and  exeinding 
t  Iiondon  district,  this  would  give  a  staff  of  about  five  County 
art  judges  to  he  distributed  in  the  most  convenient  manner 


bortoni 


each  of  the  seven  provincial  districts.  With  these  sis 
»B8,  one  sn|)crior,  and  hve  inferior  judges  in  each  district,  I 
Bve  tile  locid  jurisdiction  might  be  more  efficiently  and  hotter 
lini&tered  than  it  is  at  prcaeot.  Confidence  would  be  estab- 
ed  on  the  part  of  the  profession  and  the  public  in  the  system, 
ittegree  which  would  allow  of  your  extending  your  local 
idiotion  to  a  greater  degree  even  than  at  present.  By 
it»  I  anticipate  thai  you  would  restore  so  large  a  partof  tliu 
mess  which  now  goes  to  London  lo  its  oivn  locality,  that  you 
lid  probably  be  aWe  to  spare  enough  judges  from  Loudon,  to 
ble  the  number  of  superior  judges  in  the  provinces,  and  so 
Mid  completely  localise  your  jurisdiction — a  matter  the 
nnoe  of  which  I,  equally  with  my  friend  Mr.  Daniel, 
Twio^isc,  though  T  seek  its  accomplishment  by  somewhat 
nareot  means.  Under  the  proposed  new  organization  of  local 
sdicUon,  the  loss  important  eases  would  go  to  the  County 
nrt  judges,  and  in  cases  which,  though  small  in  amonnt, 
folved  important  principles,  there  would  exist  a  cheap  and 
iljr  appeal.  Except  when  the  superiop  judge  thought  fit  to 
id  the  caflc  to  the  Supreme  Appellate  Court,  I  would  make 
lappaal  to  bim  from  the  County  Court  judge  final.  I  M-ould 
10  giro  to  the  superior  ]irovincial  judge  the  |>ower  of  employing 
)  County  Court  judges  lis  offieial  rclerees,  to  whom  he  couhl 
nit  questions  which  ho  oonld  not  conveniently  try — u  thing 
Dcb  is  as  roncii  wanted  in  tlie  contitry  as  in  London,  and  foi- 
at  present  we  have  no  pr(i\iBion.  This  question  of  Comity 
organization  is  one  of  great  im]X)rtance  and  complexity, 
1  Ihave  been  only  able  to  deal  with  it  in  outline.  There  is 
<l<nibl  that  the  vast  and  costly  atafi'  of  Kegistrars  recj^uires  to 


58     Address  on  Jufnepriidenee  aiid  Amendtneni  of  the  Law* 

be  entirely  revised  in  order  to  make  it  both  less  expensive 
more  efReient  The  work  of  the  superior  provincial  JQcIge  nt  < 
oi  his  Circuit  Towns  (the  localities  of  which^  as  I  have  saidy  i: 
be  determined  by  experience  and  local  convenience)^  will  be 
To  dispose  of  all  criminal  business ;  (2.)  To  try  the  civil  ca' 
brought  before  him  in  his  original  jurisdiction ;  (3. )  To  hear  tpp 
from  the  County  Court  judge  of  the  district.  This  being  don 
each  place  four  times  a-year^  will  bring  the  business  into  ininf 
able  compass,  and  afford  in  each  case  a  speedy  and  cheap  rem< 

THE   SUBOBDINATB   STAFF   OF  TtlE  COTTETS. 

I  now  come  to  another  matter,  which  seems  to  ma  to  dem 
revision  and  reform — I  mean  the  subordinate  official  ^taff^wl 
has  grown  up,  like  all  the  rest,  accidentally,  and  without 
order,  and  which  is  consequently  at  once  irrational  and 
travagant  I  am  no  advocate,  as  I  have  said)  for  underpa] 
your  great  judicial  functionaries,  and  1  think. jqo  one  will 
that  the  salaries  I  have  proposed  to  assign  to  the  different  of! 
are  inadequate.  But  the  salaries  of  the  judges  themselves  f 
an  infinitesimal  portion  of  tlie  judicial  expenditure*  They  I 
about  as  small  a  proportion  to  the  whole  as  does  a  pri 
gentleman's  personal  consumption  of  food  to  the  cost  of  m 
taining  his  establishment  The  judicial,  like  every  o 
department  of  oar  public  offices,  is  eaten  up  by  the  cost  of  i 
I  will  take  the  liberty  to  call  parasitical  expenses.  To  illust 
what  I  mean,  I  will  cite,  from  the  estimates  of  law  and  ju 
for  this  year,  what  may  be  called  the  personal  staff  of  the  1 
Chancellor,  as  distinguised  from  the  administrative  staff  of 
Court  of  Chancery, 

1871-72. 
The  Lord  Chancellor's  Offices.  £ 

Clerk  of  the  Crown  in  Chancery  *     t,200 

Chief  Clerk  tp        ditto  ...         ...       805 

Second  Clerk  to      ditto  .     203 

Tliird  Clerk  to        ditto  103    ■ 

Messenger  ...         ...       100.; 

Secretary  to  Lord  Chancellor 1>200 . . 

Secretary  of  Commissions  of  Peace     ...         ...       400 

Secretary  of  Presentations «...    400^ 

Gentlemen  of  the  Cliamber     .,^      500.. 

Pnrsebearer       ...    . ,    «*.      500 

Ditto      for  performing  the  duties  of  Sealer 
and  Chaff  Wax ... .    ,100 

£5,011 


•**> 


•  The  office  of  Clerk  to  the  Crown  ongbt  posslhly  tb  be  teferted  rat 
the  class  of  administrstiTe  offices* 


Brought  forward         f5,0n 

Porter  to  tho  Groat  Seal           ...         ...          ...  2J0 

Trointcarer 200 

''  Ueeeenger  lo  the  Lord  Chancellor  during  his 

^       absence  from  town 100 

*■  Usher  of  the  Hail,  Liucoln'ainu          300 

ripslttfF 200 

Messenger  to  the  &reat  Seat 50 

Persons  to  Iceep  order  in  Court            ...          ...  SCO 

First  Clerk  in  the  Lord  Clioncellor's  Principal 

SecreUirj's  Office      400 

Second  Clerk  in  the  Lord  Cliancelior'a  Principal 

Secretary's  OfBcu       200 

Court  Keeper  at  Wesliniuater 800 


amonnt  almost  equal  to  tbe  salary  of  the  Lord  Cliancellor 
Jf,     I  will  add  the  Officers  of  iho  Master  of  the  Rolls. 

Masiek  of  the  Rolls'  Officers.  £ 

1  Preucher  at  ihe  Rolls  Chapel           180 

1  Secretary      1,200 

1  Secretary  of  Causes 1,000 

1  Gentleman  of  the  Chamber 400 

.  1  Second  Geatleniao  of  the  Chamber  and  Train- 
bearer         300 

1  Tipstaff           42 

I  Usher  of  the  Court 130 

1  Porter  to  the  Court 110 

1  First  Clerk  in  the  Secretary's  Office  at  the 

Bolls      m 

1  Second  Clerk  iu  the  Secretary's  Office  at  the 

Rolls  100 

i  BMiQEi  to  me,  tlie  only  person  hardly  used  in  this  cttse  ii 
nnfortaRate  preacher,  who  gets  about  half  tlie  salary  of 
»nd  gentlemnti  of  the  chamber  and  trainbearer." 
b  thwe  may  be  added  a  few  other  choice  items  from  tLa 
{fitintfttes. 

£  «.  d.. 
Sl^er  to  the  Courts  nt  Lincoln's  Inu  .,.  105  0  0 
Bag  bearer  for  supplying  Cause  Liets  ...  60  0  0 
Sergeant  at  Artn^— 

Board  Wages     54  19    0 

Allowancea        45  12     0 

[To  vhich  is  appended  this  note  : — These 
Sulariea  and  allowances  are  in  aildition 
lo  ibo  salary  of  1500/.  furnished  lor 
the  salaries  and  allowances  in  the  li^- 
timato  for  the  House  of  Lords,}  


60     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  Law. 

£  #.  d. 

Messengers  to  Great  Seal        154  0  0 

EmbroideresB  for  Lord     70  0  0 

ChaDcellor's  Purse — 

Petty  Bag         62  0  0 

This  is  in  addition  to  13002^  a  year  expended  on  the  mji- 
terious  office  of  Petty  Bag. 

This  sort  of  expenditure  would  be  ludicrous  if  it  were  not 
scandalous.  Such  items  of  public  charge  carry  one  back  to 
the  days  of  the  ^^  black  book/'  or  to  the  times  of  Eldon  and  the 
abuses  which  were  lashed  by  the  satire  of  Burke  in  his  greit 
sj)Gech  on  economical  reform.  Why  is  the  Lord  Chancellor 
to  have  2600/.  a-year's  worth  of  private  secrotarvBhip  when  a 
Secretary  of  State  is  content  >vith  300/.  ?  What  does  the  pone 
bearer  do  for  500/.  a-year,  and  does  the  extra  100/.  a-year  re- 
munerate him  for  actual  services  rendered  in  **  chafing  "  tha 
wax  ? — an  offi(X3  which  I  once  heard  a  distinguished  chuioellflr 
say  was  performed  by  his  kitchen-maid  in  the  scullery.  The 
last  item  is  300/.  a  year  for  the  court  keeper  of  Westminster 
— a  court  in  which  for  years  the  Chancellor  has  never  ttL 
Another  300/.  a  year  is  charged  for  persons  to  keep  orfa 
in  court  —  I  presume  the  Chancellor  s  court  at  LmcobA 
Inn  —  a  court  in  which  the  Chancellor  sat  only  forty^idiB 
days  last  year  —  a  place  whose  transactions  are  not  prot6» 
oative  of  violent  emotions.  It  reminds  mo  of  an  exdamatktt 
of  Mr.  Windham,  when  some  Parliamentary  speaker,  in  Ae 
debate  on  the  Walcheron  expedition,  suggcstecf  a  cQup-'d&^maiii^ 
the  Scheldt  *^  A  coup-de-nuiin  in  the  Scheldt  ?  You  midrt 
as  well  talk  of  a  couixle^mnin  in  the  Court  of  Chancery!" 
A  remark  which,  Mr.  Wilberforce  says,  threw  the  Honse  d 
Commons  into  a  fit  of  inextinguishable  laughter.  I  will  ventow 
to  say  that  the  head  of  the  police  will  guarantee  the  tranquilKiy 
of  the  court  at  Lincoln's  Inn  in  which  the  Chancellor  sometimes 
Bits,  and  the  court  at  Westminster,  where  he  never  sits,  by  the 
help  of  a  policeman  of  the  A  division,  at  a  guinea  a  week,  and 
the  country  may  apply  the  residuary  550/.  a  year  to  some  inon 
useful  and  creditable  object  The  same  sort  of  reckless  an< 
wanton  waste  runs  through  all  the  subordinate  courts.  It  cosi 
800/.  a-year  to  find  i^ersons  to  "keep  order"  in  the  drOws 
seats  of  the  Lords  Justices  and  the  Vice-Chancellors.  An  e? 
Secretary  of  Presentations  has  told  us  in  the  House  of  Commoi 
that  he  had  nothing  to  do — a  thing  which  is  easily  credible.  An 
why  out  of  this  huge  staff  some  one  could  not  be  found  for  lei 
than  400/.  to  send  a  circular  to  999  out  of  the  1000  clerics 
applicants  for  every  living  that  falls  vacant,  to  say  that  the  Loi 
Chancellor  will  '^  consider  his  claims,"  it  is  diracult  to  divin 
The  Secretary  to  Commissions  in  the  Peace  is  in  pari  maUri 


By  W.  Vernon  ffarcmrt^  Q.C.y  M.P.  61 

ight  pursue  the  matter  further — ^but  this  is  enough.  The 
tg  is  as  lamentable  as  it  is  laughable. 

[ow  I  will  take  the  sums  at  present  voted  for  purposes  quite 
rt  from  what  I  will  call  the  administrative  business  of  the 
rt,  and  which  may  be  properly  applied  to  the  formation 
oew  staffs  for  the  courts.  They  are  in  round  numbers  as 
ows: — 

Clerks  of  Assize      ... £21,700 


Lord  Chancellor's  Officers  ... 
Master  of  Rolls'         „ 
Lords  Jastices'  „ 

Vioe-Cbancellors*       „ 
Judges'  Clerks 
Probate  and  Admiralty  Courts 

Marshals  of  Jadges  ... 


7,400 
3,600 
2,200 
3,500 
26,600 
3,000 
5,000 
2,500 


£75,500 
Tow  what  has  to  be  provided  is  an  adequate  staff  for  each  of 
courts  which  it  is  proposed  to  establish.  There  are  (1.)  The 
reme  Court  of  Appeal ;  (2.)  Fifteen  Courts  of  First  Instance 
stantly  in  session  in  London;  (3.)  The  seven  district 
jes  in  the  provinces;  (4.)  The  official  referees  in  London, 
at  is  wanted  is  an  adequate — not  an  extravagant — staff  of 
I  competent  to  arrange  the  mechanical  business  of  the  court 
to  keep  its  records.  Tlie  sort  of  officer  required  is  to  be 
id  in  men  of  the  class  of  the  managing  clerks  of  a  first-class 
mey's  office,  or  the  head  clerk  of  a  barrister  in  large  prac- 
•  As  the  Supi'eme  Court  will  have  a  double  chamber  it  will 
aire  a  twofold  staff.  I  woiJd  allow  AOOOL  a  year  for  this 
F,  which  would  supply — 

1  Registrar £],000 


1  Deputy  Registrar  ... 

2  Chief  Clerks  at  £600  a  year 
2  Second  Clerks  at  £300  ... 
2  Third  Clerks  at  £200 


800 

1,200 

600 

400 


£4,000 
For  each  of  the  Courts  of  First  Instance  in  London  I  would 
)w  2000/.  a  year,  and  the  same  for  the  judges  in  the  pro- 
ces.    This  would  give — 

1  Registrar      £700 

1  Deputy  Registrar     ...         ...         ...         ...  600 

rClerkat£300          300 

2  Clerks  al  £200         400 

£2,000 


68     Addrew  m  Juriapmimee  and  Anmidm^ 

To  the  official  referees  I  wonld  assiffn  two  derkfly  one  pt  44 
the  other  at  300/.,  or  700L  to  each  referee.  The  staff  in  jbsoI 
these  cases  would  admit  of  an  ample  vacation  for  the  reejsti 
and  clerks,  and  yet  provide  for  a  constant  sitting  of  the  Con 

Let  us  compare  the  pecuniary  result  with  the  present  ezp 
ditnre.     We  should  have — 

Supreme  Court  of  Appeal      £4|0(X> 

15  Courts  of  First  lustance  in  London  ...  30,000 
7  Courts  of  First  Instance  in  the  Provinces...  14,000 
10  Official  Referees 7,000 

£65,000 

as  against  75,000/.  a-year  on  the  present  system)  or  a  saving 
20,000/.  a-year.  Lideed,  the  saving  would  be  much  larj 
if  I  am  to  include  the  figures  (which  I  have  not  by  me 
the  moment)  of  the  cost  due  to  the  judicial  staff  of  the  Ho 
of  Lords,  and  the  Committee  of  Privy  Council,  which  wo 
now  become  superfluous. 

THE   ADMINISTRATIVE   STAFF   OF   THE  LAW. 

It  has  been  objected  to  some  animadversions  I  have  m 
elsewhere  on  the  vastness  of  the  legal  expenditure,  that  I  h 
not  taken  account  of  the  administrative  functions  performed 
our  judicial  system.  Certainly  I  have  not  been  unmindfhl 
that  important  and  arduous  part  of  this  great  question  ;  buJ 
chaos  is  the  rule  in  our  judicial  system,  we  find  confusion  wc 
confounded  in  the  administrative  branch.  Let  mo  bring  un 
your  view  at  a  glance  the  state  of  this  matter,  as  it  appears 
the  face  of  the  annual  estimates.     We  find-^ 

CHANCERT — 

Master  of  Roll  Chambers 

Vice^Chttncellor's  Chambers 

Accountant^GreDeral's  Department 

Registrar's  Office 

Examiner's  Office 

Petty  Bag  Office 

Taxing  Master's  Office 

Office  of  Records  and  Writs 

Report  Office 

Clerk  of  Enrolments 

Office  of  Master  in  Lunacy 

Office  of  Visitors  of  Lunatics 

Office  of  Registrar  in  Lunacy 

Incidental  Ex|)enscs  ) 


£150,000 


Bjf  W.  Yemoii  ffarcourt,  Q.C.^  MJ?.  68 

HON  LAW. 


Offices, 
Crowti  Office 

Registrar  of  Judgments  ^£50^000 

Registrar  of  Certificates 
Queen's  Remembrancer's  Office 

rKBUPTCY. 

Accountant's  Department 

Comptrollers'  „ 

Chief  Registrars'     „ 

Senior  Registrars'  „ 

Registration  of  Assignments 

Re^trar^s  Department 

Master's  Department  \SJ^Z  000 

Registrar  of  Meetings 

Official  Assignee's  Department 

Messenger's  Department 

Usher's  Department 

Late  Insolvent  Debtor's  Court 

Former  District  Courts 

Incidental  Expenses 

[JHTT  COUBTS  .    ...  ■••«.    £400,000 

QRT  OF  PROBATE  AND  DirORCB. 

MIQALTr  COURT  ...  £13,000 

iking  Uie  asiouuding  total  of  776,000^,  at  the  cost  of  what 
lybe  called  the  administrative  clerkshioof  our  judicial  system, 
e  subject  is  too  vast  and  intricate  to  admit  of  my  dealing  with 
witliin  the  compass  of  this  address.  I  have  undertaken  to 
bmit  the  whole  question  to  the  corucflblo  of  a  Parliamentary 
juiry ;  but  I  think  the  mere  recital  of  these  multifarious  and 
oltiplied  offices,  will  satisfy  any  one  conversant  with  admi- 
stration,  that  when  the  separate  and  distinct  jurisdictions  of 
ir  legal  procedure  are  welded  into  one  orderly  and  homogeneous 
hole,  this  staff  may  be  consolidated  and  reorganised  in  a  manner 
hich  shall  provide  for  a  better  despatch  of  business  (which  is 
ow  far  from  what  is  to  be  desired),  whilst  at  the  same  time  a 
Teat  economy  of  expenditure  both  to  the  suitor  and  the  public 
lay  be  effected. 

COST   AND   RESULTS  OF   THE   PROPOSED  PLAN. 

I  will  now  endeavour  to  present  a  brief  view  of  the  results  of 
the  proposed  scheme,  as  compared  with  the  existing  systemi 
both  as  it  respects  costs  and  efficiency.    And  first  as  to  cost  \  — 


64     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  Law. 


Present  Establishment. 

£ 

7  Equity  Judges         ...  43,000 
18  Common  Law  Judges  97,000 

1  Admiralty  Judge     ...     5,000 

I  Probate  and   Divorce 

Judge        ...         ..•     5|000 

4  Judges     of     Judicial 

Committee  ...  .20,000 

4  Ex-Cliancellors        ...  20,000 

Salaries  of  20  County 
Court  Judges  to  be 
extinguished         ...  35,000. 

Vote  for  Judges'  lodg- 
ings   ]  0,000 


Total £235,000 


11 

-«1 


o 

3 
O 


Proposed  Plah. 

jE 

President 10,000 

Vice-President       .  .    8,000 
8  Judges,  6000/1  each  48,000 

£66,000 


8 

G 

s 


t 

o 

I 


Chief  Justice  ...    8,0C0 

Deputy  Chief  Justice    7,000 
16  Judges  in  London, 
5000/.  each         ...  80,000 
^  7  Judges  in  the  pro- 
vinces 5,500/.  each  38,500 

£133,500 

10  Official  Referees, 
1,500/.  each        ...  15,000 


Total... 


£214,500 


or  on  the  whole  the  cost  of  the  proposed  plan  would  be  20,000i» 
a-year  less  than  the  present  system. 

If  this  sum  bo  added  to  that  which  I  liavo  already  shown 
might  be  saved  on  Uie  subordinate  ofticial  staff  you  would  hiTS 
a  iiind  of  40,000/.  a  year,  an  amount  more  than  sufficient 
to  establish  the  office  of  the  Minister  of  Justice,  without  anj 
additional  cost.  Now  let^  us  examine  the  question  of  the  com- 
parative efHciency  of  the  two  systems. 

(1.)  You  will  have  a  good  and  competent  Court  of  Appeal 
constantly  sitting — a  thing  which  is  now  wholly  wanting. 

(2.)  "You  would  have  a  regularly  organized  Court  of  Knt 
Instance  constantly  in  session,  and  despatching  all  classes  of 
business  in  a  methodical  manner — a  condition  of  things  which  at 
present  we  are  wholly  without. 

(3.)  You  would  have  a  body  of  experienced  ofHcial  refereei 
competent  to  deal  with  all  classes  of  technical  questions — a  pro- 
vision which  our  present  system  nowhere  supplies. 

(4.)  You  would  have  a  similar  provision  through  the  CoontJ 
Court  judges  of  eiRcient  referees  in  the  provinces. 

(5.)  You  would  have  throughout  the  country  quarterly  a> 
cuits  at  all  the  principal  centres  of  ix)pulation  and  commcroey 
for  the  despatch  of  civil  and  criminal  business — a  thing  which 
nowhere  exists. 

(6.)  You  would  establish  an  easily  accessible  appellate  juris* 
diction^  which  would  give  greater  unity  and  efficiency  to  the 
County  Courts,  and  wliich  would  enable  you  safely  to  extend 


Sif  W.  Vemtn  ffnrcoitrt,  Q.C,  MP.  65 

r  local  jorisdic^on  to  a  degree  wliioli  is  at  present  impos- 

Yoa  would  get  all  this,  and  still  you  would  have  a  reserve 
Ki,OO0/.,  out  of  which  yo\i  might  found  a  Ministry  of 
'" — a  tiling  80  long  desired  and  so  greJitly  required- 
will  haru   Ifl   complain   of  these   cliaoges  ?     Not   the 
I  conceive,  for  thoy  gain  far  greater  aceommodatlon  and 
nee  at  no  additional  charge.     Not  tlie  Bench,  I  believe, 
iclg©  will  receive  a  less  salaiy,  and  almost  all  more  than 
The  first  judge  will  have  the  sfilary  of  the  Ciian- 
it  will  he  permanent.     There  will  be  two  judges,  . 

aalariea  of  80O0/.  a  year,  instead  of  one  only  aa  at  present. 

Eeht  judges  will  have  sularics  oi'  6000/.,  instead  of  only  three 
ruifeea  as  at  present.  The  judges  of  the  Court  of  Firat  Instance 
iU  hare  their  5000/.  a  year  dischai^ed  of  the  expense  of 
whiclt  is  a  heavy  deduction.  The  judges  in  tho  pro- 
mII  have  5500/.  Lastly.  Wliy  should  tlie  Bar  or  the 
dUiTS  fear  a  system,  which,  by  iiicihtating  the  administra- 
I  of  the  law,  would  inevitably  iiiereaso  busincas  ? 
have  gone  into  long  and,  I  fear,  ntost  wearisome  details  on 
'tabject,  because  I  am  well  aware  how  Idle  it  is  to  shadow 
in  general  terms  imiirovcmcuta  of  this  nature,  without 
ring  that  one  has  takon  the  pains  to  examine  the  qncstion 
iMy,  and  without,  at  least,  endeavouring  to  prove  that  tho 
is  one  which  can  be  practically  carried  into  effect. 

THE   LAND   LAWS. 

is  impossible  to  conclude  any  business  which  professes  to 
will)  the  general  amendment  of  the  law  without  making 
I  reference  to  tho  groat  topic  which  is  commonly  called 
B  Land  Question."  That  tJiero  are  very  wld  and  loose 
MiODa  floating  through  tho  public  mind  on  the  matter  ia  a 
tocial  and  political  fact,  which  it  would  be  vain  to  ignore. 
Hat,  in  tliif*  densely  populated  country,  with  a  limited  soil,  the 
pasession  of  tho  land  is  in  a  very  few  hands,  is  a  circumstanco 
which  cannot  be  denied.  That  tho  prize  ia  valuable,  and  tho 
ginriwn  which  guard  it  are  few,  is  a  thing  obvious  to  all.  This 
isiBtate  of  things  which  is  natural,  and,  indeed,  inevitable  in 
mild  society,  and  it  is  one  which  it  is  impossiblo  to  change 
mibont  violating  all  those  fundamental  laws  of  proi>erty  upon 
wliicii  the  very  framework  of  society  depends,  and  which  it  is 
Ihe  office  of  social  science  to  defend.  To  shake,  or  even  to 
menace,  the  security  of  that  which  is  the  main  inducement  to 
prodenoe,  industry,  and  saving,  would  indeed  be  to  stay  the 
im  which  lays  the  golden  egg.     It  ia  not  likely  that  those 

i-      L 


66     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  ttfine. 

fatal  idoasy  which  have  subverted  Continontal  aociety^  will  find 
support  in  this  country,  still  loss  that  they  will  receive  any 
countenance  from  those  whose  business  and  study  it  is,  bj 
giving  to  proportv  an  adequate  protection,  to  secure  to  all  tb 
legitimate  fruits  of  their  own  exertions.  But,  as  the  old  proverb 
runs,  ^^  Tlicre  is  seldom  smoke  without  fire,"  and,  inadmissiUe 
as  are  many  of  the  projects  which  have  been  put  forth  with 
reference  to  the  tenure  of  land,  it  is  not  tho  less  certain  tint 
the  law  relating  to  land  in  this  country  is  in  a  profoondlj 
unsatisfactory  condition. 

Speaking  on  this  subject  recently,  the  present  Lord  Chanoelkr 
said : — 

'<  Although  many  of  the  old  tenures  were  abolished  in  the  reign  rf 
Charles  II.,  the  lawyers  went  on  in  the  same  way,  and  built  up  ai 
extraordinary  system  of  conveyancing — the  most  extraordiniij 
system  ever  heard  of,  and  probably,  one  never  to  be  heard  of  igiiB. 
lie  could  not  conceive  anytliing  much  worse  than  the  present  eon* 
dition  of  the  law  of  real  property/' 

When  such  language  can  bo  held  bv  such  authority,  every 
one  must  ieel  that  the  time  is  come  when,  to  use  the  common 
phrase,  ^^  something  must  be  done."  Nothing  is  more  certain 
to  encourage   dangerous   schemes   than  to  admit   an  evil  and 

fret  to  provide  no  remedy  for  it  I  have  said  that  it  is  not 
ikely  that  we  shall  seek  that  remedy  in  subversive  and  anti- 
social ideas.  Tlie  real  evil  is  of  a  very  different  nature,  and 
admits  of  a  wholly  different  cure.  It  is  true  it  is  tho  businea 
of  the  law  to  defend  the  rights  of  property ;  but,  in  the  first 
place,  it  is  very  necessary  that  wo  should  clearly  understand 
what  those  rights  of  property  are.  Of  all  property  there  ii 
none  in  which  the  public,  i,e.j  the  nation  at  larce,  are  more 
deeply  concerned  than  that  which  consists  in  land.  We  can 
never  forget  that  the  aggregate  of  private  properties  in  EnffliA 
land  constitutes  England  itself,  and  that  England,  afler  ul,  is 
the  possession  of  the  English  people.  The  nation  must  haTSi 
and  has,  in  fact,  what  the  lawyers  call  tho  ^^  eminent  domain 
over  the  land  which  they  inhabit.  Indeed,  this  idea,  which  ifl 
essential  to  the  very  existence  of  every  nation  which  hai 
emei'ged  from  the  barbarous  condition  of  a  wandering  tribe 
has  always  found  its  place  in  the  law,  whether  in  the  ^^  foU 
land"  of  earlier  times,  or  in  the  feudal  doctrine  whicfa|  i 
dieory ,  regards  all  land  to  bo  held  of  the  head  of  the  State.  W 
act  upon  it  every  dav  when  we  comi>cl  a  man  to  surrender  hi 
land,  whether  he  will  or  not  (of  course  with  due  compensation] 
for  some  work  of  public  utility.  Of  all  the  wealtn  which 
nation  possesses,  beyond  all  doubt,  the  greatest^  and  the  inoi 


Drtant,  ia  its  laad.  Even  in  this  country,  in  spite  of  tbo 
rmoas  development  of  trade  and  tnannfiicttiring  industry, 

gruatest  trade,  and  the  most  vuluable  ol'  all  manufactures, 
he  commerce  in  the  produce  of  tlie  soil.  That  this  great 
»nal  "  plant,"  if  I  may  be  permitted  the  phrase,  should  be 
led  to  the  best  accouut,  is  a  matter  which  clearly  concerns, 
i  moat  intimate  manuer,  tho  welfare  of  the  ^tate.  Yet, 
D  the  very  nature  of  this  prpjierty,  most  uuaonnd  opinions 
rdl  amongst  those  who  conceive  thoy  are  tho  special  cham- 
08  of  the  right*  of  property,  and  who,  by  the  very  estre- 
y  of  their  opinions,  euditnger  the  existence  of  the  Institution 
r  profess  to  defend. 

wiU  venture,  on  this  subject  likewise,  to  quote  the  language 
•■.W.D.Lewis:- 

'Most  persons  possessod  of  properly  coQceive  that  it  Is  absolutely 
r  own  to  do  OB  they  will  with  it.  Their  noigbbours,  the  public, 
Stftte,  they  consider  have  no  interest,  no  lawful  concern  in  their 
li«ition  and  diepoeal  of  it.  It  is  theirs,  they  suppose,  by  a  tiUa 
ch  oicliiJos  all  inquiry  as  to  wbat  becomes  of  it  in  the  future. 
J  may  direct,  they  think,  all  the  income  which  it  yields,  all  the 
It  which  It  produces,  to  be  hoarded  and  nccuniulated  for  succes- 
I  derations ;  and  they  even  ^laim  to  do  this  so  capriciously  that 
me  in  whom  they  can  have  any  pei-sonal  interest  can  possibly 
re  any  benefit  Irom  the  fund.  They  think  they  may  entail  their 
8  indefinitely  upon  their  posterity  so  that  it  shall  never  pass  oot 
idr  fnfflily  or  becgme  the  subject  of  sale  or  barter.  They  imagine 
can  impose  upon  tlie  objects  of  their  bounty  any  and  every  cun- 
n  that  acceatricity  can  suggest.  They  can  prevent,  they  think, 
'  Ifi^tae  from  parting  with  it  and  his  creditors  from  touchiug  it, 
require  him  to  pass  u  life  of  celibacy  and  at  his  death  not  to 
with  it  as  bis  own.  In  fact,  tho  vulgar  notion  of  property  is 
h  is  not  the  creation  of  the  law,  with  such  incidents  only  as  the 
has  attached  to  it  for  the  general  good,  but  that  ownership  is  an 
mive  personal  attribute,  of  the  eiercise  of  which  no  account  can 
iquired,  and  one,  indeed,  in  the  exercise  of  which  no  interest  can 
ihty  belong  to  others.  The  law,  on  the  other  hand,  looks  on 
nty  as  an  institution  allowed  and  established  for  tho  public 
I.  It  con  (in  OS,  therefore,  the  power  which  this  property 
sn  to  such  objects  and  within  such  limits  as  are  consistent 
I  tiit  general  welfare.  As  it  is  not  for  tbo  public  welfare 
the  property  should  become  a  alagnaut  possession  and  un- 
nciJve  to  the  community  ;  as  it  is  not  good  to  withdraw  it 
I  commerce,  or  allow  the  dominion  of  it  to  be  shackled  with 
itions  precluding  the  sale  of  it ;  as  it  is  good  that  Guccussful 
ihanLs  and  traders,  who  desire  to  become  luudnwners  und  found 
blishmonts  for  their  families  should  be  encouraged  iu  such  endea- 
n  j  as  it  is  not  good  that  property  should  be  transmitted  corapul- 
5—2 


68     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  o/the  Law 

Borily  in  the  line  of  impoverished  families  which  hare  losi 
influence  and  their  means  of  discharging  the  duties  of  their  po 
as  all  these  are  considerations  which  the  law  has  in  view 
institution  of  private  property,  so  it  has  guarded  and  qualifi< 
institution  by  those  just  regulations — the  rule  against  perpe 
the  Thelluson  Act,  the  provisions  against  unlimited  entails,  a 
rules  which  prohibit  conditions  against  alienation  and  the  i 
other  conditions  contrary  to  public  policy.  *  Ergo  unum  deb 
omnibus  propositum  ut  eadem  sit  u^iitas  uniuscujusque  < 
versorum  quam  si  ad  so  quisque  rapiat  dissolvetur  omnis  human 
sortio.'  Of  all  these  regulations  and  the  spirit  of  the  law  whicl 
rise  to  them  there  is  a  lamentable  degree  of  ignorance  in  a 
Witness  the  numerous  wills,  whether  of  the  small  Cumberland  y 
or  the  squire  of  a  whole  county,  which  are  repeatedly  nullified 
attention  to  these  principles.  Both  the  one  and  the  other  cod 
when  making  his  will,  that  the  law  will  execute  without  demur 
vain  and  fanciful  intentions  by  means  of  which  he  is  seeking  (i 
be)  to  retain  for  himself  in  future  ages  a  control  over  that  wh 
can  no  longer  personally  enjoy,  and  to  retain  it,  too,  by  rest 
the  legitimate  use  of  it  by  Uiosc  that  come  after  him." 

Though  it  is  true,  as  Mr.  Lewis  observes,  that  the  h 
theory  givos  no  countenance  to  these  ideas  as  to  the  nat 
property,  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  its  practice  it  hf 
much  ministered  to  these  unwise  tendencies.  No  one  will 
that  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  to  tlio  State  that  cs 
without  which  no  business  can  flourish,  should  flow  free!} 
tho  greatest  of  all  businesses — the  cultivation  of  the  soil, 
are  our  legal  and  social  arrangements  such  as  to  eneourag 
stimulate  this  application  of  capital  to  tho  land  ?  Aro  thei 
on  tlio  contrary,  such  as  in  every  possible  way  to  disco 
and  drive  away  capital  from  the  land  ?  In  tho  first  pla 
all  lawyers  and  most  landed  proprietors  know  too  wel 
cost  involved  in  tho  purchaso  and  sale  of  land  is  owi] 
tho  disgraceful  state  of  our  registration  of  title — some  t^ 
times  greater  than  the  purchaso  of  stocks.  I  have  no 
and  you  would  have  no  patience  to  enter  upon  tho  ooi 
and  tedious  question  of  the  registration  of  title.  Il 
been  investigated  over  and  over  again,  always  with  a 
versal  condemnation  of  tlie  existing  system  of  conveyan 
but  all  the  remedies  attempted  have  hitherto  proved  vi 
nugatory.  Tho  difficulty  lies  not  so  much  in  the  registi 
of  title  as  in  the  nature  of  title  itself.  As  long  as  you  p 
land  to  be  carved  into  innumerable  estates — estates  foi 
estates  in  remainder,  estates  tail,  trust  estates,  jointuresi 
tions,  &c.,  &c. — so  long  you  will  and  must  have  an  unmanag 
tiUe^  and  a  property  which,  commercially  speaking,  is  im 


Sy  ^-  Vmum  Harcoitrt,  Q-C,  M.P. 

lie  tn  deal  with.   But  the  commorcial  aspect  of  the  question, 
irtant  &9  it  is,  is  as  nothing  compared  with  its  sooiul  and 
iDjJ  bearings.     Though  it   is   an  indispntablo   proposition 
all  property  of  overy  kind  must  be  held  Bubordinate  to  tho 
-ests  of  the  community, — and  it  is  the  highest  interest  of 
wmmBnity  that  property  should  be  secure,  in  order  that 
1  should  hare  duo  eucourft^cmcitt  to  sitvc  and  accumulate 
capital  wliich  is  the  reservoir  by  which  liibour  can  alone  be 
ained  and  a  nation  flourish — there  are,  I  think,  particuliu- 
ons  why  property  in  land  shoidd  be  an  objoot  of  special 
citade  to  the  State. 
Irst  of  all,  as  I  have  already  pointed  out,  tho  individual 
erties  in  land  constitute  in  tlio  aggregate  the  luuntry  in 
ih  we  live.     To  misuso  or  to  waste  hind  is  nothing  else  but 
vaste  and  misuse  England.     If  a  man  has  50,000/.  a  year  in 
I  Funds  and  chooses  to  dissipate  it  in  riotous  living  he  alono 
the  worse  for  it.     Tho  stock  passes  into  otlier  hands,  who 
DW  how  to  employ  it  better,  and  it  can  hardly  be  said  that 
I  national  interests  seriuuKly  suffer.  But  if  a  man  with  50,000/. 
rear  in  land  Iota  his  property  go  to  rack  and  ruin,  it  is  not  ho 
ne  that  sufTurs.    The  homesteads  and  tho  tillages  over  50,000 
«s  and  the   people  who   inhabit  them  suB'er   by  his  fault. 
B  land  is  ill-farmed,  because  no  tenant  feels  safe  in  investing 
capital  in  laud  which  he  cannot  himself  improve,  and  whieli 
landlord  cannot  improve  for  him.      The  [>easants  are  ill- 
ill-paid,    ill-taught,    ill-fed.      Consider    the    contrast 
I  the  condition  of  a  district  which  has  passed  out  of  the 
lis  of  a  reckless  and  impoverished  proprietor  into  those  of  a 
I  who  by  his  care  and  industry   has  acquired  tho  means 
ioh  enabfe  him  to  purchase  it.     Tho   whole   aspect   of  tho 
try  changes.     Cottages  are  improved,  schools   are   built, 
i  are  enlarged,  tenants  with  capital  ai'e  introduced,  wages 
)  as  the  means  of  paying  them  increase.     The  land  exhibits  oU 
diflference  which  we  see  between  a  well  and  an  ill-cultivated 
i — the  one  desolate,  sour,  rank  with  weeds,  and  destitute  of 
M;  the  other  standing  so  thick  with  com  that,  in  the  langitage 
lebrew  imagery,  it  may  bo  said  to  "  laugh  and  sing."  Surely 
bcilitato  and  permit  such  a  change  is  a  matter  of  the  highest 
al  and  political  consequence. 

tut  wlien  I  say  property  in  land  is  a  matter  which  in  a  pecu- 
degree  interests  tho  State,  I  wish  carefully  to  guard  my 
^nage,  and  not  to  be  misnnderatood,  I  know  there  are 
le  who  would  wish  to  see  tho  State  itself  assume  the  ad- 
liatration  of  the  land.  In  that  view  I  confess  I  cannot 
cur.  I  believe  that  tiie  Htate  is  extremely  ill-fitted  to 
form  either    the    public  or    the    private  fauctions    of    a 


le'b 


70     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  Law. 

landowner.  If  any  man  doubts  this  he  can  know  littk 
of  the  present  administration  of  the  Crown  Lands.  ThM 
are  others  who  desire  to  obtain  by  le^slative  action  the 
greater  subdivision  of  land,  with  a  notion  that  land  mij 
be  made  cheap,  and  be  held  with  advantage  by  small  pro* 
prietors.  I  am  equally  unable  to  concur  in  such  an  idei. 
You  cannot  by  any  iu*tificial  and  compulsory  process  mab 
that  chea])  which  the  law  of  demand  ana  supply  makes  neces- 
sarily dear.  In  a  rich  country  with  a  limited  soil,  where 
there  is  little  land  to  be  bought,  and  many  who  have  the 
means  and  the  wish  to  buy  it,  land  is  and  always  must  be 
dear.  You  might  as  well  think  of  passing  an  Act  to  mtke 
pearls  and  diamonds  cheap.  For  a  man  with  a  small  capital  the 
purchase  of  land  must  always  bo  an  unprofitable  and  nnaesinibb 
investment.  He  is  certain  to  exhaust  on  the  purchase  the  whole 
working  capital  which  ho  ought  to  expend  on  its  cultivation. 
I  believe  land  will  be  best  administered  by  leaving  it  in  the 
hands  of  private  proprietors,  who  buy  what  they  want  and 
sell  when  they  wish,  trusting  to  the  effectual  operation  of 
the  law  of  sclf-intcrast  to  teach  to  make  the  best  of  that 
which  they  have  acquired.  You  cannot,  without  creating 
more  evils  than  you  cure,  attempt  to  make  men  improve 
their  property  as  they  ought.  But  you  can,  and,  in  my  judg- 
ment, you  should,  remove  all  those  artificial  restrictions  whuh 
at  present  the  law  permits  men  to  raise  up  in  the  way  of  that 
freedom  in  dealing  with  land  which  is  the  first  condition  of  iti 
commercial  and  social  improvement.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  I 
think  the  Legislature  may  beneficially  act,  not  bv  arbitrary 
interference  with  proprietors,  but  by  removing  tnose  fetten 
which  embarrass  the  freedom  of  their  action,  in  this  way  yon 
may  go  a  long  distance  towards  the  accomplishment  of  the 
desired  end,  without  any  infringement  of  those  laws  of  political 
economy  which  can  never  bo  violated  with  impunity. 

The  real  remedy,  I  venture  to  think,  is  to  be  sought  not  by  i 
system  of  registering  complicated  titles  but  by  a  simplification  c 
title  itself.  Let  mo  try  to  explain  what  I  mean  to  my  nm 
learned  hearers.  Every  one  knows  that  by  the  law  of  England 
a  man  possessed  of  land  in  fee  simple  may,  by  deed  or  wiC 
dispose  of  it  to  any  number  of  living  persons  in  succession,  am 
to  an  unborn  generation^  for  a  limitea  period.  In  fact,  a  grea. 
part  of  the  land  of  England  is  held  under  such  dispositions 
which  are  called  "strict  settlements,"  more  popularly  knowi 
by  the  name  of  the  law  of  entail.  Without  entering  int< 
technical  detail  I  may  point  out  that  the  nominal  proprietor  o 
estates  so  settled  is  r^ly  not  the  proprietor  at  all.  He  has  m 
power  of  alienation ;  in  many  cases  ne  can  neither  borrow  noi 


By  W.  Vernon  Saroourt,  Q.C.^  M.P.  71 

harge  the  estate,  or  onlj  to  a  very  limited  extent ;  for  though 
Qiny  settlements  contain  powers  of  sale,  they  do  not  place  at 
]»  disposal  of  the  life  tenant  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  which 
ae  re-invested  by  the  tmstees  in  other  land  or  some  other 
Ncority.  He  is  the  mere  recipient  of  the  rents  of  the  land, 
or  of  such  portion  of  it  as  remains  over  after  the  payment  of 
charges  created  by  previous  incumbrances.  What  is  the  prac- 
tical result  of  this  state  of  things?  The  person  whom  I 
Tentnre  to  call  the  nominal  proprietor  is  in  the  receipt  pro- 
bably of  an  income  barely  sufficient  for  the  immediate  wants 
of  himself  and  his  family.  He  has,  let  us  say,  a  net  income 
of  5000/.  a  year,  which  is  absolutely  settled  on  his  eldest  son. 
If  he  expends  money  on  the  improvement  of  the  estate,  he  does 
K)  at  the  expense  of  the  only  fund  out  of  which  he  can  provide 
for  his  younger  children,  in  favour  of  that  child  who  is  ultimately 
(o  take  all.  The  land  requires  the  expenditure  of  capital  for  drain- 
ige,  building  of  cottages,  erection  of  farm  buildinf]rs,  &c.,  Ac.  For 
want  of  this  capital  the  land  languishes  ;  the  impulation  upon  it 
|Hnes;the  proprietor  himself,  with  a  greatnominal  income,  scrapes 
ilong  in  splendid  penury.  Where  is  this  proprietor  to  get  that 
capital  which  is  necessary  for  the  proper  administration  of  that 
9sbite  of  which,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term^  ho  is  the  steward 
(or  the  nation,  and  on  account  of  which  the  people  dependent 
upon  him  suffer  day  by  day  ?  The  settlement  under  which  he 
holds  absolutely  debars  him  from  finding  the  means  of  doino; 
that  which  it  is  to  his  interest  and  to  the  interest  of  all  around 
liim  that  he  should  do.  If  ho  could  soil,  the  estate  might  pass 
nto  the  hands  of  some  one  who  had  the  means  of  doing  justice 

0  it  If  he  could  borrow  he  might  be  able  to  do  justice  to  it 
timself.  But  the  law  allows  him  to  do  neither.  And  in  so  far 
8  it  prevents  this  I  venture  to  aflSrm  that  the  law  of  settlement 

1  an  evil  to  society,  as  it  is  to  the  land  and  those  who  reside 
pen  it.  Don't  let  it  be  supposed  that  this  is  a  hypoUietical 
lischief  which  has  no  extensive  operation  in  fact. 

If  you  will  look  at  those  painfully  interesting  documents, 
hich  mnst,  before  long,  occupy  the  serious  attention  of  the 
egislature — I  mean  the  reports  of  the  Commissioners  on  the 
mditionof  the  agricultural  population — you  will  find  how  great 
part  of  the  evils,  which  cry  aloud  for  a  remedy,  are  due  to 
us  great  defect  of  the  land  laws.  The  passages  in  the  second 
sport,  which  refer  to  this  subject,  are  too  long  to  quote,  but  in 
age  221  of  Mr.  Tremenheere's  Report,  he  says : — 

"It  has  been  shown  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  great  and 
lagrant  defects  still  existing  in  the  manner  in  which  the  agricultural 
UboQiers  of  this  country  are  housed,  is  traceable  to  this  system  of 


72     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the  1 

'strict  settleinents/  and  tho  connequent  habit  of  incumberii 
estates.  It  has  been  shown  that  this  system  is  of  com] 
recent  origin,  dating  only  from  the  end  of  the  1 7th,  and  the  1 
of  the  last  century.  If  Parliament  should  now  recognise  i 
serious  degree,  injurious  to  the  public  interests,  its  com] 
recent  origin  would  make  it  less  difficult  to  bring  it  back  \ 
reasonable  and  proper  bounds  contemplated  by  its  inventon 

I  believe,  in  this  passage  is  to  bo  found  an  indication  o 
chango  which  is  required  in  our  land  laws,  namely,  a  n 
of  the  largo  powers  of  contingent  limitations  which  th 
present  permits.  Tho  ovil  consists  in  tho  want  of  powc 
nominal  owner  to  deal  with  the  estate,  in  consequcnc 
ulterior  interests  which  have  been  lawfully  createcf  in  i 
other  persons.  I  need  not  say  I  do  not  suggest  any  int< 
with  rights  already  veste<l.  iJut  if,  in  the  future,  tho 
allowed  tho  creation  of  an  absolute  ])roprietor8hip  in  Ian 
porty,  either  in  resjXKst  of  tho  legal  or  cquitablo  estate,  i 
law  allowed  tho  erection  for  tho  future  of  no  estates 
except  absolute  estates  in  feo  simple,  those  fetters  by  wl 
is  now  injuriously  confined  would  be  gradually  removi 
should  no  longer  see  land,  and  thoso  who  are  doi)cnd 
it,  languish  in  consequence  of  a  law  which  unnatiurall 
it  in  the  hands  of  persons  who  are  unable  to  do  their  di 
The  owner  who,  by  his  own  imprudence,  or  by  the  fad 
])redece8sors,  has  so  encumbered  his  estate  that  he  can  i 
find  tho  working  capital  to  deal  with  it  to  advantag 
part  with  it  by  a  natural  process  to  thoso  who,  by  grea 
and  self-denial,  have  accumulated  the  means  to  acquii 
improve  it. 

1  do  not  now  enter  upon  tlie  details  of  the  chango  it 
which  would  be  necessary  to  give  effect  to  this  princ 
the  principle  itself  were  accepted  it  would  not  bo  dii 
carry  it  out.  It  would  bo  necessary  to  mako  some  ] 
for  leasing  powers,  and  also  for  tlio  case  of  minor 
In  such  a  proposal,  it  seems  to  mo,  there  is  no  infri 
of  the  strictest  right  of  property,  properly  understooc 
only  a  further  extension  of  the  limitation  which  the  , 
im]K)ses  upon  the  indefinite  future  disposition  of  ] 
It  does  not,  like  tho  French  law,  dictate  the  pre 
in  which  a  man  shall  dispose  of  his  estate.  It  has 
cessary  tendency  to  the  subdivision  of  land,  though  ; 
and  probably  would  afford  an  inducement  to  landoii 
sell  outlying  estates  on  which  they  do  not  reside,  and 
means  diminish  that  great  and,  I  fear,  increasing  evil  o 
teeism  which,  though  we  hear  of  it  less,  exists,  and  is  ai 
in  England  as  in  Ireland.    Such  a  chango  would  mere!} 


By  W,  Vemm  Sareoart,  Q.C.^  M.P.  7fl 

artificial  restrictions  which  the  law  imposes  u])on  tho  natural 
go  of  pi-oporty  irora  tho  hands  of  the  insolvent  to  those  of 
Holveut  possessor.  It  would  eocure  the  beneficial  transfer  of 
id  by  a  constant  and  natural  process  from  the  charge  of  those 
D  do  not  know  how  to  take  care  of  their  property  into  that  iif 
nu  who  know  how  to  take  caro  of  it.  The  thing  nhicli  is 
Diixl  is  not  that  a  man  who  is  proprietor  of  an  estate  should 
pusf]  of  it  as  and  to  whom  he  pleases,  but  that  ho  should 
im  to  control  its  disposition  and  impress  upon  tho  laud  his 
m  will  long  after  he  has  ceased  to  exist,  ^uch  a  pretension 
psars  to  me  to  be  as  contrary  to  the  interest  of  society  as  it  is 
the  laws  of  nature.  "  We  brought  notliing  into  the  world,  and 
lean  carrj- nothing  out."  And  why  should  the '"dead  hand" 
I  allowed  to  extend  its  grasp  beyond  the  grave,  niid  still  para- 
K  liy  its  chill  touch,  perhaps  lor  half  a  century,  tho  fortunes  of 
^  livmg  ?  I  know  in  my  own  personal  oxijcrience  an  estate  which 
I  been  absolutely  bound  lor  sixty  years  by  tlio  will  of  a  former 
oprietor,  without  any  power  on  tho  part  of  any  subsequent 
zuEsor  to  deal  with  or  dispose  of  it  What  possible  pur|Kjso 
I  such  a  state  of  the  law  serve  ?  whilst  the  mischiefs  it  creates 
[  cd>vious  enough.  It  will  bo  sai<l  that  the  present  system  is 
fflisary  in  order  to  keep  up  old  families.  I  venture,  however, 
think  that  old  families,  if  they  are  worth  keeping  up,  will 
ip  up  themselves.  And  if  they  are  unable  to  take  c^ro  of 
nsolvos  it  is  not  for  their  advantage,  certainly  not  for  tho 
roatage  of  the  community,  that  tho  law  should  attempt  to 
l|i  them  up.  A  law  framed  with  such  an  object  is  in 
I  nature  of  a  protective  duty  of  the  worst  description.  I 
o't  disparage  the  advantages,  social  or  political,  of  tradi- 
nart'  associutions,  but  they  will  be  all  tho  stronger  when 
(jf  stand  tipon  their  own  merits  and  rely  upon  tneir  own 
nnrcea.  Tlie  scion  of  a  bankrupt  race  starving  on  an  im- 
Krished  estate  in  the  midst  of  an  imcared-for  tenantry, 
not  a  spectacle  which  is  a  source  of  strength,  but  rather 
woakness  to  an  ancient  aristocracy.  I  do  not  desire  to  do 
uatice  to  the  landed  iutcrest.  I  believe  the  landowners  of 
gland  aa  a  class  have  deserved  well  of  the  country.  They 
e  administered  the  great  national  estate,  on  the  whole, 
the  public  advantage.  The  improvements  of  the  last  thirty 
Irs  ofTected  in  the  land  of  Great  Britain  are,  I  believe, 
tliout  example  in  any  other  country  in  Europe.  S])enk- 
[  generally,  and  in  spite  of  great  temptations  to  the  con- 
ry,  Uie  landowners  of  England  have  been  a  prudent, 
vral,  and  improving  class,  and  tho  owners  of  even  life 
1  have  denied  themselves  in  order  to  benefit  their  sue- 
t.  They  have  done  all  this,  not  by  virtue  of  the  law  of  entail. 


74     Address  on  Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  oftlie  Law. 

but  in  spite  of  it  But  for  such  men  the  law  of  entail  is  whoDjf 
Tinneccssary ;  they  would  do  just  as  well  without  it  This  protec- 
tion is  only  required  by  those  who  least  dcsen'o  it  I  entireljr 
deny  that  the  law  ought  to  lend  itself  to  the  mere  vanity  of  raoBi 
in  order  to  protect  men  by  artificial  barriers  from  the  just 
consequences  of  their  own  vices  or  imprudence,  by  preventing 
their  estates  from  passing  into  the  hands  of  those  who  wonla 
make  a  better  use  of  them,  to  the  advantage  of  the  community 
at  large.  I  am  not  unaware  that,  recognising  the  nature  of  the 
mischiefs  arising  from  the  law  of  settlement,  various  legislative 
attempts  have  been  made  to  mitigate  their  consequences  bj 
giving  certain  powers  to  the  owners  of  limited  estates  to  deal 
with  and  charge  the  inheritance.  All  such  provisions  are,  of 
c*ourse,  in  point  of  principle,  so  far  as  they  go,  practically  a 
breach  of  the  entail,  and  a  departure  from  the  will  of  the  creator 
of  the  settlement.  Whilst,  however,  conceding  the  principle  to 
its  full  extent,  these  enactments  have  been  in  the  main  inopera- 
tive. The  consents  neccssarilj'  and  justly  required  on  the  part 
of  the  persons  entitled  to  ulterior  interests  have  made  these  pro- 
visions practically  inoperative.  Tlio  reason  why  this  is  so  will 
be  found  stated  in  the  Report  on  the  condition  of  the  agricul- 
tural population,  to  which  I  have  already  referred.  I  am 
happy  to  see  that  the  mischief  consequent  on  the  limited 
powers  of  the  owners  of  real  estate  is  pressing  itself  on  tho 
attention  of  the  class  from  whom,  if  they  understood  thdi 
real  interests  aright,  the  amendment  of  the  law  of  entai 
ought  to  come — I  mean  the  landed  proprietors  themselves 
Within  tho  last  week  I  have  seen  a  strong  expression  c 
opinion  from  two  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in 
timately  connected  with  the  land  ;  one  my  friend  Mr.  H.  F 
Brand,  the  member  for  Herts,  the  other  a  gentleman  sitting  o 
the  Conservative  side  of  the  House,  and  bearing  the  histories 
name  of  Cameron  of  Lochiel,  the  member  i'or  Inverness.  1 
the  speech  of  Mr.  Brand,  and  the  letter  of  Mr.  Cameron, 
observe  that  they  both  demand  on  the  part  of  the  owners  c 
estates  a  greater  freedom  from  the  shackles  imposed  by  the  lai 
of  settlements.  But  it  is  not  only  with  the  class  of  landowner 
that  we  have  to  contend — there  is  another  class  to  which  I  refe 
with  some  trepidation,  on  whom  tho  fate  of  tho  question  of  th 
land  laws  still  more  depends — I  mean  the  solicitors.  Of  all  th 
vices  which  exist  in  our  legal  system,  there  is  none  more  mis 
chievous  than  the  absurdity  of  the  principles  upon  which  th 
remuneration  of  solicitors  is  now  settled.  The  plan  of  payin 
solicitors,  not  by  the  value  of  the  end  accomplished,  but  by  th 
amount  of  the  work  they  are  able  to  create,  renders  that  im 
portant  class  of  the  profession  almost  perforce  antagonistic  t 


By  W.  Vernon  Harcourt,  Q.C.^  M.P.  75 

flie  reform  and  simplification  of  tho  law.  No  class  of  men,  from 
ibe  responsibility  imposed  npon  them,  and  tho  high  qualities 
they  bring  to  the  disciiarge  of  their  duties,  deserve  to  be  better 
imrded.'  But  to  make  it  the  interest  of  a  man  to  prolong  and 
multiply  deeds,  by  paying  him  at  so  much  a  folio,  is  only  to 
demde  the  profession.  JSefore  we  can  hope  to  enlist  tho 
adidtors  on  our  side  in  the  reform  of  conveyancing  we  must 
adopt  the  Scotch  plan  of  making  their  payment  like  that  of  a 
boKer  an  ad  valorem  payment  proportioned  to  the  money  value 
of  the  transaction. 

I  have  already  detained  you  too  long,  and  I  must  now  con- 
dade.    A  very  few  words  more  and  I  have  done.     I  would  ven- 
ture to  say,  let  us,  whilst  we  advance  with  hope  and  eagerness  in 
the  path  of  progress  towards  the  future,  look  with  no  unmindful 
or  ungrateful  regard  towards  the  past,  to  which  wo   owe  so 
much,  but,  building  on  its  sure  foundations,  endeavour  our- 
selves to  contribute  something  to  that  great  stock  of  wisdom, 
the  iruit  of  experience  which  we  have  inherited  from  those  who 
btve  gone  before  us,  that  so  we  may  be  no  unworthy  heirs  of 
the  generations  to  whom  we  owe  all  that  we  have,  and  may  like 
ibem  perform  our  part  towards  thoso  who  shall  succeed  us.     If 
in  any  or  all  these  reforms  we  could  succeed  in  engaging  the 
earnest  and  active  co-operation  of  such  communities  as  that  in 
the  midst  of  which  we  are  now  collected,  more  than  half  the 
eaose  would  be  won.     And  standing  here  in  this  great  town, 
myself  bom  and  bred  a  Yorkshireman,  and  speaking  to  York- 
sUremen,  permit  me  to  remind  you  with  pride  and  satisfaction, 
tfatt  when  JBrougham — a  name  ever  to  be  revered  by  this  county 
as  by  this  Association — went  out  to  do  battle  with  the  legion 
of  legal  abuses,  he  sallied  forth  conquering  and  to  conquer,  as 
knight  of  this  famous  shire,  with  the  sword  of  Yorkshire  girt 
npon  his  thigh,  and  with  the  voice  of  Yorkshire  at  his  back. 


^r'ijhm 


BY 

EDWARD      BAINES,     M.P., 

ON 

EDUCATION. 


I  ACCEPT  this  lionourabic  position  witli  much  diffidence; 
for  of  all  the  departments  of  Social  Science  none  sur* 
passes,  or  perhaps  equals,  that  of  education,  either  in  im\)Ot' 
tance  or  difficulty ;  and  there  arc  several  gentlemen  present 
whose  opinions  on  the  subject  are  entitled  to  much  greater 
weight  than  mine.     Giant  steps  have  lately  been  taken  in 
every  branch  of  national  education,  and  I  believe  them  to 
have   been   essentisUly  right  and   wise.      But   each   advanee 
reveals  more  clearly  the  greatness  of  the  work  that  was  to  be 
done,  the  extent  uf  the  deficiencies  to  be  supplied,  and  the 
difficulties  of  various  kinds  to  be  encountered,  before  we  can 
regard  the  education  of  the  people  as  satisfactory.     We  are 
like  builders  who  have  prepared  plans  and  raised  a  scafFoldingt 
but  whose  structure  has  scarcely  risen  above  its  foundatioi&fi* 
The  nation  may  be  said  to  have  required  its  Legislature  ao^^ 
Government  to  undertake  this  all-important  work.    And 
authorities  having  obeyed  the  call,  they  now,  in  their  tui 
appeal  to  the  people  to  give  effect  to  the  laws  which  have  b^ 
passed.     For,  however  needful  may  be  the  action  of  Govern:^^^^ 
mcnt  to  organize,  inspect,  and  enforce,  the  moving  and  suati 
ing  power  can  only  be  found  in  public  opinion. 

To  this  supreme  force  the  Legislature  itself  has  committer 
the  execution  of  the  new  laws.  Without  public  approbatior 
neither  the  pecuniary  means  nor  the  moral  power  would 
found  for  the  performance  of  the  task.  We  shall  be  the  ni< 
convinced  of  this  truth  when  we  remember  that  in  Englani^  ^^^ 
education  has  been  the  ofi'8j)ring,  not  of  a  paternal  govemnient:^'  •* 
but  of  political  freedom.  In  some  countries  education  seems.  ^^^ 
to  have  been  the  parent  of  liberty ;  but  in  ours  liberty 


Address  on  Education. 


77 


Ben  the  parent  of  education.     We  had  mngnificent  univer- 
ltie«,  the  elder  of  which  dated  from  our  great  Alfred ;  and 
rcry  aaccesaive  reign  witnesBed  ihe  endowment  of  valuable 
runmar  achoola  by  public  and  private  beiietactors;  but,  not- 
klhstanding  the  proud  results  of  these  Goats  of  learning,  in  a 
Be  of  statesmen,  philosophera,  poets,  and  divines  which  the 
Ofid  has  rarely  equalled,  nothin;;  that  deserved  to  be  called 
Mpukr  or  national  education  existed  in  this  country,  till  it 
Viginated,  n  self-sown  institution,  at  the  commencement  of 
"e  present  century.     It  had  then  to  encounler  the  nipping 
wta  of  prejudice,  which  could  not  comprehenJ  the  right  of 
Oie  labouring  millions  to  the  cultivation  of  their  underdtand- 
KjDgs,  or  the  true  wisdom  of  basing  the  social  fabric  on  sound  and 
l»ueral  instruction.  The  first  Attempts  to  give  to  popular  educa- 
n  the  sanction  and  help  of  Government  were  as  timid  as  they 
re  late.     When  they  became  bolder  they  met  witli  opposi- 
n  from  various  quarters  and  on  various  grounds,  not  merely 
n  the  opponents,  but  from  the  zealous  friends  of  education. 
jpily  in  these  later  days  the  common  sense  of  the  working 
sesled  them  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  education,  and 
Is  claim  them  as  a  right.     And  when  Parliament  accidentally 
.tumbled   into   the  almost    desperate   measure   of    household 
jnffrage,  the  first  use  which  the  householders  made  of  their 
^Srage  was   to   demand   that   the   entire   nation   should    be 
idaeated.     Under  the  new  political  circumstances,  universal 
iducalion  for  the  first  time  became  possible,  just,  and  neces- 
Tj ;  and  many  earnest  friends,  both  of  education  and  ea- 
inchisement,  who  had  trembled   at  the  enfranchising  of  a 
comparatively  uneducated  people,  learned  to   rejoice  at   the 
mpUehmcnt  of  both  those  great  resultSi  though  by  means 
Kid  in  an  order  which  they  had  not  foreseen. 
It  has  been  the  pniclice  of  many,  who  saw  truly  the  inade- 
oncy  of  the  voluntary  system  to  give  a  complete  education  to 
le  people,  to  cipeak  of  it  as  an  entire  failure.     But  thisjudg- 
knent  would  neither  be  correct  as  to  the  past,  nor  safe  for  the 
ftiture.     In  the  past  we  owe  more  to  voluntary  zeal  than  to 
Government  action.     It  was  that  zeal  which  overcame  the  pre- 
judices of  the  higher  classes  and  the  contented  ignorance  of  the 
I  lower.     Nor  was  it  slow  in  putting  forth  its  powers.     That  at 
It  must  he  the  hnpresfiion  of  your  Chairman,  who  has  himself 
.neesed  the  origin  of  nearly  every  agency  for  popular  educa- 
a  hi  the  kingdom,  with  all  the  cheap  and  valuable  literature 
U  baa  sprung  up  by  their  side.    If  these  things  have  come 
Diler  the  personal  observation  of  one  man,  and  if  the  result  of 
k  whole  has  been  to  raise  theproportlonof  scholars  within  fifty 
re  from  one  in  seventeen  of  the  population,  to  about  one  in 


78  Addreii  tm  EiM/oaiiitm. 

eev^n^  they  deserve  to  be  recorded  in  our  eduoalional  liistor) 
and  put  to  the  credit  of  the  public  spirit  and  educational  zadc 
Englishmen.  Especially  is  it  desirable  not  to  disparage  Tolan 
tary  efforts  on  behalf  of  education,  when  a  very  large  propw 
tion  of  the  schools  for  the  working  classes  still  depend  m  i 
great  degree  on  those  efforts  both  for  their  support  and 
manaffementy  and  are  likely  so  to  continue.  In  the  year  18?C 
the  children  present  at  examination,  in  schools  receiving 
annual  grants  and  under  inspection,  in  England  and  Wilei, 
numbered  l,S5l,806 ;  and  it  was  estimated  by  Mr.  Forsttfi 
in  his  speech  on  the  education  estimates,  that  the  number  of 
scholars  in  those  schools  would,  during  the  year  187 1 ^  increiN 
by  300,000,  which  would  make  an  estimated  total  in  Gbven- 
ment  inspected  schools  actually  present  at  examination  during 
this  year  of  1,850,000  scholars. 

The  Elementary  Education  Act  of  1870  was  a  measnrs 
involving  the  most  important  consequences  to  the  social  and 
political  condition  of  England.  Those  consequences  will  re* 
quire  much  time  to  develop,  and  it  may  be  that  the  law  will 
undergo  modification.  Its  first  exposition  in  the  House  of 
Commons  was  received  with  general  favour,  as  evincing  it 
once  a  strong  grasp  of  principles  and  a  shrewd  estimate  of  the 
social  circumstances  to  which  they  were  to  be  applied.  Dis- 
cussion revealed  serious  differences  as  to  the  principles  and 
probable  working  of  the  Bill ;  and  Mr.  Forster's  firmness  ud 
patient  ingenuity  were  alike  taxed  severely  to  carry  it  throo^ 
the  Lower  House.  It  passed  by  very  large  majorities,  out 
leaving  a  very  considerable  niunber  of  objectors  in  the  countnr. 
The  school  board  elections,  which  have  taJcen  place  in  bGurougha 
and  districts  comprising  an  aggregate  population  of  8,llt,971| 
out  of  a  population  of  20,000,000,  according  to  the  Census  (rf 
1861,  must  be  regarded  as  having  given  a  powerful  sanctioik 
to  the  new  law,  and  created  a  machinery  by  which  it  will  b< 
carried  out.  In  most  places  earnest  friends  of  popular  educa 
tion  have  been  chosen,  including  those  who  have  had  practice 
experience  in  the  work,  with  many  who  are  zealous  for  0 
educational  extension  and  improvement.  As  a  rule,  all  pardtf 
and  sects  are  fairly  represented. 

It  must  not  be  concealed  that  at  least  one  question  of  gretf 
difficulty  remains,  on  which  a  difierence  of  opinion  and  C 
action  has  been  shown  by  the  school  boards — on  which  the  ver* 
meaning  of  the  Elementary  Education  Act  is  disputed — ^anj 
on  which  the  Committee  of  Council,  after  requesting  some  C 
the  boards  to  reconsider  their  decision,  have  ultimately  left  tlu 
boards  to  interpret  the  Act  for  themselves,  but  pointed  out  i 
serious  consequence  that  may  result.    The  question  refers  \^ 


B>f  Edward  Balnea,  M.P.  79 

payment  by  eohool  boards  of  the  school  fees  for  the 

Iren  of  parents  who  are  uaable  to  pay  thcra  in  denomina- 

il  Bchooi«.     As  the  point  will  inevitably   lend   to  much 

it  may   be  right  to  give  the  wortla  d   the   25th 

which  raaioly  the  ilisptite  turns.     They  are  aa 

Sec^oD  25.  The  suhool  board  may,  if  ihey  think  fit,  for  a  renew- 
period  not  exceeding  six  months,  pay  Iho  whole  or  any  part  of 
juhool  fee's  payable  nt  any  public  demcotary  school  by  any  cliild 
'mt  in  their  district  whose  parent  is  in  their  opinion  unable 
poverty  to  pay  the  Biune;  bat  no  such  payment  shall  be  made 
fiued  on  condition  of  the  child  atiendiug  any  public  elementary 
il  other  than  such  as  may  be  selected  by  the  parent ;  and  such 
lent  ahtiX  not  be  deemed  ro  bo  parochial  relief  given  to  euch 
>t." 

ifo  queetion  arises  as  to  the  legality  and  propriety  of 
litting  the  fees  for  these  poor  children  in  the  rate  ecnoota 
der  the  school  boards.  But  the  eerious  ditference  is  as  to 
legality  and  propriety  of  rej'm<m^  to  pa^  the  fees  for  these 
dren  in  the  denominational  schools.  The  Liverpool, 
itle,  and  Stockport  School  Boards  have  enacted  bye-lawa 
ch  allow  them  not  only  to  remit  the  tees  in  the  rate  schools, 
t  also  to  pay  them  in  "any  other  school,"  including  of  course 
louiinatioaal  schools;  and  the  avowed  intention  is  to  give 
selection  of  the  school  to  the  parent.  These  bye-lawa 
re  received  tlie  official  sanction  of  Her  Majesty  in  Council, 
1  have  therefore  the  force  of  law-  But  the  Portsmouth, 
ithampton,  Wednesbury,  and  other  school  boards  have 
m  an  opposite  view  of  their  duty,  and  have  passed  bye- 
i  which  would  remit  the  fees  for  poor  children  in  rate 
wis,  but  would  not  allow  of  paying  the  fees  in  denominn- 
lal  or  any  other  schools.  When  these  bye-lawa  were  laid 
KM  the  Education  Department,  they  were  in  some  instances 
t  back  for  reconsideration.  In  the  ease  of  Wedneabnry, 
«h  ia  one  of  the  latest,  the  correspondence  has  been  pub- 
ad  by  the  Dcjiartment.  In  this  case  the  Department 
led  that  they  were  prepared  to  allow  the  bye-law,  but 
tnated  that  "  in  the  opinion  of  my  LoivJs  it  would  not  be 
tto  deprive  a  parent  of  liia  right  to  choose  the  particular 
ilic  elementary  school  to  which  he  will  send  his  child, 
lOse,  while  he  is  compelled  by  these  bye-laws  to  send  hia 
I  to  school,  he  is  unable,  from  poverty,  to  pay  hia  school 
;  but  my  Lords  cannot  doubt  that  the  School  Board  will  see 
i  justice  of  making  use  of  the  power  they  possess  under 
itioD  25  iu  favour  of  any  such  parent."    The  AVeduesbury 


80  Address  on  Educatiofu 

School  Board,  however,  in  reply,  declined  to  accept  the  re> 
commendation  of  the  Department,  assigning  the  following 
reasons : — *^  The  form  of  the  bye-law  in  question  was  not 
hastily  settled.  It  was  decided  by  a  majority  of  the  boarcl 
after  local  agitation,  and  after  prolonged  and  anxious  discos- 
sions.  The  majority  of  the  Board  appeared  to  consider  that  it 
would  not  be  more  unjust  to  require  the  few  poor  parenti 
interested  to  surrender  their  own  preference  for  a  particokr 
school,  and  send  their  children  to  efRcient  schools  established 
by  the  Board,  than  it  would  be  to  require  ratepayers  of  ail 
classes  to  assist  particular  denominations  in  their  educational 
arrangements  by  the  payment  of  fees  to  sectarian  schools.** 
The  Department  allowed  the  bye-law,  but  in  rejoinder 
^^  thought  it  right  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Board  to  the 
power  given  them,  independently  of  any  bye-law,  by  section 
25  of  the  Elementary  Lducation  Act,  by  which  power  they 
will  be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  enforcing  penalties  affoinsta 
parent  who,  though  unable  from  povertv  to  pay  a  school  fee. 
prefers  that  his  child  should  attend  a  public  elementary  schod 
selected  by  himself."  It  is  obvious  that  the  question  in  dis- 
pute is  felt  to  be  one  of  serious  magnitude,  which  will  engage 
the  attention  not  only  of  school  boards,  but  of  the  public,  the 
Government,  and  the  Legislature.  It  is,  whether  payments 
out  of  rates  shall  be  made  to  denominational  schools.  It  is  a 
question  involving  the  rights  of  conscience,  the  power  of  com* 
pulsion  in  education,  the  efficacy  of  the  late  Act  to  its 
proposed  end,  and  the  working  of  the  school  boards.  It 
appears  likely  to  draw  religious  and  political  {Parties  into  a 
new  and  grave  controversy. 

I  believe  I  cannot,  in  consistency  with  my  duty  in  this  chair, 
avoid  presenting  the  views  by  which  the  two  sides  support 
their  respective  positions. 

The  great  objection  of  the  opponents  of  paying  fees  in 
denominational  schools  is,  that  it  will  work  almost  exclusively 
in  favour  of  the  schools  belonging  to  the  Established  Church 
and  the  Koman  Catholics,  and  therefore  in  a  certain  sense 
adversely  to  the  cause  of  Nonconformity.  The  following 
paragraph  from  a  paper  recently  addressed  to  Mr.  Gladstone 
by  the  Central  Nonconformist  Committee  of  Birmingham 
thus  states  the  case ; — 

''(3.)  This  large  proportion  of  the  rate  will  be  devoted  almost 
exclusively  to  Roman  Catholic  and  Church  of  England  schools,  it 
being  the  intention  of  several  Nonconformist  communities  to  close 
their  schools,  or  to  offer  them  to  the  School  Board,  in  order  that,  as 
far  as  their  influence  extends,  the  children  of  the  poor  may  no  longer 


»e  tlieir  elementary  education  under  the  inlliienco  of  particular 
ioua  (lot) omi nation 9,  but  in  schools  founded  and  maintained  by 
le  TKtepayera  in  the  borough.  Tho  intention  of  Nonconformists 
>stain  from  future  denominational  action  in  education  is  wit- 
id  by  tbe  small  number  of  new  building  grants  .applied  for  by 
.  Tfae  re<stilt  will  therefore  be,  that  in  the  course  of  a  very  few 
i  Almost  tbe  only  denominational  schooU  which  will  continue  to 
will  be  connected  either  with  the  Church  of  England  or  Roman 
olio  Church,  and  these  will  be  supported  by  tho  rates  in  direct 
ty  with  tho  ratepayers'  own  schools." 

is  added,  aa  an  eatimate  founded  on  the  experience  of  the 
UDgbam  Education  Aid  Society,  that  "probiibly  10,000 
ren  in  that  borough  will  be  able  to  claim  from  the  Board 
education  on  the  ground  of  poverty ;  and  if  8000  of  these 
I  received  into  denominational  schools,  the  Board  would  be 
ired  to  pay  in  school  fees  nearly  4500^.  per  annum."  The 
liogham  paper  adda  that  the  deputation  which  waited  upon 
Gladatone,  together  with  "  Nooconformists  in  every  part 
*■?  kingdom,"  entertain  "a  firm  and  ineradicable  hostility 

ia  new  application  of  public  money  for  purposes  of 
bus  teaching ; "  that  the  measure  is  "  creating  bitter 
rian  animosity ;  "  and  that  "  the  objections  which  were 
to  the  Church  Kale  are  felt  to  the  application  of  the 
;atioD  Kate  to  the  maintenance  of  denominational 
dU."     In  some  other  towns  a  refusal  to  pay  the  rate  has 

threatened,  and  even  ministers  of  religion  have  said  they 
d  go  to  prison  rather  than  pay  it. 

D  these  objections  it  ia  replied,  in  behalf  of  paying  the 
^Ist.)  That  the  Elementary  Education  Act  expressly 
ra  School  Boards  to  pay  the  fees  for  poor  children  iu  any 
io  elementary  school,  including  the  denominational  schook; 
.)  That  the  payment  of  fees  for  children  unable  to  pay 
not  intended  ns  a  subsidy  to  any  school,  denominational 
Otherwise;  but  simply  as  a  relief  to  the  impoverished 
Dt,  without  any  reference  wliatcver  to  tbe  kind  of  school 
might  he  selected :  if  benefit  accrued  to  the  school,  it  wa^ 
lental  and  not  designed,  and  it  was  a  benefit  open  alike  to 
pis  of  every  kind;  (3rd.)  That  if  it  is  objectionable  to 
ribute  thus  incidentally  to  denominational  schools  from 
rates,  it  must  be  far  more  objectionable  to  contribute 
snaticaily  to  those  schools  from  the  general  taxation  of 
tountry  j  t'>  which,  however,  the  faith  of  the  Grovernment 
Parliament  is  pledged,  and  which  cannot  be  withdrawn 
Dat  letting  down  alinoat  all  the  existing  elementary  edu- 

L  of  the  country ;   (4th.)  That  the  Act  recognises  the 


82  Addr€88  on  Education* 

right  of  the  parent  to  select  the  school  for  his  child|  And  tli^ 
this  is  a  riffht  of  conscience  as  clear  as  the  riffht  to  anil 
himself  of  the  conscience  clause ;  (5th.)  That  the  doiiil  d 
that  right  would  be  regarded  as  a  violation  of  the  reliikm 
liberty  of  the  parent^  and  would  interpose  a  formioiUl 
obstacle  in  the  waj  of  educating  the  whole  neoplci  eqpeeiiii] 
the  poor  and  neglected  children^  many  of  wnose  parents  MH 
Boman  Catholics,  who  attach  a  special  importance  to  relkidi 
education;  (6th.)  That  nearly  the  same  classes  of  chuoMl 
namely,  the  children  of  in-door  and  out-of-door  paa{i6H 
whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  are  now,  and  have  oeen  h 
years,  as  a  matter  of  acknowledged  justice  and  neoessitj.  pwi 
for  out  of  the  public  rates  in  denominational  schools,  and  tb 
there  is  not  the  least  probability  of  Parliament  taking  awq 
that  right ;  (7th.)  That  the  law,  when  it  gives  to  the  pam 
the  right  of  selecting  the  school,  obviously  removes  fnmi  Ik 
school  board  all  moralresponsibility  for  the  choice ;  (8th.)  Tka 
the  denominational  schools^  moreover^  are  no  longer  conneeti 
with  the  State  as  religious  institutions ;  they  were  so  frai 
the  year  1846  to  the  year  1870,  during  which  period  graal 
were  made  to  no  school  but  such  as  gave  religious  iiMtnio 
tion ;  but  at  the  latter  date,  with  the  consent  of  both  partii 
in  the  State,  that  requirement  was  formally  withdrawB 
and  it  is  enacted,  in  section  07  of  the  Elementary  Educfatitt 
Act,  that  in  future  ^^  such  j^rant  shall  not  be  made  in  respao 
of  any  instruction  in  religious  subjects,"  and  that  '^  such  en 
ditions  shall  not  require  that  the  schools  shall  be  in  connectifli 
with  a  religious  denomination;  or  that  religious  instmetb 
shall  be  given  in  the  school ; "  a  conscience  clause  is  ib 
required  in  every  such  school,  enabling  the  parent  to  wiA 
draw  his  child  from  the  religious  instruction ;  (9th.^  That  th 
State  now  makes  all  its  grants  solelv  in  consiaeration  « 
secular  instruction,  and  as  freely  to  schools  which  are  piini| 
secular  as  to  those  which  are  religious ;  the  cost  of  the  rsB 

fious  teaching  is  more  than  covered  by  the  voluntary  oontri 
utions  of  the  supporters  of  the  schools;  not  one  farthmff  nMXi 
would  be  paid  for  any  child  in  a  denominational  school  tluB 
in  an  undenominational  or  purely  secular  school ;  (10th.)  Thii 
therefore,  in  the  eye  of  the  law  the  denominational  schook  av 
acknowledged  as  purely  secular  schools,  for  which  the  naftioi 
at  large  has  no  responsibility  except  as  schools  giving  a  ^ 
secular  education,  and  that  neither  grants  nor  rates  paid  t 
them  can  be  justly  considered  as  an  endowment  of  reli|pim 
(11th.)  That  there  is  no  analogy  between  a  church  rateaa 
the  education  rate ;  the  object  of  the  church  rate  having  bet 
purely  religious  and  for  one  sect  alone,  whereas  the  objeel  < 


%  Sdumd  BaineSf  M.P.  83 

ncfttioii  rate  is  for  all  sects  and  schools  alike,  without 
ice  to  the  religious  teaching. 

I  are  the  replies  given  in  favour  of  the]  payment  of  fees 
imtnational  schooU ;  and  whilst  I  feel  that  the  state  of 
is  not  agreeable  to  Nonconfurmists,  I  confess  my  judg- 
igorda  the  replies  as  unanswerable,  and  approves  of  the 
18  of  the  first  class  of  school  boaids  which  have  been 
icJ  as  more  correct  than  those  of  the  second.  It  la  for 
len  to  consider  whether  the  law  can  justly  and  wisely  be 
id ;  but  I  do  not  believe  it  is  morally  or  jx>litically 
e  (even  if  it  be  legal)  to  punish  a  ^kiof  man  for  declining 
I  hie  child  to  a  school  oi  which  he  consciendoufily  dig- 
ee :  and  if  it  is  not  possible  to  punish,  the  power  of 
[eery  education  is  lost  for  that  very  class^of  children  foe 
it  was  thought  most  necessary. 

let  I  thus  avow  my  honest  judgment,  I  must  remark 
le  school  boards,  like  every  other  institution  in  a  free 
hold  their  power  on  the  condition  of  its  fair,  just, 
partial  exercise.  It  is  possible  to  conceive  of  various 
of  abusing  their  power,  which  would  make  them 
and  destroy  all  hope  of  the  peaceful  working  of  the 
For  example,  if  a  school  board  should  administer  the 
&  such  a  manner  as  purposely,  and  as  their  obvious 
,  to  fill  the  existing  schools  and  strengthen  particular 
Enations,  it  would  be  a  real  grievance  to  the  ratepayers. 
lercised  any  influence  whatever  upon  the  poor  parents,  to 
them  to  prefer  one  school  to  nnotlier ; — it'  for  the  sake  of 
|)articuhu-  schools,  it  should  pay  fees  for  children  whose 
I  could  (afford  to  pay  them ; —  above  all,  if  it  endeavoured 
•ent  the  creation  of  a  rate-school  where,  from  the  reli- 
T  secular  views  of  a  considerable  number  of  ratepayers, 
thools  were  required; — in  any  of  these  cases  the  conduct 
school  board  would  be  dishonourable,  oppressive,  and  a 
each  of  trust,  whilst  a  multiplicity  of  such  cases  would 
[er  the  continued  existence  of  local  and  representative 
Binent.  It  ia  true  the  ratepayers  have  the  power  of  dis- 
tfae  members  at  the  nest  election ;  but  in  the  mean- 
•cal  and  national  resentments  might  be  provoked,  which 
lead  to  serious  consequences.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
be  clearly  wrong  to  squander  public  money  in  building 
I  which  would  not  be  used,  and  which  there  is  no  rate- 
I  element  to  manage.  Such  conduct  would  make  the 
V  odious  in  another  direction. 

g  now  to  invite  the  earnest  attention  of  the  Association 
practical  means  by  which  the  education  of  the  people 
~  '  '  what  it  should  be.  I  would  ask  all  men  and 
6—8 


84  Address  en  Education. 

women  who  feel  for  the  honour  and  interests  of  the  oomd 
and  who  know  how  truly  our  interests  are  wrapt  up  in  ea 
vating  the  faculties  of  the  people^  and  in  expelling  the  ig 
ranee,  intemperance,  and  vice  bj  which  those  faculties  are 
often  obscured,  to  give  their  cordial  help  in  filling  the  \ 
with  good  schools.  It  would  be  the  crown  of  Social  Scie 
to  create  an  intellectual  and  virtuous  nation.  It  cannot 
done  without  more  schools  and  higher  teaching;  and  ih 
cannot  be  had  without  a  liberal  expenditure,  and  the  perso 
efforts  of  the  friends  of  knowledge  and  truth.  At  no  ti 
have  we  been  in  so  favourable  a  position  for  arraying  the  t 
strength  of  the  countrv  on  this  behalf.  The  people  are  s 
harnessed  to  the  car  oi  progress.  It  is  themselves  and  tl 
children  who  are  to  be  benefited,  and  happily  they  know  it 

Where  school  boards  have  been  elected,  it  is  obvious  t 
with  them  will  rest  mainly  the  power  and  the  responsibiliti 
working  the  new  system.  A  mighty  engine  is  put  into  ti 
hands,  and  almost  everything  depends  upon  the  zeal, 
prudence,  the  skill,  the  perseverance,  and  the  impartial 
with  which  they  direct  its  operations.  So  numerous  i 
important  will  be  their  duties,  that  to  fulfil  them  well  wiH 
a  title  to  pubKc  gratitude  and  honour.  We  cannot  revi 
those  indispensable  duties  without  feeling  that  the  soil 
boards  will  have  a  claim,  in  one  respect  on  our  envy, 
another  on  our  commiseration,  and  in  every  respect  on  ( 
heartiest  support.  It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that ' 
Education  Committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  in  their  Rep 
for  1870-71,  "express  their  satisfaction  with  the  charactei 
the  representative  bodies  who  have  been  elected." 

I  believe  I  cannot  render  a  better  service  to  the  school  hot 
throughout  the  country  than  by  presenting  to  them  the  d( 
sions  arrived  at  on  all  the  great  points  of  principle  and  pract 
by  the  School  Board  for  London.  That  Board,  as  is  kno^ 
comprises  men  of  the  greatest  ability  and  experience  in  eda 
tion — eminent  scholars  and  men  of  science,  head-masters 
training  and  other  colleges,  authors  of  distinction,  Meml 
of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  and — not  of  inferior  imports: 
— ladies  who  have  acquired  a  just  reputation  by  asserting 
claim  of  women  to  their  due  share  of  all  our  educational  adv 
tages.  At  the  head  of  the  Board  is  Lord  Lawrence,  wb 
statesman-like  wisdom  and  energy  raised  him  to  the  positioi 
Governor  of  the  Punjab  and  Governor-General  of  In<Ua,  i 
who  was  hardly  more  distinguished  as]  one  of  the  savioun 
India  during  the  great  Mutiny,  than  by  his  constant  atteni 
to  the  creation  of  schools  for  the  natives.  Not  a  few  meml 
of  the  Board  have  spent  their  lives  in  the  midst  of  the  dc 


he 


ulation  of  the  metropolia,  where   they  Lave  encouiitered 

^^   difficulty  that  can  preseijl  itself   in   our  great   towns 

le  educatioDJgt  and  pliilaDthropist.     They   belong  to  al- 

every  sect  and  section  of  thought ;  and  their  characters 

Boeition  have  commanded  the  confidence  of  tlie  first  city 
e  world.  Such  is  the  Board  who  have  been  sitting  as  a 
fd  and  in  Committees,  from  January  to  September,  ma- 
ly  deliberating  upon  all  the  depaitmenta  of  their  great 
It,  and  who  have  just  condensed  the  results  of  their 
iberations  into  a  Paper  entitled — 


BEGtLATIOSS   or  THE   SCHOOL   BOABD  OP 
UANAGF.HENT  OP 

Z — General  Iteyulations. 

1.1  Tnfaut  flchooU  shall  be  mixed. 

!.)  Senior  schools  shall  be  'neparste. 

I.)  Largo  schools  shaL  bo  provided  wherever  it  la  practicable  to 

!,)  Aj  a  general  rule,  female  teachers  only  slioll  be  employed  in 
Bt  and  girls'  schools. 

1.)  The  period  during  wliich  the  children  are  under  actual  in- 
Clion  in  school  shall  be  five  hours  daily  fur  live  days  in  tho 

i.)  During  the  time  of  rehgious  teaching  or  religious  observance, 
cliililren  withdrawn  fiom  such  teaching  or  obaervauca  shall 
ivo  separate  instruction  iu  secular  subjects. 

\)  Every  occurrence  of  corporal  puuishment  shall  be  formally 
rinA  in  a  book  kept  for  the  porposw.  PupU  teauliers  are  abso- 
|r  prohibited  from  inflicling  such  punishmuut.  Tlie  bead  Icachor 
be  held  directly  responsible  for  every  punishment  of  tliu  kind. 
\  Muuc  and  drill  shall  be  taught  in  eveiy  school  during  part  of 
ime  devoted  to  actual  instruction, 

]  In  all  day  schools  provision  shall  be  made  fur  giving  efTect 
10  foUowing  Kofiolution  of  Ibo  Boitrd  passed  on  the  Stb  March, 

rhat  in  the  schools  provided  by  the  Board  the  Itible  shall  be 
:  and  there  shall  be  given  snch  explanations  and  such  instruction 
a  in  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  as  are  suited  to 
opacity  of  children  :  provided  always — 

1.  That  in  such  esplanatious  and  iuslructiou  the  provisions  of 
tho  Act  in  Sections  VII.  anU  XIV.  be  strictly  observed, 
both  in  letter  and  spirit,  and  that  no  attempt  be  made  in 
any  such  schools  to  attach  cliilUren  to  any  particular  de- 
nomination. 

2.  That  in  regard  of  any  particular  school,  the  Board  shall  con- 
sider and  deCermino  upon  any  application  by  managers, 
parents,  or  ratepayers  of  the  district,  who  may  show  special 


86  Address  on  EduoaHaiu 

cause  for  exception  of  the  sehool  from  the  qientm 
this  Resolution,  in  whole  or  in  part" 
(10.)  In  all  schools  provision  may  be  made  for  giving  elftet 
the  following  Resolution  of  the  Board  passed  on  Julj  26th9  1871 } 
^'  1.  That  in  accordance  with  the  general  practice  c^  exisdi 
elementary  schools,  provision  may  be  made  for  offerii 
prayer  and  using  hymns  in  schools  provided  by  the  Bot 
at  the  '  time  or  times'  when,  according  to  Section  VI 
Sub-section  IL,  of  the  Elementary  Education  Act,  'Be 
gious  observances'  may  be  '  practised.' 
*' 2.  That  the  arrangements  for  such  'Religious  observances'] 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  teacher  and  managers  of  eai 
Hchool,  with  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Board  by  teache 
managers,  parents,  or  ratepayers  of  the  district : 
"  Provided  always — 
''  That  in  tho  offering  of  any  prayers,  and  in  the  use  of  ai 
hymns,  tho  provisions  of  the  Act  in  Sections  VIX  u 
XIY.  be  strictly  observed,  both  in  letter  and  spirit,  u 
that  no  attempt  be  made  to  attach  children  to  any  pa 
ticular  denomination." 
(11.)  All  the  children  in  any  one  infant,  junior,  or  senior  schoo 
shall  pay  the  same  weekly  fees. 

(12.)  The  minimum  weekly  fee  in  infant,  junior,  and  senior  sebool 
shall  bo  one  penny,  and  the  maximum  fee  ninepence. 

(13.)  Tho  half-timers  attending  any  school  shall  pay  half  lb 
weekly  fees  chargeable  in  that  school,  provided  that  such  half-fees  I) 
not  less  than  one  penny. 

(14.)  The  fees  payable  in  evening  schools  shall  be  lefl  to  thedii 
cretion  of  the  managers,  subject  to  tJbe  approval  of  the  Board. 

(16.)  If  exceptional  circumstances  should  appear  to  render  tli 
establishment  of  a  free  school,  in  any  locality,  expedient,  the  fiel 
shall  be  brought  before  the  Board,  and  its  decision  taken  upon  til 
special  case. 

//. — Eegulations  for  Infant  Schools. 

(16.)  In  infant  schools  instruction  shall  be  given  in  the  foUowiii 
subjects: — 

(a)  The  Bible,  and  tho  principles  of  religion  or  morality, 

accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  resolution  of  the  Bofl 

passed  on  tho  8th  March,  1871. 
^b)  Reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
S)  Object-lessons  of  a  simple  character,  with  some  such  er* 

cise  of  the  hands  and  eyes  as  is  given  in  the  *'  Kinc 

Garten"  system. 
(d)  Music  and  Drill. 

///. — Regulations  for  Junior  and  Senior  Schooh. 

(17.)  In  junior  and  senior  schools  certain  kinds  of  instmeti* 
shall  form  an  essential  part  of  the  teaching  of  every  school;  li 
others  may  or  may  not  be  added  to  them,  at  ^e  discretion  of  t 


t. 


Bf)  Edward  Baims,  M.P.  87 

nsgers  of  iudividual  eohools,  or  by  the  special  direction  of  lie 
iBtd.     The  instruction  in  Uiucretionary  piubjeels  aliall  not  interfere 
ith  Ihfi  efficiency  of  llie  teaching  of  tlit^  essential  subjects. 
{18.)  The  following  subjects  shall  be  essential  : — 
(a)  The  Bible,  and  the  principles  of  religion  arnJ  morality,  in 
occordHnce  with  the  terms  of  the  resoiutiou  of  the  Boaril 
pasBcd  on  the  t)tb  March,  1871. 
(A)  Beading,  wriring,  and  arithmetic;    English  grammar  and 
compoaition,  and  the  principles  of  book-keeping  in  senior 
echJoUi  with  mensuration  in  eeuior  boys'  schools. 
[<)  Syslenialised  object- lessons,  orabracing  in  tlie  six   school 
years  a  course  of  elementury  instruction  in  physical  science, 
and  serving  as  an  inlroduction  to  the  science  examinations 
which  sure  conducted  by  the  Science  and  Art  Department, 
(rf)  The  History  of  England. 

(f)  Elementary  Geography. 
(/)  Elementary  Social  Economy, 

(g)  Elementary  Drawing. 
(h)  MuMC  and  Drill. 
(i)  Iti  girls'  schools,  plain  needle-work  and  cutting-out. 

(19.)  Tke  following  subjects  shall  be  discretionary : — 
{a)  Domestic  Economy,  (i)  Algebra,  (c)  Geometry. 

{!0.)  Subject  to  the  approbation  of  the  Board,  any  extra  subjecU 
noogalsed  by  the  New  Code  (1S71)  shall  be  considered  to  be  dis- 
jtttioaary  subjects. 

If  I  do  not  mistake,  the  subjects  here  indicated  to  be  taught 
io  tke  elementary  schools  of  LddJoq  are  aa  well  selected  and  as 
tomprehensive  as  those  of  Germany,  Switzerland^  or  any  other 
amDtry.  I  have  before  me  the  official  "Plan  of  Teaching  " 
Lehrplao)  for  the  f  rimary  Schools  of  the  Canton  of  Zurich, 
ad  all  the  branches  undertaken  there  are  also  contemplated 
I  the  plan  of  the  London  School  Board.  Indeed  there  are 
Iready  schools  in  London  and  elsewhere — I  need  scarcely 
leniion  that  of  Dean  Dawes  at  King's  Somborne — not  infe- 
^^Tir  10  those  of  any  country ;  only  they  form  the  exception, 
hI  not  the  rule ;  and  just  complaints  have  been  made  in  and 
It  of  Parliament,  and  specially  from  the  Chair  of  this  Section 
f  the  Social  Science  Association,  and  from  its  Council,  that 
u  method  of  "  paying  for  results  "  by  the  Committee  of 
!ouiicil  on  Education,  though  involving  a  valuable  principle, 
ikI  for  some  years  a  direct  tendency  to  confine  instruction  to 
\i  barest  and  moat  unattractive  elements,  and  thereby  to 
Courage  the  study  of  those  branches  of  knowledge  which 
jnioken  the  faculties,  enlarge  the  mind,  and  supply  real 
ad  iatellectual  food.  Of  late  the  system  has  been  hberal- 
led  by  grants  for  extra  auhjects ;  and  though  Sir  John 
Xnbbock,  Mr.  Mimdella,  Mr.  Samuelson,  Dr.  Lyon  Playfiur, 


88  Address  on  Eduoaiian. 

and  others  have  ably  pointed  out  still-existing  deficiencifl 
Mr.  Forster  has  shown  an  earnest  determination  to  raise  tb 
character  of  education  in  England  as  fast  as  it  can  be  done. 

When  lately  going  over  the  noble  school-houses  of  Znriel 
I  was  told  that  they  contained  the  children  of  the  whol 
population.  In  Lucerne  I  was  assured  by  a  member^  of  di 
Cantonal  Council  that  there  were  not  two  families  in  tht 
town  whose  children  did  not  attend  the  common  schools.  Ii 
the  Engadine  a  schoolmaster^  when  asked  what  was  don 
to  the  parents  who  refused  or  neglected  to  send  their  childrei 
to  school,  seemed  puzzled  to  conceive  of  the  case,  and  « 
length  said — "  It  does  not  occur."  An  English  clergyman 
describing  the  schools  of  a  manufacturing  village  in  the  Cantoi 
of  Zurich,  assured  mc  that  political  geography  received  verj 
great  attention  there,  that  the  poorest  boys  of  twelve  years  o 
age  would  show  an  acquaintance  with  the  history  and  thx 
statesmen  of  England,  and  that  the  names  of  Palmerston  aiM 
Gladstone  were  as  well  known  there  as  among  ourselves. 

I  can  confirm,  from  the  most  recent  observation,  the  singalti 
perfection  of  the  educational  institutions  of  the  Canton  Zurich. 
The  whole  system  is  most  scientifically  and  elaborately  con« 
structed  from  beginning  to  end ;  and  it  is  as  practical  ia  iti 
adaptation  to  all  the  wants  of  an  industrial  community  asitii 
scientific  in  its  plan.  The  schools  are  perfectly  graded,  from  thi 
primary  to  the  secondary,  the  gymnasia,  and  the  Universitj. 
They  have  also  supplementary  or  repetition  schools,  which  tM 

Jrouth  attend  for  one  day  or  two  half  days  in  the  week,  aflei 
caving  the  elementary  schools,  from  twelve  to  fifteen  jein 
of  age.  They  have  every  facility  for  obtaining  technic^  in- 
struction suited  to  their  respective  trades  and  occupation! 
Their  moral  and  religious  instruction  is  carried  on  througli 
the  entire  school  age,  and  is  even  prolonged  to  their  seven* 
teenth  vear.  The  teachers  are  liighly  trained  at  speoii! 
seminaries  for  three  or  four  years.  Still,  I  repeat  myconr 
viction  that  England  is  in  the  way  to  vie  even  with  tb 
education  of  Switzerland,  so  far  as  the  vast  and  dense  popa< 
lation  of  our  great  towns  can  be  brought  within  our  scnooli 
and  kept  there  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  ;  provided  onl; 
the  Government  and  people  continue  the  efforts  now  makin 
for  the  extension  and  improvement  of  elementarv  schools,  i 
the  systematising  of  our  secondary  schools,  and  for  the  esta^ 
lishment  of  a  regular  chain  of  education  from  the  Infant  Schc 
to  the  University. 

It  will  have  been  observed  that  the  London  School  Bob 
provides,  in  the  Infant  Schools,  ^^  Object-lessons  of  a  simj 
character^  with  some  such  exercise  of  the  hands  and  eyes 


li<f  Edward  Buints,  M.P.  89 

10  in  tlig  '  ICinder  Crarten '  system ; "  and  io  the  Junior 

.  Senior  Schools  "  Systeraatiaed  object-lessons,  embracing 

Ike  six  school  years  a  course  of  elementary  instruction  in 

rsionl  science,  and  serving  as  an  introduction  to  the  science 

iminattons  which  are  conducted  by  the  Science  and  Art 

partraent.''     In  regard  to  the  humbler  kind  of  "  Objcct- 

K)ti8,"  may  I  take  the  opportunity  to  mection  the  simfile 

1  homely  but  very  useful  kiod  of  object  lesanns  which  are 

very  first  taught  in   the   Swiss  Echoold.     They  go  under 

name  oi  Deuk  nnd  Sprech-i^ningen,  TIniA  mid  Speak  Idei^ 

t :  and  they  consist  in  learning  and  correctly  naming  the 

it  familiar  objects  in  the  school  room,  about  the  children's 

ens,  in  the  street,  in  the  neighbourhood,  including  tlie 

m1  vith  its  furniture,  articles  of  dress,  domestic  utensils, 

nals,  buildings,  gardens,  fields,  flowers,  carriages,  &c.,  with 

r  respective  propeitiea,  uses,  characters,  form,  and  colour ; 

]  extending  the  lesaona  to  the  names  of  the  surrounding 

ages,    towns,    rivers,    lakes,    woods,    mountains,    valleys, 

cches,  public  buildings,  manufactories  and  workshops ;  and 

"  proceeding  till  it  is  found  that  the  childreu  have  made  an 

beginning  in  many  kinds  of  knowledge  which  afterwards 

_  learn  as  sciences,  under  the  heads  of  geography,  zoology, 

luy,  the  uses  of  wood,  stone,  and  metals,  &c.     By  these 

reiaes  two  ends  are  answered, — first,  the  scholars  Iciirn  the 

tea  and  uses  of  the  things  which  surround  them,  far  more 

Eectly  than  they  would  pick  them  up  in  daily  life  and 

gar  talk ;  and  next,  they  learn  to  name  and  describe  the 

Kts  accurately,  and  thus  obtain  the  important  faculty  of 

resaioQ,  which  is  too  little  cultivated  amongst  us.     Further, 

ly  observe  that  these  exercises  will  often  develop  faculties 

in  might  remain  wholly  unknown  if  the  children  were 

ined  to  the  dry  and  difficult  ta^a  of   reading,   writing, 

arithmetic;  and  that  the  facidtiea  thus  developed   give 

nragemeut  both  to  children  aod  teachers,  and  help  in  the 

isition  of  the  harder  aod  technical  elements  of  koowledge. 

le  higher  object-lessons  of  the  London  Board  will  corre- 

^d   to    the    elementary    instruction    in    art    and    science 

(iven  In   what  is    called   the  real    or   practical   department 

if  the     Swiss   and   German   schools.      No   one    can    doubt 

L|  feasibility  of   our  giving  such  instruction,   who   knows 

fct   is    already    done    in    the    King's    Somborne    School, 

■Birkbeck  Schools,  and  many  of   our   National,  British, 

P   private    schools.      It   is    not    every    child   who   has   a 

Hlent   for    every    subject  ;    and    it    would    be    unwise    Io 

pieis  all  the  children  to  persevere  in  studies  for  which  they 

i|»vc  dearly  a  strong  distaste  or  incapacity ;  but  «ut  of  the 


1 


90  Address  m  Edueatiaiu 

Tarious  branches  of  science,  art,  and  letters^  the  discernm 
schoolmaster  will  almost  certainly  discover  those  in  whis 
nature  has  qualified  each  scholar  to  make  progress,  aa 
they  may  be  those  of  which  parents  or  teachers  had  foms 
no  previous  conception.  Once  discovered,  the  talent  ma 
be  specially  cultivated.  Mr.  George  MUller,  the  beneroki 
and  able  founder  of  the  great  Ashley  Down  Oiphanaga 
Bristol,  maintains  that  nature  has  formed  every  child  ft 
some  distinct  pursuit — to  be  a  mechanic,  a  chemist,  an  ardi 
a  shoemaker,  a  printer,  and  so  forth;  and  he  delays  tl 
choice  of  occupations  till  the  boys  are  nearly  ready  to  be  pi 
apprentice.  In  elementary  schools  there  must  be  a  foundatu 
of  general  knowledge ;  and  nearly  all  children  are  found  to  I 
capable  of  learning  all  the  branches  usually  considered  ii 
dispensable,  if  they  begin  early  and  are  well  taught  Tk 
Germans  have  a  saying  that  every  child  who  can  speak  mi 
be  taught  to  sing,  and  every  child  who  can  write  ma 
be  taueht  to  draw.  The  object  of  school,  then,  should  I 
to  teach  the  indispensable  subjects  to  all,  and  to  make  a  wit 
adaptation  of  the  other  subjects  to  the  special  talents  of  tl 
scholars.  But  there  is  no  reason  why  in  future  our  first  mc 
of  science,  our  first  engineers,  architects,  artists,  and  nuun 
f acturers,  should  not  have  their  peculiar  gifts  discovered,  to 
the  foundations  of  their  technical  training  laid,  even  befoi 
they  quit  the  elementary  school. 

It  is  gratifying  to  Imow  that  a  very  rapid  increase  h 
taken  place  in  the  study  of  science  and  art,  chiefly  in  tl 
elementary  schools  and  smons  the  industrial  classes,  undi 
the  superintendence  and  aid  of  the  Science  and  Art  Deptri 
ment  at  South  Kensington.  The  first  year  in  which  aia  wi 
given  to  popular  Science  Classes  was  1860,  when  the  nan 
ber  of  classes  assisted  was  only  9 ;  in  1865  the  number ' 
classes  had  increased  to  120,  and  in  the  present  year  to  94 
In  1860  the  number  of  students  was  only  500;  in  1865, 
was  /^479  ;  and  in  1871  it  had  risen  to  38,015.  The  numb 
of  Schools  of  Art  and  students  in  art  has  also  increased  ve 
greatly.  At  present  the  niunber  of  Schools  of  Art  is  11 
with  20,293  students ;  but  instruction  in  design  is  also  giv 
by  certificated  teachers  in  1359  elementary  schools,  conta 
ing  147,243  students:  and  the  whole  number  of  stnde 
taught  drawing  through  the  agency  of  the  Department  % 
last  year  187,916.  £i  1855,  the  number  of  students  tl 
taught  drawing  was  only  29,498 — showing  an  increase 
more  than  six-fold  in  fifteen  years. 

Still,  abundant  evidence  nas  been  laid  before  the  pub! 
especially    since  the    great    Paris  Exhibition  of    1867, 


Bg  Bdaard  Bainu,  M.P.  Bl 

the  higher  and  far  more  general  traiuing  in  toch- 
knowledge  of   the   artiBans  of   Germany  and   Switzer- 

,  A  letter  from  Dr.  Lyon  Playfair  to  Lord  Taunton, 
lirman  of  the  Schools'  Inquiry  Commiesion,  first  sounded 

alann  ot  advances  on  the  part  of  our  continental  com- 
[tora  much  exceeding   the   advances   in   simitar   branches 

adastiy  at    home.      The   letters   of    the   Jurors   at   tho 

U)itioii  confirmed  the  facts,  and  ascribed  them  to  the 
erior  scientilic  and  arlistic  training  of  our  rivals.  We 
then  the  report  of  Mr.  Samuelson,  M.P.,  himself  an 
I  engineer,  of  his  obeervations  in  a  tour  on  the  Con- 
st to  inquii'G  into  the  subject ;  and  Ihia  was  followed,  on 

motion  of  llie  same  gentleman,  by  the  appointment  of  a 
Kt  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  inquire  into 

meaQB  of  technical  instruction  in  England  and  abroad. 
Brything  combined  to  show  that  our  institutions  for  this 
tX  end  were  insufficient  in  number  and  very  inferior  in 
■nisation.  A  Hoyal  Commission  on  Scienti6c  Instruction 
\  issued  in  1870,  to  consider  the  wants  of  the  country 
Iw  thifi  head,  the  existing  institutions  for  supplying  them, 

better  organisation  of  those  institutions,  and  the  duty  of 
Government  with  regard  to  this  matter  of  national 
greet.  AVe  may  look  with  much  hope  to  the  results  of  this 
BmissioQ,  as  it  is  composed  of  men  possessing  the  highest 
lificaUouH  for  the  duty,  with  the  Duke  of  Devonshire 
the  Chairman,  and  (I  believe)  Sir  James  Kay  Shuttlc- 
th  as  the  Vice- Chairman. 

shall  be  expected  to  notice  the  part  which  has  been  taken 
B  the  year  1824  to  the  present  thne  by  the  Mechanics' 
litutions,  in  supplementing  the  defective  education  of  the 
■an  and  lower  middle  classes,  and  introducing  them  to  the 
8y  of  practical  science  and  art.  The  first  of  those  institu- 
M  was  estabhahed  by  Dr.  Birkbeck,  when  Professor  in  the 
Sersonian  Institution  of  the  Glasgow  University,  early  in 
present  century.    But  it  had  few  imitators  for-many  years; 

the  first  Mechanics'  Institution  in  England  was  estab- 
ed  in  London  by  Dr.  Birkbeck  (who  had  then  removed  to 
'metropolis),  with  the  aid  of  Henry  Brougham,  and  others, 
he  year  1824 ;  in  which  year  I  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
Doctor  give  a.  scientific  lecture,  illustrated  by  experimenis, 
Bie  ohl  ohapel  of  Falcon  Square,  to  exactly  the  same  kind 
working-olass  audience,  and  listeniug  with  the  same  fixed 
(rest,  OS   I  this  year  heard  Professor  Huxley  lecture  to  in 

Royal  Sciiool  of  Mines,  Jermyn  Street,     It  chastises  the 

[iiioe  hopes  we  often  form  to  remember  that  when  I  saw 
'     f  the  working  classes  banging  on  the  clear,  attractive 


92  Address  on  Educatum. 

expositione  of  practical  science  by.  Dr.  Birkbeck,  I  believil 
that  all  our  workshops  might  in  a  few  years  be  filled  wi& 
men  delighted  to  understand  the  principles  of  their  respecdfi 
occupations  and  to  help  in  carrying  them  to  the  highest  peBi 
fection.  But,  like  many  experimenters,  I  forgot  to  allow  for 
the  friction — I  cannot  help  adding^  I  forgot  to  allow  for  tbi 
drinhy  which  has  blighted  the  blossom  of  every  retoming 
spring.  Still  something,  nay^  much,  has  been  done  by  tb| 
Mechanics'  Institutions,  which  in  the  manufacturing  distrieb 
have  met  with  munificent  encouragement  from  many  of  ov 
enlightened  manufacturers  and  professional  men,  and  not  Urn 
from  noblemen  and  country  gentlemen.  The  example  ct 
London  was  very  soon  followed  by  all  our  principal  townfc 
We  have  in  Yorkshire  a  Union  of  Mechanics'  Institutei^ 
formed  thirty-four  years  since  for  mutual  encouragement  aal 
help ;  and  though  it  includes  only  a  portion  of  the  mstitutioii 
of  a  similar  kind  which  have  arisen  for  the  same  objects,  yot 
will  think  its  strength  not  contemptible,  when  I  state  that  it  ^ 
our  last  annual  meeting  at  Keighley  we  were  able  to  report  ii 
the  Union  114  Institutes,  with  an  aggregate  of  27,650  mefli> 
bers,  having  in  their  libraries  more  than  100,000  volunMi^ 
with  about  300,000  issues  yearly.  If  we  remember  that  thi 
average  stay  of  the  members  in  the  institutions  probably  doei 
not  (at  a  guess)  exceed  three  or  four  years,  it  will  be  sees 
that  27,650  members  may  be  multiplied  several  times  in  esti- 
mating the  impression  produced  by  the  institutions  on  thft 
intelligence  and  industry  of  one  generation  of  men.  I  aa 
happy  to  say  that  our  neighbours  of  Lancashire  and  Chediin 
run  us  a  good  race  of  competition,  and  in  some  respects  ezod 
us  ;  especially  in  the  admirably-organised  classes  of  the  mA 
tutions  of  East  Lancashire^  to  which  Sir  James  K.  Shuttle 
worth  and  his  son  have  devoted  their  constructive  and  executiTi 
powers.  Perhaps  there  is  no  Mechanics'  Institution  which  hil 
not  done  something  to  increase  the  knowledge,  form  the  retd* 
ing  habits,  and  guard  the  morals  of  a  considerable  number  d 
its  members.  In  many  towns  and  villages,  these  and  institatiou 
of  a  similar  kind  furnish  the  only  libraries,  reading-rooms,  nevi 
rooms,  classes,  and  lectures  for  the  working  class,  indeed  for 
any  class.  The  Leeds  Mechanics'  Institution  has  in  its  day 
and  evening  schools  1212  pupils,  besides  2648  members  m 
subscribers — making  a  total  of  3860  persons  deriving  beneil 
from  its  schools,  lectures,  library,  and  reading-room.  In  tbs 
examinations  of  the  Science  Department  its  students  obtained 
last  year  forty-one  certificates,  fifteen  Queen's  prizes,  ninety* 
seven  certificates,  one  silver  medal,  and  one  bronze  medaL 
You  will  not  be  surprised  when  I  add  that  this  is  the  institutiqi!* 


5y  Edward  ffaines,  M.P.  95 

ti  lends  na  its  beautiful  hall  for  our  meetings,  and  which 
Heads  erected  at  a  coat  of  25.000/.,  liut  tliis  is  only  one 
I  considerable  number  of  flourishing  institutions  iu  Leeds, 
Kng  arts,  Bcience,  luid  letters  to  an  aggregate  of  some 
lands  of  young  pereona. 

must  add  that  in  Leeds  as  its  head-quarters  b  also  the 
bhire  Board  of  Education,  which  especially  aids  in  con- 
ing oil  the  Examinations  under  the  Department  of  Science 
[  Art,  the   Society  of  Arte,  the  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
Idle   Class   Examinations,  and   elementary  examinations ; 
kh  has  taken  a  most  prominent  part,  in  conjunction  with 
..f  Yorkshire  Union  of  Mechanics'  Institutes,  in  establishing 
idence    Classes;     and   which,   under    its    President,   Lord 
Frederick  Cavendish,  and  its  Secretary,  Mr.   IL   H.  tjalcs, 
Imow  labouring  to  confer  upon  Yorkshire  the  great  boon  of  o. 
D^e  of  Science.     In  Leeds,  too,  the  ladies  have  put  forth 
Hit  efforts  on  behalf  of   Female    Education,  by  engaging 
Jnent  lecturers  from  the  Universities  to  lecture  to  ladies 
'faistoricai   and   constitutional  subjects,  and   the   principal 
Uches  of  Natural  Philosophy ;  and  by  promoting  attention 
jPemale  Education,  and  the  claims  of  the  sex  on  a  sliare  of 
;  educational  endowments,  throughout  the  country.     Ladies 
B  very  active  managers  of  the  Yorkshire  Education  De- 
itory,  now  open  at  No.  11,  St.  Andrew's  Chambers,  Leeds, 
t  of  a  valuable  Students'  Library ;  both  of  which,  I  believe, 
original  and  unique  institutions. 

lie  facts  I  have  adduced  prove  that  a  valuable  amount  of 

National   agency  has   been   gradually  created  by  the   en- 

tened  liberality  of  our   countrymen — valuable   and   con- 

lly   extending,   yet    not   enough.      It   has   always   been 

tioned  as  a  chief  hindrance  to  the  higher  success  of  these 

Stutions,  that  most  of  the  young  persons  who  enter  them 

B  received  too  defective  an  education  to  profit  by  scientifia 

■^ing;  and   I  heartily  rejoice  to  find  that  at  Bradford  so 

itly  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  Sir  John  S.  Pakington,  and 

Forater  have  all  declared  their  belief  that  tlic  better  and 

general  elementary  education  to  which  we  may  now  look 

ird  will   not   supersede   these   Institutions,  but,   on   the 

ary,  will  supply  them  with  a  larger  number  of  students, 

better  qualified  to  profit  by  their  instructions.     It  will 

ify  many  a  hearty  Voluntary  to  see  them  still  flourishing 

their   old   roots,  whilst  gratefully  accepting   the   aid   of 

"ial  examiners,  and  of  grants  which  the  whole  country  ia 

ir  to  make  for  a  great  national  ol  ject. 

must  not  close  without  referring  to  the  importance  of 

ig  our  schools  with  the  best  school  furniture  and  school 


94  Address  an  Hducatimu 

apparatus.    In  a  late  speech  in  the  House  of  Commc 

Mundella  mentioned  the  very  superior  furniture  which 

last  year  in  the  schools  of  the  United  States;  and 

referred  to  the  beautiful  model  of  a   Swedidi    elei 

school  set  up  in  the  International  Exhibition  which  1 

closed  in  London,  and  in  which  seats  and  desks  on  tl 

principle  were  shown.     I  hope  all  my  hearers  may  ha 

that  model.     It  was  my  good  fortune  to  meet  in  the  ! 

tion  Prince  Oscar  of  Sweden,  heir  presumptive  of  the 

and  the  able  and  enlightened  promoter  of  education,  ii 

art,  and  all  that  can  adorn  his  country ;  and  being  int 

as  a  friend  of  education,  he  took  me  to  see  the  Model 

and  explained  it  as  fully  as  a  schoolmaster  could  ha^ 

He  especially  commended  the  seats  and  desks,  the  fo 

which  have  comfortable  backs,  and  are  made  to  rise  a 

and  to  move  nearer  or  further  from  the  desk,  in  ordex 

children  of  different  sizes.     In  his  opinion  it  is  a  great 

tage  to  have  seats  in  which  the  children  are   com! 

supported,  as  many  children  become  fatigued,  and  mf 

contract  curvature  of  the  spine,  from  sitting  the  whole 

seats  without  backs;   ana  the  mind  can  scarcely  re 

vigour  if  the  body  is  suffering.     He  also  thought  it 

advantage  that  there  should  be  a  space  betwixt  the  e 

as  to  prevent  the  children  from  copying  from  one  < 

and  the  mischievous  from  playing  and  interrupting  th 

ous.     Nothing  can  exceed  the  adaptation  of  the   sei 

desks  to   their   purpose.     The  Prince  with  no  smal 

showed  the  copy-booKs,  in  which  the  character  was  bea 

clear  and  neat,  the  writing  accurate,  and  not  only  in  S 

but  in  Latin,   German,  French,  and  English,  all  oi 

languages  are  taught  in  the  schools.     He  showed  me 

skeleton  map  of  Sweden,  on  a  black  board,  and  with  th 

of  the  places  printed  on  little  moveable  blocks,  and  am 

the  sides, —  it  being  the  duty  of  the  scholar  to  pick  th 

and  to  fix  them  on  brass  pins  inserted  at  the  several  lo 

The  plan  is  good,  but  perhaps  not  better  than  the  t 

maps  of  our  English  schools,  in  which  the  learner  h 

the  places  with  a  pointer,  or  names  them  when  points 

the  teacher.     There  were  black  boards  markea  for 

notation,  instruments  for  teaching  perspective  and  aril 

and  numerous  diagrams,  coloured  and  plain,  for  astronc 

the  mechanical  sciences,  for  the  art  of  design,  for 

zoolofipy,  and  other  branches  of  natural  history ;  with 

abundance ;  all  beautifully  executed.     The  appearane 

whole  was  highly    attractive;   and   the    child  must 

dull  eye  who  womd  not  find  there  material  for  intei 


Sy  Edward  Bai/ief,  M.P.  95 

yment.  Then  the  school  books  were  of  remarkable  num- 
and  excellence,  beginning  with  the  Bible,  hymn-book, 
liUtber'a  catechism,  and  followed  by  numerous  historiea, 
Jma  of  arithmetic,  geometry,  matbematica,  geography, 
lical  science  and  natural  history,  bookkeeping,  drawing, 
Danship,  music,  gymnastics,  gardening,  nnd  pedagogics, 
J  Latin,  Greek,  and  modem  languages.  Nor  must  I  for- 
the  apparatus  for  gymnastics  and  'drill,  which  also  abound 
^e  Swiss  and  German  schools,  I  never  saw  so  rich  and 
d  an  amount  of  educational  appliances  of  every  kind.  I 
\  the  Prince  a  most  interesting  instructor,  and  could  not 
tiently  admire  his  perfect  courtesy,  or  the  goodness  which 
id  his  companions  at  their  case  and  on  a  level  with  him- 
,    If  I  do  not  mistake,  he  will   prove  a  benevolent  and 

Bhtened  ruler, 
n  this  head  I  only  add  that  South  Kensington  made 
irce  and  admirable  display  of  school  apparatus  at  the 
lioition,  and  that  we  scarcely  fall  short  of  any  country 
this  respect.  But  I  fear  not  one  school  master  or  man- 
r  In  fifty  throughout  the  country  is  acquainted  with  these 
ntiful  articles,  or  is  authorised  to  purchase  them  :  though 
r  are  not  costly,  and  they  would  immensely  facilitate  the 
:tical  work  of  education  both  to  the  teacher  and  the  chil- 
li. Every  Bchoolboard  should  pay  a  visit  to  the  South  Ken- 
Ston  Museum,  and  ask  to  be  Bnown  the  school  apparatus. 
any  other  topics  invite  remark,  especially  girls'  schoola — 
ct  or  indirect  compulsion — the  great  value  of  drill  and 
inastic  exercises — ttie  extent  to  which  it  is  desirablo  to 
)Ioy  female  teachers — the  half-time  system — the  teaching 
tlie  Metric  system,  which  would   save  more   than  half  the 

devoted  to  the  learning  of  arithmetic  (and  which  I  should 

to  compel  every  member  of  the  House  of  Commons  to 
tnd) — the  operations  of  the  Endowed  Schools  Commissioners 
reforming  and  systematising  our  secondary  scliools — and 
ir  points  noticed  in  the  reports  of  Ihc  School  Inspectors. 

I  nope  all  these  topics  will  be  treated  in  the  Sections. 

have  now  only  to  offer  an  apology  for  the  length  of  tliis  ad- 
le,  which  was  the  lees  excusable  after  the  full  and  able  treat- 
it  of  the  education  topic  in  the  opening  address  of  my  right 
loarable  fciend,  our  distinguished  President,  who  has  for 
nany  years  been  the  earnest  advocate  of  national  education, 
I  with  a  remarkable  superiority  to  the  prejudices  of  party 
I  ti\  local  influences.  To  men  like  Sir  John  Pakington  the 
iceot  position  of  the  question  is  greatly  owing ;  and  I  am 
[nid  to  see  bim  presiding  over  the  Social  Science  Association 
my  naUve  town. 


96 


Si^tes 


BT 

GEORGE    GODWIN,    F.RS., 

OK 

PUBLIC    HEALTH. 


Fis  tolerably  well  known  that  one  department  of  the  Sodal 
Science  Association  devotes  itself  to  the  consideration  of 
questions  relating  to  Public  Healthy  discusses  improyementt 
in  house-construction^  drainage,  and  ventilation;  means  of 
recreation  and  amusement ;  the  influence  of  external  circanh 
stances  generally  on  health,  and  the  legislative  machinery 
necessary  to  effect  desired  ends  in  that  direction.  Galled  to 
the  position  of  President  of  this  department,  it  becomes  m 
duty  to  address  the  Association ;  and  I  assure  ^ou  I  appoia 
that  duty  with  a  full  sense  of  the  responsibility  attaching  to 
the  position,  and  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  admirable  maimer  ■ 
in  wnich  its  obligations  have  been  discharged  by  the  able  mea 
who  have  preceded  me ;  including,  to  speak  only  of  recent 
times,  Mr.  Edwin  Chadwick,  Dr.  Farr,  Dr.  Bumsey,  Db 
Lankester,  the  late  Dr.  Symonds,  of  Bristol,  and  Mr.  xtobert 
Rawlinson.  Their  labours,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  htM 
materially  assisted  in  bringing  about  an  improved  state  of 
public  opinion,  and  obtaining  important  enactments. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Association  on  some  previous  ocoa* 
sions  have  been  treated  as  futile  in  journals  of  influence.  It 
ought  to  be  unnecessary  now  to  combat  on  such  croundL  The 
earnest  discussion  of  the  wrongs,  miseries,  evils,  and  wants 
that  afilict  society,  by  men  and  women  who  have  given  Ufei 
of  thought  to  the  various  subjects  involved,  cannot  iaH,  and 
has  not  failed,  to  lead  to  good.  It  takes  a  long  time  to  makQ 
the  world  listen,  but  it  hears  at  last  if  the  effort  be  not 
relaxed.  If  we  look  back  over  the  fifteen  vears  during  which 
the  Association  has  laboured,  and  note  what  has  been  done 
during  that  time  in  this  special  department  alone,  that  of 
Health,  we  shall  feel  satisfied  that  its  labours  have  not  been 


By  Oeor^e  Oodmrif  F.R.S.  91 

nadt  however  depressed  wc  tuny  be  by  the  slonrness 
93,  and  the  enormous  amount  o£  work  yet  to  be  done, 
iew8  and  hopes  for  the  future  cleared  and  Htrength- 

eat  object  of  our  meetings  and  discueaions  is,  by  the 
□  of  faots'and  the  collision  of  reasonings,  to  take  a 
the  moat  important  subjects  alfectln<r  the  welfare  and 

not  of  this  town  alone,  not  of  England,  but  of  the 
Man  race,  out  of  the  domain  of  Opinion  into  that  of 
ge.  Opinion  means  ignorance  moro  or  leas.  I  may 
pinion  "  it  >vill  rain  to-day,  but  I  "  know  "  two  and 
e  four.  Gradually,  but  surely,  this  progress  from 
)  knowledge  has  been  gomg  on  in  Sanitary  matters. 
'  years  ago  there  were  numbers  of  educated  and  influ- 
iple  who  were  of  opinion  that  there  was  no  connexion 
between  bad  sanitary  arrangements  and  ill-health.  At 
at  time  we  may,  perhaps,  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  all 
>r6  or  less  fully,  that  this  connexion  does  exist.  A 
St  of  questions,  however,  remain,  correctly  or  inoor- 
itters  of  opinion,  and  it  is  with  a  view  to  their  speedy 
From  debatable  ground,  so  that  effective  action  may 
e  taken,  that  this  Association  holds  ita  meetings,  and 
the  results  of  its  deliberations.     Thus:    we  have 

discuss  as  to  the  necessity  of  promptly  getting  rid 
rage  of  towns,  but  the  best  mode  of  disposing  of  it  is 

some  a  matter  of  opinion.     This  part  of  the  inquiry, 

is  gradually  narrowing,  and  it  may  be  hoped  that  the 
iga  at  this  Congress  will  tend  to  bring  abont  the  right 
n.  In  common  with  a  large  majority  of  those  who 
»tigated  the  subject,  I  feel  perfectly  assured  myself 
irrigation  of  land  is  the  right  use,  except  in  some  spe- 
,  to  which  to  apply  it.  Evidence  that  it  may  be  thus 
fith  pecuniary  advantage,  and  without  injury  to  the 
[  the  neighbourhood,  is  accumulating  day  by  day. 
lorts  of  the  Sewage  of  Towns  Commissioners,  the 
Pollution  Commissioners,  and  the  Committee  ap- 
jy  the  British  Association,  all  strengthen  this  view : 
Dgat  other  indications,  at  a  recent  meeting  of  Mem- 
be  Essex  Chamber  of  Agriculture,  it  was  resolved, 
lecting  the  sewage  form  at  Romford — 

in  view  of  tlie  large  nrnouot  of  foreign  wheat  pwd  Tor 
r  by  the  population  of  this  country,  and  the  large  amoUTit 
B  wasted  ta  polluting  rivers  with  town  sewage,  it  is  desir- 

aoch  pollution  should  now  be  prohibited   by  legislacive 

Elhe  forty-five  sauitary  Acta  in  existence  should 
^eoernl  and  comprehensive  law  enacted." 


98  Address  an  Health. 

It  hoa  been  calculated  bj  more  than  one  competent  aatiM 
ity  that  the  amount  wo  shall  have  to  pay  for  foreign  whe 
this  year  will  bo  above  30  millions  sterling,  a  circumBUa 
worth  this  passing  allusion  as  showing  the  largeness  of  tl 
interest  involved  in  our  inquiries. 

Events  are  tending,  it  may  be  hoped,  towards  the  dfisiii 
unification  of  existing  Acts  referred  to  in  the  resolution  quote 
The  new  Local  Government  Boards  of  which  the  liight  Ho 
James  Stansfeld,  M.P,,  is  president,  has  taken  the  place  oft 
Poor  Law  Board,  with  wider  powers  specially  embracing  t 
Statutes  having  reference  to  the  sanitary  arrangements 
parishes,  such  as  those  relating  to  sewers,  nuisances,  labour 
workshops  and  factories,  baths  and  wash-houses,  comm 
lodging-houses,  adulteration  of  food,  and  smoke  nuisane* 
The  supervision  of  these  matters  will  be  transferred  from  t 
Local  Government  Act  Office  and  the  medical  department 
the  Privy  Council  to  the  new  Board,  and  thus  the  govemnic 
of  matters  relating  to  each  other,  and  hitherto  performed  ' 
three  separate  departments,  >vill  be  united  in  one  body. 

A  new  Public  Health  and  Local  Government  Bill  is 
the  hands  of  tiir  Charles  Adderlcy,  and  when  modified  s 
added  to  will  probably  bccomo  law.  This  proposes  to  rep 
twenty  Acts  of  Pai'Uameut,  from  the  Public  Health  A 
1848,  to  the  Sanitary  Act  Amendment  Act,  1870,  the  m 
Act  codifying  these  repealed  Acts,  for  England  and  Wa! 
{exclusive  of  the  metropolis).  The  several  officers  and  dci 
are  placed  under  the  authority  of  the  new  president,  a 
will  have  to  be  amenable  to  him.  Next  Session  of  Parii 
ment  ought  to  determine  the  mode  of  preventing  river  poll 
tion,  and  the  metropolitan  water  suppiv;  but  this  latt 
may  probably  be  deferred  until  the  local  government  of  i 
metropolis  is  settled.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  by  the  new  i 
that  is  to  come  the  Medical  Officer  of  Health  will  be  ma 
independent  of  local  boards  and  of  private  practice,  so  that 
fear  of  damaging  or  offending  his  patients  and  his  masti 
may  tend  to  prevent  the  proper  and  complete  discharge  of  I 
duty  at  all  times.  It  has  been  {)ointed  out  more  than  on 
and  may  be  usefully  reiterated,  that  unless  the  Medical  Offic 
of  Health  be  precluded  from  private  practice  he  cannot  ho 
to  secure  the  co-operation  of  members  of  the  same  profesiic 
to  whom  he  must  look  for  information  of  outbreaks  of  disctt 
and  who  would  seldom  be  disposed  to  introduce  anotb 
medical  practitioner  to  their  patients  with  the  fear  of  1 
rivalry  before  them.  The  Act  should  also  enforce  in  cvoi 
district  the  appointment  of  a  public  analyst  who  might  ( 
much  towards  the  prevention  of  the  adulteration  of  foody  tl 


By  Gemvfi  Godam,  F.R.S. 

ut  a  lurgG  amount  of  ill-liciilth  a.nd  loss.  Lead-poUuiied 
'  is  another  producer  of  illness,  wliicii  such  an  officer 
i  be  able  to  detect. 
.  must  add,  with  reference  to  the  coiitemplated  new  Act, 
t  a  UejKirt  has  just  now  been  issued  by  a  Joint  Commilteo 
British  Medical  Aasociatiou  and  the  Social  Science 
Atioa  on  tlie  Beport  of  the  Itoyal  Sanitary  Comuiisaiun. 
I  Joint  Committee  was  presided  over  by  our  eminent  aaso- 
e.  Dr.  Rumaey,  and  its  report  includes  variouu  eu^getitiona 
ohjerrations  that  call  for  the  serious  consideration  of  those 
I  are  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  the  PubUc  Health  Bill, 
'he  Metropolis  Water  Act  passed  at  the  close  of  the  last 
Don  of  Parliament  has  good  intentions,  but  bow  far  these 
be  carried  out  remains  to  be  seen.  After  the  expiration 
'  c  tnonths  from  the  passing  of  the  Act,  the  local  metro- 
M  authority  shall,  whenever  they  are  of  opinion  that 
!  should,  in  any  district,  be  a  constant  supply,  make 
lication  to  the  water  company  requiring  compliance  with 
tenns  of  Uie  Act.  There  is  a  riglit  of  appeal  to  the  Board 
Trade  upon  tlie  application  beln<r  made  to  a  company 
"iring  them  to  furnish  a.  constant  sup[ily.  The  Board  of 
e  may  order  a  constant  supply  to  be  given  if  after  inquiry 
inftroj[)alitan  authorities  refuse  to  act,  or  unreasonably 
ty  acting,  or  if,  by  reason  of  the  insufficiency  of  the 
tine  supply  of  water  in  such  district,  or  the  unwholesome- 
t  of  such  water  in  consequence  of  its  being  improperly 
ed,  the  health  of  the  inhabitants  is  or  is  likely  to  be 
iudicially  atl'ccted.  Before  a  company  is  compelled  to 
J  out  the  Act,  however,  various  regulations  have  to  be 
srvcd,  and  the  companies  seem  to  have  the  power,  if  so 
ded,  to  delay  the  desired  boon  by  objections  which  will 
e  to  be  removed.  Let  us  hope  that  the  duty  imposed 
them  will  be  loyally  discharged.  Of  the  desirability 
i  constant  supply  I  have  not  the  remotest  doubt.  Some 
culties  will  probably  be  met  with  in  the  first  instance, 
these  may  he  speedily  overcome.  One  provision  of  llio 
must  he  hailed  with  unmixed  gatisfactiun :  the  requirc- 
it  by  clause  6,  that  every  company  shall  immediately 
ply  ou  Sundai/s,  as  on  other  days,  sufficient  pure  and 
tleaome  water  for  the  domestic  use  of  the  inhabitants 
iiin  their  limits.  The  amount  of  discomfort  endured,  and 
nril  produced  through  the  non-supply  of  water  on  Sundays, 
the  courts  and  alums  of  London  and  elsewhere  could 
ccly  be  exaggerated,  i  have  in  my  time  visited  some 
UMuds  of  houses,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  uniformly 
'■  a  drop  of  water  between  Saturday  and  Monday. 
7—2 


160  Address  on  HealtL 

The  story  of  their  misery  had  to  be  told  for  years,  with  botb 
pen  and  pencil,  before  the  remedy  came.  The  present  hi 
after  all  can  only  be  regarded  as  provisional.  The  greil 
question^  how  best  to  secure  an  ample  supply  of  soft,  put 
water  to  London,  will  have  to  be  looked  fairly  in  the  £Me 
before  long  and  grappled  with,  let  the  cost  of  carrying  out 
the  decision  be  what  it  may.  It  is  simply  a  question  q{ 
time,  and  the  shorter  the  time  the  better  it  will  be  for  tin 
health,  the  comfort,  and,  in  the  long  run,  the  pockets  of 
the  inhabitants. 

The  importance  of  the  subject  we  are  considering-^h 
public  health — is  so  great,  it  lies  so  entirely  at  the  root  of  aD 
national  progress,  that  it  is  impossible  to  speak  too  strongfy 
upon  it.  At  the  present  moment,  moreover,  it  is  invested 
with  unusually  pressing  interest.  After  a  terrible  visitation 
which  has  desolated  homes  tliroughout  the  country,  a  visttt* 
tion  which,  all  evidence  shows,  was  the  result  of  ignorance, 
carelessness,  and  wilful  avoidance  of  a  known  means  of  pr^ 
vention,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  amelioration,  we  note  at  no  grett 
distance  from  our  shores  the  presence  of  a  much  dreaded 
disease,  and  I  should  be  neglecting  a  duty  if  I  allowed  thk 
opportunity  to  pass  without  inviting  all  who  have  power  to 
aid  in  making  such  preparations  as  experience  shows  are 
calculated,  under  Providence,  to  mitigate  its  severity  shonU 
It  reach  us.  Should  we  happily  escape  its  visit  we  shall  still 
derive  advantage  from  the  steps  taken.  When  there  ie  no 
immediate  prospect  of  danger  the  cost  of  precautions  is  be- 
grudged. A  large  class  of  persons  would  sooner  run  the 
chance  of  death  than  incur  the  certainty  of  having  to  pay  a 
pound.  We  are  all  of  U8  gamblers,  more  or  less,  and  like  to 
take  our  chance. 

The  most  vigorous  and  intelligent  action  is  required  on  the 
pai*t  of  our  health  authorities,  and  their  hands  should  be 
strengthened  by  ))ublic  expressions  and  outside  aid.  I  am 
anxious  not  to  be  thought  an  alarmist.  There  is  no  occasion 
whatever  for  alarm,  it  is,  indeed,  to  be  strongly  deprecated. 
But  it  would  be  suicidal  to  think,  ostrich  like,  that  if  we  shut 
our  eyes  no  one  will  see  us,  that  if  we  say  nothing  aboat  a 
possible  danger  ourselves  nothing  will  be  heard  of  it  The 
way  to  defeat  it  is  to  meet  it  well  prepared.  "  It  is  now 
known"  (says  the  Registrar- General,  in  a  recent  report)/ 
"  that  where  a  place  is  clean,  where  the  waters  are  pure, 
where  the  people  are  not  crowded,  where  good  administrative 
arrangements  are  made  for  the  early  treatment  of  attacks  in 

I  , ^^^,— ^^^^ 

*  Auijust   1«71. 


By  Geoi-ffe  Godwin,  F.If.S. 

first  stage  of  diarrhoea,  the  epidemic  is  disarmed  of  ueatlr 
its  terrors.  But  aa  English  towos  are  atill  dirty,  are  dottetl 
'  with  ceeepools  or  fouled  by  bad  draias,  and  the  waters  • 
!  of  wells  and  of  rivers,  from  which  towns  draw  their 
ilics,  are  soiled  to  aome  extent  by  sewage,  we  can  at" 
ent  expect  no  absolute  immunity.  Conunisaions  and 
mittees  have  left  our  water  supply  much  as  it  was ;  the 
I  waters  of  the  rivers  are  not  purified  by  Clark's  proce&s,  _ 
are  the  pure,  unpolluted  streams  brought  incontaminate 
to  the  cities  in  the  plains.  Still,  much  may  be  done,  if 
_._a  pursue  its  customary  course,  by  commencing  at  once 
oaeful  works  of  purilioatiun,  so  as  to  mitigate  its  virulence. " 
1  this  is  what  all,  in  their  several  spheres,  should  aid  in 

Ehe  Medical  Officer  of  the  Privy  Counci],^Mr.  Simon,  in 
instructions  on  the  subject,  recently  issued,  wide  attention 
trhich  would  prove  of  great  value,  has  dwelt  so  strongly  on 
part  played  by  polluted  water  in  propagating  the  disease 
to  have  led  to  the  expression  of  fear  by  an  esteemed  tnem- 
'  of  the  Association,  that  the  public  may  bo  induced  in 
Hiding  to  this  to  neglect  other  important  inquiries.  Mr. 
Ion  says — 

'The  Jangers  which  have  to  be  guarded  against  as  favouring  the 
uA  of  cholera- con tagium  are  particularly  two.  First,  and  above 
there  is  the  danger  of  water  supplies  which  are  iu  any  (even  the 
btcst)  degree  tainted  by  bousereiuse  or  other  like  kinds  of  filth  ; 
fhere  there  is  outflow,  leakage,  or  filtrulion,  from  eevvors,  hou^e- 
bs,  cesspools,  foul  ditches,  or  the  like,  into  etreams,  spriDgs, 
li,  or  reservoirs  from  which  the  supply  of  water  is  drawn,  or  into 
■oil  in  which  the  wells  are  situate  ;  a  daoger  which  may  exist 
■  smsU  scale  (but,  perhaps,  often  repeated  in  Uie  same  district)  at 
pump  or  dip-well  of  n  privnte  house,  or  on  a  large  and  even  vast 
A  hi  the  source  of  supply  of  public  water-works.  And  secondly, 
re  is  the  danger  of  breatliing  air  which  is  foul  with  effluvia  from 
same  sons  of  impurity." 

[Tithout  here  discussing  whether  the  objection  taken  to  the 
^cal  officer's  expressions  be  sound  or  not,  the  evils  resulting 
n  the  use  of  water  containing  ordinary  fcecal  impurities  are 
1  known.  Outbreaks  of  typhoid  fever  have  been  traced 
in  and  again  to  this  cause.  In  many  cottages  in  low  lying 
A,  by  the  side  of  streamlets  which  receive  the  ovei-flow  of 
isft-onuDage  and  other  refuse,  it  is  never  absent,  and  crip- 
t  the  working  power  of  the  country  to  a  much  greater 
lent  than  might  be  supposed.  The  serious  outbreak  of 
phoid  fever  at  Tcrling,  in  Essex,  where,  between  December 


102  Address  on  Health 

4th9  18675  and  January  13th,  1868,  208  persons,  c 
popnlation  of  900,  were  attacked,  was  shown  to  be  oo 
with  the  pollution,  bj  sewage,  of  wells  from  which  th 
ing  water  was  obtained  ;  *  and  many  other  similar  casi 
be  adduced,  some  of  which  were  made  public  by  mys 
time  when  the  evil  was  scarcely  recognised  A  ] 
rector  has  quite  recently  shown  how  within  eight  d 
August,  the  father  of  a  family,  a  labouring  man,  and 
his  children  died  and  were  buried,  the  cause  being, 
writer  believes,  **  filth  percolating  into  the  well  water, 
rector  adds : — "  I  can  point  to  four  parsonage  houses 
me  here  where  deaths  have  occurred  entirely  from  tli 
cause."  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  with  him  that  t 
evil  exists  in  thousands  of  houses  where  nothing  of  the 
suspected  until  some  severe  illness  breaks  out  and  ca: 
its  victims — sometimes  not  even  then.  The  Medical 
of  Health  for  Islington,  in  his  last  Beport,  gives  the 
lars  of  a  local  outbreak  of  fever,  which  serve  to  sh 
small  a  quantity  of  water  so  polluted  will  do  mischi 
traced  the  cause  of  the  outbreak,  with  much  care,  to 
which  leaked  into  an  underground  tank,  whence  milk 
dairy  was  adulterated  with  water.  The  dairymaste 
the  officer  of  health  by  giving  him  a  list  of  his  custom 
it  was  found  not  only  that  the  fever  was  restricted  t< 
supplied  by  this  dairy,  but  to  individuals  in  these  hou 
used  that  milk,  while  others  who  used  a  richer  milk  f 
same  dairy,  not  diluted  with  water  from  the  tank  in  q 
were  not  attacked  by  the  typhoid  fever. 

London  must  not  comfort  itself  with  the  notion,  foui 
the  amount  of  the  recent  expenditure  on  the  main  di 
that  all  its  cesspools  have  vanished,  and  that  its  sew 
now  good  and  in  a  proper  state.  Many  of  them  a 
dreadful  condition,  and  thousands  of  old  cesspools  yet 
As  a  rule,  wells  sunk  into  town  subsoils  furnish  contai 
water,  and  should  be  avoided. 

The  fine  town  in  which  the  Association  is  now  ass 
suffers  greatly  from  the  existence  of  middens  and  othi 
gerous  accumulators  of  refuse.  I  have  on  more  occasioi 
one  examined  Leeds,  and  have  noted  these  with  soi 
scores  of  cases.  The  condition  of  the  river  Aire  is  v 
satisfactory,  nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at  by  those  wh< 
the  amount  of  filth  daily  thrown  into  it.  Its  foul  c( 
is  a  heavy  tax  on  the  cloth  makers,  dyers,  and  other 
facturers  of  the  town.    What  is  the  amount  of  the  tax 

•  The  Builder^  voL  xxvi.  p.  105. 


lie  health  and  strength,  perhapa  life,  of  the  place,  I  will  not 
)  inquire.  It  ia  nude  rat  ootl  thnt  the  question  hoiv  best  to 
Ize  the  sewage  o(  Leeds  has  long  been  under  discussion  by 
Corporation.  Let  me  express  an  earnest  hope  that  a  wise 
BrnunntioQ  will  sooa  be  arrived  at  and  acted  on,  and  tliat 
abolition  of  deadly  cesspools  and  middeoa  will  bo  effected. 
i  lesser  evil  here,  but  one  that  nevertheless  touches  the 
llth  and  pocket,  is  very  distressingly  observable  to  strangers. 
tan  the  enormous  amount  of  unconsumed  smoke  allowed  to 
pe  into  the 'air,  and  disfigure  and  damage  the  town.  The 
Barance  of  many  of  the  fine  buildings,  which  would  other- 
!  adorn  the  streets,  is  miserably  changed  by  it,  and  the 
!t  produced  by  the  general  gloom  resulting  upon  the 
H»,  and  consequently  the  health  of  the  inhabitants,  must  be 
gderable.  It  ia  a  niii^fortune,  I  am  satisfied,  and  not  an 
utage,  that  tbe  recent  Local  Act  for  the  borough  contains 
exemption  as  to  the  consumption  of  smoke  in  favour  of  ceiv 
1  trades  carried  on  hero.  The  Koyal  Sanitary  Commission, 
their  Second  Report,  when  deprecating  this  exemption, 
ikof  the  manifest  injustice  thus  done  to  similar  works  in 
Adjoining  districts,  competing  in  the  same  market  as  Leeds, 
br  the  more  rigorous  enactments  of  the  public  general 
tutes.  The  evil  wrought  by  it  in  the  town  will  be  a 
nger  argument  here,  and  ought  to  ensure  its  early  abro- 
bn. 

''ery  large  sums  have  been  spent  in  Leeds  on  sanitary  works, 
the  great  credit  of  tlie  town,  but  so  much  yet  remains  to 
(tone  that  the  death-rate  is  painfully  high.  Tlie  use  of 
tr  dwellings,  of  bnck-to-back  houses,  and  the  incomplote- 
I  rif  the  sewerage  already  alluded  to  are  amongst  the  most 
tninent  evils  calling  for  remedy. 

Bie  death-rate  in  the  Midsummer  quarter  this  year  was 
I  in  the  1000,  very  much  higher  than  it  should  have  been, 
I  yet  we  are  forced  to  recollect  that  in  parts  of  the  town 
rate  was  probably  double  that  amount,  which  means  that 
Uaods  bi  persons  died  simply  because  they  were  placed 
IT  more  disorderly  circumstances  than  their  neighbours ; 
this  goes  on  year  after  year,  surely  a  frightful  reflection, 
r  well  to  remember  that  lessening  the  death-rate  in  Leeds, 
lOnly  2  per  thousand,  means  savmg  S20  lives  annually, 
liaappointment  is  sometimes  felt  that  after  considerable 
eaditure  in  a  district  the  death-rate  is  not  reduced  to  the 
Bot  expected.  Careful  inquiry  would  generally  serve  to 
w  that  the  improvement  made  has  been  only  partial.  If 
water  supply  has  been  attended  to  the  drainage  has  been 
[lected,  or  iJE  deficiencies  in  thia  respect  have  been  remedied, 


104  Address  en  Health. 

the  sewers  are  unventilated,  or  overcrowding,  a  deadly  evil, 
has  been  permitted  to  an  extent  that  counterbalanced  the 
ffood  effects  otherwise  produced.  We  may  rest  assnxed, 
however,  that  every  improvement  of  this  kind  made  doa 
affect  health,  morality,  happiness,  and  life,  and  so  be  eDi 
couraged  to  fight  v^orously  in  aid  of  them.  The  stoiT 
from  Calcutta  that,  in  consequence  of  the  effect  prodnod 
upon  the  health  of  the  town,  by  recent  improvements  ia 
drainage  and  water  supply,  the  undertakers  were  applyiag 
for  compensation  for  loss  of  business,  if  not  true,  serves  to 
show,  wnat,  in  public  opinion,  the  result  of  the  works  Im 
been. 

Many  of  the  subjects  relating  to  public  health  and  sodd 
progress  still  offer  problems  for  solution  of  extreme  difficnlfy, 
and  much  good  remains  undone  for  want  of  its  being  knowi 
how  best  to  do  it.  In  confirmation  of  this,  and  for  other 
reasons,  I  am  tempted  to  mention  that  I  have  for  some  time 
been  authorised  bv  an  inhabitant  of  London  to  state  that  be 
is  willing  and  ready  to  appropriate  to  the  improvement  of  tite 
health  and  condition  of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  metropolis  i 
sum  equal  to  that  given  by  the  late  George  Peabody  for  i 
similar  purpose— or  say  half  a  million  of  money — when  he  ott 
see  a  mode  of  satisfactorily  effecting  this  without  the  fear  of 
pauperising  the  classes  he  seeks  to  benefit.  Means  were  taken 
to  make  tnis  offer  known  to  a  limited  extent,  and  a  lam 
number  of  suggestions  have  been  sent  to  the  proposer,  bat  Ee 
is  not  yet  satisfied  as  to  the  course  that  can  wisely  be  takea. 
We  must  congratulate  the  individual  on  holding  in  his  hand  the 

Eower  to  achieve  a  glorious  end,  and  I  would  add  a  hope  that 
e  may  speedily  come  to  a  wise  determination.  A  noole  ex- 
ample of  what  may  be  done  by  an  employer  to  improve  the 
condition  of  those  engaged  for  him,  is  to  be  found  in  this  dis- 
trict— I  mean,  of  course,  Saltair,  where  intelligence  and  £ff- 
sighted  benevolence  have  provided  healthful  homes,  educatioa 
for  the  children,  innocent  enjoyments,  and  means  of  cultnia 
The  time  is  coming  when  the  history  of  the  results  of  thst 
establishment,  in  a  sanitary  and  social  point  of  view,  should  be 
written  with  a  view  to  the  guidance  of  others. 

We  lose,  on  moderate  computation,  a  hundred  thousand  lives 
annually  by  preventible  diseases,  and  millions  of  money  in 
consequence  of  these  deaths,  and  of  premature  disabili^  in 
cases  where  death  does  not  ensue.  A  million  paupers  receive 
relief  weekly  in  England  and  Wales.  With  complete  study 
of  the  laws  of  health,  preventive  medicine,  and  improved 
sanitary  arrangements  throughout  the  kingdom,  the  number  d 
this  melancholy  army  would  soon  be  materially  lessened.   I 


B  spoken  of  disability  where  death  does  not  ensue.  With 
irence  to  thia  let  me  say,  we  want  registration  of  it.  The 
Utration  of  deaths  which  is  now  enforced  is  of  the  greatest 
ae,  but  we  need  beyond  that  the  registration  of  sickness, 
ich  would  show  the  magnitude,  not  only  of  the  grief  sad 
Rrty  to  individuuls  caused  by  disease,  but  of  the  money- 
I  to  the  public.  The  ^leeirability  of  this  is  fully  recognised 
the  Royal  Sanitary  Commission,  ao  that  we  may  hope  for 
*  *  Q  to  enforce  it  before  long. 
3ie  connection  between  bad  sanitary  arraneementa  and  ill- 
3th  is  now  largely  admitted,  as  I  have  said,  out  not  fully,  or 
should  surely  not  find,  in  unnumbered  places,  accumulations 
Slth,  vitiating  the  air,  large  populations  drinking  polluted 
BT,  and  debilitated  by  unhealthy  dwellings,  and  preventible 
ases  annually  oarryini;  off  their  thousands,  pauperising  the 
■lies  left  behind,  and  injuring  the  whole  community  from 
highest  to  the  lowest.  What  is  wanted  is,  after  all,  simple. 
I  want  clean  air,  clean  water,  clean  food — purity,  in  fact, 
we  strive  for  purity  in  life,  moral  purity,  so  let  us  strive  to 
UD  for  society  the  advantages  of  physical  purity.  "  Unto 
pure  all  things  are  pure,"  says  St.  Paul  (Titua  i.  IS), 
kh  may  be  true  in  conduct,  but  at  present  tlie  belief  may 
be  safely  acted  on  with  reference  to  the  lur  we  breathe, 
water  we  drink,  or  the  food  we  eat.  Moreover,  how  ia  it 
nble  for  moral  purity  to  be  retained  in  such  dens  as  those 
rhich  multitudes  of  our  feilow-creaturea  pass  their  lives? 
)  assertion,  as  the  homo  so  the  people,  denounced  as  almost 
nous  when  Jirst  written,  has  conio  to  be  pretty  generally 
Bpted ;  but  the  homes  in  thousands  of  cases  remain  in  the 
t  wretched  condition,  and  the  natural  results  continue  to 
Mr. 

!he  injury  done  to  our  agricultural  population  by  the  want 
proper  dwellings  can  scarcely  be  overstated ;  in  fact,  the 
lie  condition  oi  this  part  of  the  people  ie  a  disgrace  to  tho 
.  I  must  restrict  myself,  however,  to  the  question  of 
lih.  I  have  visited  hundreds  of  cottages  with  rooms 
cely  tlie  height  of  a  man,  damp,  cold,  undraincd,  and  over- 
fded,  with  heaps  of  decomposing  matter  around,  and 
re,  iu  short,  everything  was  being  done  to  counterbalance 
advantage  ofTered  by  nature  of  a  plentiful  supply  of  pure 
In  parts  of  the  country,  where  Portland  cement  and  gravel, 
Len  stone,  or  burnt  clay  arc  readily  obtainable,  a  consider- 
saving  in  the  cost  of  building  may  be  effected  by  the  use  of 
;rete  walls.  It  is  absolutely  necessary,  however,  that  the 
icrete  should  be  properly  made  and  rightly  applied ;  when 
is  tlie  case  it  is  an  excellent  and  enduring  material;  if 


106  Address  on  Health 

otherwise,  it  is  worthless  rubbish.  It  may  be  mentionedy  as  it 
will  give  confidence  to  those  disposed  to  employ  it,  that  the 
Metropolitan  Board  of  Works  now  allow  the  use  of  it  witUt 
their  boundaries,  and  that  the  Inclosure  and  Tithe  Commii- 
sioners  permit  money  lent  by  them  for  the  improvement  of 
estates,  to  be  expended  in  the  erection  of  concrete  bnildingi. 
In  both  cases,  however,  the  work  is  required  to  be  done  now 
stringent  regulations.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  number  of 
builders  who  have  applied  themselves  to  the  economic  execu- 
tion of  such  work  is  very  small. 

By  lessening  the  cost  of  erecting  cottages  something  is  done 
towards  inducing  a  proper  provision  of  them.  "VVith  good 
plans,  wise  superintendence,  and  the  choice  of  proper 
materials,  much  may  be  done  in  this  direction.  Non-abscnrb* 
ent  walls  and  floors  are  amongst  the  desiderata^  and  above 
all  things  such  arrangements  for  the  removal  of  the  refoie 
that  it  shall  not  by  any  possibility  contaminate  the  mUx 
supply. 

Sound  and  healthful  dwellings  are  required  in  towns  for  i 
lower  class  than  have  been  yet  thought  of, — the  multitude 
who  are  unable  to  pay  more  than,  say,  a  shilling  a  week  as 
rent.  There  is  a  large  number  of  these  who  require  only  one 
room,  a  man  and  his  wife  without  children,  single  men  and 
women,  and  widows.  There  seems  no  valid  reason  why  a  part 
of  the  Peabody  fund  should  not  be  applied  to  meet  this  wani^ 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  trustees  will  turn  their  attention  to 
the  subject  at  once. 

The  desire  to   produce    cheap  houses  by  speculators  his 
necessarily  this  bad  result,  that  the  efforts  of  the  builder  are 
nil  directed  simply  to  that  end,  to  discovering  the  means  of 
erecting  a  dwelling  at  the  least  possible  cost,  not  in  providing 
to  the  utmost  extent  for  the  health  and  the  comfort  of  tbe 
occupant.     If  the  wages  of  a  labourer  are  not  sufficient  to 
enable  him,  by  the  exercise  of  due  prudence,  to  pay  for  a 
decent  habitation,  warm,  dry,  airy,  and  well-drained,  calcu- 
lated therefore  not  to  destroy  his  health  and  working  power, 
and  to  send  him  to  a  premature  grave,  and  his  widow  and 
children  to  the  union  to  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the 
ratepayers,  it  is  time  they  were  made  so.     It  is  found  to  be 
wise  and  paving  policy  to  provide  horses  with  good  stablea, 
and  pigs  with  healthful  stys.      Surely  it  ought  to  be  thought 
necessary  to  do  as  much  for  the  men  who  drive  and  feed  them. 
Among  minor  evils,  ill-ordered  dust-bins  should  be  mentioned 
as  the  fruitful  source  of  sickness ;  decomposing  matter,  under 
present  arrangements,  being  allowed  to  remain  in  them  for 
weeks,  sometimes  months,  to  pollute  the  air.    Better  super- 


5y  (Twf^  Godwin,  F.R.B. 

ton  ia  needed.  If  the  occupants  of  houses  were  to  eee  that 
'  oonaumnblo  matter  was  burnt,  the  danger  would  be 
■ened,  and  the  quantity  would  be  so  much  reduced  that 
IDgeroenttj  might  be  made  for  its  removal  day  by  day. 
V  vast  deal  of  ill-health,  to  say  nothing  worse,  reaulta  from 
rioo  early  occupation  of  newly-built  houses.  In  tlie  aub- 
>n  districts  of  London,  and  of  many  of  our  large  towns, 
houses  by  the  thousand  are  planted  on  the  ground,  often 
Iieaps  of  unwholesome  deposits  placed  there  to  fill  up  hol- 
)  whence  brick-earth  or  sand  may  have  been  removed, 
finished  with  pauseleas  rapidity,  and.  all  reeking  as  they 
receive  a  family,  often  before  the  workmen  have  left. 
6  danger  involved  was  recognised  long  a"o.  An  ancient 
'ign  proverb  says,  as  to  a  new  house,  "  The  first  yeai*  for 
enemy,  the  second  for  my  friend,  the  third  for  my- 
"  'riie  speculative  builder  of  to-d.iy  too  often  cares  for 
Iwr  friend  nor  enemy;  the  houses,  like  certain  historic 
n,  are  made  to  sell ;  to  turn  a  penny  is  his  sole  object, 
the  buyer  must  look  out  for  himself.  Alas  I  for  such  ii 
S  of  feeling ;  it  unfortunately  prevails  in  modem  society  to 
ich  greater  extent  than  is  consistent  wilh  the  right  condi- 
of  pubUc  Health,  giving  that  word  its  full  meaning, 
jnong  the  arrangements  for  furthering  the  object  we  have 
lew,  facilities  for  recreation  and  amusement  must  not  be 
btten.  Amusement  must  bo  had,  will  be  had,  and  if  that 
eH  is  rational  and  innocuous  is  not  obtaiuable,  less  whote- 
B  excitements  will  be  resorted  to.  The  provision  of  open 
sdomed  places,  picture  galleries,  social  gatherings,  flower 
•rs,  the  practice  of  window  gardening,  facilities  for  ob- 
ling  books,  for  the  enjoyment  and  the  study  of  music, 
mny  readings,"  cricket,  swimming,  archery,  drill,  arc  all 
Hers  calling  for  the  fostering  aid  of  those  who  desire  to  see 
^  state  of  health  prevailing,  and  would  contribute  their 
B  in  rendering  the  world  happy,  and  leading  to  a  highec 
of  manhood.  Popular  meetings  for  recreation  have  a 
ler  value  as  serving  to  bring  classes  together,  counteracting^ 
tendency  to  severance  now  in  operation,  and  which  lias 
1  to  produce  the  great  danger  that  threatens  society  at  this 
ent. 

is  the  opinion  of  some  who  have  inquired,  that  we  are 

iorattng  physically  as  a  people ;  that  the  number  of  men, 

example,  rejected  on  physical  grounds  from  amongst  those 

0  offer  themselves  as  soldiers  or  policemen,  is  greater  pro- 

[wnionately  than  it  was  a  dozen  years  ago.     I  am  not  disposed 

lo  accept  this  beUef  in  our  deterioration  without  reservation. 

'  may  tie,  and.  Indeed,  unquestionably  ia,  true,  in  the  case  of 


108  Address  on  Health. 

thousands  of  our  fellow-creatures  pent  up  in  close  < 
garrets,  and  cellars.,  without  pure  air  and  water,  or  kno^ 
which  would  lead  to  an  improvement  in  their  condition, 
the  thousands  born  of  this  class  who  go  to  fill  premature 
hospital  and  the  graveyard.    But  there  are  other  portions 

Eopulation  of  whom  a  different  story  may,  it  is  hoped,  b 
ti]l,  the  destruction  of  health  and  life  by  preventible 
is  enormous,  and  we  are  again  made  to  feel,  by  the 
alluded  to,  the  vital  necessity  of  continuous  efibrts  to 
about  a  better  state  of  things. 

Every  one  may  assist  in  his  particular  sphere  in  disse 
ing  knowledge  of  the  kind  required,  and  building  up  a 
state  of  pubhc  opinion.    Bv  the  exercise  of  this  uone  n 
hope  to  obtain  satisfactory  laws,  and  to  see  those  laws  pi 
acted  on.     The  want  of  education  in  what  affects  the 
frame^-the  operation  of  the  agents  bv  which  it  is  influei 
is  unfortunately  almost  universal ;  if  it  were  not  so,  1 
enforce  sanitary  requirements  would  be  much  less  ne< 
than  the^  are.     Sanitary  science  should  be  taught  to  a 
the  earhest  vears  in  schools  of  every  grade.     Until 
more  generally  done,  we  shall  go  on,  as  now,  destroyii 
another,  and  blind  to  the  fact,  obvious  to  a  Latin  po€ 
years  ago,  that,  ^*  Life  is  not  to  live,  but  to  be  wetL" 
great  question  of  health  calls  for  the  primary  and  ui 
ting  attention  of  statesmen  and  legislators;    it  is  far 
party  considerations,  far  superior  in  importance  to  th< 
majority  of  subjects  which  monopolise  attention.      "^ 
education  and  health  no  nation  can  advance  and  be 
and  to  bring  about  those  conditions  should  be  the  chief 
of  all  government. 


109 


^Wixm 


BY 

WILLIAM    NEWMARCH,     F.R.S., 

ON 

ECONOMY  AND  TRADE. 


conditions  havc^  within  a  recent  period^  manifested 
emselves  in  the  treatment  of  Political  Economy  in  this 
',  in  the  United  States,  and  in  Germany,  the  effects  of 
cannot  fail  to  be  of  the  highest  importance  and  conse- 
.  I  allude,  in  the  First  place,  to  the  marked  manner  in 
Political  Economy  has,  of  late,  followed  the  path  of  all 
epartments  of  knowledge,  by  leaving  behind,  as  far  as 
;,  its  former,  a  priori^  abstract,  and  deductive  character, 
come,  like  every  other  subject  of  intellectual  pursuit 
time,  a  science  of  observation,  experience,  fact,  and  in- 
i ;  and,  in  the  Second  place,  to  the  efforts  at  length 
1  to  render  the  elementary  doctrines  relating  to  capital, 

and  wages,  part  of  the  common  school-teaching  of  all 

"  Wealth  of  Nations  "  is  not  a  deductive  treatise.  On 
itrary,  it  holds  its  place  in  public  estimation,  precisely 
3,  as  the  result  of  the  patient  labour  of  the  ten  years 
ipon  it,  in  the  retirement  of  Kirkaldy,  it  combines,  so 
tely  and  happily,  a  philosophical  insight,  with  a  know- 
)f  practical  life,  and  the  a[)plication  of  appropriate  facts, 
eductive  reasoning,  from  plausible  premises,  is  so  much 
for  l:oth  writers  and  readers  than  laborious,  dry,  and 
)  collection  of  details,  that  there  must  ever  be,  in  all 
es  of  knowledge,  a  powerful  tendency  towards  mere 
7  and  abstract  speculation ;  and,  as  almost  a  necessary 
uence,  a  disposition  to  be  presumptuous  and  dogmatic, 
all  the  great  errors  of  the  human  mind  have  arisen,  and 
rise,  almost  entirely  in  the  premises  or  conditions  to 
the  logical  faculty  is  applied.  There  have  never  been 
or  closer  reasoners  than  the  Schoolmen,  and,  considering 


110  Address  on  Economy  and  Trade. 

their  wonderful  acuteness^  the  surprise  is  all  the  gi 
they  ever  adopted  for  a  moment  the  absurd  and 
postulates  and  conditions  to  be  found  in  their  wr 
cannot  be  denied  that,  for  the  greater  part  of  tl 
century,  Political  Economy,  both  in  this  country 
where,  has  been  followed  too  much  in  the  me 
deductive,  and  geometric  form.  The  premises  I 
sought  in  the  ingenuity  and  fancy  of  the  writers ; 
fact  and  patient  plodding  observation  have  been  le 
was  considered  the  very  inferior  function  of  the  m 
tician.  Truth,  however,  is  not  to  be  conquercc 
Methods ;  and  there  soon  arises  n  flagrant,  if  not  a  < 
discrepancy  between  deductive  predictions  and  r€ 
It  is  these  discrepancies,  these  yawning  chasms,  be 
calculated  and  tho  true  state  of  the  clock — whicl 
salvation  of  science,  and  the  opportunities  of  the 
latterly,  Political  Economy  has  largely  gained  b] 
opportunity.  Let  us  remember,  however,  that  the 
or  Baconian  method  has  never  been  without  its  cult 
least  in  this  country.  Fifty  years  ago  it  was  a 
Thomas  Tooke,  with  enduring  success,  to  Prices  and 
A  little  later  by  Richard  Jones,  to  the  phenomena 
and  thirty  years  ago  by  Edwin  Chadwick,  to  the 
Factory  and  Infantile  Labour,  and  Sanitary  and  ] 
Legislation.  It  may  be  said,  indeed,  with  no  small  1 
it  is  to  the  practical  habit  of  the  British  Parliam 
quiring  all  new  proposals  of  extensive  change  to  b( 
by  exhaustive  investigation  of  the  facts  of  the  cat 
pretensions  of  people  who  say  they  will  be  damaged 
representations  of  people  who  allege  that  they  or  oth< 
benefited — that  we  owe  the  gradual  establishment, 
re-establishment  of  the  superiority  of  the  Inductive 
Deductive  methods  of  Political  and  Social  Economy 
And  not  only  has  this  change  taken  place  as  regar 
and  immediate  problems,  but  it  is  being  carried  syst 
into  historical  inquiries.  It  is  well  known  how  muc 
ance  Mr.  Buckle  attached,  in  his  later  years,  to 
conditions,  as  an  operative  force  in  the  large  histori 
ralisations  which  render  his  "  History  of  Uivilisatio 
the  most  potent  books  of  the  century.  No  future  hist< 
aspires  to  even  secondary  rank,  will  be  permitted  t 
rant  of  economic  science,  or  will  be  excused  from  int 
by  the  aid  of  that  science,  alterations  in  the  status  oi 
and  classes  which  hitherto  have  been  referred  to 
political,  or  religious  causes.  The  two  volumes 
liogers^  published  four  years  ago  by  the  University  c 


"  Agricultural  Prices  and  Wages  in  England  during  the 
nil  and  13lh  centuricB" — volumes  founded  upon  a  most  pa- 
it  and  learned  inveEtigation  of  the  early  account-rolls  of 
rton  and  other  colleges  —  constitute  a  new  rendering 
the  social  and  economic  history  of  Engliind  during  the 
itioo-period  of  which  they  treat ;  and  enable  us  to  see 
delail  how  far-reaching  and  potent  were  wages,  prices,  and 
-ilence  In  modifying  from  top  to  bottom  the  coherence 
le  English  polity,  and  the  power  of  our  sovereign  lord  the 
;,  under  the  early  Plantagenets.  Applied  to  Eubjects  of  the 
But  time,  we  can  refer  to  achievements  of  the  same  method 
the  cumplete  investigation  of  Trades  Unions,  by  Sir 
illlam  Erie's  Commission — of  Technical  Education,  by  Mr. 
luelaon's  Committee  and  Foreign  Commisaions— of  Popular 
Endowed  Schools  by  a  series  of  Government  Enquiries — 
Coal  Supply,  by  Mr.  Jevons's  remarkaiile  book  and  the 
»yal  Commiasion  whicli  it  provoked — and  quite  lately  by  the 
sports  from  our  diplomatic  agents  abroad  on  wages,  prices, 
d  tlie  purchasing  power  of  money  in  foreign  states.  Among 
ividual  efforts  we  have  bad  Mr,  Dudley  Baxter's  series 
books  on  National  Income,  Wealth,  Expenditure,  and 
jwtion — Mr.  Leone  Levi's  practical  researches  in  the  same 
ectiou — Itlr.  Goschen'a  most  remarkable  official  paper  on 
I  history  and  present  state  of  local  taxation — and  earrying 
ward  and  completing  iu  many  ways  Mr.  Goschen's  re- 
ihes,  the  papers  by  Jlr.  Palgrave  and  Mr.  Scott,  to  which 
I  awatdoa  the  premium  offered  by  Mr.  Tayler  through  the 
iatical  Society. 

In  France,  tlie  tendency  of  late  years  has  been,  among  the 
leated  classes,  to  discourage  the  abstract  political  economy, 
lull  has  played  so  mischievous  a  part  in  that  country.  The 
oitable  seriea  of  works  by  JI.  de  Lavergne,  on  the  rural 
inomy  of  his  own  and  other  conatrleu — the  treatise  of  M,  Le- 
leour  on  the  working  classes  of  Prance — the  earlier  and  more 
iborate  book  on  the  same  subject,  by  M.  Le  Play — and  the 
sarches  of  M.  Jules  Simon,  constitute  a  body  of  scientific 
fence,  which  leaves  but  little  to  desire.  The  inquiry  insti- 
led by  the  French  Government  in  1866  concerning  the 
sk  of  France,  and  the  analogous  institutions  in  other 
intries,  continued  its  labours  for  four  years,  and  the  fivo 
ILTto  volumes  which  liavc  been  amassed  testify,  at  least,  to 
I  diligent  and  not  unsuccessful  labom-s  of  the  Commission  ; 
nther  to  their  positively  successful  labours,  inasmuch  as  they 
.mpletely  exploded,  by  means  of  facts  and  evidence  coUectixi 
11  over  Europe  and  America,  the  socialist  doctrines  of  the 
01  Pericre  regarding  a  fixed  rate  of  discount,  and  what  was 


112  Address  (m  Ee(>ru)my  a$id  lirade. 

va^ely  called  the  paramount  duties  of  national  bmka  to 
industry. 

In  Germany  the  reaction  from  the  deductive  methods  hiil 
notj  on  the  whole,  been  so  decided  as  with  ourselves  and  m^ 
France.  Still  the  Congress  of  German  economists,  iMA'- 
assembles  at  intervals  of  one  or  two  years  in  the  leading  towni' 
of  the  empire,  is  rapidly  becoming  a  powerful  influence.  At  thvi 
Congress  held  in  August  last  at  Lubeck,  and  extending  overi 
a  week,  the  subjects  of  commercial  treaties,  strikes,  chantabb) 
endowments,  bank  issues,  and  the  monetary  standard  belt' 
suited  to  Germany,  were  discussed  and  dealt  with  in  a  mso^ 
tical  manner ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  the  resolution  of  the'] 
Congress  in  favour  of  a  gold  standard,  based  on  the  florid^ 
in  contradistinction  to  the  thaler,  will  have  oonsidersbb'' 
weight  with  the  Berlin  Cabinet.  As  Englishmen,  we  may  bs  I 
reasonably  proud  to  find  one  foreign  country  after  anothflrj 
adopting  the  principles  of  coinage  legislation  which  we  brougiit'  i 
to  a  state  of  practical  completeness  so  long  ago  as  1816.  h 

It  is,  however,  in  the   United  States  that  most  remarkable '  , 
examples  have  arisen  of  late  years,  of  the  force  and  succefls, 
with  which  the  investigation  of  economic  facts,  skilfully  ooiii^  i  . 
ducted,  may  be  made  to  produce  rapid  results.    Mr.  David ' 
Wells  distinguished  himself  during  the  war  by  pamphlets,  on  the 
condition  and  resources  of  the  Union,  and  was  appointed  hj  ' 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  office  of  Special  Commissioner  of  Revenue, 
under  the  financial  secretary,  Mr.  McCulloch.      When  the' 
war  came  to  an  end  the  people  of  the  United  States  found ' 
themselves  harassed  on  all  sides  by  a  revenue-system  which  ' 
for  minuteness  of  interference,  for  extravagance  of  assessment, 
for  obstruction  and  irritation,  for  confusion,  contradictioD, 
and  constraint,  is  beyond  any  well-authenticatedprecedent  in 
any  age,  in  any  country,  or  among  any  race.     The  fiscal  ex* 
pedients  to  which  Mr.  Pitt  was  driven  in  this  country  hj 
famine,  rebellion,  mutiny  and  war,  and  the  general  inability 
of  our  then  population  of  ten  millions  to  bear  the  chief  burden ' 
of  an  European  contest,  were  simplicity  and  moderation  itself, 
compared  with  the  Internal,  State,  and  Municipal  revenue- 
system  prevailing  in  the  United  States  in  1865-6.    And  not 
only  was   the  revenue-system  bad  as  a  machine  for  nunng 
money  for  the  public  service,  but  there  had  grown  up  alons- 
side  it  a  net-work  of  protective  duties  which  everywhere  sacn* 
ficed  the  millions  ot    unseen    consumers    to    the    apparent 
prosperity  of  a  few  conspicuous  manufacturers  and  clamorous 
mterests.     Mr.  Wells  set  to  work  in  a  manner  as  creditable 
to  him  as  a  philosopher  as  it  was   efficacious  as  a  publio 
servant.      He  personally  visited  all  parts  of  the    conntrjr, 


113 

looUecteil  eviJenco  relative  to  the  revenue  and  protective 
'  He   then   applied   for   official   permission  to   visit 

and  especially  this  couutry.      He  came  here  in  the 
of  18fi7,  and  the  result  of  n  four  mpntlis'  visit  and 

m  was  his  conversion  tu  Free  Trade.     He  returned 

B  Wash ina; ton,  and  in  a  series  of  reporte,  already  become 
tietorical,  he  exposed,  by  nieaua  of  official  facta  and  evidence, 
lite  vices  of  the  internal  revenue,  and  above  all  the  destructive 
W  of  the  protective  tariff.  The  ProtcctioniBt  party  became 
"^TMia.  They  first  tried  to  drive  him  from  the  public  service 
gether.  Failing  that,  thev  hit  upon  the  expedient  of 
lerving  the  office  but  cancelling  the  salary  attached  to  it. 
,  Wells  did  not  regard  the  salary,  and  retained  Ids  appoint- 
It  until  his  reports  were  finished.  He  was  immediately 
ltd  by  the  State  of  New  York  at  the  head  of  the  Commia- 
1  for  inquiring  into  and  reforming  the  System  of  State 
tation ;  and  the  exhaustive  report  of  that  commission  issued 
ly  in  the  present  year,  is  Mr.  Wells's  latest  official  con- 
Milion  to  economic  literature;  and  to  that  inductive  method 
fact  and  observation,  ns  applied  to  social  and  economic 
nomena,  from  which  we  may  with  confidence  expect  future 
iD^bs, great  and  manifold. 

Ir.  W^U's  latest  researches  were  embodied  in  an  article 
ibe  North  Avierican  Jinnew  for  June  last,  and  from  that 
r  I  quote  the  following  telling  exposure  of  the  reasons 
in  the  United  States  the  moat  extensive  "  protection  fails 
lotect."  Mr.  Welts  takes  the  case  of  the  manufacture  of 
■sdfelt  Hats:  amanufactureestablishcdinAmericabefore 
Iqiendence,  and,  down  to  18G0,  so  flouriahing,  that  the 
Sted  States  made  better  and  cheaper  hats  than  any  other 
atry,  and  had  a  larger  export  demand  for  them.  At 
lent,  and  fur  &oine  time  past,  the  prosperity  of  the  trade 
departed,  the  foreign  demand  nas  ceased,  and  the  price  of 
le-made  bats  haa  so  increased,  that  the  American  people 
fewer  hats  than  formerly  ;  and  the  manufacturers  have 
vd  losses  6o  severe,  that  considerable  numbers  of  them 
e  become  bankrupt.  Mr.  Wells  points  out  that  the  reasons 
obvious.  The  fur  comes  from  Germany,  and,  if  imported 
the  akiu,  pays  10  per  ceut.  duty;  if  cut  from  the  skin, 
per  cent. — the  reason  for  tliia  singular  difference  consisting 
be  fact,  that  there  is  a  single  powerful  firm  in  the  States 
B  possess  a  peculiar  secret  for  shearing  hatters'  fur,  and  have 
ttrived  to  procure  in  their  own  behalf  the  difference  of 
per  cent,  between  shorn  and  unshoru  akins.  The  best  kind 
iroul  used  for  hats  comes  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  but 
~~  thia  raw  material  the  import  duty  is  100  per  cent. ;  the 

8 


1 14  Address  on  Economy  and  Trade. 

silk  comes  from  France,  and  nays  60  per  cent. ;  the  inndfl 
leather  pays  45  per  cent. ;  and  if  the  hat  be  imported  in  t 
finished  state,  it  pays  35  per  cent.  '^  Under  such  a  code  d 
protection,  is  it  any  wonder/'  Mr.  Wells  asks  his  countiyiqeiii 
'*  that  the  hat  business  docs  not  flourish  in  the  United  Stately 
and  that  oilr  people  pay  more  for  hats,  and  get  a  worse  article, 
than  the  people  of  any  other  country  on  the  face  of  the  globaf" 
Pursuing  the  same  detailed  method,  he  shows  that  the  peopb 
of  tlie  United  States  use  less  sugar  and  coffee  per  head  than  tbey 
did  in  1860 ;  use  fewer  boots,  shoes,  hats,  and  other  articln 
of  universal  demand ;  and  tliat  the  consumption  of  cotton-olodi 
is  less  in  1870  with  39  millions  of  people,  than  in  1859  witk 
30  milliunSy  and  that  as  a  general  result  the  United  States  nut 
only  buy  Ics^s  at  home,  but  send  much  less  abroad ;  and«  aboiB 
all,  send  away  even  these  lessened  exports  almost  entirely  is 
foreign  ships,  because  the  protection  of  American  ship^builden 
has  done  its  work  so  completely  as  to  conduct  them  into  extine- 
tion. 

The  Second  of  the  circumstances  I  mentioned  at  the  outset, 
namely,  the  eflbrts  at  length  being  made  in  this  country  to 
teach  elementary  economics  in  common  schools,  is  of  eva 
greater  importance  than  the  advances  in  Method  I  have  jut 
pointed  out. 

In  the  course  of  1870,  a  Committee  on  Labour  and  Capitd 
was  set  afoot  by  the  Social  Science  Association,  and  early  io 
the  present  year  that  Committee  had  an  interview  with  the 
President  of  the  Educational  Committee  of  the  Privy  CouDofl 
(Lord  Kipon),  to  urge  the  desirableness  of  teaching  elementaij 
economics  in  schools  under  public  inspection.  The  Committee 
stated  their  case  as  follows  : — 

'^(1.)  Your  Memoralists  have  a  strong  conviction  that  thehostOHj 
between  Labour  and  Capital,  arising  from  an  erroneous  belief  tint 
the  int;cru.its  of  workpeople  and  their  employers,  and  of  tenants  ud 
landlords,  are  opposed  to  each  other — a  belief  leading,  in  MantifiM- 
turcs,  to  atiempts  to  impose  harassing  restrictions  regarding  ndv 
of  wages,  hours  of  labour,  piece-work,  number  of  apprentices,  tad 
the  use  of  machinery  ;  and,  in  Agriculture,  to  attempts  to  dictate  the 
amount  of  rent  to  be  exacted  and  the  selection  of  tenants,  and  lead- 
ing, in  its  further  stages,  to  strikes,  lock-outs,  rattenings,  and  thieiti 
of  personal  violence,  and  ultimately,  in  many  cases,  to  murder  itrif 
— might  have  been  mitigated,  and  in  great  measure  prevented,  hid 
the  people  of  this  country  in  their  youth,  and  before  the  mind  ooold 
be  warped,  been  instructed  in  tlic  elements  of  Economic  scienee. 
And  on  this  and  on  other  grounds,  they  respectfully  urge  that  so 
more  time  be  lost  in  taking  measures  for  gradually  introducing  tidi 


J5y  Waiam  Sewmarcli,  F.E.S. 


ni 


g^  OB  a  regular  branch  of  education,  iuto  nil  schoob  to 
IS  State  gives  pocuuiary  aid. 

The  practicability  of  commuaicating  such  knoivIeOge  to  the 
'even  very  young  persons,  and  of  making  it  both  iclereating 
ictire,  hoa  been  demonstrated  on  such  a  scale  as  to  place  the 
eyond  doubt. 

Totir  Afemoriatista  respectfully  suggest,  as  one  practical 
proceedlug,  that  EtementATy  Economic  Science  be  added  to 
ectB  In  which  persons  intending  to  become  Teachers  are 
D  qualify  ihemselrea  for  examination,  under  the  Bupervision 
eportnient  of  Pracdcal  Science  and  Art,  and  in  which  Uioy 
rwarda  prepare  pupils  for  examination,  with  a  view  to  pay- 
Bscertuned  success ;  and  further,  they  venture  to  submit 
il  gJl  dilficultiea  incident  to  Die  establishment  of  this  new 
f  instruction  shult  liave  been  surraountod,  it  would  bo  highly 
f,  to  appoint  at  least  one  weli-qualiiied  School  Inspector,  of 
sal  iu  the  cause,  to  superiutend  operations  on  this  particular 

eault  of  this  memorial  ia  officially  reported  as  foUowe  ;— 

Cummiltee  need  scarcely  say  that  their  deputation,  which 
iduced  and  aUly  supported  by  Professor  Fawcett,  M.P.,  was 
fiy  received ;  and  although  it  did  not  succeed  in  conviucing 
pon  and  Mr.  Forster  of  ihe  necessity  of  the  appointment 
wl  Inspector  for  the  special  object  in  view,  the  interview 
lUctive  of  much  good.  The  deputation  had  the  pleasure  of 
that  Political  Economy  is  already  one  of  the  subjecl«  on 
teacher  may  offer  himself  for  examination,  and,  after  passing 
iiay  prepare  his  scholars  for  examination  by  the  Inspector ; 
eir  success  would  obtain   for  him   a   moderate   capitation 

B. 

m  immediate  expedient,  Mr.  Forster  suggested  tiiat  tlie 
e«  should  try  to  get  instruction  in  Political  Economy  iatro- 
to  ihe  district  of  some  one  of  the  present  Inspectors ;  and 
ltitt«e  are  happy  to  announce  that,  through  the  intervention 
iBor  Jevons,  of  i^Ian Chester  (a  member  of  the  Greneral  Com- 
|ir.  Brodic,  one  of  Her  Majesty's  Inspectors  of  Schools  for 
cict,  has  kindly  consented  to  Uke  upon  himself  this  uddi- 
uble,  and  has  already  made  arrangements  for  the  introduc- 
lie  study  into  four  large  and  important  schools,  under  clever 
ri«noed  toachers. 

schools  alluded  to  in  the  memorial,  as  having  shown  by 
se  the  practicability  of  rendering  rudimentary  political 
interestiDg  and  attractive  to  the  young,  were,  in  great  part, 
by  Ur.  William  EllJs." 

»V6  here  a  beginning  full  of  promise.     The  Committee 

to  mention  with  all  Louour  the  name  of  William  Ellis. 

^jui  thiity  years  ho  has  with  priacely  muni&ceQCe> 


1 


B  than  thij 

II 


lie  Address  on  Ei'onomy  and  Trade. 

and  at  no  small  sacrifice  of  time  and  comfort,  promoted  the 
formation  of  Birkbcck  schools  in  ditFercnt  parts  of  London,  iq 
which,  in  concert  with  Mr.  Shields,  ho  has  demonstrated  on  % 
large  scale  that  to  the  boys  and  girls  resorting  to  comnMli 
schools,  lessons  in  rudimentary  economics  arc  highly  acceptaUd, 
and  can  be  conveyed  to  them  in  a  systematic  and  thorobgh 
manner.  The  same  results  have  been  established  at  Glasgow' 
by  the  schools  promoted  by  Mr.  McClelland  and  his  frim^ 
and  for  many  years  carried  on  in  the  face  of  calnmnj  voU 
opposition. 

The  motion  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  2l8t  July  last,  by 
8ir  f I  ohn  Lubbock,  directed  to  the  furtherance  of  the  olyeefl 
set  out  in  the  memorial  to  Lord  Ripon,  was  favourably  receivedl 
both  by  the  House  and  the  Government :  and  we  may  ncMr 
congratulate  ourselves  that  a  beginning  has  been  so  efFectntUt 
made,  that  nothing  but  supincness  on  the  part  of  ourselTes  ctt 
postpone  success.  Surely  if  there  bo  any  proposition  wlud 
inore  than  another  commends  itself  to  experience  and  common' 
sense,  it  is  this — that  to  the  classes  which,  before  all  ot&er^ 
depend  upon  the  wisest  and  most  advantageoas  disposal  of 
their  sole  possession,  their  Labour,  we  should  convey  at  Utit 
earliest  period,  before  prejudice,  passion,  and  bad  habits  inttf^ 
vene,  some  accurate  knowledge  of  the  causes  which  regnhti 
capital,  profits,  and  wages.  We  may  or  may  not  teach  any- 
thmg  else,  but  this  assuredly  we  must  cither  teach  rightly,  ir 
it  will  be  learnt  wrongly  in  other  quarters. 

Not  only  is  there  a  proi^pect  of  the  teaching  of  mdimeii^ 
ary  political  economy  in  common  schools,  but  in  schools  (f' 
the  higher  gnidcs  there  is  now  some  degree  of  attention  grteii   I 
to  the  science.     The  professorship  at  Cambridge  in  pomtof   i 
endowment  and  tenure  is  perhaps  satisfactory  for  the  present^   ^ 
but  the  same  remark  cannot  be  made  of  the  chair  at  Oxfbri   \ 
At  Edinburgh  the  University  has  been  recently  enabled  to'   * 
erect  a  Professorship  of  Political  and   Commercial  Econoffl|f   - 
and  Mercantile  Law,  under  circumstances  especially  &vom^    ' 
able ;    and  when  I  say  that  Dr.   W.   B.   Hoagson  has  beeii 
choi^cn  as  the  first  pn)fcssor,  we  shall  all  agree  that  at  Edm- 
burgh,  at  least,  the  science  will  be  expounded  with  all  the  skitl 
and  ^)ractieal  knowledge  of  a  man  who  has  been  throtigh(Snt 
his  life  a  teacher;    and  with  all  the  vigour  and  originality 
of  an   observer  and   student  who  well  understands  now  to 
make   the    solid   results  of  the  present  time  a  platform  Km 
which  to  prepare  for  the  advances  and  changes  of  tne  futnre.  ' 

The  two  principal  events  in  this  country  of  the  past  twelVe 
months  relating  to  the  subjects  which  belong  to  this  aectbtij 


By  Witlimn  Newmnreh,  F.R.S. 

JH-i^  ttie  pasainj;  of  the  Government  Bill  on  Trades 
JK;  an<l  the  formation  of  a  public  afisociatioii  for  nrocur- 
, fundamental  change  in  the  conditions  under  which  land 
'  as  exclusive  property. 

Trades  Union  Act  concludes  the  long  controversy 
n  the  Legislature  and  the  working  clnssQs  regarding 
ations.  Peaceful  oombinntions  to  procure  higher  wages, 
ir  liours,  and  better  conditions  generally,  are  now  fully 
I  the  law,  BO  long  aa  violence,  threats,  and  molestation 
It  reaortod  to.  The  Legislature,  so  far  as  it  caji,  has  re- 
arrangements between  masters  and  men  to  the  only 
.inent  which  cau  really  settle  tlicni,  namely,  free  Jiscus- 
jlween  th«  parties.  Such  nrranzements  arc  cssenlially 
OS  regulated  from  time  to  time  by  the  circumstances  of 
muid  for  goods,  the  supply  of  labour,  and  the  resources 
Bterprise  of  capital ;  and,  without  quarrelling  or  temper, 
pe  interest  anil  the  duty  of  both  aides  to  discover,  by  Ihe 
diBCusftion  which  takes  place  in  all  other  commercial 
,ga,  what  are  the  precise  and  practical  terme  on  which 
(^a  buy  or  eell.  A  strike  is  the  end  of  ^acusaion  and 
^giti&ing  of  woi',  and  injiures  both  sides.  The  common- 
~  course  is  to  set  up  some  Middle  Tribunal  composed  of 
lentative  masters  and  men,  who  will  meet  as  people  of 
jas,  and  fix  the  rate  of  wages  from  time  to  time.  The 
icil  of  Conciliation  in  the  Hosiery  trades  have  for  some 
■  SBCceasf  idly  accomplished  this  purpose,  under  ihc  cbair- 
ibip  of  Mr.  Mundella ;  and  in  numerous  other  cases  the 
.principle  has  been  applied  with  or  witliout  the  assistance 
f.  Bupert  Kettle  as  umpire  or  arbitrator.  In  the  north 
Dfland  Iron  trade  a  similar  committee  at  Darlington, 
^  Mr.  David  Dale  as  chairman,  and  Mr.  Jones  and  Mr. 
us  secretaries,  haa  with  marked  success  adjusted  the 
of  about  25,000  men  to  the  fluctuations  of  the  market. 
,  «rq  great  and  solid  practical  advances  on  the  former 
if  isoJatioD  and  uncertainty. 
\  yet,  bat  iu  course ot  time,  as  economic  principles  become 
Kriy  understood,  we  shall  see  trades  unions  purged  of  iheir 
trroneous  and  mischievous  purpose  of  seeking  an  uniform 
I  wages  without  regard  to  differences  of  skill,  knowledge, 
(r^,  aud  character.  There  is  no  tenet  of  socialism  more 
i.io  its  consequcuces  than  this  insidious  and  plausible 
pie-— a  doctrine  which,  if  acted  upon  rigidly  for  any  length 
me  by  large  classes  of  men,  would  stop  all  progress.  Put 
iilain  language,  it  means  that  there  shall  not  be  in  the 
I  any  such  thing  as  superior  talent  or  attainment ; — that 
art  Aod  handicraft  shall  be  reduced  to  the  level  of  the 


118  Address  en  Economy  and  Trade. 

commonefit,  most  ignorant^  and  most  stupid  of  the  pen 
belong  to  it — that  to  secure  this  end  every  man  t< 
nature  has  given  special  ability,  and  \vho  by  effort 
denial  has  brought  that  abilitv  to  more  or  less  perfecti 
forego  the  superior  rewards,  the  honours,  and  the  fldva 
which  he  can  easilv  and  fairly  earn.  Happily,  hnmai 
is  so  constituted  tnat  no  such  code  of  repression  will 
submitted  to;  and  it  is  this  ineradicable  desire,  ai 
Smith  said,  to  better  their  condition,  which  comes 
world  with  every  man  and  woman,  and  never  leaves  1 
they  go  out  of  it,  which  always  has  and  always  must  d 
socialistic  proposals  for  sinking  the  individual  in  the  m 
providing,  as  it  is  said,  in  a  vague  and  sentimental  ^ 
the  labour  of  all  shall  contribute  to  the  equal  enjoymei 
The  fallacy  lies  in  that  notion  o!  equal  enjoyment  at 
turn  for  unequal  cfTorts,  abilities,  and  sacrifices.  I 
that  while  the  abilities  and  labour  of  A  and  B  may  pr 
result  equd  to,  say,  thirty;  and  the  inferior  abilil 
labour  of  C  and  D  equal  to  ten,  the  whole  product 
forty,  shall  be  divided  into  equal  parts  of  ten,  instead  o 
as  is  their  due,  fifteen  each  to  A  and  B,  and  assigni 
also  their  strict  desert,  five  each  to  C  and  D.  The 
such  thing  in  nature  as  an  equal  division  of  unequal  e 
and  it  is  because  socialism  in  essenco  means  that  and 
else,  that  it  is  an  impossible  and  pestilent  delusion, 
human  being  is  by  nature  entitled  to  justice,  pn 
freedom  of  thought  and  action,  and  to  such  a  mcasui 
struction  as  will  suffice  for  the  intelligent  use  of  his  U 
faculties— but  from  society  he  is  entitled  to  no  more, 
rest  he  must  conquer  for  himself,  and  he  must  have  1 
perfect  assurance  that  he  will  enjoy  the  full  benefit  of 
on  the  one  hand,  and  have  to  bear  the  full  conseqw 
failure  on  the  other.  This  is  the  Law  of  the  case-^ 
ditions  under  which  as  a  matter  of  hard  fact  human  i 
subsist.  Beyond  these  and  in  mitigation  of  theii 
logical  issues,  lie  the  functions  and  graces  of  con 
generosity,  and  gentleness — of  the  desire  to  reclaim  th 
and  to  raise  the  weak — functions  and  graces  wither 
the  world  would  lose  every  trace  of  light  and  happiness 
the  same  time  attributes  which  move  and  ameliorate  v 
circle  of  their  own,  and  in  obedience  to  aspirations  wl 
most  noble  and  perfect,  when  they  leave  fafthest 
every  thoujjht  of  self  and  every  calcmation  of  gain. 

It  is  chiefly  abroad  that  we  now  hear  denuncial 
Capital  as  the  great  enemy  of  the  working  classes.  '. 
observation  atnong  ourselves  has  advancea  f^  enoogl 


and 


By  WUliam  Newiruwoh, . 

a  general  proposition  nothinf;  can  be  plitmcr  than  that 
greater  the  accumulation  of  capllal,  tliat  w  to  «iy,  houses/ 
e,   ships,   railways,   manufactures,  commodities,   animnltfiV 
>,  and  implements,  the  better  must  it  be  for  the  elaeaeBif 

livo  on  wajrea,  »ntl  who  desire  to  buy  with  those  migelfil 
Mny  commodities  as  posaible.  A  chenp  countrj- means  tf  I 
itrjr  where  there  is  much  capital,  and  much,  therefore,  ttf  'I 
,  and  a  prosperous  Country  means  a  country  where  thtf  J 
latrj  of  the  people  produces  the  largest  quantity  of  useful  I 
desirable  things,  to  be  divided  among  the  capitalists  ao^  1 
Qi^rs  who  [irijouce  them.  The  first  concern  or  all  societies  1 
be  to  au-iment  the  Gross  Produce  of  tlie  year,  so  i\\a%  ■] 

providing  for  the  subsistence  and  comfort  of  the  mcmbcot  j 
may  he  a  suqilus  applicable  to   the   cheapening  and  j 
irging   of   future   production.     How   best   to  secure   tW 
'nd  reasonable  Distribution  of  the  gross  produce  araong 
lists  and  labourers,  is  the  precise  problem  in  political 

uty  which  it  is  most  ditScult  to  settle  ;  and  the  discussion 
'hicft  every  age  and  every  country  will  approach  from  some 
iai  point  of  view,  or  under  the  influence  of  some  special 
or  theory.  In  this  country  we  have  made  certain  positive 
mccs  towards  a  solution— advances  not  likely  to  be  dis- 
cd,  come  what  may.  In  contra-distinction  to  the  beliefs  of 
(er  times  we  have  satisfied  ourselves  that  a  just  and  reason- 
Distribution  of  tlie  gross  produce  cannot  be  assisted  by 
Opo]tes  or  protection;  and  in  contra-distinction  to  a  largo 
y  in  Knince  and  Cenlml  Europe  we  have  alao  satisfied 
elvea  that  the  socialistic  i:<cheuie  of  an  ccnial  division  of 
[Ual  earnings  does  not  mean  tlmt  just  distribution  of  gross 
uce,  by  which,  alone,  the  economic  life  of  a  society  can 
ist  and  flourish. 

decline  to  venture  upon  any  formula  of  doctrine,  but  if  I 
Rsked  to  state  In  the  smallest  compass  the  practical  result  of 
sssion  and  experience  in  this  country  during  the  last  forty 
H.  I  should  fay  that  those  economic  conditions  wluch  are 
i  favourable  to  the  creation  of  the  largos  t  possible  (xross  Pro- 
1,  are  also  iu  themselves  most  certain  to  secure  its  just  and 
>nal;ld  Distribution  among  capitalists  and  labourers.  For 
t  does  the  fact  o£  the  largest  possible  gross  produce  imply  ? 
oplies  great  intelligence  working  under  fitting  control, 
(try,  enterprise,  self-reliance,  frugality,  temperance,  per- 
&ee.dom  of  action  and  contract,  cheap  and  speedy  justice, 
ict  for  the  wise,  and  honour  for  the  courageous  and  up- 
.;  in  a  word,  the  best  and  fittest  men  in  the  best  and  fittest 
|3,  animated  by  the  consciousneBS  tliat  to  every  worker 
lul.the reward  due  to  bis  merits.     According  to  this  tIow 


1 20  AMrjifb  on  Ecouomi/  ami  Trade, 

it  is  a  more  difficult  ih'ing  to  accompliBh  Incrcaaing  Prod 
than  to  a])portion  it  when  it  is  aecurcd.  The  miseries 
world  arise  ten  times  more  from  that  which  is  wasted 
from  that  which  is  unequally  distributed.  An  eoon 
millenium  would  be  an  epoch  in  which  there  was  no  Waste 
waste  of  human  lives,  no  ignoble  sloth,  no  diseaSse  and  d 
itude,  engendered  by  ignorance  or  neglect  of  natural 
no  waste  of  useful  tilings  in  vulgar,  insolent  vanity ;  abc 
no  waste  of  health,  substance,  and  self*respect  in  drunk 
and  its  attendant  vices. 

What  then  can  be  done  to  prevent  and  diminish  M\ 
The  answer  to  this  question  raises  a  cloud  of  difHcultic 
brings  forward  at  once  the  two  schools  and  parties,  < 
whom  hopes  much,  and  the  other  hopes  little,  from  the 
ference  of  the  central  authority,  or  State.  It  is  not 
concealed  that,  of  late  years,  the  first  of  these  parties  hai 

Saining  ground.  Laissez  ^fuire  has  become  a  cent 
octrine,  and  there  is  no  lack  of  observant  and  vigorous 
who  have  satisfied  themselves  that  the  mo?t  hopeful  ful 
modern  societies  lies  in  the  direction  of  increasing 
Control  and  Interference  with  the  free  action  of  indiv: 
But,  by  the  term  State,  they  carefully  explain  that  thej 
not  a  blindly-despotic,  but  an  enlightened  State — a 
markedly  wiser  and  better  than  the  mass  of  its  enbje 
that  with  them  State  control  would  be  the  superintende 
a  saCTcioua  and  well-meaning  parental  authority.  Fo 
self,  I  say,  without  reserve,  that  I  do  not  belong  to  this 
No  State  Authority  can  be  better  or  wiser,  in  the  lon( 
than  the  community  which  supports  it.  Every  natiot 
one  of  the  wisest  men,  has  a  government  just  as  good 
deserves :  neither  better  nor  worse.  A  community,  cap 
devising  and  sustaining  a  wise  parental  government, 
abundantly  prove,  by  that  very  act,  that  it  was  a  suf 
law  unto  itself,  and  could  accomplish,  by  individual  e 
virtue,  and  freedom,  every  purpose  to  which  a  strong  < 
authority  ought  to  apply  itself.  A  pervading  and  me 
government  means  a  wilderness  of  functionaries,  and  an 
ratus  of  certificates,  formalities,  reports,  and  signatures, 
of  themselves  fill  up  an  average  life.  This  is  not  free^ 
f  unctionarism ;  and  the  radical  vice  of  all  f  unctionarism 
absence  of  any  aclequate  motive  of  personal  gain  or  loc 
has  been  well  said  of  the  public  dockyards  that,  if  each 
lishment  could  be  fixed  with  an  accurate  capital  accoiu 
the  officers  be  paid  by  a  per-centage  on  the  profitand  loss  f 
no  further  measure  ci  naval  reform  would  be  needed,  be 
at  length,  a  sufficient  individual  motive  would  have 


Bif  WmUtin  Xewiiiarcli,  r'-R.N. 


It  into  plaj  in  f»voar  of  pvogrGsa  and  economy.  Ntitiona 
been  freciiienlly  enongh  killed  by  functionitrisTii,  but 
crentoJ  or  dilvnnceil  by  it.  Austria  ia  slowly  ami 
Jly  recovering  from  tliis  incubus;  and  in  France  it  is  ihe 
rorst  symptom  of  its  condition  that  overy  second  innu  and 
D  has  no  highci'  ambition  than  to  become  an  obaoure, 
iJ,  and  ill-treated  fuoctionarj-  in  the  Herviue  of  a  contral 
ity,  which  rej*oiatefi  everything,  and  controls  nolhinji. 
iiture  goi-emment  of  France,  it  has  been  siiii!,  ironically 
ruly,  is  only  jmsaible  to  the  person  or  party  who  will 
'  the  Lefiif^a  oi  Honour  upon  the  whole,  and  ploGCn  upon 
ke  population.  The  founders  of  our  Knglian  polity,  at 
never  fell  into  thia  mischief ;  and  it  i«  exactly  because  we 
tlways  striven  ta  reduce  the  funotiona  of  government  to 
imum — to  find  in  the  Common  Law  rights  and  duties 
'thanajiyto  he  obtained  from  kings  or  conneils — to  do 
rselves  that  which  other  nationa  have  had  done  for  them 
I  we  have  become  so  robust  a  people; — and  our  truest 
i>ldi!9t  fnfurc  conaista  in  carryio^f  to  perfection  the  aame 
plea  of  the  orderly  and  iuteltigent  freedom  of  ths 
dual. 

tletennine  accurately  how  far,  in  each  particnlar  gencra- 
Cootrot  shall  modify  free  action,  la  a  must  difficult 
;al  t^ueetion.  Control  there  must  be,  and  new  conditions 
tKtt>  constantly  raising  special  cases.  During  the  last 
ears  the  rapid  spread  of  manufactures,  and  the  collection 
terogeaeoiia  populations,  in  old  and  new  localities,  has 
illcd  na  to  resort  to  a  degi'ce  and  species  of  interference 
Mpection,  which  our  forefathers  would  have  resisted  as 
ny.  The  Factory,  Passenger,  Mines,  Worksho[j8,  Sani- 
jVacoioation,  and  other  similar  Acts  arc  all  measures  of 
,  justified  by  a  particular  state  of  things;  and  it  is  quite 
te  to  suppose  that,  within  gome  moderate  period,  they 
ictomplish  their  educational  purpose,  and  creute  a  public 
o  strong  enough  to  effect  of  ilsolf  the  wholeeome  regula- 
■ow  enforced  by  law ;  just  as  public  opinion  has,  of  itself, 
)wn  bull-baiting,  cock-fighting,  nnd  the  prize  ring.  We 
perhaps,  even  <?peculate  on  the  arrival  of  a  time  when  it 
e  a«  aujierfluous  for  the  State  to  provide  compulsory 
tioQ  aa  to  provide  gin.  The  article  itself  will  be  ftp- 
ted  and  provided  on  its  own  merits.  In  one  direction, 
Ive  already  arrived  at  positive  conclusJona  regarding  the 
ICO  of  the  State — we  have  given  up  all  attempts  to 
Bt  people  from  mismanaging  their  property.  We  no 
r  pretend  to  catalogue  unsound  investmenta,  or  unsound 
Itock  corapaaiee ;   to  point  out  insolvent  railways,  or 


122  Address  on  Economy  and  Trods. 

dishonest  foreign  borrowers.  We  have  also  wisely  lef i  the 
licence  of  the  press  to  be  wholly  controlled  by  a  simple  law  of 
libel ;  and^  generally,  we  have  established,  as  a  canon  of  our 
legislation^  that,  except  in  such  cases  as  the  Post  OfEcej  the 
Government  cannot,  with  success  or  advantage,  conduct  anj 
commercial  business.  It  is  among  the  strongest  signs  of  a 
progressive  national  life  that  it  is  able,  from  time  to  time,  to 
dispense  with  the  presence  of  the  State  in  spheres  of  action 
where  formerly  it  wat<  conspicuous  or  supreme.  In  the  aettlo> 
mcnt  of  religious  creeds,  in  the  ordering  of  University  tests, 
and  in  the  toleration  of  dissenting  churches,  all  of  them  sub- 
jects with  which  the  State  formerly  concerned  itself,  to  the 
neglect  of  its  real  duties,  we  have  utterly,  and  for  ever,  du* 
carded  all  idea  of  legislative  interference.  The  disputes  o{ 
ecclesiastical  litigants  are  remitted  to  the  ordinary  tribunal 
and  a  theological  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons  has  bo- 
come  as  impossible  as  a  discussion  on  the  attributes  of  the 
Grand  Lama. 

The  formation  in  this  country  of  a  public  associatioDt  in- 
cluding names  of  the  highest  class,  with  the  object  of  largely 
abridging  the  exclusive  Ownership  of  Land,  is  a  remarkable 
event.  It  is  quite  puerile  to  affect  to  be  angry  at  such  % 
proceeding,  or  to  expect  to  put  an  end  to  it  by  contempt  and 
abuse.  The  allegations  must  be  met  and  examined  on  their 
own  merits,  and  they  must  be  disproved  by  the  only  kind  of 
refutation  which  eflfcctually  answers  the  purpose:  the  refuta- 
tion, namely,  of  stronger  arguments  and  more  concluuve 
evidence.  It  is  inevitoble  that  discussions  of  this  nature 
should  arise  from  time  to  time;  but  it  does  not  always  happen 
that  the  innovating  party,  as  in  this  instance,  have  the  aid 
of  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  living  masters  of  language 
in  setting  out  their  propoi^als. 

The  programme  of  the  Land  Tenure  Reform  Associatioa 
contains  ten  articles,  and  as  regards  six  of  them,  there  will  be 
but  little  dispute  anywhere.  We  are  all  in  favour  of  (1 ) 
removing  all  legal  and  fiscal  impedunents  to  the  transfer  o^ 
land  ;  of  (2)  restricting  within  the  narrowest  limits  the  powe^ 
of  tying  up  land,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  leave  it  withoatf 
some  owner  having  full  actual  power  of  dealing  with  it  as  aitf 
article  of  hire  or  sale;  of  (3)  assimilating  as  concerns  resfl 
estate  the  law  of  intestacy  to  the  same  law  as  affects  per- 
sonalty, namely,  that  the  absence  of  a  will  shall  distribute  Dotbtf 
realty  and  personalty  among  the  survivors.  StiQ  more  em — 
phatically  will  public  opinion  accept  the  doctrine  that  (4)  the  in— - 
closure  oi  common  and  waste  lands  shall  be  strenuously  i^^oistetf 


btereste  of  the  public  health  and  the  neoessities  of  a  grow- 
tiliitioii.  We  shall  also  all  agree  that  (5]  it  is  deairable, 
EI*  possible,  to  preserve  a  certain  portion  of  the  eom- 
ad  wftstes  in  their  wild  natural  beauty ;  anil  (6)  1  du 
Iw  that  as  an  abetract  proposition  (hero  is  much  danger 
stiggestion  that  the  State  should  poaeesa  compuleory 
}l  purchasing,  at  a  fair  price,  "natural  and  artificial 
'attached  to  the  eotl,  and  being  of  historical,  scientific, 
lie  interest." 

rem&itiing  four  articles  of  the  programme  are  of  a 
ftchsracter.  They  claim  (7)  for  the  benefit  of  the  Stale 
iture  unearned  increase  of  the  rent  of  laud  "  arising 
fe  mere  progress  of  the  country  in  wealth  and  populu- 
Chey  farther  claim  (8)  that  the  State  shall  from  time 
purchase  esfules  in  the  market  and  let  them  off  tn  co- 
FC  agricultural  asaociatioos;  that  (9)  estates  shall  ba 
y  procured  and  let  off  to  small  cultivators;  and  lastly, 
))  lands  belonging  to  the  Cruwu,  public  bodies,  and 
lie  and  other  endowments,  nhalL  be  made  available  for 
arposes. 

tr.  Mill  candidly  admits  in  his  exposition  of  this  pro- 
i,  it  is  founded  in  essence  on  the  allegation  that  the  fee 
rf  the  land  of  a  country  should  belong  only  to  the  State 
banity;  and  that  there  should  be  no  such  thing  as  full 
tsive  ownership  permitted  to  private  persona ;  and  he 
alao  that  the  ultimate  intention  of  tnc  scheme  is  to 
he  whole  of  the  land,  houses,  mines,  and  minerals,  into 
tody  of  the  State,  to  be  managed  by  functionaries  for 
nefit  of  the  national  exchequer,  with  the  view  of 
bidg,  or  even  superseding  entirely,  ordinary  taxes. 
U  differs  from  another  association,  who  propose  to  carry 
I  plan  at  once  by  getting  the  State  to  resume  all  the 
ouaes,  mines,  and  minerals,  under  compulsory  powem 
iftse,  and  have  the  rents  paid  into  tlie  exchequer ;  and 
feaaoa  of  bis  dissent,  Mr.  Mill  says — 

IT9  flo  poor  an  opinion  of  State  management,  or  municipal 
OiBot  eithci',  that  I  am  afraid  many  years  would  elapse  before 
iiDQ  realised  by  the  State  would  be  sulBcieut  to  pay  th^  in- 
[whleh  would  1)0  justly  claimed  by  (be  dispossessed  proprietors. 
[ros,l  fear,  a  greater  degree  of  public  virtue  and  public 
Bi^e,  than  bos  yet  been  atloined,  tu  admintster  all  the  land  of 
y  like  this  on  public  account." 

it  statement,  at  all  events,  we  shall  every  one  of  us  i^^ee. 
iftt  A  suggestion  it  is  "  To  manage  all  the  land  of  the 
"  ■  "O  public  account  i"   One  of  the  earliest  and  most 


tMl^Fubli 


124  Address  on  Economy  ami  Trade. 

universal  occupations  of  the  human  race  has  been  the  manage^j 
ment  of  land,  and  if  there  be  any  single  result  of  experienoat 
more  certain  thnn  another,  it  is,  that  to  manage  even  a  small 
are:i  of  agricultural  land  profitably — to  say  nothing  of  houses, 
mines,  and  minerals — is  even  for  the  absolute  owner  of  that' 
land,  actin«T  in  person,  and  on  the  spot,  a  very  difficult  under- 
taking ;  and  the  difficulty  increases  geometrically  with  eveiy 
introduction  of  mere  agency  between  the  actual  cultivator  and 
the  owner.  Nobody  has  insisted  more  eloquently  than  Ife, 
Mill  upon  the  magic  influence  exerted  by  absolute  ownership, 
upon  the  peasant  proprietors  of  Belgium,  and  certain  parts  o( 
France.  They  submit  to  heat  and  cold,  hunger  and  thirst,  hours 
early  and  late,  to  improve  their  little  holdings,  because  the 
land  is  absolutely  thcii's,  with  all  it  contains  and  all  it  can  becomcii. 
and  because  no  lounging  functionary,  representing  a  shadowj 
and  remote  entity,  called  the  State,  can  stop  in  between  them, 
and  their  reward.  For  practical  purposes,  this  single  admV 
sion  of  Mr.  Mill's  upsets  his  scheme.  To  manage  profitablj 
and  well,  all  the  lands,  houses,  mines,  and  minerals  of  fi 
country  by  functionaries  for  the  public  account,  is  not  only,  ai 
he  admits,  impossible  now,  but  so  long  as  human  nature  remaiiu 
what  it  is,  will  be  impossible  for  all  time. 

Nor  is  the  other  allegation,  namely,  that  the  increment  of 
rent  arising  from  the  mere  progress  of  wealth  and  populadon,. 
should  belong  to  the  State,  more  tenable  than  the  scheme  rf. 
an  universal  land  and  house  agency  of  public  functionaries. 
The  primary  and  indispensable  condition  of  all   increase  ot 
wealth   in   a  country  is,  that   every  man  and   woman   shiD 
apply  their  labour  and  faculties  under  the  most  direct  personil 
motives  of  loss  and  gain,  and  with  perfect  certainty  that  they 
will  be  permitted  to  reap  their  full  reward.     It  is  very  easy  to 
say  on  ])aper  that  the  future  increment  of  rent  arising  from  popu- 
lation and  wealth  should  belong  to  the  nation ;  but  practicallj 
the  thing  would  be  impossible  without  raising  so  many  litlga: 
tions  and  dis])utcs,  that  no  man  would  know  whether  he  was' 
working  for  himself  or  for  the  State,  represented  by  function- 
aries, living   and  moving  in  red   tape,  certificates,   reporta» 
signatures,  and  all  the  machinery  of  a  circumlocution  office  of 
the  largest  calibre.     The  scheme  is  bad  because  it  takes  awaT 
and  impairs  those   motives  of  enterprise,  forethought,  Beli'* 
denial,  and  industry  apart   from  which  there  cannot  be  foc 
long  either  any  public  estate  to  administer  or  any  privati^ 
estate  to  tax.     The  true  policy  of  a  legislature  is  to  leave  it^ 
subjects  to  become  rich  in  their  own  way,  subject  to  as  feir" 
restraints  as  possible ;  and   from  time  to  time  to  raise  thcp 
needful  revenue  from  those  riches  and  the  other  resources  p£ 


Bg  XViUinm  Nmmarch,  F.R.S. 


ISS 


iQiitiy,  according  to  tlie  beat  principles  of  practical 
It  is  the  biifiiiiGss  of  the  people  to  provide  a  eurfiice 
tafion:  and  the  busiueas  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
w  to  skim  ofT  from  it,  with  the  lightest,  most  ecientiflc, 
tst  seductive  touch,  the  smalleal  portion  possible — and  he 
rhoUjr  unfit  for  his  office  if  he  does  not  now  and  then 
to  reach  the  growing  incomes  from  real  property, 
ve  iiaid  that  all  experience  ia  against  the  practicability 
laging  with  beneht  and  success  lands,  houses,  mines 
inerals,  hy  mere  Aijente.  Proofs  of  this  statement  on 
gest  Ecale,  and  in  the  most  favourable  portions  of  this 
y,  are  to  be  found  in  the  history  and  condition  of  the 
■  estates  of  nearly  all  public  corpurationa  and  bodies 
a  relation  of  ownership  far  more  close  and  personal 
»ti!(t  attach  to  a  mere  Government  department.  1  Eup- 
lat  QO  one  will  affirm  that  the  vast  landed  estate<4 
y  and  at  present  belonging  to  bishops,  deans,  and 
'a,  and   the  Ecclefiiastical  Commiasion,  can  bear  com- 

for  energy  and  skill  of  management  with  private  pro- 
,  The  same  remark  applies  in  the  mass  to  the  estates 
ed  by  cotlegcB,  companies,  and  corporations — and  above 
JbaA  all  to  the  properties  administered  by  the  Court  of 
sry.  The  Land  Tenure  Iteform  Association  have  heard,  I 
je,  of  "  Itleak  House,"  and  are  prepared  with  some  reply 
"The  vast  territories  in  the  nortli  of  Ireland,  acriuired 
two  centuries  ngu  by  the  Corporation  of  London  and 

of  iTia  Liverj- Companies,  are  a  still  more  pertinejit 

point ;  for  eo  obvious  has  it  become  from  long  exjteri- 
Ihiit   theae  great  estates  cannot  he   managed   by   dele- 

bO  as  to  yield  a  fair  return,  that  it  has  been  long 
ly  urged  on  the  proprietors  that  they  shuuld  be  sold, 
one  or  two  cases  this  suggestion  is  now  being  acted  on, 

13  the  scheme  stronger  in  those  portions  of  it  which 
i  thttt  the  Government  should  buy  up  landed  estates 

them  off  to  co-operative  agricultural  labourers,  to  small 
tora,and  to  artisan  householders.  Apart  from  all  theory, 
IBcicnt  answer  is  that  the  tiling  is  being  done  already, 
^be  best  way,  under  ihc  stimuiua  of  ordinary  speculation 
6&t.     One  of  the  statistical  wanta  of  the-  time  is  a  full 

ipartial  history  of   the   Land   and   Building    Societies 

during  the  last  thuty  years,  have  converted  into 
1  of  plots  and  houses,  tens  of  thousands  of  the  working 
,  who,  under  the  stimulus  of  those  magic  words  of 
Liiive  Poseession,"  derided  by  the  new  reformers,  have 

ed.  severe  self-denial  iu   order  to  lay-by  a  sutficieucy 
:«  f^  meet  their  purchases.    There  are  eome  foor  or 


126  Addi*€Bs  en  Economy  and  Trad€. 

five  of  these  Bocieties  so  powerful  and  wealthy  as  to  be  ab]^ 
to  buy  up  estates,  costing  scores  of  thousands  of  pounds.  I 
know  myself  of  three  large  estates  so  purchased,  and  aof 
occupied  by  nearly  a  thousand  separate  owners.  By  no  chu 
in  the  country  would  this  new  notion  of  appropriating  tU 
future  increment  of  rent,  bo  more  thoroughly  disliked  Of 
more  fiercely  resisted  than  by  these  artisan  proprietors.  Thsf 
have  toiled  and  pinched  to  become  entire  and  absolute  owneiii 
for  better  and  worse,  for  now  and  for  ever,  and  they  will  not 
lightly  relinquish  their  possessions.  Already  there  is  no  fizid 
commodity  in  tliis  country  more  actively  dealt  in  than  haL 
It  can  be  bought  in  almost  any  quantities,  and  anywhere,  and 
when  the  process  of  landed  titles  is  simplified — as  simplified 
it  must  and  will  be,  if  by  no  other  party  then  by  the  landowner! 
themselves,  in  their  own  interest — real  estate  in  England 
will  be  transferred  backwards  and  forwards  as  easily  as  in 
Hamburgh.  Mr.  Mill  has  mentioned  30,000  as  representina 
about  the  number  of  persons  owning  the  cultivated  surfiuse  a 
England.  This  figure  is  a  curious  instance  of  the  oarelesi 
reading  of  the  Census  tables.  Instead  of  any  such  figure 
as  30,000  representing  the  number  of  persons  who  are  directly 
interested  in  the  ownership  of  lands,  houses,  mines,  and 
minerals  in  England,  I  beheve  that  twenty  or  thirty  tin^i 
30,000  would  be  within  the  truth ;  and  considering  the  giON 
misconceptions  and  prejudices  which  arc  diffused  among  even 
intelligent  people  on  the  subject  of  land,  and  its  possession  byi 
supposed  small  class,  it  would  probably  be  a  wise  measnye 
to  have  the  facts  ascertained  by  a  Itoyal  Commission,  which 
might  also  report  on  tlic  extent  and  capabilities  of  the  Waste 
lands  of  the  island — as  for  example,  how  far  convict  or  pauper 
labour  could  bo  systematically,  and  over  a  long  term  of  yean, 
applied  to  the  reclamation  of  Exmoor  and  Dartmoor  and  con- 
siderable areas  of  tidal  land,  recoverable  from  the  sea. 

The  plea  of  urgency  put  forward  by  the  land  reformers  is 
the  pressure  of  Taxation,  a  pressure  to  be  relieved  acGording 
to  their  philosophy  by  the  kind  of  universal  land  and  house 
agency  carried  on  by  State  functionaries,  which  I  have  jost 
examined.  In  a  country  where  70  millions  sterlins  of  n- 
vcnuc  is  raised,  the  critics  of  taxation  can  never  lack  in 
audience.  But  everything  is  relative,  and  the  effect  of  i 
burden  depends  far  less  on  its  own  weight,  than  on  the  strenffdi 
which  supports  it.  Seventy  millions  with  our  present  popula- 
tion and  wealth  exerts  far  less  pressure  than  did  40  miuiops 
thirty  years  ago.  The  period  of  most  severe  and  crushing 
taxation  in  this  country  was  the  twenty  years  from  1815  to 
1835.    We  were  then  slowly  recovering  from  the  exhaustion  of 


fly  Wiliiam  Netemarch,  P.R.S.  127 

[reat  war,  and  not  only  were  tlie  taxes  searohiiig  and  heavy, 
^ihey  were  adjuBted  on  false  and  destructive  priuciples, 
Ition  19  not  now  oar  chief  difficulty,  it  la  almoat  our  least, 
ember  tliat  the  asaessmcDts  on  malt,  apirits,  wtne,  and 
(CO,  biing  in  3 1  millions  out  of  the  seventy,  or  nearly  half ; 
1*0,  eugar,  and  coffee,  contribute  at  very  minute  assesa- 
8  pet  pound  weight,  only  7  millions,  and  that  property,  in 
form    or    another,  supplies   the   remaining   32  millions. 

0  these  are  the  facts  is  it  not  obvious  that  the  working 
ea  have  the  remission  of  taxes  wholly  in  their  own  powerr 
r  own  eeif-imposed  contributions  to  the  exchequer,  in 
tmn  of  spirits,  beer,  and  tobacco  consumed,  are  many  times 
tcr  than  the  duties  on  tea  and  suj^ar.  Ho  palpable  is  this 
that  it  is  hard  to  rceist  describing  nine-tenths  of  the  talk 
i  excessive  and  unfair  taxation  of  the  poorer  classes  as 
ikery  and  clap-trap.  The  working  clasaea  must  bear  their 
hnd  reasonable  share  of  the  coat  of  upholding  the  inatitn- 
,  security,  and  honour  of  the  country.     Beyond  all  others, 

have  most  direct  intereat  in  the  maintenance  of  that 
ict  security  of  person  and  property  which  lies  at  the  very 
of  all  our  ndvantBgcs  and  progress.  France  is  an  example 
liat  political  and  social  insecurity  means  for  the  labouring 
■  of   the  nation.     Itich  people  can   get  away,  but   poor 

Ke  cannot,  and  must  bear  the  brunt  of  famine,  sword,  and 
e  occupation. 

Lowe's  fli)eech  of  2nd  June  last,  in  reply  to  a  motion  by 
White,  pointing  to  a  further  reduction  of  the  duties  of 
[fid  sugar,  was  not  a  whit  too  distinct  and  positive. 

t  am  come,"  he  saiJ,  "  to  the  alternative  suggested,  that  in  pre- 
M  to  paying  ofl'  tbe  National  Debt  we  shoulU  reduce  the  duties 
lidos  consumed  by  the  poor,  such  as  tea,  sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  but 
obacco.  The  hon.  gentleman  lalked  of  the  severe  pressure  upon 
of  having  the  necegsarlea  of  liro  taxed,  but  the  exprcacioD, 
__  rio«  of  life,'  is  a  mere  affair  of  words,  Oue  portion  of 
!ty  considers  as  Dccessaries  of  life  articles  wbich  auother  portion 
■aol  think  ^a.  I  do  not,  object  to  iLe  lion,  gentleman  calling  tea 
tpgu:  necessaries  of  life,  but  tbe  more  calling  tbem  eo  does  not 

1  Uiein  BO  in  the  sense  used  in  taxation.  What  is  meant  in  refe- 
I  to  taxation  by  the  ptiraac,  '  uecessariea  of  life,'  is  the  tbiugs 
ted  for  the  support  of  life.  Tbe  Ehilling  duty  on  corn  amounted 
rax,  in  regard  to  wheat  and  ihe  cereals  eutering  into  the  compo- 

of  bread,  of  2^  per  ceat,  on  the  bread  of  tbe  poor,  and  when 
lear  so  much  of  the  bardflhip  of  a  2J  per  eent.  ioeomo  tax,  it 
n  be  thought  an  unworthy  act  to  have  taken  off  a  2^  per  cent, 
n  com,  which  was,  in  ttio  strictest  sense,  a  tax  on  the  noces- 
iM  iif^    Tbe  hon.  geutlemui  considei's  that  the  duties  ou  t«a 


1 28  Address  on  Economy  and  Trade. 

and  sugar  sliould  be  taken  off  altof^tlicr,  as  being  necessaries  of  life, 
but  tbut  the  poor  should  continue  to  pay  the  duties  on  sdmulants  wdA 
tobucco.  Such  a  course  of  proceeding  would  be  tantamonia  to 
declaring  that  those  of  the  working  men  who  had  no  taste,  or  bot 
little  taste  for  stimulants,  should  pay  no  taxes,  or  be  but  ligbtlj 
taxed.  Nothing  could  be  more  dangerous  than  such  a  doctrine.  As 
the  electoral  suilrage  is  now  settled,  the  householders  of  the  conntiy 
have  an  influential  voice  in  electing  those  who  ore  to  make  laws  for 
the  country,  and  if  it  were  made  optional  for  them  only  to  be  taxed 
according  as  they  consumed  certain  luxuries,  the  effect  would  be  that 
you  would  have  one  set  of  persons  empowered  to  impose  taxes,  wUk 
another  set  of  persons  would  have  to  pay  them.  The  poorer  classes' 
would  tax  the  rich,  while  they  themselves  would  be  free  from  the 
burden  of  taxation.  A  rich  inhabitant  of  New  York  once  com- 
plained of  the  course  pursued  by  the  people  in  electing  persons  tito 
spent  millions  of  the  money  of  the  city  without  having  anything  to 
show  for  it,  and  added  that  if  honest  persons  were  elected  the  money 
would  be  more  beneficially  expended.  The  person  addressed 
replied — '  What  is  it  to  us  ?  It  is  y<^u  who  pay  and  not  we.'  The 
same  would  be  the  case  here  if  the  proposition  of  the  Hon.  member 
bhould  be  adopted,  for  then  a  privileged  class  would  be  erected,  and 
you  would  lose  the  only  satisfactory  check  on  the  mode  of  imposiog 
taxation. 

'^  The  adoption  of  such  a  proposition  would  also  have  a  prejudicial 
effect  on  the  capital  and  resources  of  the  country,  to  an  extent  thit 
can  scarcely  be  conceived.  If  you  are  going  to  destroy  all  Indireet 
taxation,  where  are  the  resources  to  come  from  to  enable  you  to  meet 
the  requisite  payments  on  account  of  the  debt,  and  to  provide  for  the 
necessary  cxi)enditure  of  the  country.  It  would  hardly  be  possible 
to  have  a  revenue  sufficiently  elastic  to  meet  the  burden  of  the  public 
necessities.  The  debt  would  remain,  but  the  sources  from  which  it 
is  paid  would  be  exhausted.  If  the  tea  and  sugar  duties  tre 
abolished,  tlio  result  will  bo  that  whenever  any  great  demand  has  to 
be  made  on  the  resources  of  the  country,  it  must  bo  made  by  Direct 
taxation,  and  up  to  a  point  so  oppressive  as  to  render  it  even  a 
greater  evil  to  the  poorer  classes  than  if  they  hud  to  pay  a  cartaio 
portion  of  the  amount  required.  If  you  try  to  carry  direct  taxatioa 
beyond  certain  limits,  capital  will  make  itself  wings  and  fly  away." 

Mr.  Lowe's  just  and  fitting  afHrmation  of  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  Indirect  taxation  as  a  constant  and  considerable 
integer  in  our  ways  and  means,  suggests  a  reference  to  the 
conclusions  arrived  at  after  lon^  inquiry  by  the  New  York 
Commission^  under  Mr.  David  W  ells^  regarding  the  attempt* 
made  in  the  United  States  to  tax  the  capitals  composing  Per- 
sonal property — ^oods,  furniture^  stock-in-trade^  flocks^  herds, 
ships,  bonds,  bills,  warrants,  securities,  and  the  like — in  a 
Direct  form.  In  the  most  emphatic  manner  the  Conunissionen 
condemn  the  attempt  as  futile  and  mischievous — as  leading  to 


a  aitd  grotesque  tailuri.',  oo  »  reeource  of  revoDue—anil 
lucing;  wi  amount  of  decoit  and  false  sn'earing  beyond 
tiou.     Here  ia  oite  of  a  host  of  ia^tancea: — 

{Dint committee  oftlie  Ifgiakture  beld  asesslon  in  New  York, 
atniued  luto  the  mnniicr  and  mode  of  ttCc  nssefstneut  of  pro- 
[d  that  city.  They  iiscertained  that  only  ftbout  eixteen 
tcrliuj;  of  cnpitnl  of  peninnal  property  was  [Jaced  upon  the 
It  of  the  entire  city.  Tlie  commiiteo  inqiiireil  of  those  who 
pforu  tliem-^nnd  thoy  wore  gentlemen  of  great  intelligence 
nnesB  csjiocity.  one  of  them  of  tha  Jirm  of  Brown,  Brotliors, 
i-if  they  thought  tlutt  one-third  of  the  personal  property  of 
prk  City  was  placed  on  the  aiseasnient  roll.  This  gentlotnau 
U  his  actjuiiiiitauoo  was  limited  compurcd  with  sonm  mlier 
leo,  but  lie  halieved  ho  knew  pcri;(kns  witliiii  hia  own  small 

Eloue  owning  ug  tnauli  personal  property  as  the  whole  six- 
III^DS.  Another  wituca.*,  IMr.  I'it^rre point,  of  New  York, 
iBtho  could  tiatne  in  the  State  thirty  men  whose  aggregate 
wna  forty  millions  sterling,  or  five  miilimis  sterling  in  excess 
olHciiU  valuation  of  all  the  personnl  property  of  the  entire 

'[ynietieal  result  of  the  iaqnirieB  of  the  CommUaion,  and 
ecunmendations  which   they  unanimously  and  Btrongly 

Kthat  all  attempts  lo  tikx  directly  the  capitals  i^preseut- 
_.WMial  estate  be  abandoned  as  futile  aiid  demoralising ; 
ii  the  American  legislatures  adopt  at  uiice  the  Euglish 
^le  of  taklug  tbe  rental  of  bouses  and  occupied  buildings 
best  unit  for  direct  assu^meut,  and  as  the  most  certain 
ti>  the  value  of  the  personal  estates  of  the  ownera  or 
^^TB.    It  i»  no  small  advantage  to  have  the  beneEt  of 
eeult  in  such  a  quarter  at  a  time  when  we  seem  likely 
'put  forward  proposals  for  amending  our  Ijocal  taxation 
»ing  personal  property  into  the  schedules. 
imjMresiblc  to  Bay  how  far  the  frauds  and  chicanery  of 
vetiue^ystem  may  have   helped    (o  degrade  Amencan 
pinion  to  a  point  so  low  that,  for  one  year  after  another, 
Seen  possible  for  the  Ttimniany  Oacg  to  hold  the  govern- 
i£  N«w  York  City,  and  to  curry  it  on  with  barefaced 
f.oud  corruptjon-r— for  a  small  knot  of  gamblers  to  con- 
tho  tra«le  ot  the  entire  Union    by  the  notorious  Gold 
"^ rig" of  ftieptomber,  \>>W — ov,  still  further,  for  Fisk  and 
to  keep  pussee^iou  of  the  Erie  Knilway  lor  a  term  of 
4itaijUiun  an  opera  house  and  ballet  out  of  the  proceeds, 
»  us  many  bonds  and  shares  as  they  think  proper — and  to 
deiisace  native  and   foreign  creditors  and  sriareholders, 
\  tbe  Slate  CuuiU  into  tbe  bargain.     If  brigandage  like 
I^Jjj^c^cied  on  as  aa  iostituUon  in  settled  eocieties  our 


130  Address  on  Economy  aihi  Trade. 

functions  in  this  section  are  at  an  end.  Political  eoonoi 
supposes  swift  and  equal  justice,  and  emphatically  the  flc 
dign  punishment  of  swindlers,  cheats  and  malefaotota. 
the  office  of  the  judge  fails,  still  more  if  the  judge  hima 
becomes  an  accomplice  with  the  thief,  it  is  a  mockery  in  so 
a  country  to  talk  of  material  and  moral  progress.  The  fan 
dations  are  gone,  the  whole  edifice  is  rotten,  and  the  cati 
trophe  will  in  its  own  time  come.  Coleridge  sud  on 
memorable  occasion,  ^^If  I  was  a  clergyman  in  a  Goru 
parish  where  wrecking  was  practised,  I  should  leave  all  oth 
topics  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and  do  nothing  but  preas 
teach,  and  punish  till  wrecking  was  put  a  stop  to."  Ho 
many  people  are  there  in  the  United  States  who  will  follow 
like  course  against  the  culprits  who  have  organized  the 
robberies — against  the  judges  who  aid  and  abet  them--v 
against  the  vicious  institutions  which  permit  such  men  to  I 
magistrates,  to  caricature  the  office,  and  grow  rapidly  ai 
complacently  rich  on  bribes  and  ben^actions. 

There  is  another  special  topic,  and  it  is  the  last  to  be  n 
ferred  to.  It  is  a  topic,  also,  ui)on  which  it  is  probable  that  n 
views  may  not  be  those  of  tne  more  numerous  part  of  ■ 
audience,  I  mean  the  Commercial  Treaty  of  1860  betwtc 
France  and  this  country.  For  revenue  and  other  purpoa 
France  is  now  wisely  or  unwisely  desirous  of  altering  manji 
the  rates  of  duty  stipulated  by  that  treaty,  and  finds  heM 
in  the  dilemma  ot  having  to  negotiate  with  a  foreign  power  i 
a  purely  domestic  question.  England,  if  so  minded,  can  for 
year  prevent  France  making  fiscal  changes,  rendered  necesm 
to  French  finance,  say  the  French  Government,  by  the  eflbe 
of  the  German  war.  The  position  is  harassing  and  unnatim 
and  strongly  illustrates  the  force  of  one  of  the  objeetiona  I 
all  commercial  treaties,  namely,  the  possibility  that  under  thei 
a  country  may  cease  to  have  full  control  over  its  own  domeiti 
afiairs,  and  may  be  compelled  to  ask  the  permission  of  a  foreig 
power  before  it  can  settle  its  own  budget.  Any  trade  subject  I 
such  contingencies  is  artificial  and  casual.  In  April,  1870,  tl 
Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce  sent  to  Messrs*  DolUi 
Mieg,  &  Co.,  of  Mulhouse,  a  remarkable  reply  to  inquiiw 
made  by  them  relative  to  the  effect  of  the  French  Treaty  on  tli 
Cotton  trade.  The  French  manufacturere  were  under  the  io 
pression  that  the  treaty  had  conferred  immense  benefits  o 
Lancashire,  but  the  Manchester  Chamber  told  them  a  top 
difierent  story.    They  said : — 

"  We  send  yon  returns,  which  show  how  very  iitde  the  coniBlioi 


WMMemA,  FM-S. 


131 


he  Ooftoa  trade  from  1860  to  1869  has  been  amdiorated  by  any 

ftrcoarse  resultmg  from  the  French  Treaty.     Although  oor  Board 

idf  Timije  returoB  show  a  considerable  increase  in  the  export  of  cotton 

pwda  to  Frnnue  since  1860,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  Ibe 

tgmea  include  reliirns  of  goods  and  raw  cotton  in  traniitu,  and,  nn- 

kthia  be  iiodenlood,  the  figures  misleaJ,  since  we  have  no  return 

^B  Curried  to  France  solely  tor  liome  consumption  there." 


te  same  reault  will  be  found  in  other  large  industries.  To 
Uorer  extent  the  arrangement  of  1860  may  have  enlarged 
k  between  France  an<]  England,  the  reenlt  ia  wholly  dtie 

the  Free  Trade  principle  of  removing  or  reducing  duties. 

Bttpposing  this  removal  or  reduction  to   have  been  adopted, 

pure  and  simple,  either  by  one  or  both  the  countries,  every 

possible   advantage    ivould   have    been   secured   without  any 

tiutty  At  all.     In  I860,  we  could  afford  to  reduce  our  customs' 

duties  on  French  wines,  brandies,  silks,  and  bronzes ;  and   if 

we  had  done  ao  without  any  reference  whatever  to  the  French 

Government,   and   without    troubling    ourselves    to   en<iuire 

vbethor  they  proposed  to  alter  even  a  single  item  in  their 

taritf,  results  the  same  as,  or  better  than,  tlioao   which  have 

happened  under  the  Treaty  would  have  flowed  from  the  simple 

i     '.'  reform.     The  lessened  duties  would  have  led  to 

j'ortfl  of  French  goods,  and,  as  tt  is  pretty  certain 

f'rencb  merchants  would  not  make  us  a  present  of 

--    _,      Is,  payment  would  Iibyc  been  made,  by  fair  orcontra- 

Liiid  means,  either  to  France  itself  or  to  some  country  to  which 

France   was  in  debt.      It  is  the  essence  of    free  trade  that 

tooh  country  shall  go  on  as  fast  as  possible,  reducing  and  sim- 

piiiyinjr  its  own  tariff,  without  troubling  itself  about  the  tariff 

oi  other  States ;  and  for  the  aufticient  reason  that  low  duties 

infallibly  bring  more  imports — (hat  the  benefit  of  foreign  trade 

coDfiisIs  in  the  imports — tliat   ia  in  what  we  receive,  not   in 

wimt  we  send  away — and  that  on  very  obvious  principles  of 

(iijinau  nature,  if  we  take  care  of  the  imports  the  exports  will 

'*  care   of   themselves.      These   are  the   doctrines   of   tlie 

IpoB  Merchants'  Petition  of  1820:  and  these  are  the  prin- 

B  which  governed  our  policy  from  ]>i45  to  18i)0,  a  period 

Bg  wbicli  our  commerce  underwent  rapid  expansion,  not- 

iutanding    the   tardy    steps   with   which    foreign     States 

pwea   our   free   trade   example.     I  held  this  language  in 

")  wbOD  the  Treaty  was  first  propounded  amidst  popular 

boae.     I  hold  it  now — and  there  is  no  great  hazard  in  the 

.  pcdiction  that,  before  very  long  we  shall  wholly  cease  to  trouble 

ouraelyeB  with  commercial  treaties,  and  revert  to  the  simple 

^l"J''"ir  f)i   Adam   Smith  and  Thomas  Tooke,  and  to  the 

9-2 


branches  of  knowledge  at  whicH,  by  general  consent^ 
confessed  that  only  in  pursuance  of  special  methods  and. 
ciples^  can  certain  conclusions,  essential  to  human  welfa 
ascertained  and  applied  ;  and  in  pursuance  of  this  confc 
Political  Economy  has  become  one  chapter  in  that  grei 
growing  canon  of  observation  and  induction,  by  mei 
which  mankind  are  beginning  to  understand  a  little  € 
wonderful  universe  around  them.  I  say  one  chapl 
the  great  book,  because  year  by  year  the  chapters  and 
ftions  multiply^  and  while  moro  accurate  knowledge  n 
every  line  sharper  and  plainer,  it  also  shows  us,  with 
increasing  light,  how  close  is  the  kinship  and  hai 
between  every  part  of  physical,  economical,  and 
phenomena.  The  essential  difficulty  of  economic  stud 
that  they  stand  midway  between  that  which  is  ph 
and  mathematical,  and  therefore  rigid  and  exact;  anc 
which  is  political  and  moral,  and  therefore  fluctuating  ai 
exact,  because  influenced  by  human  prejudices  and  pai 
The  economist  investigates  chiefly  the  results  produced  \ 
universal  motives  of  self-interest,  by  the  desire  of  mank: 
avoid  labour  and  pain,  and  enjoy  case  and  comfort ;  and 
his  sure  scientific  platform.  But  self-interest,  unlike  gi 
tion,  or  chemical  properties,  is  not  a  constant  quantity, 
always  present,  but  not  in  the  same  force ;  it  points  a 
towards  one  direction,  but  not  necessarily  in  a  straight 
The  economist,  therefore,  has  to  correct  ms  chart  much 
sailor  corrects  his  compass.  Both  observers  arc  certaii 
tlie  chief  indicator  upon  which  they  relv  cannot  be  wroDj 
in  the  use  of  it  safety  or  destruction  will  depend,  on  the 
rate  or  careless  way  in  which  the  deviations  it  is  subject 
allowed  for ;  and  nothing  but  proof  and  experiment  can  j 
confidence  in  the  calculated  corrections. 

It  is  one  of  our  advantages  in  this  island  that  we  ai 
likely  to  undervalue  the  national  and  individual  sti 
conferred  by  a  sound  economical  condition.  National 
means  industry  and  intelligence  placed  under  the  fitt^ 
ditions  for  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth-r-it 
a  State  wise  enough  to  take  as  few  taxes  as  possible 
those  few  with  the  least  detriment  to  its  subjects — and  it 


Sff  WtSwim  Ifkrmarfli,  F.R.S. 


133  ' 


Re  fortune  ample  for  every  piupos 


of  national  indepen- 
,  generosity,  and  honour ;  and  for  the  encouragement  of 
fsnits  which  add  to  ihe  dignity,  brightness,  and  useful- 
E  human  life.  Individually,  it  means  the  avoidance  of 
y  and  parsimony,  and  scope  and  occasion  for  the  hlossom- 

tlie  robust  virtues  which  find  their  eustenanco  in  trutii, 
pity,  and  freedom.  As  education  overtakes  the  ignorant 
,  this  process  of  appreciation  will  act  with  s  vast  force, 
ill  produce  like  reaulti^.  We  already  witness  some 
JiitB  of  these  results  in  the  quickness  and  decision  with 
the  public  mind  apprehends  and  disposes  of  new  cventis 
iiestions,  separates  the  shadowy  from  the  real,  the  de- 
[  and  dead  past  from  the  liviog  and  movinff  preKcut. 

have  also  in  this  country  two  other  advantaffcs — first 
ic  we  have  thoroughly  and  for  ever  cast  aside  ail  notions 
tected  classes  and  protected  trades.  We  are  prepared  to 
rith  facts  in  their  naked  form,  and  free  from  artificial 
K,  and   to  siuk  or  swim  as  free  competition  and  inter- 

with  all  the  world  may  determine.  And,  second,  we 
Jive  with  sacred  care  the  precious  instinct  of  oiir  fore- 
I  in  favour  of  equal  laws,  administered  with  a  vigour 
Ktice  which   compels  high  and  low  to  obey  and  fear 

So  long  as  this  public  polity  prevails  among  us,  we 
t  depart  far  from  a  sound  economical  condition.  Thn 
hi  communities  fell  to  nieces,  because,  with  them,  labour 
Sther  free  nor  honourable — the  modern  communities  will 
id  nourish  in  the  degree  in  which  tlie  workiof;  classes 
iind  feel  that  the  State  throws  open  to  its  Immblest 
t,  without  let  or  hindrance,  the  path  to  every  distinction, 
to  chances  of  every  prize,  I 

t  a  misuse  of  words,  therefore,  to  describe  England  aa  ' 
i  country.  A  country  is  not  old  by  reason  of  lapse  of 
nit  by  the  decay  of  courage,  intelligence,  and  virtue.  The 
of  our  institutions  may  reach  back  into  early  centuries, 
'  the  spirit  and  energy  of  them  live,  they  will  see  the 
r  many  experiments  more  recent  and  boastful :  and  it  is 
\e  in  ihia  country  the  only  traces  of  age  are  the  wisdom, 
itience,  and  the  resources  which  experience  alono  can 
that  we  look  with  confidence  to  a  future  time  when  the 
Inheritance  of  knowledge  and  freedom,  held  by  ourselves, 
lave   grown   into   a  yet   fairer   and  more  commanding 

and  the  masculine  ton^ueof  Shakespeare,  Newton,  and 

Smitii  be  the  olassica!  language  of  every  raoe,  from 
ilie  vorld  receives  laws  and  enlightenment. 


134 


^hhtii 


or 

GEORGE    WOODYATT    HASTINGS,    M.L, 

Barrister-at-Law, 
President  of  the  Council. 


IT  has  been  my  cndeavourj  In  discharging  tho  annual  dutj 
which  devolved  upon  me  from  illustrious  hands,  to  bring  | 
prominently  before  your  notice  those  questions  with  whicA, 
the  Council  of  the  Association  has  been  chiefly  OGCupL^ 
during  tho  past  year.  At  our  Newcastle  Congress  much  wm 
necessarily  said  on  the  subject  of  education ;  the  same  gr€|U 
topic  was  last  night  urged  upon  you  by  our  President,  withioi-, 
the  personal  weight  which  his  long  public  devotion  to  tl^ 
cause  of  national  education  must  give.  There  is  no  intentioii 
of  taking  you  this  morning  over  the  same  well-trodden  ground; 
my  wish  had  been  to  beg  your  attention  at  once  to  other 
topics,  but  circumstances  compel  a  different  course.  The  deep 
interest  which  this  Association  has  taken  in  the  advancement 
of  education,  the  influence  it  has  exerted  over  reoent  legisla- 
tion, and  the  duty  which  it  owes  to  the  people  in  their  higfaeit 
cause,  wiU  excuse  a  few  words  on  matters  which  are  to  me,  sa 
Chairman  of  a  school  board,  within  my  immediate  cognisanoef 
I  was  asked  the  other  day,  by  a  young  lady,  whether  school 
boards  were  not  very  dreadful  tmngs  ?  Possibly  sonie  siuk 
doubt  as  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  institution  pervades  a  con*, 
siderable  class^  but  it  is  to  bo  hoped  that  before  another  yW 
has  passed  away  the  results  obtained  in  improved  edujMe-. 
tion,  more  adequate  provision  for  teaching,  omidren  resbu^d 
from  the  streets,  and  parents  brought  to  a  sense  of  their  dt^«. 
will  dissipate  this  prejudice.  When  we  met  last  year  greatf 
perhaps  too  sanguine,  expectations  were  entertained  of  the 
immediate   effects  that   were  to  follow  the  dection  of  ik^ 


AfMrm*  h*/  Oto>^  Wmhfatt  Ilaitingi.  135 

A  proporttonnte  disappointment  is  likely  to  ensue, 
jostice  Blioald  be  done  to  thoec  engaged  in  the  work.  It 
i«  that  a  few  of  the  boards,  or,  to  apeak  more  accurately, 
members  of  a  few  boards,  have  exhibited  a  dispositiou  to 
ric,  which  hnrdly  bodea  well  for  practical  administration. 
,  taken  aa  a  whole  over  the  country,  it  may  be  doubted 
HLer  tliere  haa  been  luore  talk  than  has  been  necessary 
lear  the  field  of  obstroctione  to  future  action.  There 
howerer,  boards  whose  members  biive  not  talked,  but 
aet  thcmsclvca  down  simply  and  earnestly  to  do  the 
J  which  they  were  elected  to  perform.  Surely  those  who 
BO  might  fairly  expect  that  no  dbstacle  would  be  thrown 
'leir  way;  surely  those  who  looked  forward  with  hope  to 
rwultfl  of  the  Elementary  Education  Act  never  aulici- 
that  any  oflicial  barrier  would  be  raiacd  against  the 
96  of  the  work, 

ow,  I  will  tell  you  a  fact.  Tho  Worcester  School  Board 
'  its  first  meeting  on  February  1 6  last,  and  after  electing 
necessary  officers,  and  transacting  other  preliminary 
icw,  it  proceeded  to  its  duties  under  the  Act,  first  to 
tain  the  existing  educational  provision  for  the  city,  and 
Idly  to  supply  the  deficiencv  found  to  exist.  I  have  the 
*f  to  be  Chairmnn  of  the  board,  and  can  testify  to  the 
Irhich  has  animated  its  members.  For  six  months  there 
not  a  single  absentee  from  any  meeting,  and  though  the 
d  contains  representatives  of  various  politicnl  and  reliirioua 
19,  no  partisan  discnasion  has  ever  taken  place.  There 
ecti  a  unanimous  desire  that,  instead  of  making  speeches, 
lOuId  do  the  work  entraated  to  our  banda ;  and,  so  far 
M  In  our  jtowcr,  that  work  has  been  done.  After  ft 
jl  census  of  the  existing  schools,  and  a  comparison 
a  accommodation  they  provide  with  the  numbers  of 
■en  within  the  school  age,  we  came  to  the  conchiHion 
'a  deficiency  exists  to  the  amount  of  500.  After  moro 
'  One  effort  to  obtain  immediate  school  accommodation  to 
( this  deficiency,  which  came  to  nought  through  no  fault 
Urn,  we  determined  on  a  plan  for  providing  permanent 
tis  for  50O  children.  We  fixed  on,  and  made  a  pro- 
taX  contract  for  the  purchase  of,  the  moat  eligible  site, 
re  believe,  in  Worcester ;  and  for  thia  site  we  obtained 
Ipproval  of  the  Government  School  Inspector,  after  pro- 

ffor  its  enlargement  to  meet  his  recommendation.     All 
ad  been  done  by  the  month  of  June,  and  we  then  sub- 
pd  to  the  Education  Pepnvtment  of  the  Privy  Council  a 

Eetting  out  the  conclusions  we  had  arrived  at, 
n  which  they  were  baaed,  and  reqoeeting  the 


136  AMresf  by  (horge  Woodyati  Hastings^ 

sanction  of  the  Department  for  our  proposed  site  and  pla 
believe  that  in  doin^  this  we  were  ahead  of  overy  school 
in  the  provinces  of  England,  and  it  was  our  confident  ex| 
tion  that  before  the  time  at  which  I  am  now  addreesiBi] 
we  should  have  completed  our  purchase,  cleared  our  site 
have  been  in  a  fair  way  to  open  a  board  school  in  the 
part  of  next  year,  l^ut  from  the  moment  at  which  the 
ness  left  our  hands  we  liave  experienced  nothing  but  c 
From  the  beginniii;]^  of  June,  when  our  report  was  deli' 
to  the  {Secretary  of  the  Education  Department^  till  the 
of  August,  we  received  no  answer,  save  a  formal  aok 
ledgment.  On  tho  latter  date  we  were  favoured  with  a . 
informing  us  that  the  Office  was  not  ])reparcd  to  gi^ 
opinion  on  our  pr(>|K)sed  scheme,  but  that  we  were  at  li 
to  proceed  with  the  building  of  our  school  under  the 
section  of  the  Act.  Of  course  we  were.  It  did  not  re 
the  superior  wisdom  of  a  central  deiMirtmcut,  and  the  del 
many  weeks,  to  acquaint  us  with  tnc  powers  which  we 
to  be  vested  in  our  hands.  But  the  fact  wa«  overlooker! 
though  the  Act  enables  school  boanls  to  build  at  theii 
discretion,  tlie  money  which  they  require  to  do  so  can  p 
cally  be  obtained  only  by  tho  sanction  of  the  Privy  Coi 
Uur  scheme  is  calculated  to  cost  in  execution  about  5000 
is  impossible  with  any  justice  to  the  ratepayers  to  raise  t 
sum  in  a  single  year  by  precept  on  the  city  ;  and  the  bo: 
ing  powers  under  the  Act,  l)y  which  payment  can  be  s] 
over  fifty  years,  arc  not  available  till  the  Education  D< 
mont  has  signified  its  ap])roval  of  our  scheme.  We 
therefore,  brought  to  a  stand*still,  and  after  waiting  since 
last,  can  only  sec  before  us  a  prospect  of  waiting  many  m 
longer. 

Now,  it  does  not  concern  me  to  inquire  with  whoa 
blame  may  rest.  Whether  it  be  that  the  President  o 
Privy  Council  has  been  doing  high  service  to  the  State 
3000  miles  away,  or  that  the  Vice-President  has  beei 
much  occupied  in  the  House  of  Commons  to  core  for  car 
out  the  measure  of  his  own  creation,  or  to  what  other  < 
our  misfortune  is  due,  is  very  little  to  the  purpose.  Th 
remains  that  when  a  body  of  much  occupied  men,  eleet< 
the  purpose,  have  given  their  unpaid  services,  and  have  • 
fioed  time  and  personal  interest  to  carry  out  the  intentk 
the  Act,  the  officials  of  the  Department  which  is  charged 
the  measure  cannot  find  a  dozen  hours  for  tlieir  share  o 
Jabour.  What  a  commentary  on  the  homilies  we  so 
read  as  to  the  defaults  of  local  government  and  the  nw 
central  control*    And  what  a  prospect  for  the  ecoras  of 


Pmid«nt  of  tie  Cmneil,  137 

ivho  sre,  I  may  presume,  busied  in  tlic  prepara- 
p  schemes,  of  whom  we  are  only  the  Hrat  victims, 
ke  we  hare  gODe  ahead  of  the  rest!  This  Aeeoaiatioa,  I 
L  taoDot  fail  to  be  interested  in  the  due  execution  of  the 
mnd  I  comincmi  to  your  deliberate  notice  the  fact  that 
tional  provision  for  500  children,  now  morally  destitute, 
fecn  maeSnitcIy  postponed,  after  the  Worcester  Boaid 
one  its  duty,  by  ihe  Educatiou  Department  of  the  Privy 
(U. 

fling  to  the  subject  of  Public  Health,  I  may  observe  that 
fauts  aliDuld  constitute  a  useful  warning  a;^ainst  any 
Eto  Srubject  our  sanitary  administration  to  the  close 
of  a  central  office.  The  Act  paesed  during  last  session 
kinp  name,  aa  it  was  meant  to  have.  But  what  if  a 
I'  Ooremment  Board  means  the  preservalion  of  local 
timeut  ID  name,  and  its  abolition  in  practice  ?  This  may 
k  the  object  aimed  at.  but  it  is  the  nlttmate  mischief  to 
inidod.  It  is,  I  think,  unfortunate  that  this  portion  ot 
leommeudations  of  the  late  Sanitary  Commission  has  been 
|d  by  the  Legislature  before  the  rest  have  been  adc- 
iy  considered ;  for  the  whole  scheme,  in  a  great  degree, 
HJtojretlier.  Those  recommendations  were  embodied  in 
Ul  that  has  been  laid  before  Parliament  by  Sir  Charles 
(tiey,  and  they  have  been  commented  on  at  length  in  a 
llMtely  issued  by  our  Council.  I  beg  for  that  document 
ttention  it  deserves  from  our  members ;  it  was  moiuly 
red  by  Dr.  Kumsey,  whose  opinion  on  health  questions, 
hklly  oo  all  relating  to  the  due  organization  of  a  ^-anitary 
W,  is  probably  more  weighty  than  that  of  any  other 
In  the  kingdom.  It  reviews  at  length  the  recommen- 
IB  of  the  lioyal  Sanitary  Commission,  and  enters  into 
p  detat)  on  questions  which  I  can  only  cursorily  bring 
Cyou.  I  will,  however,  ask  you  to  bear  with  me  for  a 
Iknace  in  reference  to  one  or  two  leading  points.  Let 
fion  doing  so,  bear  willing  witness  to  the  value  of  the 
binitary  Commie«ion.  We  may  feel  a  legitimate  interest 
Lork,  tor  it  was  in  compliance  with  a  request  urged  by 
■totioD  from  our  Council  in  the  spring  of  1868  that  the 
nssion  waa  issued  by  the  Crown.  A  deep  debt  of  grati- 
||  dae  to  its  members,  and  specially  to  it*  Chairman,  Sir 
ps  Add«rley,  for  the  vast  labour  with  which  they  have 
Iblated  evidence  of  high  value,  and  for  their  learned, 
b]d  most  suggestive  report.  It  is  at  once  a  reward  and 
ftfication  of  the  pertinacity  with  which  onr  Council,  in 
ftction  with  a  sister  society,  the  Britieh  Medical  Asso- 
'  ;  for  an  authorized  inquiry  into  the  defects  of 


bfWriit  fo 


138  Address  by  Oiorg$  Woad^  HditinffSy 

our  Banitary  laws  and  adminiBtration,  that  the  Oommiwha 
has  put  on  record  a  series  of  facts  and  opinions  which  w9 
absolutely  compel  legislation.  But  it  will  be  admitted  that  U 
we  are  to  consolidate  our  law  and  remodel  our  admuiistiatum' 
as  to  health  matters,  it  were  well  to  do  so  in  the  best  possiUe 
way. 

Now,  at  the  bottom  of  this  whole  subject,  lies  the  questioQi 
what  is  to  be  the  area,  or,  as  it  has  been  the  fashion  lately  to 
call  it,  the  unit  of  sanitary  administration  ?  Is  it  to  be  the 
parish,  or  the  union,  or  the  county,  or  some  still  larger 
district?  This  is  not^  as  might  at  first  sight  appear,  « 
question  of  convenience  merely,  but  one  of  principle,  one 
which,  decide  it  how  you  will,  must  affect  the  whole  eenw 
plcxion  of  future  legislation.  It  will  be  admitted,  at  onee, 
that  ancient  prejudice,  not  to  be  disregarded  without  rearan, 
is  in  favour  of  small  areas  of  local  government.  But  in  thii 
case,  there  is  reason  to  set  aside  the  wisdom  of  our  fatherii 
because  the  great  innovator.  Time,  has  swept  away  the  stats 
of  things  on  which  their  ideas  were  founded.  In  old  dayi, 
local  administration  was  limited  as  much  as  possible  to  a  smtdl 
space,  on  account  of  the  difKculty  of  locomotion.  When  the 
roads  were  so  im))asaable  in  winter,  that  it  took  a  day  to  perform 
a  journey  of  a  few  miles,  it  was  obvious  that  the  more  work 
could  be  done  within  the  boundaries  of  the  parish  the  better. 
The  creation  of  turnpike  roads  in  the  latter  half  of  the  lastceiH 
tury,  and  the  subsequent  improvement  of  parish  highways,  made 
such  an  administration  as  that  of  the  Poor-Law  Unions  a 
possibility.  But,  at  the  ])resent  time,  the  general  introduction 
of  railways,  even  in  remote  districts,  has  made  the  access  to 
our  county  towns  an  attair  of  an  hour  or  two.  Probably,  it 
is  now  as  easy  to  collect  the  necessary  attendants  at  quarter- 
sessions  and  assizes,  from  all  parts  of  a  shire,  as  it  was  formerly 
to  gather  the  rate-payers  of  an  average*sized  parish  in  thmr 
vestry-room.  Increased  facility  of  locomotion  has  enabled  iii 
to  use  enlarged  areas  of  administration,  with  all  their  ad^ 
vantages  of  greater  economy  in  time,  money,  and  efficiency, 
just  as  easily  and  conveniently  as  we  formerly  used  smul. 
When,  therefore,  Mr.  Goschen,  in  his  bill  of  last  session, 
proposed  to  establish  the  parish  as  the  unit  of  local  govern- 
ment for  the  future,  he  created  nearly  as  much  astonishment 
as  if  he  had  asked  us  to  revert  to  stage  coaches  in  lien  of  the 
rail.  His  project  was  the  more  remarkable  inasmuch  as,  when 
he  framed  his  bill,  the  report  of  the  Royal  Sanitary  Commission, 
based  on  information  from  his  own  office,  was  already  in 
preparation,  recommending  the  union  as  the  primary  area  of 
administration.    But  it  will  be  admitted  that  the  same  argn^ 


ta  which  tell  against  the  purialt  apply,  tliough  no  doubt 
I  (timiuished  force,  to  tbe  union.  It  the  union  be  better 
I  the  parish,  ia  not  the  county  better  than  the  union? 
I  Sanitary  Coramiasiouers  do  not  think  bid,  but  I  confess  to 
H  oaarched  their  report  in  vain  for  any  solid  reason  in 
port  of  their  decision.  It  secma  to  me  a  halting  between 
^  opinions,  and  one,  consequently,  which  on  appeal  to 
Itoiple  cannot  he  sustained.  The  question  involves  the 
Uuental  reasoning  of  the  science  of  society.  If,  in  tbe 
uUation  of  communities,  it  is  desirablo  to  vest  the  primary 
'  m»  of  seK-govemment  uniformly  in  tlie  smaliest  possible 
jatiou  of  individuals,  that  is  one  ihin^;  but  such  a 
ciple  would  compel  the  adoption  of  the  parish  as  the  unit 
'ministration.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  believed  that 
tabliahment  of  the  area  whiah  gives  us  the  maximum  of 
wncy,  economy,  and  convenience,  ia  the  true  nde  for 
tUtion,  then  I  venture  to  believe  that  the  Poor-Law 
on  must  stand  condeumed. 

■et  us  ooosider  what  nre  the  advnnta^es  which  large  ftreaa 

lesa  in  comparlsun  with  small,  specially  in  sanitary  matters, 

I  then  we  can  judge  whether  the  union  comes  up  to  the 

Tbe  first  advnntage  is  in  the  kind  of  men  who  are 

J  to  serve  on  their  governing  bodies.     It  ia  verj'  well  to 

)rt  men  of  standing  and  intellect  on  the  duty  of  serving  in 

lU  yestrios,  and  such  like  bodies;   they  admit  the  obli- 

on,  but,  in   nine   cases  out   of   tun,  declino  to   fulfil   it. 

tun  nature,  as  a  rule,  requires  some  reward  for  labour, 

,tiiOSe  who  give  their  unpaid  services  to  the  public  desiro 

eralljr  to  be  recompensed  In  one  of  two  ways:  the  vulgar 

■eik  social  position,  an<l  the  high-minded  aim  at  moral  in- 

&IUICC.     The  secret  of  the  great  position  occupied  by  the 

r  Hquso  of  Commons  in  this  country,  tar  beyond  its  legal  claim. 

mAs  immenas  power  it  exerts  as  representative  of  the  nation, 

^Bjiaperiol  questions  it  discusses,  and  the  certainty  that  no 

^B|.  <=ftn   be  prominent  in  its  ranks  without   possessing  ex- 

l^tional  gifts  of  ability  or  character.     The  principle  applies 

h  lees  degree  to  other  governing  bodies.     Take,  for  instance* 

the  iSchool  Board  of  the  metropolis.     If  the  original  intention 

'if  the  Act  had  been  carried  into  elTect,  and  a  separate  board 

been  instituted  for  every  district  in  London,  would  you  have 

bid  the  same  class  of  men  who  were  glad  to  come  forward  as 

candidates    for   a   body   controlling   tlie   education   of    three 

millions  of  people?     The   happy  suggestion  of   Mr.   Torrens 

W  proved  what  may  be   done  to  elevate  administration  by 

th«  eulajgement  of  local  constituencies,  and  he  deeervea  well 

U  the  whole  country  for  compelliog  tbe  adoption  of  this 


140  Address  h/  George  Woodyatt  Hasttnffs, 

admirable  example.  Let  us  take  care  that  it  iB  followed  h 
sanitary  matters.  Let  us  judge  for  ourselves^  and  make  dte 
public  understand,  what  must  be  the  difference  in  all  m 
qualities  that  go  to  make  government  efficient  and  puitf, 
between  the  men  who  will  serve  on  the  thousand  and  more  sniiD 
adniinistralivc  bodies  it  is  proposed  to  constitute,  and  thoia 
who  will  compose  the  fifty  or  sixty  assemblies  regulating  Aft 
counties  of  England. 

The  second  advantage  presented  by  large  areas  is  lik 
superior  class  of  officials  they  are  able  to  obtain.  The  widflt 
the  area  the  more  important  the  work,  and  the  hij^her  fti 
salary.  Ambition  and  emolument  alike  attract  to  them  tb 
best  men.  In  sanitary  organization  this  is  of  peculiar  impon- 
ancc,  for  success  depends  chiefly  on  the  qualities  of  the  hedtk 
officer.  Our  (vouncil  have  already  published  an  earnest  pn^ 
test,  which  on  their  behalf  I  here  repeat,  against  the  idea  of 
the  Commissioners  that  duties  requiring  for  their  beneficSll 
exercise  much  tact,  prudence,  matured  judgment,  and  lanJB 
experience,  can,  as  a  general  rule,  be  safely  entrusted  to  & 
inexperience  of  "  young  men  entering  on  practice,"  by  whon 
they  would  be  discharged  *'  only  so  long  as  they  were  accen^ 
able,  and  then  resigned  to  younger  men,  fresh  from  m 
schools."'  Such  a  proposition  seems  to  imply  a  misconceptioili 
or  rather  a  want  of  C()ncei)tion,  as  to  the  great  science  or  pre- 
ventive medicine,  which,  for  the  adequate  mastery  of  its  wide 
principles  and  multifarious  details,  requires  the  devotion  of  i 
life.  An  officer  of  health  should  be  paid  such  a  salary  as  wiD 
secure  the  services  of  trained  intellect  and  high  character; 
and,  being  thus  remunerated,  he  should  be  rigorously  debaned 
from  private  practice,  not  only  that  he  may  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  functi(ms  of  his  office,  but  that  he  may  be  free 
from  personal  influence  in  performing  his  duty.  Such  aa 
officer  can  be  obtained  by  counties,  but  seldom  or  never  bf 
unions.  Tlio  rateable  area  of  a  county,  supplemented  as  it 
would  be  by  boroughs,  which  would  unite  witn  it  for  sanituy, 
as  they  do  now  for  gaol  and  police  purposes,  can  suat^n  a  eort 
under  which  the  union  must  break  down.  It  is  urged,  indeed, 
that  every  union  has  a  medical  officer,  and  it  is  proposed  to 
place  the  sanitary  welfare  of  the  countrv  in  his  nanos.  We 
protest  against  such  a  system.  No  one  has  a  hiffher  sense  of 
the  services  and  merits  of  a  body  of  men.  BignaUy  undenaU 
for  their  work,  denied  the  social  recognition  of  enrolling  tteni 
in  the  civil  service  of  the  Crown,  and  struggling  manfmlji  m 
the  great  majority  of  cases,  though  beset  with  diflSoohies,  to 
do  their  duty  to  the  poor.  But  I  cannot  believe  that  these 
meritorious  ofi^cials  ])08sess  the  qualifications  necessary  fos^ 


Fftti'Unt  o/Oie  Conmil. 

|iy  work.    It  ia  no  blame  to  them  th&t  tliey  Uavo  not 
nuned  for  duties  which  require,  aa  our  late  coUeaguei   i 
^monOe,  of  Bristol,  pointed  out,  very  iliff'ereot  acfiuire- 

irom  those  which  are  successful  in  the  treatment  of  sick- 
por  id  it  easy  to  eeo  how  profeeaionul  men,  whose  time 
iiergies  are  absorbed  iu  daily  toil,  are  to  (qualify  them- 
i,hy  that  •' study  of  all  sanitary  nueatioiia"  which  the 
liesionera  recommend  as  desirable  for  inodicnl  officers  of 
|.  Granting  them  even  the  necessary  qualifications, 
Poor-Law  practitioners  are  under  the  grave  disability  of 
e  practice.  On  that  important  point  I  will  content  my- 
rith  <tuotiog  from  a  valuable  minute  issued  by  the 
ral  Board  of  Health,  dated  December  20,  1855.  and 
1  by  the  Right  Hon.  William  Cowper,  President  of  the 
|.  The  minute  deals  with  the  duties  and  qualifications 
pedical  officer  of  health,  and  Bays : — "  It  will  be  well  to 
;  him  from  the  private  practice  of  his  profession ;  first. 
«e  the  claims  of  such  practice  would  be  constantly  adverse 
»e  of  his  public  appointment,  the  duties  of  which  (eape- 

at  tJie  times  ot  epidemic  disease,  when  his  official 
ty  would  be  most  needed)  private  practice  could  scarcely 
i  interrupt  and  embarrass;  secondly,  because  the  personal 
ptu  of  private  practice  might  render  it  difficult  for  bim  to 
frith  impartiality  his  frequent  functions  of  complainant ; 
^Uy.  because,  with  a  view  to  the  cordial  good-will  and 
eration  of  his  medical  brethren,  it  is  of  paramount  import- 
that  the  officer  of  health  should  not  he  their  rival  in 
[cc,  aud  that  his  opportunities  of  admonitory  intercourse 
ticlc  families  should  not  even  be  liable  to  abuse  for  the 
leies  of  professional  competition."  Now,  if  this  reasoniug 
pad,  and  much  evidence  has  been  collected  both  in  our 
lountry  and  on  the  Contlnont  in  its  support,  it  follows 
he  poor-law  practitioners,  who  depend  on  private  prac- 
ar  their  livelihood,  are  not  titled  for  the  functions  of 
I  officers.  But  I  would  not  be  supposed  to  argue  that 
may  not  be  usefully  employed  in  our  sanitary  organlza- 
;  T  believe,  ou  the  contrai"y,  that  they  could  render 
|)le  ud  as  subordinates,  with  some  small  increase  to  their 
[it  meagre  remuneration,  under  a  highly-trained  superior, 
M  a  pounty  administration  would  supply, 
e  tlurd  advantage  derived  from  the  adoption  of  large 
of  ad uiinist ration  would  be  the  diminution  of  conflicting 
litres,  apd  of  the  delays  and  difficulties  incident  to  the 
ipg  put  pf  joint  works.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
^uodaries  of  Poor-Law  Unions  were  never  adjusted  with 
sanitary  purposes,  and  would  frequently  be  found 


142  Addr$88  hy  George  WoodyM  Baetrngij 

fiingalarly  ill-adapted  for  snch  works  as  drainage  and 
supply.  It  would  be  difficult  to  overrate  the  obstacles 
adequate  administration  which  will  be  raised  bj  the  mnlt} 
of  sanitary  districts  advocated  by  the  Commissioners.  l! 
I  believe  their  scheme  could  never  work  except  undc 
condition,  viz. — that  local  government  should  be  grani 
form  and  denied  in  reality;  that  the  central  ofloce  f 
interfere  in  every  detail,  and  be  absolute  over  all  auti 
If  such  be  the  object,  the  plan  proposed  is  logical  en 
small  areas  can  be  easily  '^managed,"  and  small  men  r 
coerced ;  important  bodies,  on  the  other  hand,  are  apt  t 
their  own.  The  question  rests  with  the  countrv.  Cent 
lion  is  not  popular,  and  it  can  hardly  be  made  so  by  c 
the  machine  of  dictation  a  ^^  Local  Government  Boar^" 
The  true  remedy  for  this  and  other  perils  is  to  mail 
government  of  counties  more  extensive  and  complete, 
objected  that  the  present  system  is  not  representative 
though  this  is  not  accurate,  since  the  governing  assembli 
really  representative  of  their  districts  in  the  highest  sei 
the  wora,  yet  the  time  has  probably  come  when  an  el 
element  should  be  introduced  into  the  administration, 
is  most  needed  is  that  this  should  be  done  with  the  leas 
sible  disturbance  of  existing  good.  I  believe  that  a  far  I 
plan  than  the  creation  of  new  '^boards"  would  be  found  i 
restoration,  under  forms  adapted  to  modern  life,  of  the  ai 
county  court.  That  tribunal,  which  came  down  to  us, 
other  nations  of  Europe,  from  those  masters  of  organi: 
and  government,  the  liomans  of  old,  used  to  administ< 
only  the  civil  and  criminal  justice  but  the  finance  and  ^ 
ment  of  every  county.  No  one  would  propose  to  revive 
its  antique  fashion,  when  every  freeholder  attended  its  coi 
but  a  system  of  representation,  fairlv  divided  between  tl 
isting  authority,  the  justices,  and  tne  local  taxpayers^ : 
reassume  all  or  most  of  its  former  powers.  Such  a  body  i 
be  trusted  to  levy  taxation  on  a  moro  equitable  basis  thi 

E resent  rude  injustice  of  mulcting  one  kind  of  property  fi 
enefit  of  all.  It  would  take  the  charge  oi  all  roads 
would  probably  absorb  the  functions  of  the  smaller  bon 
It  would  administer  the  sanitary  laws,  through  com] 
officials,  over  an  extent  of  territory  adequate  to  their  dn< 
cution,  and  with  an  authority  which  no  extraneous  office  i 
venture  to  impugn.  Such  a  body  mieht  well  relieve  th 
perial  Parliament  of  a  portion  of  that  local  bill  business^ 
as  gas  and  water  supply,  which  now  weighs  down  its  ene 
and  in  Ireland  it  would  remove  all  legitimate  grounc 
^^Horne  Rule"  agitation.    More  than  all^  such  bodies  i 


Preaidmt  of  the  Coujidl.  143 

.lapa  be  the  best  guarantee  that  the  wit  of  man  could 

.    iit  for  the  perpetual  preservation  of  liberties  which  may 

F«t  be  enilaugered  bj  anarchy.     It  is  remarkable  that  the  one 

nuntry  in  Europe  which  has  preserved  in  its  entirety   the 

Micient   county  organization  is  the  one  whose  constitutional 

taedom  Las  survived  more  disaj^ters  than  any  other.     The 

Bfery  of  the  kingdom  of  Hungary,  too  little  known  to  English- 

Bi.  oeara  record  of  three  periods  when  parliamentary  govern- 

wSat  was  submerged  by  war  and  despotiem  ;   and  on  each 

MxssioQ  it  rose  triumphant  from  the  Hood,  because  the  national 

IDititutiona  were  founded  on  local  liberties  which  could  not  be 

noted  up.     England  has  probably  nothing  to  fear  from  indi- 

Ual  tyranny ;   hut  unless  the  signs  of  the  times  mislead  us, 

n  is  much  to  be  dreaded  in  the  future  from  the  despotism 

^e  mob.     The  avowed  aim  of  the  revolution  now  meditated 

,the  fanatics  of  disorder  is  to  crush  out  individual  freedom 

Buch  aia  to  abolish  proprietary  rights.     The   best  bulwark 

"thbI  such  a  foe  will  be  found  in  the  power  and  stability  that 

native  to  local  institutions.    The  brawlings  and  corruption 

^qualified  democracy  have  sickened  the  world,  and  sound 

remment.  tlie  final  end  of  all  legislation,  is  to  be  found  only 

V  property  and  education  have  weighted  the  scale  in  favour 

der  and  honesty. 

have  dwelt  at  some  length  on  this  question  of  sanitary 
nization,  not  only  on  acoount  of  its  intrinsic  importance, 
$ting,  as  it  does,  in  so  large  a  degree  the  material  prosperity 
,the  people,  but  also  because  the  report  of  our  special 
nnittee  on  the  subject  has  occupied  much  time  and  labour 
months  of  tliis  year.  That  document  is  before  the  public, 
[may  be  judged  on  its  own  merita,  hut  1  could  not  pass  to 
ther  topic  without  acknowledging  the  services  of  Br. 
sey  and  Dr.  Stewart.  Nor  can  1  refrain  from  expressing 
more  the  sense  entertained,  I  am  sure,  by  the  whole 
tecU  of  the  value  of  the  volumes  compiled  by  the  Koyal 
[ttury  Conmiisaion.  Should  the  coming  legislation  go  no 
ler  than  their  recommendations,  as  1  sincerely  trust  it 
,  a  great  stride  will  have  been  taken  in  the  path  of 
tary  improvement,  lioards  of  guardians  are  by  no  means 
bodies  teat  adapted  to  the  work,  but  1  trust  and  believe 
f  irould  effect  much,  though  I  wish  them  the  better  fortune 
eclusion  to  their  own  legitimate  and  weighty  occupation. 
k  b  needless  to  say  that  the  work  in  which  they — the 
iidiaas  of  the  poor — are  engaged,  has  formed  the  subject  of 
lanual  discussion  in  the  Council.  More  than  one  special 
imittee  has  reported  to  us  at  length  on  different  portions  of 
^BGBttoa,  but  it  18  only  as  to  one  of  them  that  I  shall 


144  Addre&i  hj  Gicrge  Woodtfott  Hastingi^ 

venture  to  ask  your  attention,  that  of  out-door  relief.  1 
the  one  to  which  all  others  are  subsidiary,  for  on  its  detai 
nation  hangs  the  whole  principle  of  the  Poor-Law.  Lei 
consider  it  for  a  moment  in  its  historical  aspect.  Our  F 
Law  system,  as  is  well  known,  was  founded  on  the  Ad 
Elizabeth,  and  it  has  occasionally  been  asserted  that 
enactment  of  the  statute  was  rendered  necessary  by 
dissolution  of  monasteries.  A  more  foolish  figment  was  ne 
invented,  and  it  was  long  since  exploded  by  proof  thai 
Spain,  where  conventual  institutions  were  sedulousiy  ] 
served,  a  similar  increase  of  vagrancy  and  want  was  obsei 
at  a  corresponding  date.  It  was  then  attempted  to  exp 
the  coincidence  by  attributing  the  growtli  of  pauperism  to 
rise  in  prices  caused  by  the  influx  of  the  precious  metals  \ 
Europe.  But  it  may  be  observed  that  no  class  gains  so  n 
and  loses  so  little  by  a  fall  in  the  value  of  money  as  the  wei 
wage  class,  because  their  income  is  the  first  to  rise  in  ] 
portion  to  price,  and  the  demand  for  their  labour  is  the  soa 
stimulated  by  the  quickening  of  enterprise  and  trade. 
this  we  have  had  abundant  evidence  in  the  efiects  of  the  j 
discoveries  in  our  own  day.  It  will  be  much  nearer  the  ti 
to  say  that  a  Poor-Law  became  necessary,  not  because  ma 
teries  were  abolished,  but  because  they  had  previously  exis 
It  was  the  vicious  system  of  doles  and  indiscriminate  chai 
virtually  a  system  of  out-door  relief,  profusely  administt 
by  religious  foundations  in  every  city  and  county  of  the  li 
which  bred  those  swarms  of  ^^  sturdy  begears,"  and  crei 
that  rush  of  pauperism  which  frightened  our  forefathers 
stringent  legislation.  The  sound  principle  laid  down 
the  statute  of  Elizabeth  was  that  relief  was  only  to 
obtained  by  equivalent  labour,  and  that  industry,  not  idlen 
was  the  just  object  of  protection.  But  as  generations  weni 
this  principle  was  lamentably  neglected,  till  the  poor-rate  o 
to  be  regarded  as  a  fund  on  which  improvidence  and  huni 
might  draw  at  pleasure.  The  flood  of  pauperism  rose  so  1 
that  it  threatened  to  swamp  the  savings  of  industry.  I  hi 
Mr.  Barwick  Baker  say  not  long  since,  at  one  of  the  co; 
rences  of  guardians  which,  to  the  great  advantage  of 
public,  he  originated  and  still  conducts,  that  in  1831  the  r 
of  a  parish  in  which  his  property  is  situated  had  risen  to  \ 
in  the  1/.  on  the  actual  value  of  the  land.  Once  more  nn 
by  the  imminence  of  its  peril,  the  nation  gave  its  assent  to 
new  Poor-Law  system,  based  on  the  workhouse  test,  as 
absolute  condition  of  relief.  Had  that  salutary  measure  l 
unflinchingly  applied,  I  venture  to  assert  that  we  should 
have  been  at  tms  day  debating  on  llie  causes  of  paoperi 


Presidetit  of  the  CouticiL 


1451 


iriam  would  have  beou  crushed  out  with  a  stern  nnd  whole-  1 
baud,  aud  the  industrious  and  pruvident  been  relieved 
brden  under  wliioh  eveu  the  we&lth  of  Englnnd  is  ready 
ggcr.  But  laxity  of  ailministration  haa  once  more  been 
>*\  to  prevail,  and  once  more  the  ilood  ig  riding  round  us. 
lOt,  M  is  often  most  untruly  said,  that  the  new  Poor-Tiaw 
E  failed,  but  thnt  its  vital  principle  has  been  abandoned. 
r  DUunteuaiiee  was  to  bo  the  rule,  out-iloor  relief  the 
ceplion ;  but  in  many  unions  the  principle  has  beea  \ 
id.  i  quote  from  a  pamphlet  by  Captain  Dashwood,  of 
iD^^ton.  Oxfordshire,  the  figures  of   tTvo  uuioss,  which 

to  b«  placed  side  by  side  that  guardians  may  look  oa 
nctare  and  on  that,  and  make  choice  between  them. 
[U,  in  Shrojjshire,  and  Woodbridge,  in  Suffolk,  are 
.  which  differ  only  slightly  in  population  and  character, 
rmer  having  a  little  under  ifO.OOO,  and  the  latter  rather 
ihan  22,000  of  agricultm-al  inhabitonta.  Now,  for  the 
uding  Lady  Day,  1860,  Atcham  paid  1512/.  for  in-door 
50/.  for  out-door  paupers;  Woodbridge  1476/.  for  in- 
lUd  G0991.  fur  out-door.  On  January  1,  1869,  Atoham 
SO  in-door  paupers  and  125  out-door ;  Woodbridge  hail 
i-door  and  1339  out-door.  The  proportion  of  paujiers  to 
ition  was  in  Atcham  1  in  fiS,  in  Woodbridge  1  in  15. 
ecuuiary  reaulta  were  that  the  cost  of  relief  per  head  of 
ktion  was  for  Atcham,  2s.  3d.,  for  Woodbridge,  6*.  7J(/. 
! pound  on  the  groes  estimated  rental,  3<^.  for  Atcham,  and 
d.  for  V\'oodbridge ;  per  acre,  Atcham  i^d.,  Woodbridge 

;  and  the  out  relief  alone  per  acre  was  for  Atoham 

id  for  Woodbridge  Is.  o^d.  These  figures  may  sound 
lut  consider  what  they  mean.  In  the  one  case  property 
iualy  burdened,  improvidence  helped  to  perpetuate  itaelj', 
nation  of  a  herd  of  paupers,  miserable  themselves,  and 
ig  down  misery  to  their  children.     In  the   other,  in- 

eocouraged,  ca|>ital  relieved,  and  the  prosperous 
Kee  of  self-reliance  spread  among  the  people.  Aud 
tita  last  result?  Why,  because  under  the  advice  of  the 
ar  Baldwin  Lcighton,  chairman  of  the  Atcham  Union, 
tor   relief  had   for    years   been  refused   with   merciful 

pou  want  an  oxample  on  a  wider  scale,  let  me  point  to 
id.  That  country  was  once  the  breeding-ground  of  a 
I  of  paupers.  A  stern  remedy  was  necessary,  antl  the 
r-Jjaw  administration,  as  it  now  exists,  was  created, 
adini  nisi  ration  had  for  many  years  the  inestimable  ad- 
ge  of  the  guidance  of  sound  political  economists— 
teley^  Senior,  Macdonnell — men  who  were  clear-sighted 


to  1  in  85  ;  but  even  this  hicrher  rate,  as  you  will  ot 
considerably  more  favourable  than  that  of  Atcham 
nearly  six  times  better  than  that  of  Woodbridge.  If 
for  the  first  time  in  her  history,  can  now  see  a  futu 
dustrial  prosperity — if  those  peasants  who  were  "  hi 
bondsmen  "  in  a  far  different  sense  to  that  of  0*Coni 
born  thralls  of  improvidence  and  misery — are  now  ri 
of  their  natural  and  inherited  habits,  it  is  mainly  owii 
operation  of  the  Irish  Poor-Law. 

But  then  such  a  system  is  said  to  be  "  hard  ;  "  it 
*' cruel"  to  compel  a  man  who  is  out  of  work  or  in 
having  made  no  provision  in  his  better  days  for  the  e 
to  enter  the  house  as  the  condition  of  relief.  All  b 
laws  press  severely  in  some  individual  cases,  and  i 
bable  that  a  rigid  rule  of  in-door  relief  may  occasiona 
hardly.  But  we  must  remember  tliat  though  hard  1 
it  is  jubt  and  merciful  to  the  many.  It  is  not  har< 
ratepayers  who,  as  the  producing  part  of  the  commun 
a  claim  to  the  first  consideration.  It  is  sometimes, 
objected  that  the  taking  of  a  whole  family  into  th 
when  a  little  help,  as  it  is  termed,  would  keep  them 
is  uneconomical.  I  should  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the 
but  taking  them  as  true,  what  if  the  compulsory  entr 
family  into  the  house  keeps  three  others  off  the  rates 
uneconomical?  Nor  is  it  really  hard  on  the  people  th 
who  are  the  subjects  of  such  a  rule.  It  never  can 
thing  but  kindness  to  force  on  a  man  the  blessing 
exertion;  and  all  who  have  administered  the  Poor-Ls 
know  the  fatal  readiness  with  which  those  hoverin 
brink  of  pauperism  believe  that  they  cannot  earn  a  li^ 
the  marvellous  way  in  which,  if  the  test  be  firmly  app 
means  of  subsistence  will  be  found  somehow.  Nor,  a 
it  be  forgotten  that  the  fewer  paupers  there  are  to  k 
greater  the  wage  fund  to  be  distributed  among  inc 
workmen.  Every  shilling  eaten  up  by  the  rates  is 
Bubstracted  from  the  prosperity  of  the  weekly  waj 
Could  we  do  no  more  than  raise  all  the  unions  in  En 
the  level  of  the  highest,  an  enormous  increment  to  the 


President  of  tlus  Council.  H" 

^  1^  hfliiplness,  and  scli'respect  would  ensue.     la  it  any 
'er   to   BUch  facta   to  fuvoui"  ua  with  a  weak  drivel  on 

Iiere  is  auother  class  of  llio  population  who  arc  a  dead 
jht  on  iudustry,  the  criminals ;  aud  this  Asaociation  has 
tr  ceased  to  direct  iU  attention  to  the  best  means  for  tha 
teaion  of  crime.  I  have  dwelt  on  this  subjoct  at  such 
(tit  on  former  occasions,  that  X  now  say  nothing  more 
1  that  the  Council  has  been  vi"ilant  in  regard  to  it  during 
past  eeesion,  and  that  it  was  chiefly  owing  to  our  represen- 
TO8  that  the  "  Prevention  of  Crimea  Act,  lS7l,"haa  passed 
macU  more  satisfactory  shape  than  was  at  Grst  anticipated. 
system  of  monthly  reporting  lo  the  police,  and  of  a  notifi- 
)n  of  every  change  of  residence,  by  convicts  on  license  and 
criminals  under  sentence  of  supervision,  has  been  estab- 
d,  and  will  no  doubt  be  rigidly  enforced.  TUs  various 
itioDS  rel:itiMg  to  prison  discipline  and  crime  will  be  dis- 
ed  at  length  in  our  Ileforraatory  Section,  as  a  useful 
ade  to  the  International  Prison  Conference  which  will 
rable  next  year  in  London.  The  conference  was  originated 
"be  United  States  of  America,  aud  Dr.  Wiues,  the  Govera- 
it  Commissioner  from  tliat  country  for  the  purpose,  ia 
ient  at  this  Congress.  As  President  of  your  Council,  I 
■  be  permitted  to  assure  him  (hat  every  aid  which  this 
ecialion  can  give  to  the  success  of  tlie  undertaking  will  be 
afully  afibrded  to  himself  and  hia  colleagues. 
n  conclusion,  let  me  urge  the  necessily  of  cultivating  a 
btilic  spirit  in  dealing  with  social  questions.  Wanting 
t,  we  are  like  a  ship  adrift  at  sea  without  a  rudder.  Science, 
ch  in  all  the  ramifications  of  its  pursuils  means  the  reduc- 
lof  knowledge  to  accurate  form,  is  the  peculiar  safety  of 
!  legislator,  pushed  on  as  he  is  by  blind  impulses,  and 
ekied  by  conflicting  interests  and  the  jar  of  faction.  lis 
ic  to  mankind  ie  well  attested  by  the  virulence  it  awakes 

S[io$ite  quarters.  Science  is  honoured  by  the  hate  alike 
lOee  who  would  return  lo  mcdiicval  superstition,  and  of 
party,  not  less  fanatical,  who  would  submerge  civilisation 
I  sea  of  blood.  It  is,  in  truth,  vituperated  by  all  who  find 
reality  of  facta  inconveniently  in  their  way.  Thus  it  is 
fashion  of  some,  as  I  have  shown  in  regard  to  the  I'oor- 
F,  to  call  political  economy  hard.  They  speak  of  it  as  if  it 
te  an  active  agent  in  the  injuries  they  sufl'er  or  fancy.  A 
r  years  ago  some  London  workmen,  when  warned  of  the 
«iBdom  of  their  proceedings,  replied — "If  political  economy 

rst  us,  we  will  be  ngaln^t  political  economy."     As  well 
man  exclaim,  who  had  fallen  from  a  ladder  and  broken 
10- 


148  Address  ly  George  Woody att  Hastings, 

hi8  leg — "If  the  law  of  gravitation  be  against  me, 
against  the  law  of  gravitation."  Political  econom; 
tronomy  or  chemistry,  or  any  other  science,  does  : 
facts,  but  expounds  them.  In  that  sense  political  ecoi 
be  hard,  for  it  tells  us  of  liard  facts,  of  realities  whicl 
can  disannul.  It  is,  in  truth,  chiefly  the  rules  of  comi 
and  of  business  experience  applied  to  communities  of 
Nothing  can  prevent  individuals  who  are  thoughtf 
dustrious  getting  the  better  of  the  improvident  and 
nothing  ought  to  prevent  it.  Nor  can  anything 
nation  or  a  society,  wise  enough  to  obey  the  laws  of 
their  trade,  from  becoming  more  prosperous  than  1 
hamper  the  growth  of  their  own  success  by  artificii 
tions.  Political  economy  explains  these  things,  an 
what  disasters  will  follow  the  defiance  of  natural  p 
but  the  disasters  are  not  therefore  its  creation. 
Communist  dream  that  they  can  abolish  the  forces  o 
tion  by  substituting  an  automatic  society  for  individw 
and  invention.  Do  they  really  believe  that  the  cou 
world  can  be  turned  backr— that  man  can  ever  ret 
the  level  of  instinct,  having  tasted  the  prerogati\ 
will? 

What,  can  yc  lull  the  winged  winds  asleep, 
Arrest  the  rolling  world,  or  chain  the  deep?  • 

The   human  mind  cannot  be   shackled  thus.     Wc 
"magnetic  mockeries,"  but  spiritual  men,  and  our 
rather  towards  a  more  expanded  and  more  tolerant  ci 
But  to  make  that  progress  secure,  the  idea  of  indivii 
and  equal  justice  to  all  must  be  supreme. 

•  Campbell's  Pleasures  of  Hope, 


SELECT  PAPERS, 

NOTICES    OF    PAPEBS, 

DISCUSSIONS, 


ETC.,    ETC. 


JUBISPEUDENGB 

AND 

AMENDMENT    OF    THE    LAW. 


||M_tjJN 


MUNICIPAL   LAW  SECTION. 


LEGAL    EDUCATION.* 


ttf2>S  Ouffhl  to  he  tafxn  fo  e*liJ>li«h  a  ffUer  S^atfin  of  Legal 
Education?    Bi/W.  A.  Jevons. 

e  Ihcta  of  ihe  coao  were  not  so  well  Jiuowti  it  would  liavo  been 
Dcult  to  conceive  the  paasibilJtj  of  tlio  exi^Lin^  and  recently 
tate  of  thiugs,  as  to  the  provisions  for  ills  educalioti  ol'  what  is 
one  of  the  leainetl  profeseioiiB.  I  saj  l)ie  recently  pitat  slate 
Dgs,  because  tha  attention  thut  lias  of  late  years  been  called  to 
Itter  has  led  to  some  partial  improvements. 
at  wc  may,  perhaps,  call  the  normal  position  of  legal  cdncalion 
ti  slate  as  it  existed  afttir  the  luna  of  Court  had  cttascd  to  be 
t  of  law,  nnd  before  the  institution  of  the  Council  of  Legal 
tiou  and  the  Incorporate  il  Law  Society.  There  were  then  in 
etropolis,  which  bas  always  been,  and  necessarily  will  be,  tlie 
■eat  of  leiiHl  study,  no  public  provisions  for  legal  education 
f  The  Inns  of  Court  were  no  doubt  orig;inally  reolly  law 
B,  and  law  was  there  publicly  taught  by  readings  and  dia- 
ins,  though  probably  not  by  what  we  cull  lectures.  The 
>ua  of  the  Inns  as  law  schools,  however,  gradually  foil  into 
t  and  desuetude,  until  nt  the  time  I  speak  of  tliero  was  no 
1  or  public  teaching  of  law  whatever  in  the  metropolis, 
ister  obtained  his  formal  qualification  to  practise,  by  ob- 
odmission  to  one  of  the  Inns  of  Court,  and  by  keeping  a 
number  of  terms,  that  is  by  dining  a  certain  number  of  times 
h  term  in  the  IidII  of  the  Inn.  There  wns  no  requirement  of 
ind  no  examination  test.  The  student  was  supposed  to  obtain 
lowledge  of  the  law,  by  becoming  the  pupil  of  a  practising 
er,  and  from  books.  The  alloruey  or  solicitor  obtained  hia 
.  qaolification  to  practise  by  the  service  of  an  appi'enticesltip  of 
to  some  other  attorney  or  solicitor,  and  was  supposed  to   I 


*  See  Transaetiotu,  1S58,  p.  122. 


152  Lefjal  Education, 

obtain  his  knowledge  of  law  and  practice,  by  assisting  his  master  ia 
the  capacity  of  a  clerk,  but  there  was  in  his  case  also  no  praetied 
test  of  knowledge. 

There  were  certain  books  which  it  was  supposed  to  be  neoeiBirf 
for  the  student  to  make  himself  master  of,  and  which,  no  doo^ 
were  mastered  by  all  Htudents  of  ability  who  aspired  to  make  tiiea^ 
selves  really  acciuaiiited  with  their  profession,  but  tho  list  of  sink 
books  was  comparatively  small,  and  with  few  exceptions  they  wen 
not  framed  bo  as  to  attract  the  student,  or  to  facilitate  his  acqairing 
tho  requiaito  knowledge  by  any  scientific  treatment,  or  even  by  t 
scientific  arrangement  of  the  subjects  treated  of.  There  was  abs 
little  or  nothing  to  guide  the  student  in  his  choice  of  books.  "BlaA- 
stone's  Commentaries  "  was  generally  understood  to  be  the  first  book 
to  be  read,  but  after  that  the  student  was  practically  left  to  his  own 
selection,  or  to  the  advice  of  friends.  The  study  of  books  wiB, 
however,  regarded  rather  liS  a  proper  accompaniment  of  the  experi* 
enco  to  be  gained  by  observation  of  actual  practice,  than  as  a  pre- 
paration to  enable  the  student  to  benefit  by  the  business  ho  saw.  In 
moHt  cases  the  course  was  simply  to  throw  tho  student  at  once  into 
the  practical  work  of  the  profession,  and  to  let  him  pick  up  hii 
knowledge  as  he  went  on.  In  a  pleader's  chaml)ers  the  beginner 
had  at  once  laid  before  him  instructions  for  pleadings,  and  if  in  tlie 
hands  of  a  teacher  who  had  the  time  to  do  justice  to  his  pupils,  wsi 
perhaps  referred  to  the  cases  which  would  (if  he  could  understaai 
them)  guide  him  in  tho  course  to  be  pursued  in  drawing  the  plead* 
ings  or  advising. 

In  the  Conveyancers  and  Equity  Draftsmen's  Chambers  the  procea 
of  legal  education  was  similar.  From  the  greater  wealth  of  our  legit 
literature  in  conveyancing  works,  and  the  more  technical  and  scien- 
tific character  of  our  real  property  law,  the  pupil  of  tho  conYoyaiieer 
would  get  more  guidance  from  treatises,  than  tho  pupil  of  tbe 
common  lawyer,  or  E(piity  Draftsman,  but  the  essential  character  of 
the  process  of  instruction  was  the  same.  The  ladder  of  1ml 
learning  had  to  be  mounted  not  at  the  bottom  but  at  the  top.  Tin 
law  was  to  be  lcai*ncd  in  its  application  to  individual  cases,  before  any 
foundation  of  legal  principles  was  laid,  and  even  so  learned,  it  had  to 
be  acquired  without  anything  like  direct  teaching.  No  doubt  law, 
by  which  I  mean  law  as  it  exists,  the  English  or  any  other  pedtire 
system  of  law,  may  bo  so  acquired,  as  has  been  proved  in  practice 
and  when  so  acquired  is  very  firmly  learned. 

The  articled  clerk  of  an  attorney  was  even  worse  off  than  the 
pupil  of  a  barrister,  and  was  usually  at  first  occupied  in  mere  copying, 
for  the  sufficient  reason  that  there  was  nothing  else  which  he  was 
competent  to  do.  lie  was  probably  recommended  to  read  Black8t(Hie*8 
Commentaries,  but  his  master  would  not  have  time  to  direct  hie 
reading  or  to  solve  his  difficulties,  and  having  himself  acquired  hifl 
knowledge  of  law  in  a  similar  manner  he  would  not  recognize  that 
any  assistance  on  his  part  was  due  to  his  pupil,  nor,  if  he  did  80|  was 
he  qualified  to  render  it. 


By  W.  A.  Jevone. 

^t  I  bnt  e  ttiua  attempted  to  akatch,  is  the  present  syGtem  at  its 
Rt  pbiuL.  From  that  lowest  and  worst  Bloge  there  Los  be^n  un- 
(edl;  some  improvement.  The  Council  of  Lei^ni  Education  haa 
.  into  Gxietenc^,  and  hns  instituteil  law  leclurea  and  re&derships 

B  iiMisl»nee  of  students  for  the  Jlar.  The  Incorporated  Law 
ptj  of  tlie  Uuited  Kingdom  has  also  bocn  formed,  and  had  hy 
^seieljuiQO  of  logialalion  esiablishoJ  cxamJnaliona  for  attorneys, 
itiBs  alao  eetablished  aome  courses  of  lectures  for  articled  clei'lcs. 
I  Iectat'«s  themsdreB,  lioth  of  the  Council  of  Legal  Education 
of  the  Incorporated  Law  Society,  are,  however,  not  suffioienlJy 
tnoB  uor  )e  there  a  sufhcient  staff  of  lecturers  to  present  to  tho 
Kit  anything  like  a  complete  curriculum  of  legal  atudj.  The 
{«ra  ai'e  obliged  rather  to  select  a  few  out  of  tho  many  Bubjccls 
which  a  lecture  might  be  useful,  tlian  to  attempt  even  in  iho 
I  elementary  way,  to  cover  the  whole  ground  of  law  studies. 

hooka  also  ore  improved,  and  thero  are  certainly  now  many 
ises  on  vorii^ma  branches  of  the  law  much  better  than  those 
li  were  open  to  the  student  Iwenly  or  thirty  years  ago. 
'ithoui,  however,  in  tho  slightest  degree,  undervaluing  the  aasist- 

tbat  U  thus  given  by  lectures  and  improved  books,  the  result  ia 
itiio  diata  of  legal  education,  such  as  I  have  described  it,  at  what 

«  sdecttid  as  the  lowest  poiut  of  the  scale,  is  still  suhstanlially 
present  syetein.     Law  is  still  suhstuutially  learned  by  attention  to 

1  pnictice.     Atleudanco  at  lectures  is  purely  voluntary,  and  is 

iaed  only  by  a  small  minority  of  the  students.     As  to  the  Bar, 

arc  still  no  nieaua  taken  to  insure  that  the  teaching,  such  as  it 
I  alt«Dded  to,  as,  although  ihora  is  nominally  an  euLOii nation, 
liwioa  to  be  examined  may  be  dispensed  with  cither  by  attending 
tea,  or  by  becoming  a  pupil  of  a  ban-istor,  and  in  either  case 
nt  uiy  guarantee  for  real  study. 

I  to  attorneys  there  is  however,  apparently,  a  very  complete 
im  of  examination.  A  preliminary  axomination  on  general 
irledge,  an  intermediate  examination  on  law,  and  a  pass  examina- 
eu  Uw.  Tliese  examinations  are  conducted  by  the  Council  of 
[jioorporated  Law  Society,  assisted  by  some  of  the  masters  of  tho 
imon  Law  Courts.  The  council  of  the  Society  are  taken  from 
Bgat  tbo  leading  attorneys.  It  is  a  numerous  body  and  the  mem- 
tako  the  position  of  examinei's  in  rotation.  Even  if  the  present 
niion  of  lawyers  had  all  hccn  educated  in  a  thorough  and  acion- 
nanner,  it  is  not,  however,  among  tlio  senior  members  of  any 

h  of  the  profession,  whoso  time  and  thoughts  are  taken  up  by 
Bxigeucies  of  actual  practice,  that  we  should  rcnlly  seek  for  the 
niners  of  students.     Nor,  however  well  qualiGed  were  tho 
Individually,  is  it  possible  that  they  should  cfUciently  dis- 

■p  Ihcir  duties  if  they  are  frequently  changed,  and  act  indq)cn- 
y  of  each  other,  with  no  common  system  of  framing  their  qucs- 
I,  And  no  common  agreement  on  the  standard  of  ucquiremenis  to 

5 land.     These  examinations  therefore,  though  they  atlbrdsome 
the  practical  knowledge  of  attorneys,  iuid  have  uiidouUctU/ 


154  Legal  Education, 

done  much  to  raise  tho  character  of  that  brancli  of  the  profeasuMi 
afford  no  ^arantce  for  the  scientific  study  of  the  law.  The  prrmt 
system  of  legal  education  in  England  may,  therefore,  be  said  tobe-r 
permission  to  the  student  to  commence  actual  practice  and  to  leiin 
from  it  what  he  cnni  the  private  reading  of  the  student  hinuielC  di 
permission  to  attend  certain  courses  of  lectures,  together  with,  intb 
case  of  attorneys,  two  examinations  of  an  imperfect  character. 

The  question  before  us  is  how  far  this  system  is  satisfactoryy  ail 
if  not  satisfactory,  what  should  be  substituted  for  it 

The  present  system  is  sometimes  defended  upon  the  ground  of  ib 
practical  success,  namely,  that  it  has  produced  eminent  Lawyers,  nl 
also  that  tho  end  of  law  being  the  administration  of  justice,  thatlhik 
must  necessarily  be  a  good  system,  which  has  produced  an  admiiii^ 
tration  of  justice  so  pure  as  that  of  England. 

The  answer  to  this  is,  that,  however  eminent  English  lawyers  ham 
been  and  are,  they  would  as  a  body  have  been  more  eminent  hii 
they  been  educated  on  a  hotter  and  more  enlarged  system;  and  if 
how  many  English  lawyers  can  it  bo  said  that  their  acquirenenli 
out  of  the  rango  of  the  law  of  their  own  country,  and  indeed  out  «f 
the  range  of  that  particular  branch  of  the  law  of  their  own  oouutiy 
to  which  they  have  devoted  themselves,  are  all  that  they  should  ^ 
are  all  that  a  wider  cultivation  and  a  more  scientific  system  of  tSMk< 
ing  might  have  made  them. 

Whatever  opinion,  however,  may  be  hold  as  to  the  effect  of  an  ia- 
proved  system  of  legal  education  on  the  highest  minds  amongst  or 
lawyers,  wo  must  consider  tho  wants  not  only  of  the  leaders,  bat  ilM 
those  of  the  rank  and  filo  of  the  profession. 

We  have  a  most  complicated  and  difficult  system  of  law  to  teacb, 
and  we  ought  to  endeavour  to  teach  it  in  the  easiest  and  bett 
manner.  We  may  go  further,  and  say  that  we  have  now  titt 
difRcult  and  complicated  systems  of  law  to  teach,  so  difficult  tint 
few  but  the  master  minds  of  the  profession  ever  succeed  in  gettiag 
even  a  tolerable  acquaintance  with  both  of  them.  These  two  sys- 
tems, if  tho  recommendations  of  a  Royal  Commission  now  sittUg 
are  adopted,  are  about  to  be  fused,  so  that  both  sets  of  rights  sni  J 
remedies  may  be  recognized  and  administered  by  the  same  eonrk  ] 
This  step  when  taken  must  at  once  make  it  necessary  that  pndi- 
tioners  should  bo  acquainted  with  both  branches  of  tho  law ;  tfaerefixv, 
even  supposing  the  existing  means  of  legal  education  to  be  auffioimt 
for  the  instruction  of  lawyers  who  are  only  required  to  praetiae  in 
one  branch  of  the  law,  inasmuch  as  we  are  now  about  to  raqnlra 
them  to  be  equally  well  qualified  in  two,  we  ought  surely  to  proeed, 
and  that  without  delay,  to  lesson  as  much  as  possible  all  the  diffi- 
culties  in  tho  way  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  both. 

Thore  is,  however,  another  effi3ct  of  our  present  system  of  teaeh- 
ing  the  law,  which  it  is  necessary  to  consider. 

The  student  beginning  to  learn  his  profession  from  decided  cssis, 
and  not  from  thoorcticid  books  or  oral  teaching,  the  first  idea  thai 
be  acquires,  is  that  there  is  nothing  fixed  or  certain,  unless  the 


Bjj  W.  A;  Jfvms.  153 

B  point  or  some  &nalogoiis  one  Iiob  been  before  <iecido»l.  If  he 
>  case  upon  the  subject  before  faim,  lie  is  at  sea.  The 
B  feeKng  (bllows  him  into  the  practice  of  hid  professioii.  If  bo 
to  ar^«  a  case,  or  flflerwarila,  as  a  judge,  to  decide  one,  be 
es  or  decides  upon  thoRUlboritr  of  previous  cases,  and  rarely 
i  principle  If  he  bocomea  a  writer  of  treatisea  on  any  brandi 
'"I  law,  lie  Blill  follows  tbe  asme  bent  of  minr],  his  book  is  in 
eaees  Tory  little  better  than  a  sort  of  index  to  the  reports  ou  a 
icular  braucL  of  law,  and  but  seldom,  and  theo  witli  great 
ton,  doea  ho  nltompl  to  follow  out  any  pariicnlar  case,  so  &i  to 
V  the  prini:iple  involved  in  it,  to  follow  out  that  principle  to  its 
timate  concluaions,  and  to  apply  it  (o  other  cases  not  yet  dealt 
I' Hy  the  courts.  If  (he  existing  cases  are  well  arranged  in  the 
lal  order  of  the  doctrines  to  be  deduced  from  them,  so  as  lo 
tate  the  memory  in  recollecting  tlio  decisiona,  it  is  as  much  as 
re  entitled  to  eicpect — To  mount  from  tbe  known  to  the  un- 
■n,  is  B  thing  seldom  or  never  attempted. 
'ben  the  lawyer  becomes  a  judge,  he  is,  of  course,  occosiunally 
(ed  to  trench  upon  new  ground,  but  it  ia  no  disrespect  lo  tho 
■|  to  say  that  the  previous  training;  their  minda  have  gone 
ttgh  in  tbe  study  and  practice  of  their  profession,  has  been  such, 
it  irovld  be  marvellous  indeed  if  they  generally  proved  well 
jfled  lo  deal  with  new  cases  where  principle  only  could  he  their 
'Ik,  or  eveu  to  distinguish  amongst  old  cases,  not  easily  reconcile- 
\  ihow  which  were  founded  on  sound  piiooiplo  from  ihose  ittt'> 
lb  erroneous  principles  had  crept.  Tbe  consequence  has  been 
by  insensible  degrees  a  train  of  BUCcesBire  decisions,  each  profess- 
to  be  founded  on  those  that  hsvo  gone  before  it,  has  occasionally 
igbt  us  In  a  result  contrary,  not  ouly  lo  justice  and  public  con- 
tDoe,  but  eveu  to  known  and  admilied  principles  of  law  ;  bo 
I,  however,  is  the  bondage  of  the  system  of  proceeding  on  de- 
Icuos,  that  the  courts  are,  or  profess  lo  be,  unable  to  retrace 
^  steps  on  a  course  found  and  admitted  to  be  wrong,  and  tho 
blittiire  has  to  step  in  to  tlieir  assistance. 

h«ra  is  still  another  point  from  which  it  is  necessary  to  regard 

imperfections  of  tbe  present  system,  namely,  tbe  want  of  any 

MoatQ  training  in  legal  knovkledge  for  those  persons  who,  though 

Pf  d«  not  intend  to  practise  the  law  as  a  profeseion,  yet  require 

VOb  geueral  ecriuniutanco  with  its  principles  for  the  proper  dis- 

;lutTg«  of  their  public  duties.     I  refer  to  magietrates.  members  of 

hiliaiDent,  consular  officers,  persons  in  the  diplomatic  service  atid 

l^en. 

it  is  impossible  lo  expect  such  persons  to  study  the  law  on  the 

wnt  system,  nor  would  tbe  partial  acquaintance  they  would  get 

il  some  particular  branches  of  law,  by  a  short  time  spent  in  the 

mbers  of  a  praclitioner,  but  not  follovvod  up  by  the  subsequent 

initig  of  actual  practice,  he  of  much  use  to  them.     Tlie  ouly  mode 

■  vtueh  persons  not  intending  lo  bo  practitioners  could  devote  tbe 

udiey  would  bo  likely  to  devote  to  the  study  of  tbe  law,  with 


156  Ldgal  Education. 

much  prospect  of  advantage,  would  be  by  studying  in  a  pabiie  lav 
school,  under  trained  and  qualified  teachers,  on  a  well  arraagal 
system  and  course  of  study. 

TbiB  question  of  law  studies  has  recently  acquired  great  additioori 
importance  by  the  adoption  in  India  of  the  practice  of  admhtin 
natives  to  bo  practitioners  in  the  Supreme  Courts,  under  which  «» 
siderablo  numbers  of  them  are  becoming  qualified  as  barristers  ui 
solicitors.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  how  utterly  uomilil 
the  present  state  of  legal  education  is  for  the  adequate  training  tf 
Hindoo  orMahommedan  natives  of  India  to  become  English  lawyu^ 
and  what  a  great  advantage  would  result  from  the  formation  ii 
England  of  a  competent  public  school  of  law  to  which  they  migk 
resort,  and  which  would  no  doubt  cause  the  formation  and  mooU 
the  character  of  subsidiary  schools  in  the  great  capital  cities  of  Indii 
itself. 

In  dealing  with  the  present  system  of  legal  education,  and  ik 
defects,  it  has  been  impossible  to  avoid  indicating  beforehand  tiw 
remedy  for  those  defects,  namely,  the  institution  of  a  great  univenitj, 
or  school  of  law,  in  the  metropolis,  as  proposed  by  Sir  Koandel 
Palmer  in  his  motion  in  the  House  of  Commons  last  session.  Nothiig 
but  such  a  school,  founded  on  a  thoroughly  national  scale,  can  p» 
sibly  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case. 

AH  previous  proposals  that  have  been  made  for  founding  a  Uw 
university  have  ])roposed  that  the  four  Inns  of  Court  should  be  tk  ] 
nucleus  of  such  university;  but  a  little  consideration  will  shew  tint  ] 
those  bodies  are  not  suited  for  the  purpose.  They  are  foor  it 
number,  completely  independent  of  each  other,  and  are  governed^ 
not  by  boards  elected  by  their  members,  but  by  self-appointed  bodiii; 
and,  moreover,  tliey  exclude  from  their  membership  one,  and  that  bj 
much  the  most  numerous,  branch  of  the  profession.  Therefore^  if k 
were  to  be  attempted  to  convert  the  Inns  of  Court  into  such  a  kv 
university  as  the  nation  requires,  such  great  changes  would  havsti 
be  made  in  their  constitution  that  it  would  be  a  task  much  mon 
easy,  as  well  as  more  simple,  to  create  an  entirely  now  institutiw 
for  the  required  purpose. 

The  first  enquiry  is  what  should  bo  the  natui'e  and  goyemmeattf 
the  university,  or  law  school,  proposed. 

The  first  point  upon  which  it  is  desirable  to  insist  is  that  it  shoiU 
be  a  university  for  the  education  of  the  whole  profession  in  both  ill 
branches,  as  well  colonial  as  English,  and  also  as  well  for  lay  mo, 
requiring  some  elementary  knowledge  of  law,  as  for  persons  intending 
to  be  practising  lawyers. 

There  is  another  point,  however,  that  must  be  considered  in  cath 
nection  with  that  of  improved  facilities  for  legal  education,  namelj, 
that  of  a  test  of  the  extent  to  which  the  means  of  education  oiforod 
have  been  taken  advantage  of. 

The  necessity  of  an  examination  test,  as  to  the  qualificationi  d 
attorneys,  is  admitted  by  the  law  as  it  stands,  and  as  to  barristenit 
is  no  less  obvious.     It  is  quite  true  that,  as   to  the  practi«iDg 


B>j  W.  A.  Jn'ont.  IS7 

the  public,  when  employiug  him  as  an  advocate,  have  Bome 
fur  liis  qaaliUcations  ia  tbe  fact  that  he  is  selected  by  an 
my.  But  tbe  barrister  has  other  olRces  besidoa  those  of  adviser 
dvocntn,  for  from  the  ranks  of  Ibo  Bar  exclusively,  are  taken 
idgesat  home  and  in  tbo  colonies,  County  Court  judges,  re- 
barristors,  stipendiary  raagiBlrntes,  and  a  variefy  of  other 
ll  and  semi-judicial  oflicera.  For  tlio  higbor  of  these  oSicoa 
iepinioQ  aiFords  a  gunraiitcc  that  no  one  but  eminent  pructittoners 
I  appointed  to  tbem,  but  such  is  not  the  cose  as  to  the  inferior 

I  government  of  a  university  ia  naturally  placed  in  the  liandsof 
Vbo  have  been  taught  in  its  schoola  and  received  its  degrees, 
"era  is  no  apparent  reason  why  tho  proposed  lavr  school  or 
ti^  should  be  diHerently  dealt  with  ;  but  being  established  for 
objects,  ihe  public  also  should  have  some  guarantee  for  ltd 
cy,  and  such  would  bo  best  iifforded  by  introducing  into  the 
or  governing  body,  an  element  of  public  oinaial  persons,  or  of 
D  Doniinees. 

tii,  however,  tbe  university  shall  have  l>een  in  existeDoe  for  some 
there  will  be  no  sufficient  number  of  persons  educated  by  it, 
ding  its  degrees  or  certidcntes,  lo  justify  entrusting  to  them 
Bvely,  the  election  of  tbe  eleclivo  members  of  the  senate, 
9  proposal  of  the  aesoolalion  wliieb  has  been  recently  forraeil 
KHDoting  the  objects  ndvocnicd  in  this  paper  is,  that  tbe  power 
Joa  should  be  conferred  iu  suitable  proportions,  upon  the  Inns 
Tt,  and  Ibe  various  incorporated  law  societies  of  attorneys  in 
I  and  the  provinces.  To  confer  such  power  upon  the  Inns  of 
would  however,  probably,  not  be  satisfactory  to  the  general 
nof  tb«  Inns,  if  it  were  to  bo  exercised  by  the  benchers  only. 
ily  that  objection  might  be  met,  by  dividing  the  representatives 
ed  on  each  Inn  between  the  benchers  and  the  other  members 
I  Ion.  The  incorporated  law  societies  do  not  include  all  tbs 
eya  in  England  and  Wales,  and  they  do  not  exist  in  all  parts  of 
luntry;  but  as  they  exist  In  all  the  considerable  centres  of 
M,  and  in  several  counties,  and  as  they  naturally  include  tbe 
kctive  and  zealous  members  of  the  profession  in  each  locality, 
irobably  would  give  as  good  and  fair  a  practical  representation 
opinions  and  interests  of  that  branch  of  the  profeasiou  as  could 
ained  in  nay  otlier  way.  There  would,  however,  be  no  in- 
able  difficulty  in  electing  members,  by  polling  the  whole  pro- 
by  voting  papers,  if  the  luus  of  Courts  and  law  societies  were 
Midered  to  represent  it  fairly  and  adequately. 
le  next  question  is,  whether  the  instruelion  in  tho  University 
Id  be  compulsory  or  optional ;  that  is,  whether  a  person  ought  to 
le  lo  go  up  for  examination  with  a  view  to  practise  without 
;  attended  lectures  in  the  law  schools.  I  was  at  iirsi  strongly 
;d  lo  conrider  that  it  should  be  made  compulsory  on  all  persons 
ing  to  practice  to  attend  in  the  schools,  and  I  should  still 
ly  derfre  to  see  such  attendance  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time 


1 58  Legal  Education* 

practically  universal,  but  I  have  relnctantlj  come  to  tbo  condttriditJ 
that  it  is  not  desirable,  in  the  first  instance,  at  all  events,  that  sudilf^ 
requirement  should  be  made.  '2 

With  regard  to  barristers,  probably  no  great  inconvenience  woolr 
result  from  requiriug  their  personal  attendance  and  study  at  ttr 
schools,  but  with  regard  to  attorneys  the  case  is  somewhat  different' 
The  great  majority  of  attorneys  reside  in  the  provinces,  and  I  fiiid,  or 
inquiry,  tbat  not  more  than  one-third  of  the  articled  clerks  coming  (q^ 
to  London  from  the  country  to  pass  their  examination,  have  speitt^ 
any  period  of  study  in  London  prior  to  such  examination.  It  wontf 
therefore,  apparently,  be  a  harsh  proceeding  to  compel  all  countr]^ 
students]  intended  for  the  profession  of  attorneys  to  study  at  m 
proposed  schools.  ^ 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  even  if  study  at  the  law  schools  is  nif4 
made  essential,  yet  the  test  examinations  will  be  founded  on  the  m$' 
scheme  of  study  as  is  established  in  the  schools,  so  that  to  dispenif 
with  attendance  on  the  lectures,  will  not  be  to  dispense  with  4U 
knowledge  that  can  be  most  readily  and  easily  acquired  at  thoill 
lectures,  but  simply  to  permit  those  whose  means  do  not  allow  thsQ^ 
to  attend  lectures  in  London  to  obtain  the  imprimatur  of  tke 
University,  if  their  diligence  enables  them  to  attain  the  sum' 
amount  of  knowledge  in  any  other  way. 

One  important  point  to  consider  is,  how  the  examinations  that  tnj  < 
to  be  the  test  of  competency  to  practise  are  to  be  conducted.  • 

In  the  proposals  of  the  Legal  Education  Association,  as  well  as  h  ' 
the  resolution  of  Sir  Roundell  Palmer,  it  is  assumed  that  these  exami-.  | 
nations  are  to  be  conducted  by  the  same  body  that  conducts  the  teadi>'  I 
ing.     It  do€S  not,  however,  appear  desirable  that  the  teachers  aaf  i 
the  examiners  should  be  the  same  persons.     It  is  just  that  a  teachec  ' 
should  be  the  person  to  test  for  merely  academic  purposes,  the  dogrsr  i 
of  attention  which  a  pupil  has  paid  to  his  lectures,  but  an  examini^  i 
tion  intended  to  test  general  acquirements  in  a  particular  subjeol^  | 
especially  where  such  test  is  needed  for  public  purposes,  should  bsff  j 
test  of  the  teacher,  as  well  as  of  the  pupil.     It  would  not  be  diflScdii;  i 
however,  to  devise  a  mode  in  which  such  a  board  of  examiners  m  : 
would  command  the  confidence  of  the  public  might  bo  appointed 
The  senate  or  governing  body  of  the  University  might  properly  hvA 
the  appointment  of  part  of  them,  subject  to  the  condition  that  tlj 
examiners   should   none   of  them  be  professors  or  teachers  in  titf 
schools,  and  the  appointment  of  the  others  might  be  vested  in  dM( 
Crown. 

With  regard  to  the  nature  and  number  of  the  examinations,  thefil 
should  be  a  first  or  preliminary  examination  in  general  knowledgf 
not  as  a  condition  of  admittance  to  the  teaching  of  the  schools,  bu 
as  a  condition  of  admittance  to  the  subsequent  pass  examination.  It 
is  obviously  impossible  to  specify  precisely  the  degree  of  acqidzs* 
ments  that  should  be  requisite  to  pass  this  examination,  but  it  wootil 
probably  be  sufficient  for  the  purpose,  if  it  was  of  about  the  saas 
character  as   the  University  middle  class  examinations,  and  tke 


li}f  W.  A.  J&ions.  159 

Eng  of  tliose  examliuttiona,  and  alao  the  paauag  the  inn  trie  illation 
Etuatioo,  or  taking  a  il^gree  at  nn^  univoiaiiry,  should  aupersedu 
Kneccj^ity  of  pasebg  such  preliminary  exniiiinQlion.  Tlicro 
d  oLaO  lie  an  inKinnediata  exominittioii  to  test  the  progress  of 
udcutd,  iitij  Lo  [iru\'enl,  aj  far  us  pos-tihle,  n  i^ygteru  of  craminiag 
e  final  cuuniaatloD.  Where  a  student  had  titken  a  law  degreo 
j:  Other  university,  this  pxaminatiun  might  safely  bo  dispousej 
There  should  finally  be  &  pass  examiuation.  The  que^tioa 
l^prife^  wbeihcr  there  should  be  more  than  one,  or  only  one.  paas 
nioatioii,  that  is,  wheibcr  there  should  be  more  than  one  rank  or 
•  of  oertilicatcd  students  or  graduates. 

fi  this  point  it  might,  perhaps,  be  contended  that  as  tlie  Judges 

nipdrior  lair  ofGcer^  are  taken  from  the  Bar,  the  permission  to 

ttae  at  the  Bar   should  require  a.  higher  leat  of  quaUfleation 

u  tlie  penuission  to  pracliae  ai  an  attorney  or  solicitor.     It  may 

lUo  bo  argued,  and  with   eome  degree  of  force,  that  if  ono  pass 

ninatitm,  and  one  pass  e.xamination  only,  is  required,  it  would 

her  too  severe  a  test  for  aome  members  of  the  one  branch  of  lbs 

ision,  or  no  sufficient  test  at  all  lor  the  other. 

I  this  point,  however,  it  13  well  to  a-scertain  what  are  the  opinions 

e  profession  itself.     The  point  chiefly  concerns  attorneys  and 

tors,  as  it  may  be  at  once  conceded,  that  if  there  is  to  be  ouly 

eat  examination,  it  must  be  a  thorough  and  complete  test  of 

aciairemcnts  in  every  bianeli  of  law,  with  which  it   is   de- 

that  students  should  be  ue(|aaiuled. 

plncorporaled  Law  Society  of  the  Cnited  Kingdom  has  generally 
,lreaied  aa  a  sort  of  roprescntatire  society  of  attorneys,  and  the 
let  of  the  proposed  Law  University  has  been  fullyand  repeatedly 
iwd  both  by  the  couuuil  of  that  body,  and  by  the  members  at 
gOQeml  uiretiugs,  and  the  result  has  been  that  a  practically 
moas  opinion  lias  been  expressed  both  by  the  council  and  the 
wrs  in  general  meeting>  that  the  examination  foi'  qualificntioa 
■stise  as  an  attorney  should  be  the  same  b.%  and  not  inferior  to, 
Hmlnntion  for  q u all li cation  to  practise  at  the  Bur. 
itted,  the  re^olutioiia  of  the  general  meetings  of  the  Society  go 
furtlier  tlian  that,  and  point  to  the  choice  of  the  branch  of  the 
EsioQ  to  which  the  student  will  devote  himself,  being  made 
,  and  not  before,  the  close  of  the  period  of  study.  This,  of  course, 
ves  the  surrender  of  the  prac^ce  of  articles  or  appreuiiceship, 
;Conaidering  what  a  considerable  emolument  accrues  lo  attorneys, 
I  the  fees  paid  by  articled  clerks,  a  groat  portion  of  which  would 
kbly  be  diverted  to  members  of  the  Bar  by  the  abolition  of 
I,  Buoh  a  resolution  may  fairly  be  considered  as  a  very  ra- 
blc  sign  of  the  opinion  of  that  branch  of  the  profession. 
e  question,  however,  of  one  or  more  examinations,  is  to  some 
e  involved  in  another  (inestlou,  namely,  that  of  whether  the  now 
l1  should  have  power  to  grant  degrees  in  law.  An  objection 
IweD  raised  to  their  having  such  a  power  on  the  ground  that  a 
il  or  college  for  one  special  subjeut  has  no  claim  to  be  culled  a 


160  Legal  Edxication. 

university,  and  moreover  that  a  degree  though  granted  in  speebl 
subjects  implies  general  academic  training. 

It  is  not  essential  for  the  objects  for  (which  the  establiahmeiit  cf 
law  schools,  and  a  test  examination,  are  here  advocatod,  (hat  Ite 
examining  body  should  liavc  power  to  confer  degrees,  and  thenfan 
as  there  is  much  to  be  done  yet,  before  this  desirable  reform  can  bo 
accomplished,  it  will  be  well  not  to  confound  the  essentialB  of  tbs 
proposals  with  adjuncts  which  may  be  dispensed  with. 

If  the  proposed  institution  had  the  power  of  granting  degreefli  8 
by  no  means  follows  that  the  pass  examination  for  liberty  to  praetiiei 
and  the  pass  examination  for  the  degree,  should  be  the  same.  Ill 
degree  might  be  the  badge  of  a  superior  degree  of  knowledge.  Tliai 
would  be  this  advantage  in  the  power  of  granting  legal  degrees  vesM 
in  a  responsible  public  board,  namely,  that  the  holding  of  such  degmi 
(though  not  made  the  necessary  condition  of  the  mere  right  to  pn^ 
tisc)  might  be  advantageously  made  the  condition  of  eligibiliihr  to 
certain  public  offices  of  a  legal  or  judicial  character.  This  wonldbl 
both  a  better  guarantee  for  sufficient  knowledge  than  we  now  poMMi 
and  would  be  a  great  stimulus  to  legal  studies  of  an  advanced  chi- 
racter.  This  course  was  substantially  recommended  by  the  Homtof 
Commons  Committee  of  1846. 

It  would  lead  mo  to  transgress  the  limits  of  this  paper,  were  I  to 
go  in  detail  into  the  subjects  to  be  taught  in  pablic  law  sehoolii 
Clearly  the  instruction  should  not  be  confined  to  English  law,  but 
should  cmhraco  jurisprudence,  and  the  most  valuable  conftribatkM 
to  a  knowledge  of  jurisprudence,  namely  the  systems  of  law  of  otkr 
countries,  ancient  and  modern,  to  which  should  be  added  Interoatioul 
Law.  The  extent  to  which  studies  outside  the  knowledge  of  £D^iA 
law  as  it  is,  and  the  history  of  P^nglish  law,  should  be  imposed  as  oon- 
ditions  of  liberty  to  practise,  is  a  question  of  practical  detul  whiekil 
is  impossible  fully  to  deal  with  at  this  time  and  place.  I  thiB^ 
however,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  the  study  of  the  civil  law,  aad  of 
jurisprudence,  which  cannot  bo  beneficially  studied  without  soni 
knowledge  of  foreign  systems  of  law,^and  of  the  history  of  lav, 
should  to  8om^  extent  form  a  necessary  part  of  the  education  d 
every  lawyer. 

When,  however,  we  consider  the  extent  of  the  field  of  study  thit 
is  thus  opened  to  our  view,  and  when  we  further  take  into  conndenh 
tion  the  exigencies  of  our  extensive  empire,  and  the  peculiar  knov- 
ledge  required  by  those  who  have  to  administer  the  laws  of  ooloniil 
dependencies,  which  include  almost  every  system  of  law  known  to  Al 
modern  world,  it  is  obvious  that  a  legal  university  adequate  to  ttf 
demands  of  the  metropolis  of  the  empire  must  include  some  snijeell 
of  study  which  it  would  not  be  necessary  for  every  English  pnetf- 
tioner  to  be  acquainted  with,  aud  must  push  the  instruction  on  asqr 
subjects  of  study  to  an  extent  not  requisite  for  every  student 

As  to  the  mode  of  instruction  in  the  proposed  university,  U  mi 
by  no  means  be  coucludcd  that  because  a  systematic  mode  of  leiek- 
ing  and  studying  the  law,  and  an  extension  of  the  subjects  reqninl 


By  W.  A,  Jecofts. 

sludiftd  11  sdvocated,  and  bec&use  ll.e  defects  of  mere  unguided 
'e  reodiag,  aod  of  learning  solely  from  actual  prftttice,  aro 
jly  dwelt  upon,  tbat  I  would  propose  to  substitute  a  system  of 
ling  by  lectures,  or  oral  instruction,  aloue,  for  tLe  present  system, 
reverse  of  wrong  is  not  right,  nor  would  I  for  a  moment  contend 
any  of  the  present  teaching,  whether  by  private  reading  or  by 
*ical  oiperience  in  the  chambers  of  a  barrister  or  attorney,  is 
~~~  or  should  be  omitted  in  the  education  of  the  lawyers  of  tbe 
Law  ia,  to  a  groat  extent,  a  practical  science,  and  lawyers 
to  deal  with  men — their  complicated  transactions — their  pre- 
la — their  ignorance — and  their  passions,  and  a  mere  student  of 
«a  and  booka  would  be  utterly  abroad  if  he  were  to  be  at  oace 
;ht  in  cuala.;t  with  the  exigencies  of  the  daily  practice  either 
I  adrocBtu  or  the  attorney.  Nothing,  therefore,  can  or  ought 
ipenae  with  the  practical  training  of  lawyers  by  experience, 
'  '  a  stale  of  pupilage,  of  the  actual  business  transacted  by 
Nor  do  1  believe  that  the  amount  of  experience  of  actual 
IS  now  thongbt  neceasary  for  the  student  can  in  reality  be 
redoced.  What  ts  wanted  is,  that  the  student  should  be  better 
id  to  lienefit  by  the  obaerration  of  tfio  actual  practice  that  he 
At  present,  much  of  the  lime  spent  in  chambers  or  oiKces  ia 
ed  for  want  of  the  neceasary  preliminary  knowledge. 
bilsl  llierofore  hoping  tbat  tbe  mere  apprenticeship  qualiHoalioii 
lorsays  will  be  abolished,  I  tbink  that  both  barristers  and  at- 

ta  should  be  required,  in  addition  to  the  examination  test,  to  gira 
of  actual  study  of  practice  in  the  chambers  of  a  barrister,  or  tha 
I  of  an  attorney,  or  both.  Lectures  also  will  not  only  be  no  sub- 
le  fur  experience  of  actual  practice,  but  also  will  be  no  substitute 
irir&t4  reading.  ludeed,  in  mauy  cases,  useful  lectures  will  be 
er  &  guide  to  the  student  in  his  reading,  than  a  aubstitute  for  it. 
m  or»l  teaching  in  ibe  proposed  university  may  not  necessarily 
Hrafiaed  to  lectures  addressed  to  large  audiences  -,  probably  a  more 
•ta  aystem  of  teaching,  somewhat  aniklogousto  the  tutorial  system 
be  old  English  Universities,  may  be  advantageously  mingled  with 
'  In  short,  what  the  Law  University  should  do  would  be  not  to 
Hitute  something  else  for  the  present  syatem  of  learning  the  law, 
[to  »dd  something  to  it,  by  which  not  only  a  wider  scope  of 
nctlon  should  be  attained,  but  the  present  system  of  leaching 
learning  should  be  better  utilised. 

p  what  order  of  time  the  various  paits  of  the  proposed  new 
pm  should  be  taken  must  be  left  to  a  great  degree  to  individual 
nieiit  and  to  experience. 

'tth  regard  to  the  mode  of  supporting  the  University,  I  can  see 
difficulty  whatever  in  making  it  self-supporting.  In  the  London 
Hes^  and  the  medical  schools,  the  yearly  fees  payable  by  each 
it  ara  not  less  than  from  twenty-one  to  twenty-live  guineas  a 
m,  and  fees  of  about  that  amount,  or  not  much  exceeding  i^ 
.Id  bo  amply  sufficient  to  support  a  Law  University. 
Rgret  vary  roucb  that  the  necessary  limit  of  a  paper  read  before 


Hi  Zegat  Education. 

this  AaBOcialion  preTCuts  me  from  going  more  into  detail  oo  O 
flubjects  connected  wilh  the  working  of  Uie  Law  Unifersity  wl 
ealnbtishmcnt  I  adroctt^  tind  likowiso  from  poiniic^  out  • 
indirect  ftdvnntagca  that  would,  iu  mj  opioioo,  result  from  it. 
that  time  has  permitted  me  to  do  is  to  poiot  out  Uie  aeriouB  eflla. 
the  present  Bjetem,  to  Advocate  the  fomuiion  of  a  meiropOlitoD  li 
school,  with  control  over  the  right  of  practising  Uie  prafeuioD, 
their  remedy,  anil  to  deal  with  a  few  of  tho  more  promiaenl 
tions  ufiecting  the  coDslitulion  of  luch  a  school  at  I  propose. 


Mr.  Thomas  Marshall  next  read  a  "8kelch  of  the  Early  Iliftl 
of  Leynl  Practitioners,  and  of  the  Inns  of  Court  of  Chancery."" 
subdivision  of  legal   labour,  lie  said,  which   prevails  at  the  preil 
day,  is  the  result  of  a  growth  of  several  ages.     In  Eoglaud,  id 
lOth  and  1  Itb  centuries,  iiersnnal  property  was  almost  unknown, 
title  lo  real  property  was  emiucntly  insecure,  and  the  preserTal 
even  of  life  and  liberty  was  a  task  which  the  Inw  wrb  unabln. 
perform.     Under  these  d re um stances,  evidence  is  scarcely  needed' 
prove  that  legal  organization  must  have  boon  extremely  simple, 
distinction  of  duties,  familiar  to  us,  but  which    is  rendered  tici 
saiy  only  by  the  wants  of  an  nrtiQci^d  system,  must  neoeassrilyb 
been   unknown   under  the  operation    of  a  system    marked  hj 
aimpliclly.     Tliat  tliia  was  so  is  clear  from  direct  testimony.     Le 
lative  and  judicial  functions,  now  so  jealously  sepsraled,  wer«  t 
constantly  united.     The  liligont  party  dlschurged  the  various  dii 
of  attorney,  pleader,  and  counsel.     Nor  was  It  optional  with  him 
to  do.     "By  the  policy  of  Uie  Common  Law,"  enya  Coke.t  "eum 
litet   jioliut  re»tHni/fndiB   tunt    yuara    taxanil<r,  tiulli    plainliff  aOil 
defendant,  dcmdntlant  and  leuaui,  in  all  UDtions — real,  personal,  ani 
mixi— did    appear    iu    person,"      Whatever  wo  may  ihiuk    of  the 
reason,  we  can  have  uo  difficulty  in  accepting    the  fact.      It   b  * 
course  of  procedure  certain  to  obtain  among  a  people  who  have  Ml 
yet  aciiuired  »u  ariilicial  system  of  legal  procedure. 

Mr.  Marshall  gave  a  skeleh  of  the  history  of  legal  practitlonen 
in  Euglaud  down  to  the  close  of  the  15th  century,  tho  period  wbui 
modern  bintory  begins.  Ue  summed  up  the  general  conclusions  atiil 
results  as  follows  : — 

We  have  seen  thut  tho  old  Common  Law  rule  required  the  norriU 
to  actiouB  10  appear  in  person;  tliat  this  rule  was  modified,  tiral 
through  the  exercise  of  the  Royal  prerogative,  by  granling  letters 
of  attorney;  and  second,  througit  the  exercise  of  judicial  discretion, 
by  the  poimisston  to  appoint  a  rcipontalit,  or  epecial  and  limited 
ageut  The  supremacy  gradually  acquired  by  the  law  in  tbe  13lh 
century,  together  with  the  artificial  character  of  its  rules,  made 
litiganta  more  and  more  dependent  on  profcseional  aid.     Some  readier 


'wf^^^^'^ui^li  aid  than  a  writ  out  oF  Chancery  was  demanded, 
y  Vai'given  by  the  Stutute  of  Merton,  liie  Slalute  of  West- 
A^  First,  and  the  Statute  of  Westmiuster  the  Seoonil. 
Sututcs  enabled  Kttorneya  (o  be  appoiuted  as  occasion  re- 
Without  formiility  imd  witho\it  expense;  and  tlioy  led,  aa 
bke  rtmnrka,  to  the  complete  disuse  of  the  agent  Torraerly 
ds  respoiisalis.  It  ivna  eooo  found  necessary  to  impose  some 
rfficiency  on  those  upon  whom  the  conduct  of  legal  prooeed- 
Tflci  devolved,  and  this  w&s  done  by  the  precept  of  the  20[h 
Edward  I.  IFp  lo  this  t[me  the  litigant  party — or  some  one 
tead,  and  directly  representing  him — is  the  only  non-juilicinl 
>{  whom  vc  ha ve^ cognisance.  But  in  the  latter  iinlf  of  the 
«tu[y  wo  became  acquainted  with  two  otlier  cluasos  of  prac- 
\ — Serjeants  unJ  apprentices — an  order  of  men  who  made  a 
lie  study  of  thy  law,  with  a  view  to  Its  higher  appointments, 
m  whom  ihe  Bench  was  constantly  recruited,  liut  it  was 
Br  a  long  pupillage  that  the  apprentice  or  learner  was  qualified 
m^  a  Serjeant  or  minister.  During  his  apprcntioesliip  he  did 
would  seem,  lake  equal  rank  witli  the  attorney,  although  a 
Cor  with  him  for  business  in  the  local  Courts.  The  14th 
removed  the  Ui^ahillty  which  still  pressed  upon  defendants 
lin  real  sclipus  of  appearing  by  attorney.  From  that  time, 
4a. civil  BuitB,  the  right  of  every  oue  to  appear  by  agent  was 
at^iis^ed.  Nor  wio  this  right  confined  to  the  inferior  and 
nsdictions.  Attorneys  were  heui'd  before  each  of  the  three 
B  of  (he  King's  Court  at  Westminster,  as  well  as  in  the  towns 
the  iTusttcea  held  the  Assize.  What  they  gainerl  in  one 
1  th^y  seem,  however,  to  have  lost  in  another.  Their  old 
[j  was  gone.  Apprentices  had  found  practising  more  profit- 
o  learuing,  and  had  begun  to  compete  with  attorneys  for  the 
ttysiveas  in  Court. 

a  not  until  the  loth  century  that  any  direct  means  were 
>r  KCil,ring  the  efficiency  and  good  conduct  of  practitioners. 
icu  provijioaa  should  have  been  called  for,  and  that  tliey 
laye  been  confined  to  attorneys,  indicates  the  increase  of  that 
d  shows  thut  tliey  still  absorbed  a  very  large  portion  of  the 
at  the  cuuuiry.  For  the  distitiction  beiweea  asceitaining 
t  law  out  of  Conn,  and  stating  facts  and  law  in  Court,  was 
^iuaidted  upon.  It  nas  permitted  to  the  same  man  to  learn 
try  poqferencB  with  Lis  clieitL,  and  to  expound  it  when  he 
ned  It.  We  find,  indeed,  new  named,  or  rather  the  revival 
Lstribiition  of  old  ones — cOHsiiiarii,  homines  Icgis,  komines 
attf— ras  well  us  attorneys  and  apprentices ;  and  it  is  probable 
le^ames  were  coined  lor  the  sake  of  clearness,  and  Ihiit  ihcy 
me  difference  in  the  persons  denoted.  Whatever  the  dif- 
ipjiy  bay«  been,  it  was  not  the  diSoreuce  which  at  present 
between  counsel  and  attorney.  For  the  most  distinguished 
jf  the  reign  of  Henry  VI, — men  like  Yelverton  and  Fasten 
-*~'  »— 1-~-~   -mih  which  do  modem  barrister  would  be 


11—2 


■ 
I 


164  Legal  Education. 

permitled  to  interfere;  and  in  the  counties^-if  not  in  Lott4<»H- 
attorneys  bad  still  an  audience  before  the  King's  Joeticea.     Such 
was  the  diBtribution  of  legal  business  at  the  close  of  the  Middle  Agft 
Mr.  Marshall  then  proceeded  to  give  an  outline  of  the  history  of  tkt 
Inns  of  Court  and  Chancery  during  the  Middle  Age.     Of  their  mhi 
and  copfttitution  during  that  period,  he  said,  we  know  nothing,  nor  can 
we  do  more  than  guess  at  the  manner  in  which  they  satisfied  tbe 
wants  of  their  members.     But  if  we  look  to  the  neeessities  of  the 
time  which  gave  them  birth — to  tbe  number  of  analogous  institatioiis 
throughout  burope,  and  take  into  account  their  popularity,  and  the 
favour  with  which  they  were  regarded  by  the  patrons  of  the  Common 
Law — we  may  infer  that   in  that  early  age   they  performed  eone 
useful  function.     Our  knowledge,  however,  scanty  as  it  is,  enablei 
us  to  speak  with  tolerable  confidence  on  one  or  two  points.    It  ii 
not  to  be  doubted  that  all  the  existing  Inns  of  Court  and  Chancerj 
were  founded  for  the  common  benefit  of  the  legal  profession;  for 
during  tlic  whole  range  of  time  which  extends  from  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VL,  and  which  covers  the  estab- 
lishment of  these  societief*,  there  was  no  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  several  practitioners  of  the  law.     The  attorneys,  pleaders,  and 
apprentices  of  Edward  III.'s  time  were  the  common  class  by  whom 
and  for  whose  benefit  tlie  legal  colleges  of  the  14th  century  were  set 
up,  and  for  whose  benefit  alone  any  institution  of  a  like  natnre  eontd 
have  been  designed.     The  counsel,  men  of  the  law,  and  attorneys  of 
Henry  VI.'s  time — each  of  whom  discharged  duties  connected  then, 
but  now  separated — constituted  that  numerous  membership  of  which 
Forlescuo  speaks  with  so  much  pride.     It  was  by  the  joint  contri- 
butions of  tliesc  persons — the  students,  practisers,  and  professors  of 
the  laws  of  England — that  the  houses  were  supported,  the  rents 
paid,  and  that  the  societies  were  enabled  to  continue  their  existence^ 
for  so  many  ages,  and  to  establish  n  claim — founded  on  the  fact  oC 
long  continued  existence — upon  the  liberality  of  the  Earl  of  Lincolia^ 
Ileniy  VIII.,  and  James  T.     Whatever  else  is  doubtful,  this  is  clear  ^ 
80  that  the  absolute  exclusion  of  seven-eighths  of  the  profession  at  tb^ 
present  day  from  these  Inns,  by  whatever  else  recommended,  eanno  "^ 
be  defended  on  the  plea  of  '*  the  true,  ancient,  and  laudable  goTern^- 
ment"  of  tbe  societies  in  question.      Little  less  doubtful  is  it  tha*^ 
these  Inns  were  established — in  part,  at  least — for  educational  par-— 
poses.     The  time  and  circumstances  of  their  origin  point  to  this  a^ 
one  of  their  objects.     On  that  ground  only  could  the  ancient  eit]^ 
schools  of  law  have  been  suppressed.     Nor  is  the  absence  of  ai^ 
endowment  against  this  view.     In  the  time  of  Henry  YIIL,  whei^ 
books  began  to  be  more  common,  complaints  were  heard  that  ^'ther^ 
is  no  lands  nor  revenue  belonging  to  the  house  whereby  any  learned 
might  be  holpen  to  study  by  means  of  some  yearly  stipend  or  salary  s 
which  is  the  occasion  that  many  a  good  wit,  for  lack  of  ezhibttioo  ^ 
is  compelled  to  forsake  study  before  he  have  any  perfyt  knowledge 
in  the  lawe,  and  fall  to  practising,  and  become  a  typler  in  the  lawe;^ 
but  in  the  13th  century  those  aide  were  not  necessarji  and,  indeedK 


liy  Edmund  liolertton. 


A  reader 
Vices  of  ihat  ago. 


id  a  text-book  formcj  tlio  educational  up- 
for  Ihe  governing  boil/  of  tlie  lans  of 


fue  special 
t  question, 
which  lh( 


to  consider  how  Tar,  as  regariU  profesaionai  edii< 
ftdvpted  their  lurge  resources  to   the  ultered  e 
reMii[  dny. 

'.    Ejuiuxd    Robbktsox   read  ft    paper   oq   tf 

tion.     He  said  the  intereet  at  present  luken  i 

the  larger   acquninlanoe    wiUi    the    preef:nL  aystem    ' 

lie    liHve  ucquired,  reudci-  it  possible  to   iLbund>in    the    practice 

DiaJEiiig  out  a  case  for  tlie  necessity  ol'  refurm,  and  Co  proceed 

ace   to    the  discussion  of  tlie  single  scheme  which  has  come 

Ltnentl/  before  Ihe  coiuitry— that  of  Sir  UounrKil  Palmer.     The 

objection   to    this   scheme   ia  its   want  of  completeness.     It 

at «  reform  of  the  Irius  of  Court  rather  tbau  of  legnl  education, 

akes  no  oeconnt  of  the  educational  resources  ol  the  Universities. 

una  of  the  name  unitrersiiy  is  also  to  bo  condctnnod.     It  involves 

naly  of  a  univorsily  with  only  one  faculty;  and  the  proposed 

are  simply  a  conFuiiion  of  ediicational  aiid  professional  status 

carries  with  it  no  useful  consequence  whatever.     The  pri- 

to  be  bestowed  on  the  new  inatitutjoog  will  weaken  one  of 

IS  of  our  univeraiiy  system,  and  will  probably  induce  many 

to  accept  the  training  of  the  legal  university  as  a  substitute 

for  the  old  university  aud  for  whatever  prgfcssioDsl  training  at 

int  exists.     And  thire  will  be  no  corresponding  advantage;  n 

uaiventiy  in  a  large  town  ia  comparatively  powerless  in  its 

tQce  over  tlie  charautcr  and  cnlture  of  its  members :  and  what 

>  expected  of  a  mere  set  of  lectures  and  examinations  set  up 

tieart  of  Loudon  T     Assuming  as  es^tontial  to  all  schemes  of 

I  the  establishment  of  a  real  system  of  educatiou  in  the  Inns 

Court)  tlien  arises  the  problem  how  to  reconcile  the  tlniversilies 

i  ihe  Inns  of  Court.     The  Inns  of  Court  ought  not  to  be  asked  to 

Vfl  up  their  right  of  testing  for  thcmseUos  the  qualiHcation  of 

ndidatea  for  the  Bar,  but  at  the  same  time,  the  study  of  law  in 

A  universities  roust  be  made  to  acquire  some  appreciable  profua- 

Hial  value.     The  present  time  is  favourable  for  the  attempt ;  for 

jal  education  in   the    uiiiveisii.ies — or   at  least  in  Oxford — is  in 

•cau  of  being  reformed,  and  there  are  indications  that  we  are  now 

tering  upon  a  period  of  special  studies.     At  present  the  University 

■  do  nothing  for  legal  educalioo,  while  there  are  at  any  given 

ne  a  thousand  youths  whose  studies  are  a  mere  continuation  of  tho 

holities  of  a  public  school.     Many  of  these  men  must  in  the  course 

luature  go  to  ihe  Bar,  and  a  well-contrived  system  of  legal  study, 

place  of  the  barren  work  to  which  they  are  now  condemned, 

M  simply  be  salvation.     But  this  legal  study  must,  in  order  to 

successful,  be  supported  by  professional  recognition.     On  what 

nidples,  than,  ought  this  recognition  to  be  granted  1     Ho  would 

>pose  that  there  should  bo  two  examinations  for  the  Bar  which  all 

itnints  should  be  required  to  pass,  instead  of  one  sham  examination, 

&bich  it  is  counted  rather  disreputable  than  olherwlse  to  pass.    The 


166  Legal  Eduoatioii* 

firat  examination  Bhonld  embrace  the  more  general  aad  mprofiM- 
Bioual  subjects  of  legal  study,  and  might  be  divided  thna  !    'General 
Jurisprudence,   International  Law,  Constitutional   Law^   and  Eb*^ 
mentary  English    Law.     These  subjects  are  peculinrlj  tiitpi  ..fift . 
university  teaching,  and  a  university  degree  in  Jaw  ought  to  ill: 
accepted  hy  the  Inns  of  Court  as  equivalent  to  their  own  exBBia»i 
lion.     The  Fccond  division  of  legal  studies  should  be  confined  to  the  ' 
purely  technical  and  |>rofessional  subjects,  and  over  thia^he  wqfjild.' 
give  the  Inns  of  Court  complete  control     This  scheme  involves  die 
Bubstitution  of   law  for   the  elementary  Latin  and   Greek   of  te-i 
ordinary  pnssmnn,  and  if  Latin  and  Greek  are  still  to  be  reqfdr^  hi 
the  univeiiiity,  it  will  throw  upon  the  public  schools  the  re^ntf* 
bility  of  the  work  which  they  have  hitherto  neglected.     It  will  he- 
more  difTicult  to  mnkc  the  study  of  the  law  compatible  with  a  eonm 
of   readinp   fiT  honours,    but — in    Oxford  at   least — the   growfe|;' 
tendency  to  special  studies  will  be  in  our  favour.     It  will  probably  j 
be  found  necessary  in  this,  as  in  oUier  studies,  to   break  up  the 
English  college  system  and  assimilate  our  university  teaching  to  the. 
popular  lectures  of  Scotch  and  German  professor^.     The  praetictf  ef 
rending  in  chambers  may,  and  probably  will,  still  bo  cohtiniiedi  with' 
this  diflferencc,  that  the  barrister  will  be  free  from  the  8UppiciQ|i  of: 
conniving  at  the  systematic  deception  by  which  many-of  hia  pupUti 
contrive  to  get  called  to  the  Bar.     To  settle  details,  a  commfcMiofit' 
representing  the  universities  and  the  profession,  'would  be  the  MiiiX 
means  ;  Parliamentary  legislation  on  such  a  autjject  would  probably, 
be  a  medley  of  inconsistent  compromises.     To  sum  up;  the 
advocated  are  the  following : — (1.)  The  name  (and  whatever 
ing  attaches  thereto)  of  a  legal  university  should  be  struck  opt  df 
the  scheme.     (2.)  The  universities  should  be  brought  into  working 
union  with  the  Inns  of  Court ;  the  latter  being  entrusted  with  the 
general   or  philosophical,  the  former   with    the  technical  or  pnn 
fessional,  purt  of  legal  education.     (3.)  Law  must  be  introduced  kt' 
a   special  study  in  the  universities  for  pass  as  well  as  fbr  honour' 
degrees.      It  ought  never  to    be   forgotten,  in  speaking   of  lagel' 
education,  that  there  are  certain  subjects  (such  as  penend  juriepri^' 
dence)  which  ought  to  form  part  of  the  training  of  eveiy  educated' 
lawjer,  and  which  can  nowhere  be  so  efiectively  taught  as  in  the 
university.     To  encourage  university  education,  without  excludiof 
those  who  cannot  afford  it,  should  be  the  objeet  of  every  lawn* 
former. 


DisGuaeioir. 


Mr.  TaouAB  Webstir,  Q.C,  F.R.S.,  haTinff  bad  ten  years'  reN/^noa  at.  Cn^-- 
bridge,  and  nearly  thirty  vears*  pnctioe  at  the  Bar,  conalderad  jfc,  Bobirt|{o^f|; 
notion  of  praotical  law  teaoUing  at  tbe  UniTcndtiea  a  ohinwra.  .fia  o^BQii^TeidinilMii 
esi)edienpy  of  facilitating  the  ^udv  of  law  there,  bat  oowld>aot  iff  "tHri  pttij^hlitjll  jOH: 
deeirability  of  a  union  between  the  Inni  of  Court  and  tbe  tTniTermti<lfi^j!|^^|iip^^ 
no  objection  to  the  tann,  "UniTarttt^  of  Jaw,",  bat  Sijr.  JEh>imd»U,£|j|Qjll'e  m^ 
porton  would  be  equally  satisfied  with  the  tjitla  of  lair  i^i^et  :,4t  fc^p^tSpa. 


nfor 

_     _  n,  bul  IhiB  ooiUd  not  be  effwjtad  »t  the  tlniror- 

«e  the  grant  priirs  mint  &tirjiTg  be  (dJTetj  to  cloaeios  or  tualhcmatioj. 
Duld  coiiiUiirB  with  tliose  Btudiee  bb  a  training  for  future  life  for  p«r- 
Mea  of  itilDdi,  thoilgb,  looking  u>  Ibe  practical  ends  of  life,  he  >hould 
■thnairfl  lothe  BcienOei,  phjncalsndnpplted.  Lectaru,  or  a  imiTPnitf 
ooubl  not  mikke  a  lawrcr.  but  hu  ehuiild  with  to  SM  law  claaug  at  ul 
ntttai^  tike  thoM  St  UniTersit]'  Cullege  and  King'i  College.  After 
ugh  the  Univcreitj  purriouium  there  would  be  unple  time  foe  the  Bludy 
t  would  bo  unfair  to  mEiko  the  eniininatioiit  for  arJiuisaioQ  to  the  Bar 
>  long  ai  no  «y»tem  of  instruction  wM  profidod  for  o 


I 


roald  (Ciuulate  inquirr,  and  practice  ta  an  attornej'i  oSlm  or  barriater'a 
WM ,«MBIitial  to  the  education  of  a  successful  lawfer.  As  for  the  Urge 
'  men  who  required  inatruction  in  law.  bul  did  not  inland  to  prictiiwi, 
!  obtfiin  that  instruction  at  the  FiiiTereities  or  law  sohooU,  and  undergo 
atlon  in  London.     Some  of  his  brethren  were  borrified  ot    ' 


ttw  two  branobes  of  the  prufesiion,  but  he  thoiieht  every  bi 
to  aD  altomej'i  office  for  a  jear,  and  his  onlj  mltlakc  in  Ufo  hi 
I  of  this.    Allowing  Ave  jears  for  education,  two  would  be  tpeiit  at  the 


rs  would 

Xebiwea,  rhioh  were  indiipeasable  to  good  tescUixB.  whereas  the 
Inni  of  Court  were  now  Terj  scantily  attended.    He  did  not  see 

0  Inns  of  Court  and  Chancer;  should  not  be  brought  under  one  •jtlcm 

1  and  classes,  and  be  beliercd  that  the  difficulties  in  the  wnj  of  Btr 
Pbliner's  scheme  would  be  surmounled.  The  Jons  of  Court  and  the 
led  law  8ociet7  might  retain  their  present  priTilegos  of  eiamination  and 

W  SnunoK  ADOS  (Londim)  remarked  that  the  differences  between  the 
Hm  of  the  profession,  as  Mr.  Marshall  hsd  shown,  were  not  lerv  old  or 
»gt  Vrere  accidental.  This  met  one  of  the  objections  in  the  ifouie  of 
'~  ~'   *t.  Palmer's  sehsm p.    The  teDdenflf  of  the  i^,  howerer,  was  U 


ritb  nttrktiDD*,  and  to  hare  free  trade  in  eierjthing,  letting  anvbodv 
nd  IcAfins  the  ch*ek  to  the  self-interest  of  tlio  peruns  coaoemeU.  It 
ntrograde  (tep,  therefore,  to  introduce  a  new  teet.  and  unleas  that 


1  the  wny  of  anj  scheme  of  Ibis  kind.  It 
Mrif  urged  that  the  State  had  to  administer  justice,  and  to  nd minister  it 
•ly,  and  that  unless  there  were  reoll;  educated  practitianorn  in  the  courts 
Id  te  inSnile  dahi;,  injustice,  and  conflicting  interpretations  of  the  Uw. 
hope  of  a  codification  or  reform  of  the  Uw  U;  in  a  thorougbl;  educated 
,  wbJcb  should  undentaiid  the  meaning  of  t^ms,  huTS  logical  Tiews  of 
on,  and  an  historjcal  knowledge,  so  as  lo  know  when  to  use  a  pr«cedent 
nob.    Ihsre  should  be  a  profession  in  aooord  with  one  another  and  with 

and  a  judge  well-informed  and  reflecting  the  common  sense  of  the  Bar. 
HaitiM,  scattered  through  the  countrj.  and  connected  with  our  whole 
and  diatinction*,  and  with  a  largo  number  of  other  obiect«,  were  hiirdlf 
in  suHteient  practical  attention  to  legnl  education.  They  might  help  to 
ab  public  mind,  and  might  possihlj  prepare  the  way  for  an  orgnn'sed 
It  Ihaj  would  not  satjs^  the  need  felt  by  nil  oUsses  of  practiiioiiers. 
Inns  uf  Court,  tbeir  constitution  was  almost  irremediably  inolGcacious. 
g  eMmlially  close  corporations,  which  could  not  by  the  nature  of  the 
Ut  edumtion  well.  Sduoation  must  be  flexible,  audc.nducted  by  persons 
tber  end  in  Tiew.    He  did  not  say  the  Inns  of  Court  were  more  in- 

than  oilier  corporations.  As  to  Mr.  Robertson's  proposed  separation  of 
in)  KoA  the  philosophical  part  of  legal  education,  he,  as  n  teacher  of 
IteredinUie  possibility  of  it.  The  two  must  go  on  together,  for  without 
tflBpathy  with  a  deed  or  will,  or  actual  proceedings,  there  would  be  -  " 
idf  of  law,  and  Ur.  Jnona's  Kheme,  howerer  modified,  ought  to 


I 


I 


168  Legal  Education' 

if^ch  rmlj  \]\r.so  portions  of  tlio  law  which  ercrjbodj  woa  expected  to  know — tba 
flryt  principlf.>«  uf  En^li^li  law.  intfmat ionul  hiw,  jurisprudence,  and  ciril  law.    A 
Muivi-rn'ity  cortAiiily  ccmld  not  U*uch  practical  law,  which  could  only  be  leunad 
tliroii^li  tlio  reading  of  pnu-tical  works,  and  inflnitclj  more  by  attendaDoe  in  ■ 
polii'itorV  ofTlco.  or  U'lrriMcr's  clunnljcrs.  and  the  courts.    Now  if  a  university  oould 
ti-»('h  only  ah>tract  law,  would  it  be  advantageous  to  establish  so  largo  a  machineiyf 
Kciiienibrrin;^  that,  our  pnictical  law  chang(*d  from  voar  to  year,  and  waialnoit 
rovrilutioniiird  in  fifty  yearn,  it  couM  hardly  be  dcenieci  a  science ;  while  inmediciiie 
nnd  ('llenli^•try  every  Htep  was  one  in  advance,  the  imst  not  being  abrogated ;  in  lav, 
wliat  a  man   learned  tri-day  lie  might  have  to  unlearn  to-morrow,  and,  con- 
vising  tlie  la-t.  forty  yearn,  he  found  an  almost  entire  change  in  almost  ereiy 
braneli  of  nur  law.     A  university  could  teach  international  law,  that  being  founded 
on  great  prineiiJes,  as  also  civil  law,  on  which  a  crxxl  deal  of  our  present  law  wis 
founded,  tor  that  wuh  an  liisti»ri(*al  ntudy.     But  did  an  ordinary  solicitor  want  to 
know  anytliing  alKiut  international  or  civil  law,  or  any  abstract  branch?    Ht 
wante<l   to  know  runveyancing,  and  the  actual  practice  of  the  courts,  nnd  hid  to 
study  iKtokn  like  K(woe*B  Ni^i  Privn,  and  it  would  not  answer  his  purpose  to 
ninHter  ah>triise  depart  inei it >«,  which  nine  solicitors  out  of  ten  neyer  requind,  tod 
which   others   re(piired  only  once  or  twice  in  their  lives,  when  they  natursUi 
went  to  persons  who  had  made  huch  quest iona  a  special  study.     It  would  bei 
wa^te  of  time  for  a  bulioiior,  who  must  lie  ocquaintc^l  with  the  ecneral  affairs  of 
the  world,  and  have  great  genend  knowledge,  to  learn  what  could  be  of  no  practical 
use  to  him,  unlei^s,  indeeil,  ho  had  special  qualifications  for  it.     As  to  the  Bar,  it 
was  dividi^l  into  pectitmH,  and  he  couhl  f>carc(^ly  c(»nceive  any  change  which  would 
render  that  division  unne<'e.-sary.     A  man  who  professed  to  know  every  branch  of 
the  law  waH  li>oked  on  with  Kunpicion.     A  l>arrit«tcr  must  know  the  genend  princi- 
ples of  l:iw,  and  must,  read  up  boine  ])articular  branches.    A  man  going  to  the  Bar 
mu^t  first  ask  him!H>lf  whether  he  meant  to  be  an  advocate  or  a  lawyer.     If  thi 
former,  \\v  had  to  get  up  a  gocKl  deal  of  genend  knowle<1ge  and  familiarity  with 
human  natuns  and   the  affairs  of  life,  as  alm>  much  science  and  even  philoiopbji 
lie  would  have  no  time  to  master  the  whole  range  of  English  and  intemationil 
law,  which  a  univer^ity  would  require  of  him.     Law  makers  and  others,  no  doub^ 
ought  to  know  the  abstract  principles  of  law,  but  a  practical  man  must  watch  tlw 
decMsions  of  the  courts,  and  keep  |)ace  with  practical  law.     Could  not  all  the  objeeU 
of  the  proposed  univerHity  1k<  gained  hy  our  present  machinery?     The  univcnitiM 
affordeu  opporlunitieH  of  giving  the  kind  of  knowledge  required  by  penons  who 
ho]K>d  to  praetiipc  l.>cfore  the  Privy  Council,  and  the  Inns  of  Court,  withtODaeinodi- 
flcationp.  might  Bee  that  applicant^i  for  admiHHion  to  the  Bar  obtained  the  partieuhr 
knowle<1ge  which  they  re(iuircd.     It  was  absurd  to  suppobc  that  the  Inns  of  Court 
or  a  university  could  teach  the  practice  of  the  law.     The  only  una  of  law  leetuw 
wa»  to  civo  students  a  few  principles  of  law,  and  to  direct  them  to  the  coum  of 
study  wiiich  they  ought  to  follow.    For  a  h*cturer  to  say  "  such  and  such  fonu 
are  to  bi«  gone  througii,"and  for  students  to  recollect  them,  wu»  absurd.     Practiial 
law  must  w  learned  in  Kirristers*  chambers  and  solicitors*  offices,  to  which  lut 
every  l)arri.-:t  r  ought  to  go,  while  the  Inns  of  Court  vhbuld  examine  the  candidttn 
to  H(Ht  that  they  had  gone  through  these,  and  had  acquired  the  requisite  knowMbsu 
Tim  Inns  of  Court  niight,  periiapfl,  give  a  certificate  as  to  the  general  knowle^ 
which  every  lawyer  ought  to  possem,  and  it  might  be  optional  for  a  barrioter  to 
get  a  special  certificate  of  siK*cial  acquirement*  in  particular  branchef  of  the  drh 
leMion.     If  he  chose  to  sit  in  chamners  and  become  a  conveyancer,  he  should  lihl 
a  certificate  that  ho  had  qiuklifiinl  him-elf  beyond  ordinary  men  in  that  pirtioular 
branch.    Tliis  would  give  nearly  tdl  tlmt  was  required.    The  Incorporated  law 
Society  might  do  the  same  for  the  solicitors,  but  tlieso  seldom  required  knowledge 
of  a  particular  branch.     When  thev  wanted  higher  information  they  went  to  bmi 
who  ha<1  been  able  to  anply  themselves  to  tlie  more  abstract  studice.    It  wao  moit 
important  to  have  an  eaucati'd  body  of  solicitors  than  of  barristen,  for  tlie  fonaer 
were  employed  directly  by  the  public,  who  could  not  possibly  know  their  qnalU- 
cations,  while  the  latter  were  employed  by  men  who  knew  their  qualiflcationo.    A 
barrister  who  did  not  know  his  duty,  could  be  dismissed  directly  before  any  ham 
was  done,  but  before  a  Hulicitor  could  be  got  rid  of  much  mischief  might  be  don^ 
An  advocate  really  required  yery  little  knowledge  of  law.    Serjeant  ^^Idns^  one  oC 


i^uied  (o  u;"I  knov  notbiag  about  iuw;  mj  junior  will 
it  ho  wm  a  powerful  adroaite,  und  many  advocates  wera 
Jr 'ftontion.  Under  the  proposed  fcbeme,  tonnj'  meu,  who  would  be 
jidiucatM,   would  Dot  pua  the  euminatjon   aeceawirj  for  oliBraber 

iLUH  SdAKir  (Londoa)  thought  it  rather  lute  in  tbs  daj  to  diaeiiaa 
B  etltUug  nn^aiwaa  mlScieDt.  ArimilLing  tlinb  practical  law  eoutd 
rht  by  ■  unircnit;  or  teaching  bodj,  he  contended  that  the  acqiiisiuun 
f  Ufr  might  tw  i^enerall;  racifitalctl  bj  improved  methnds  of  te.ichtiig 
""  *tIj  onti»titul«d  Bohool.  This  qiiaslion  had  been  trealed  as  whnt 
(J  10  Oertuanj,  a  br«Mi-«nd -butler  qusstion — the  lawyer  nnturiUlj 
[Dwb  mooe?.  auii  caloul«tiiig  whether  he  ahoLdd  become  a  lawjer  or  im 
■oir  it  thould  be  conaidered  from  a  higher  point  of  Tiew,  Damely,  vtbiit 
pr  •ocietj.  It  was  not  what  U<rjer>  wanted  to  mate  themHlrea,  but 
B^tib  nation  vanMd  her  bnjers  to  b«.  Xbe  objocl.  ahould  bo  to  rnite 
nr  nod  oaiuiromeiits  of  the  profwaion.  It  wiu  misleading  to  ay  Huii 
^  onlj  knoo  praotioal  law.  No  roan  had  an  adequate  knowledge  of 
Ma  tnj  brand)  unlssa  he  was  able  to  connect  it,  on  the  one  band,  with 
rof  that  bmneh  up  t«  Ibe  prcaont  lime.  and.  on  tha  other,  wiUl  the 
If  jutuprudencei  for  actual  hiw  was,  or  oueht  to  be,  the  appUoatJon  of 
»  to  Cha  Mi^noies  of  otTiliaation.  A  lawjer  shnuld  toow  the  cir- 
it  of  whieh  the  aodial  Uw  arose,  and  the  principle*  it  was  int«nded 
[  International  and  riiil  Uw,  it  was  adniitteil,  might  be  taught  al  t1i« 
Mieting  diTiiion  of  the  profession  bad  been  remarked  on  u  a 
Morpted  a«  final,  but  I  ho  wisdom  of  our  deseendaa  Is  might  not  pre- 
_0  ifii*.  He  epuko  the  tBntiment  of  every  ntlomej  ansiom  to  do  hie 
g,  thtj  oonrtantlj  felt  bow  much  bettor  thoy  could  perform  their  <lutj 
Itutlktaore  thorouEb  and  lystcmalio  introduction  to  the  prof easiun. 
'»  indeed  wa*.  to  a  lirBe  eslent,  the  product  of  the  atlnmoy),  who  liiid 
'  n  a  way  which  did  them  bonour,  and  calleil  for  an  iniproTed 
la  WBl  a  cunclunlle  answer  tn  the  allegation  that  the  atlomeya  did  not 
JI  IIm  Dumber  of  barrislera  nlludrd  to  by  Sir  R.  Palmer  oa  formiog  the 
nlM  Legal  Bducation  AnociaU'on  was  on  equally  oonelitsi'e  answer  to 
^  that  the  barrial«ni  did  not  wont  it.  Tbero  had  no  doubt  been  poor 
t  had  been  good  adTocales,  but  this  was  not  what  the  English  people 
*""  ~  ■  t  creditable  for  a  bencher  to  confea*  be  was  no  lawyer. 

e  from  tba  Bar. 

J  Ian  quoationa  that  were  niiied,  nine  were  answered  by  the  solicitor 
J  and  wBTB  immediately  acted  upofi  by  the  client.  It  woa  important  to 
[Ui«r*fore,  that  the  Bolidtor  should  know  more  than  the  dry  contcnle  of 
ab»  Statute*  of  the  day,  tor  be  bad  constant^  to  give  an  opinion  on 
I  dinctly  dttennined  by  Statutes  or  preceilent^,  and  enoraioris  inlcreats 
^  hi*  gifing  a  rigbt  answer,  the  only  chanee  of  which  vat  his  know- 
e  pruu^les  imperfectly  embodied  io  the  cases  nod  Statutea.  and  hi« 
■Olenlific  training  to  apply  them  to  the  new  ciroumstanoea  presented 
r.  /oTuns  might  hare  mentioned  the  eiialence  of  a  legal  faculty  at 
[JoUegs  with  rBgolar  courses  of  lectures,  and  aimilar  lectures  at  King's 
d  the  Unirarsity  of  London  with  ila  law  faculty.  The  enstpncB  of 
iitenity  ritally  aSeded  the  queation  whether  the  propose'l  institution 
~ "  '  UTeraity,  and  Sir  R.  Palmer  modiflod  the  terms  of  hla  motion 
.  .  le  droulBr  of  the  Council  of  Legal  Education  on  being  cent  to 
li^  of  London,  was  considered  by  the  CommitteP,  annually  eteotod  by 
jj»o  expression  to  their  liewi  upon  any  question.  SoTcnil  of  the 
.,  like  himself,  members  of  the  Legal  Education  Assodation,  ao 
lehed  the  toatler  from  no  unfriendly  point  of  view.  The  conolu- 
Juitte*  wsB,  that  if  the  new  inatitution  waa  to  be  aimply  a  irhool 
■ide  education  for  studenta  of  the  legal  profession,  and  with  or 
j«lo  Uoensa  to  practise  and  to  mercise  control  OTor  the  praclitionow, 
KMiriulIy  concur  in  it,  aubiect  to  the  title  of  uniTersity  and  the  power 
^1  baiiig  dropped.    The  Senate,  after  an  inteiriew  with  a  deputation 


I 


1 12  Legal  Education. 

Palmer*8  recent  Houee  of  Commons*  speech,  namely— "KesolTed,  that 

opinion  of  this  bench,  the  creation  of  a  legal  univenitYy  to  which  the 

Inn?  of  Court  nii^lit  Ik>  aflTiliuti'd,  and  throueh  which   l^ffal  degreef  mJ 

conferroil   and    diKMplino   cxi'rc*i8od,    would    be  dceirable.         The    motic 

eccondcd    by  tho  pn'sont  Tx>rd    Clianccllor,  then    Tico-Chancellor  Woe 

wan  Nupportcd  bv  Sir  Koundell  Palmer,  but  it  waa  oarried  in  a  wa^  wb 

not  coiuiiuind   the  ou-oiH^ration  of  the  other  Inns  of  Court,  and  it  fi 

a   dead    letter    until   Sir    Koundell   Puhncr  rcviTed   the  subject   in  a  \ 

wliicli   IchI   to   tlie   forniaticn  of  that  association,   the    objects    of    whi 

thought,    h:ul   l)een   very  pn^ntlv  nii!*undoriitof<d   by  some  of  the  speakefi 

could  not  witliHtand  tho  a(Iv:in<^ii)^  wave;  we  were  lirinff  in  times  when  i 

w}iether  wo  would  or  not,  wa«  coming  ujmn  lis,  and  tho  lecal  profemon  i 

exempt  from  that  change.     What  ho  was  about  to  say  had  no  lefarencs 

conflietiu^  intercijts  of  tlio  two  branches  of  tlio  profession,  but  it  was  a  faol 

must  not  he  ovprl(M>ked  in  the  consideration  of  a  better  system  of  education 

Bur.     Tho  privilege  (»f  the  Ikir  was  exclusive  audience.    Now  ezclusiro  ii 

h:ul  gone  h'foro  tlitine  tribunals  whicli.  if  not  reduced  to  their  original  i 

tions,  would  swell  into  proportions  which  would  require  the  presenosof  U 

Ix'M  oflvooiicy.     He  alliuleil  to  County  Courts.     Without  trenching  to  the  il 

extent  upontho  iuterrf<ti»  of  the  two  branches  of  the  pn)fcssion,  bis  expflK> 

the  court H  over  which  he  prei>ided  was  that  the  distinction  between  bsirriil 

attorney  wa^  liecoming  merged  in  the  union  of  the  adTOcate  and  tbs  itl 

Under  the  Bankruptcy  Act  questions  affecting  property  were  raised  I71 

notice  of  mtttion,  pre|)ared  by  the  attorney  in  his  ofilce  without  the aniKM 

barrister,  and  the  attorney  had  personally  to  argue  quohtions  which  might  11 

the  attention  of  tlie  ri)urt  of  Chancery,  or  any  superior  court.     Questions  of  < 

and  of  order  and  dipix^sition  of  pn^i)erty  were  brought  before  this  new  til 

and  hence  it  ^a*  mo8t  im|Hjrtant,  alike  foV  the  public  and  the  prof essioi^  tkil 

shoidd  1)0  a  better  ti\>teni  of  education  for  both  branches  of  too  professioi. 

understood  aright  the  solid  wisdom  and  the  sound  statesmanship  of  SirBn 

Palmer,  this  mi<;ht  b<>  brought  al)out  by  the  establishment  of  what  he  ion 

without  in  the  nlightest  degree  interfering  with  the  separata  control  and  tS 

rate  discipline  which  each  branch  of  tho  profession  miffht  deem  it  right  toi 

over  itii  mcmlx^rs.     jle  preferred  to  ujm)  Uio  term  **  eacn  branch  of  the  pe^ 

for  he  coitsideriHl  the  profession  of  tho  law  to  be  a  unity,  and  in  the  pr>« 

of  tliat  unity  tho  public  interest  was  concerned,     lliat  agency  shoul 

itself  from  advocacy  was  nt^t  the  result  of  any  law,  but  the  result  of  I 

operation  of  things  themselves.     Even  under  tho  free  trade  to  which 

had  alluded,  some  persons  would  And  it  to  their  advantage  to  confine 

to  agency  or  advoc:icy.    Sir  R.  Palmer's  proposals  left  thi2  separation 

for  they  contemplated  the  establisliinent  of  a  school  of  law,  in  which  ' 

of  the  profession  in  Xiondon  and  the  country  should  be  fairly  repu 

Inc<irporatcd  Law  ,Society  would  etill  confer  the  right  to  praouM  on  t 

and  tho  Inns  of  Court  (m  tho  barrister,  but  in  both  cases  the  cert" 

examining  body  of  tiio  school  of  law  would  first  have  to  be  obtained. 

had  shown,  what  was  iir)t  very  palatable  in  some  quarters,  that  the 

of  later  origin  than  the  attorney,  and  the  accuracy  of  his  antiquarian 

testified  by  tho  peculiar  terms,  the  Attomoy-G^neml  and  tne  %^MTil 

He  believed  that  neither  Sir  Roundell  Palmer  nor  any  actiye  tuppoi 

Association,  of  wJiom  ho  was  one,  had  any  thought  of  touching  the  qi 

person  of  the  two  branches  of  the  profcwion,  otherwise  than  u 

affected  by  external   circumstances,  over  which  no  resolutioDi 

quarter  could  exercise  the  slightest  control. 


1 


T%e  Lmii  r^ft'n^  tc  Z<md. 


174 

TTould  ba  to  Aeay  th«  banefit  to  the  woH<]  of  Ibe  re«l 
Americun  forest*.  * 

1(  then  there  are  any  here  who  expect  from  nie  a  db«UtM 
most  important  and  iutcreatSng  suhjecis,  I  tvAr  they  t 
appoinuil.  The  theme  prescribed  to  us  is  )i  nhmfwer  oi 
relatioa  of  the  English  community  at  large  to  il*  land,  bt 
relating  to  the  devolulioD  aud  transfer  of  land,  laws  'I 
suppose  the  esislence  of  pri»ate  and  pernooal  owaerA 
framed  for  the  purpose  of  Baying  bow,  and  under  what' 
land  so  owned  aliall  paM  from  one  private  owuer  to  anoihl 

Even  with  thete  llmite  to  the  subject,  Its  magnitude  amU 
is  bewildering.  Nor  is  it  aided  by  any  externa)  attraj 
the  contrary  it  is  so  bc«et  with  technicalities,  and  so  T^ 
poputur  ideas  and  ordinary  subjects  of  thought,  b  to  « 
Bidurablo  labour  «ven  to  ntiderHland  the  lemtfl  of  the^ 
preaeuta.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  law  of  etiy  hind ;  1 
of  real  jiroperty  in  this  couutry  has  Jong  unjoyed  an " 
reputation  atone  of  the  driest,  moDt  crabbed,  and  rerolling 
And  yei  if  ditcuasions  like  these  are  to  have  any  practical 
muat  make  ourselres  understood,  and  must  show  that  oof 
of  general  interest  and  importance.  For  we  live  in  timeii 
institutions,  which  necessitale  a  papular  appeal  for  e^ 
anieudmeDt.  Not  only  are  there  the  inevitable  proftasi 
dices  to  be  overcome,  but  behind  tbem  He  privileged  cfil 
oising  greut  and  irrevpousible  power,  who  are  prooe  « 
chuugc  as  such.  It  in  not  sufficient  to  prove  your  catei  i 
vinoe  a  reasonable  mnjoriiy  of  iutolligent  minds,  yod' 
awuken  a  keen  and  geiiersl  interest,  and  obtain  the  tafl 
numbers  before  the  vk  incrfta  can  be  overcome.  ', 

Under  these  clrcuinstnnces  I  shall  eadeavoar  to  confloi 
the  sniieiit  points  of  what  I  Conceive  to  be  the  Bubjecfl 
and  I  will  apologise  beforehand  to  such  professiotnti  crii 
bo  listening  to  me,  if  I  appear  to  omit  important  de1| 
use  language  professionally  inaccurate,  but  "  understand 
people."  !■ 

First,  then,  1  will  take  the  transfer  of  Innd,  premising  fl 
expresBion  1  mean  simply  the  machinery  by  which  tandlj 
pass  from  one  band  to  another,  whatever  the  rights  of* 
may  be.  On  this  point  there  are  few  people,  except  saoa 
vuyaiicors.  and  probably  not  meny  of  tfiose,  who  do  iri 
opprobrium  alliiehing  to  our  Eugli«h  system.  Its  npel 
lory,  and  vexatious  character,  iis  pruueneas  to  drift  iDtolj 
and,  after  all,  tiie  uncertainty  of  the  title  couferred  by  il,l 
exposed  again  and  again;'  and  schemes  for  meeting  tU 
some  syatom  of  registration  of  titles  hnre  been  propedj 
great  number  of  years.  It  will  be  useful  if  I  state  hmt  i 
has  been  dealt  with. 


•  Bee  Beport  of  BegiBtratioD  Coi 


>iui>i»o»,1867,:i|^fa^ 


Bs  Artfatr  'BcbJtouu,  Q.  C 


ITS 


(;ear  ]S57  aBoyal  Commisaion,  appointed  lo  consider  tbe 
wie  a  report  of  the  moat  able  and  compreliensire  oharactef, 
|mI(1  bo  stutlied  by  ever/  one  wiio  dtiurea  to  understand 
f.  I'be  giat  of  tbeir  advice  was  thai  a  geuerul  registry 
,.efttabli»lied  ;  that  the  title  registered  therein  should  be 

rthe  ree-simple  or  a't^ute  ownership  ;  thiit  chiurgen, 
beneficial  iniereata  should  be  protected  by  a  Byslem  of 
,ft  aeparale  rogifilry;  and  that  it  eLouid  be  competent  to 
mofi^  Lo  rcgistijr  their  title,  to  elect  wlieiher  they  would 
jsct  Co  sdl  adverse  claims,  or  aa  indefeasible. 
reftr  l8o9,  Lord  CaimB,  then  Solicitor- General,  introduced 
;li  were  ouiuly  fouutled  on  the  report  of  1^57.  They 
£COud  readiuji;,  aXter  wliicb  their  progress  vsa  stopped  by 
[(iQ  of  Parliaiuont.  The  eubjeot  was  not  rusumiid  till  the 
I,  wlien  iiOsiX  Westhury,  then  Attorney -General,  iotruduced 
^li  passed  into  Uiv  and  is  non  in  operation.  Tliis  Act  of 
art^d  frpsi  lUe  report  of  \^a!  in  two  most  important 
.  first,  it  aimed  nt  being  very  much  more  oompreben«ve, 
£d  of  Citttblishing  a  registry  for  absolute  ownerships  only, 
i4  that  every  speeies  t>f  interest  should  1m  entered  on  ibe 
in  other  word^.  it  bccume  a  registry  of  assurances  rather 
l^lefi.  ,  iS^pondly,  it  did  not  allow  of  the  regisLration  of  any 
et  as  an  indefeasible  one. 

^ULT  Qi  gve  yenrs'  tibial  it  vfos  found  that  the  operation  of  the 
{^  was  quite  inttgnificHnt^  and  that  oo  hopo  of  its  incre&so 
[,  Anoilicr  cummissiou  was  a^poiuted  to  inquire  into  its 
ind  poa^ihle  luueudiueut^,  and  tl>is  commission  reported  in 
J§l39.  The  ihilure  of  the  Act  ia  fully  admilted  in  the 
ibicli  endeavours  to  truee.  its  causes.  The  Oommisaioners 
tinl^  that  anything  ia  attributable  either  to  the  hostility  of 
if^ofession,  or  to  the  shoi'tcomiags  of  the  office,  two  reasons 
l^iaperlicial  popular  judgment  i»  rc&dy  enough  to  assign  on 
iuccasiou.  Ill  short,  they  think  the  Act  has  been  fairly  und 
iWurkcd,  hut  that  it  is  itself  defective  in  the  two  importunt 
Kin  which  it  departs  from  the  report  of  1857. 
^erencjB  b«Lwcua  ceHiateriiig  a  tiile  as  JadefcaBible,  and 
9g[i)i)e  with  all  its  faults,  m  obvious  and  enormous.  For  the 
wrnQse  the  regjsterjug  owner  must  sliow  a  title  such  as  the 
f[,.C|u>nccry,  would  declare  lo  be  spotless,  Le.,  one  at  least 
inoUl,  aad,.with  its  whole  subsequent  history  duly  accounied 
I.IOiiit,  llierefore,  incur  all  tlie  axpease  ajid  delny  incident  to 
Buy, sale)  with  a.piirchaser  of  the  inosi  exacting  gtod  con- 
[  Guiraot^r.  Clear  evidence  was  given  to  tbo  Commissioa 
ibuiika  uf  such  ft  proceeding,  was  intolerable,  and  that  those 
»t^ieii«ed  it  once  were  not  likely  to  advise  auy  client  to 
^B  Ui  mpfiiBOvar,  when  the  title  was  once  on  the  regist^ir  it 
,  MCe]it  in  a  few  peculiar  cases,  gain  any  advuniage,  because 
idid  not  keep  it  there  as  a  cleur  and  absolute  owuership,  but 

IAe  neistratwQ  of  all  aubsequeut  dealioKs  with   it. 
i 


176  The  Laws  reUuinff  to  Land. 

Thus,  tbe  stream,  cleared  by  a  most  laboriooa  proeefls^  wool 
dialelj  become  muddy  again. 

Such  being  tbe  causes  why  tbe  Act  of  1862  failed  of  snoc 
Commission  recommended  a  closer  adherence  to  the  report  c 
They  say,  with  the  light  of  six  years*  actual  experience,  H 
highly  wrought  system  is  not,  and  will  not  become  popafa 
they,  therefore,  endeavoured  to  ascertain  by  evidence  what  it 
people  wanti  and  to  suggest  a  machinery  for  supplying  tlic 
that  thing,  and  with  nothing  else.  You  will,  perhaps,  not  1 
out  of  place  if  I  read  you  the  conclusions  of  the  Oommisiion 
point.* 

<'  62.  We  have  had  our  attention  called  to  systems  exis 
other  countries,  but  we  believe  that  any  attempt  to  imitat 
would  only  miulead  us.  In  Ireland  an  Encumbered  Estate 
has  been  at  work,  and  there  has  been  a  most  accurate  son 
Australia  and  other  colonies  the  land  has  been  recently  granl 
by  the  Crown  after  olTicial  survey.  The  continental  nation 
we  believe,  a  more  simple  law,  not  admitting  of  the  long  setll 
that  prevail  in  England.  Other  nations,  therefore,  have  i 
points  which  we  have  not,  and  which  preclude  us  from  takin 
example  as  guides  for  ourselves. 

''  63.  Having  regard,  then,  to  the  state  of  English  law  and  ] 
customs,  we  ask,  What  is  the  object  of  establishing  a  Regi 
England  ?  Surely  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  more  easily  and  < 
transferring  land.  Ours  is  a  commercial  country,  and  we  d< 
property,  even  land,  to  pass  reaiiily  from  hand  to  hand.  Th 
wanted  is  not  security  of  the  landowners,  for  they  arc  secure 
now ;  nor  security  of  purchasers,  for  they  are  content  will 
they  get  in  this  respect ;  but  ease  of  transfer.  Why  then  she 
aim  at  transfer  with  indefeasible  title  f  Wo  conceive  that  n 
shown  conclusively  that  purchasers  do  not  want  indefeanbk 
that  they  are  content  with  a  good  title,  such  a  title  as  make 
reasonably  secure  that  they  can  hold  the  land  theniselTe% 
making  a  proper  contract  can  transfer  it  without  loss  to  othei 
little  do  they  want  an  indefeasible  title,  that  (as  we  have  showi 
will  for  the  sake  of  saving  some  cost  to  themselves,  or  even 
merciful  consideration  to  the  other  contracting  parties,  oi 
certain  blots  and  defects,  forego  requisitions,  and  be  conten 
slender  investigations.  Now  we  conceive  that  no  axiom  < 
sounder  than  this,  that  for  an  institution  to  thrive  in  a  free  c 
it  must  offer  to  people  the  thing  that  they  want  If 
want  cheapness  and  speed,  and  we  offer  them  expense  and 
they  will  reject  the  offer,  though  it  may  be  accompanied  wi 
most  ample  security.  If  men  are  content  with  good  titlei 
should  we  force  them  to  take  and  pay  for  indefeasible  one 
they  are  content  with  parcels  imperfectly  described  or  define( 
should  we  compel  them  to  take  perfection  at  a  cost  of  money 

^  Beport  on  the  Operation  of  the  Ltnd  Transfer  Aot>  VS10% 


>leP      Tfaesaa 


,Q.C. 


1  which  V 


I   fiuJ  11 


the  problem  is,  not  to  fiuil  a  perfect  system  of  land  transfer, 
[  witli  mathematicRl  accuracy  the  ntiture  and  extent  of  the 

ever;  ioterest  in  it,  so  that  the  record  shall  absolutely  die- 
ifa  the  necessity  of  ordinary  examinalior.  and  inquiries,  but, 
VyBtem,  which  not  impniring  the  present  security  of  owners 
laers,  and  not  exonerating  a.  purchaser  from  the  easy  and 
ask  of  looking  at  the  outward  and  visible  state  of  llie  pro- 
A  making  inquiry  of  persona  in  outward  and  visible  posses- 
^shall  enable  the  legal  ownership  to  be  readily  paseed  from 
hand,  and  dispense  with  the  necessity  of  enquiring  after 

«(iuities  and  inCorests,  whose  only  evidence  is  contained  in 

locutnents." 

f  myself  been   one  of  the  majorily  of  commissioners  who 

lis  topori,  it  will  be  readily  supposed  that  I  ndvocnio  the 

conclusions  of  it.  What  I  submit  lo  this  meeting  is  that 
if  the  present  eyatcm  of  registration  there  should  be  eslab- 
K^stry,  framed  as  closely  as  poaaibic  on  the  principle  of  tbo 
jistriea  kept  by  the  Bank  of  England  and  all  commercial 
Is,  that  nothing  ahould  bo  admitted  on  this  registry  except 
lie  ownership,  that  all  subordinate  interest  eIiouM  be  pro- 
I  m  system  of  notices,  or  by  throwing  the  duty  of  inquiry  on 
n,  and  that  there  never  should  be  any  interval  of  lime  for 
e  land  should  be  without  a  registei'cd  owner  competent  to 
id  titat  this  system  should  be  commenced  by  allowing  any 
Ir  to  reglsler  bis  litle  at  as  short  a  date  as  he  pleases,  and 
O  blots  and  imperfections  of  an  earlier  date. 
B  reform  were  cfTected,  1  believe  the  net  result  would  be 
vat  number  of  landowners  would  register  their  titles,  not  as 
ble  but  a»  dating  from  the  time  of  registration,  or  from  the 
Itaition  by  themselves.  This  would  avail  them  but  little  if 
Ited  lo  sell  immediately  afterwards,  but  as  time  ran  on  the 
[tts  would  he  great,  so  that  in  thirty  years  the  registered 
Quid  have  such  u  title  as  is  now  commonly  accepted,  and  iu 
era  one  practically  indefeasible,  on  the  production  of  no 
klcnce  ihnu  the  certificate  of  registry.     If  the  system  was 

answer  it  might  be  made  gradually  compulsory  by  requiring 
Son  of  every  property  on  its  sale. 

tt  to  add  here  that  a  Bill  founded  on  the  Report  of  1869.  was 
eil  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  in  the  session  of  1S7U,  but  it  waa 
17  the  pressure  of  other  business,  and  has  not  since  been 

lot  believe  that  anything  more  efficient  than  is  here  recom- 
jCOUld  be  done  for  the  purpose  of  fucilitating  the  transfer  of 
ler  the  present  law  of  ownership.  But  this  bringa  us  to  the 
iponant  question  relating  to  the  alterations  which  it  is  ex- 
to  make  in  the  devolution  or  ownership  of  land.  You  will 
IhoUtU  tbal  liaa  beea  biihertQ  suggested  cooaisls  of  improve- 

i. 1 


178  Thi  LaiM  relixting  to  Land. 

mentfl  in  the  machinery  of  transfers.  I  am  among  those  who  fUi 
that,  however  much  we  improve  our  machinery,  we  cannot  hare  a  vii 
simple  system  of  conveyancing  as  long  as  we  retain  a  very  eompb 
system  of  law  ;  and  that  for  this  end  as  well  as  others  the  den 
lution  of  land,  and  the  power  of  selling  it,  should  undergo  moffifld 
tion.  In  all  schemes  for  simplifying  transfer  by  registering  only  tl 
absolute  ownership,  it  is  necessary  to  provide  for  the  safety  of  (Nfffl 
and  unregistered  interests  by  some  system  of  notices.  And  nnct 
our  present  law  such  notices  would,  in  some  cases,  amount  toi 
absolute  prohibition  of  sale,  as  where  they  are  given  on  behalf  of  i 
infant  or  lunatic  beneficiary ;  and  in  many  others  they  would,  owb 
to  the  long  period  for  which  our  settlements  endure,  be  so  numsvM 
and  complicated  as  not  to  bo  cleared  off  without  litigation.  Thm 
fore,  the  alterations  I  am  about  to  suggest  bear  strongly  on  the  fiuaBt 
of  selling  land  as  well  as  on  other  objects. 

Indeed,  the  increased  facility  of  sale,  or  of  a  right  to  sell,  is,  poSf 
cally  speaking,  of  far  greater  importance  than  an  increased  fadlltf  < 
transfer  by  those  who  at  present  have  a  right  to  sell.  In  em 
country  it  must  be  of  great  importance.  In  a  commercial  eomitt 
its  "importance  is  of  the  first  magnitude.  The  land  of  a  conntr 
being  the  most  important  and  permanent  of  all  its  possessions  and  d 
basis  of  every  local  operation,  should  always  be  in  hands  capable  i 
dealing  with  it.  It  has  been  well  observed  that  just  as  the  feoA 
law  rccjuired  that  the  freehold  should  always  be  filled  by  one  captb' 
of  contributing  to  national  defence,  and  performing  the  duties  of 
feudal  follower,  so  the  spirit  of  commerce  now  demands  that  for  i 
purposes  also  the  fee  simple  in  land  shall  always  be  represented,  an 
be  in  the  possession  of  persons  capable  of  fulfilling  their  now  doti 
and  offices  which  the  ownership  of  land  in  the  present  state  of  soeiil 
entails  or  involves,* 

How  far  we  are  from  such  a  state  of  things  can  only  be  gaesiei 
for  we  have  no  evidence,  nor  is  it  possible  that  we  should  have  aii; 
approaching  to  precision.  Before  Mr.  Pusey's  Committee  it  m 
stated  that  two- thirds  of  the  land  was  in  strict  settlement.  Bi 
settlements  may  contain  powers  of  dealing  with  the  land  for  all  coll 
mcrcial  and  social  purposes.  Relying  on  this  circumstance,  no  hi 
an  authority  than  the  late  Mr.  Hayes  says  that  a  statement  made  li 
Mr.  Fawcctt  to  the  effect  that  only  a  small  portion  of  the  land  can  I 
considered  a  marketable  commodity,  is  ''  so  wide  of  the  mark  that 
''  would  be  more  correct  to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of  Blenheh 
''  Strathsfieldsay,  and  three  or  four  other  estates  in  the  same  categiol] 
'*  there  is  scarcely  an  acre  of  land  in  England  that  is  not  saleabk 
Mr.  Hayes  was  not  only  a  conveyancer  of  first-rate  eminence,  but 
man  of  active  mind  and  great  accomplishments  beyond  the  boood 
of  his  profession.  Yet  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  he  was  midei 
by  his  own  great  familiarity  with  large  properties  and  well  drswi 
settlements,  and  by  attributing  far  too  wide  an  operation  to  a  reett 


^  Report  on  th«  Begistfation  of  Title,  1857,  par.  L. 


Si/  Arth»-  tTohfiotup,  Q.C. 


ii9 


oTwliicli  I  will  say  a  few  words  presently.  In  these  matters 
ectare  wo  are  uU  of  ns  guided  by  the  little  range  of  our  own 
I  will  tbcrefore  state  what  I  happen  to  know.  My  native 
J  in  Somerdetshire.  Half  of  it  ia  practically  (though  not 
I  unsaleable,  owing  to  the  provisiona  of  a  seltleDieitt  uud  tlia 
ty  of  au  owner;  of  the  other  half  I  know  nothing.  Tliia  parish 
)xed  by  seven  other  parislies.  In  one  the  bulk  of  the  land  ia 
kbie,  under  the  provisions  of  a  will  made  some  fifty  years  ago. 
ofhera  the  largest  prupertiea  {I  believe  quite  half  of  the  whole) 
llJe&ble,  under  a  will  made  some  forty  yeara  ngo;  and  of  the 
dor  I  know  nothing.  In  a  fourth,  balf  the  land  haii,  witli  a 
nterval,  been  unsaleable  for  a  period  longer  than  I  can  recol* 
ring  partly  to  a  seltlement,  and  partly  to  the  disability  of  an 
I  and  of  the  other  half  I  know  nothing.  In  a  fifth  a  con- 
farm  is  uuaalcable,  under  a  will  made  about  thirty  years 
at  as  mach  again  I  know  to  be  free,  and  of  the  rest  I  know 
As  to  the  other  two  pari&lies,  I  have  no  eufGcient  infoi'- 
Bpeak.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  my  neighbour- 
B  an  exceptional  one  in  this  respect.  So  far  as  my  pro- 
>I  experience  goes  it  is  very  common  to  find  land  legally 
ble.  My  belief  is  that  the  alatcmunt  attributed  to  Mr. 
is  not  far  from  right,  and  that,  to  sny  nothing  of  the  ini- 
ODS  of  powers  of  sale  as  compared  with  absolute  ownership, 
lai^  portion  of  our  land  is  absolutely  fettered,  and  made 
iDaiienable. 

report  of  lfi59  (par.  92)  takes  notice  of  this,  and  suggests 
ore  exlensive  powers  should  be  conferred  on  the  Court  of 
iry.  Soma  powers  for  the  sale  and  leasing  of  settled  estates 
onferrcd  on  the  Court  by  an  Act  passed  in  the  year  1856  ; 
lb  »  stop  was  considered  by  our  landowners  as  very  dangerous, 
Act  was  overladen  with  precautions.  It  does  not  apply  at 
sea  where  the  difficulty  consists  iu  the  infancy  or  lunacy  of 
ler,  and  the  number  of  consents  and  notices  it  requires  preclude 
tn  in  some  cases,  and,  in  all,  render  it  cumbrous,  dilatory,  and 
ve.  Moreover,  a  sale  is  by  no  means  a  matter  of  course,  but 
irt  must  be  satisfied  that  it  ia  beneficial  to  all  parties.  The 
jnidpubtedly  useful  and,  for  large  properties,  is  used ;  but  ita 
ptt  is  very  luniled,  and,  considered  as  a  remedy  for  the  national 
fa  insigniticani.  Remedies  to  be  effectual  should  work  with- 
mrse  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  at  the  will  of  the  parties 
^  In  the  pi-operty. 

the  title  of  a  registered  owner  should,  on  his  death,  pass  to 
^wnl&tive  is  a  clear  consequence  of  the  plan  of  registering 
I  ownerships.  This  is  pnrt  of  the  plans  suggested  by  the 
of  185T  and  1869,  and  of  Lord  Cairn's  schemes.  But  it 
untouched  the  question  what  the  represenlativa  Is  to  do 
e  land  when  ho  has  got  it. 

^Dis  to  me  that  a  dead  man's  lands  ought,  like  his  other  pro* 
to  his  executor  for  all  intents  and  purposes.    As  long 
12—2 


180  ^Ihe  Laws  relattnt/  to  Land. 

fts  the  beneficial  owners  are  under  disability,  the  ezecnt 
trustee  should  have  power  of  alienation  as  absolute  as  ] 
over  consols  or  leaseholds.  The  con^munitj  ought  not  i 
land  being  made  inalienable  because  the  owner  is  an  infant  < 

In  cases  of  intestacy,  the  principle  of  devolution  so  Ion 
contended  for  by  Mr.  Locke  King  ought  to  prevail  Th 
with  which  such  a  change  is  combated  is  a  curious  inst 
unreasoning  force  of  habit.  So  difficult  is  it  to  disec 
minds  from  temporary  and  local  circumstances,  that  wo 
mistake  what  is  customary  to  us  for  what  is  natural,  uni 
eternal.  And  so  under  certain  contingencies  wo  quietl; 
ourselves  to  the  spectacle  of  a  whole  family  impoverish 
aggrandisement  of  one.  I  have  heard  the  law  of  pri 
defended  as  being  the  plainest  dictate  of  nature,  and,  mc 
accordance  with  the  divine  commands.  Certain  it  is 
estimable  gentlemen  resist  a  change  on  the  ground  that 
one  of  the  safeguards  of  English  society.  And  yet  I  wi! 
to  say  that  there  is  not  one  of  those  gentlemen  who,  wh 
himself  to  make  a  will  or  a  settlement,  does  not  by  his  act 
the  law.  Is  it  not  a  matter  of  course  for  a  man  to  prov 
wife  and  all  his  children  ?  What  would  be  thought  of  a 
stripped  all  the  others  to  enrich  a  single  one  ?  Wei 
should  do  for  us,  as  nearly  as  an  abstract  rule  can,  that  i 
of  us  does  for  himself  when  he  has  time  for  reflection  i 
The  Statute  of  Distributions  actually  does  this.  It  is  v 
that  a  man  leaving  a  family  makes  a  more  convenient  wi 
law  makes  for  him  as  regards  personal  property.  I  nevi 
complaint  of  it..  Let  it  do  tho  same  with  land,  and  com 
be  as  rare  on  that  head.  I  do  not  go  into  the  historical  < 
rian  side  of  this  subject,  though  it  would  be  easy  to  shov 
law  rests  on  purely  feudal  and  military  grounds,  whict 
centuries  have  ceased  to  have  any  existence,  and  that  the 
for  the  application  of  that  legal  maxim  which  the  coursi 
constantly  belies,  cessante  ratione  cessat  lex.  The  law  of 
which  was  displaced  by  the  military  system  of  the  Norman 
better  than  primogeniture  ;  but  our  law  of  personal  proper 
still,  and  the  mere  advantage  of  having  one  principle  of  c 
for  real  as  well  as  personal  property  would  be  not  inconsic 

But  such  reforms  as  the  foregoing  will  be  comparati 
if  we  leave  to  landowners  the  large  power  they  now 
remaining  the  owners  of  property  after  they  are  dead,  a 
longer  be  influenced  by  the  demands  and  the  opinions  of 
It  will  be  convenient  if  I  recall  to  your  recollection  the  co 
our  law  has  taken  on  this  subject,  and  perhaps  you  will 
if  I  do  so  by  repeating  what  I  have  said  on  a  previous  occi 

*'  Our  feudal  ancestors  kept  before  their  eyes  much  m 
than  we  do  the  principle  that  Man  is  Lord  of  the  earth 

*  A  Lecture  on  the  ChamcteriituM  of  Charitable  Foundatioiis 
LongmaoB  4  Ck>.  1869. 


fffobkotue,  Q.C. 

^^  The  early  beaeAceE  or  feuds  eDdured  only  for  tlie  life  of  tlie 
eflcluy.  But  the  usual  dceires  of  mankind  soon  tunnifested 
nsetves.      The  gr<ut    feudatories  wislied    to  leave  their  fiefs  to 

r  diildreu,   nnd  favoured    by  ci re iiui stances   tliey  aucceedeJ  in 

luinng  (be  power  of  poathumoua  disposition.     They  then  wished 

ireT«nt  the  lands  passing'  away  from  their  families  ;   aud  so  they 

nit«d  A  new  mode  of  disposition  by  which  the  lund  did  not  go  t^ 

-one  in  ]ibsoIul«  ownership  or  fee  simple,  but  was  given  to  one  aud 

<  beire  of  his  body,  which  was  intended  to  create  a  limited  owncr- 

r  foe  Iiiil.     This  disposition  would,  acconiing  to  the  settlor's 

m,  carry  the  land  through  all  generations  of  his  descendants, 

tiiU  It  should  never  be  aliened  by  lljem.     But  this  device  was  dc- 

1  by  the  astuteness  or  audacity  of  the  judges,  who  it  is  rensou' 

0  snppOHe  were  instigated  or  at  least  enuourngeil  br  the  l.'rowu. 

I  judges  held  th&t  by  a  gilt  of  this  kind  nil  tb&t  was  mpant  waa 

ibsolute gift  in  fee  simple  on  condition  that  the  donee  had  a  child, 

I  that  the  moment  be  had  a  child  he  had  performed  the  condition 

I  look  (he  land  iu  unfettered  ownership.     The  barons,  however, 

re  UOl  BO  easily  defeated.     They  were  poweiful  enough  to pi*ocurc 

Act  of  Parliameat  (paased  in  13  Kdw.  I.)  which  pi-ovided  in 
Ml  that  settlements  of  this  ktnd  should  be  construed  literally  and 
raid  UktT  effect  according  to  the  form  of  the  !;ift.  Thia  law  re- 
ined In  force  for  a  long  time.     Wheu  it  was  first  encronclicd  on 

cannot  tell.     It  was  nut  repealed,  but  was  gradually  undermined 

tnitj  devices  of  the  lawyers  wbich  were  finally  establi»bed  as 
nd  Ifgal  processes  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  This  time  the 
KM  adopted  were  fictitious  lawsuits,  the  most  efficacious  of  which 
n  called  Recoveries.  In  these  it  was  pretended  that  the  entailed 
d  belonged  to  a  stranger  who  brought  his  action  aud  got  his  juds- 
»i  but  ihia  stranger  was  really  the  agent  of  the  tenimt  in  tail, 
I  when  he  got  the  land  was  bound  to  deal  with  it  as  his  employer 
Thus  tlio  t«nant  in  tail  became  the  absolute  owner.  The 
vns  had  by  this  time  much  declined  in  power  and  did  not  pm^s  any 
~h  Statute  on  the  subject.      But  they  were  not  satisliiHi  with  the 

>UBt  of  dominion  allowed  by  u  simple  eutail  capable  of  being  de- 

Bd  by  recovery.  They  now  had  recourse  to  the  lawyers,  who 
riaed  new  modes  of  shifting  the  land  from  one  to  another  by  which 
•n^I  be  kept  from  alienation  for  long  periods  of  time.  No  sooner 
I  (his  DflV  form  of  the  old  evil  apgvenr  than  the  judges  began  to 
inlenwt  it.  They  laid  down  as  a  maxim  that  the  law  abhors  a 
rpeloity.  What  was  a  perpetuity  was  not  ao  clenr,  and  the  rea- 
tiogi  on  this  subject  are  intricate  and  perplexing  to  the  last 
SulHce  it  to  say  here,  that  any  device  calculated  to  prevent 
/  Fmm  vesting  in  absolute  ownership  for  any  longer  period 

n  for  existing  lives  nnd  twenty-ona  years  mure,  was  ultimately 
lad  to  be  that  wicked  thing  which  the  law  abhors,  and  was  ad- 
\,  d  to  be  void  accordingly.      And  anoh  is  the  law  to  this  day." 
Nuw  it  is  very  remarkable  that  this  law  is  not  the  reiiult  of  any 
aioDi^l  deliberation.     Neither  the  befcditary  legislature  nor  the 


182  The  Lam  rdating  to  Lan4* 

representatives  of  the  people  have  had  any  voice  in  it.  It  if  s 
the  inventiou  of  a  series  of  judges.  It  probably  suited  the  previ 
views  of  the  leading  men  of  the  time,  otherwise  it  would  h 
have  been  promulgated,  or,  if  promulgated,  would  have  ej 
opposition.  But  amidst  all  the  obscurity  attending  its  estal 
ment,  one  thing  is  clear,  and  that  is,  that  it  was  thought  to 
great  advance  in,  and  security  for,  liberty  of  action.  By  w 
evidence  for  this,  I  refer  to  what  Lord  Coke  says  of  Mary  For 
ton's  case,  which  was  one  of  the  decisions  overturning  atten 
perpetuities.*     Ho  says — 

*'  Then  have  I  published  in  Mary  Portington's  case,  for 
general  good  both  of  prince  and  country,  the  honourable  funer 
fond  and  new-found  pcrpetuitief?,  a  monstrous  brood  carved  o; 
mere  invention  and  never  known  to  the  ancient  sages  of  the  la 
say  monstrous  for  that  the  naturalist  saith  Qtiod  monslra  genen 
propter  corrupfionem  alicujus  principiL  And  yet  I  say  honoui 
for  that  these  vermin  have  crept  into  many  honourable  fam 
At  whose  solemn  funeral  I  was  present  and  accompanied  the 
to  the  grave  of  oblivion,  but  mourned  not  for  that  the  Comi 
wealth  rejoiced  that  fettered  freeholds  and  inheritances  were  » 
liberty,  and  many  and  manifold  inconveniences  to  the  head  ao' 
the  members  of  the  Commonwealth  thereby  avoided.** 

It  must  be  remembered  that  people  were  then  familiar  witl 
spectacle  of  perpetual  entails,  and  had  only  recently  been  ri 
them.  But  many  political  movements  which  in  their  day 
highly  promotive  of  freedom,  are  now  found  to  be  restrictive  • 
This,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  case  with  the  law  of  sottlemci 
perpetuity.  It  is  high  time  that  this  subject  which  lias  never 
the  subject  of  deliberation  or  decision  by  the  Legislature  si 
become  so,  and  that  the  question  should  bo  distinctly  raised  wh( 
it  is  not  right  for  each  living  generation  to  exercise  full  domi 
over  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  the  power  of  judging  for  i 
what  is  most  for  its  own  good. 

Now  the  effect  of  our  law  of  perpetuity  is  this — that  the  sc 
of  property  can  take  the  dominion  over  it  away  from  those  w 
ho  knows,  to  confer  it  on  those  whom  he  does  not  know,  naj 
those  who  are  unborn  and  may  never  come  into  existence, 
power  is  very  commonly  exercised  to  its  fullest  extent,  m< 
because  it  exists,  and  without  tho  slightest  reason  beyond  the  ] 
sure  of  exercising  power.  A  testator  will  not  allow  his  son,  the 
he  may  trust  him  and  love  him,  to  make  arrangements  for  his 
children  at  a  time  when  ho  knows  their  number,  their  charac 
or  their  needs,  but  insists  on  making  those  arrangements  him 
some  thirty  or  forty  years  beforehand,  when  nothing  whatevc 
known  of  the  circumstances  to  which  they  will  apply.  The  r* 
is  that,  among  the  richer  classes  of  this  country,  a  very  1 
number  of  families  have  their  property  governed,  not  accordin 
their  own  desires  or  necessities,  but  according  to  the  guesses  oi 

*  Rid.,  p.  24. 


By  Artiivr  Hohhoitu,  Q-C.  183 

Im  of  some  one  who  dieil  long  ago,  and  who  could  not,  aveu  if 
rilhed,  omke  Iho  bast  arrange  men  la  for  them.  If  we  were  now 
sainK  to  oonct  auoli  a  law,  this  statement  of  it  would  probalily 
longh  to  euBure  its  rejeotion.  WlinC  could  ba  more  irrulional 
»  maintain  that  each  generation  sball  be  considered  moro 
WIAnt  to  foresee  the  needs  of  tlie  coming  one  than  tlist  one, 

I  arrived,  U  to  tee  tbem  ;  and  that  the  disposition  of  property 
UQTer  be  brouglit  abreast  of  the  existing  age,  but  shall  always 

Kibject  to  Iho  views  of  the  past  age.  Yet  such  U  the  direct 
"  of  our  law  of  posthunioua  disposition ;  and  according  to  my 

^ence  the  phenomena  arc  much  in  accordance  with  the  law. 
tbe  tree  is,  so  is  the  fniil.  The  cold  aud  numtjing  influence  of 
dead  hand  is  conataully  visible. 

un  not  going  to  discass  the  more  public  side  of  this  cjuostion, 
rhich  task  indeed  I  am  not  equal.     The  law  is  both  attacked  and 

dad  on  grounds  of  general  policy  and  of  political  oconomy-* 

I I  {la^a  by  now.  Whether  u  curtailment  of  the  power  of  sottla- 
wonld  tend  to  break  up  propcrtiea.f  or,  if  it  did  so,  what  might 

Ills  polltinal  effect,  1  do  not  presume  to  say.  Such  inquirleu 
to  nie  of  a  very  remote  aod  caujectnrul  character,  even  when 
leted  by  competent  persons.  What  1  consider  to  be  not  con- 
ml,  bat  proved  by  experience  in  all  human  affairs,  is,  that 
lU  are  tho  best  judges  of  their  own  concerns;  or  if  they  are  not, 
it  is  better  for  thorn,  on  moral  grounds,  that  they  should  munagu 
I  own  concerne  for  themaelTea ;  and  that  it  cannot  be  wrong 
imially  to  claim  this  liberty  for  every  generation  of  mortal  men. 
It  there  is  another  side  of  the  question  with  which  my  profes- 
1  experience  has  made  me  familiar,  and  this  id  the  department 
"lich  tha  law  directly  applies,  aud  iu  which  it  produces  lis 
liate  offect.  The  interior  of  every  family  of  any  opuleuce  is 
tA  by  the  law  of  settlement,  and  tho  eflfect  of  the  great  power 
id  to  settlors  is  very  prejudicial.  I  am  not  speaking  at  raudom, 
ith  many  iustances  present  to  my  mind,  in  saying  that  a  Elriot 
uenl  is  apt  to  place  every  one  concerned  i[i  a  false  and  con- 
ed position.  The  father  of  the  family,  out  down  lo  a  tenancy 
ife,  resents  the  restraint,  disclaims  responsibiUty  for  tho  inherit- 
ad  declines  to  assist  it  by  improving,  or  to  spare  it  from 
ns  by  saving.  If  he  has  only  daughters,  tho  matter  is  worse. 
Us  death  they  and  his  widow  wiU  have  to  leave  their  home,  of 
lome  collateral,  more  or  less  difstanl,  will  take  possession; 
why  Bhonld  things  be  made  comfortable  for  him  T  If  he  has  a 
'a  sura  of  his  euccesaion ;  he  owes  hia  property  to  hU 


VnallT  under  the  Dame  of  tbe  law  of  pnmogoniture,  a  name  iiioccunite 
'  "  .     JCho  important  law  wbirh  people  rwUj  wiali  to  diacusa  tnay  be 

af  pecpetuitf  ur  of  settlement,  or,  ii3  I  haye  uiualtj  csUoI  it  bare, 
Mbiimoiu  dispwilion. 

A»  tar  at  luj  own  amall  txpcrienoe  goes,  I  hf»Te  found  lUat  strict  BetliemBFits 
lA  (mI<t,  but  retard  ■ccumulation  of  land,  n  prooeu  which,  I  lutpect,  is  due 
If  la  nonl  nuiiac,  and  cliiefly  to  monetarj  onm,  aad  aot  iu  as;  degree  to  the 
lof  thelaw  under  cotuidotation. 


184  The  L(xm  relating  to  Land, 

grandfather,  whom  he  never  saw,  and  feels  independent  of  all 
tionB.  If  unable  to  make  Batisfactory  arrangements  with  hi 
about  money,  he  will  raise  it  by  post-obits.  If  there  is  n 
the  relations  between  the  life-holder  and  his  collateral  suocea 
much  the  same.  This  is  the  case,  supposing  him  to  be  a  n 
does  not  exceed  his  income.  But  supposing  him  to  be  eztrs 
then  is  seen  a  most  melancholy  sight.  A  family  with  wealth 
to  provide  for  their  wants  and  give  them  some  start  in  the 
))ut  with  it  all  placed  out  of  their  reach  during  the  fathti 
the  income  goes  to  his  creditors ;  tlie  children  may  grow  i 
state  of  ignorance  and  destitution ;  he  is  trying  how  far,  by 
ling  trustees,  or  by  the  astute  exercise  of  legal  powers, 
encroach  on  their  portions ;  they  arc  expecting  money  in  the 
and  making  no  adequate  exertions  in  consequence.  It  is  f 
that  many  men  wouhl  bo  restrained  from  squandering  their  f 
if  it  were  not  for  the  delusive  idea  that  the  capital  is  placed 
their  reach,  and  will  be  saved  from  a  wreck.  But  be  tliii 
not,  it  is  better,  far  better,  even  for  the  cliiidrcn  themselves, 
notliing  of  the  public  at  large,  that  they  should,  as  regards  ii 
property,  stand  or  fall  by  the  parents*  acts,  and  that  they  sh( 
undergo  the  excessive  trials  which  beset  every  one  who  is  po* 
but  rich  in  expectancy. 

Of  course,  I 'am  not  saying  that  the  effects  just  describee 
fact  the  uFual  result  of  strict  settlements.  Men  are  coi 
better  than  their  la>vs ;  and  family  affection,  prudence,  self- 
and  a  sense  of  right  and  justice  are  always  operating,  and 
cases  with  success,  against  the  tendencies  I  have  mentioned, 
say  is,  that  these  virtues  would  operate  more  freely  and  effec) 
people  were  led  with  more  freedom  and  more  responsibilit 
settlements  have  a  tendency  to  blunt  the  sense  of  responsibil 
shackling  freedom  of  action,  and  to  impair  the  delicate  inte 
dence  of  parent  and  child  ;  that  these  tendencies  come  fre 
into  partial  action,  and  not  very  infrequently  into  full-blown 
My  belief  therefore  is,  and  has  long  been,  that  society  i 
would  gain  much,  and  lose  nothing,  if  the  power  of  settleme 
restricted. 

What  wonder  if  such  an  extraordinary  law  is  peculiar  to  on 
It  is  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Hoskyns  in  his  able  essay  on  these  Is 
**our  colonies  have  one  and  all  wisely  shrunk  from  theii 
sitions.  The  United  States  rejected  or  repealed  them  as 
they  were  free  to  choose ;  and  there  is  now  "  (witli  the  nnfc 
exception  of  Ireland)  '^  not  a  country  of  the  civilized  world  ii 
they  survive.*' 

The  question  then  comes  to  what  extent  they  should  be  resi 
Now  I  am  no  advocate  for  the  introduction  of  the  Code  Ni 
That  law  seems  to  me  to  be  open  to  the  same  charge  as 
being  too  restrictive  of  freedom  and  of  cstablishiug  a  false  | 
between  parent  and  child.  I  believe  that  free  testation  is  ih 
system  ;  at  ail  events  it  is  not  proved  to  be  the  worse  one,  as 


By  Arihx»  Ht^iiuMH,  Q.C. 


tss 


DH)d  not  he  made  wtrtinut  a  strong  cose  agninst  the  oxistinfr 
ifld  should  not  ha  more  than  coextensive  with  tbe  mischief 
ed  of.  I  should  wish  iheo  to  eee  every  landowner  free  to 
le  persons  who  are  lo  succeed  him  in  the  possussiou  of  hia 

■are  Is  nn  obvious  dilTereDca  between  iho  choice  of  sucecs- 
lug  living  persona  wjioae  cxisteoce  is  nBcerlnincd,  nud  who 
er  (by  tbemselvea  or  by  their  guftrdians)  at  once  into 
n,  and  un  attempt  to  forecast  cventd  or  nllcrniilive  groups 
;  and  to  shift  property  nbout  aceorilingly.  A  clear  obvious 
Ine  \a  drawn  far  n*  between  those  persons  and  events  which 
ft  knows  and  set^s,  and  those  which  he  cannot  know  or  bcc. 
he  former  province  wm  may  trust  his  natural  iiffbctions  and 
(ty  of  judgment  to  make  better  dispositions  tlimi  any  ex- 
yt  w  likely  to  make  for   him.     Witbin  tbe  lattur,  nattiral 

does  not  extend,  and  the  wisest  judgment  is  constantly 
f  the  course  of  events.  I  submit  thnn,  tbat  the  proper  limit 
nlty  is  that  of  lives  in  being  at  the  time  when  the  Eottlo- 
:«  effect. 

Ifaservations  will  at  once  occur  on  the  ahove  proposal.  One 
a  ordinary  marriage  selllement  providea  for  persons  not  iu 
That  is  BO,  and  I  can  easily  ima;;ine  persons  who  would 

limit  other  ttrrangcments,  but  would  think  it  impriidi'nl  to 
with   marriage   settlements.     I  do   not  myself  think    bo, 

it  may  safely  be  left  to  the  parenia  to  provide  for  the 
\  «nd  according  to  ray  experience  it  is  done  in  a  more 
>ry  way  when  they  are  not  fettered  by  coutracln  made  in 
At  the  same  time,  settlementa  made  upon  actual  maiTJago 
!te  most  part  dictated  by  motives  of  reasonable  prudence,  and 
ubilloQ,  or  the  love  of  power,  or  blind  obedience  to  cn*tom, 
Mlitwns  of  the  family  lawyer.  And  if  it  is  thought  dcsir- 
ank«  nn  exception  in  favour  of  expected  offspring,  it  could 
Uer  of  law  he  easily  effected,  and  as  a  matter  of  policy  lie 

without  any  great  encroacbment  on  the  general  principle. 
bserv&CioD  is  that  most  of  the  arguments  hero  advanced, 

personalty  as  well  as  to  land.  They  do  so,  and  I  should 
lee  the  same  law  governing  both  classes  of  property.  The 
rever,  is  more  conspicuous  with  regard  to  land,  because  it 
tre  visible  and  important  kind  of  property,  and  the  duties 
t  on  ita  possesnion  aSect  the  common  weal  in  a  more  direct 
ediatc  way. 

It  not  to  close  an  cimmcralion  of  desirable  clianges  in  the 
m  of  land  without  observing  on  the  Statute  of  Limitations. 
I  it  is  the  opinion  of  most  profeasionol  lawyers  that  Ihe  time 
tion  may  very  advantageously  be  shortened,  and  I  submit 
I  eonrideration  of  the  meeting  without  further  attempting  lo 
I  myself. 

n,  reforms  of  this  kind  here  suggested  could  be  caiTied  into 
f  belief  is  thai  the  Uud  of  this  couQti'y  would  be  placed  in 


186  Ths  Lcw}9  rdating  to  Lflnd. 

the  position  best  adapted  for  the  needs  of  an  actiTe  and  comniMeiil 
societj.     And  the  establishment  of  a  registry,  though  undoabtedh 
very  difficult  with  our  present  law,  would  become  simple  6noii|^  • 
when  the  law  of  ownership  was  simplified. 

The  alterations  I  propose  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  t^^ 

(1.)  That  a  registry  on  the  principle  of  the  Sogistry  of  Ooniob 
should  bo  established. 

(2.)  That  there  should  bo  a  living  responsible  owner  for  all  liiri| 
capable  of  dealing  with  it,  subject  to  accounting  to  the  beneffciarifla 

(3.)  That  the  land  of  a  deceased  owner  should  pass  to  his  execator 
to  be  dealt  with  as  money  and  leasehold  now  are. 

(4.)  That  land  should  not  be  settled  on  anybody  not  in  ezisteofle 
when  the  settlement  takes  effect. 

(5.)  That  the  period  within  which  au  action  may  be  broagit 
should  be  shortcncil. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  only  warn  the  meeting  of  the  extnma 
difficulty  of  carrying  any  such  scheme  as  here  sketched  ouL  For 
many  years  Mr.  Liockc  King  has  expended  great  energy  and  abiliq^ 
in  contcndin^^  for  the  simple  object  that  in  cases  of  intestacy,  aman^  •■ 
freehold  should  go  as  his  leasehold  for  10,000  years  would  go,  tad 
as  the  deceased  himself  would  in  most  cases  wish  it  to  go.  Anl 
yet  until  the  present  year  he  has  not  had  any  hope  of  success.  TIm 
more  important  alteration  of  shortening  the  period  of  settlemoit  ii 
likely  to  meet  with  yet  greater  opposition.  I  believe  that  grMl. 
landowners  think  that  such  a  reform  would  lessen  their  power.  Tv 
my  mind  this  is  a  plain  error.  It  is  a  distinct  increase  of  power  tv 
each  generation  in  turn  that  it  should  be  absolute  owner  of  its  posMi- 
sions,  and  not  share  the  ownership  with  the  dead,  or  with  thi 
unborn.  From  the  few  who  by  accident  became  unfettered  fee-Bimph 
owners,  the  phantom  of  power  which  consists  in  dictating  to  fatara 
generations  would  undoubtedly  be  taken  away.  But  the  tenaoti 
for  life  who  have  to  bargain  with  their  sons,  and  the  tenants  in  tul 
who  have  to  bargain  with  their  fathers,  will  be  released  firom  thil 
necessity.  All  will  be  freer  in  their  own  position,  and  be  freer  tQ 
discbarge  their  duties  towards  the  community.  But  though  thb 
may  seem  clear  enough  to  us,  we  must  not  expect  it  to  be  clear  t9 
those  who  suspect  and  dislike  change.  If  there  are  any  here  wiM 
adopt  my  views  and  resolve  to  carry  them  into  practical  effect,  they 
have  a  long  battle  before  them.  But  they  will  have  a  good  cause; 
and  with  patience  and  perseverance  they  will  win  the  victory. 


On  the  Same.     By  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox. 

TWO   parties  are  demanding  a  reform  of  the  laws  that  rcgolito 
real  property,   but  with  very  different  objects.     One  demaodi 
reform  only,  the  other  seeks  a  revolution. 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  consider  what  refo^o^  are  reqoirej, 
and  in  what  manner  they  mav  be  accomplished. 


By  Mr.  Serjeani  Cox. 


187 


iintcle&rl/  see  wlmt  ate  the  evils  compliiincil  oH 
l>»Mnce  or  the  grievBnce  ia  thut  laud  is  uinno|)olUeit  by  a 
h  mftiiy  fue  deairoua  to  possess  and  willing  to  purcliase 
prevcnicii  througU  the  inability  of  the  owners  to  sell,  by 
the  law  of  inUoritauco,  of  settlsuiQats,  iacuuibi'&uceB,  and 
uent  coats  of  ttuuafer. 

t  enter  upon  tbo  wide  political  and  ecoaoinical  quostionii 
l>fien  raised  with  respect  to  the  ownership  or  the  occupa- 
id.  There  is  uo  immediute  prospect  of  the  predomiuanco 
y  who  demand  that  real  property  ehall  be  taken  from  ils 
isscssors  by  the  State,  with  a  compensation  paid  by  a  tax 
evied  upon  the  property  to   be  iliua  abstracted.     Beforu 

rerolatiou  ciin  be  accomplished,  there  must  be  an  interval 
t  will  be  the  part  of  li'ue  sltttesmansliip  to  avail  itself  for 
I  of  all  rea!  grievances,  the  cure  oT  all  proved  defects,  and 
reforms   to  remove  from  llie  foes  of  property  aud  sooiiil 

grouiiit  they  are  always  so  eiiger  to  occupy,  covering 
revolution  under  profesBiouii  of  rdbrm.  Uy  pr<in)pt  aban- 
jf  wbaUiver  is   indefeuaible,  onii  remedy  of  whatever  is 

frioDds  of  order  will  make  a  better  figiit  of  it.  when  thu 
wnflict  with  the  auarchisls  shall  come, 
ben,  ore  the  alleged  causes  of  (lie  asserted  monopoly  of 
r(y  !  Tbey  are  :— I.  Variety  of  Tenure ;  If.  The  Law 
Bcaj  IIL  The  Powers  of  Devise  and  Setllement ;  IV. 
;  V>  Tito  System  of  Conveyancing.  I  propose  to  considi^r 
19a  alleged  grievances  separately, 

BIT  OF  Temjbr. — This  is  an  evil  undoubtedly.  It 
e  passage  of  real  property  from  those  who  have  to  those 

1^  and  it  LB  oft«n  a  serious  obstacle  to  improvcmcnu  in 
of  iu  possessors.  Lands  of  diSercnt  tenures,  freehold, 
ind  leasehold,  are  so  commingled  that  it  is  often  impossible 
4  lui  estate  of  convenient  size  for  pleasure  or  profit  with- 
at  and  trouble  of  an  inves^galjon  into  as  many  distinct 
ere  ore  tenures,  besides  the  iaconvenience  of  restrieiions 
ajoyment  of  the  whole  because  some  trifling  portion,  not 
old,  cannot  he  freely  dealt  with  without  incurring  liabil- 
f  themselves  constitute  a  bar  to  iraprovemeuls.  For  in- 
^aw  ft  freehold  estate  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Loudon, 
^  of  which  are  twelve  acres  of  copyhold.  The  ofieut 
iinents,  of  which  the  land  is  very  capable,  and  which  the 
wirous  to  make,  would  bo  simply  to  increase  the  charge 
bisement.  But,  it  will  be  asked,  why  does  he  not  resort 
^hold  Enfranchisement  Act  and  relieve  his  property  from 
fT  For  the  sufGcieut  reason  that  the  Commissioners  take 
It,  not  merely  the  present  value  of  the  copyhold,  but  its 
ospective  value  as  being  capable  of  becoming  land  for 
:  some  iadeQnite  future.  The  copyliold  in  que.ition  is 
r inheritance,  with  a  small  lixed  rent  (about  9s.  only),  and 
^misaipn  of  two  years'  annual  value.     The  actual  aouual 


188  The  Laws  rdating  to  Land. 

value  of  the  property  is  2/.  per  acre  or  24/.  for  the  whole.  The 
at  two  years'  value  would  be  48/.  ;  the  rule  of  enfranchiMmai 
said  to  be  two  fines,  the  rent  at  thirty  years'  purchase,  and 
steward's  fee.  The  charge  for  enfranchisement  of  theae  12  a 
should  be,  therefore,  about  120/.  The  sam  actually  demande 
600/.,  being  only  100/.  less  than  the  purchase  money  of  the  ei 
itself.  This  is  but  one  of  a  multitude  of  similar  cases,  but  it  3 
trates  the  nature  of  the  grievances  growing  out  of  the  varie* 
tenures. 

The  remedy  will  be  to  bring  about  an  uniformity  of  tenure  i 
all  practicable  speed.  Facilities  should  be  provided  for  tlie  < 
version  of  any  tenure  whatever  into  freehold.  This  might  be  d 
by  extending  the  functions  of  the  Copyhold  CommissionerSi  i 
should  be  empowered  to  enlarge  to  a  fee  any  other  tenure,  en 
a  life  interest  cr  a  leasehold  for  a  term  originally  created  ibr 
than  100  years.  The  duties  of  the  Commissioners  in  such  « 
would  be  to  assess  the  difference  of  value  between  the  estate  ] 
ser«sed  by  the  applicant  and  the  fee  ;  to  direct  such  value  to 
paid  by  the  applicant  in  cash,  or  charged  upon  the  property  A 
limited  term,  according  to  circumstances.  Any  money  so  reeei 
by  them  to  be  held  in  trust  by  the  parties  entitled  to  the  fee,  as  i 
as  to  any  large  estate  than  that  of  the  applicant,  and  to  be  p(ud  c 
to  such  owners  on  satisfactory  proof  of  title. 

It  would  not  always  be  practicable  for  present  possessors  to 
at  once,  nor,  indeed,  could  tiie  charges  be  in  all  cases  property 
posed  upon  possessors  who  have  temporary  interests,  or  who 
merely  trustees.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  empower  the  price  of 
fee  to  be  made  a  charge  upon  the  estate,  where  circumstances  nii 
render  such  a  course  expedient,  upon  the  same  conditions  and  fa 
same  manner  as  is  now  provided  witii  respect  to  moneys  taken 
for  drainage  and  other  improvements. 

The  enfranchisement  of  copyholds  should  be  further  faeilitaiad 
enacting  that  in  no  case  where  the  copyhold  is  of  inheritance, 
the  rent  fixed,  shall  possible  prospective  value  be  taken  into  aoeo) 
but  that  the  copyholder  shall  be  entitled  to  enfranchise  on  payn 
of  a  sum  not  exceeding  two  years  of  the  then  annual  value,  di 
years*  purchase  of  the  rcntcharge  and  one  steward's  fee ;  and  ' 
in  the  enfranchisements  of  all  copyholds  in  which  the  lord  bt 
larger  interest  than  this,  the  value  of  such  larger  interest  ehal 
calculated  separately,  and  added  to  the  above  estimate  as  the  pric 
such  enfranchisement. 

To  promote  enfranchisement,  the  same  power  of  charging 
estate  with  the  cost  of  it  should  be  given,  as  above  proposed,  in 
case  of  enlargement  of  other  tenures. 

This  is,  of  course,  a  mere  outline  of  a  scheme,  by  which  the 
sirablo  object  might  be  promoted  of  reducing  all  the  varietiei 
tenure  now  prevailing  to  three,  viz.,  the  owner  in  fee,  the  owner 
life,  the  tenant  for  a  term  of  years  not  exceeding  one  hundred, 
do  not  pretend  to  have  constructed  the  details,  which  wQuld  leq 


yeaat  Coxt 


BriODS  elaboration,  and  Bll  n  gooill;  volur 
only  ta  suggest  desirable  refuirtu,  n 
tribune  nt. 
The  FO<-on<J  of  tbe  alleged  giievancos  of  this  present  Uw  is, 
U.   TuE  Law  ov    Ihuekitahce. — Against  tbis    two  objections 
ne  ueuailj  preferred  ; 

Firat,  that  tbo  law  of  printogenilure  is  unjust  and  injurioua  to  the 

cooiniunity ; 

ScponiUjf,  that  for  tlie  express  purpose  of  preventing  the  iw.ouinu- 

ion  wf  Innd  by  indiriiluala,  the  owner  should  have  no  power  of 

Ipowd  of  his  property,  but  that  it  should  be  equally  divide'l  nmou^ 

f  oest  of  kin    in   all   cases.      Some   more   moderate    reformers, 

rer,  would  restrict  this  compulsory  divisioa  of  property  to  real 

periy.      But  this  party  has  no  slaad  point,  for  if  such  be  tho 

|ht  mode  of  dealtDg  with  one  kind  of  property  it  cannot  well  bo 

Dag  with  (he  otlier,  and  if  it  hIiouU  ever  come  to  bo  ailoptud  in 

jf  Quuniry,  tbe  rule  will  aaauredly  be  applied  to  pei'sonalty  ivs  well 

■la  re^ly. 

Altliough    the    great  miijarity   of  the   advanced  reformers,  from 

'mtial  motives,  at  present  limit  tiieir  demand  to  the  abolition  of 

jenilure,  Icaviug  to  the  owner  the  right  to  devise  his  property 

Is  ttbdolute  discretion,  distributing  it  only  in  cose  of  intestftcy, 

e  can    be  no  doubt  that  the  ultimate  design   is  a  compulsory 

I  deiith.     Much  has  been  said  both  for  and  against  this 

a  t  but  it  is  not  yet  ripe  for  public  discussion,  and  some  years 

D  probably  elapse  before  it  will  tak«  a  practical  shape,  therefore  it 

it  now  necessary  to  consider  itui  alf,  and  I  limit  the  suggestions  to 

jtBrst  proposition,  which  has  already  assumed  the  form  of  u  project 

■  law,  and  will  erelong  offer  itself  for  formal   decision — the  oboli- 

•  of  the  law  of  primogeniture. 

■  Hie  practical  cfTect  of  the  law  upon  tho  distribution  of  land  tn 

I  tiraea  has  been  enormously  exnggerared  alike  by  the  fema 

Elu  supporters  and  by  lite  hopes  of  its  oppouenia.     If  it  had  not 

pied  during  tlie  last  century,  the    devolution  of   estates   would 

>  been  very  much  what  we  have  seen.     The  desire  of  owners 

fUttnin  a  i'amily  name,  aai  still  more,  to  keep  together  Ihe  estates 

^  whoso    iiossession    they   were    pi-oud,    Ima    been    the  prevailing 

Mm  for  preferring  to  endow  with  them  one  sou  instead  of  cut- 

K  them  into  small  portions  for  several  children.     If  the  owners 

I  estates  have  not  made  wills,  bnt  allowed   the  law  to  takes  its 

,  it  haa  been  because  the  law  was  in  accordance  with  their 

They  who  really  desired  tho  division  aad  distribution  of 

iT  properties  might  have  made  wills,  and  so  carried  their  desin-s 

»  effect.     That  they  have  fiuled  to  do  so  is  the  best  proof  that 

V  law   regulating  tlie  transmissiou  of  estates  has  expressed   the 

alent  views  and  wishes  of  those  for  wliom  it  was  made. 

E  Th«  abolition  would  have  little  practical  etTect  upon  tiie  distribii- 

BOD  of  real  property.     When   owners  know  that   if  they   would 

Hpr«Berve  the  oeiate  in  the  family,"  as  it  is  termed,  they  must  maka 


190  The  Laws  retating  to  Land. 

a  will,  thoy  will  mako  a  will,  and  do  by  express  devise  what  hitherto 
they  have  trusted  to  the  law  to  do  for  them.    If  a  man  is  ths 
possessor  of  largo  landed  estates,  and,  knowing  the  law,  fails  to 
comply  with  its  proviHions,  he  cannot  complain  of  the  conseqneiieei 
of  his  own  negligence.     Not  only  would  no  wrong  be  done  to  vq 
single  person  by  the  abolition  of  the  law  of  primogeniture^  bai  i 
positive  good  would  result  from  it,  in  the  inducement  it  would  ofir 
the  owners  of  property  to  make  their  wills.    That  solemn  act  ii 
making  a  will  brings  directly  under  the  notice  of  the   maker  tlii 
claims  natural  and  social  upon  his  bounty  which  may  be  banifllid 
from   his  mind   in  the  occupations  of  busy  life,  but   whieh  foMi 
themselves  on  his  attention  when  ho  is  deliberately  resolving  lio# 
his  property  ought  to  be  dealt  with  after  he  has  himself  paaaj 
away  and  can  no  longer  enjoy  it. 

The  only  real  inconvenience  that  has  been  suggested  as  likely  (d 
result  from  the  abolition  of  primogeniture  is  the  difficulty  of  difid- 
ing  small  properties,  such  as  an  estate  of  a  few  acres,  or  a  hooie. 
But  the  answer  to  this  objection  is,  that  the  inconvenience  hii 
always  existed  in  the  case  of  leaseholds,  and  is  found  in  practice  to 
be  easily  overcome.  A  large  proportion  of  houses  are  leasehold  ;lNit 
there  is  the  ready  resource  for  those  who  do  not  like  the  Statute  of 
Distribution — let  them  make  a  will. 

The  next  is  a  more  difficult  and  doubtful  question, 

III.  The  Powers  op  Settlement  and  Devise. — In  these  wii 
be  found  the  most  formidable  obstacles  to  the  ready  sale  and  chetp 
conveyance  of  real  property. 

It  is  the  existence  of  such  charges  that  prevents  sales  of  land, 
for  a  purchaser  is  reluctant  to  buy  subject  to  charges,  and  trasteei 
are  unable  to  discharge  so  as  to  facilitate  a  sale.  It  happens  oon- 
tinually  that  a  comparatively  small  charge  is  imposed  by  a  devise  or 
settlement  on  a  large  estate.  As  the  law  is,  this  charge  extends 
over  the  whole  estate,  per  mie  ct  per  tout — every  part  is  burdened 
with  the  whole  charge — even  although  one-tenth  of  the  estate  would 
be  of  sufficient  value  to  secure  the  whole.  Trustees,  who  lie 
already  exposed  to  the  most  unjust  liabilities,  dare  not  exercise  t 
discretion  and  sell  any  part  discharged  from  the  burden  that  is 
throvn  upon  the  entire  estate,  and  as  a  consequence  the  whole  ii 
unmarketable,  although  not  a  tithe  of  it  is  really  burdened,  and  it  is 
for  the  equal  interest  of  all  parties  interested  that  a  sale  should  be 
effected. 

The  present  power  of  devise  and  settlement  is  limited  to  a  lift  or 
lives  in  being  and  twenty-one  years  afterwards.  It  is  contended, 
with  much  force  of  argument,  that  this  is  too  long  a  time  over  which 
the  dead  should  be  permitted  to  control  the  property  they  have  left 
behind  them.  The  inclination  of  owners  is  generally  to  exereiM 
this  power  to  the  utmost.  There  is  a  sense  of  satisfaction  in  thu^ 
as  it  were,  living  after  death,  and  controlling  what  they  can  no 
longer  possess :— 


•,  i^tjeani  Cox. 

W«  hare  no  titlo  deeda  to  hoiiso  or  land* ; 

Ointera  nntt  occupants  of  eftrtier  dates, 
Prom  gnTM  forgotten  itrelcli  their  duetj  bnnde, 

And  bold  in  roortiruitn  stiil  their  oM  eetales. 

vil  fvdmittoil,  Ihere  is  little  choice  of  remedies  for  tlie 
Either  he  must  still  further  limit  the  power  to  charge 
I,  or  he  innst  abolish  it  altogether.  This  laat  course 
[tlcnded  with  great  incooTeuiences.  For  instance,  the 
ui  c4tBte  has  live  chUdreD  ;  he  wants  to  portion  his 
to  establish  his  sous  in  business  hs  tboj  arrive  at 
If  the  estate  caiUaot  be  charged  with  these  burdens, 
)uld  remain  to  his  representatives  but,  upon  the  first 
;  prefurred.  to  sell  the  estate,  and  so  take  it  from  (he 
horn  it  had  been  given  subject  to  these  charge.'^.  But 
ee  fre'iuenlly  extend  over  long  periods  of  time,  and  for 
rate  as  impediments  to  its  sale.  Would  the  incoiiveni- 
olishing  the  power  of  making  them  bo  grcnter  than  (he 
vantages  ?     1  fear  they  would. 

.a  of  doubtful  policy  to  abolish  the  power,  miRht  it  not  be 
This  question  has  been  of  (en  asked  of  those  who 
strongly  against  the  present  powers  of  devise  and  settle- 
have  not  yet  seen  a  practical  answer  accompanied  with 
lion  of  a  defiaite  plan.  A  limit  of  time  is  at  best  only  a 
of  the  evil  complained  of.  It  would  not  relievo  titles 
leCMsity  for  investigation  which  is  now  the  main  cause 
lineas  of  conveyancing.  If  any  charge  of  any  kind  is 
Litle  must  be  looked  into  to  see  if  any  such  charge  exists, 
ir  the  inquiry  be  limited  to  life  instead  of  twenty-one 
it  would  make  little  real  difference  in  trouble  or  cost 
early  be  impossible  to  aboliah  mortgages  ;  but  settlements 
nothing  but  mortgages  ;  both  are  charges  on  the  eslato, 
i  dealt  with  in  like  manner.  If  one  is  to  be  limited,  so 
e  other.  The  only  difference  between  them  is  that  any 
pay  off  the  mortgage,  but  cannot  pay  off  the  settle- 
consideration  has  suggested  to  me  the  plan  which  I 
X  to  propose  with  considerable  confidence,  as  calculated 
(he  difficulties  of  the  question  without  inconvenient  re- 
thfl  present  powers  of  charging.  The  design  is  not  new 
It  has  been  adopted  by  the  Legislature  as  the  natural 
the  same  difficulty  when  it  stood  in  the  way  of  the  ready 
of  land  required  for  public  purposes. 
}|y  to  apply  to  all  land  the  practice  adopted  with  respect 
uireil  by  railways,  &c.,  namely,  to  permit  of  its  being  dia- 
any  time  by  any  person  entitled  to  the  actual  possession. 
Urges  and  incumbrances  whatsoever.  We  have  had  now 
ipcrience  of  thia  process  to  prove  that  it  might  be 
ihout  serious  inconvenience,  and  %vithout  wrong  to  any 
ireated.    Whoa  land  is  wanted  for  arailway  or  (br  public 


J 


192  The  Laws  I'ttatvig  to  LatuL 

works,  wliatcvcr  the  burdens  upon  that  land,  thej  can  be  removed 
if  80  desired,  by  tlie  rational  process  of  a  valuation  and  payment  of 
the  value  so  found  into  court,  to  abide  there  the  establishment  of 
any  claims  that  may  be  preferred  for  it.      The  court  adjusts  the 
rights  of  the  claimants,  and  distributes  the  fund  accordingly,  but  it 
strict  compliance  with  the  provisions  of  the  settlement  or  will,  nor 
have  I  ever  heard  of  any  actual  injustice  having  resulted  lo  aaj 
person  from  this  arrangement.     I  propose  to  extend  this  proceM  to 
all  owners.      If  the  land  has  any  charges  upon  it  of  any  kind  msdt 
by  any  instrument,  the  person  in   lawful  possession  as  the  owmt 
should  be  empowered  to  apply  to  the  Copyhold  Commissioners  for 
a  discharge.     They  should  cause  the  necessary  investigation  to  bi 
made  into  the  validity  of  those  charges — their  values  to  be  aso«^ 
taincd  by  competent  valuers,  and  upon  payment  of  such  estiniatad 
values — either  to  the  Accountant-General  in  Chancery,  or  to  aa 
officer  to  bo  specially  created  for  the  purpose,  under  the  control  q( 
the  Copyhold  Commissioners,  a  certificate  of  discharge  should  bo 
given  to  such  owner,  which  should  be  equivalent   to  the  enfeu- 
chisement  of  a  copyhold  by  the  Lord  of  the  Manor. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  the  details  of  such  a  scheme,  as  tfaaj 
should  govern  the  conduct  of  the  Copyhold  Commissioners  (or  of 
their  court),  in  dealing  with  the  fund  thus  confided  to  them.  It 
would  follow  very  nearly  the  same  course  as  is  already  pursued  witk 
respect  to  the  like  fund  when  paid  for  the  discharge  of  land  takes 
by  a  railway. 

IV.  MoRTQAGES.— No  practical  difficulty  exists  in  the  paying  of 
of  a  mortgage  beyond  this,  that  it  usually  requires  a  reconveymM^ 
and  sometimes  there  is  difficulty  in  discovering  who  is  entitled  li 
receive  the  mortgage  money.  The  word  difficulty  in  real  proper^ 
law  always  means  costs.  The  first  might  be  remedied  by  an  enaol' 
ment  that  the  indorsement  of  a  receipt  upon  the  mortgage  deed  or 
instrumeut  of  charge  shall  operate  as  a  reconveyance  of  the  estate 
thereby  conveyed,  and  a  discharge  of  the  estate  from  all  claims  ander 
the  mortgage,  and  the  latter  might  be  provided  for  by  the  mum 
machinery  as  is  suggested  for  the  estimation,  receiving  the  valoi 
and  distributing  the  proceeds  of  other  charges. 

V.  Conveyancing. — ^The  costs  of  conveyancing,  so  much  oon- 
plaincd  of,  are  almost  entirely  due  to  the  difficulties  caused  by  thi 
preceding  defects  in  the  law  of  real  property.  So  long  as  aaf 
charge  whatever  is  permitted  to  be  imposed  upon  it-^that  is  to  i^ 
—so  long  as  the  law  allows  a  man  to  have  any  interest  in  imI 
property  other  than  actual  possession,  there  must  be  an  investip- 
tion  into  title  preliminary  to  sale.  If  A  sells  a  bale  of  cotton  to  B^ 
he  passes  it  directly  from  his  own  possession  to  that  of  thebajer, 
and  that  possession  is  good  against  all  the  world,  provided  that  A 
had  honest  possession  of  it.  The  only  exception  to  this  role  of 
passing  the  property  by  delivery  is  in  the  case  of  stolen  goodly  M 
exception  which  pawnbrokers  ofter  discover  to  their  aerions  btt 
But  if  the  owner  of  a  bale  of  cotton  were  permitted  to  carve  oal 


neant  ( 


)M 


iuieresta  in  it.  as  that  C  sliouM  have  it  for  a  term  of  weeks, 
•F  liCe,  or  to  charge  It  Bpecificully  with  payment  of  commia- 
I  E,  F,  and  G,  present  nr  future,  or  even  to  children  born  of 
hree  lelier.i,  at  ouce  there  would  arise  the  necessity  for  an 
gatioa  of  the  title  of  the  vendor,  so  aa  to  be  assured  that  he 
igbt  to  Bell  enlire  bale,  freed  from  all  claims  by  others.  If 
ch  claim  be  found  to  exist,  that  claim  must  be  roleciaed 
a  purchase  could  be  safely  made.  But  it  would  happen  often 
le  claimant  could  not  be  found.  He  went  to  a  colony,  and 
I  been  heard  of.  His  death  must  be  proved,  or,  if  living,  liis 
I  to  the  transfer  must  be  obtained.  And  so  the  complication 
with  ever  increasing  cost  and  vexation,  to  which  the  Statutes 
italion  olTcr  but  an  imperfect  impediment. 
:  fs  the  actual  position  of  real  property.  It  is  already  what 
e  of  cotton  would  be  in  the  case  supposed.  And  to  make  the 
worse,  this  process  of  costly  inquiry  is  in  no  way  dependent 
value  of  Iho  property  conveyed.  On  the  contrary,  small 
lies  are  mora  frequently  mortgaged,  charged,  and  sold  than 
aes.  A  good  marketable  title,  that  is  to  say,  such  an  one  as 
m  contracting  to  buy  land  would  be  compelled  to  take,  is  as 
try  10  the  sale  of  a  cottage  worth  40«.  a  year,  as  to  an  estate 
DOO/.  a  year,  and  the  burden  of  inquiry,  of  requisiiioa  of 
of  precluding  claims  actual  aud  possible,  and  removing 
I  u  imposed  upon  by  the  buyer  and  seller  of  a  cottage 
•  with  the  buyer  and  seller  of  a  county.  They  who  talk  so 
in  speeches,  and  wax  so  eloquent  at  land  leagues,  on  the 
it  for  making  the  transfer  of  land  as  easy  and  inexpensive  as 
tnsfer  of  a  bale  of  cotton,  are  wholly  ignorant  of  the  true 
of  the  difficulty  which  nobody  denies.  One  looks  in  vain 
I  the  essays  and  speeches  even  of  the  moat  philosophical  of 
iW  reformers  for  a  practical  remedy  for  the  grievance  of 
they  complain.  In  point  of  fact,  they  have  none,  and,  under 
desire  to  reform  the  existing  law,  they  are  seeking  its 
eubverHon,  Tbeir  cry  is  for  mure  easy  transfer,  in  which  all 
Me  men  arc  with  them,  asking  only  (or  a  rational  and  really 
table  scheme  for  simplifying  and  cheapening  the  transfer  of 
roperiyi  but  their  real  aim  is  to  cbauge  its  tenure.  For  a 
ig  plan  of  the  land  law  reform  which  all  wonld  welcome, 
toe  more  than  the  on-ncrs  of  real  property,  who  are  the  only 
B  whom  t)ie  czisling  system  oppresses,  resort  must  be  bad  to 
terienced  lawyer  iu  his  chambers,  and  not  to  the  philosopher 
itttdy. 
ling,  then,  to  the  practical  lawyers,  how  would  they  propose 


;2e8ted  in  the  preceding 
nrds  abbreviating   the 


ID  convey  an  ting.     Tito  reform 

of  this  paper    would   do   much 
if  title,  and  especially  the  proposed  power  of  discharge.     By 

this  profession  the  Statutes  of  Limitation  might  be  further 

1.     But  that  which  most  of  all  would  abbreviate  the  labour 
It  of  title  making  would  be  a  compulsory  register  of  incum< 
13 


1 94  The  Laws  reUding  to  Land. 

brances  of  all  kkidB.    All  claims  on  real  proper^,  accompamad  bj 
actual  possession,  ought  to  be  registered  in  the  locality,  either  ii 
the  county  or  in  the  union  in  which  the  land  so  charged  is  sitoita 
The  actual  possessor  of  real  property  is  always  known,  for  his  Dsme 
is  in  the  rate  book,  his  acts  are  public.    But  a  man  who  has  a 
interest  in  an  estate,  but  only  in  contemplation  of  law,  and  not  bv 
any  ostensible  holding  of  it,  or  of  any  parts  of  it,  but  only  ti  U 
were  metaphysically,  is  surely  subject  to  no  injustice  or  even  bud* 
ship  if  compelled  to  give  a  local  habitation  to  his  ideal  rights  oier 
a   substantial  property  by  registering  them  where  their  existsnee 
may  be  instantly  ascertained  by  all  who  have  occasion  to  deal  widi 
the  substance  of  that  property.     A  register  of  actual  transfers  of  tbi 
estate  itself  would  be  useful ;  but  infinitely  more  important  is  tbe 
registration  of  all  charges,  not  accompanied  with  actual  possesdoB. 
This  alone  would  reduce  the  costs  of  transfer  of  real  propertj  bf 
three-fourths,  for  at  least  that  portion  of  the  entire  costs  proeeedi, 
as  I  have  shown  before,  from  the  necessity  for  research  into  tbe 
existence  of  charges  and  incumbrances.     But  the  law  to  be  effeetiie 
must  bo  peremptory.    No  charge  whatever  must  be  permitted  to  In 
valid  unless  registered. 

Some  very  slight  diminution  of  cost  might  be  produced  bj  th 
abbreviation  of  conveyances,  and  especially  of  mortgages.  Thej  tn 
shorter  now  than  formerly,  but  they  would  endure  a  good  deal  o 
clipping  still.  All  the  usual  covenants  might  safely  be  declared  U 
be  implied  from  the  nature  of  the  conveyance,  unless  expreed; 
excluded.  It  might  be  enacted  that  a  mortgage  shall  imply  all  th 
usual  powers  of  sale,  &c.,  unless  expressly  excluded,  and  so  finrtl 
But  the  smallest  portion  of  the  expenses  of  a  transfer  are  those  o 
drawing  and  engrossing  the  conveyance.  The  real  burden,  as 
have  said  before,  is  the  inquiry  into  title. 

Lord  Derby  suggested,  as  the  best  foundation  for  future  reform 
in  real  property  law,  the  construction  by  a  qualified  commisrio 
of  a  new  Domesday  Book.  The  idea  is  admirable,  and  ought  t 
be  adopted.  But  it  would  bo  a  work  of  time,  and  in  the  mesi 
while  there  are  sources  of  information  from  which  valuable  parti 
culars  as  to  the  actual  position  of  landholding  in  the  United  di| 
dom  might  bo  gathered,  without  which  no  legislation  can  be  eatii 
factorily  conducted.  The  poor  rates  supplemented  by  the  registei 
of  voters  would  supply  the  numbers,  the  extent  and  the  rentals  < 
every  separate  estate  in  real  property,  and  also  what  of  them  ai 
occupied  by  the  owners,  what  by  tenants.  A  few  weeks  wool 
suffice  for  the  coUectiou  of  this  information,  and  it  would  I 
derived  from  sources  open  to  no  suspicion,  because  it  is  alread 
collected  for  public  purposes,  with  vigilant  eyes  upon  it,  by  eon 
potent  officers,  having  full  knowledge  of  value  in  their  looalitie 
As  land  law  reform  must  soon  become  a  question  for  discosM 
in  Parliament,  I  venture  to  suggest  to  the  Grovernment  the  proprie' 
of  immediately  providing  statistics,  so  needful  alike  for  legidati< 
or  for  debate* 


By  W.  Bijhs  Ward.  195 

>.  W.  SncES  Ward,  of  Leeds,  read  "  Suggestions  for  FofUitating 
Ttftnsfur  of  Land."    The  author  aasiimed  it  ■was  generally  con- 
red  desirable  to  diminish  the  expense,  and  to  moio  the  title  to 
estate  as  safe,  and  to  enable  it  to  be  as  easily  transferred  as 
title  to  stock  and  shares  in  public  securities  or  railways,  so  far 
inch  punioao  could  be  effected  without  any  injustice  to  public  or 
'rate  rights,  and   submitted  for  discussiou  the   following   pro- 
uls : — (1-)  To  alter  the  practice  on  contracts  for  sale  of  Una  by 
liting  the  obligation  of  uie  Tendor  to  make  out  such  title  as  is 
linly  stated  on  the  faco  of  the  contracts,  and  that  on  an  open 
itiact  a  vendor  shall  only  be  bound  to  shew  such  title  as  he  has. 
)  That  the  uodisturbed  possession  of  land  for  twenty  years  by  a 
idor  priiml  facie  seized  in  fee,  shall  be  sufficient  title  to  enable 
n  to  Bell  and  convey  such  land  with  an  indefeasible  title  to  a 
tiaeer;  and  that  undisturbed  possession  for  ten  years,  after  a 
iTSyance  in  fee  on  a  puroiiase  for  a  valuable  considcrndon,  and 
1  duly  executed  purchase  deed,  shall  enable  a  veudor  to  confer 
.  iudefeoaible  title  to  a  purchaser,   and  without  admitting  any 
ptiai)  on  behalf  of  any  person  labouring  under  any  disability. 
That  any  person  aggrieved  by  any  wrongful  sale  of  land  sh^ 
.  iinless,  previously  to  such  sale,  ho  shall  have  given  to  or  aflected 

Sirchaser  witli  positive  notice,  be  entitled  to  follow  the  land, 
all  have  a  remedy  against  the  fraudulent  vendor  for  double 
le  of  the  estate  of  which  ho  is  deprived,  and  also  by  criminal 
'ings.     (4.)  That  a  vendor  shall  be  at  liberty  to  make  a 
nna  declaration  that  ho  is  lawfully  seised,  has  good  right  to 
iT^,  and  that  he  has  no  notice  of  any  incumbrances.     That  on 
ih  declaratioD,  if  untrue,  the  vendor  shall  be  liable  to  punish- 
it  for  misdemeanonr,  and  to  mid^e  good  any  loss  to  any  person 
d  thereby.      And   that   the   production  of  such  declaration 
ret|uired,  fur  supporting   any  proceedings  thereon,  coupled 
proof  that  the  purchaser  has  had  due  production  of  title  deeds 
Mm,  shall  exonerate  the  land,  and  also  the  purchaser.    (5.)  That 
«  overMore  of  the  poor  shall  insert  in  the  rate-books  of  the  parish 
'district  the  names  of  all  freeholders,  inserting  the  name  alone  if 
tti  freeholder  be  the  sole  person  having  any  interest,  and  insert- 
g  the  name  and  others  where  the  estate  is  qualified,  as  in  the 
M  of  trust  or  mortgage.     That  any  person  claiming  an  estate  in 
-'  may  npply  to  nave  his  name  inserted  in  the  rating,  such 
,tion  to  be  complied  with  on  a  written  authority  from  previous 
c,  or  on  the  order  of  a  judge  of  the  County  Court  of  the  dis- 
B  ialse  or  groundless  claim  to  subject  claimant  to  costs,  and 
damages  as  the  judge  may  award.     The  rate-book  may,  in 
cases,  bo  produoed,   and   be  admifisiblo  in  evidence  as  a 
of  possession.      (6.)  That  all  recitals  in   deeds  should  be 
by  a  declaration  that  they  are  true,  such  declaration  to 
the  effect   of  an   affidavit,  and   ia  be  conclusive   evidence 
twenty  years,  but  that  the  recital  of  a  deed  should  not 
bo  noticed  beyond  the  purport  of  the  recital.      (7.)  That  the  pro- 
of tie  Statute  8  &  9  Vict.  c.   112,  should  be  extended  to 
13—2 


196  The  Laws  relating  to  Land^ 

outstanding  legal  estates  in  any  person  dead,  or  not  to  be  f 
within  the  junsdiction,  unless  continued  by  new  appointmeo 
case  of  trustees.  (8.)  The  Statutes  2  &  3  Ann,  c.  4 ;  4  ft  6 . 
c.  18,  and  6  Ann,  c.  35,  constituting  the  register  of  deeds  fin 
West  Eiding  of  York,  to  be  extended  to  all  counties.  If 
alterations  could  be  effected,  he  said,  there  would  not  be  muf 
desire,  either  in  the  further  diminution  of  expense  or  the  b 
of  tenure,  and  each  of  such,  if  such  alterations  were  taken  si 
would  effect  considerable  and  very  advantageous  changes. 

A  paper  by  Professor  Jacob  Walet  was  read,  containing  " 
gestions  for  Facilitating  the  Transfer  and  Disposition  of  Lai 
He  did  not  depreciate  the  advantages  of  a  system  of  State  regi 
tion  of  owners  and  transfer  of  land ;  but  the  officers  charged 
the  carrying  out  of  the  Land  Transfer  Act  of  1862  shoul* 
invested  with  much  larger  powers.  He  did  not  think^  the 
tinental  system  of  sale  and  purchase  of  land  would  suit  this  cou 
It  appeared  more  than  probable  that  any  change  in  the  land '. 
not  involving  the  complete  reconstruction  of  our  social  i^ 
would  not  have  the  effect  of  materially  diffusing  the  ownenm 
land.  Still,  increased  facilities  for  the  transfer  and  disposal  of 
might  be  introduced  with  advantage.  He  proposed— (1st.) 
five  years  should  be  the  limit  (and  not  twenty  years  as  at  pre 
for  the  assertion  of  dormant  or  displaced  claims.  (2na.) 
adverse  possession  should  operate  against  the  estate ;  that  is  tc 
not  merely  against  the  limited  owner  during  the  currency  of  t 
interest  the  sidverse  possession  takes  place,  but  against  the  i 
series  of  owners  having  successive  interests,  who  for  this  pu 
shall  be  considered  as  represented  by  the  owner  entitled  t 
possession  barred  by  the  non-assertion  of  his  rights.  (Srd 
order  to  protect  the  purchaser  against  concealed  incumbrance! 
law  should  require  as  a  condition  of  the  settlement  of  land  a£ 
a  subsequent  purchaser,  that  this  settlement  should  be  enroU 
the  Common  Pleas.  (4th.)  Estates  tail  should  exist  only  fin 
poses  of  defining  and  limiting  the  devolution  of  the  land  so  lon( 
was  not  disposed  of  by  the  act  of  the  tenant  in  tail.  (5th.)  Thi 
sonal  representative  of  a  deceased  owner  of  land  should  have  ] 
to  sell  or  mortgage  the  real  estate  of  the  deceased,  and  recei^ 
money.  (6th.)  A  limited  owner  in  possession  shoiild  have  poi 
lease  or  sell  the  estate  for  any  purpose  for  which  it  is  best  ad 
by  an  application  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  which  should  i^ 
trustees  to  receive  the  money,  and  hold  it  in  trusts  correspoi 
to  the  interests  in  the  land. 


DISCUSSION. 


Mr.  William  Fowler,  M.P.,  thought  people  did  not  sufficiently  appwci 
importance  of  thii  Buhject  economicoUj.  Lord  Derby  in  his  recent  spe 
Liyerpool  expressed  an  opinion  that  the  actual  agricultural  produce  < 

*  Thii  paper  is  printed  in  full  in  the  "  Sessional  Proceedings  "  of  1871- 


rj. 


WB  raquittd  ibnut  nn  t^iul  quuntitj  from  abroad.  Thia  repreMMited  nbout 
"^,000}.  If,  thea.  Lord  Qerbv  waa  ourrwN  we  ought  not  to  require  *  lingle 
r  of  vhent  rroiti  mbrood,  naA  we  ouf  bt  to  proiluco  7,000,000  more  qiurleri 
iBjr,  which  would  bo  worth  about  10,000,OOU/.,  and  about  8,000,000  qunrtcM 
i,  worth  about  8,000,000/.  Then,  at  In  patatn**.  eren  lupposing  the  quanHty 
g»d  hrra  onlj  equalled  the  nTenigo  prndurlion  of  FriLnee,  wa  ought  to  rnjaa 
200.000,000  b(ube]<  additicmol.     We  bod  9,000,000  head  of  cattle,and  a 


cattle 
underalood  that  Ihe  wool  alone  rrom  32.000,000  sheep 
imbi  might  be  fairlj  calouUtad  at  S,000,OOW.  In  one  waj  or  anutber  they 
prodiuM  nnother  lO.OOO.OOW.  Thne,  without  refaranee  to  the  pastures  nnd 
M  they  supplied  to  cattle,  or  to  the  large  extant  of  amble  land  in  grass, 
Dught  to  bo  an  additional  production  far  more  than  equal  M  the  whole 
n  of  the  counliT,  He  heliered,  indeed,  that  Lord  DerbjV  statement  wm 
the  mark,  and  that  were  the  whole  country  cu!trrat«d  aj  rery  large  areas  of 
~  —  (diould  haTa  more  than  double  the  present  production.  The  wheat 
" "  ~  "ideration,  and  somo  people  were  frigliteiied  at  the  aura 


1  to  pay  for  foreign  wheal,  but  according  to  Lord  Derby  v 

Ktartbinc.  Lord  Derby  reearded  more  cspitnl  aa  the  one  thing  wtknled, 
WW  dom)t1e»  tbe  fact,  but  htr  added  that  we  must  look  not  so  much  to  the 
IdrI*  m  to  the  unaatc  for  it.  His  lordship  thought  what  was  wanted  from 
kndlord.  was  much  less  that  ha  should  put  a  larni  amount  of  capital  on  tbe 
•-tltougk  that  was  of  course  desirable — Ibuu  that  he  should  offer  no  obetaols 
I  being  put  upon  it  by  the  tenant.  Now,  with  grrot  deference  to  so  large  a 
nmsr  m  Lord  Darby,  it  appeared  to  him  that  the  tenant  could  not  ba  eipwted 
it  up  oottagas,  and  drain  the  land,  and  make  pornianenl  improTaments. 
wr  oulliration  and  good  manure  might  be  eTpecled  from  the  tenant,  but  the 
toid*  must  bo  willing  to  find  a  large  amount  of  capital,  and  to  put  tbe  land  in 
position  OS  regarded  cottaged,  farm  buildings.  Ac,,  as  would  enable  the 
o  apply  his  capital  adfantageoualT,  According  <o  French  economists,  the 
irhy  Uiis  country  was  so  far  ahead  of  other  countries  with  regard  U>  agri- 
m  many  respects,  and  why  the  arerage  production  of  wheat  per  ncro  was 

I  highar  than  in  France,  was  because  wo  put  so  much  more  capital  on  the 

L   inie  rouon  of  this  ma  to  n  large  extent  because  we  bad  lO  many  rich  pra- 

^'^'t:   Now  we  wanlod  more  rich  proprietors,  no  matter  whether  large  or  small 

^^   Borne  of  the  bsst  managed  estates  in  the  oouutry  were  the  largest  onsa, 

twntdby  men  with  the  hirgast  means,  who  used  those  means  conscientiously. 

M  wwe  many  such,  and  wa  owed  our  position  Urgaly  to  the  enterprise  of  suoh 

Bbat  they  ware  exceptional  eases,  and  over  a  large  part  of  the  country  agrioul- 
m»  in  •  most  backward  oomlition.  He  hod  come  to  Ihe  same  conoluiion  as 
iBt  Cot  and  Mr.  Hobhouso,  that  we  oould  not  expect  capital  to  be  laid  out 
Iha  land  by  liiuitad  owners.  A  tenant  for  life  would  not.  a«  a  ruin,  lay  out 
.  I  Money,  unlets  ho  had  such  an  enormous  income  that  he  could  do  all  that 
inquind  from  the  landowner  and  take  care  of  his  fauiily  as  well.  The  dut^ 
'  an  with  fiOOOi.  or  60001.  a  year,  the  whole  settled  on  his  eldest  son,  perhaps 
_  ba  waa  bom.  was  to  proride  for  his  younger  children.  Coidd  such  a  mnn 
BUI  mooay  in  cottages  and  draining?  Tbe  thing  was  impossible.  Ware  it 
"  lord  Derby  would  not  ba  able  ts  say  tliat  our  production  was  not  half  what 
''"  'Jl  ba.  Lord  Derby  wns  for  giving  leases,  against  which  he  had  nol  A 
ay,  though  they  were  unpopular  with  many  farmers.  It  waa  an  ei- 
leij  mall  remedy,  for  it  only  assisted  the  tenant's  capital  to  come  upon  the 
liad  did  not  remoro  the  roatriction  op  the  landlord's  capital.  The  tenant  for 
V  Uf.  Hobbouse  hocl  remarked,  was  in  a  falsa  position.  It  bad  been  sojd,  ba 
md  Cmty,  that  70  par  cent,  of  the  land  of  this  country  was  thus  bald  by  man 


S 


t: 


198  The  Laws  relating  to  Land. 

who,  unleM  enorxnouBly  wealthy,  could  not  do  jiutioe  to  it.    If  thii  matter  od^ 
affected  Uie  farmers,  it  might  be  laid  that  they  could  take  care  of  themfdw^  bi 
the  maai  of  the  people  were  affected.    We  had  a  law  which  directly  diiooaMd 
the  appUoation  of  capital  to  the  soil,  and  thereby  seriouily  diminiahed  mdiMyo^ 
^Die  MDourer  had  conflequently  to  pay  much  more  for  hii  food,  and  tne  MBb  of 
wagei  waf  directly  diminiBhea,  lo  that  the  money  he  earned  was  leMened,  aadtki 
price  of  neceeiariee  was  at  the  same  time  enhanced.    Morally  the  question  ivt 
OTen  deeper,  as  shown  by  the  reports  which  had  been  referred  to.    The  Bii]iop<( 
Manchester,  on  going  through  300  parishes  in  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  Esms,  and  CUoaoH- 
tershire,  found  only  lour  where  the  cottages  of  the  poor  were  what  thej  oi^  to 
be.    Indeed,  his  description  read  more  like  that  of  some  backward  part  of  Ituf,  or 
like  Bngland  in  the  reign  of  Henry  YIII.    The  main  cause  was  the  poTsrty  of  tb 
landowner.    If  he  was  poor  he  could  not  build  cottages,  and  who  could  eniedtki 
farmer  to  do  so,  when  eyerybody  knew  that  they  paid  only  indirectly,  by  thelaboanr 
being  close  to  his  work,  not  in  the  way  of  interest  on  the  outlay.    It  was  a  crjiai 
disgrace  that  with  enormous  wealth  waiting  for  inyestment,  the  cottages  of^thi 
poor  shoidd  be  in  such  a  condition.    Moreoror,  the  law  made  the  land  unmsrisBt* 
able.    It  made  it  a  habit  to  buy  largo  quantities  of  land  not  for  cultivation  but  for 
luxury  and  enjoyment;  the  buying  of  land  in  small  portions  by  men  with  mf- 
flcient  capital  for  those  portions  not  being  the  custom  of  the  country.    He  inino 
advocate  for  the  forcible  division  of  estates,  a  system  which  he  believed  was  fsilinn 
over  the  continent  wherever  it  existed,  but  there  should  be  no  hindrance  to  msncl 
small  means  going  into  the  market.    Any  law  which  locked  up  the  land  and 
compelled  an  embarrassed  owner  to  hold  it — hundreds  woidd  be  thiankful  to  leUif 
they  could — a  law  which  kept  land  out  of  the  market  not  only  enhanced  the  nrioi 
and  made  it  the  habit  to  buy  land  as  a  luxury  rather  than  as  a  business,  but  dimin- 
ished the  amount  of  capital  applied  to  it.    He  had  heard  it  estimated  that  tfaii 
country  saved  2,000,000^.  a  week,  and  people  were  at  their  wit*s  end  how  to  iorak 
it.  Now  the  development  of  the  resources  of  our  land  was  a  mine  of  wealth.  ICuok 
had  been  said  about  registration.    Ho  agreed  with  Mr.  Hobhouso  that  eveiT  fait 
of  land  must  be  held  by  some  one  in  fee  simple,  who  must  be  able  to  traiuferit 
as  easily  as  bank  stock.    Equitable  mortgages  prevailed  in  Yorkshire.    A  ma 
bought  a  small  house  and  could  not  afford  to  lock  up  the  money  permaBeotlr,  n 
he  borrowed  1000^.  of  his  banker  for  a  year,  an  arrangement  which  suited  m 
parties  welL    Under  any  system  of  registration  which  required  everr  charge  to 
DC  upon  the  register,  these  men  would  not  dare  to  buy  because  everybody  in  thi 
town  would  know  all  about  tlieir  affairs.    The  land  would  consequently  beeoBN 
less  marketable  than  at  present    Perhaps,  however,  some  certilioate  of  regiitn* 
tion,  to  be  deposited  with  the  banker,  would  avoid  this  difficulty.    Simply  mskiog 
it  impossible  to  settle  beyond  existing  lives  would  do  little  good.    A  aetUcment 
now  took  place  on  the  son  coming  of  age,  but  it  could  then  m  deferred  until  bi 
married  and  had  a  child,  wheu  there  would  be  a  settlement  on  Uiree  generation! 
as  now.    The  number  of  life  estates  would  be  reduced  indeed,  but  there  wooU 
still  be  so  large  a  number  that  the  effect  would  be  disappointing.    There  ou^  to 
be  only  ownerships  in  fee  simple,  subject,  perhaps,  to  provisions  for  minofitifli 
and  for  women.    He  disputed  the  axiom  that  the  same  rtde  should  be  applioibli 
to  personal  as  to  real  estate.    Whether  A  or  B  held  bank  or  railway  stook  «y 
quite  immaterial  to  the  community,  but  if  one  was  rich  and  the  other  poor,  then 
was  a  great  difference  to  the  community  which  hold  land.    The  law  as  to  pe^ 
sonalty  might,  therefore,  for  the  convenience  of  families,  be  left  as  at  prsNnt 
The  notion  that  the  G-ovomment  should  take  the  land  and  farm  it  out  was  worn 
than  visionary ;  it  was  revolutionary,  and  wpuld  make  the  title  to  property  of 
every  kind  insecure,  for  oven  personalty  might  share  the  same  treatment.    Ai  to 
Mr.  Miirs  proposal,  [it  woulcl  be  unwise  to  cost  uncertainty  on  the  ownenhip 
of  the  natural  increment  of  property.      If  a  man's  right  to  that  increment 
depended  on  the  decision  of  a  government  valuer,  the  rich  man  would  fight  ihy 
of  investment*and  would  put  out  his  money  in  America  rather  than  in  a  cotmtiT 
subject  to  the  caprice  of  government  valuation.    Nor  had  he  any  sympathy  with 
those  who  wishea  to  secure  to  a  son,  however  great  a  blackguard  he  m^A  be^  a 
certain  share  of  his  father's  inheritance.    The  very  law  which  was  compUned  ol 
in  England  ensured  to  a  aoamp  the  inheritance  of  his  father,  and  tho  Frenoh  lav 


DiKUSiio)%.  199 


s  lbs  ditiwon  oompulaory  both  oa  regaitUd  personaJtj  KoA  realtj,  Ihe 
__lt  boing  tlutt  in  aae  deportineDt  of  Fnuioe  SlXX)  aores  were  dirided  iiiUi  5000 
MtJ*-  It  irw  true  the  mulU  vere  not  xi  disaAlrous  aa  might  be  (uppiMed  at 
m«ght.  but  Ihe  law  ww  irroag  in  prinojple,  and  our  BnglisU  idea  that  tha 
[MW  wm  )Jie  natiinil  legialator  of  the  family  wu  the  true  ftolution  of  our 
jifleul^-  He  would  give  Iha  father  the  fee  timple  of  bia  ulate,  and  olliiw  liim 
"  '  '  unone  hi*  dhildrea  aa  be  liked,  eieept  that  ho  BbouJd  not,  when  in  hia 
__ _.    the  ^Tolution  of  the  property  aiitj  jeara  henra.    Thie  woe  a  gcotrine 

rm.  demanding  atudoua  attention,  and  it  ought  to  ba  settled  on  xiund 
pte*. 
'  ,  i.T-  HoeHVM  (London),  from  the  point  of  new  of  the  land  Tenure 
m  iMooistion,  asid  he  woidd  eiplain  that  thej  did  not  propose  to  oon* 
ito  k  (biUin^e  worth  ot  propertj,  that  they  acquieEced  in  the  principle  of 
ndual  ownenhip,  and  that  they  had  nothing  to  do  with  ochsmei  of  nation- 
lliiia.  The  AMociation  waa  for  intercepting,  by  moans  of  Imation,  an; 
■raed  ioarewe  in  the  rent  of  land.  Land  became  more  valuable  through  the 
^  "'  of  population,  the  oonaequentlj  increased  lieniand  for  food,  at,  also,  by  ila 
ig  building  land  ;  and  tbey  would  intercept  at  lesat  part  of  the  inureasBd 
..M  due  to  ibe  owner'a  own  eiertiona.  He  did  not  *ay  all  but,  at  least,  \aU 
tteoTMeS  thoutd  eo  to  the  State.  Were  the  Stale  to  take  all  it  'n^uuld  be  latins 
and  proTidaneo.  Builders,  for  initanoe,  who  bought  long  leasehold 
t,  and  sold  the  ground  renU  at  twenty  yean'  purcbiue,  would  Hud  Ibem- 
Min  a  difflculty,  but,  on  the  principle  of  the  pubtio  good,  half  the  iineamed 
migbt  ba  appropriated.  Of  course  a  person  would  retain  the  wbole  ralua 
jrementa  actually  mode  by  bimeelf.  lii  ancient  times  the  land  bore  all  the 
nrns  of  the  State ;  and  the  Kings  of  France  bore  all  the  oxpames  of  their  court 
irf  their  own  domains. 

b.  lua»  HowiKD,  U.P.,  here  rose  to  order,  and  Ihe  Chairman  ruled  that 
■  larger  quMtiona,  interesting  and  important  aa  they  ore,  were  not  roiswl  by  Mr, 
UiimM'*  popor. 

p,  HosKtiis,  passing  on  Ui  the  lun  oX  primogeniture,  donouneed  it  as  iniquitous 
ttmta  and  younger  sons.  It  was  true  it  might  bo  defeated  by  will,  but  the 
b  Ibareliy  declared  it  just  lo  ennch  one  son  at  the  expense  of  the  rest  of  Iho 
£f,  Unu  foelering  what  Kr.  Fawcett  deemed  the  besetting  sin  ot  Ihe  English 


foiuid  a  family.    He  was  ittolined  to  the  Horwegiaa  nalem  of 

in  case  of  intestaoy  Ihe  land  was  not  divided — a  plan  liable  to 

objections— but  it  tell  to  the  wife  nnd  children  in  equal  portions,  and 


had  the  option  of  buying  up  the  shares  of  Ihe  reat.  It  tto  wife  and 
mKirsn.  on  their  ooniing  of  age,  all  waived  this  option,  the  property  voa 
end  the  proceeds  diiided  equaUy.  One  objeotion  to  entails  was  that  a  lite 
V  would  not  apply  his  oapilol  to  the  soil,  but  felt  it  bis  duty  to  provide  ior 
rite  utd  rounger  children,  whereas  the  application  of  capital  to  Ibe  land  vraa 
|4aal  Va  the  whole  community. 

Ir.  JtMis  How.tBD,  H.F.,  commenting  on  the  doctrine  put  forward  in  some 
n  that  the  land  belonged  to  the  whole  people,  remarked  that  this  was  true 
■mse  of  England  belonging  lo  the  Engliab.  If,  however,  it  meaut  that 
with  no  property  ot  their  own  bad  a  right  to  a  beneSciol  interest  in  the 

Kty  ot  others,  llie  doctrine  was  a  rery  dangerout  one.  He  bad  read  the  pro- 
of Ur.  MiU  and  the  land  Tenure  Keforra  Association,  but  hod  ne(er  seen 
IpiaMioal  mode  of  carrying  the  principle  into  effect.  Wbo  wu  to  ascertain 
'*"' — uned  increasef"  An  Increase  in  tlie  wealth  of  the  country  of  oourae 
^^ . .  .  the  purchasing  power  of  the  country,  and  the  prioe  ot  eTCrylhing,  and 
iLegjslflture  would  never  deal  with  property  in  land  on  other  principlM  than 
>■  applied  to  other  property.  The  law  wjh  nt  present  in  on  unaatistaclory 
Alan.  Any  law  which  hampered  the  distribution  of  property  was  injurious  to 
\  body  politic,  especially  when  appUed  to  land,  which  was  limited  in  qnantity. 
lfl«pdstloli  as  to  the  tenure  and  transfer  of  land  should  not  aim  either  at 
luloUon  or  subdiTision,  for  that  should  be  left  tn  natural  Uwe  and  would 
itMilt,  thougb  after  the  operation  of  the  eiistiaE  laws,  many  years  must 
,  J  Utopo  the  o»ib  they  bod  caused  were  romov«r  In  Belgium,  wUiob  ho 
Bel  two  jeari  ago,  the  buyer  and  seller  ot  land  went  to  the  land  court  in  the 


200  The  Lawa  rdating  to  Land. 

proTindal  town,  haTing  no  need  of  a  lawyer^!  lerrioM,  and  the  regiitear  ttmad  li 
the  folio  where  the  hind  wae  registered  and  mapped*  whereapon  a  doeiMt 
traniferring  it  wae  signed.    In  America,  four  or  fi^e  years  ago,  he  found  a  iinihr 
B]rstem.    ^ery  estate  was  registered,  numbered,  and  mapped,  not  oolj  in  lb 
State  Court,  but  at  Washington,  buyer  and  seller  effecting  the  transfer  bnon  lb 
registrar  in  the  State  Court,  and  the  registrar  transmitting  to  WashingtoaM 
account  of  the  sale.    A  survey,  howerer,  as  proposed  by  Lord  Derby,  was  ssnirtHl . 
to  a  proper  registration,  as  also  a  soarchine  investigation  of  title,  so  that  a  btjm 
might  know  he  was  purchasing  what  could  not  be  questioned,    fie  agreed  irali 
Lord  Derby  and  with  Mr.  Fowler  that  the  produce  of  the  country  might  to 
enormously  increased  both  in  com  and  cattle.    More  capital  was  wanted,  Mttiii 
present  laws  hindered  the  application  of  capital  to  farming.     Poor  landloNi 
could  not  put  up  the  buildings  required  for  increased  stock.     Beef  was  not  mm 
grown  in  grass  fields,  but  manufactured  in  homesteads,  the  system  on  the  faHk . 
managed  farms  being  equal  in  uniformity  and  method  to  any  of  our  best  msBai 
faotures.    Farms,  indeed,  were  becoming  great  iiuinufactories  of  beef  and  mnftliai. 
Leases  could  do  something,  but  there  were  serious  objections  to  them.    Jhn^ 
the  last  three  or  four  years  of  a  lease  a  man  was  taking  out  of  the  farm  wbife  m 
put  into  it  previously.    To  induce  farmers  with  capital  to  embark  their  money  ii 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  there  must  be  security  of  tenure.    A  man  most  have  n 
interest  in  any  improvements  he  effected  on  land  belonging  to  another.    Hsbi 
known  scores  of  men  of  intelligence  and  public  spirit  who  had  been  brought  imts 
farming,  but  who,  owing  to  the  want  of  this  security,  invested  their  oapitsl  ii 
other  pursuits.    An  Encumbered  Estates  Commission,  and  Court,  would  oe  tut 
beneficial  to  the  country,  for  the  resources  of  the  soil  would  never  be  developii 
while  there  were  impoverished  and  greedy  landlords  who  refused  to  the  tSMUft 
the  secuHty  of  tenure  essential  to  the  emburcation  of  capital,  nor  would  the  poor 
be  housed  and  fed  as  they  ought  to  be.    Were  the  transfer  of  land  made  smmt, 
as  recommended  by  Mr.  Hobhouse,  there  would    be  a  greater  distribotiim  dt 
wealth  in  the  fanning  of  land,  capital  would  flow  into  it,  and  the  whole  oooniiy 
would  be  benefited. 

Mr.  W.  S.  Ward  (Lecds),as  a  solicitor,  would  enable  a  working  man  to  boy  a  phk 
of  land,  build  a  house  on  it,  and  dispose  of  it  as  easily  as  of  any  other  commoditf. 
He  objected  to  any  system  of  registration  beyond  that'existing  in  the  West  BidiiA 
and  doubted  whether  even  that  was  beneficial.  A  solicitor  must  go  and  nanE 
the  register,  though  in  some  cases  he  mieht  dispense  with  it,  relyine  on  his  knov« 
lodge  of  the  parties,  and  there  was  a  cTiarge  which,  though  small  in  itself,  mi 
considerable  m  the  aggregate.  The  solicitors  in  the  West  Riding  wonld,  slmoit 
to  a  man,  be  opposed  to  any  central  registration,  on  account  of  the  expeose  il 
would  attach  to  small  transactions.  A  reform  of  conveyancing  should  oegi&iA 
the  beginning,  viz.,  at  the  contract  of  sale,  which,  owing  to  a  series  of  dedAoni^ 
implied  a  great  deal  which  it  did  not  express.  Unless  the  contract  negatived  a 
great  many  things,  the  vendor  was  put  to  a  serious  expense  by  the  investigitiOQ  cf 
title.  Under  an  open  contract  a  vendor  should  only  be  bound  to  give  the  title  b 
actually  had.  Such  voluminous  documents  as  conditions  of  sale  were  a  seriooi 
expense  in  disposing  of  small  properties,  but  it  was  worse  if  the  vendor  attem^ 
to  do  without  them  and  to  ^ive  what  scarcely  existed,  namely,  a  marketable  uda 
Ten  years  after  the  completion  of  the  purchase  the  title  should  be  indefeasbia 
Let  tue  vendor  make  a  declaration  that  he  was  seised,  and  let  him  take  the  eon- 
sequences  of  a  false  declaration,  but  let  the  innocent  purcliaser  be  protected. 

Mr.  C.  J.  Greece  (Beigate),  as  another  solicitor,  maintained  that  the  oonstmetioii 
of  a  contract  of  sale  was  perfectly  rational,  its  principle  beine  that  a  man  should  b 
bound  to  show  what  he  had  to  soil  if  ho  undertook  to  sell  it.  How  upon  Wf 
other  basis  could  the  purchaser  adjust  the  price  ? 

Mr.  Edward  Jsnkins  (London),  having  been  supposed  to  hold  socialist  sad 
subversive  views,  wished  for  an  opportunity  of  proving  himself  neithN*  a 
socialist  nor  a  communist.  To  free  the  land  from  the  many  restrictions  uiid« 
which  it  now  rested  was  the  pro[)er  antidote  to  such  views.  Those  opinions  win 
being  advocated,  and  it  was  necessary  to  meet  them  openly,  and  show  that  tbit 
were  strictly  constitutional  methods  whereby,  by  a  slow,  perhaps,  but  sure  prooen^ 
the  land  could  be  fre^  as  reasonably  as  was  consistent  with  the  preservatioii  «f 


rbm,  t 


.     .  '9  iatorwtwl,  there  might  bs  u  ■ 

king  itIiM  ihet  deemed  their  rivbta  Dud  Dlaimi.  It  inti  lulvisstile  nt  u 
tik  wlial  was  iJie  end  we  had  in  riBw.  Some  gentlemen  looked  upon 
nij  an  •oonomioil  queetion.u  n  question  how  tlie  atmtge  of  thi^  country 
t  utiliud  i«  to  produDe  the  gnuitat  poMible  return,  but  the  conudemtion 
B  be  kept  in  view  how  an  eoorioous  and  inoreuing  population  were  lo 
■d  out  at  the  laud.  For  his  own  part  be  hod  Len  ijmpalh;  with  thoee 
id  bi  Nie  w)  many  bu»belt  oF  wheat  grown  to  the  acre,  though  thai  was 
JBDiirtanl,  than  with  tbo  quBslion  how  many  people  tills  oouotry  oould 
I  Ur.  HobhouM  bad,  perhape,  intentionaU;  aToided  touching  on  the 
p  DO  toeilitiea  ot  tranifer,  ocDseioned  b;  the  rfstem  of  leama,  eape«iail]' 
\:  Mid  under  hi>  luggeslions  suph  leased  would  appnrentlr  eo  to  the  wnll. 
an  unfortuoatfl  matter,  eepsoiiklly  wi^  reference  to  the  natural  ex- 
~  '>wns.  In  one  large  town  in  the  aouth  of  England,  where 
under  a  long  leaw,  the  natural  growth  of  the  town  wa»  in 
jinetion,  but  owing  to  the  interpotilion  of  a  mit  iiarll  and  estate  it  bad 
ped  to  Htotlier  end  of  the  I«wd,  and  the  people  living  there  had  to  be 
t  and  obliged  to  Lto  further  out.  There  were  similar  eosea  in  Xondon 
lere.  Another  point  which  Mr.  Hobbause  bod  not  uotieed  was  the  lenurn 
parpetuitj  by  oorporatione  and  charilJes.  He  thought  eventually  we  mutt 
tie,  that  no  oorpuration  or  abarity  should  bo  permitted  to  hold  any  land 
He  for  the  purposss  lo  which  it  devoted  itself.  They  could  invest  their 
ho  fund*,  or  other  ways,  and  it  was  inndviaable  to  allow  theni  to  hold  Inr^e 
Ulicallj'  in  mortmain.  In  this  way  a  hu-ge  extent  of  land  here  and  in 
Puld  be  treed.  He  did  not  quite  understand  the  suicg«stion  that  absolutu 
only  ibould  be  rpgi»tered,  and  tliat  Und  should  only  be  held  in  fee  simple, 
Se*  to  be  reeognisMi  ?    (i^be  Chair  man  ^^o.)    'faking  shipping  ae  an 

KUe*  in  ownenhip  had  bad  lo  be  reoogiiised,  and  he  thought  that,  under 
d  qrMen,  the  same  tiling  would  have  to  be  done.  Then,  too,  wbat- 
iea  o(  tranafer  were  propitsed,  the  larger  questions,  and  the  claims  put 
Ul  tuoli  pertinacity  and  increanne  eamestnuBS  by  people  outaide,  would 
ttetd.  lit.  Hobhouse  anticipated  great  difticully  in  effecting  the  aliuht 
hUe  reforms  which  he  advocatrd.  Mow,  while  this  difficulty  was  being 
I,  he  fear«d  there  would  be  a  rush  of  people  from  oul«ide  who  woulil 
t»  UiB  question  for  themseln'S,  If  land  hkw  reforms  merely  aimed  at 
ftlw  inTeatment  of  capital  in  the  Und,  and  in  inereasing  iu  uroduoe.  he 
jDed  that  before  many  years  the  present  dittlcultin  would  be  actually 
The  people  were  twing  «queOEed  off  the  land  into  the  great  towns, 
plaapruper  eoonomicol  operation  !    The  question  was  not  whether  thirty 


oiiuoed.  hut  whether  the  acre  ouzht  ti 
^  tling  the  people 

1,  they  must  fane  the  probloni  what  they  were  going  to  du 


ir  of  people.      If  subdivision  and  settling  the  people  on  the  Und 


le  people 
iniDiunity  in  getting  at  the  land,  but  be 
Bold  go  further.  There  would  be  grsat  hatliea  over  the  propriety  of 
i  ratn  U)  regulate  his  property  after  his  death.  A  dead  man,  he  oou- 
i  no  right  to  the  disposal  of  his  property.  He  held  it  in  trust  tor 
1  tiiough  be  would  bo  content  tor  the  present  with  Mr.  Locke  King's 
Id,  UwMMically,  that  it  was  for  society  to  diolate  the  terms  on  which  uo 
^suiit  it.  If  the  deeirabiUty  and  constant  marketability  of  property  were 
ed,  iDinethiug  like  the  French  system  must  be  adopted.  He  bcliered 
bar  Outada  one-third  of  a  man's  property  uccefiariiy  devolved  at  hin 
M  wife,  and  uno-third  on  the  children,  the  other  third  only  being  at  bis 
U.  Mr.  Hobhouse's  objiwtion  to  a  man  being  obliged  to  leave  hie  pro- 
bad  eon  appeared  at  llrst  sight  a  strong  one,  but  what  did  it  amount  toi' 
I  atid  that  Uie  more  bad  sons  the  aristocracy  bnd  ttie  better,  economieaJl^, 

idiliy,  fur  it  Ind  In  the  distribution  of  estates.    He  did      

(olBt  irf  view,  but  the  evil  ot  lesring  property  lo  a  hod  u 

pdUllB  Bdnntoga  to  Une  oonttaunitj  of  the  division  of  property  ainqiig 


I 


HbteBdniit 


202  The  Lam  rAaiing  to  Land. 

all  the  ebildren  thii  it  was  not  worth  while  to  take  it  into  aoooont.  It  oi 
to  obftruot  a  great  eoonomioal  reform.  Ae  an  inquirer  he  wae  arndoua  for  i 
conception  of  the  point  to  be  aimed  at,  and  he  feared  that  th«  Chairman'a  \ 
Hobhouie*s  aim  would  conflict  with  the  general  opinion  of  the  oouatfj,  i 
if  without  revolutionary  meaeuree  or  injuitioe  the  relatione  of  land  eoo) 
adjusted  that  the  larseet  number  of  people  might  be  maintained  bj,  aad  li 
it,  that  object  would  go  hand  in  hand  with  all  the  reforme  whieh  b 
adTOoated,  and  peace  and  good-will  would  be  maintained  between  all  d 
looietj. 

Mr.  PsBCT  BuNTiiro  (London)  laid  thii  wae  a  mixed  queetion  of  poliflji 
maohineiT,  and  that  without  a  powerful  breath  of  public  opinion  then 
chMioe  of  carrying  even  reforms  advocated  from  a  leinl  point  of  im 
Without  Buch  a  remtry  at  proposed  by  Mr.  Hobhouse,  aU  attempte  at  a  n 
conveyancing  woum  fail,  for  conveyancing  could  never  be  a  ■mail  matUr, 
less  a  certain  portion  of  it  could  be  separated  so  as  to  make  the  transfer 
easy,  there  oould  be  no  great  reform.  The  great  principle  was  the  regiiti 
ownerships  in  fee  simp&.  At  present  all  questions  of  title  had  to  be  goDi 
novo  at  every  transaction,  whereas  after  the  matter  had  once  been  invera^ 
a  purchaser  had  accepted  the  title,  there  should  be  some  competent  aathori 
tbat  the  title  was  clear.  There  must  be  a  record-taking  account  of  all  past  taa 
The  public  having  already  got  a  register,  though  a  bad  one,  wotild  not  reo 
that  principle,  and  the  register  was  a  broad  issue,  which  could  be  put  bef o 
whereas  small  reforms  they  would  not  understand.  He  objected  to  bene 
terests  or  equities  being  protected  by  notices  or  anvthing  else,  for  cob 
arrangements  should  not  be  allowed  to  tie  up  the  land.  A  system  of  nodo 
oblige  the  purchaser  to  deal  with  almost  as  complicated  a  title  as  at 
whereas  the  register  ought  to  show  him  at  once  what  persons  were  intei 
the  property.  In  a  commercial  countrv  with  so  many  intricate  dealingis 
catea  trusts  could  not  be  got  rid  of,  and  wherever  attempts  had  been  ntodi 
stroy  equities,  as  in  the  ca£e  of  nhipping,  there  had  either  been  gigantio  fi 
honourable  understandings,  which  tied  up  the  property  as  much  as  at  flrsi 
not  simplicity  of  reeistry  which  should  be  considered,  but  the  eaving  of  ti 
the  purchaser.  If  lawyers  would  show  as  much  skill  in  framing  a  good  Ac 
subject  as  they  had  done  in  defeating  reforms,  the  principle  of  a  sto(d[ 
would  offer  no  serious  difficulties. 

Mr.  BoBiRT  AsTHUfOTON  (Leeds^  suggested  a  redistribution  of  the  eooi 
symmetrical  districts  for  municipal,  legal,  and  other  purposes.  As  to  thi 
mortmain,  anv  amount  of  personalty  could  be  bequen^ed  for  charitable  j 
and  this  could  be  invested  in  land,  so  that  the  law  was  set  at  defiance,  n 
suggest  a  provision  that  any  land  left  for  benevolent  objects  should  bi 
auction  witnin  a  stated  perioa  after  the  testator's  death. 

Mr.  W.  E.  Shirlkt  (boncaster)  differed  from  Mr.  Hobhouse*s  staten 
the  inevitable  tendency  of  the  present  system  of  conveyancing  was  to  d 
litigation,  and  that  after  all  there  was  no  security.  If  people  drifted  hn 
tion  it  was  because  they  did  not  obeorve  the  proper  laws  of  conveyancing,  lil 
who  made  their  own  wills,  or  tried  to  trannact  their  legal  business  thi 
Reliance  could  be  placed  on  the  principles  on  which  conveyancine  was  ; 
Bid  anybody  ever  hear  of  a  man  buying  an  estate,  having  Uie  eoi 
duly  made,  paying  the  purchase-money  and  taking  possession,  and  th 
dispossessed? 

The  Chairman  (Mr.  Yemon  Harcourt)  said  the  Lord  Chancellor  had  n 
the  case  of  Mr.  Brodie,  an  ancient  conveyancer,  who  lost  30,000^.  b 
mortgage. 

Mr.  Shirlrt  admitted  that  if  a  man  advanced  money  on  an  imperfect 
he  might  lose  it.  The  Question  of  mortgages  was  a  different  one  from  t 
under  discussion.  Could  anything  be  simpler  than  an  ordinary  oonveyan 
course  there  must  be  the  names  of  the  parties,  the  description  of  the  prop 
the  operative  word  **  grant,"  and  then  the  substance  of  it  was  there,  w 
man  could  not  devise  a  simpler  or  clearer  form  than  at  present.  Berj* 
had  suggested  an  endorsement  on  tlie  back  of  the  mort^a^e  instead  of 
Teyaiioe^  and  this  was  already  done  under  the  Building  Sooietiei^  Act,   Ali 


Il7  BTtF  Mard  of  auoh  a  Uiiag  in  the  cue  of  luij  proparl;.  Inrge  o 
HDmcm  debt  wu  barrsd  after  six  fears,  sad  >  bi  jean'  lltnltalion 
ubitituMd  tor  twent;.  Atiollier  improrement  would  be  tbe  remune- 
ioitora  on  the  aii  vattrtm  prinoiple-  The  Inaorparatuii  Iaw  Society 
ID  soil  oiroulatfld  a  form  for  that  purpow  and  wero  reoomraending  lU 
ie  did  not  quits  under>Uuid  »b>t  would  ba  put  on  thu  register,  and 
DgialntUoii  of  iBdefetbaible  tltlea  there  whs  never  a  greater  sham. 
tma  out  of  tho  iraurt  with  a  feeling  of  relief,  the  trouble  and  aipeoM 
ling  bejond  belief.  If,  lu  Serjeant  Coi  fuggeiCad,  no  iDrumbranos 
dch  waa  not  on  the  face  of  the  regi>t«r.  nobud;  l«mpurarilT  eiub&r- 
mt  a  loan  from  hi*  banker  or  wlicitor  witbout  reB>>l<iring  it,  like  a 
Ateij  week  for  the  Lut  fifteen  j'ean  there  appeared  a  list  of  tlie  bill* 
bend  all  OTer  the  kingdom,  K>  that  the  laooient  a  man  railed  monoj 
le*  it.  Tbe  product] veneaa  of  the  land  waa  quite  a  diitinot  queitian, 
ids  more  of  corn  would  be  grown  through  the  cheapeuias  of  oon- 
Luui  hud  twon  s)»ken  of  u  aoreoge  >implj,  but  it  ioolud^  housei, 
and  lbs  law  appUcabls  to  agrioultunU  land  would  applj  aleo  to  the 
ita  boute  oould  not  be  left  lo  a  widow  Tor  life,  nor  a  factor; disposed 
tea  Binple,  As  to  tranaferring  land  in  Amerioa  without  Bolicit<ir«, 
1  il  we  Duuid  never  do  without  lawjers.  A#  long  as  England  wae 
Wag  and  frae,  the  Lav  would  eieroiae  a  predominant  influenoe  and 
La  mnia*.  learning,  and  integrity  the  noblest  avenues  to  distinction. 
Hi  Q-C.  thought  tbe  limilation  of  time  for  titles  would  be  a  great 


He  proteeted  uainst  tbe  doctrines  involved  in  Hr.  Jenkins 
Hibt  the  towns  had  inoreaaed  verj  rapidly,  but  the  facility  of  e 
«,  and  the  amenities  of  life  which  were  dailj  beooming  mi 
«  among  tbe  great  incentivea  to  aocuniuUtion  in  towns.    He  did  i 


4 


ni,  in  acquiring  eniall  holdings  of  bind,  and  it  was  desirable  la  facill- 
[tusition,  but  propari^ought  not  to  be  recast  and  the  country  dividwl 
nplM  uf  Mr.  Mill.  He  was  favourable  to  the  registratitm  of  land, 
t  be  baaed  on  a  new  Duoinsdaj  Book,  for  which  there  were  ample 
tUe  onlnaace  survevs  and  the  rote  books.  He  admitted  the  right  of 
leal,  if  necesary,  with  individual  right*,  and  to  redistribute  property. 
HI  done  in  the  cose  of  railwaji.  waterworks,  aod  gaiworks.  Tlie 
rhicb  wu  wanted  was  Cscihty  of  transfer. 

DaooP  (London)  objected  to  regiatnition  nF  title*.  Lord  Westburr'a 
ih  il  was  said  was  too  elaborate,  comprising  not  only  the  fee  simple, 
r  inloreala,  had  admittedly  faihrf.  It  teemed  likely,  however,  to  be 
krniany.  i.  ayateiu  of  regiitnition  equally  fitted  for  a  nobleinan'a 
nrkmaa'scotuige,  would  be  very  difficult.  Uinute  detaila  would  have 
to  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  emulleat  intereala,  but  in  the  oase 
Iw  Uieae  ought  to  be  neglected  in  order  to  eave  expense.    Onn  plan 

register  the  fee  sini  pie,  and  have  a  separate  set  of  deeds  relating  to 
1  ialertets.  It  would  he  a  groat  ineonvonionce  to  many  ta  have  to  go 
,  whether  in  London  or  tbe  provinces.  The  Stock  IWistry  Was  eatnb. 
Wra  ago,  and  within  the  last  few  years  a  ayitem  hau  arisen  of  trans- 
malt;  b;  dock  warranto  and  instruments  transrerable  on  delivery.  It 
re  cotivenieiit  to  imitate  the  latter  than  tbe  Stock  Begistry.  English 
riooks  were  transferred  in  books,  but  almost  all  others  by  delivery  or 

He  thought  that  simplifjing  conveyancing  woiJd  do  nearly  all  that 
It  might  be  provided  thu  no  transfer  should  be  valid  unless  a 
was  endorsed  on  Ibe  previoui  deed.    It  would  of  course  be  necessary  ' 

DertiSeataa  of  icdefeaaible  title.  Perhaps  the  heat  plan  would  be  to 
I  ittTMtigated,  and  then  get  some  oBaociacian  to  insure  against  any  de- 
Utle  WW  not  indefeasible,  either  the  defects  should  be  cortiSed,  or  an  ^^^' 

upany  should  insure  tbeni.    One  evil  was  that  to  find  out  anvthiua  ^^^H 

I  ooo  roust  first  ascertain  what  the  law  was  at  various  perioiu,  and  ^^^H 

Lets  of  Parliament  were  also  very  troublesome,  mortgagee  being  re-  ^^^H 

iMMBBiUing  Societies  Act  in  r  wb^  different  from  oUier  mortgages.  ^^^H 


nouse  uiAL  me  aooiiuon  oi  Beiueinenu  wuuui  giye  lurge  lanuuwuei 
power,  and  thii  wemed  to  him  a  political  danger.     Men  like  the 
Wertminiter  and  Lord  Derby  would  faaTo  enormous  political  power 
proporty  waa  at  their  free  diipoaal. 

The  CiiAiuuir :  The  late  Lord  Derby'i  property  waa  not  lettled,  ha 
in  fee  limple.    I  do  not  know  how  it  ia  at  oreaent. 

Mr.  Dkoop  understood  that  in  the  United  Statei  the  want  of  a  Uwol 
waa  being  felt,  and  that  a  system  of  homestead  rights  was  being  created 
for  the  wil'o  and  cliildron  tlie  house  in  whioli  a  man  lived,  or  the  lam 
to  it,  against  seizure  by  his  creditors. 

Mr.  K.  C.  Clark  suggested  that  cluirges  on  the  land  sliould  be  inaerti 
eirter.  The  system  of  notices  would  perpetuate  the  worst  evils  of  the  pre 
The  register  might  bo  made  cumbrous  by  including  charges,  but  thi 
better  tlian  Imving  them  taken  notice  of  afresh  at  eyerr  change  of  fa 
failure  of  the  present  registry  might  be  attributed  to  its  being  permiadi 

Mr.  W.  T.  fci.  Dak  I  EL,  Q.C.,  remarked  that  registration  would  simplj 
to  the  uhl  principle.  The  old  Common  Law  ba^  itself  on  publicity,  i 
feoffment  required  tlie  feoffor  to  go  with  the  feofifee  upon  the  laud,  th 
deliver  possowuon  of  it  to  liim  in  the  proitenco  of  the  neighbours.  In  i 
and  happy  times  wlieu  no  nuui  coveted  \n»  neighbour's  Iand«  this  wi 
Lawyerri  endeavoured  to  get  rid  of  this  publicity  prior  to  the  Statute 
secret  liens  and  interests.  Tluit  Statute  was  intended  to  be  of  great  va 
unfortunate  oonstnustion  put  upon  it  immediately  restored  that  secret  c( 
in  which  lawyers  delighted.  Wo  were  indebted  to  iSerjcant  Moure  foi 
tion  of  the  conveyance  by  lease  and  roleosc,  which,  after  tlie  Statute  o 
been  passe<I,  enabled  persons  bv  a  conveyance  o])erutinK  under  the  &>lati 
afresh  secret  conveyances.  AVluit  luui  been  the  cuiisequence  ?  Stat 
jurists  luid  been  struggling  for  ceuturies  to  effect  Uie  object  of  the  Con 
and  the  rv^ister  was  but  u  substitute  for  the  old  feoffment,  on  a  more 
and  endunng  footing  than  memory  or  tradition.  As  to  charges,  pe 
notion,  arising  out  of  the  complexity  of  the  present  system,  that  they 
safe  unless  they  had  that  dreadful  thing  called  a  legal  estate.  Why  si 
mortgage  be  a  cliarge?  Ho  hud  observed  the  practical  advantage  uf 
form  of  getting  rid  of  a  mortgage  provided  by  the  Building  Societies 
receipt  on  the  buck  of  the  deed  was  equivalent  to  a  reconveyance,  i 
acumen  of  country  pnu'titioners  luid  failed  to  pick  a  hole  in  it.  ] 
mortgages  could  only  bo  teiii]>orary,  like  bills  of  sale,  and  if  mere  i 
could  fur  their  private  ends  obtain  information  which  was  really  of  ii 
to  the  parties  concerned,  it  would  be  a  serious,  if  not  futul  objection  to  t 


.   t  the  Sljitnte  of  Di«t 
«  TOKi  could,  undi^r 


B  made  aa  good  a  vill  a.' 
cunistancea,  make  far  him 


JO  th»t  there  should  be  a  r  , 

l~ths  penonnt  estate,  nnd  tliM  there  should  be  nil  descent  a(  the 
IB  jnl«re9t  of  the  realtr  resting  in  the  reprewntAtire,  with  the  Bstne 
iaoling  with  it  aa  with  the  peraonnltr.  Th»  two  together  would 
mrt;  of  the  JecMsed,  out  of  which  his  debts  ihoutd  ha  paid,  the 
ns  wore  no  will,  beine  distributed  in  the  mnnner  prorided  bj  the 
^butions.  The  wire  and  children  would  thus  he  cared  far.  Tha 
trodudion  of  the  pitilical  element  had  created  all  the  diffioultr. 
»«,  (J.C  ,  in  roplj,  remarked  that  bis  proposal  as  to  the  derolutioa  ot 
]il«reil  little  or  no  oppotition.  Mr.  Jenkins  had  remarked  with  truth 
M  well  OS  legnl  considerations  must  be  taken  into  aeconnt.  and  that 
uLd  uUimatu;  gorern  the  tatter.     He  hod  ronitned  liimaelf  W  legal 

■implj  because  he  liked  to  talk  of  what  he  knew,  and,  baring 
.wentj'-Bnt  years,  be  knew  something  of  law,  whereaa  ho  knew  little 

and  hard! J  anything  about  politic!  Bconomj.  The  fart  that  iha 
.  Puwler.  and  hinuelf  bad  arrired,  by  diftrrent  roads,  at  the  same 
s  tfllerable  teitimonj  to  its  soundness.  He  could  see  no  gna1«r 
Hitting  sticcessiTe  life  estates  than  in  allowing  lenanciea  or  any  other 
d  ownership  to  be  creat«d.    The  great  object  was  the  shortening  ot 

it  was  desirable  in  oil  reforms  not  to  interfere  with  arrani *- 

|lle  hwl  been  accustomed,  and  which  were  rer;  natural, 
nun  to  Kivo  a  life  ealste  to  his  widow,  with  remainder  to  tne  son, 
.  tliij  WDud  seriously  interfere  with  domestic  affairs.  So  with  oUier 
ipaaitians  of  property.  Mr.  Fowler  thought  settlerneats  would 
rrod  till  the  birth  of  a  gmndson,  but  a  great  many  oettlementa  would 
toe,  on  account  of  the  eldest  son  not  marrying  or  baring  children 
tier's  death.  Ihe  effect  of  such  a  settlement  would  be  to  gire  the 
tfasolulo  fee  simple,  and  if  he  died  in  infancy  it  would  go  to  his 
ster  the  law  designated  beir.  Lord  Stowell  was  said  to  hare  settled 
<  bia  OOQ.  in  order  to  sare  the  legacy  duty,  but  the  Latter  died  a  few 
hia  fuller,  and  Lord  Stowell  b^  to  pay  dutv,  and,  under  his  own 

to  be  [Hud  again.  This  was  just  wliat  would  happen  under  Mr. 
of  wtllement.  The  course  of  erenta  would  certainly  baffle  people's 
id  they  would  iTaae  to  practise  siioh  tricks.  People  might  nabirotly 
faooM  out  of  liring  persons,  whom  they  might  be  persuaded  to  know 
iuM  who  aliDuId  liave  their  property,  earring  out  lire-inleresls  or 
'em  them.  He  hod  purptMefr  omiUed  any  reference  to  land  held 
■  and  charitiea,  the  general  subject  being  so  large  a  one  that  it  need 
bered  with  consideraUons  applying  on^  to  a  small  extent  of  land. 
1  that  point  did  not,  boweror,  differ  rauuli  from  Mr.  Jenkins's.  He 
id  hf  loDg  leases,  the  registration  of  which  woa  dealt  with  fully 
on  the  tubiect.  He  saw  no  objection  to  long  leasee  as  long  as  the 
ihsolute  an  interest  ai  the  freeholder,  nor  did  lie  see  that  the  systeni 
ted  alienation,  .Is  to  building  leases,  to  interfere  with  them  would 
tmenla  ustiollymado  by  raluntary  contract  and  presuuu^y  meetiug 
«  of  the  parties,  He  beliered  that  In  Manchester  there  wore  none, 
;  eonrtTed  in  feu  simple  on  a  perpetual  rent  charge.  People,  he 
)uld  not  then  look  at  a  lease  for  999  years,  regarding  that  period  as 
Jr.  6111EI.ET. — Both  are  used.]  He  would  not  interfere  with  either 
Qiirley  had  disputeil  his  statement  that  tho  present  system  tended  10 
pIlioD,  and  after  all  gave  no  perfect  eeourity  of  title,  and  aakod 
<«t  htord  o{  a  purchaser  whose  title  had  been  approved  by  on  emi- 
er  being  oustod.  That  was  doubtlees  rery  rare,  because  lawyers 
A  tntrj  conceirablo  and  inoonceirable  objection.  In  the  lost  caae  in 
engaged  at  the  Bar.  a  wealthy  nobleman  had  contracted  for  a  oon- 
I,  but  had  been  adrised  hy  a  first-rate  conreynncer  that  the  title  was 
lie  own  oounsel  was  of  a  different  opinion.  Heoonsequentlr  refused 

contract,  and  a  bill  was  filed  to  compel  him.    He  liimself  had  to 
'  ffthft  defendant,  who  waa  beaten.    Being  itill  adrieed  that  thg 


I  done.     For  tho  protection  of  lunaticfi,  infants,  and  others,  propertj  mi 

trust.    In  bis  opinion  only  the  fee  simple  should  be  registered,  ■!!  e 
subordinate  interests  being  protected  by  notice.  A  r^strr  had  two  obj 

I  of  transfer,  and  security  to  the  holders  of  property,  tnese  being  n< 

consentaneous  but  conflicting.    Too  much  securitT  to  the  owners  woi 
transfer,  while  if  transfer  was  perfectly  easy  people  would  make  nie 
behind  tho  backs  of  persons  interested.    He  proposed  to  reconcile  this 
the  course  pursued  with  respect  to  stock.    Kiothmg  would  appear  on 
but  absolute  ownership,  but  anybody  claiming  an  interest,  subject  to  1 
of  the  registrar,  would  put  a  notice  on  tho  register,  giving  notice  to  thi 

I  he  had  an  interest,  witliout  describing  what  it  was.  A  purchaser  wouk 

require  tho  register  to  be  cleared,  ana  tliis  would  be  easily  settled  in  hi 
room,  whereas  under  the  present  system  yuu  had  to  go  to  the  oppoa 
and  convince  him.  The  purchaser  would  keep  tho  money  in  his  po 
register  was  clcare<1.  As  to  equitable  mortgages,  of  tho  former,  instei 
his  title  deeds  to  his  banker  when  ho  wanted  a  loan,  would  take  his  c 
registry.  If  tho  banker  was  satisflcd  with  that,  he  would  have  as  goo 
as  at  present,  but  if  not  ho  would  put  a  notice  on  the  register,  so  thatt 
■  could  not  be  transferred  without  the  register  being  cleared.    There  w 

publicity  in  it,  for  noboily  proposed  tlmt  tho  register  should  be  {i 
Charing  Cross.  Access  would  only  be  given  to  it  on  the  written  01 
registered  owner  or  somebody  claiming  under  him.  Thus  overr  transai 
be  conducted  with  as  much  secrecy  ana  simplicity  as  now,  and  with  m 
security,  tho  daily  transactions  of  life  not  being  at  all  interfered  with. 
The  CiiAiRMAif,  in  closing  the  discussion,  referred  Mr.  Shirley  tc 
papers  contributed  to  tho  Juridical  Society  by  Mr.  Joshua  William 
that  n  man,  entering  into  a  simple  contract  to  sell  an  estate,  underto 
thinp  that  men  had  actually  given  up  the  property  for  nothing  in  ordi 
of  the  litigation  in  which  they  found  themselves  involved.  Solicitoi 
this  by  conditions  of  sale,  which  really  meant  that  the  purchaser  must  a 
a  bad  legal  title.  Was  it  satisfactory  that  all  land  should  practically  bi 
a  contract  that  the  purchiUM.*r  should  accept  a  title  not  good  in  law  I 
give  an  example.  Tne  son  of  the  chief  landowner  in  this  country  inhc 
his  father's  will  a  great  estate ;  a  few  years  afterwards  he  married,  1 
lady*s  solicitors  examining  his  titlo  it  turned  out  that  he  had  not  a  farl 
world,  though  he  had  imagined  he  possessed  an  estate  of  40,U00{.  a 
occurred  only  five  or  six  years  ago.  flis  brother,  who  became  entitlec 
his  nephew,  agreed  to  cure  tho  defect,  and  to  leave  him  possession.  J 
had  been  obiected  to  on  the  sround  that  the  state  of  men*s  affairs  wo 


>  tb«  limr  of  Loui>  XIV.,  lliere  haA  been  notariec'-rojol,  uid  as  ti_.. 
iLer  in  retltj  or  penoiultj,  oboT*  a  oerUin  tbIuo,  •omething  Hko  JIK.( 

■  voTirludod  eicept  before  the  DOlorj.  Ho  vos  a  public  olllcer,  and  on  hit 
tbs  r«f  ialFrjMwed  to  hit  auccsaBor.  How  did  this  B^rMem  vork?  He  hoi 
1  tot  UiB  OoTernment  in  orguiag  the  cue  of  the  Baron  de  Bode,  m  to 
on  Uad«  in   Fmnce  arising  out  of  the  revolution  of  1T93.    The  bnnin 

)  before  the  House  of  Lord*,  eail  il  occurred  la  him  that  the  boat  thing 
»  to  Aim*  ftnd  inrestigste  on  Llie  spot  the  condition  of  the  title.  It  WM 
that  all  the  deeds  relating  to  the  eatota  had  been  destroyed  b;  the  resolution- 
he  iTsr  of  1793,  but  he  hod  renean  to  suepect  that  thia  was  not  tbe  ciue.  He 
l^rwont  to  Strasbiirg,  and  traced  with  the  greatest  vuk  tbe  notary's  book 

■  He  went  to  a  little  Tillage  aad  found  the  notary  vho  ropresonted  the 
Af  ITW.  and  a  record  of  the  tmnsactions  of  the  year,  first  tatisfying  the 
tiiat  be  bad  a  bond  Jtdt  interest.  He  oune  back  mth  tbe  etitriea  from  that 
Od  fmtn  tbe  moment  the  baron's  friends  knew  that  the  book  had  been 
bM  withdrew  th«  cbim  before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Camioons, 
Iho  nctrr  been  heard  of  since.  Thus  at  anj  distance  of  time  tbe  tntns- 
In  Ponce  could  be  tmcod.  How  could  this  be  done  with  reference  to  anj 
I  Kigland  ?    The  baruu  stated  that  he  hod  made  a  feudal  cession  M  his 

nin|(  a  dolen  old  men  who  eud  tbe;  bad  seen  it,  but  tbe  moment  tbe  book, 
m  yietcnded  was  lost,  was  found  it  was  evident  that  no  such  transaetion 
L  Why  was  not  proportr  in  England  placed  on  that  footing?  He  wm 
Pare  that,  irrespectiTD  of  t'he  drastic  remedies  of  Mr.  Uobhause  as  lo  deTO- 
knd  the  lair  of  settlement,  many  amaller  remedies  might  be  applied.  One 
41  bad  wisely  suggested  tb&t  the  reaommendations  of  practical  eonTeyaocers 
n  the  first  instaniie  be  taken  on  that  point.  NoUiiog  could  be  more 
J«  tJhan  tlio  present  system  of  mortgagee.  To  borrow  600W.,  jou  had  U> 
tlio  Ifgal  cetate.  Wby  not  make  it  a  simtite  obarge,  jnrotTing  a  right  of 
llr.  Joebua  Williams  had  recommended  this,  and  hod  painted  out  tlukt  the 
IDoe  of  the  legal  estate  was  only  due  to  tbe  old  prejudice  against  tbe  law  of 
which  JOU  could  not  secure  the  repayment  of  the  principal,  though  you 
Dum  the  annual  payment.  The  diiuculty  as  to  on  inteetate  mortgagee  and 
Mt  hia  heir  in  many  cases  would  thus  be  got  rid  of.    He  could  not  con- 

0  why  the  recommendation  hod  not  been  carried  out  that  the  land  shoiJd 
Jheit  go  to  ihe  ciecutora.  A  great  many  of  Ibese  things  might,  no  doubt,  be 
I  out;  but  Ur,  Jcnkius's  remark  had  great  force,  that  those  smaller  remedies 
I  eipet  the  real  demand  for  deahng  with  tbe  subject.  Tliere  was  ereat 
■od  evil  in  what  he  bad  described  as  the  people  being  squeeied  oS  the 
He  bad  himself  eipressed  that  opinion  eLjewhare,  and  hi^  joined  with  Sir. 

"tin  resitting  the  molosuro  of  commons.     They  had  succeeded  for  three 

1  in  tlirowine  out  all  printle  enclosure  Bills.  Ha  also  felt  strongly  the 
ion  usnl  by  Ur.  Bright  tbat  unless  Bomcthing  was  done  Iba  time  would 
hen.  with  tbe  eiception  of  a  few  thousand  people,  nobody  would  hate  a 
a  go  anywhere  except  on  the  dusty  high  roati.    These  were  serioui  eTils, 

B  ^ueetion  wa*  bow  (o  meet  them.  He  did  not  beliove  they  could  be  safety 
"  ~"~  met  by  any  remedy  Tiulalinr  the  natural  laws  of  poUcical  economy. 
M  lae  presBnt  hmd  law  obstructou  the  transfer  of  land  and  prevented  its 
into  its  natural  channels  in  all  directions  whither  supply  and  demand 
lead  it,  he  wished  those  obstructions  removed.  The  coiisequenoe  would 
'y  be  tbat  when  land  was  more  eosdy  transferred  it  might  be  more  reodiiy 
i  bat  titis  would  be  due  not  to  any  interfsrencB  with  political  economy, 
the  opemlion  of  its  laws.  The  thriftless  man  would  not  then  he  pro- 
,  tbe  poMiwioD  of  an  estate  by  artiScial  laws,  but  woidd  part  with  it  lo 
n  biw  saved  money  and  were  able  to  acquire  it.  He  could  not  conceive 
^^_  vbioh  would  compel  the  subdivision  of  land,  or  under  which  a  commodity, 
.ttnataltmys  be  scnroe  and  dear,  could  pass  except  into  the  hands  uF  those 
t  ill*«*t  their  money  at  a  cutnparalively  low  int«reat.  lir.  Jenkins  had  said 
Iw  Slate  hwl  a  right  to  dictate  the  terms  on  which  property  should  be  dis- 
ot  at  the  Mlalur'a  death.  Now,  as  a  general  proposition,  the  Stole  bad  a 
to  diotole  the  terms  on  which  properly  of  any  kind  should  be  held,  for 
f  mm  the  ar«atdoii  «f  the  law,    Tiwra  w««  notUng  rerolationary  or 


I 


was  not  paia.    ne  coma  not  agree  witn  jur.  oeiuunB  uiac  no  penoi 
allowed  to  deal  with  his  property  at  all  after  his  death. 

Mr.  Jknkiks  explained  that  he  had  not  gone  quite  so  far  as  this.  It 
a  question  of  policy  how  far  a  man  should  be  allowed  to  do  it.  Of  < 
started  from  a  larger  based  proposition  he  could  afterwards  modify  it 

The  CiiAiRMAN  said  the  State  hitherto  had  held  that  a  man  oaght 
with  property  for  an  indefinite  time  after  his  death.  It  was  desiraU 
the  term  still  further,  but  the  greatest  motive  to  industry  and  self  den 
that  they  could  not  only  enjoy  their  property  but  could  leare  it  to  thoi 
them  must  not  be  weakened.  He  would  not  interfere,  therefore,  with  t 
power.  He  hod  been  struck  by  Mr.  Fowler's  economical  argument, 
been  estimated,  300,(XX),000^  per  annum  was  lost  by  the  imperfect  ou 
the  land,  the  matter  would  hare  to  be  dealt  witli  in  some  wa^  or  other, 
by  facility  of  transfer  we  could  not  make  men  manage  their  estates  i 
were  bound  to  see  that  the  law  put  no  obstruction  in  the  way.  1 
always  be  a  certain  number  of  people  who  would  mismanage  their 
farm  badly,  but  if  legal  obstructions  and  temptations  were  remoT) 
interest  of  mankind  tended  to  promoting  the  interests  of  themselTa 
around  them.  If  the  law  now  tended  to  discourage  the  improTemcnt 
Legislature  ought  to  amend    it,   so  that  .capital  might  now   in  ths 

Mr.  R.  Arthingto!!  wished  to  know  how  the  Chairman  would  deal  ^ 
of  mortmain. 

The  Chairman  replied  that  this  was  not  quite  gennane  to  the  present 
He  was  inclined  to  carry  the  law  a  good  deal  further,  and  prevent  all 
disposal  of  land  for  such  purposes.  The  tying  up  of  land  in  mortn 
aggrafation  of  the  yery  eyils  they  desired  to  get  rid  of. 


CONSTITUTION   OF   LOCAL   COURTS.* 

fVIuU  is  tlie  beat  Constitution  of  Local  Courts^  and  tol 
be  tlieir  Jurisdiction  f—Bj  W.  T.  S.  Daniel,  Q 

THE  object  of  papers  read  before  this  section  being  to 
load   the  waj  towards  practical  results,  I  shall  end 
deal  with  the  two  questions — the  Constitution  and  Juris 
Local  Courts — practically.    In  the  view  I  take  of  these 


S-j  W.  T.  S.  Davifl,  Q.C. 


S03 


V  choice  is  limited  l(>  tlint  involved  in  one  or  otber  of  th^se  two 

systems  [     Centralisation    or    Localisation  :     between 

e  two  the  sirugsle  will  occur.     Locnlisatioo  is  of  Saxon  origin, 

ibe  more   ancient,  —  Cenlrnli nation    of  Norman    intt'oducti'.n, 

I  the   more  recent.     In    principle    centralisation    is  the   modern 

ireKDiBtive  of  tlie  Aula  iiegia  with  it?  subsequent  suhdivisioiia 

■Qaeeu's  Bench,  Common   Bench,  and  Exchequer,  supplemcutcd 

I^Uter  times  b^  the  Court  of  Chancery.     Localisation  is  in  prin< 

e  the  modern  reprcaentHtivo  of  the  Hundred  Courti,  the  Sheriffs' 

Borts,  and  Wittcnagoraoto  of  our  Saxon  ancestors.     In  the  Norman 

p  recognise  tlie  principle  of  liberty  eojoyed  as  a  favour  granted  by 

Thority.      In  the  Saxon   we  recognise  the    principle    of    liberty 

1  aa  of  right,  but  limited  and  regulated  by  law.     Tlie  choice 

^weeu  these  two  principles  cannot  surely  he  one  of  doubt  provided 

n  shown  tbat  the  latter  principle  is  capable  of  practicable  appli- 

ion  under  our  existing  social  system. 

The  rarious  changes  in  our  coarts  of  justice,  and  the  various 
modiiicationR  of  the  administration  of  justice  which  ai  different 
timei' during  the  last  eight  centuries  have  been  effected,  whether 
"^teierciae  of  prerogative  or  Acts  of  the  Legislature,  of  which  the 
tblishment  of  Justices  in  Eyre,  Commissions  of  Assize,  courts 
1  by  Charter  to  cities  and  boroughs,  Coui'ts  of  Itcqupst  and 
'  1  popnlous  places  are  instances — all  these  were  but 
nodic  efforts,  more  or  less  extensive  in  their  operation,  intended 
nluc  the  restraint  involved  in  the  Norman  system  of  centrali- 
II ;  and  partially  to  restore  to  the  people  some  of  the  benefits 
llhat  Saxon  heritage  of  lil>eriy  involved  in  local  administration, 
Bvhicb  the  Conquest  had  despoiled  them. 

^or  tlie  practical  consideration  of  the  questions  before  us,  but 
*i  mind  the  fundamental  principles  which  underlie  rbem, 
(will  suffice  to  limit  our  attention  to  the  remarkable  efforts  in 
b  direction  that  have  been  made  iu  the  present  generation.  The 
)  to  be  assigned  as  the  commencement  of  these  oSbrts — a  date 
Ibin  the  memory  of  many  now  living,  of  some  probably  in  this 
],  of  one  certainly — is  February  7tli,  1628,  the  day  on  which, 
ord  Peniance,  in  his  address  delivered  before  this  department, 
ETork,  in  18(i4,  expresses  it,  "  the  greatest  orator  of  his  age 
".  his  celebrated  oration  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
|d  ^Kin  the  sweeping  changes  which  our  law  required."  History 
11  not,  I  think,  record  that  at  that  time  the  genius  of  states- 
bubip  "was  extinct  among  us,  tvhatever  she  may  be  compelled 
(do  DOW.  The  Prima  Minister  of  that  day  soared  above  the 
it  of  political  partisanship,  and   reached  the   dangerous   height 

■  honest  patriotism.     The  commissions  issued  by  Sir  Robert  Peel 
1  DOnseqnence   of  this  apeech,  resulted  in  several  useful   reforms 

■  the  law;  but   none   that   materially  affected  the  administration 
'  the  organixation  of  our  courts  ;  and  Lord  Brougham 

wm  obliged  to  toil   incessantly  for  nearly  twenty  years  before  he 
Iswld  re»p  the  first  firuits  of  his  labours  in  that  direction.    On  the 

14 


lor  luruier,  ii  not  general,  aaopuon.  ii  is  a  pnncipie  c 
gradual  expansion  ;  it  has  been  gradually  expanded  ;  and  t 
especially  the  commercial  public,  as  thej  are  learning  by  c 
to  appreciate  its  value,  are  calling  for  still  further  czpana 
commercial  classes,  through  the  chambers  of  commerce^  a] 
to  obtain  local  administration  by  means  of  special  tribunal 
own,  and  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  durin| 
session  has  reported  in  their  favour,  and  of  their  being 
on  the  County  Court  system. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  that  while  the  County  Com 
notwithstanding  some  disadvantages  and  defects  (which, 
may,  I  think,  be  easily  remedied),  has  been  gradually  ex 
various  branches  of  administration  till  it  now  includes  Com 
Equity,  Admiralty,  and  Bankruptcy,  the  three  form^ 
certain  narrow  limits,  the  last  and  latest  without  limit 
ments  in  the  reforms  in  the  superior  Courts  of  Law  an 
have  been  treated  upon  a  ditfereut  principle.  In  dealing 
reforms  of  those  courts  it  seems  to  have  been  assumed  that 
sation  is  the  proper  principle,  and  that  the  desired  result 
obtained  by  a  partial  blending  of  jurisdictions  and  proced' 
reforms  suggested  by  the  Common  I^aw  Commission  of 
the  Chancery  Commission  of  IH51  proceeded  upon  this  p 
blending.  By  the  Chancery  Commission  of  1852  certa 
of  the  Courts  of  Common  Law  were  given  to  Courts  of  Eq 
as  the  power  to  decide  all  legal  questions,  and  for  that  ] 
have  the  astsistancc  of  Common  Law  judges  sitting  with  i 
judges,  and  viva  voce  evidence  was  to  a  limited  extent  i 
for  written  depositions.  By  Lord  Cairns*s  Act,  21,  22  1 
the  Court  of  Chancery  was  empowered  to  try  the  quest! 
before  itself,  assisted  by  a  jury,  and  by  Sir  John  Rolt's  I 
Vict.  c.  42,  it  was  designed  to  make  this  trial  compulsorj 

ixvn  naa^krvatinnu (^  ^    Thn  nnxirpr  tn  RAnd  nn   ifiaiiA  twit  nf* 


public  complaia — delay,  expense,  amJ  uncertainty.  Tlie 
Lord  Cairns  to  give  a  diecreliunaiy  powev  of  trial  by  jiiry 
maty  auiMsesB,  and  the  c»rncsL  etitleaTour  of  Sir  J.  Bolt 
I  exercise  of  that  power  cDinpulaory  was  rendered  nuga- 

prnctical  operation  of  tbe  two  reacnrotions  which,  rb  ia 
I,  he  reluctantly  added  lo  his  Bill.     The  judges  and  prnc- 

the  Courta  of  Common  Law  do  not  appear  to  have  liul 
illly  in  accommodating  themaelrea  to  reforms  that  were 

iulo  their  courts ;  the  power  to  compel  discovory  hna 
sxtonsively  and  usefully  eiorciaed  ;  that  of  gritntirii;  iii- 
hough  usoful  to  a  certain  extent,  has  proved  defective 
exercise  must  have  been  preceded  by  an  actual  violation 
I  (the  threat  or  intention  to  do  the  wrong  not  being  sulS> 
[equitable  defencos  hare  proved  of  very  limited  applica- 
naequentlj  of  limited  vtUue,  these  being  conlined  to  cases 
le  defence  could  be  reduced   to  a  single  issue,  dedaive  of 

The  Judicature  Commission  in  their  report,  dated  25th 
»9,  have  pointed  out  the  defective  operation  of  thia  system 
g  jurisdictional  and  have  unanimously  condemned  it. 
"much  of  the  old  mischief  still  remains,  notwithsinuding 
a  which  have  been  introduced,"  the  old  mischief  referred 
le  delay,  expenae,  and  uncertainly  to  which  suitiira  are 
ad  from  divided  jnrisdiotioDs,  and  from  courts  aciing  on 

rules,  and  by  means  of  procedure.  It  may,  therefore,  1 
reasonably  expected  thai  tbe  public  will  not  aanctlon, 
^ialature  entertain,  any  scheme  of  reform  of  our  judicial 
lich  will  involve  further  attempts  at  blending  existing 
u 

'  attempt  at  reform,  which  so  far  as  adopted  has  proved 
IS,  may  also,  [  hope,  bo  considered  an  not  to  be  carried 
I  mean  the  system  of  uniting  separate  jurisdictions  in  the 
U  Thia  ayalem,  though  condemned  by  experience,  and 
yeoTB  ago  as  regarded  the  old  Court  of  Exchequer,  has 
illy  revived  in  an  exaggerated  form  in  the  County  Courts, 
of  these  the  Judicatuie  Commissioners  in  their  report, 
'erred  to,  say,  "  The  present  state  of  ihe  County  Courts 

be  t^propriately  referred  to  as  exhibiting  the  strange 
of  a  system  of  aeparaie  jurisdictions,  even  when  exercised 
M  court.     The  County  Court  has  juriadiction  in  Common 

op  to50/.  in  contracts  and  10/.  in  torts;  it  has  also  equit-' 
lifttion  in  cases  where  the  value  of  the  property  in  diapula 
xceed  500/.,  and  in  at  least  one  of  auch  caaea,  namely  an 
itive  auil,  it  is  now  competent  for  any  County  Court  judge 
I  tbe  prosecution  of  actions  brought  by  creditors  in  any  of 
iOT  Courts  of  Common  Law.  By  an  Act  of  Failiament 
wion  (1868)  aome  of  the  County  Courts  have  i 
rith  Admiralty  jurisdiction  in  a  largo  class  of  cases  where 
it  in  dispute  doea  not  in  some  cases  exceed  1^0/.,  in  others 
df]  U  an   appeal   in  each    claaa  of  cases  to  a  Court  of 


212  Constitution  of  Local  CcfUfis. 

Common  Law,  to  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  to  the  Coart  of  AA 
ralty  :  but  these  jurisdictions,  though  conferred  on  the  same  eo 
and  the  same  judge,  still  remain  (like  the  Common  Law  and  Eqa 
sides  of  the  old  Court  of  Exchequer)  quite  distinct  and  sepan 
Tlio  judge  has  no  power  to  administer  in  one  and  the  same  suit  a 
combination  of  the  different  remedies  which  belong  to  tiie  thi 
jurisdictions,  however  convenient  or  appropriate  such  redress  nii| 
be  :  that  can  only  be  accomplished  under  the  County  Court  syit 
by  three  distinct  suits  brought  in  the  same  court,  before  the  m 
judge,  carried  on  under  three  different  forms  of  procedure,  a 
controlled  by  three  different  Courts  of  Appeal.  In  this,  therefb 
although  at  first  sight  it  appears  to  have  obtained  that  great  desid 
atum  which  the  Common  Law  Commissioners  call '  the  consolidati 
of  all  the  elements  of  a  complete  remedy  in  the  same  court ; '  yet 
that  remedy  can  only  be  had  in  three  separate  suits,  the  viec 
equally  great." 

Since  this  report  was  published  the  Bankruptcy  Act,  1869, 1 
added  to  County  Courts  a  fourth  separate  and  distinct  jarisd 
tion  (the  most  important  of  all),  the  jurisdiction  of  Bankruptcy,  wi 
its  separate  procedure,  separate  rules  of  practice,  and  separate  Co 
of  A[)peal.  This  newly  added  jurisdiction  in  Bankruptcy  is 
important,  and  has,  in  my  view,  so  strong  a  bearing  upon  the  qo 
tion  of  the  constitution  of  local  courts  and  the  extent  of  th 
jurisdiction,  that  it  is  worthy  of  detailed  examination.  The  ezK 
of  this  newly-conferred  jurisdiction  is  greater  than  that  ever  p 
sessod  by  the  old  Court  of  Bankruptcy,  or  than  is  now  possessed 
any  of  the  superior  Courts  of  Law  or  Equity:  it  is  enforceable  i 
only  against  parties  to  the  litigation  before  it,  and  persons  wl 
though  not  parties,  voluntarily  come  in  and  submit  to  it  (which  i 
the  limits  of  the  jurisdiction  of  our  superior  courts),  but  against 
persons  claiming  adversely;  and  as  against  such  persons  it  li 
power  to  restrain  by  injunction  proceedings  in  any  other  Court 
Law  or  Equity,  at  home  or  abroad — the  jurisdiction  extends  to 
persons,  traders  or  non-traders — peers  are  subject  to  it,  and  a  pin 
of  the  blood  would  not  be  exempt :  there  is  no  civil  person  or  ei 
right  that  is  not  amenable  to  its  exercise  :  any  question  that  m 
be  raised  as  to  property,  real  or  personal,^  whatever  the  difficalti 
involved  or  amount  at  stake,  may  be  the  subject  of  decision  in  the 
courts  ;  and  where  its  jurisdiction  has  properly  attached,  no  otii 
court  can  prohibit  or  restrain  its  exercise.  These  characteristics  a 
the  results  of  the  72nd  section  of  the  Act,  and  the  construction  p 
upon  it  by  Lord  Justice  Giffard,  confirmed  and  followed  as  it  b 
been  by  his  successors,  the  present  Lords  Justices,  llie  proeedi 
provided  for  the  exercise  of  this  enormous  jurisdiction  is  of  t 
simplest  kind — a  notice  of  motion  stating  the  object  required — t 
evidence  in  support  being  by  affidavit  or  viva  voce  examination 
witnesses  if  requisite,  or,  if  necessary,  a  jury  may  bo  empanelled 
determine  the  facts.  As  a  consequence  it  follows  that  wherever  tl 
jurisdiction  is  invoked  actions  at  Law  and  suits  in  Chaneerj  i 


B)  W.  T.  i 

nd  unnecesauy.  Questiocs  of  fruuduleot  dlapoaitioa  al  liind 
Dods,  of  fraudulent  preference,  of  orilei'  and  disposition,  and  such 
,  which  under  the  old  system  must  have  been  the  subject  of 
TBS  iu  one  of  the  superior  courts  geiiendly  becoming  special  Jury 
■  to  he  tried  at  tlie  sssizea,  with  the  coutiageut  risks  of  reiiiauets 

references  or  questions  reserved  wilh  leave  to  move, — oil  these 
{eets  of  litigation  aud  every  other  tliat  can  arise  (and  niuny  have 
ea),  may  now,  hy  meaDS  of  tliia  simple  summury  procedure,  be 
oaed  of  by  the  County  Courts  sitting  as  Uisttict  Courts  of 
ikmptoy. 

3iere  is,  however,  one  feature  of  this  jurisdiction  which  Is 
■rktble  for  the  resulta  it  produces,  lieing  an  aggravation  of  the 
•  pointed  out  by  the  Judicature  Commissioners.  The  jurledic^ 
ilnBaakruplcy,  although  unlimited,  is  not  exclusive:  thi;  Courts 
locery  and  Common  Law  still  rctaiu  concurrent  juriailictions: 
i  may  etill  be  brought,  suiia  in  Equity  may  slid  be  iuatiluled. 
I  reports  show  several  inslancea  in  which  actions  huvu  been 
||>h^  and  bills  filed  under  this  concurrent  jurisdiction;  »  juris- 
,  by  llie  way,  which  the  trustee  or  his  legal  advisers,  if  so 
h],  oould  slop  by  timely  application  to  tlie  Court  of  Bank- 

,.  Now  mark  the  contliut  which  in  one  case  bus  arisen,  and 
tbers  may  arise,  out  of  this  concurrent  junsdiction.  I  allude  to 
^iSerent  views  taken  by  the  Court  oi'Excbcqtter  and  the  Chief 
'  s  in  Bankruptcy  as  to  the  rights  of  au  execution  creditor  wliera 

I  baa  been  a  seizure,  and  afler  the  seizure,  but  before  sale,  an 
Sf  bankruptcy  followed  by  au  order  of  adjudication  or  appoint' 
It  of  a  Irustee  io  liquidation.  The  Court  of  Exchequer  La  leader 
ilaler,  L.U.,  C  Es.,  228,  held  that  the  right  of  the  CKeculion 
Ulor  prevailed  over  that  of  the  trustee  :  in  oe  parte  Yene^.t,  L.K., 
{4,  419,  the  Chief  Judge  held  the  contrary,  thnt  the  right  of  the 
tc«  prevailed  over  that  of  the  execution  creditor,  Thi«  convict 
I futunatcly  been  set  at  rest  by  the  decision  of  the  full  Court  of 
leal  in  Chancery  in  ex  parte  Rock  v.  Hall,  decided  26th  July, 
1,  in  which  Slater  y.  Piiiiier  has  beeu  followed.  But  iu  the 
r*Bl  while  the  conHict  was  in  force,  see  the  position  in  which  a 
■Dty  Court  judge  was  placed ; — exercising  his  Common  Law  juris- 
llon,  be  would  be  bound  to  follow  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  being 
l«f  his  Appellate  Courts  in  Common  Law  proceeding:  exercising 
tbankruptey  jurisdiction,  he  would  be  bound  to  follow  the  Chief 
Ige,  being  his  Appellate  Court  in  Bankruptcy  ;  and  this  result 

at  happen,  that  if  an  interpleader  were  brought  by  the  high 
F  who  had  seized  goods  to  which  a  claim  was  set  up  by  a 
it  in  liquidation  of  the  debtor,  he  must  fallow  Slater  v.  Piiuler, 
l{ire  judgment  in  favour  of  the  creditor ;  but  if  in  a  case  involv- 
preoioely  similar  circumstances,  the  trustee  applied  in  bankruptcy 
kate  the  goods  seized  delivered  to  him,  the  judge  following  the 
biriiy  of  the  Chief  Judge,  would  be  bound  to  order  such  delivery, 
lilar  conflicting  decisions  involviug  equal  absurdity  may  arise  in 
t  diKWg«  of  lua  duty  by  the  County  Court  iud(;e  when  exercising 


Admiraltj  rule  being  to  protect  the  weak  against  the 
prevent  n  big  ship  ruthlessly  running  down  a  little  oney 
latter  may  be  most  in  fault — a  principle  which  would  se 
applicable  to  a  brewer's  dray  running  into  a  tradesman'a 
as  an  ocean  steamer  running  down  a  pleasure  yacht.  I 
my  own  short  experience  as  a  County  Court  judge  detai 
of  inHtances  of  absurdity  arising  from  conflicting  and  un 
diction ;  and  there  is  one  arising  under  the  Bankruptcy 
which  for  its  pre-eminent  absurdity  I  must  be  allowed 
Although  by  the  72nd  section,  as  I  have  stated,  a  greater 
is  vested  in  the  County  Court  as  a  District  Court  of  J 
than  is  now  vested  in  any  of  the  superior  Courts  of  Law 
yet  if  upon  a  petition  ibr  adjudication,  or  upon  a  debtor' 
the  debt,  if  legal,  exceeds  50/.  and  is  dinputed,  the  Count] 
no  power  to  try  it  ;  but  the  action  must  bo  commenced  ir 
superior  courts,  though  probably  after  issue  joined  it  woi 
down  by  order  of  one  of  the  superior  courts  to  bo  tried  in 
Court.  The  anomaly  was  pointed  out  in  the  progress 
through  the  House  of  Commons,  but  the  answer  given 
would  not  be  desirable  to  give  the  County  Courts  unlimit 
tion  in  Common  Law  matters  by  a  side  wind  I 

As  a  remedy  for  the  evils  pointed  out  by  the  Comm: 
their  report,  they  say  : — "We  are  of  the  opinion  that 
above  allud(>d  to  cannot  bo  completely  remedied  by 
transfer  or  blending  of  jurisdiction  between  the  Courts  as 
constituted,  and  that  the  first  step  towards  meeting  and 
ing  the  evils  complained  of  will  bo  the  consolidation 
superior  Courts  of  Law  and  Equity,  together  with  the 
Probate,  Divorce,  and  Admiralty,  into  one  court,  to  bo 
Majesty's  Supreme  Court,'  in  which  court  shall  be 
the   jurisdiction  which   is  now  exercisable  by  each  and 


By  W.  T.  ft  XJimfc?,  Q.G. 

itT  Court  system.     Tliose  District  Coorls  bive  bcnn  in  operation 

I  January  lat,  1870.     They  are  esseiiiially  local  Courts  of  First 

inc«i  posseHsing  unlimited  juri«liction  in  nil  matlors  which  can 

it  any  rights   in   the  property,   real  or  personal,  of  insolvent 

fS—baukrupt  or  not,  traders  or  non-tradars — in  which  creJltoM 

iDt«resteii.     The  only  Boarce  nl  present  accessible  to  the  public. 

n  which    any  judgment  can    be    formed   as    to   whetlier   theso 

ilrict*  Cuurla  hnve  answered  the  importHot  purposes  ibr  which 

J  wero  established,  is    tJie  Camptrollora'   Report  for    the    year 

ling  December  31st,    1870,  prepared  pursuant  to  section  115  of 

Bankruptcy  Act,  and  laid  before   pBrlJamenl  -Ith  May,   1871. 

B  remits  hhown  by  this  report  are  certainly  meagre,  but  they 

liUt  loine  facts  wcriby  attcntimi  which  bear  upon  the  question  of 

I  judicial  efficiency  of  District  Courts  of  Dnnkriiptcy.     Fr<>m  this 

art  U  appears  that  the  total  oiimber  of  bankruptcies  during  the 

IT    was     1351.    of  which    there    wore    in   Loudon  319,    in   the 

UCry  1032.      In    liquidation   by    arrangement   2035  resolutions 

n  registered ;    of    these    329    were    in    IjODdon,     170G    in    the 

Intry.     Of  compositions  tliere  were  1616;  in  London  287,  i"  the 

Ifltiy    1329.      Thus  the  overwhelming  majority,  as  might  havo 

In  expected,  has  been  in  the  District  Courts.     Of  appeals  there 

pur  to  have  been  fifty-nine  from  the  London  Court  of  Bank- 

flcy,  while  from  the    130  District  Courts  there  have  been  only 

7-oight     The  diBproporiiou   U  yery  striking,  but  it  would  ha 

lir  to  iosiitiite  from  these  figures  any  comparison  between  the 

iency  of  the  District  Courts  aud  that  of  the  London  Court.     The 

rial  arrangements  of  the  Londun  Court  are  *o  extraordinary  that 

'  could  not  fail  to  produce  extraordinary  result?.     It  is  simply 

wablc  Ihst  nay  one  man,  however  gifted,  can  properly  dischnr^'C 

duties  thtn  now  devolve  upon  a  Vice- Chan  eel  I  or    and  Chief 

ge  in  Bankruptcy.    Hence,  from  sheer  necessity  the  Chief  Judge, 

oa  his  appointment  as  V ice-Chancellor,  was  compelled  to  abdicate 

B  greater  part  of  hifl  judicial  functions  bs  Chief  Judge,  and   lo 

ffB  them  to  be  exercised  by  the  registrars  of  the  I^ondon  Court  of 

nkniplcy,  acting  as  his  delegates,  whose  sittings  have  geuerully 

B  about  three  days  a  week,  the  Chief  rTudge  himself  sitting  only 

iday.     The  burden  thus  thrown  upon  the  Ixm don  registrars  was 

luectedi  and.  considering  the  inex.perience  of  some  of  them  as 

Uttsing  barrister)),  hai'dly  fair,  and  it  would  ho  harsh  to  criticise 

■■judgments.     For  my  present  purpose  it  is  enough  to  obsorvo 

forty-eight  appeuls  from  the  130  District  Courts  of  Bankruptcy 

I  which  the  appealable  orders  made  would  probably  be  reckoned 

r  llionsands)  is  such  n  prim&  facie  proof  of  efficiency  as  to  demand 

ftNition  :  but  in  saying  this  I  must  be  understood  as  claiming  no 

indoe  share  of  credit  ibr  the  judges  j  a  very  largo  share  of  whatever 

R«dii  may  be  awarded  is  duo  lo  the  registrars  of  the  County  Courts, 

Vf  whom,  acting  as  delegaies  by  necessity  of  the  judges,  a  very 

Iwge  [vropartion    of  the  onlers    have    been   made :  and   when   we 

tbat  the  Bankruptcy  Act,  1669,  was  the  result  of  the 


216  CcMtUutim  Cjf  Local  CourU. 

persistent  labour  and  influence  of  the  commercial  body,  ezerdssl 
through  Chambers  of  Commerce,  and  possessing  a  poweriful  inflnssoi 
in  Parliament,  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  if  the  working  of  tkaT 
Act  in  this  respect  is  on  the  whole  satisfactory  to  them,  the  prindpb 
of  local  administration  and  unlimited  jurisdiction  will  not  be  depnlii 
from,  nor  be  permitted  to  be  undermined  by  inconaistent  legislatioai  ■ 
and  their  desire  to  establish  Tribunals  of  Commerce  is  potttf. 
evidence  that  they  will  endeavour  to  carry  thiff  local  administratioa 
further. 

Having  thus  shown  this  machinery  in  motion,  and  that  it  prodoM 
good  work  ns  far  as  it  is  applied,  I  would  ask  this  practical  question; 
If  local  courts  with  unlimited  jurisdiction  are  available  for  collectings 
distributing,  and  winding  up  the  estates  of  insolvent  debtors,  whj 
should  thcv  not  ho  equally  available  for  similar  purposes  if  applisi 
to  the  estates  of  deceased  debtors?  And  having  gone  thus  far, I 
will  venture  further,  and  ask  why  not  be  made  available  for  dote^ 
mining  all  ordinary  disputes  in  civil  matters  between  living  personsl 
If  a  right  to  property,  however  difficult  the  question  or  large  tiis 
amount  in  dispute,  can  be  properly  tried  and  determined  in  a  lool 
court  when  arising  in  bankruptcy,  why  not  when  arising  otherwiM 
than  in  bankruptcy  ?  Cases  will  undoubtedly  arise  which  would  bl 
better  disposed  of  by  a  tribunal  at  a  distance,  but  such  cases  wooU- 
be  exceptional,  and  could  be  met  by  a  proper  power  of  removal 

These  questions  of  revision  and  reorganization  will,  I  hope,  bl 
met  and  satisfactorily  answered  hy  the  long  expected  further  report 
of  the  Judicature  Commiijisioncrs.  It  is,  however,  to  be  borne  ii 
mind  that  County  Courts  were  not  directly  within  the  scope  of  the 
Judicature  Commission,  although,  as  already  pointed  out,  the  evib 
existing;  in  them  through  the  attempt  to  unite  separate  and  distinet 
jurisdictions  were  strongly  observed  upon  in  the  report  already  mada 
And  in  order  that  these  courts  might  bo  brought  within  the  range  of 
the  Commissioners'  inquiry,  a  supplemental  Commission  was  issoed 
which  included  County  Courts  and  also  Courts  of  Quarter  Sessioosiid 
other  local  jurisdictions.  Under  the  latter  Commission  extendvo 
inquiries  have  been  made  and  voluminous  evidence  has  been  taken; 
but  the  Commissioners  have  not  at  present  been  able  to  agree  npoi 
a  report,  and  though  the  evidence  has  been  completed  long  ago  and 
printed,  it  has  been  considered  by  the  Government  inexpedient  tliat 
it  should  le  made  public  until  the  Commissioners'  further  report  has 
been  agreed  upon  and  presented  to  Parliament.  In  this  state  of  t 
suspense  I  have,  therefore,  felt  myself  at  liberty  to  deal  with  the 
quoiftion  of  the  constitution  and  jurisdiction  of  local  tribunabaitt 
intcf^ral  and  essential  port  of  any  scheme  for  the  revision  of  oor 
judicial  system  and  the  reorganization  of  our  courts  of  justice.  And 
I  shall  assume  that,  as  already  recommended  by  the  CommiBsioneflb 
there  will  be  established  one  supreme  court  of  civil  judicature,  whiob 
the  Lord  Chancellor  proposes  to  call  the  High  Court  of  Jostiili 
The  essential  feature  of  this  High  Court  is  that  it  consolidatii,  and| 
as  it  were,  merges  in  itself  all  existbg  civil  jurisdict^nB>  u 


By  W.  T.  S.  Daniel,  Q.C.  217 

those  enumerated  la  the  firet  report  as  also  tlie  Courts 
the  County  Courts,  and  all  special  Courts  of  Law  and 

I  elvil  jarisdiations  beiDir  thus  centred  iu  one  High  Court,  all 
irily  to  exercise  jurisdiction  raust,  it  should  seem,  emanate  from 
iCOBrt,  and  all  courts  exercising  juriBdiction,  derived  from  the 
I  Conrl,  ought  to  be  responsible  to  it.  The  Higli  Court  would, 
ifore,  contain  within  itself  the  elemenU  of  nil  origiiiul  junsJic- 
and  of  all  intermcdinte,  as  well  as  ultimate  and  riiml  appeal. 
lOrigioal  jurisdiction  would  thus  be  exercised  derivatively  from 
Bigh  Court,  and  the  extent  aod  niunner  of  its  exercise  would 
Be  simply  a  question  of  distribution;  aud  thus  wo  shall  be 
n  back  to  our  original  qtieatioii — what  is  the  mode  of  dihtribu- 
nost  benefictal  to  the  public — central  or  local  T  If  the  question 
^  be  treated  ui  ra  inlegra,  surely  a  man  who  wants  advice  would 
it  for  his  interest  to  be  able  to  obtain  it  neor  home,  and  if  ho 

I  relief  lie  would  prefer  haviug  it  at  his  command  withiii  easy 
.  Few  men  think  of  sending  to  a  distance  for  the  common 
■tfies  or  conTenienees  of  life,  and,  in  ull  civilised  commiinities, 
I  justice  s  convenience,  and  sometimes — ^or  rather  is  it  not  too 

«  necessity  t  Why  should  its  administration  be  mitde  excep- 
If  two  men  of  business  in  Leeds  have  a  dispute,  which  can't 
ed  without  recourse  to  a  court  orjustice,  why  should  they  not 
Ue  to  lind  within  the  walls  of  this  eplomlid  pile  the  machinery 
■appliances  adapted  to  llieir  purpose,  and  constantly  ready  for 
'IIM  T  If  a  Leeds  merchnnt  dies  and  the  machinery  of  a  court 
Itice  mu«t  be  set  in  motion  to  ensure  a  proper  distribution  of  his 
t,  why  should  not  that  distribution  be  effected  here,  where, 
;  probably,  the  bulk  of  the  pi-operly  to  be  diatributoj,  and  moat 
W  parlies  interested  in  its  distribution  will  be  found.  I  am  at  a 
to  picture  to  my  own  mind  any  reason  acceptable  to  common 
(if  we  are  at  liberty  to  inke  that  for  our  guide),  why,  as  a  rule, 
Ipoal  jurisdiction  (admitting  there  may  be  exceptional  cases 
lOttght  to  be  provided  for)  central  authority  at  a  distance  should 
iferred  to  local  authority  near  at  band.  The  advantages  of 
)ver  central  administration  maybe  thus  summed  up:  greater 
ies  for  sscerialning  the  real  merits  of  any  question,  less  delay, 
TSi,  greater  certainty  of  a  just  decision  ;  and,  if  there  be  error, 
r  facility  for  correcting  it  on  appeal. 
eoDsideriDg,  as  a  practical  question,  how  far  the  County 
1  aystem  may  prudently  bo  made,  through  re- arrangement  of 
ni  and  concent  rati  on  of  courls,  the  basis  of  the  establishmejit  of 

II  of  First  luslance,  with  unlimited  jurisdiction,  it  will  bo  useful 
U  attention  to  what  has  been  already  done  hy  County  Courts. 

B  retarns  laid  before  the  House  of  Commons  fur  the  year  1869 
"pcara  that  in  that  year  there  were  sent  for  trial  fi'om  the  Superior 
'•  315  cases  under  s.  26  of  the  Act  of  m56  ;  lo8  cases  under 
r  the  Act  of  1869 ;  and  116  cases  of  tort  under  s.  10  of  the 
f  Act ;  in  nil  5^9  cases.     Similar  returiifi  for  the  year  ending 


218  ConstUuium  of  Local  CourU. 

1^70  show  uDder  the  same  heads  that  in  that  year  there  were  unfa 

the  flrRt  284  cases,  the  second  180  cases,  and  the  third  129  cases,  ii 

all  693  cases.     All  these  cases  were  properly  triable  at  the  aMH 

or  the  London  or  Westminster  sittings.     The  third  class  compriw 

in  each  year  almost  every  variety  of  tort,  seduction,  libel,  dante 

malicious  prosecution,  false  imprisonment,  trover,  injuries  to  pem 

and  properly  throuri^h  neglip^cncc.     In  some  cases  the  damages  Irar 

laid  as  high  ns  1000/.,  and  the  amounts  recovered  in  some  em 

varied  from  300/.  to  100/.,  and  in  several  more  exceeded  50/.,  whD 

in  several  others  the  verdict  was  for  the  defendant.     The  somen 

turns  show  that  in  18(59  forty-three  coses,  and  in  1870  twenty-dgl 

cases,  above  50/.  were  tried  before  the  County  Court  judges  byagrci 

mcnt.     In  1869  13,445  cases,  and  in   1870  12,029  cases  above  20 

and  under  50/.,  in   1869  921  case?,  and  in  1870  1063  cases  with 

jury,  were  tried  in  the  County  Courts,  and  in  all  this  vast  number ( 

cases  the  right  of  appeal  existiMl.     The  same  returns  show  that  ia  tl 

year    1869   there  were   twenty  appeals,  and    in    1870   thirty-dgl 

appeals  ngainst  County  Court  decisions;  and  if  we  turn  to  aayt 

the  series  of  reports  of  legal  decisions  and  see  the  sort  of  qaesdoi 

whicli  arc  raised  on  these  appeals  we  find  them  to  bo  questioni  \ 

great  nicety  and  diflieulty,  and  upon  which  even  the  appellate  jadgi 

are  not  always  of  one  mind.     Now,  with  these  facts  before  uiii 

not  a  just  conclusion  that  the  law  as  administered  in  County  Cour 

is  in  the  main  as  satisfactoiy  to  the  profession  for  its  correctnea^i 

it  is  to  the  public  for  its  ju8tice?     I  wish  I  could  proceed  toibo 

how  small  is  the  cost  of  these  proceedings  compared  with  the  nB 

given,  but  I  regret  the  returns  do  not  furnish  apt  or  sufficient  nut 

rials  for  tliis  purpose.     By  way  of  comparison  with   the  supvi 

courts  let  what  follows  be  attended  to.     From  returns  of  thenumlN 

of  causes  tried  in   London,  at  Westminster,  and  on  circuit  for  t 

year  18G9,  the  following   results  appear: — Verdicts   above  lOQ 

551;  verdicts  above  50/.,  309;  verdicts  above  20/.,  517;  ver^ 

under  20/.,  233;  total,   1610;  coses  without  money  verdict,  75 

total,  2368;  motions  for  new  triul  525.     These  motions  may  be  i 

garded  as  appeals  from  the  decisions  at  Nisi  Prius,     In  the  Con 

Court  the  appealable  eases  for  1869  were  14,077,  and  therein 

only  twenty  appeals.     Thus,  making  the  largest  allowance  that  C 

reasonably  ho  re(iuired  for  the  smallness  of  the  amount  and  1 

simplicity  of  the  (piestions  involved,  there  is  a  difference  in  the  p 

portion  of  appeals  which  has  to  be  accounted  for,  and  I  venture 

account  for  a  large  proportion  of  this  difference  by  the  fact  that  t 

judges  at  Nisi  Prim  nirely  decide  any  question  of  law,  but  \tKH 

given  to  move,  and  the  rule  nisi  is  obtained  almost  as  of  course  wh 

such  leave  is  given.     Whereas  in  the  County  Court  the  judge 

bound  to  decide  all  questions  as  they  arise  upon  his  own  respoi 

bility,  and  subject  to  appeal  as  of  right.     Sometimes  in  cases  bd 

20/.,  when  power  of  appeal  is  discretionary  with  the  judge,  lew 

given,  if  the  special  circumstances  of  the  case  justify  suih  leave,  \ 

I  have  sometimes  given  it.    As  to  costs,  I  have  seen  a  retiini,ii 


Kcuracy  oFwhicli  reliance  may  be  placed,  sfiowinff  tlie  amount 
ia  venlkt  and  costs  in  each  case  in  tbe  Quecn'^  Hench  for  ths 
■ix  monUiB  of  1870.  The  results  ore  as  follows : — In  ttiirty-flvB 
I,  where  the  verdicts  are  iibovo  .30/.,  and  not  exceeding  100/., 
taxed  costs  of  the  plaintiff  avt-rsge  H8  per  cent.,  and  in  cases  not 
"idiDg  50/.  tliey  average  225  per  cent. ;  in  each  case  the  extra  costs 

,e  pinintil]'  payable  to  his  own  nttorney,  and  the  costs  of  defen- 
,as  between  miorney  and  client,  must  be  added.  The  aggregate 
mt  is  frightful  :  not  le8^  probably,  than  500  per  cent,  upon  tlin 

tmount  recoTcrcd,     These  aimplo  facts  and  figures  surely  will 
e  open  the  eyes  of  tlie  leaders  of  the  profiiesion  to  the  true 

f  fur  the  evils  of  which  tiie  public  complain.  Before  quitting 
■abject  of  custs,  I  may  obserre  tiiat  I  have  not  been  able  to 
mtr  any  return  of  the  costs  of  proceedings  in  those  Bpecial 
dictions  which  aspire  to  the  dignity  of  the  superior  courts. 
I  are  the  Pasnage  Court  at  Liverpool,  the  Sailord  Hundred 
rtat  Manchester,  the  ToWy  Court  at  Bristol,  the  Lord  Mayor'a 
ft  in  London,  and  the  Burgesses'  Court  at  Newcasile-on-Tyne, 
tkere  may  be  a  tew  others.  These  conits  are,  I  believe,  great 
PTJtes  with  those  who  practise  in  and  resort  to  them,  am)  they 
Iden  relieve  the  suitors  from  some  of  the  more  bunlensome  evil* 
)e  anperior  courts ;  but  opon  the  question  of  costs,  as  well  as 

Af  expedition.  I  venture  to  say  they  will  not,  in  contested  cases, 

leompariaon  with  the  County  Coui  is. 

"o  not  f  ttempl  to  deal  with  the  questions  of  delay  and  expense — 

■ring  upon  the  present  procedure  nod  practice  of  the  Court  of 

eery.  Sir  B.  Palmer,  during  the  last  sessioTi,  stated  that  there 
I  fifty-nine  public  companies  which  had  been  under  process  of 
Hng-np  for  fifteen  years,  and  none  wound  up  yet — and  1  may 
dou  this  iritling  but  signiticaot  fact,  that  last  July  I  was 
rated  by  a  6rm  of  solicitors  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields  to  send 
L  an  Bcknowledgraenc  of  the  pnymout  of  a  ft^e  in  a  cause  which 
just  then  been  heard,  and  the  costs  ordered  to  be  taxed.  The 
nal  bill  had  been  filed  in  18o8,  and  the  retainer  given  and  the 
Mid  to  me  shortly  afterwards.  Upon  this  subject  I  must  content 
ilf  vith  repeating  a  passngc  contained  in  a  paper  which  I  had 
hooour  of  reading  before  this  Department  at  Birmingham,  in 
I,  and  pablished  in  the  Transactiont  of  the  Association  for 
year,  p.  223.  Having  referred  particularly  to  the  procedure  of 
Court  of  Chancery  as  then  recently  amended,  I  say,  "The 
BBt  of  time  and  money  ^pent  in  this  unsatisfactory  procedure  is 
'  inadequately  known  to  or  even  ascertainable  by  the  public. 
Btlals  for  forming  n  judgment  might,  however,  he  obtained  if 
(  public  spirited  resolute  law  reformer  could  he  (ound  in  our 

Fiu-liament,  who  not  fearing  to  disturb  tbe  repose  of  official  self- 
posure,  would  move  for  returns  properly  directed  to  the  subject 
I  the  offices  of  the  Record  and  Writ  Clerks,  the  Examiners,  the 
istrars,  and  the  Taxing  Masters  of  the  Court  of  Chancery.  The 
Bwbic^  would  appear  upon  such  relonis,  I  venture  to  say,  would 


220  CoMtUutim  of  Loccd  CaurU. 

be,  if  not  startling,  certainly  instractive,  and  might  be  mad 
No  such  returns  have  ever  been  made,  and  none  exist,  wb 
sufficient  information  to  the  public  upon  these  two  points — 
expense  in  the  Court  of  Chancery.     It  may,  however, 
assumed  that  that  Court  is  not,  in  either  of  these  respects, 
the  superior  Courts  of  Common  Law. 

From  what  I  have  before  said,  and  the  details  I  have 

must  not  be  understood  as  suggesting  that  the  County  Coui 

now  exist  should  at  once,  and  as  it  were  per  salium^  be 

into  Courts  of  First  Instance   with   unlimited  jurisdicti 

would  I  suggest  that  the  District  Bankruptcy  Courts  sho 

converted,  though  I  think  those  courts  may  well  be  made 

siderablo  extent  the  basis  of  the  changes  I  suggest.     The  a 

of   the   Courts   of   First   Instance    as   I    suggest  to    the 

Court  system  would  necessarily  involve  considerable  chan 

existing  arrangements.     Changes  such  as  these — (Ist.)  A 

in  the  number  of  the  courts,  by  doing  away  with  sevei 

smaller  courts  ;   (2nd.)    The  power  to  obtain  judgment  I 

extended  to  all  cases  of  money  demand  above  5/. ;  (Srd.)  1 

of  limitation  for  the  recovery  of  debts  for  shop  goods  shoul 

siderably  reduced,  in  the  spirit  of  the  obsolete  though  u 

Statute,  7  Jac.  I.  c.  12  ;  (4th.)  The  principal  registrars  to  h 

diction  to  hear  all  cases  of  contract  up  to  10/.,  and  in  al 

tort  up  to  2/.,  and  any  cases  by  consent,  with  power  in  spi 

to  refer  the  hearing  to  the  judge ;  (5ih.)  The  registrars  sh 

frequent  courts  for  these  purposes,  in  some  places  fortnigh 

others  monthly;  (6th.)  There.should  be  an  appeal  from  th( 

to  the  judge,  whose   decision   should   be   final ;  (7th.)   1 

should  hear  and  dispose  of  all  other  business,  with  the  i 

when  required,  of  commercial  assessors,  after  the  manner  o: 

assessors  in  the  Court  of  Admiralty  ;  (8Lh.)  There  shoi 

appeal  from  his  original  jurisdiction  to  a  Divisional  Cot 

High  Court  of  Justice  ;  (9th.)  The  Courts  of  First  Instan 

be  established  in  the  metropolitan  districts  as  well  as  throu 

country  ;  (10th.)  By  a  re-arrangement  of  circuits  and  con< 

of  courts,  the  Courts  of  First  Instance  should  be  establish^ 

ven lent  centres,  and  thus  a  considerable  reduction  would  be  • 

the  number  of  judges  and  registrars — probably  one-half  of  i 

and  three-fifths  of  registrars;  (11th.)  There  should  be  a 

removal  from  one  Court  of  First  Instance  to  another  for  can 

(12th.)  The  procedure  and  practice  in  all  the  courts  should 

and  uuiform,  and  the  process  of  each  court  should  run  tl 

The  Court  of  Probate  and  Matrimonial  Causes  might  be  1 

model  for  the  procedure  and  practice  of  Courts  of  First 

(Idth.)   The  judges   should  be  appointed  by   letters  pi 

selected  for  their  fitness,  and  take  rank  according  to  senior 

themselves,  and  next  after  the  puisne  judge  of  the  Hi] 

(14tb.)  There  should  be  a  chief  registrar  to  each  Com 

Instance,  an  assistant  registrar  when  necessary,  and  ^  aufi 


Hy  W.  T.  S.  Daniel,  Q.C. 

erksj  (15lh.)  The  existing  County  Court  jadgea,  wlio  liave 
d  ten  but  less  ihnn  twenly  years,  should  be  nllowed  to  resign 

pemions  equal  to  two-thirds  of  iheir  present  ealariea  ;  tbnao 
have  served  twenly  years  at  their  full  snlary  ;  and  the  Lnrd 
icellor  ehoiild  have  full  power  to  require  nny  others  to  resign 
.  rach  pcnsioDfl  (not  being  less  than  two-lhinU  of  their  preseut 
nt>)  as  he  shall  deem  just;  (IGth.)  The  judges  and  chief  regis- 

should  be  ineligible  for  pHrliament,  but  the  judges  ahoald  be 
'e  for  the  High  Court,  and  the  chief  registrars  6:(cluded  from 

*  A  set  of  courts  established  upon  ihia  basis  would.  I 
re,  be  more  efficient  and  economical  than  ibc  present,  and  the 
nation  in  the  number  of  judges  would  allow  of  judicinl  salaries 
[  paid  of  an  amount  which  would  secure  the  services  of  able  and 
rieueed  lawyers.  It  would  not  he  within  the  proper  compaBS  of 
Wper  to  enter  into  details  of  probable  cost.  I  think  it  could  he 
D  to  be  lesi  than  the  cost  of  the  present  system  ;  but,  be  that  as 
y,  I  venture  to  think  thai  Parliament  will  be  found  ready  to 
[money  for  money's  worth. 

'e  view  of  this  great  question — the  constitution  and  jurisdiction 
>]  courw— will  not  be  complete  unless  we  coosider  what  llio 
\  will  be  npon  our  superior  Courts  of  Common  Law  and  Equity, 
lie  Buhsiitution  for  them  of  one  High  Court  of  Justice  in  which 
jMtrsle  jurisdictions  shall  be  merged.  The  first  and  immedinte 
I  will  be  ibc  abolition  of  the  artificial  distinction  between  Law 
Etjuity  ;  it  is  well  known  that  that  distinction  grew  out  of  a 
differenca  of  procedure  arising  from  the  forma  of  pleading  in 
lOU  Law  actions.  By  the  Statute  of  Westminster,  13  Edward  I., 
B  proTJded  "That  when  the  law  failcth  for  remedies,  lest 
■  comiog  to  the  King's  Court  should  depart  from  thence  with- 
tmody,  they  shall  have  writs  provided  in  their  cases."  Lord 
ibury,  Sn  his  inaugural  address  to  the  Juridical  Society,  12th 
D,  186.!),  observes :  "  If  this  had  been  fully  acted  ou  the  law  of 
\D&  might  have  been  matured  into  a  uniform  [and  comprehen- 
ijvtexa;  for  it  was  justly  observed  by  one  of  our  judges  in  the 
of  Henry  VI.  that  it  actions  on  the  case  had  been  allowed  by 
to  of  Law  as  often  as  occasion  required,  the  writ  of  suhpccna 
1  haT6  been  unnecessary  ;  or  in  other  words,  there  would  have 

o  distinction  between  Courts  of  Law  and  Courts  of  Equity, 

e  whole  of  the  present  jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  Chauceiy 

1  Have  been  part  of  the  ordiuary  jurisdiction  of  Courts  of  Law. " 

Y  result  of  the  abolition  through  the  establishment  of  oue 

t  will  be  what  has  been  miscalled  the  fusion  of  Law 

tqalty — properly  speaking  there  will  be  no  fusion  ;  tho  stream 

ice,  though  for  cenluries  it  has  been  artificially  divided  into 

A  channels,  would  thenceforth  flow  in  its  natural  and  original 
mesa:  the  change  will  be  that  courts  for  maintaining  civil 
land  preventing  and  redressing  civil  wrongs  will  be  no  longer 
I  of  Law  opposed  to  or  competing  with  Courts  of  Equity, 
Ueourte  willl>e  courts  of  justice,  and  the  functions  of  all  judges 


222  CoMtituUan  of  Local  Courts. 

will  be  what  those  of  County  Court  judges,  when  ezerciaing  juriif 
diction  in  the  District  Courts  of  Bankruptcy*  are  now,  namelj^  || 
declare  the  law  applicable  to  the  right  in  question,  unfettered  ly 
any  mere  technicality  of  pleading,  or  procedure,  or  artificial  limitlii 
jurisdiction. 

This  origiDal  jurisdiction  must  also,  as  recommended  hj  fti 
Commissioners  in  their  first  report,  be  exercised  by  judges  iitlii| 
singly,  and  as  the  procedure  is  to  be  uniform,  the  pleading  mm^ 
and  the  evidence,  when  given  viva  voce,  taken  before  the  judge  iili| 
is  to  decide  upon  it,  it  is  certainly  not  easy  to  see  how  such  a  lyili^ 
can  be  accommodated  to  Common  Law  Sittings  in  Bane^  or  a  syiM 
of  Assizes,  or  to  the  present  mode  of  hearing  causes  in  the  C<Mi| 
of  Chancery.  Nor,  I  venture  to  think,  can  it  be  reasonably  » 
pected  that  the  judges  of  our  superior  courts  should  be  able  l| 
accommodate  themselves  to  such  a  radical  change  in  their  Ifr 
hours  and  duties  as  would  be  involved  in  such  a  system:  hit 
there  need  be  no  difficulty ;  the  judges  of  our  superior  courts  mm 
at  once  be  made  judges  of  appeal,  and  their  functions  io  ra 
matters  be  limited  to  the  duties  involved  in  that  high  office.  lii. 
question  of  the  proper  compoEition  and  constitution  of  a  CmiI 
of  Appeal  is  not  within  the  limits  of  this  discussion ;  but  for  tti 
reasons  1  have  endeavoured  to  advance,  that  question,  though  baTfaf 
to  be  considered  separately  and  apart,  will  still  have  a  direct^  I  oif 
say  necessary,  connection  with,  and  reference  to,  Courts  of  Knt^ 
Instance  to  be  established  throughout  the  country.  i 

In  conclusion  allow  me  to  state  that  the  views  which  I  hare  tks  '^ 
endeavoured  to  expound  are  in  harmony  with  those  I  have  hithertl  =; 
attempted  to  explain.*  And  I  give  them  as  the  result  of  my  expefisMI  1 
and  observation  as  a  judge  in  the  important  commercial  and  miM*  \ 
facturing  district  over  which  I  have  the  honour  to  preside,  ail  '^ 
whose  enduring  and  increasing  interests  in  the  expeditious,  inexpai-  > 
sivc,  and  efficient  administration  of  justice — interests  which  ank 
conmion  with  those  of  all  like  communities — it  is  my  earnest  dini  > 
to  advance. 


On  the  Same.    By  Charles  Wager  Ryalls,  LL.D.  Lonl, 

Barrister-at-Law. 

Ik  order  to  settle  the  question  as  to  what  is  the  best  oonstttutioa  of 
local  tribunals,  and  what  are  the  proper  subjects  for  the  jurisdieliM 
of  those  tribunaU,  it  must  first  be  ascertained  and  determined.  Whit 
is  the  primary  and  universal  object  of  courts  of  law  ?  (2ndly.)  Exulr 
far  local  courts  are  necessary  and  why  ?  (3rdly.)  Should  lool 
courts  be  separate  and  distinct,  and  should  they  differ  in  coostitatioii 

•  Soo  Tratmctions,  1868,  p.  226 ;  1870,  p.  igi. 


^Sa  CliarUa  Wager  Ht/allt,  LLJ).  223 

■preme  court,  nnd  how  either  in  Uie  remeiliod  tlioy  enforce, 
ibjects  over  which  they  have  jurisdiction  t 
primary  object  and  uuirersBl  purposa  of  courts  ai  lavr  is  to 
^lledy,  or  the  means  of  eoforciag  all  lej;iiil  clsinia,  where  tlie 
batlur  of  claims  is  witlthelOi,  labiug  cure  tlmt  the  eawo  legal 
{b  graaied,  in  every  siniilor  case,  10  every  suitor,  regardless 

Eal  position,  or  the  aniouut  of  liii  cluim,  in  ottier  wurda  tho 
Ditld  be  uniform  ;  and  this  should  be  done  at  ihii  Imtal 
\  expense,  consistent  with  cliieieucy,  r.ir.,  no  expense  should 
id  either  iii  compelling  a  euitor  to  gu  an  excessive  diBtance, 
u  uureaaouabio  lime  lor  his  remedy,  nor  should  tho  suitor  be 
|i  tedioiculitiea  of  procedure  uut  all'ucting  the  mejita  nor  pro- 
Uiu  just  deteroiinutioQ  of  hia  cause. 

Kcwsity  for  local  coui*t3  will  be  appareul  to  every  one  at  all 
ped  with  the  admioiatratioa  of  Justiite.  The  admbistrutioa  of 
|Mnedy  iarolvca  two  proceaseB.  (Ist.)  The  discovery  of  tho 
|ld  (Sod.)  The  application  of  tlie  luw  to  those  facts.  Tb« 
[  Coinuon  Law  Courts  of    England  have  pursued  different 

I  tor  each  of  these  purposes,  the  discovery  of  the  facts  being 
to  the  jury,  uud  tlie  deeisiou  of  the  luw  bt.'ing  reserved  to 
ge  presi-hug  at  the  trial ;  such  decision  b^ing  lisble  to  review 
Riperior  court  iu  which  the  action  happens  to  be  brought,  and 
pnent  of  such  superior  court  being  itself  liable  to  review  by 
■f  Error,  ibu  highest  of  suuh  Courts  of  Error  being  the  House 
^  Thus  an  uniform  and  certain  administration  of  remedies 
p  aUbrdcd  by  the  superior  Courts  of  Law,  culminating  in  one 
UK  of  Appeal,  each  of  these  courts  being  bound  hy  the  deci- 
^  thQ  court  immediately  superior  to  it,  aud  hoiug  bouud  also 

E'oua  of  courts  of  co-ordinate  juriBdiclion  when  such  decisions 
I  to  be  reversed  in  error,  but  have  not  beou  taken  to  erroi', 
Kor  courts  have,  for  the  purpose  uf  deciding  the  luw  on  an 
state  of  facts,  always  sat  in  the  metropolis  ;  for  this 
I  it  can  scarcely  be  contended  that  any  better  arraiigamont 
W  made.  The  attendance  in  court  of  the  suitor  tor  this 
\is  scarcely  ever  necesaaiy,  and  very  seldom  takes  place. 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  fact^,  however,  to  which  the 
Ib  of  the  suitor,  or  witnesses,  is  almost  always  ahsolutely 
yj,  itod  almost  always  takes  place,  a  different  course  has 
I*  MtrliQsl  times  been  adopted.  To  save  the  expense  and 
jecessarily  conse^iieni  on  a  suitor  and  his  witnesses  being 
kd  to  go  to*  the  metropolis  for  the  purpose  of  the  trial  of  the 
I  tlic  sail,  Iha  judges  have  for  this  purpose  regularly  gone 
Bft^  holding  courts  in  every  county,  and,  latterly,  holding 
\a  aer«nU  plncea  in  certuiu  counties.  Courts  of  Assize  may 
^  be  termed  local  courts.  Unless  tliere  is  some  legal  question 
let«rntiited,  judgment  aud  executiou  immediately  fohow  on 
rdiet  of  the  Court  of  Assize. 

|l  has  an  attempt  been  made  to  give  every  man  the  same 
t&if  th«  aune  wrong ;  and  to  give  that  Eemedy  cheaply  and 


Hi  ConBiituium  of  Local  CoutU. 

expeditiously  by  bringing  the  court  nearer  to  the  door  of  the  A 
when  necessary.  It  is  concluded  that  local  courts  are  only  neca 
for  the  purpose  of  deciding  disputed  facts. 

There  were   formerly  a  great  number   of  inferior  local  o 
throughout  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  speedy 
inexpensive  remedy  in  cases  considered  too  trivial  for  the  sap 
courts ;  most  of  these  courts  were  abolished  in  the  foondatic 
the  present  County  Courts  about  twenty-five  years  ago ;  sonMy 
ever,  still  remain  and  are  extensively  used.     The  judgments  of 
courts  were  liable  to  correction  by  a  superior  court  as  are 
which  remain  to  this  day.     These  inferior  courts,  therefore^ 
answered,  and  those  remaining  still  do  answer  the  same  pv 
as  the  Courts  of  Assize,  if.,  of  bringing  justice  to  the  door  oft 
subject,  uniformity  of  remedy  being  enforced  by  a  right  of  a 
to  a  superior  court. 

The  County  Courts  are,  at  present,  the  local  courts  which  al 
the  greatest  amount  of  local  business  in  the  land ;  hot  then 
other  Courts  of  Record  also  which  do  a  very  considerable  busini 
the  determination  of  suits.  There  is,  it  must  be  allowed,  a 
great  dissatisfaction  with  the  County  Court  system  ;  such  dia 
taction  is  entertained  both  by  the  public  and  the  legal  profei 
and  so  universal  is  it  that  it  cannot  be  considered  UDJostifl 
The  other  inferior  Courts  of  Record  are  not  the  subject  of  so  i 
complaint ;  some  of  them  are  much  used,  and  very  recently  o 
the  most  important  of  them  (the  Salford  Court)  has  been  impi 
by  legislative  enactment,  and  is  very  popular  in  Manchestei 
the  neighbourhood  for  the  settlement  of  legal  disputes. 

Some  tell  us,  however,  that  we  have  in  the  County  Courts  a  s] 
of  local  tribunals  which  answers  well.  To  convince  strong  part 
of  County  Courts  of  the  contrary  may  not  be  a  very  ho 
task.  There  are,  however,  some  facts  connected  with  County  0 
which  deserve  notice,  and  these  facts  appear  on  the  judicial  stat 
of  1868,  1869,  and  1870. 

The  first  set  of  facts  apparent  on  the  judicial  statistics  which 
bo  mentioned  is— 

Total  amount  for  Total  amount « 

which  plaints  entered.  Court  fees. 

£  £ 

1868  •..     2,577,133  354,575 

1869  ...     2,622,565  357,494 

1870  ...     2,644,762  352,845 

The  amount  of  fees  received  by  the  three  superior  coorts  di 
1870  was  52,593/.,  being  about  one-seventh  of  the  amount  reo 
by  the  County  Courts. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  in  court  fees  alone  suitors  are,  b 
present  County  Court  system,  put  to  an  expense  something  lil 
per  cent  on  the  amount  received.  This  includes  no  charge  fin 
fessional  assistance.    A  system  which  requires  such  a  pireliiii 


fj<m  Ihe  part  of  tlie  suitoi*  cerlainly  cannot  be  called  clieap. 
'~  of  ttiis  outlay  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  a  large  staff  is  neces- 

kept  in  (be  registrar's  office  of  a  Coualy  Court  for  the  purpose 
lUecting  tbe  money  recovered  in  the  court.  Thus  the  court  is 
I  tlie  collecting  agent  of  the  creditor  at  the  expense  of  the  debtor, 
ihould  be  altered.  An  option  should  be  ^ren  to  the  suitor  to 
t  his  debt  collected  by  means  of  court  o£Bcials,  or  to  collect  the 

of  the  judgment  himself,  and  in  case  he  preferred  the  former 

I  be  should  be  compelled  to  pay  larger  fees,  which  he  should 
Irke  allowed  to  recover  from  the  defendant.  '  This  last  suggestion 
on  the  aFSumptioQ  that  the  colletiting  system  is  to  be  con- 
It  is,  however,  contended  that  it  should  be  abolished,  and 
court  ehoulil  exist  only  for  the  purpose  of  settling  disputes 
uforciug  its  judgments. 

>r  can  the  present  County  Court  system  claim  much  as  being  a 
ly  system.  A  cause  is  not,  as  a  rule,  heard  till  a  mouth  from 
iag,  and  unless  the  claim  is  on  a  bill  of  excliange  or  for  goods 
to.a  defendant  in  the  way  of  liis  trade  (when  ten  days  mast 
a  between  service  and  bearing),  judgment  cannot  be  recovered 
H  the  plaintiff  appears  to  prove  bis  claim,  or  the  defendant 
la  liability  ;  and  after  judgment  a  further  period  of  about  tea 
idapaes  before  execution  can  be  issued.  Adjournments  of  the 
ng  also  very  fre<iueittly  take  place  and,  in  such  case,  ten  weeks 
'dapse  before  a  suitor  can  recover  his  claim.  This,  however, 
iBsttor  of  procedure  rather  than  of  the  constitution  of  the 
i. 

he  following  extracts  from  the  "Judicial  Statistics"  of  1870, 
'  ig  to  certaiu  inferior  Courts  of  Record,  may  be  found  instructive 

I  Babject  of  expense  : — 

Tot&l  amount.    Total  amount  Per  eont- 

of  plaiat*  of  fee*.  agB. 

£  £ 

of  Passage,  Liverpool...   70,453   ... 

dConrt 97,552    ...    ; 

'  Borongh  Court  ...      4,785    .,. 

Ae  Hull  Borough  Court  shown  a  slightly  smaller  per-centage  of 
than  the  Derby  Borough  Court,  on  nearly  the  same  amount  of 

L 

Iho  County  Courts,  afler  the  consideration  of  these  facts,  must  be 
lidered  as  a  failure,  so  far  as  economy  is  concerned. 
!be  biferior  Courts  of  Record  allbrd  the  means  of  recovering  a 
1^  judgment;  in  undefended  cases  no  case  is  delayed  longer 
[  three  months,  as  the  Court  always  sits  quarterly,  and  in  some 
■  oftener;  and,  taking  the  average,  the  delay  will  not  be  found 
tor  than  in  tlie  Couoly  Courts. 

very  inifwrtant  and  instructive  aspect  of  the  judicial  statistics 
;  to    County   Courts    is    the   statement  of    the  number   of 

15 


,    less  than  S. 
about  3i. 
rather  over  3. 


226  Constitution  of  Local  Courts. 

The  County  Court  returns  make  the  number  of  the  appeab :— > 

aU    loOf  •••  •••  •••  •••  •••  f««  Xft 

X  OOO  •••  •••  •••  at*  •••  •••  Zv 

J.OOv'***  •(•  *••  •••  •••  ••■  MM 

JOiv**«  •••  •••  •••  •••  ••■  oo 

Total  94 

The  returns  of  the  superior  courts  give  the  number  of  jndgmc 
in  County  Court  appeals  : — 

Xu,   xoOi*>  •#•  •••  •#•  •••  •••  o 

^000«»«      •••      •••      •••      •••      •••      2X 

XOO«/>*»      •••      •••      a«*      •••      •••      Z«f 

XO  i  yj  m*  •  •••  ••*  •••  •••  •••  22 

Total         80 

There  were  in  the  years  1868  and  1869  no  less  than  1200  e 
sent  from  the  superior  courts  for  trial  in  the  County  CourtSi 
there  were  23,500  actions  commenced  in  the  County  Coorft 
England  and  Wales,  in  the  same  two  years,  for  sums  of  abore  K 

The  appeals  from  the  Metropolitan  District  County  Coord 
1868  and  1869  were— 


Circuit. 

Whitechapel         

•  •  • 

(39) 

■  •• 

1 

Bow  and  Shorcditch 

••  • 

(40) 

!•• 

0 

Clcrkenwell 

t  •  • 

(41) 

t  •• 

0 

Bloomsbury          

••• 

(42) 

>•• 

1 

Marylebone  and  Brompton,  &c. 

•  •• 

•    (43) 

1  •  • 

1 

Westminster         

•  •  • 

(44) 

« 
>  •  • 

1 

Southwark            

•  •  • 

(46) 

•  •• 

1 

Lambeth    ... 

•  • 

(47) 

1  •  • 

0 

City  of  London 

•  •  • 

— 

»•• 

6 

Total  11 

To  the  Westminster  County  Court  alone,  in  the  years  1869 
1 8G9,  more  than  100  actions  were  sent  from  the  superior  conrti 
trial ;  but  the  County  Court  statistics  show  only  one  appeal  doi 
that  period  from  that  Court.  It  may  also  bo  mentioned  that  dm 
the  same  period  not  a  single  case  in  which  the  demand  was  i! 
50/.  was  taken  to  that  Court  for  trial  by  consent ;  one  might  €at\ 
to  find  some  such  case  if  there  were  great  confidence  on  the  pii 
suitors  in  the  tribunal. 

Turning,  however,  from  the  number  of  appeals  in  the  metn 
litan  courts  to  those  in  the  country  courts  we  shall  find  no  g 
alteration  of  the  above  figures. 

Taking  the  six  most  important  towns  in  the  kingdom  we  shall 
in  the  two  years  1868  and  1869  only  seyen  appeals. 


By  Charles  Wager  ttyaUsy  LL.D.  227 

Circuit. 

LiTorpool  •••        ...        •••        ...        I  6)        ...    3 
MancnoBter  ...         •••        •••        (  8)        •••     1 

xicCdS  ••«  •••  •••  •..  (1^)  ...      U 

Birmingbam         (21^         .«.     1  , 

Sheffield    •••         ...         ...         ...         (13)         ...     0 

Bristol       (54)         ...     2 

Total  7 

1  the  same  two  years  37  causes  were  sent  for  trial  in  the  Liver- 
Coanty  Court  alone  ;  and  907  causes  were  commenced  in  that 
rt  for  above  20/. ;  only  4,  however,  were,  by  consent,  brought  into 
Court  for  sums  above  50/. 

hat  the  number  of  appeals,  then,  from  the  County  Courts  to  the 
rior  courts  is  remarkably  small  is  apparent ;  and  when  we  con- 
*  the  extent  to  which  they  are  out  of  proportion  with  appeals  from 
es  of  Assize,  and  the  dissatisfaction  which  is  frequently  ex- 
sed  with  the  decisions  of  County  Court  judges,  it  would  seem 
ily  probable  that  the  cause  of  this  is  some  fault  in  the  system. 
liB  causes  are  conceived  to  be  as  follows  : — 
lliere  can  be  no  appeal  without  previously  being  given  by 
ippellant,  who  must  deposit  50/.,  or  enter  into  a  bond  for  that 
ant ;  nor  can  there  be  any  appeal  at  all  if  the  amount  claimed 
ider  20/.,  without  the  leave  of  the  judge.  This  deposit  of  20/. 
le  case  of  a  poor  man,  sometimes  having  nothing  but  his  claim  in 
iction,  very  often  amounts  to  a  denial  of  justice.  He  may  have 
ibstantial  claim — able  counsel  may  be  of  opinion  that  he  is  en- 
d  to  recover.  The  County  Court  judge  has  decided  against  him, 
aps  very  hastily,  and  without  giving  any  reason.  Had  he  20/. 
night  appeal  against  the  judge's  decision ;  because  he  is  poor 
aumot;  and  thus  he  is  punished  for  the  simple  fact  of  being 
'.  It  is  a  gross  inequality,  and  a  cruel  oppression,  in  the  law 
i  poor  man  to  be  told  that  he  shall  have  no  opportunity  of  having 
»se  decided  by  any  but  a  judge  of  an  inferior  court  and  that 
t  the  humblest  civil  court  in  the  land. 

his  regulation  should  at  once  be  swept  away  if  the  present 
nty  Courts  are  to  be  continued,  so  that  a  man's  poverty  may  be 
lir  to  his  having  his  cause  considered  by  a  supreme  tribunal. 
re  may  be  cases  in  which  the  Court  should  have  some  power  of 
nuning  such  litigation  as  is  flagrantly  vexatious  and  dilatory,  but 
ezerclse  of  such  a  power  should  be  restrained  by  proper  safe* 
rds  in  £&vour  of  the  suitor,  nor  should  such  power  in  any  case  be 
he  hands  of  the  inferior  judge. 

liere  is,  however,  another  course  which  would  render  the  exaction 
tenuity  from  the  appellant  unnecessary,  t.e.,  the  provision  of  a 
if  and  speedy  means  of  appeal.  As  a  rule,  a  plaintiff  cannot 
le  execution  in  less  than  ten  days  from  the  judgment,  and  there  is 
reason  why  an  appeal  might  not  be  heard  wiUiin  that  time,  and 

15—2 


226  ConstiMum  of  Local  Caufis. 

that  at  a  very  small  cost.  Thus  an  appeal  might  be  made 
dilatory  nor  vexatious,  and  if  it  were  done  by  a  rale  nut  the 
dent  need  be  put  to  neither  expense  nor  delay  if  the  appellate 
were  of  opinion  that  the  appeal  was  groundless.  It  is  su 
that  the  appeal  should  be  by  rule  nm,  except  in  those  cases  i 
the  inferior  judge  gave  leave  to  appeal. 

Further,  it  may  fairly  be  asked,  what  greater  reason  i 
why  a  suitor  iu  a  County  Court  should  be  called  open 
security  for  costs  before  he  can  have  the  advantage  of  rea 
supreme  court,  than  there  is  that  such  security  should  be  giv< 
suitor  in  a  supreme  court  whose  case  has  been  tried  before 
of  Assize.  A  suitor  dissatisfied  with  the  ruling  of  a  judge 
l^us  may  move  for  a  new  trial,  or  to  enter  or  to  set  aside  a 
or  nonsuit  on  leave  reserved,  without  giving  any  security  fc 
though  he  may  sometimes  require  an  order  to  stay  executi 
cannot  move  the  court  before  execution  is  due;  and  even  th 
sity  for  this  might  be  saved  by  having  a  court  constantly  sit 
hearing  appeals.  It  may  also  be  stated  that  in  superior 
satisfied  judgment  may  be  reversed  by  a  Court  of  Error  and  i 
restitution  issued.  Nothing  like  this  is  possible  in  County  C 
security  is  given  for  prospective  costs.  There  is  less  rei 
security  being  given  on  an  appeal  from  the  ruling  of  a  Coonl 
judge,  than  from  that  of  a  judge  of  Assize,  who  is  generally  s 
to  be  a  person  of  greater  experience  and  higher  attainment 
County  Court  judge.  The  argument  is  sometimes  used  thi 
and  ready  justice  is  often  a  necessity,  and  even  an  advant 
this  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  saying  that  injustice  is  bet 
justice.  The  poor  man  is  entitled  to  the  same  consideratioi 
cause  as  the  rich  man,  and  that  although  he  is  too  poor  to  pi 

II.  Another  cause  of  the  small  number  of  County  Court 
is  the  restraint  upon  appeals  exercised  by  the  County  Court 
who  very  often  treat  un  appeal  as  a  personal  afiront  to  thei 
and  OS  the  appeal  is,  by  special  case,  signed  by  the  Coonl 
judge,  that  functionary  very  oflen  throws  every  possible 
in  the  way  of  an  appeal  when  the  case  is  presented  to  him 
nature.  The  superior  courts  have  on  some  occasions  ei 
something  like  indignation  at  the  refusal  of  County  Court  ji 
give  to  the  parties  a  certificate  of  their  ruling  or  of  some  f 
nected  with  the  trial.  This  dislike  of  an  appeal  by  tb 
operates  on  the  advocate  of  the  suitor.  The  advocate  in  the 
Court  is  often  an  attorney  who  is  not  the  regular  legal  ac 
the  suitor ;  he  is  often  before  the  judge,  and  when  he  seen  i 
position  on  the  part  of  the  judge  to  entertain  the  idea  of  aa 
he  very  naturally  hesitates  to  take  any  steps  which  might  ci 
to  lose  the  favour  of  one  whose  dislike  would  be  so  incoi 
to  him,  as  would  that  of  a  County  Court  judge.  He  oai 
afford  to  dissatisfy  a  clicut  whom  he  may  never  see  again, 
displease  a  judge  before  whom  he  constantly  appears — thus  a 
in  many  County  Courts  has  become  in   a  great  measure 


B'j  Charles  Wager  JiyalU,  tL.D.  229 

louring  of  the  weakness  of  tfac  presiJing  judge,  nnd  a  Btrango 

icate  Appenriug  in  u  Couatj  Court  sometimes  finds  it  liopeloss 

lalead  uguinat  an  Bdvocute  who  ia  uccustoDied  to  tbc  Court. 

I  lb«  foregoing  remarks  may  be  eonsidered  somewhat  acvero  it 

not  be  un instructive  to  look  at  the  result  of  the  few  Couuty 

t  appeals  which  are  heard  aod  detcrmiDed.     In  the  returns  of 

superior  courts,  iu   the  "Judicial  Statistics  "  for  1867,  we  find 

''  judgmcDts,  4  being  reversals   of  the  jadgmcot  below;  in 

we  find  21  appeals,  and  13  ended  in  a  reveranl  of  the  decision 

■i   nearly  2  out   of  every  3  being  reversed.      In    1869    the 

re  not  ao  numerous  (being  14  reversals  of  judgments  out 

appeals,  or  not  quite  half  reversed;  and  in  IS70  there  were 

■ppeals  heard,  and  in    16  of  them   tho  judgments  below  wore 

led,  or  rather  more  than  3  reversals  out  of  every  4  jud^imeuts, 

e«rtainly  does  not  show  tbut  the  County  Courts  are  infatliblei 

llt«W   facts  alouo  form  a  strong  argument  in  favour  of    an 

iBi(»i  of  the  present  right  of  appetd,     Had  the  47  appellants  in 

47  revereed  decisions  been  unable  to  deposit  20;.  they  mnsC 

suffered  a  denial  of  justice.    How  many  did  suflcr,  aimply  from 

rasMssing  that  sum,  cannot   be  known ;    hut  any  professional 

{iraetiaing  in   County  Courts  is  well  aware  that  very  many 

lU  fall  through  solely  in  cousequeiice   of  tho  suitor's  poverty, 

judges    of  the    superior  courts,  moreover,  sometimes  connot 

in    from  expressing    surprise  at  ihe  ruling  below,    and  it  is 

a  means  unusual  for  Ihe  appeal  lo  be  laughed  out  of  Court  on  the 

il  case  being  read,  so  mnnifestly  wrong  i^  the  judgment  below. 

previous  remark,  as  to  tlic  County  Court  advocate  discouraging 

Hppeal  from  the  judge's  ruling,  brings  forward  a  suggestion  aa 

«  constitalion  of  local  courts,  and  the  hint  which  it  furnisUea 

tU  local  courts  should  not  be  constituted  of  local  persons,  and 

lis  that  they  should  be  constituted  as  supciior  courts. 

lie  present  County  Court  judges  go  circuits  of  various  extent,  but 

sme  judge  uover  changes  his  circuit — whilst  it  is  evident  that 

local  judges  must  be  on  the  spot  constantly,  c.^.,  stipendiary 

itrates  (  yet  it  is  coutended  that  this  practice  should  be  adopted 

ttle  as  possible  in  the  administration  of  justice,  and  certainly  not 

ises  where  such  large  interests  are  involved  us  those  committed 

the  judges   of  County  Courts.      A   court   constituted    of  local 

sons  is  apt  to  give  rise  to  those  partiali^es  which  naturally  affect 

bntian  institutions. 

taotker  feature  of  the  County  Court  system,  which  It  is  con- 
rtd  cannot  but  bo  highly  objectionable,  is  the  bestowal  of  largo 
kill  powers  upon  the  registrars  of  County  Courts.  When  it 
lemembered  ibot  the  registrars  of  County  Courts  are  mostly 
the  very  town  in  which  they  act  as  registrars,  and 
coostantiy  coming  into  contaet,  in  their  capacity  of  attorneys, 
1  the  attorneys  who  may  appear  before  them  when  acting  judi- 
lly,  it  must  be  apparent  that  the  system  ie  open  to  grave  objections. 
ii  placing  an  immense  power  In  the  handa  of  a  person  primarily 


230  .  Constitution  of  Local  Courts. 

objectionable,  without  any  sufHcient  safeguard  agaiost  its  abm 
Attorneys  cannot  fill  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  a  borooi 
nor  can  tbcy  be  justices  for  counties  in  which  they  practise.  Ii 
rule  is  a  good  one  and  has  been  recently  affirmed  by  the  Legislatw 
That  such  persons  should  act  judicially  in  County  Courts  seems  1 
be  in  defiance  of  a  sound  and  recognised  principle. 

The  suggestion  offered  as  to  the  constitution  of  local  courts,  i 
the  strictest  sense  of  the  term,  is  that  stipendiary  magistrates  shoal 
be  appointed  throughout  the  country  who  should  have  a  dvil  i 
well  as  a  criminiil  jurisdiction,  over  a  convenient  district,  incla£o 
cognizance  of  all  claims  on  contract  for  less  than  15/.  (similar  to  Ui 
junsdiction  of  the  Metropolitan  Police  Magistracy  in  Detinue);  in 
that  as  to  civil  contracts  his  jurisdiction  should  be  also  similar  1 
that  of  a  County  Court  judge  under  the  Act  establishing  the  Coiul 
Courts,  u  right  to  a  jury  being  retained,  where  demanded — ^Tbi 
these  judges  should  nit  frequently  and  at  such  distances  as  tl 
])resent  places  for  holding  Petty  Sessions.  It  is  conceived  that  the 
judges  or  magistrates  might  have  a  jurisdiction  in  Equity  in  all  cas 
considered  too  trivial  for  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  they  mig 
also  act  as  chief  clerks  and  examiners  to  the  Court  of  Chancer 
and  as  masters  of  the  superior  Common  Law  Courts,  where  tl 
incjuiries  were  of  that  kind  that  they  could  be  made  better  and  it 
less  expense  on  the  spot  than  in  London.  The  courts  held  by  the 
magistrates  would  be  local  in  every  sense  of  the  term — but  for  tl 
trial  of  all  causes  not  triable  at  the  Assizer. 

It  is  proposed  that  subsidiary  judges  of  the  superior  courts  shon 
bo  appointed*— That  all  actions  for  liquidated  demands  above  li 
and  under  oOL,  and  all  actions  of  tort,  ordered  by  a  judge  of  a  superi 
court  to  be  so  tried,  should  be  tried  before  the  subsidiary  judgi 
holding  local  courts,  at  such  places  as  the  present  County  Courts  s 
held — That  such  judges  should  make  their  circuits  every  two  months 
That  these  judges  should  change  their  circuits  in  the  same  maon 
as  judges  of  Assize,  and  should  not,  like  the  present  County  Cos 
judges,  be  fixed  on  one  circuit — That  all  actions  be  tried  before 
jury,  unless  both  parties  desired  to  dispense  with  a  jury — That  t 
ruling  of  these  subsidiary  judges  should  be  liable  to  the  same  revu 
as  that  of  a  judge  of  Nisil^rius — That  they  should  be  compelled 
certify  to  a  superior  court  their  notes  of  the  trial,  and  also  thi 
ruling,  which  should,  on  the  application  of  either  party,  be  reduc 
into  writing  at  the  time  that  it  is  laid  down  to  the  jury.  These  jad( 
might  also  perform  the  duties  of  stipendiary  chairman  of  Cooi 
Sessions  when  such  officers  are  established,  as  it  is  anticipated  i 
shortly  be  done ;  and  the  courts  for  the  trial  of  prisoners  and 
causes  might  be  held  at  the  siime  time  and  place. 

This  might  be  done  at  no  greater  expense  than  is  at  present! 
curred  under  the  County  Court  system.  It  may  be  objected  that  t 
chamber  practice,  or  interlocutory  proceedings,  must,  under  such 
system,  be  done  in  London,  and  that  thereby  a  greater  expense  nu 
be  incurred  than  where  it  is  done  under  a  system  like  the  pr«M 


By  Charles  Wa^er  Hijalk,  LL.D. 

tj  Cuurt  syslexa.     This  cerlftiuly  need  aoi  be  the  case,  the  scale 
la  can  easily  be  out  dowu  to  tlie  acaie  of  cosis  now  allowed  in 
lounty  Courts,  and  of  this  scale  the  legal  profce^oD  ilo  not  com- 
Tbeargumont  of  conveuience  ia,  in  cert&in  cases,  in  favour^ 
busint^ss  being  done  in  London:  thus,   where  tlie  liligautsl 
i  in  different  districts,  the  business  must  either  be  done  tlirougll  I 
Mit,  or  by  one  of  Ihe  parties  or  his  attorney  trnvelling  to  tlitil 
It  difiirict.     If  done  by  nn  agent,  then  it  would  bo  as  easy  and  I 
Hmsive  !□    instruct  an  ugent  in  London  as  elsewhere,  nnd  to] 
let  one  agent  in  town  in  d1  cases  would  certainly  be  more  c< 

cither  than  iravE^IJing  to  the  ditlereut  districbi  in  wfaieh  tb«] 
la  might  happen  to  be  brought,  or  than  instructing  a  diSeroDtl 
in  each  distiict.     If  it  should,  however,  be  found  more  coii>T 
It  to  transact  interlocutory  business  locallj',  then  It  might  ba  I 
before  the  local  stipendiary  magistrate. 
reason  why  a  jury  trial  is  suggested  as  tlio  best  if,  that,  undeV  I 
constitution  the  judge  is  imdcr  ibe  necessity  of  tiiking  dowtt  * 
'  *       ',  and  iilso  nf  going  over  it  in  summing  up  to  the  jnry. 
UDOt  give  n  verdict  for  the  plaintiff  or   dcluudnut    without 
more.    This  necessity  corapela  him  to  ai-rimgc  in  liia  mind 
Is  and  law  of  the  case  wiih  soma  care  and  thout;hl,  and  to 
the  case  with  some  deliberation  to  the  jury,  tlierehy  giving  t,  ^ 
Etton  agiuiiBt  huiily  and  evi'uneous  conclusions.     Besides,    it  ' 
(m  of  hibour,  and  a  well  worked  judge  has  quite  enough  li 
dawn  the  law  to  the  jury  and  arrange  the  facts  for  them,  with-  I 
ffing  also  the  anxious  duty  of  coming  t«  a  conclusion  on  the  I 
'  the  Cftse.     It  is  conceded  that  this  form  of  trial  takes  mors  1 
han  iho  form  of  trial  inost  common  before  a  County  Court 
.bat,  as  the  Couniy  Courts  perhaps  do  a  greater  amount  of   ' 

in  a  sroaller  amount  of  time  than  any  other  courts  in  tlio 
to  spend  u  little  mure  time  in   the  (rial   of  causes  might  be  no 
'antagc.     This  form  of  trial  is  tho  form  practised  in  the  iu- 
Coarts  of  Record,  and  ucls  well  and  satisfactorily.     It  is  true 
uiyicien  sometimes    complain  of  the  burthen   of  their  duties, 
duties  are,  however,  the  iucidenU  of  citigemship,  and  tlio  dis- 
I  of  them   imparts  a  respect   for  the  law  and  a  couGdence  i 
ministration.      It  is  submitted  that  it  is    inexpedient  to  re- 
ft  jury  irixai  the  trial  of  civil  issues, 
t  coadusioos  ariived  at  are  that  local  courts  should  not  be  ' 
:t  from  the  supreme  court,  uor  should  they  differ  from  it 
lution,  but  that  ihoy  should  be  a  subsidiary  part  of  the  suprome 
—that  they  should  have  jurisdiction  over  tho  same  class  of 
,  bot  only  over  tliat  portion  of  rights  wiiich  arc  of  moderate 
Ity  and  importance.      It  is  almost  impoasiblii  for  any  man, 
'er  intelligent  and  honourable,  to  try,  satisfactorily,  imporiam  I 
implicated  issues  as  are  some  of  the  trials  in  the  County  Courts,   I 
lering    tli«  trivial,  trying,  and  troublesome  work  which  tha  1 
has  lo  perform  in  adjudicating  upou  some  of  the  actions  befors  ] 
The  parties  mostly  appear  in  person;  they  vary  the  trial  by  J 


Court  will  scarcely  wonder  that  a  judge  frenerally  become 
tory  in  manner  and  hasty  in  his  conclusions.  The  j 
acquires  a  habit  of  taking  the  case  into  his  own  hands  fn 
parties  before  him  who  aro  ignorant  of  legal  proceedings, 
becomes  unable  to  leave  the  conduct  of  cases  to  profess 
when  they  a])pcar  before  him.  The  only  remedy  for  thi 
things  is  to  consign  to  some  humble  tribunal,  such  as 
suggested,  tlie  adjudication  upon  trivial  causes,  and  to  c 
trial  of  more  important  issues  with  the  same  calmness  ai 
ration  as  exist  in  the  superior  courts.  Such  a  system  would 
advantage  of  the  regular  attendance  of  members  of  the  Bai 
now  the  case  at  Assizes  and  Quarter  Sessions,  an  advantage 
scarcely  be  over-iated ;  for  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
the  institution  of  trial  by  jury,  no  influences  have  had  a  gre 
in  maintaining  the  liberties  and  rights  of  Englishmen  than 
pendcnce  and  courage  of  the  English  Bar.  It  is  no  step  i 
in  the  history  of  our  jurisprudence  when  either  the  law  o 
or  the  procedure  of  our  courts — civil  or  criminal — treats  tl 
an  impediment,  or  the  Bar  as  hired  partisans. 


DISCUSSION. 

Mr.  Edward  Wilbeoforce  (London)  remarked  Uiat  the  main  objei 
BTstem  of  County  Courts,  which  must  be  considered  in  diacuMing  local 
that  the  debt-collecting  machinery  was  not  kept  leparate  from  \ 
machinery.  They  were  at  once  phu^  where  debta  were  collected  by  i 
inexpensive  process,  and  places  where  large  questions  of  law  and  faot 
times  discussed.  In  the  course  of  half  an  hour,  the  same  man  w 
whether  In.  or  Ss.  was  the  proper  price  for  some  article  of  grocerr,  ai 
up  to  the  jury  questions  of  law  ana  fact  fit  for  the  higheet  court  u  tli 
Surely  these  two  functions  should  not  bo  united ;  either  the  first 


cik]  mindii  wliom  it  vould  be  out  of  the  quealion  to  rmploj'  m 
try  Mijd  Mmctiia«i  in  London.  He  diii  not  iindcntand  from  Mr. 
er  wboUwr  there  wu  to  he  nny  ijitam  of  pleading :  he  did  not  mMQ 
1  Bj«t«ni,  but  whutherthemalMntortheileuition  of  thejudge.  nr  judge 
retobereduerd  tp  writing,  and  wljelher,  if  no,  tJlPj  wore  to  bo  pfepuped 
rti  or  brought  before  lonie  tmntrnl  jiiriKliotion.  If  there  wuiLnjiocitl 
plrading*  might,  no  doubt,  lie  dmwn  up  nnd  aerred.  nod  promtdiire 
tnmined  Ihore;  If  option*  wore  to  bo  brought  in  the  lomil  court,  and 
r  action  slated  in  writina,  there  Kenied  no  meant  tif  determining 
t  Mine  of  action  mu  sufflcienl,  tuid  deoidiug  M  tu  the  pmpHelf  of  the 

U>  caplitiaed  th&t  he  hnd  etiggeited  the  procedure  of  the  Divoroe  Cuurt 

lUtroRCRbvliored  there  iraa  a  wrelilj  nitling  in  tbnt  Court  rttnbiohtbefe 
TSbMrd,  He  doubted  nhetber  hiisU  courts  would  be  proper  tribunal* 
thcN  malteri.  In  tie  Probnln  Court  there  was  an  appeal  from  (Jio 
By  tfl  the  full  coiirl,  but  it  the  loeol  oourit  were  to  hear  theie  pre- 
MloaaL  Bnd  if  Uiore  wie  an  appoil  to  the  superior  courtp,  the  vice*  of 
B  would  itill  rcmnin.    At  to  the  proposed  district  courts,  the  inlni- 

number  of  email  pinnes  for  elttingi  would  be  oluioet  certain  to  inrolre 
r«u,  if  oil  Urge  rmei  were  duteriuined  at  the  central  place,  the  work 
iperW  arraii^.    Tlje  ftrel  nue  iu  the  dsj'a  liet  might  be  orer  in  firn 

migut  hut  spreml  dnje.  This  wni  the  experience  of  AatiicB,  nnd  no 
inly  Courts  bIso,  A  court  litting  in  t*n  flifleront  towni  could  noiror 
nit  bttring  too  mucli  ttme  in  Knne  nnd  too  little  in  nlbers,  Eii  own 
itnl  town  in  each  diatrlct.  where  all  the  important  bueineu  ibould  be 
Tould  eiitail  ft  ereat^  number  of  diitricta.  and  the  diriaion  of  counties 
Bs  utent  be  follawed.  Mr.  Daniel  had  mentioned  Ihe  enormoue  coat 
k  the  euperior  courts  in  proportion  to  the  amount,  but  the  amount 
a  criterion  of  the  importooco  of  an  action.  There  wa*  often  a  rerdict 
le  grareet  ijuegtionB  of  law.  Id  man;  cases  there  was  n  Terdiet  for  501, 
n  On  ianiea  were  much  larger  than  any  sum  of  money  repreaenled. 
waa  sometimee  suppoaed  to  carry  ooils  and  meet  the  justice  of  the  case. 
ght  might  be  eliminated,  bti)  bow  could  it  be  ascertained  in  other  nuea 

jury  had  gone  upon  n  right  principle  in  asteseing  the  damaoee?  The 
bt  be  under  lOOiT,  yet  the  eridenoe  required,  and  the  legal  ohatMloa 
,  might  baTC  necessitated  aerious  eipenae. 

GatCB  (Bugate)  ohaerred  that  local  criminal  courts  had  not  been 
istead  of  harine  one  judge  presiding  oTer  a  district  court,  he  would 
el  of  judges,  who  would  distribute  their  work,  reserring  important 
the  full  court,  nnd  referring  payable  cases  to  one  or  two  of  their 
le  vraa  sensible  of  the  difficulty  of  doling  with  the  ooimly  mngistratoa, 
nt  nmaiited  almost  eiclusiiely  of  aueh  gentlemen,  and  nothing  but  a 
ure  from  without  would  deprive  theni  of  their  onuinienlal  attributes. 
Uitriet  judges  would  be  rerj  eooDomical.  and  rery  efficient  in  dispoaing 
ninal  essiti.  In  nine  coses  out  of  ten  the  decision  of  Justices  wu 
IseiHon  of  thur  clerk,  who,  in  all  cases  of  difficulty,  sent  for  whatever 
ippened  to  haire,  and  adriaed  the  uiagistratea  how  to  decide.  Oould 
1  man  irrational  than  for  the  subordinate  to  bo  the  real  principal? 
lOn^  Court  should  bo  a  collecting  agency  for  private  indindiuds  waa 
Mulhle.  The  registrar  was  not  indeM  paid  oipreasly  for  keeping  these 
M,  bot  they  inToiTed  considerable  hdraur,  which  must  be  paid  for  some- 
ir,  and  if  not  ^id  for  undisguisedly,  was  paid  for  in  disguiae,  out  of 

excheqaer.  The  injurious  effect  of  confinement  to  one  circle  of  ideas 
ca.  woold  be  avoided  by  the  system  of  a  panel,  the  judges  changing 
one  locality  to  another.  The  gist  of  the  difficulty  waa  tJie  dispersion 
SisotiBe  eharacler  of  oar  mrpu*  Jurii.  As  long  as  the  lair  was  r*  ~ 
cult  of  anwie,  and  embedded  in  precedents,  instead  of  reposing 
iples,  litigants  before  local  tribunals  would  hope  for  success  by  appeal- 
101  courts.     Unites  satisfied  that  everything  was  eihBUStitely  disposed 


on  ^H 

appeal-  ^^^1 

lisposed  ^^H 


I'Al'CIII     I  mil     I  I IC   «ll  I-  «>1      ■•.-•■I      in-|  iiiit  I  «.«4      I  H\:     l  t  ;^|.'»|  i  ki     l«f   lIlSlfiJRI*    <'!      Ull>4 

iindispiiNHl  cjws.  Tlio  rrniMnirs  in  irumv  plufo;*  ]>«iAi>(>i>9<.-(i  tho  CHinfidt 
who  went  l)fffin<  Uioin,  and  lii»i  coiirl  )ia(i  thu  advantnge  of  being 
rpii<iPt.cr?«,  wlii<'li  wsi;*  u  ypcMt  ])n>iodi'in  ii,LpiiTi!<t  '*  scenes "  and  incaut 
hiunp.  It  M'ould  Ik*  nccey^fary  in  inai'.y  v:i»o»  tlint  tlic  plaint  iff  she 
liiiniiclf  to  a  pivcn  cam^  tli.it  tlio  dorcndiint.  mipht  know  wluit  it  wa 
ronnnit  himself  (oagiron  dofcnrr.  8o  that  tbo  parties  might  not  oni 
in  ii;noranc«'  t>r  what.  «*ju'li  n-liod  u{h>u.  and,  cxcfjit  in  very  few  casei 
wi'U  wliat  tlu'ir  diVpiitr  wa?*  ahniit.  llo  holifvitl  tlie  pnM'edtirc  of 
]*roli;ilo  was  bn  siiiiplo  as  to  iMiabl^  all  i{m'>ti(iiiii  of  the  kind  to  bo 
Hinmnarv  and  ('\]>(i1ilii)us  nianDrr,  and  th<*  kvtik^  might  1x»  done  by  jut 
(MiurtH.  Thr  (iMcHlion  wliothcr  tlio  jiidi*e  .-hotdd  In*  loc:illv  resident  w 
«me.  Ilavinir  rrnilverl  to  al»»tain  lri»m  all  interforrnee  in  reliKiou.H 
ipiostiuns,  iif  had  lu*rn  able  to  maintain  a  ])ort'irt  indeiK'ndcnrc,  and  w 
resident  in  the  disiriel  he  could  not  Mtpi'rinteiul  and  control  the  work 
court  in  his  cjrciiit  as  he  n()W  did.  In  caso  of  any  dilliculty  on  the 
re^ifttmr.  or  ol"  any  snddrii  r.v  luirtr  a])pIieation,  he  could  cai«ilv  l)o  cc 
with,  and  admitting  tli«>  iKK^-ihility  of  a  resident  jnd^e  having  his  niin 
hy  the  Mieiety  he  mixed  with,  Ihh  personal  experience  was  that  wlicr 
ntita  party  man  heeould  U^  in<1e]iendiMit  and  iiis  independence  would 
No  p'ntleman  witli  whom  he  diniKl  would  think  of  f>{MMikin^  to  him  or 
afTociin^  his  jiithcinl  functions.  Had  he  not  decidinl  on  residing  ir 
he  should  next  year  U»  enjoying  wiiat  most  men  prixtnl  next  to  pmnn 
])ro|'ession,  the  honorary  tre:l^urer.sllip  of  Lincoln s  Inn.  He  }iad  al)s 
any  allusion  to  the  eriminid  juristhctinn  )N>causo  it  involved  nio 
changes,  and  iK-causi*  the  Judicature  (\>nmii»iion  had  given  the  go-b^ 
eriminal  juriHlietion,  not  dis])ost><l  of  at  Quarter  iSessionH,  would  Ix^  dii 
jujIl'cs  on  ciri'uit.  The  su^'^-stion  tliat  there  should  1)6  centres  an 
division  should  contain  ten  ])laees,  seeme<l  to  him  impracticable,  fo 
woidd  never  liav»' a  hinue.  lie  himself  snt  14r>da\8  in  t.he  year,  an« 
Nit  oidy  fi)ur  days  a  week  he  was  disj'hartiin-;  jiuhlie  buHinefs  durin 
day^  or  eonsulting  authorities  and  writing  jud;;ment;$.  The  simple  f 
County  Courts  was  capable  of  iK'ing  nuido  an  ollicient  means  of  la 
justice  in  i'wry  form,  relievin;:  the  suitor  :knd  the  solicitor  from  the 
ex]H>nso  of  sending  casi>H  u])  to  I/indon.  Anv  country  solicitor  woul 
IhtM'vils  and  InNmrs  ea^^t  upon  him  through  liin  inability  to  keep  his 
hiti  <»wn  control. 

Dr.  KvALi-s  also  re] died  :  As  to  resi<lence,  he  remarked  that  the 
avoidini;  influence  im])osed  an  additional  labour  on  the  judge,  whu 


Discussion,  235 


a  greater  jurisdiction  Hum  that  of  any  other  judge  in  the  land.    The 
le  powers  were  taken  away  the  better. 

inucAsr  (Mr.  Haroourt)  wished  to  see  the  principle  of  local  jurisdiction 
It  was  monstrous  that  a  town  like  Leeds  should  be  compelled  to  send 
m  to  London  in  order  to  try  questions  of  fact.  He  had  cx>en  t^ld,  in- 
the  solicitors  rather  liked  going  up  to  London,  but  the  general  publio 
y  desire  an  extension  of  local  jurisdiction.  It  was  a  great  hardship, 
>n  London  jurymen  that  they  should  have  to  try  country  cases.  He 
oange  in  the  law  which  shoula  compel  people  to  hiave  their  cases  tried 
diction  in  which  they  arose.    The  aistmcHon  between  local  and  trann- 

was  an  absurd  one ;  either  all  cases  might  be  allowed  to  be  transitory 
-  He  should  prefer  the  latter,  were  the  country  divided  into  proper 
Why  should  a  Leeds  plaintiff  be  able  to  put  a  fellow  townsman  to  the 
loe  of  having  the  case  tried  in  London  ?  There  must,  however,  be  good 
nade  for  trymg  cases  locally.  If,  as  Mr.  Daniel  proposed,  the  jurisdic- 
County  Ck)urts  were  extended  to  aU  local  cases,  they  must  be  materially 
'  the  public  would  not  be  prepared  to  grant  them  such  powers  as  at 
istituted.  The  public  must  first  have  greater  confidence  in  their  odminis- 
n,  according  to  Dr.  Byalls's,  and  his  own  observation,  was  at  present 
them.  He  desired  to  turn  the  County  Court  judge  into  u  judge  of  the 
jurt.  Now,  though  there  were  many  eminent  men  who  were  County 
;es,  and  would  adorn  the  highest  posts  in  the  profession,  this  was  not 

the  case,  and  it  was  desirable  that  they  should  be  judges  of  the 
oter  and  with  the  same  salary  as  judges  of  the  superior  court.  He  could 
ction  to  being  resident  in  the  locality,  if  they  had  to  make  a  circuit  of 
rns,  for  he  had  -never  heard  it  supposed  that  a  judge  was  likely  to  be 
by  the  people  amongst  whom  he  hved.  He  had  been  surprised  to  find 
m  small  number  of  cases  tried  in  the  country.  Excluding  the  Home 
ich  it  was  proposed  to  abolish,  only  800  causes  were  tried  in  the  country 
Now,  dividing  these  among  the  six  judges  he  proposed,  having  ten  places 
'Our  circuits  a  year,  each  judge  would  have  three  causes  to  try  a  week, 
a  the  supposition  of  his  sitting  a  week  at  each  place,  and  sitting  four 
tk.  The  number  of  causes  triecf  on  the  Midland  Circuit  last  year,  at  both 
A  143.  in  the  Norfolk  circuit  68,  the  Northern  :>7,  the  Oxford  97,  the 
2,  the  Bristol  40,  North  Wales  35,  South  Wales  26.  Durham  11,  and 
306.  Thus,  assuming  the  business  to  remain  the  same,  the  number  of 
iroposed^would  be  far  in  excess  of  what  was  absolutely  required.  Mr. 
«  had  pointed  out  the  waste  of  time  at  some  places,  and  the  deficiency 
others.  This  was  owing  to  having  too  few  places.  Business,  like  air, 
locording  to  the  size  of  the  receptacle.  The  first  day  a  cause  would 
lole  day,  out  the  last  day  the  causes  were  got  through  in  a  rough  and 
ion,  lixe  an  elephant  gomg  through  a  jungle.  If,  however,  a  judge 
lain  the  business  beforehana,  he  would  distribute  it  conveniently.  Mr. 
1  objected  that  the  judge  would  never  have  a  home,  but  he  would 
e  districts  to  the  youngest  men,  on  their  being  first  raised  to  the  Bench, 
em  eligible  after  a  few  years*  hard  work  for  removal  to  London.  At 
)  same  judge  decided  important  questions  of  law,  and  haggled  over  a 
s  bill.  Now,  he  should  like  to  distribute  the  business  so  that  all 
involving  important  questions  of  law  went  to  the  resident  judge  of 
ne  court,  leaving  petty  matters  of  account  to  some  inferior  judge 
i  the  district.  If  an  important  question  arose  before  the  latter,  ho 
s  an  appeal  to  the  superior  judge  residing  in  the  district,  who  might 
rtain  days  for  appeals  from  the  inferior  judges  under  his  juri^nlictitm. 
f  a  sreat  deal  of  money  might  be  saved.  Ho  had  been  startled  to  find 
cialEstimates,  that  the  sum  voted  for  County  Court  judges  was  446,000/. 
hej  sat  on  an  average  only  130  days  a  year,  or  half  the  days  the  superior 
and  the  inference  was  tliat  there  were  too  many  of  them.  The  judge 
»,  including  Rochdale  and  Solford,  sat,  indeed,  only  88  days  ;  circuit  18, 
sifcuit  17,  113;  so  that  practically  they  sat  only  a  quarter  of  the  year. 
of  circuit  47,  including  Greenwich,  Lambeth,  and  Woolwich,  sat  only 
[^  appeared  as  if  the  number  of  judges,  therefore,  might  with  advantage 


of  the  iiioflt  Tuluublti  ft>aturos  of  County  Conrts,  this  could  be  aroi< 
churactor  of  County  Court  suits  was  strikingly  shown  in  the  ofllrial  ret 
him.  Out  of  the  suits  wliich  came  t-o  trial,  vb  per  cent,  resulted  in  a  y 
the  plaintiff.  tliert<  being  only  1  *8  ]K'r  crnt.  for  tlie  defendant,  and  tbe 
being  nonsuitJi  and  fuiliirot^  from  other  causes.  This  showed  that  pi 
was  a  court  for  undcfendiHl  actions,  fur  lie  did  not  suppose  the  w 
stn>ngcr  fooling  for  the  plaintiff  than  tlic  judge  of  other  tribunals.  j9 
cont^inplatM  the  local  courts  being  courts  of  procedure  and  law.  Tha 
a  groat  change,  for  tlio  theory  of  our  biw  was  that  all  suits  arose  at  W 
and  that  A/'<t  Prius  hittingrt  irrrc  for  Irialtt  of  fact.  Ho  had  onlv  propo 
the  district  judges  Niu  Prtu,'i  jurisdiction,  and  ho  did  not  think  iseues  ol 
be  HH  well  triccl  in  tlio  country  as  in  London.  Pnicodure  and  issues  ol 
bo  reserved  for  tlio  nujwrior  courtf*  in  Tiondon,  localising  the  trial  of 
thus  avoiding  tlio  ex|)eniM^  of  witncMcs  travelling  up  to  town.  Ifr.  \ 
tliouglit  it  would  be  more  conyenient  to  hare  a  central  place  than  a 
places.  From  his  own  exi)erionce  on  circuit  he  should  not  hare  thou( 
all  Bradford,  Halifax,  and  Doncaster  cjI!«os  wore'  tried  at  Leeds,  people 
put  U}  exixiuso  and  trouble  in  waiting  for  their  ca^<os  to  come  on,  as  tue; 
he  certain  of  the  time,  whereas  this  would  not  be  the  case  if  the  eases 
in  those  towns.  Such  matters  of  detail,  howerer,  must  be  determii 
general  experience  of  the  profession.  The  only  question  was  wheth 
jurisdiction  sliould  be  given  to  the  County  Courts  as  at  present  coni 
whether  they  should  not  be  reconstituted,  a  superior  judge  being  put  i 
of  them  to  preside  over  the  districts  with  a  suincient  staff  of  inferioi 
try  the  less  important  cases,  an  appeal  lying  from  them  to  him.  Ha  i 
transact  the  more  im^Mrtant  oivil  and  the  higher  criminal  juriadiol 
district. 

Mr.  Daniel  reminded  the  Chairman  that  though  446,00(V.  was  tq 
County  Courts,  exclusive  of  buildings,  there  was  a  set-off  of  3G7,00(V.  p 
foes. 

The  Chairman  was  aware  of  this,  but  the  same  remark  applied  to  i 
of  our  courtB.  Tlius  the  Court  of  Cliancory  cost  17t3,0(XV.  bui  a  great 
it  was  repaid  in  fees.  In  considering  whether  the  expenditure  was  Ux. 
gross  sum  must  be  hooked  at,  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  440,000{.  was 
was  necessary  for  the  County  Court*. 

Mr.  T.  '^  EBHTKR,  Q.C.,  i)ointed  out  tliat  if  local  trials  were  made  eo 
difRcult^  niiglit  arise  in  case  of  breach  of  contract,  the  defendant  oft 
in  foreign  parts  or  at  a  distance.     This  would  require  oonsideratic 

nnininn  t.Vin    ntiiAA   nf   i*A(iir1«n/tA  fif    tliA  nt.titrnpv  wniilrl  Ka  fVia  mnaf.  /w\vi 


INTERNATIONAL    AEBITRATION. 

n  iJie  Ifaihiru/toii  Treati/,  and  iu  Influence  on  Inti'rnnt'wnal 
Arbtiratum.  Bt/  Professor  Leone  Levi,  F-S-A.,  F.S.S., 
Barrister-at-Law. 

•OR  sereral  years  past,  differences  have  arisen  between  the 
United  Kingdom  anil  the  United  States,  which  threatened  to 
ing  the  two  wimtriea  into  open  hostilities.  A  correspondenue, 
taetiinee  angry,  seldom  conciliatciry — speeches  in  tho  Senate  or  in 
lent,  often  very  vehement,  and  seldom  uttered  with  proper 
to  responsibility  for  conBoquences,  have,  at  times,  emhittered 
nlstions  hetweea  the  two  countries  and  greatly  exaggerated 
I  importance  of  the  subjects  in  dispute ;  and  it  was  oaly  after 
■M  of  fruitless  effort  that  a  way  has  been  found  for  tho  solution 
the  diifiuulty.  The  principal  subjects  of  difl'erence  were : — 
(I.)  TOe  fisheries,  or  whether  certain  expressions  of  the  Treaty  of 
Mi  were  intended  to  exclude  American  vessels  from  coming 
dkoro  to  traffic,  tranship  tish,  purchaae  stores,  &c. ;  and  whether 
}t  three  marine  miles  of  any  coast  should  mean  s,  limit  from  tliii 
)ut-line,  or  from  a  lino  drawn  from  heatUand  to  headland. 
,)  The  free  navigation  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  and  privilege 
pasBage  through  the  Canadian  canals,  the  Amerit^ans  intending 
■t  A«  privilege  accorded  by  the  Beciproci^  Treaties  shotdd 
tend  to  canals  uonstruoted  by  Canadian  enterprise  through  British 
tnlcilTi  including  the  transit  of  goods  through  Maine,  and  lumber 
ide  iiwn  the  River  8t.  John.  (3.)  The  Manitoba  Boundary, 
ring  the  completion  of  the  survey  of  the  boundary  along  the 
parallel.  (4.)  The  Alabama,  Shenandoah,  &c.,  claims,  being 
taixa  against  Britain  for  damage  sustained  by  the  depredation  of 
iCH  T«£sds.  (5.)  The  8an  Juan  Water  Boundary.  (6.)  Claims 
f  British  subjects  arising  out  of  the  civil  war  in  America. 
'.)  Claims  of  the  people  of  Canada  on  iccount  of  the  Fenian  raids. 
It  will  be  seen  that  some  of  these  subjects  of  dispute  ware  of 
KB  standing,  and  that  one  and  all  of  them  have  given  rise  to  much 
luratling,  and  diplomatic  negotiation  and  correspondence.  Hap- 
ly, however,  such  negotiations  never  ceased,  and  a  strong  desire 
nmKoifcisted  on  the  part  of  the  people  of  both  countries  that,  at 
tfitever  cost,  war  should  be  avoided.  The  British  and  American 
liremments,  being  interpreters  of  such  desire,  continued  unremit- 
igly  in  their  efforts  at  conciliation,  and  finally  succeeded  in  arrang- 
g  liat  commissioners  should  be  appointed  by  the  British  Govem- 
BDt  to  proceed  to  Washington  for  tho  purpose  of  discussing  in  a 
endly  spirit,  with  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  the  Government 
the  Unitod  States,  the  various  questions  on  which  differences  have 
iaen  between  Great  Briton  and  that  country,  and  of  treating  for 
to  tho  mode  of  their  amicable  settlement. 


rdingly,  in  February,  IbTl,  tho  High  Commissioners  of  both 
untnes  met  in  conference,  and  in  a  short  time  arrived  at  on 


238  International  Artniration. 

ngrooment,  which  becamo  tho  basis  of  tho  Washington  Trealj, 
signed  on  tlio  8th  of  May,  1871,  and  ratified  on  the  17th  of  June. 
By  this  Treaty  tho  Alabama  Claims  were  referred  to  a  tribunal  of 
arbitration,  to  bo  composed  of  five  arbitrators,  to  bo  appointed  hj 
tlio  (^ucon  of  Enghmd,  tho  Prosidcnt  of  tho  United  States,  (lie 
King  of  Italy,  tho  l^rusident  of  tho  (Swiss  Confederation,  and  the 
Emporor  of  Brazil,  to  meet  at  Geneva.  And  for  their  guide  certaiii 
rules  of  maritime  law  were  agreed  upon  respoctine  the  duties  o( 
neutrals,  with  reference  to  the  fitting  or  arming  of  ^pe  in  neutnit 
]X)rts,  tho  using  of  such  ports  as  the  basis  of  naval  operationB  lij 
ono  belligerent  against  the  other,  and  the  exercise  of  clae  diligam 
so  as  to  prevent  tho  violation  by  any  person  of  neutral  obligauou 
and  duties. 

Any  other  claims  of  American  subjects  upon  the  Govenunent  of 
Her  Majesty"  for  acts  committed  against  them,  and  the  daims  of 
British  subjects  against  tho  Government  of  the  United  States  ftr 
acts  committed  against  them,  between  April,  1861,  and  April,  1865, 
were  referred  to  three  commissioners,  one  to  be  nominated  by  Hor 
Majesty,  one  by  tho  l^esident  of  tho  United  States,  and  a  Huid 
by  boUi  coiijointly;  or  if  such  be  not  so  named  within  tluM 
months,  then  the  some  to  be  named  by  tlie  representative  at 
AVushington  of  the  King  of  JSpain,  the  commissioners  to  meet  at 
Wtisliington.  The  fishery  claim  was  conceded  to  a  certain  extent, 
and  settled,  but  it  was  agreed  that  if  any  further  diapntei 
shoidd  arise  on  the  subject  tho  some  shall  be  referred  to  a  ooai> 
missioner  in  the  some  manner  as  above,  except  that  the  tUU 
commissioner  may  be  appointed  by  tlie  representative  in  London  d 
tlie  Emj>eror  of  Austria.  Tlie  navigation  of  the  Siver  St.  Lawrenoc^ 
Yukon,  Purcopiuo,  and  Stikine,  and  of  certain  canals  in  Canada 
and  the  United  States,  was  declared  free,  and  provisions  were  madl 
for  the  transit  of  goods  through  botli  countries.  Britain  engaged 
that  no  export  duty  should  be  imposed  by  Canada  on  lumber  or 
timber.  The  dispute  regarding  the  boundary  lino  on  the  49ft 
parallel  of  north  latitude  was  left  to  tlie  arbitration  of  the  Emperor 
of  Germany. 

From  tliis  analysis  of  tho  Treaty  of  Washington,  it  will  be  aeei 
(1st)  tliat  after  useless  expenditure  of  time,  and  after  earnest  effinii 
on  both  sides  to  settle  tho  dispute  by  direct  negotiations,  fha 
dilTerent  disputes  had  to  be  left  to  the  arbitration  of  as  many  y 
iive  |)owers,  namely,  Itidy,  Switzerland,  Brazil,  Spain,  and  Austria. 
(2nd.)  That  the  satisfaction  with  which  the  Washington  Trea^ 
has  been  received  on  both  sides  is  the  best  evidence  of  the  dino* 
sition  of  the  people  to  submit  to,  or  abide  by,  whatever  awaia  a 
properly  constituted  Board  of  Arbitration  may  make.  (Srd.)  Thai 
the  success  of  tliese  negotiations  should  afford  encouragement  to 
Her  Majesty's  Government  to  act  on  the  same  principle  in  any 
further  disputes  with  otlicr  powers,  and,  if  possible,  to  anticipaifl 
the  exigencies  by  the  conclusion  of  special  treaties  with  foreign 
powers  lor  tho  establishment  of  a  ponnoncnt  board  of  international 
arbitration. 


Report  of  Special  Committee.  239 


H  of  tJie  Special  Committee  appointed  to  inquire  *^  Whether 
me  General  Scheme  of  International  Arbitration  or  Concilia^ 
m  cannot  be  usefully  recommended  for  adoption  f^^  * 

)ur  Committee  having  met  to  consider  what  course  should  be 
1  in  furtherance  of  the  reference  made  to  them  by  thq  Council, 
ung  a  question  of  so  much  delicacy  and  importance,  resolved, 
«  entering  into  a  deliberate  discussion,  to  elicit,  as  far  as  pos- 
,  the  sentiments   generally  entertained  on  the  subject  by  the 

of  a  niunber  of  queries  to  persons  of  eminence  and  authority 
ighoat  the  country.  And  your  Committee  gratefully  acknow- 
I  the  receipt  of  many  valuable  papers  and  documents,  in  answer 
ch  queries,  which  greatly  assisted  them  in  their  deliberations, 
r  desire  also  of  your  Committee,  a  paper  was  read  at  a  special 
ing  of  the  International  Law  Section  by  Professor  Leone  Levi, 
which  Mr.  Vernon  Harcourt,  Q.C.,  M.P.,  presided,  and  which 
ed  a  lengthened  discussion.  The  paper  and  discussion  on  the 
let  were  published  in  the  *'  Sessional  Proceedings."  And  after 
al  consideration  your  Committee  have  the  honour  to  submit 
'ollowing  report  :— 

)  Scarcely  any  question  can  be  suggested  of  greater  importance 
te  welfare  of  the  world,  than  whether  some  general  scheme  of 
national  arbitration  or  conciliation  cannot  be  usefully  recom- 
[ed  for  adoption.  That  war  is  a  most  barbarous  mode  of  set- 
intemational  questions,  that  the  passions  it  engenders,  and  the 
action  of  life  and  property  it  produces,  are  evils  of  enormous 
litade,  is  universally  admitted.  What  is  wanted  is  some 
dtate  for  war ;  some  other  effectual  means  of  settling  the  quar- 
misunderstandings,  and  claims,  which  from  time  to  time  arise 
een  different  States.  Hitherto,  the  only  methods  employed  for 
peaceful  settlement  of  international  disputes  have  been  of  an 
donal  and  tentative  character.  Claims  for  compensation, 
fciona  of  boundary,  disputes  as  to  the  interpretation  of  treaties, 
other  similar  questions,  have  occasionally  been  referred  to  the 
ntlon  of  some  third  party,  or  to  the  settlement  by  commis- 
srs.  Much  more  frequently  wars  have  been  prevented  or 
inated  through  the  mediation  or  good  offices  of  some  friendly 
*r  or  powers;  whereas  the  Luxemburg  difficulty  between 
ice  and  Prussia,  and,  still  more  recently,  the  Black  Sea  ques- 

have  been  settled  by  conferences  of  the  great  powers.  But 
I  of  these  methods  can  be  adopted,  except  with  the  consent  of 
lie  parties  to  the  dispute,  and  not  unfrequently  the  negotiations 
his  purpose  occupy  a  considerable  time,  during  which  the  feel- 

of  the  negotiators  and   of   their  respective   nations   become 


foe  IhmMdumSt  1870,  p.  1G9,    Beported  to  iho  Council  and  ordered  to  be 
Ated. 


240  trUemational  Ai^bUrattotu 

excited,  and  things  are  written  or  said  which  cause  extreme  irri- 
tation and  bitterness,  and  render  a  peaceful  settlement  alnoiji 
impossible.  For  these  among  other  reasons,  your  Committee  hM 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  high! j  desirable  that  aa 
organization  of  a  permanent  character  should  be  created  bj  a  genehl 
international  agreement,  empowered  to  take  cognisance  of  dupatai, 
without  waiting  until  the  parties  had  in  each  particular  case  mutnUf 
agreed  to  have  the  matter  so  settled. 

(2.)  Such  an  organization,  in  the  opinion  of  jour  Committee,  shodf 
assume  the  character  of  a  Congress  of  Nations,  and  should  compriiK^ 
as  far  as  possible,  all  civilized  States.  But  whereas,  in  its  moff 
acceptation,  a  congress  is  understood  to  mean  a  meeting  of  mini8l0l[ 
or  sovereigns  of  different  States,  called  into  existence  for  one  or  narir 
specific  purposes,  such  as  to  conclude  a  treaty,  to  determine  theeoB* 
sequences  of  a  treaty  already  concluded,  or  to  settle  undedded  poiati 
of  international  law,  and  terminating  when  the  specific  object  Ini 
been  accomplished— the  Congress  of  Nations  which  your  Committar 
propose  is,  on  the  contrary,  one  that  should  have  a  permanent  cd^ 
ganization.  It  has,  indeed,  been  suggested  that  the  different  SmU 
of  Europe  should  form  a  federation,  and  constitute  themselves  intif 
an  International  State  on  the  model  of  the  United  States  of  Amerid 
with  an  international  government  and  an  international  army;  bol* 
your  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  circumstances  are  notniidii^ 
gous,  and  that  any  such  oi^nization  would  be  impracticable.  Alf 
that  your  Committee  contemplate  is  a  simple  organization,  alnidf' 
at  hand,  and  available  at  all  times,  for  the  peaceful  settlement  i 
international  difiputois.  And  to  prevent  this  organization  bsiw 
rendered  less  effective  by  the  refusal  or  delay  of  the  respe^^iw 
parties  to  refer  their  differences  to  the  Congress,  your  Committf 
recommend  that  such  Congress  may  be  summoned  by  any  two  calS 
stituent  States,  in  order  to  deliver  its  verdict  upon  any  dispotv 
tending  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  world  before  that  excitement  rf 
national  feeling  dhall  have  arisen  which  renders  the  peaceful  seStb^ 
ment  of  such  disputes  almost  Impossible.  '* 

{?»,)  There  was  a  general  agreement  among  your  Committee,  tlMt 
it  would  be  scarcely  practicable  to  include  in  the  proposed  sjitHi 
barbarous  or  semi-barbarous  States,  but  their  opinions  were  divide^ 
as  to  whether  it  should  be  limited  to  Europe,  or  should  also  indnlif 
the  States  of  North  and  South  America.  Tour  Committee  htni 
however,  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  better,  in  the  flnC 
instance  at  least,  to  limit  the  intended  organization  to  Europe,  btf 
that  as  soon  as  the  same  shall  have  been  established,  an  invitltloif 
may  be  sent  to  the  United  States  to  join  it,  and  so  successivdj  k[ 
other  States. 

(4.)  In  order  that  the  proposed  Congress  may  be  a  complete  sab*' 
stitute  for  war,  it  seems  essential  that  its  sphere  should  emhrMe  ill 
questions  which  may  possibly  lead  to  war.  Nevertheless,  it  h 
extremely  important  to  preserve  the  internal  independence  cl  ea^ 
State,  and  preclude  the  Congress  from  interfering  between  a  gofsn^ 


lUport  e/  Special  Committee. 


241 


iA  its  subjects,  or  between  a  mother  country  and  her  colonies. 
czclusion  of  iatemol  affiurs  from  the  splisre  of  the  CoDgrcsti, 

UKlifiod  hj  any  exception,  would  leave  a  prolific  cause  of  wars 

led.     One  of  the  most  sanguinary  of  recent  struggles,  the  lael 

in  war,  was  an  internal  conleat  between  the  different  members 

I  towards  foreign  gOTcrnmcnts  conslituled  a  single   State. 

r  great  war,  which  eveniuuliy  involved  many  European 
originated    in  the   revolt   of   England's    North    American 

,     It  seama  to  j'our  Committee  at  least  to  deserve  conaiiler- 

'iietber  power  should  not  l>e  reserved  to  the  Congress  to  offer 
offices,  whenever  a  civil  or  a  colonial  war  is  on  the  point  of 

g  out,  to  the  great  injury,  not  only  of  the  parties  concerned) 

lirety  other  Suic. 

Seaidea  strictly  internal  questions,  there  ore  a  variety  of 
which,  according  to  existing  international  usage,  each  State 

sd  to  regulate  for  ilself,  although  they  oflen  materially  affect 

lare  of  any  other  Stales,  or  of  its  subjects.  Fur  instance, 
«  ia  at  liberty  to  regulate  the  intercourse  of  its  own  subjects 
signers,  and  either  to  prohibit  or  levy  taxes  on  exportuiion- 

lortatiou.     Your  Committee  do  not  contemplate  that  the  pro- 

'ongress  should  be  empowered  to  interfere  with  such  matters 

L     lla  sphere  should  be  limited  to  questions  which,  according 

log  international  usage,  are  capable  of  constituting  legitimate 

}i  war. 

Uany  questions,  however,  would  come  before  the  proposed 
I  which  could  not  be  conveniently  dealt  witli  by  all  the 
\  in  their  collective  capacity,  aa,  for 'example,  claims  for 
•tion,  and  questions  of  disputed  territory.  Tour  Committee 
iggest  that  in  order  to  meet  such  cases,  and  in  order  that  the 
!  may  act  in  a  semi-judicial  capacity,  a  Court  of  Reference 
d  of  a  limited  number  of  persons,  some  of  them  international 

sfaotild  he  established  by  the  Congress.  Such  «  court  should 
e  character  of  a  court  of  tlie  law  of  nations,  and  its  pru- 
i  akonld  be  as  far  hs  possible  similar  to  those  in  a  Prize 
It  would  be  desirable,  however,  that  the  reference  to  the 
nold  be  made  by  the  Congress  iieelf,  and  that  its  decisions 

be  reported  to  the  Congi'ess,  and  by  tbe  same  commitnicBted 

iitercJted  parlies. 

Four  Committee  do  uot  consider  it  advisable  to  place  any 
limitation  upon  tbe  nature  of  the  award.  Tbe  payment  of 
17  compensation,  the  making  of  apologies,  the  extradition  or 
afi^ders,  the  cession  of  territory,  the  demolition  of  fortresses, 
Bific  performance  of  treaty  obligations,  and,  indeed,  every* 
bich,  according  to  the  present  usages  of  international  law, 
imposed  upon  a  defeated  nation  by  the  victors,  should  alike 

in  the  competence  of  the  Congress  to  adjudge. 

lu  coDsideiiug  the  nature  and  functions  of  the  Congress,  tbe 
iportanC  question  your  Coinmitteu  bavo  had  to  determiuo  is, 
I  ito  dMiaious  should  have  merely  a  moral  authority,  or 
16 


242  Tfiternatiofial  Arbitration. 

should)  if  necessary,  be  enforced.  Upon  this  question  there  18 
difference  of  opinion,  both  inside  and  outside  your  Committ 
has  been  nrged  in  favour  of  force,  that  any  mere  expresf 
opinion,  not  backed  by  force,  however  weighty  the  coogi 
tribunal  from  which  it  might  emanate,  would  be  powerless  to  i 
sovereigns  and  peoples  inflamed  with  angry  and  ambitioas  pii 
that  if  the  proposed  congress  or  tribunal  were  merely  an  or, 
public  opinion,  it  would  probably  find  great  difficulty  in  hold 
own  against  unofUcial  competitors ;  that  tlie  best  guarant 
peaceful  submission  to  its  decisions  would  be  the  knowledj 
they  would,  if  necessary,  be  enforced  by  a  power  so  great 
render  successful  resistance  hopeless;  that  confidence  in  th 
tcction  of  some  congress  or  tribunal,  which  should  be  not  on 
but  powerful,  is  the  only  thing  which  can  ever  induce  nati 
reduce  tlieir  overgrown  military  and  naval  armaments  ;  and  ti 
individual  interests,  which  at  present  often  hinder  the  an 
action  of  different  States  for  the  maintenance  of  peace,  or  tl 
vention  of  injustice,  would  cease  to  do  so  if  they  could  no  loB 
'  furthered  by  independent  action,  either  alone  or  in  alliano 
other  particular  States,  and  could  only  be  attained  by  p 
means,  by  appealing  to,  and  obtaining,  a  favourable  decisioi 
the  congress  or  tribunal.  On  the  other  hand,  in  favour  of 
action  pure  and  simple,  it  has  been  argued  that  a  reference  t 
tration  or  mediation  must  bo  by  its  nature  an  appeal  from  A 
reason;  that  its  very  object  is  tho  avoidance  of  war;  thi 
attempt  to  establish  an  international  government,  with  o 
powers,  would  excite  a  great  deal  of  jealousy  and  distrust ;  th 
agreement  for  combined  action  in  enforcing  decisions  woi 
certain  to  be  defeated  by  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  di 
States  at  the  time  when  the  occasion  for  such  enforcement 
arise;  that,  in  certain  cases,  the  united  forces  of  all  the  States 
sentcd  by  tho  Congress  might  be  weaker  than  the  forces 
recalcitrant  parties;  that  whether  weaker  or  stronger,  the  e 
cations,  difficulties,  and  evils  of  war,  would  be  tenfold  aggrara 
bringing  so  many  nations  into  tho  contest ;  and  that  there  wo 
quite  as  little  guarantee  that  justice  and  might  should  go  tq 
were  the  Congress  to  act  collectively,  as  if  each  nation  were  \ 
defend  its  own  rights.  Your  Committee  regret  the  want  ol 
nimity  on  this  important  point,  but  even  among  those  of  its  nM 
who  consider  that  the  decisions  of  the  Congress  ought  to  be  enl 
there  are  some  who  trust  that  the  very  existence  of  the  pn 
Congress,  with  only  a  moral  authority,  would  strongly  tfl 
prevent  war,  that  its  decisions  would  have  great  moral  weigl 
that  by  its  organization  many  difficulties  and  occasions  c^ 
would  bo  removed,  or  settled  in  an  amicable  and  satis! 
manner. 

(9.)  The  Congress  which  your  Committee  propose  should  < 
of  deputies  appointed  by  all  the  States  entering  into  the  agn 
In  view,  however,  of  the  extreme  disparity  of  the  different  Sti 


StpOft  t^  Speeinl  ComrniHee 


S49 


v.  population,  wealth,  and  commerce,  it  might  be  ilesirable  to 
ill  certain  relations  bsm-een  these  elemoiits,  and  the  number 
ifaera  to  bo  deputed  by  eaob  Suito.  It  \*,  moreover,  wortlty 
iileratioD  whether  the  concurrence  of  a  majority  of  eny  two- 
>f  the  Congress  should  not  he  required  before  any  nward  ia 
ly  pronouiicod,  nt  lea^t  where  Buch  award  i»  not  based  upon 
1  decision  by  the  Court  of  Beference, 

Tour  Committee  desire  to  draw  particular  oltention  to  the 
[preeseil  in  the  Paris  Protocol  of  1H5<>,  "thnt  States  between 
way  Berions  misuaderstaQdiag  might  arise  should,  before  ap- 
to  arms,  bnve  recourse,  as  far  as  ctrcumstances  might  allow, 
IDod  offices  of  a  friendly  power."  They  nrc  of  opinion  thnt, 
tlie  realisation  of  the  larger  measures  proposed  by  them,  it 
1  a  practical  and  useful  recommeudation  for  the  Association 
J  fhst  the  wish  expressed  in  that  protocol  should  be  turned 
lefioiie  treaty  obligation,  substituting  discussion  by  a  Congress 
good  offices  of  a  frieodly  power,  and  excluding  the  nulUfying 
DO)  "ta  far  B3  circumstances  might  allow."  Let  it  be  t^eei), 
ItaMs  between  which  any  serious  misunderstanding  may  arise 
appealing  to  arms,  submit  their  difTerences  to  discussion 
of  the  contmoting  powers."  Tliis  would  not  bind 
abide  by  the  decisioQ  of  the  Congress,  but  tho  result  would 
!  the  State  which  felt  itself  nggriovcd  would  be  ablo  to 
ft  Congress  to  meet  forthwith  in  the  capital  of  some  third 
SI  discussion  would  ensue,  in  the  presence  of  diplomatisld 
ifwmod  of  the  fact^i,  and  keeu  to  detect  eopliistry  in  the 
Ig  on  theuj  ;  the  public  opinion  of  tiio  world  would  be  en- 
d  aud  aroused.  A  State  whose  aruiies  cross  its  frontiers 
having  submitted  the  difference  to  a  Congress,  will  commit  a 
at  treHty  towards  all  the  other  powers,  and  thereby  give  Ihem 
diate  tight  of  hostile  interference,  the  exercise  of  which, 
would  depend  on  tlieir  discretion,  although  its  rery  oxist- 
ild  constitute  so  foimidable  a  danger  as  greatly  to  increasB 
iTObability  that  war  would  be  so  commenced.  Imperfect  as 
pfltatioD  would  be,  your  Committee  are  of  opinion  that  it 
lOt  only  prepare  the  way  for  the  larger  measures  they  liava 
IJ,  but  iu  itself  tend  to  secure  the  maintcnauce  of  peace. 
Toor  Committee,  moreover,  npprove  of  all  partial  applications 
rmtioti,  whether  it  be  by  the  reference  of  particular  disputes 
Tatton,  or  by  the  insertion  in  treaties  betweeu  particular 
tf  clanses  providing  Ihiit  any  dispute  which  may  arise  upon 
e  bo  relerrcd  either  to  speciul  arbitrators  or  to  Uie  Congress 
wed. 

The  main  conclusion  which  your  Committee  have  arrived  at 
Itablishmenl  by  a  general  treaty  of  u  permanent  orgnnizatioa 
settlement  of  international  disputes,  having  the  ohuracler  of 
of  Nations,  with  n  Court  of  reference  for  the  more  care- 
dication  of  claims  and  questions  of  detail.  And  they  believe 
b  »  Coi^vca  would  not  only  be  of  great  heJp  to  the  raain- 
16—2 


244  IntemaHonal  AtHiratian, 

tenanee  of  peace  among  nations,  bat  alao  fiMilitata  the  aetdemeni 
difficult  questions  of  international  law,  and  by  its  prooednre  s 
decisions  eventuallj  lead  to  the  formation  of  a  definite  Code. 

Mr.  G.  Christiui  Mast  read  a  paper,  entitled  a  *^  Scheme  for  \ 
International  Peace  Organization,  to  be  promoted  bj  a  Festifsl 
Nations,  after  the  model  of  the  Olympic  Games****  Having  briiBl 
noticed  the  deplorable  results  of  the  recent  war.  and  the  iatu 
national  jealousies  and  suspicions  to  which  it  gave  rise,  he  slit 
that  his  object  was  to  help  to  pat  down  deadly  strife,  and  to  reMQ 
again  the  mutual  confidence  of  nationa  To  efiect  these  most  d 
sirable  ends,  he  proposed  a  union  of  all  those  who  acknowledge!  n 
would  make  the  conviction  prevail,  that  war  is  a  barbaroas  mean 
redress ;  that  arbitration  ought  to  be  the  resource  in  intemattni 
difierences ;  and  that,  consequently,  standing  armiea  ooght  to  ■ 
gradually  redaced  and  finally  abolished.  This  union,  howenr^ 
not  to  be  merely  one  of  sentiment  By  united  and  energetic  actk 
a  considerable  number  of  persons  favourable  to  the  cause  shoald  i 
returned  to  the  several  legislative  assemblies,  out  of  whom  saki 
qaently  an  International  Congress  should  be  elected.  The  naUn 
outgrowth  of  this  superior  Parliament  would  be  a  High  Court 
Arbitration,  the  position  and  functions  of  which  with  r^ard  to  tl 
organized  States  would  be  similar  to  those  of  the  Law  Coarts  in  ll 
respective  countries.  He  proposed  as  an  ingredient  of  the  schems 
Festival  of  Nations,  and  selected  as  a  model  the  Olympic  GaoNSi 
ancient  Greece.  To  the  influence  of  these  games,  he  said,  uait  I 
referred  much  of  the  culture,  both  corporeal  and  intellectuid,  of  Ik 
most  cultivated  nation  of  olden  times.  They  prompted  the  sdaa 
tion  at  once  of  the  two  principles  which  consdtute  man,  devekpilf 
and  strengthening  tho  powers  of  his  body,  as  well  as  elevaUng  III 
sentiments  and  refining  his  tastes ;  and  he  anticipated  that  their  n 
establishment  would  now  be  productive  of  similar  results.  Aeeod 
ingly  he  proposed  that  the  festival  should  consist  of— (1.)  Gymotil 
exercises  and  athletic  sports ;  (2.)  Musical  performances ;  (8.)  H 
universal  tribune  ;  and  (4.)  International  exhibitions  of  objects  i 
art,  science,  and  industry  ;  held  at  regular  periods,  onder  fl 
management  of  the  Peace  Organization,  whose  agents  would  peni|l 
society  in  every  civilised  land.  This  festival  would  doubtless  prsH 
one  of  the  grandest  spectacles  the  world  has  ever  seen;  ii 
it  would  doubtless  also  contribute  incalculably  to  the  benefit 
mankind. 


*  This  Paper  has  been  printed  in  full  I7  the  Author. 


Rf/orms  in  Procedure. 


a  i\iggesled  in  the  I'rocedure  of  our  Courts  of  £qiiU^  and 
"     By  H.  D.  Jencken,  Barrister-at-Law. 

I  KNOW  of  no  Buliject  which  possoeaes  greater  interest  to  the 

PhiEtonan  thaa  that  of  the   development  and   prngrees  of  tlie 

^unistration  of  justice  ui   the  tribunals  of  n  civilized  countrj'. 

EEngland  tfaia  is  eHpedally  the  case,  as  our  laws  from  the  days  of 

ilBdVafds  and  Henrys  have  been  the  true  representatives  of  the 

dlMtnal  development  of  our  nation.      At  a  period  when  our 

ingwas  principally  directed  to  classical  studies,  and  when, 

anr,  ecelesiastica   were  the  only  learned    men  in  the  land, 

|l  forms  of  pleading,  tho  practice,  the  procedure  in  our  courts, 

i  very  nomenclature  used  in    legal  writings    and   in  Acts  of 

'■■«neint  were  borrowed  almost  entirely  from  the  Canon  Law. 

l]  as  these  modes  of  procedure  may  have  been,  the  day  arrived 

n  the  advanoeinent  of  civilization,  the  increase  of  wealth  and 

,   rendered  these  legal  forms  unauited  to  the  purposes 

Kwhieh  they  were  originally  employed.     The  original  writ,  the 

:  forms  of  pleadings,  soon  fell  into  disii^'O,   and  the 

B  A'on  potest  qui*  tine  breviagere  yielded  to  systematized  forms, 

(irliiah  the  Statute  of  Westminster  the  Second  gave  legislative 

Passing  on  to  tho  time  of  Henry  VIII.  we  find  that  the 

Uraforred  to  were  collected  in  a  Eegister  of  writs;  and  from 

tt  period  to  our  own  time  we  are  enabled  to  trace  in  the  language 

tha  write,  and  the  various  forma  of  octiana  at  Common  Law,  the 

7  aetnenclature  used  centuries  ago  in  actions  of  debt.  Covenant, 

jmnpait.  Trover,  Detinue,  Trespass,  and  Trespass  on  the  case. 

It  Common  Law  Procedure  Acts  have  somewhat  modiiied  these 

liqua  and  rigid  forms  ;  but  the  evil  yet  exists  of  undue  technicali- 

inour  pleadings,  and  a  wordiness  ia  the  use  of  our  legal  language 

n  that  not  only  embarrasses,  but  obscures  our  judicial  learning. 

1  fought  action,  as  the  profession  designates  those  hazardous 

interB  with  forms  of  procedure,  presents  a  sad  illuslration  of 

■  utter  want  of  simplicity,  abuse  of  logic,  aud  want  of  judicial 

IpvUdge  on  the  part  of  those  who  framed  the  forms  of  pleadings, 

1d  foKtered  the  practice.      First  we  have  the  writ,  then  the  ap- 

ranoe ;  following  this  the  dficlaration.  possibly  containing  some 

^  re  of  counts ;  to  each  of  these    "pleaa,"    raising  issues  which 

bipel  the  plaintiff  to  amend  his  declaration,  then  pleas  to  these 

ded  counts :  and  then  demurrers  to    one  or  more  of  these. 

«the  demurrer  can  be  heard,  the  facts  have  to  be  determined. 

bd  finally,  after  perhaps  a  loss  of  time  involving  months,  or  even 

aes  on  for  argument,  briefs  are  delivered,  when, 

•  the  disappointment  and  disgust  of  the  suitor,  the  cause  cannot 

^  reached,  or  if  reached,  so  little  time  can  be  spared,  that  nolens 

>,  the  matter  is,  what  is  professionally  termed,  referred.     Dur- 

gthfl  whole  of  thJs  period  of  this  intricate  navigation  the  utmost 

•  8m  TrannKtimu,  1865,  p.  143, 


24G  Reforms  in  ProesduM* 

vigilanco  is  noodod,  lost  by  any  slip  or  mishap  the  canBe  should  be 
Bh'anded  upon  ono  of  the  many  ree&  in  the  practice  of  the  Conrt 

In  our  Cnancory  Courts,  although  another  system  has  been  punosd, 
tho  complicated  nature  of  the  procedure  defies  all  parallel  in  legil 
history.  The  fomis  of  the  Canon  Law,  or  as  the  German  ni 
French  jurists  designate  it,  the  '*  Boman  Canon  Law,"  has  boa 
preserved.  I  need  not  dwell  upon  the  historical  development  of  «■ 
Courts  of  Chancery,  this  is  familiar  to  you  all.  It  will  sofioe  if] 
submit  for  your  consideration  the  outlines  of  a  Bill  and  Antwm 
in  Chancery,  and  tho  mode  of  taking  eyidence ;  and  I  doubt  mH 
but  that  you  will  agree  with  me  when  I  state  that  the  Canon  Ln 
form  of  petition — tho  **  Imploratio  officii  judieis"  has  been  eiasl^ 
imitated  by  our  Eciuity  draftsmen. 

First  wo  liave  the  address,  **  Humbly  complaining,  shows,"  &Q.; 
tlieu  tho  prolix  quaint  mode  of  stating  the  case,  and  finally  Ai 
prayer.  Tho  fonnal  language  employed  was  familiar  to  contineniil 
jurists  centuries  ago,  but  fortunately  the  increase  of  juridieil 
learning,  and  the  practical  necessity  of  adapting  the  language  sad 

Srocodure  to  tlio  uses  (»f  a  more  advanced  state  of  civiliiutioni  le^ 
erod  the  continuance  (;f  these  obsolete  forms  undesirable. 
In  England,  on  tho  other  hand,  strange  enough  to  say,  thoodi 
the  Koman  law,  so  rich  in  its  x)rinciples,  has  been  most  injudidoiw 
all  but  ignored,  and  is  even  at  the  present  day  looked  upon  vnk 
suspicion,  tho  quaint  forms  of  pleading  introduced  by  tb 
vanonists  liavo  been,  nevertlieless,  strictly  adhered  to  in  our  Covtl 
of  Equity,  I'robato,  and  Admiralty.  Even  the  Canon  Law  "  spmuk 
prajudicalis,*^  was  only  abolished  by  the  8  &  9  Yiot.,  o.  lOli 
The  Canon  Law  mode  of  taking  evidence  by  administering  writfta 
interrogatories  to  be  answered  by  written  depositions,  the  ntf 
form  of  replication,  duplication  ;  the  mode  of  closing  the  pleadingi; 
the  rules  as  to  the  production  of  dociunents,  the  examination  rf 
witnesses  before  an  examiner,  the  proceedings  in  court,  the  docni^ 
all  these  are  strictly  copied  from  the  forms  of  the  Canon  Law.  lfo> 
thing  can  exceed  tho  volimiinous  bulk  of  a  record  in  ChaneeiT, 


'*  it  were  not  too  plain  that  it  is  oppressive."  Indeed,  to  anjo 
who  has  given  due  attention  to  this  subject  it  is  matter  of  suniiM^ 
that  it  should  be  possible  to  continue  a  system,  which  has.inmdal 
and  still  infiicts  so  nuuih  loss  and  suffering,  such  cruel  saorifioe  d 
property  and  time,  and  such  injustice  upon  suitors ;  a  system,  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say,  which  has  practically  closed  the  doors  of  ttl 
forum  of  justice  upon  all,  save  the  wealthy  and  the  iK>warfal. 

I  have,  however,  said  enough,  I  hope,  to  convince  you  that  fts 
forms  of  our  Chancery  proceedings  are,  even  at  this  day,  despla 
of  the  many  improvements  the  21  &  22  Vict,  o  27,  and  25  &  SG 
Vict.  c.  42,  have  effected,  wholly  unsuited  to  the  requirements  a 
the  times. 

Turning  to  our  Courts  of  Admiralty  you  will  find  that  until  tk< 


By  H.  D.  Jencketi.  247 

jiiAiidments  effected  by  the  3  &  4  Vict.  c.  65  &  GG,  7  &  8  Yict. 
.  82,  9  &  10  Vict.  c.  99,  and  latterly  by  the  17  &  18  Vict.  o.  104, 
hs  quaintest  possible  procedure,  and,  tliough  recently  somewbat 
ttpoYed,  the  nomenclature  and  the  x)ractice  of  the  Court  remains 
pits  characteristic,  and  contrasts  most  unfavourably  with  that 
msaed  before  the  tribunals  of  other  Courts  in  other  countries. 
Bqially  obsolete  are  the  proceedings  in  our  Courts  of  Probate. 
[n  the  Court  of  Divorce  and  Mati'imonial  Causes — established  by 
jbs  20  &  21  Vict.  c.  85,  a  more  simple  form  of  petition  haH  been 
idopted,  and  it  is  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  I  find  myself  con- 
BmUing  a  plain  narrative  of  tho  cause  of  action  and  an  intelligible 
pnjer,  op  request  for  tho  relief  needed.  I  have  thus  far  dealt 
inth  our  principal  Courts  of  Record,  and  have  now  only  to  allude 
to  the  complicated  rules  and  the  intricate  practice  of  our  Courts  of 
Biakruptcy. 

The  mere  fact,  that  an  estate  is  thrown  into  this  Court,  involves 
tlie  extraordinary  consequence,  that  all  questions  between  the 
bniknipt  estate  and  tliird  parties  have  to  be  tried  hy  a  procedure 
absolutely  different  from  that  in  use  in  the  Courts  of  Equity  and 
Liw. 

The  loss  of  time  involved,  the  enormous  (costliness  of  the  present 
gyitem,  naturally  forces  upon  us  tho  question,  whether  there  is  no 
xonedyfor  this  crying  evil?  The  answer  to  this  question  must  be 
in  the  ai&rmative.  Tho  evil  is  remedial,  and  the  only  question  is, 
kov  to  apply  the  remedy. 

In  the  tirst  place,  tho  pleadings  in  all  the  Courts  of  Law  and 
Equity  ought  to  be  upon  one  model,  and  no  better  form  could  be 
found  than  the  simple  form  of  petition  now  in  use  in  our  Courts  of 
OivDrce  and  Matrimonial  Causes,  or  that  adopted  l>y  our  Courts  in 
India.  All  technical  languago  ought  to  be  avoided,  tho  prayer 
oight  to  embody  the  nature  of  the  relief  required.  Tho  Court 
dimild  have  imlimited  jiowcr  to  amend  the  pleadings  at  any  stage 
of  the  cause.  I  woidd  suggest  that  all  proceedings  should  com- 
aeooe  with  a  writ,  that  entrance  of  appearance  should  be  abolished, 
the  defendant  having  eight  days  allowed  after  delivery  of  par- 
tjcolars,  or  declaration  to  plead.  All  causes  under  25/.  and 
i^ddi  do  not  involve  questions  of  title  to  land,  or  are  repre- 
mtatiTe  cases,  to  go  to  trial  upon  particulars  of  demand  being 
faniahed,  and  witliout  pleadings,  unless  by  leave  of  a  judge,  or  by 
a  Court ^of  Practice. 

A  Court  o/Fractice  should  bo  attached  to  every  Court  of  Eecord 
in  the  land.  The  present  system  of  settling  j)leadings,  interroga- 
teriei,  and  other  matters  in  chambers  is  as  burdensome  to  the 
orenrorked  judges,  as  it  is  unsatisfactory  to  the  suitor. 

An  important  question  for  discussion  is  that  which  relates  to  the 
mode  of  taking  evidence.  All  testimony  of  witnesses,  wherever  it 
ii  possible,  ought  to  be  oral.  Nothing  can  exceed  the  uselessness, 
the  delay,  and  the  expense  of  written  answers  to  written  interrog- 
atories. Any  one  acqucdnted  with  the  proceedings  of  our  Equity 
Courts  will  confirm  what  I  say  on  this  subject. 


248  Reforms  in  Procedure. 

Under  the  present  vicious  system — after  the  depositions  lin 
been  filed,  first  come  the  cross-examinationB|  then  tne  oorreetioni 
and  when  the  vast  store  of  depositions,  oross-ezaminationfl^  s4 
dayits,  have  been  exhausted,  the  whole  mass  of  writing  is  pniiiilj 
and  at  what  an  enormous  cost!  At  the  hearing,  the  t^nieami 
slurred  over,  distorted,  disjointed ;  and  the  judge  is  required  ahaoi 
by  intuition  to  draw  correct  inferences  fiom  the  inooherent  oj 
imdigestod  mass  of  crude  material  before  him.  .-. 

With  all  its  many  defects,  oral  examination  has  the  great  adm 
tago  of  throwing  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  conduct  and  the  intentifl| 
of  the  x^artios,  whatever  the  transaction  may  happen  to  have  be«i: 

I  would  preserve,  however,  the  system  of  interrogatoriesi  if 
leave  of  a  judge,  as  tending  to  diminish  the  expense  of  the  prodwii 
tion  of  evidence ;  and  in  chambers  the  production  and  inspeotion  d 
documents  ought  to  be  allowed  as  a  matter  of  course. 

At  this  2>oint  of  my  inquiry,  I  find  myself  all  but  involujitaiili 
confronting  the  now  mucn  mooted  question  of  the  fusion  of  % 
Courts  of  Equity  and  Law.  For  such  fusion  the  County  Ooalk 
are  rapidly  preparing  the  way. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  mode  of  trial  and  the  question  of  Goniti 
of  Appeal. 

I  suggest  that  the  courts  at  Westminster  and  at  LincoIn'tJnt 
be  abolished.  My  first  object  would  be  to  decentralize  the  wIidIi 
of  our  judicial  system,  and  to  create  District  Courts  throughout  tht 
kingdom.  These  Courts  to  be  composed  of  three  puisne  and  a  r8»; 
dent  chief  JTidge ;  and  to  possess  unlimited  jurisdiction  over  ill 
causes  arising  within  the  liniits  of  their  district  whether  the  oton 
be  of  fact,  or  of  law,  or  involving  questions  of  equity,  probate,  ot 
matrimonial  or  admiralty  causes.  In  a  word,  ail  actions  or  soiii 
should  be  initiated  in  the  Courts  of  the  First  Instance,  orDistzkik 
Courts.  Attached  to  these  courts  I  suggest  that  a  Court  of  DrMim 
should  be  established  to  take  the  place  of  the  duties  ofjudges  ii 
chambers,  save  in  questions  of  arrest.  I  would  also  g^ve  to  thMe 
District  Courts  all  the  powers  of  a  Bankruptcy  Court,  and  jiuifti 
diction  in  liquidations  of  companies  registered  as  donuJoiled  withi]| 
their  respective  districts. 

^  All  pleadings  to  be  as  simple  and  non-technical  aa  possible ;  ifaf 
simple  fonn  of  pleading  now  in  use  in  our  supreme  oourts  in  Indii\ 
or  those  adopted  by  our  Divorce  Courts,  would,  indeed,  oonstitaJ| 
excellent  models  for  our  guidance. 

In  questions  of  fact,  the  suitor  to  possess  the  right  of  denumdiiw 
a  special  jury.  All  common  juries  m  civil  actions  to  be  abolisha^ 
No  one  acquainted  with  the  working  of  our  common  jnni^ 
will  denf  that  a  change  is  imperative  in  this  respect  In  w 
County  Courts,  whore  a  judge  decides  both  the  fact  and  the  Iffi 
juries  are  only  very  exceptionally  required. 

Within  each  district.  Petty  Debts  Courts  to  bo  estaUiahed  wi4 
jurisdiction  up  to  5^  In  these  Courts  the  rule  of  pre-andiMioi 
for  the  Bar  to  be  dispensed  with ;  whilst  in  the  District  Courti  4ifal 
privilege  of  the  Bar  to  be  continued.    Appeal  lying  from  the  Pft* 


By  H.  D.  Jenchea. 


249 


B  Courta  to  the  District  Courts.     From  these  District  Cotirta 
1  to  lie  to  Courts  of  Appeal  of  the  First  Instance,  to  be  com- 

%  of  tttft  judges  and  chief  j<idge,  three  to  form  a  quonim.     I 

■^  ftuggeat  fire  Appeal  Cotirts  of  the  Firfit  Instance,  namely — 

h  «nd  South  Walefi,  the  northern  counties,  midland  counties, 

liondon,  to  include  the  southern  counties. 

*  Courts  of  Appeal  to  have  the  right  of  either  revereing 

judgment  of  the  Courts  below,  or  of  pronouncing  judgment 
afliemerita,  withl>ower  to  amend  the  reuord  and  require  the 
ction,  should  the  justice  of  the  oase^domand  this,  of  additional 
ice. 

W  Courts  of  Appeal  to  bo  the  aupervisors  in  all  matters  of  trusts, 

*  criminal  jurisdiction  irithin  the  district  should  appertain  to 
Jourt  of  Appeal,  as  a  Central  Criminal  Court,  with  appeal  to 
Sonrt  in  Bane,  in  all  Crown  Cases  reserved — I  specially  Iiiy 
I  upon  this  point,  as  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  our 
"  »  that  the  judges  who  preside  at  our  criminal  trials  should 
jes  of  our  superior  Courts.  Each  district  to  he  divided  into 
IS  for  criminal  cases. 

il  appeal  from  these  Courta  of  Appeal  to  lie  to  a  Supreme  Court 
wal  in  Londou,  to  be  composed  of  nine  judges,  a  President,  and 
president.  Pour  to  form  a  quorum,  the  Lord  Chancellor  to 
woffieio  President  of  this  Court,  and  the  Law  Lords  of  the 
r  Honse  to  be  members  of  the  Court  ex  qficio,  but  not  salaried 

t  to  the  House  of  Lords  to  be  abolished.  Indeed  the 
p  hare  already  practically  discontinued  the  use  of  this  costly 
"ipremo  tribunal  of  appeal.  On  the  Common  Law  eido,  that 
D  the  Exchequer  Chamber,  on  the  average,  only  nii  cases  are 
"f  entered;   from  the   Courts  of  Chancery  about   twenty; 

B  Dirorco  Courts,  about  four. 

186^    and   1865,    appeals  from   Irish    and    Scotch    Courts 

i  to  less  than  thirty  annually.     Of  these  causes  only  about 

»  prosecuted  to  final  judgment.     We  have  thus  the 

fact  that  of  all  the  many  cases  that  are  fought  out 

J  in  the  Courts  below  in  England  and  Wales,  only  tliree  on 

lamon  Law  side  and  a  half  score  on  tlie  Chancery  side  drift 

e  House  of  Lords.     To  call  the  Lords  in  the  face  of  such 

K  tribunal  of  final  appeal  ia  simply  a  misnomer. 

I  brief  aJtetch  liie  the  one  I  have  ventured  to  present  to  you, 

}  Aware  I  have  not  touched  upon  many  important  points ;  I 

Hy  present  the  boundary  lines  of  the  changes  required  in  our 

U  qystem.     In  multiplying  our  Courts,  the  direct  expenditure 

le  tncreaaed,  but  I  think  not  to  the  extent  that  may  be  feared,  if 

lorb  our  County  Courts.     The  able  men  who  fill  the  Judicial 

w  of  these  Courts  should  be  advanced  to  the  superior  posi- 

If  jndges  of  our  District  Courts.     But  even  admitting  that  the 

He  ofexpenditure  would  be  great,  the  enormous  benefit  to  the 

"  'ii  possessing  an  iaiproved  administration  of  the  law  cau 


ioO  Municipal  Lauo  Summary. 

hardlv  be  over-eBtimated.  The  tribunals  of  the  land  a 
use  01  the  people,  and  wherever  the  eoetlinew  and  the  c 
faulty  procedure  hinders  that  use,  the  uttormost  ii^jnstioi 
inflicted.  I  heartily  concur  with  Mr.  Daniel,  when  he  i 
the  denial  of  justice  which  practically  results  is  most  ''den 
to  the  community." 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Mr.  Joiur  Lascelles,  Barrister-at-Law,  read  a  paper  O] 
Juries  and  the  Pleas  of  Criminals."  The  object  of  t 
of  the  paper  is  to  show  how  the  coimtry  may  be  i 
expense  which  it  now  incurs  in  bringing  witnesses  to  ai 
sessions,  to  be  in  readiness  to  givu  evidence  against 
who  plead  guilty  to  the  (.*harges  made  against  them, 
witnesses  are  paid  so  much  a  day  during  the  time  th 
attendance,  and  they  also  have  their  travelling  expenses 
them.  The  mone}'^  which  is  paid  by  the  State  in  respec 
amounts  to  a  largo  sum  every  year.  Its  indirect  loss  ooa 
bringing  warders  of  prisons  to  bo  in  readiness  to  provi 
convictions  against  prisoners  charged  with  them  is  also 
able.  These  public  servants  are  sometimes  brought  ire 
parts  of  the  country.  They  are  withdrawn  from  the  dii 
their  regular  duticH,  and  are  often  kept  in  enforced  idle: 
our  Criminal  Ck)urts  for  two  or  three  days.  Our  present 
procedure  obliges  the  persons  in  charge  of  prosecution 
witnesses  in  readiness  to  prove  previous  convictions,  itu 
well  known  to  persons  acquainted  with  the  administrat 
criminal  law  that  prisoners,  against  whom  such  charges 
almost  invariably  plead  guilty  to  them  as  a  matter  of  a 
addition  to  causing  a  wasteful  expenditure  of  public  n 
present  method  of  procedure  occasions  a  good  deal  of  m 
inconvenience  and  loss  to  private  individuals.  Trade 
others  are  frequently  brought  away  from  their  ordinary  oc 
and,  after  being  kept  loitering  about  our  courts,  are  told 
are  at  liberty  to  go  home,  as  their  evidence  will  not  b< 
the  prisoners  against  whom  they  were  ready  to  appei 
pleaded  guilty.  The  power  of  grand  juries  to  call  an4 
witnesses,  and  our  practice  of  taking  the  pleas  of  criminal 
commencement  of  the  assizes  or  sessions  at  which  th^ 
tried,  are  the  joint  causes  of  the  evilB  complained  of.  (h 
meet  on  the  day  on  which  the  trials  are  to  begin,  and 
may  be  called  upon  to  plead  and  put  upon  their  trials  tl 
true  bills  have  been  foxmd  against  them.  This  being 
witnesses  against  all  the  prisoners  have  to  be  in  attenda 
earliest  time  at  which  they  may  be  called  by  the  grand 
have  to  remain  until  the  causes  in  which  they  are  coiu 
Anally  disjposed  of.  The  necessity  wliich  now  exists  i 
witnesses  m  readiness  to  appear  against  prisoners  who  pi 
may  be  easily  avoided  by  saeans  of  §omo  changes  in  our 


itiicellaneous,  251 

a  Older  to  do  this  we  must  either  abolish  grand  juries  or  restrict 
Ibran  to  the  consideration  of  the  depositions,  and  to  any  documen- 
Kj  eridenoe  referred  to.  Additional  evidence,  turning  up  after 
lie  oomxnittals,  being  taken  in  the  same  way  as  the  depositions  are 
fl)Eeiii — ^put  into  writing,  and  attached  to  and  forming  part  of  them. 
We  should  also  cause  all  prisoners  to  plead  a  day  or  two  before  the 
jommencement  of  the  assizes  or  sessions  to  wliich  they  have  been 
jommitted,  and  should  then  only  summon  thuso  witnesses  whose 
yridence  will  be  required,  that  is,  the  witnesses  against  the 
■iaoners  who  plead  not  guilty,  and  who  consequently  have  to  bo 
zied.  In  days  when  our  judges  were  more  creatures  of  the  Crown, 
lad  jurymen  were  liable  to  punishment  for  giving  honest  verdicts 
B  cues  in  which  it  was  a  party,  grand  juries  wore  no  doubt  great 
laftguards  to  the  people.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  they  have 
Maed  to  be  necessary,  and  that  they  may  be  abolished  with  safety. 
)ar  judges,  recorders,  and  chairmen  of  magistrates  at  quarter 
mmoskB  may  now  be  trusted  to  give  prisoners  all  the  protection  to 
rUeh  they  are  fairly  entitled,  by  directing  acquittals  when  the 
maes  against  them  are  not  made  out  by  the  prosecution.  K  the 
lAection  of  the  people  for  grand  juries  is  so  great  that  they  will 
not  mibmit  to  their  abolition  they  may  be  retained,  and  the  saving 
rt  public  money  contemplated  may  still  be  effected.  Tliis  may  be 
lone  by  restricting  them  to  the  consideration  of  the  written 
indenoe  mentioned  above.  It  is  not  the  duty  of  grand  juries  to 
ly  prisoners,  but  merely  to  determine  whether  there  are  prima 
veis  cases  against  them  which  they  should  bo  called  upon  to 
inswer.  The  depositions  and  the  documentary  evidence  referred 
0  would  afford  all  the  information  necessary  to  enable  them  to  do 
Us.  Moreover,  restricting  them  to  the  consideration  of  written 
rffidence  would  sometimes  prevent  a  failure  of  justice.  The  depo> 
itions  are  taken  when  the  facts  sworn  to  are  fresh  in  the  memories 
if  the  witnesses,  and  before  the  friends  of  prisoners  have  had 
ime  to  tamper  with  them.  Witnesses  who  have  been  tampered 
rith  sometimes  try  to  twist  their  evidence,  and  to  give  false  im- 
■eanons,  even  when  they  are  examined  in  open  court  bv  counsel 
rliose  intellects  have  been  specially  trained  for  the  work.  Such 
ritoeases  are  much  more  likely  to  attempt  and  to  succeed  in  doing 
ids  when  they  are  examined  by  g^and  jurymen  in  grand  jury 
ooms.  If  grand  juries  bo  dealt  with  as  suggested,  the  attendance 
i  witnesses  against  prisoners  who  plead  guilty  can  easily  be  dis- 
WDsed  with.  This  can  be  done  by  appointing  commissioners  to 
it  and  receive  the  pleas  of  prisoners  a  day  or  two  before  the  com- 
aflucement  of  the  assizes  or  sessions  to  which  they  have  been 
sonnmtted  for  trial.  If  grand  juries  be  abolished  the  indictments 
ikonld  be  made  out  by  virtue  of  the  committals.  If  they  be 
intainnrl,  these  commissioners  might  either  charge  them  themselves 
Of  mi^t  read  charges  which  had  been  written  by  the  judges, 
'Wntder,  or  chairman  of  magistrates  who  would  preside  at  the 
tidk  They  should  have  power  to  advise  prisoners  to  plead  not 
gdtj  in  cases  of  doubt  or  difficulty,  and  to  record  their  advice, 


notice  Bhoala  be  sent  to  the  witnesBes  against  p 
had  pleaded  goiltnry  and  the  fact  of  receiving  no 
flhould  discharge  them  from  tlieir  obligation  to  attei 
On  the  first  day  of  aRsizos  or  sossions  the  priaoni 
pleaded  guilty  should  be  sentenced.  Those  who  ha^ 
should  then  be  dealt  with,  and  those  of  them  found  1 
mute  of  malice  when  called  upon  to  plead  should  be 
their  contumacy.  The  trials  of  those  who  had  plead 
should  then  be  proceeded  with  in  regular  order.  1 
lected  by  the  author  at  Bolton  and  Manchester  git 
of  the  proportion  of  prisoners  who  plead  guilty  at 
county  sessions  and  at  assizes  held  in  Lancasnire.  TI 
who  take  this  course  is  no  doubt  about  the  same  in  < 
the  country.  During  ton  years  ending  July  29,  IJ 
number  of  prisoners  called  upon  to  plead  at  quarte 
the  borough  of  Bolton  was  1183 ;  of  tneso  459  pleado< 
pleaded  not  guilty,  were  tried  and  convicted ;  and  23 
ffuilty,  were  tried  and  acquitted.  At  twelve  sessions 
dred  of  Salford,  held  in  the  years  1869,  1870,  the  1 
of  prisoners  called  upon  to  plead  was  718 ;  of  these 
g^ty ;  362  pleaded  not  guilty,  were  tried  and  convici 
pleaded  not  guilty,  were  tried  and  acquitted.  At  sis 
assizes  held  in  the  years  1869  and  1870  the  tota 
prisoners  called  upon  to  plead  was  382.  Of  these  79  p 
217  pleaded  not  guilty,  wore  tried  and  convicted;  an 
not  guilty,  were  tried  and  acquitted.  At  the  twelve  Sa 
and  six  Manchester  assizes  in  question,  the  total  numbe 
against  whom  ]^revious  convictions  were  charged  was  < 
332  pleaded  ^ilty  and  3  pleaded  not  guilty,  but  were 
juries  who  tned  them  to  have  been  previously  convicb 
The  number  of  prisoners  who  plead  guilty  is  so  consic 
verv  larsre  sum  would  be  saved  evorv  vear  bv  merelv 


Mizcellnneous.. 


253 


'  trying  tliem.  This  extra  puniBhnient  eliotUd  be  jire- 
e  I^egislature,  and  sboiild  begia  to  take  effect  at  the 
tbe  sentence  passed  upon  them  for  tke  crimes  of 
thvy  lio-'i  been  found  guilty.  AU  prisoners  ploading  not 
^*-?^".  ia-L  being  afterwards  convicted  of  the  crimes  charged 
'?*''«'  tliezz3.,  should  be  submitted  to  tt  as  a  matter  of  course, 
?****  thuY  li«-*l  pleaded  not  guilty  by  advice  of  the  commissioners 
?<*  toot  't-lxeii  pleas.  If  tHe  were  done,  more  than  half  of  the 
'««noK  (,^-xxi-iiiitted  for  trial  would  probably  plead  guilty;  and 
^Out    faiilf     t:>£   the  sum  now  spent  in  proaecutiona  at  asaizes  and 

B8  fFoixJ-tl  be  saved  by  the  State. 
lev  oz^  ■*  Unanimity  in  Juries  in  Criminal  Gases,"  byMr.KoBKBT 
■  iro^  read.  The  iiuthor  pointed  out  that  iu  no  other  tribunal 
itaiiy  x**^quisite  to  give  validity  to  its  decisiona.  Intellectual 
>^ni  Itaa  it.^  rights  id  the  jury  box.  Why  should  the  perverelty 
BOB  juro«-  invalidate  ihe  verdict  which  eleven  others  have  agreed 
jive  f  Ei3fi<^'''8'^e  of  civil  juries  dismissed,  there  are  annually 
nutlfl  oT  f  <i>ur  thousand  criminala  acquitted  and  discharged  out 
ibose  sen  C  for  trial.  The  authority  of  law  was  iu  this  way  iu- 
lilel^  ^v-^s&lceiied  and  its  adininiatration  paralysed. 

Et.  P.  W-  O3HK880rf  road  a  paper  on  "The  Macao  Slave  Trade."  * 
■Kid:  SiKxc^e  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery  in  the  dominions  of 
ehief  Ofa^i^ietian  govemmenta  of  the  world,  and  the  resolute  and 
4aaftU  e£E<=>xts  of  Great  Britain  to  abolish  the  slave-trade  betweeu 
coast  A  <:ȣ'  A&ica  and  those  pseudo-civilised  States  which  still 
iloy  ctuvtt^X  labour,  there  has  rapidly  grown  up  a  new  commerce 
lumaii  Ti»«9inga,  which  ia  generally  known  as  the  coolie  traffic, 
ay  peopl«*  ^mibtakenly  suppose  that  the  slave-trade  is  abolished, 
tlint  tji.<3  xxew  system,  instead  of  being  the  old  one  under  a  new 
ae,  is  ^o  <z>Teani2ed  as  to  enable  tropical  countries  to  obtain  a 
yniii^  s"«*;^ply  of  labour  without  injury  or  injustice  to  the  la- 
■Hj^  Ikx  ~&  ^noraace,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  of  the  abject  condition  of 
^Bnlies  "N-vlio  are  taken  to  Cuba,  Spanish  philanthropists  look 
^Knor^  «>3teaaive  proeecution  of  the  coolie  trade  for  mo  mcane 
^pricUz:*^^  the  Spanish  planters  with  the  thews  and  slnowa, 
||pai  -wtti  «.i3),  according  to  their  mischievous  theory,  tlie  eultl- 
^na.  of  tl"k^  sugar-cane  must  be  abandoned;  and  die  Republic 
Peru,  wlaicili  in  emancipating  its  negroea,  nobly  declared  "  that 
i^uo  to  j  xistice  to  restore  to  man  hia  freedom,"  has  established 
m  of  csoulie  immigration,  which,  equally  with  that  exisitng 
n  Oliuia  and  Cuba,  is  disfigured  by  tho  worst  crimes  of  the 
a  tra.tie» .  Nor  is  this  all.  In  Ihe  South  Seas  grave  abuses 
c1>»r-s,<;-t^riged  the  deportation  of  natives  to  QueonHland ; 
_^  at  ^^b.^  present  moment,  kidnappers  are  notoriously  ravag- 
»t]^b»a,x].tdAil  islands  of  tho  Pacific,  m  order  to  stock  the  cotton 


"  The  Oolcmal  Intelligancer  "  for 


254  Municipal  Txiw  Summary* 

plantations  of  Fiji.  If  the  labourers  were  voltmtazy  emi^pnl^ 
if  they  understood  the  nature  of  the  contracts  to  whidi  their  mnfa 
are  affixed ;  and  if,  in  addition,  they  were  equitably  treated  dui^ 
tlieir  period  of  service — it  might  be  possible  to  regard  the  wj^im 
as  a  transitional  one  which  would  ultimately  deyelope  into  a  p» 
fectly  free  state  of  society.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  tnose  who  atm 
studied  the  nuestion,  and  who  have  examined  the  volviniaoii 
evidence  which  exists,  to  declare  that  the  coloured  labour  tniL 
whether  it  flows  to  Fiji,  or  Cuba,  or  Peru,  is  a  new  and  exaggwm 
form  of  the  slave-trade,  involving  the  perpetration  of  evetyott^ 
coivable  crime  against  human  nature  ;  and  that  therefore  the  tai 
has  come  when  it  is  imperatively  necessary  that  the  civiliied  p* 
vemments  of  the  world  should  endeavour  to  arrive  at  a  ooauBtt 
understanding  as  to  the  repressive  and  other  punitive  meaaiiHi 
which  should  be  enforced  against  the  kidnappers  who  are  gui%(i( 
these  lawless  practices. 

In  December,  18G9.  the  attention  of  the  Social  Sdenoe  Amofr 
ation  was  directed  to  one  branch  of  this  subject  by  Mr.  T.  J. 
Morrow,  formerly  of  Ilong  Kong,  whose  charges,  lamentable  astk^f 
are,  have  novor  been  impcaclied.*  It  appears  from  his  stateoMil 
that  between  1849  and  1860  ''many  more"  than  100,000  coofai 
were  exported  from  China  to  Peru;  that  the  rates  of  moztdijf 
on  the  passage,  although  singularly  small  in  the  case  of  free  pi^ 
senger  ships,  averaged  more  than  25  per  cent. ;  and  that,  in  nili 
of  the  limitation  of  the  contracts  to  five  years,  not  a  hnnm 
coolies  in  all  had  returned  to  their  own  oountiy.  Mr.  Momv 
attributes  the  excessive  mortality  not  to  bad  victualling  or  to  end 
treatment  on  the  voyage,  but  to  a  morbid  feeling  of  d^KreMi 
produced  in  tlie  mind  of  the  coolie  when  he  realizes  the  mifleifij 
his  fate.  *'  Cluuese,"  he  says,  ''  are  fatalists  to  a  man,  andim 
they  give  up  liope  tliey  are  utterly  careless  of  life.  They  deitpnii, 
(iauuot  bu  aroused,  and  waste  away.  Hence  the  mortality  amflll 
the  coolies  sent  to  Peru."  They  have  indeed  good  reason  to  pnte 
death  to  the  miserable  existence  which  awaits  them  in  South  Am* 
rica.  Two  or  three  years  ago  a  number  of  the  Chinese  who  M 
employed  in  agricultural  pursuits  succeeded  in  smuggling  a  mm- 
rial  into  the  hands  of  the  American  Minister  at  Lima.  This  nofd 
document  contained  piteous  details  of  the  ill-treatment  which  thif 
had  experienced,  and  made  a  touching  appeal  to  the  representstbt 
of  the  great  Eepublic  for  sympathy  and  aid.  But  the  misfiivtiiii 
of  these  unhappy  victims  of  Peruvian  avarice  will  not  bear  tti 
slightest  comparison  with  those  of  their  infinitely  more  wiofaM 
countrymen  who  are  employed  on  the  guano  islands,  where,  aeeiit 
ing  to  Mr.  Consul  Elmslie,  '*  from  the  nature  of  the  labos^ 
they  either  speedily  die,  or  undergo  excessiye  miseiy  and  wt 
fering." 

It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  oven  the  most  ignorant  of 


See  Semcmal  Proceedings,  1800-70,  p.  57. 


hHiieellatifOHii, 


S55 


H^^^b  6y&B  open,  emigrate  to  a  country  in  wliioh  such 
■Ifime  perpetrated ;  least  of  all,  that  they  would  Toiun- 
pace  them!Kilvi4s  in  the  power  of  taflk-mastei'S  vho  are 
p  to  the  eniiitioQ  of  pity,  and  n'ho,  m  lon^  d,»  their  guano 
■d  or  their  ininea  vorked,  care  not  what  the  waste  of  life 
L  or  what  uiisery  may  be  inllioted  ou  the  unhappy  Asiatics. 
bsUy  impossible  to  believe  that  any  voluntary  emigration  to 
■aid  take  place  if  the  facts  wtro  known  to  the  Chinese  beforu 
n  eotioed  into  tiie  barraecHins.  Moreriver,  there  is  indubit- 
jdenco  to  pi'ove  that  the  so-called  immigration  is  kept  alive 
tappisg  as  well  as  fraud.  This  is  a  serious  accusation,  im- 
Ir  RS  it  does  the  authorities  of  the  Fortuguoeo  settlement  at 
Iltut  it  is  Ailly  JQstided  by  the  diwlosures  which  have  been 
padu  in  connection  with  the  coolie  ship  "  Dolores  Ugarte." 
tvsBHel,  with  656  coolies  on  Ijoard,  sailed  from  Uacoo  in 
k.  She  was  about  800  tons  burthen,  and  the  crew  consisted 
F-Gv«  sailors,  all  told.  There  were  four  boats  on  board, 
I  of  holding  eighty  men  in  a  smooth  sea,  but,  it  is  said, 
jrere  not  in  trim."  After  sailing,  one  of  the  coolies  jumped 
pd  and  was  with  difficulty  recaptured,  while  others  also 
bored  to  esrnpe.  Some  were  crying,  aJid  it  appears  by  no 
pirtatn  that  all  of  them  knew  they  were  to  be  taken  to  Peru. 
hese  spy  reported  to  the  captain  that  a  mutiny  was  being 
jed,  and  a  number  of  men,  marked  as  dangerous  characters, 
ht  in  irons.  The  evidence,  however,  both  as  to  the  alleged 
(and  to  the  diatiirbaiice  which  subsequently  took  plaie,  is 
kissed.  What  is  certain  is,  that  there  was  disorder  of 
Had  below,  and  that  the  hatches  were  fastened  down. 
iFbM,  a  Cforman  sailor,  states  that  "all  the  officers  wiint 
I  and  Mnptied  the  barrels  of  their  revolvers  down  the  fore- 
\  This  was  because  the  coolies  were  trying  to  knock  through 
Dogs  with  planks  and  stnnt^iiions."  About  an  hour  and  a 
I  onAT  the  hatches  wore  dosed  smoke  was  observed  to  issue 
1  brass  ventilator.  How  the  lire  originated,  whether  by 
f  aooident,  nobody  knoft-s.  A  hosi'  waa  passed  into  the 
t  the  flames  made  so  much  headway  that  the  captain  de- 
I  abandon  the  ship.  The  Iwats  shoved  off,  leaving  the 
a  th«  hold  to  their  fate.  At  this  time  the  wholn  ship  wau 
nd  aa  the  hatches  were  not  unfastened,  and  ail  the  efforts 
IT  creatures  to  liberate  themselves  were  unavailing,  it  was 
»  that  they  could  escape  being  either  burnt  to  death  or 
Sucli  was  tlio  tragical  und  of  the  "  Doloros  Ugartn,"  a 
'  1i  had  gained  an  unhappy  notoriety  in  the  coolie  trade ; 
X  that  during  a  voyage  &oni  Uacao  to  Callao,  which 
k  a  short  time  before  this  crowning  disastor,  eighteen 
©d  overboard  in  consequence  of  ill-treatment ;  twenty- 
n  an  insufficient  supply  of  food  and  water ;  and  forty- 
e  lauded  at  Honolulu,  many  of  them  in  the  last  stages  of 
on  this  part  of  the  subject  I  need  only  add,  that  when 
k  from  the  burning  wreok  reached  Uaooo  bo  inquiiy 


25  G  Municipal  Laio  Sufnfnarif* 

was  instituted  by  the  Portuffueso  authorities,  and  Hiat  the^  facto 
would  never  have  been  made  public,  except  for  an  unofficial  in- 
vestigation which  took  place  at  Hong  Kong,  and  for  the  hnmaw 
spirit  of  the  newspaper  press  of  that  settlement.  j 

That  inquiry,  although  it  was  not  conducted  bj  the  authflriiiii  ^ 
of  Hong  Kong  (who  might  have  been  expected  to  take  the  initio 
tivo  in  the  matter),  was  the  more  valuable  b^ause  it  elicited  aow 
startling  revelations  as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  Chinese  had  hm 
induced  to  contract  for  service  in  Peru.    Fifty  of  the  Chinese,  ula^ 
fortunately  for  themselves,  came  on  deck,  made  their  escape;  aal 
the  statements  of  some  of  the  number  were  taken  down  by  fti    j 
reporter  of  the  China  Mail,    (The  author  here  illustrated  how  igno-    j 
rant  and  unsuspecting  Chinamen  were  entrapped  into  the  Peraviia 
slave- trade.) 

These  statements,  taken  separately,  or  as  a  whole,  afibrd  oa- 
dusive  proof  of  the  existence  of  a  shameful  system  of  fraud  sad 
kidnapping  at  Macao,  and  that,  too,  under  the  eye,  and,  it  is  tobi 
feared,  with  the  connivance  of  the  Portuguese  authorities.  Hn 
victims  are  drawn  to  Macao  from  the  oountxy  districts,  nndsr  flw, 
pretence  that  situations  will  be  found  for  them.  Agents  m, 
employed  who  know  these  people,  and  who  therefore  are  hkh 
easily  able  to  abuse  their  confidence.  What  really  awaits  themii' 
the  slave  barracoon  and  the  slave  ship ;  and  when  they  discover  Ai 
network  of  fraud  in  which  they  have  been  entangled,  it  is  too  hta 
for  them  to  retrace  their  steps — their  doom  is  irrevocably  sealed. 

I  am  glad  to  see  that  in  another  case,  that  of  the  French  oooEr 
ship,  tho  ''Nouvelle  Penelope,''  Mr.  Smale,  the  Chief  Justice  flC 
Hong  Kong,  decided  that  ±LWok-a-sing,  a  kidnapped  Ohinsmia 
who  had  headed  a  mutiny  in  which  the  captain  was  Killed,  wasnol). . 
guilty  of  murder;  but  was  justified,  alike  by  natural  and  by  writtai:  ' 
law,  in  his  efforts  to  recover  the  freedom  of  which  he  and  Vi  h 
associates  had  been  unjustly  deprived.     The  same  highmindel  ^ 
judge  signally  vindicated  the  independence  of  the  Bench  by  refiiaiag  -3 
to  alter  his  decision,  or  to  permit  Kwok-a-sing  to  be  tried  on  otiur.  i 
charges  which  were  sought  to  be  fabricated  out  of  the  same  irsni<    i 
action ;  and  this,  althou^  the  Legislative  Council  and  the  Attoniirj«-   ^. 
(ienoral  did  their  utmost  to  prolong  the  man's  imprisonment,  m    ] 
to  bring  him  to  trial  for  the  alleged  offence.    If  a  crime  was  oomr 
mitted,  tho  kidnappers  of  the  coolies  alone  were  responsible  for  it : 
aiid  iu  so  vital  a  matter  as  the  right  of  a  man  to  his  own  persoail     1 
freedom  there  cannot  be,  within  iBritish  jurisdiction,  one  law  fie. 
the  European  and  another  for  the  Asiatic.  ! 

I  must  refer,  although  with  brevity,  to  the  case  of  Cuba,  becanN  ^ 
it  has  been  repeatedly  stated  that,  whenever  emancipation  takv. 
place,  slave  labour  is  to  be  supplanted  by  coolie  labour;  audi 
mdeed,  a  company,  having  a  capital  of  one  million  of  doUarsy  has 
been  already  organized  at  Havana  for  the  purpose  of  nromotbgi 
on  a  larger  scale  than  ever,  the  so-called  free  immigration  a( 
Chinese.  I,  for  one,  regard  the  probable  effect  of  these  sdiamn 
with  the  greatest  dionay;  for  the  coolie  eystem  in  CobA  ii  not  oidj 


Miscellaneous.  257 

aveTy,  but  slavery  in  an  aggravated  form.  Every  negro  represents 
capital  of  800  or  1000  dollars,  and  therefore  the  master  has  an 
iterest  in  extracting  from  him  only  that  amount  of  labour  which 
I  compatible  with  his  physical  x)owors  of  endurance ;  but  as  the 
Skinese  are  bound  only  for  limited  periods  of  service,  they  are 
'ued  up  "  with  a  recklessness  of  cruelty  which  has  excited  the 
adignant  reprobation  of  many  of  the  native  Cubans,  and  of  every 
amuLne  traveller  who  bas  visited  the  island.  Thus  the  restrictions 
rhich,  in  a  loss  cruel  state  of  society,  constitute  a  guarantee  against 
ignstice,  are,  in  Cuba,  a  source  of  untold  misery  to  the  unhappy 
Lnatics,  whose  fate  is  the  more  hopeless,  because,  while  the 
ndaved  negro  excites  pity,  even  philanthropists  have  been  deceived 
7  such  misleading  phrases  as  **  voluntary  emigration,"  "  ap- 
renticeship,'*  and  **  free  contracts." 

This  brings  me  to  the  practical  question  of  the  international 
sgnlation  of  the  coolie  tr^c.  Sir  Alfred  Stt^2)lion,  Cliief  Justice 
f«ew  South  "Wales,  in  his  judgment  in  the  case  of  the  **  Daphne" 
tgaed  that  it  was  impossible  to  enforce  the  existing  slave-trnde 
tetntes  against  such  irregularities  as  liavo  grown  up  in  connection 
ith  the  Jrolynesian  labour  traffic ;  and  as  liis  view  of  the  law 
ppears  to  have  been  endorsed  by  still  higlier  authorities,  it  fol- 
nrsi  by  a  parity  of  reasoning,  that  our  slave-trade  treaties  ought 
» be  revised  in  the  direction  of  greater  explicitness  and  stringency. 
ord  Kimberley,  in  a  circular  addressed  to  the  Governors  of  the 
.Vfltralian  colonies  in  March  last,  intimated  that  he  proposed  to 
liroduce  into  Parliament  a  Bill  which  would  make  a  British 
ibject  guilty  of  felony  if  he  commits  any  of  the  following 
fences : — 

"(1.)  Decoys,  either  by  force  or  fraud,  any  native  on  board  any 
Hsel,  either  on  the  high  seas  or  elsewhere,  for  the  purpose  of 
nporting  such  native  into  any  island  or  place  other  than  that  to 
rfich  he  belongs,  or  in  which  he  was  residing  at  the  time  of  the 
Oomussion  of  such  offence  ; 

"  (2.)  Ships,  embarks,  receives,  detains,  or  contiues  for  the  pur- 
idse  aforesaid  any  native  of  tlie  aforesaid  islands  on  board  any 
wad,  either  on  the  high  seas  or  elsewhere,  without  the  consent  of 
Beh  native^  the  proof  of  which  consent  shall  lie  on  the  jiarty 
uCcoBed; 

"  (3.^  Contracts  for  the  shipping,  embarking,  receiving,  or  de- 
tining,  or  confining  on  board  any  such  vessel,  for  the  puri)ose 
iftresaid,  any  native  without  his  consent,  proof  of  which  consent 
kail  lie  on  the  party  accused. 

"(4.)  Fits  out,  mans,  navigates,  equips,  Tises,  employs,  lets  or 
akes  on  freight  or  hire  any  vessel,  or  commands  or  serves,  or  is 
Q  board  any  such  vessel  with  intent  to  couimit,  or  that  any  one  on 
oard  any  such  vessel  should  commit,  any  of  the  offences  above 
ftmnerated. 

"  (5.)  Ships,  lades,  receives,  or  puts  on  boai'd,  or  contracts  for 
le  shippinfi;,  lading,  receiving,  or  putting  on  board  of  any  vessel 
msiYf  goooB,  or  other  articles,  with  the  intent  that  they  should  be 

17 


258  Address  on  Repression  of  Crime. 

employed,  or  knowing  that  they  will  be  employed,  in  the  oomsdi- 
sion  of  any  of  the  offences  above  enumerated." 

The  language  of  this  proposed  Act  is  as  (AmprehenBiTe  as  it  ii 
lucid,  and  covers  the  whole  ground  of  the  offences  against  wUtk 
I  have  raised  an  earnest  protest.    But  I  am  anxious  to  see  fli 
Imperial  Government  go  a  step  further,  by  inviting  the  leadia| 
nations  of   Christendom  to  g^vo  to  these  proposals  the  adan 
sanction  of  international  law.     Every  nation  has  a  common  init^ 
est  in  riddine  the  seas  of  kidnappers  and  pirates ;  and  Enrimj^ 
which  has  already  done  so  niucn  in  this  great  cause,  wonidb 
both  upholding  her  best  traditions  and  treading  a  path  worthy  i( 
her  ancient  fame,  if  she  took  the  lead  in  rooting  out  the  old  emy 
in  his   new  guise.      Dryden,  in  his  ''Indian  Emperor,"  mikii 
Cortes  less  cruel  than  Pizarro  ;  and  I  am  aware  that  in  the  eoolii 
trade   similar  distinctions  may  be  drawn.      Without,  therefifeL 
holding  up  all  coolie  traders  to  indignant  reprobation,  I  oontni 
that  their  proceedings  are  tainted  with  so  much  of  firaud  lal 
violence  that  the  international  reg^ulation  of  the  traffic  oug^ » 
longer  to  be  delayed ;  and  that  if  our  Foreign  Office  led  ths  njf, 
France,  Germany,  the  United  States,  and  possibly  other  poivo^ 
would  be  willing  to  enter  into  a  convention.  Based  upon  the  piiil- 
ples  of  tlio  Imperial  Act  whose  provisions  Lord  Kimoerley  haift» 
shadowed.     Such  an  appeal  to  the  public  law  of  the  civiluediraH 
would  commend  itself  to  the  humane  conscience,  and  to  the  jndidi) . 
temper  of  tho  nation.    Tliere  are  some,  I  know,  who  smile  vift-! 
contempt  upon  any  effort  which  is  made  on  behalf  of  the  wnfari 
rac(>u  of  mankind ;  but  those  have  been  answered,  as  they  mif '' 
bo  answered  again,  in  the  words  of  a  living  American  humomiit: 
— '*  Poor  John  Chinaman  in  liis  persecution  is  still  able  to  dM. 
tho  conscious  hate  and  fear  with  which  inferiority  alwajrs  nginb.; 
tho  possibility  of  ovonrhanded  justice,  and  which  is  the  key-noil  li^ 
tho  vulgar  clamour  about  sorvile  and  degraded  races." 


REPRESSION   OP   CRDIE   SECTION. 


Address  on  Repression  of  Crime.    By  LoRD  TEiaKMOUTH. 

VERBUM  sapienti  shall  be  the  motto  of  my  Address.  SuggcrfM 
remarks  on  some  of  the  topics  about  to  engage  the  attentko  rf 
this  Section,  may  serve  to  elicit  counsel  from  those  best  aUa  ii 
impart  it. 

We  have  to  do  with  crime.  Vice,  as  the  parent  of  crime^  htM  «l# 
been  the  subject  of  penal  legislation.  Take,  as  a  vemarfaUl 
example,  the  vindication  of  State  authority  by  a  tingle  ohfeeoi 
institution.  Suffering  at  first  from  obloquy  and  donbt»  as  tolriieitt 
its  proceedings  were  constitutional,  cautiously  concealing  Out 


Si/  Lord  Tif^nmouik  SJS5 

at  till  last  year  ventaring  a  public  meeting  of  its  members,  tbe 
▼  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  now  enteriug  on  its  Beveotieth 
hta  been  enableO  by  help  of  Pfuliament,  amending  exiating,  or 
ig  more  Btrlugent  SUtules,  as  for  inalance  Lord  CampbeH's 
'  legal  tribunals  sueUiniDg  its  iadictmenta  bj  conviclions.  of 
coKiperntioQ,  and  ibe  approval  of  tbe  Bench,  tbe  public,  and 
Ma,  to  efiect  aa  enormous  destruction  of  noxious  prinla  and  pub- 
a»,  ibe  punishment,  deservedly  flevere,  of  some  of  the  dealers 
s  neliu-ious  traffic,  and  the  exlirpation  of  establisbment^  the 
\Bfi  of  an  intemational  league  for  tbe  corruption  of  our  youth. 
lot  our  Association  derive  encouragement  from  the  success,  and 
mend  to  much  uceded  support,  the  proceedings  of  this  bumble 
^worker  in  the  cause  of  morality  I 
vice  is  more  prolific  of  crime  than  drunkeoness.  Some  rritb  a 
|o  ita  partial  extinction,  by  means  of  the  probibitioa  of  tbe  sale 
ritaoas  liquors,  would  entrust  the  licenaiog  of  public  houaoa  to 
eighbouring  ratepayers,  or  in  other  words,  uige  Parliament, 
,  bu  for  some  time  advantageously  enlarged,  as  in  the  case  of 
Lav,  highway  and  sanitary  districts,  tbe  area  of  local  juri«dlc- 
;lo  restrict  it  once  more,  and  within  narrower  than  the  old 
hiai  Umita.  The  probable  result  of  such  retrograde  policy 
either  tlie  too  successful  employment  of  Ibe  vast  capital 
1  tbe  liquor  trade,  in  bribing,  and  buying  up  the  suffrages 
tub  extemporised  legislators  or  such  ever-recurring  dislurbimce 
1  puce  of  licensing  districts,  as  to  make  it  doubtful  whether 
eaprieioDS  legislation  would  long  be  tolerated. 
ippity  the  advocates  of  extreme  and  of  moderate  measures  agree 
ibe  necessity  of  regulating  the  traffic.  The  supporters  of  free 
leptional  circumstances  which  endanger  the  np- 
tnciple  to  the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors,  as,  if  UD- 
ted,  it  would  become  the  resource  of  the  very  outcasts  of  tbe 
sunity,  iuduciug  demoralising  and  disastrous  competition,  as 
cn  to  a  certain  extent  exemplified  at  Liverpool,  and  on  a  large 
n  America.  To  whom  has  the  licensing  been  hitherto  confided} 
Inally,  but  not  in  fact,  to  magistrates  acting  in  Petty  Sessions. 
lie  recent  transfer,  of  the  control  of  tbe  beer-shops  from  the 
3  to  the  magistrates,  tlio  latter  could  scarcely  be  held  respon- 
And  till  the  good  sense  of  several  counties  bad  rid  the 
'  of  tbe  appellate  jurisdiction  of  Quarter  Sessions  in  the  matter, 
■Dticipnting  A  salutary  provision  of  the  Suspensory  Act,  their 
irity  was  degraded,  if  not  paralysed,  by  being  subjected  to  a 
ically  arbitrary  decision,  or  else  to  appear  in  court  as  real,  when 
would  be  regarded  in  no  other  light  than  nominal  defendants, 
A  purpoae  of  surrendering  jurisdiction,  depending  on  the  know- 
01  local  circumstances  to  magistrates  comparatively  destitute  of 
I  of  being  unwiUing  parties  to  u  one-sided  appeal  testifying  to 
^dominant  inilueuce  of  the  publican.  The  magistrates  are  nt 
I  brought  face  to  face  with  the  public.  Why  not  allow  them  a 
" >l T  Diaencnmber  them  of  needless  rosponMbility  by  limiting 
^^^^  17—2 


260  Address  on  Repression  of  Crime. 

the  hours  of  sale,  preventing  adulteration   of  liquors  and  < 
restrictions,  and  especially  by  more  effectiye  supervision.    Ab< 
may  hope — we  must  not  be  too  sanguine — that  good  feeling  on 
part,  and  a  sense  of  the  importance  of  their  task,  supported  bjp 
opinion,  may  induce  much  practical  reform. 

The  consideration  of  the  proposal  for  transferring  the  lioenBiii 
Boards,  composed  partly  of  magistrates,  and  partly  of  ratepa; 
may  be  deferred  till  we  have  some  means  of  judging  of  the  reso 
such  association,  when  applied  to  county  management. 

The  alternative  of  a  single  judge  holding  Licensing  Sessions 
scarcely  be  seriously  entertained,  as  ho  would  be  ignorant  oi 
local  circumstances  which  should  govern  his  decisions. 

A  vast  amount  of  crime  may  be  still  traced  to  vagrancy,  not^ 
standing  Poor  Law  amendment,  the  operation  of  Mendicity  Socli 
the  exertions  of  magistrates,  and  the  newly  organized  pi 
Some  may  dissent  from  this  statement ;  but  let  us  listen  to  the  evid 
especially  that  of  the  inspectors  of  Irish  prisons,  who  find  the 
dency  of  vagrancy  to  crime  direct,  especially  in  the  case  of  jovei 
The  efforts  of  counties  to  suppress  vagrancy,  whether  isolated  < 
concert,  by  means  of  pass  tickets,  vigorous  enforcement  of  the 
or  otherwise,  cannot  supersede  further  legislative  and  administr 
procedure.  No  less  was  the  inadequacy  than  the  power  of  vi 
taryism  evinced  by  Dr.  Chalmers's  glorious  experiment  at  Glai 
The  Government  must  take  the  matter  into  its  own  hands,  with  a 
to  affording  full  scope  to  local  effort.  The  urgent  necessity  oft 
was  impressed  on  Government  by  a  resolution  unanimously  ad< 
by  the  North  Riding  magistrates,  on  a  motion  at  Quarter  Sesi 
proposed  by  the  writer  of  these  pages.  A  detailed  account  o 
abuses  of  the  system  ascertained  by  previous  inquiry,  affeetiof 
workhouses,  lodging-houses,  streets,  and  highways  would  sin 
and  disgust  tlie  hearer.  Admitting  the  distinction  between  vag 
and  tramps,  the  honest  traveller  and  the  vagabond,  one  q 
might  be  available  for  able-bodied  males.  Solitary  occupation 
suitable  cell,  washing,  food  and  work,  under  the  supervision  o! 
police,  and  especially  of  a  portion  of  that  force  selected  and  tn 
for  the  purpose,  would,  combined  with  similar  inspection  o 
lodging-houses,  speedily  reduce  vagrancy  ;  whilst  the  honest  trti 
would  bo  freed  from  the  intolerable  association  with  the  i 
characters  to  which  he  is  at  present  exposed.  As  the  workhi 
would  continue  to  receive  female  vagrants — who  are  but  I 
children,  and  the  sick  of  both  sexes,  the  cost  of  the  proposed  airi 
ment  would  be  far  less  than  might  bo  supposed,  and  wool 
defrayed  by  the  decrease  of  other  expenditure. 

The  Government  would  now  derive  great  assistance  fron 
practical  experience  of  various  counties. 

The  parental  obligations  by  which  the  State  is  bound  to  pr 
means  of  reclaiming  the  prisoners  compatibly  with  the  rec 
meats  of  prison  discipline,  was  very  imperfectly  recognised  til 
commencement  of  the  present  century.    To  visit  the  tortured  pri 


3y  Lord  Teignmouth. 

pesdlential  dungeou  waa  deemed  tiyoaeof  our  roost  ealizhlened^ 
men  the  noblest  achievement  of  self-sacriliciDg  philanthropy  1*1 
low  degrees  the  State,  cxpouent  of  bumonily,  haq  fakeo  lbs 
ler  Qoder  tW  charge  whilst  undergoing  the  penalty  of  the  law 
e  gaol,  the  convict  prison,  tlio  reformatory,  the  certified  i 
«l  school,  the  refuge,  or  during  his  supplementary  girobulioa.l 
dcet  of  leave.  Thb  duty  has  been  innterially  nimplilieJ  h/  I 
bolition  of  transportation  and  the  hulks.  \ 

Aut  of  1865  embodied  the  result  of  much  Parliameutary  and'l 
inquiry.     Have  ita  provisionB  been  enforced,  and  by  what  F 
T     The  measure  was  in  some  respects  reaciionnry  aa  opposedj 
too  lenient  treatment  of  some  of  our  gaols.     To  this  Act  wo"! 
lie  signal  benefit  of  the  State  recognition  of  the  cellular  Bjslem'B 
I  Bolilary  conlinemcnt  of  the  prisoners  in  a  roomy,  well- warmed /I 
lighted,  and  well-venlilated  cell,  a  Ejstem  which  sliould  admit  f 
modi£catioa  having   regard    to  gradual   mitigation   of  pui 
il,  or  to  the  secular,  industrial,  or  religious  education  of  the 
in  which  would  compromise  ils  integrity.     But  it  erred  in 
'  stiniiug  the  dietary  of  the  first  class  of  prisoners,  in  nut  pro- 
for  lie  progressive  substitution  of  profitable  for  =imply  penU 
,  whilst  its  excellent  educational  provision  was  not  aufiicientljr 
t  to  ensure  compliance.      These  defects  have  been  rectified  in  I 
iriaons  by  the  Home  Office  at  the  instigation  of  the  visiting  J 
ta,  and  also  by  the  exercise  of  their  discretion. 
B  objection   to    prison  labour,  oa  interfering   with   the  outer  J 
It,  urged  by  proposed  representalives  of  tho  n 
over-ruled  at  previous  meetings  of  this  Association.     Surely  iM  J 
ites  would  deftire  to  see  our  prisona  empty,  and  their  innkalea'J 
g  the  free  competition  of  tho  labour  market.     Why  then  debar' 1 
u  prisoners  from  the  benefit  of  indastrial  employment,  and  the  1 
from  that  of   their  earnings  t     In   i-efcrence   to  education,  J 
iea  instituted  some  time  ago  by  myself  and  others,  corrobora- 1 
'  otlier  valuable  testimony,  warrant  the  conclusion  that  it  i^l 
leglected.     Whilst  the  Prison  Ministers  Act  of  186:).  which  f 
the  appointment  by  Quarter  Sessions  of  ministerA  In  gaols,  f 
tbttn  those  of  the  Church  of  England,  has  in  many  cases  been  I 
ed,  the  House  of  Commons  has  not  sanctioned  the  Bill,  making  I 
ipnlsory,  which  passed  tho  Lords  iu  March  last. 
Mwbile,  the  Act  of  186.5,  so  far  from  estubliahing  uniformity, 
s  of  much  latitude  of  procedure  as  to  discipline,  employment, 
tttOD,  and  even  cellular  confinement.     Notwithstanding  the  con- 
ation of  the  small  borough  gaola  by  the  Lords'  Committee  in 
,  some  of  those  costly  and  objectionable  establishments  remain 
IgUnd,  and  very  many  in  Scodand  and  in  Ireland, 
s  admitted  that  the  cellular  system  cannot  be  rigorously  enforced, 
jored  in  a  certain  period  tlio  bodily  or  mental  health  of  the 
■r,  and  therefore  admits  of  modification  compatible  with  the    ' 
tX    rei^uirements   of    education   and    industrial    employment.  I 
of  the  conseiiuent  evil  may  be  ascribed  to  want  of  proper  I 


262  AddresB  on  Eep^cssion  of  Crime, 

supervision.  Tiic  management  of  prisons  is  left  chiefly  to  the  visiting 
jufcitices.  The  magistrates  in  Quarter  Sessions  and  Town  Couneili 
seldom  interfere,  and  ^vhcn  they  do,  sometimes  ignorantly  and  soldj 
from  motives  of  economy.  The  Government  inspectors,  reduced  to  two 
in  England,  me  supposed  to  enlighten  the  Home  OiHce  on  the  conditioo 
of  gaol^,  and  a  ccriuin  amount  of  valuable  reform  is  the  result.  Bat 
they  depend  for  their  information  too  much  on  the  very  functionariei 
w-hose  conduct  tlu'y  ought  strictly  to  investigate.  Too  commonly 
they  report  that  it  is  stilted  that  the  discipline  of  tlio  gaols  is  main- 
tained ;  and  as  to  education,  employ  the  invariable  stereotyped 
phrase  thai  the  chaplain  states  that  no  alteration  has  been  made  in 
his  duties  or  those  of  the  schoolmaster  since  the  last  inspection. 
Again,  singularly  enough,  >vhilst  the  inspector  of  the  norlhen 
district  censures  some  of  the  English  prisons,  especially  those  of 
Lincolnshire  and  Wcstmoi*eland  and  many  of  the  Scotch,  cspecialij 
those  of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  not  a  single  defect  is  detected  in 
those  of  the  souLhcrn  districts  by  their  more  indulgent  supervisor; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  the  inspector  of  the  Irish  prisons  criticises 
freely  the  conduct  of  magistrates,  governors,  chaplains,  and  other 
functionaries  under  his  charge. 

For  the  improvement  of  the  system  adopted  in  our  convict  prisonii 
especially  the  Irish,  wo  arc  much  indebted  to  Sir  Walter  Crofton 
and  others.  Solitary  confinement,  as  a  rule,  cannot  be  safelj 
adopted  in  those  establishments,  taking  into  consideration  tiie 
previous  periods  during  which  it  has  been  undergone.  But  when 
we  are  informed  by  one  of  the  chaplains  that  a  convict's  reformation 
is  obstructed  by  the  jeers  of  his  comrades,  we  could  wish  that  some* 
thing  more  might  be  done  to  prevent  the  evil  of  promiscuous  aasodA- 
tion. 

Most  gratifying  testimony  is  borno  by  prison  authorities  to  the 
value  of  refuges  and  associations  for  the  relief  of  discharged  prisonen. 
The  reformatories  and  certified  industrial  schools,  offspring  of  those 
admirable,  but  somewhat  decried  institutions,  ragged  schools,  thoogii 
as  yet  experinienuil,  have  well  stood  the  test  to  which  they  have  been 
subjected,  and  after  having  for  a  time  laboured  under  the  disad- 
vantage of  inadeijuatc  public  control,  arc  at  longtli  fairly  recognised 
among  the  most  useful  of  our  national  establishments.  Mr.  Sdney 
Turner  com])lains  of  the  insufficient  notice,  on  the  part  of  the  certified 
industrial  schools,  of  the  subsc(|uent  career  of  the  children  who  have 
left  them.  The  efficacy  of  thcso  institutions  as  well  as  ragged  achoob 
could  bo  increased.  Tho  subject  may  safely  be  left  for  the  present 
in  the  hands  of  Miss  Carpenter. 

The  defects  in  tho  supervision  of  convicts  after  their  diflchar|^, 
as  provided  for  by  the  Habitual  Criminals  Act,  have  been  materid^y 
rectified  by  the  Bill  for  tho  Prevention  of  Crime  just  passed}  which 
reflects  credit  on  Sir  Walter  Crofton  and  on  the  Secretary  of  Ststs 
for  the  Home  Department. 

To  advert  for  a  moment  to  the  vexed  question  of  capital  panislh 
ment    Whoever  feels  the  vast  importance  of  human  lifoi  M  respects 


By  Lord  T^ignmouth.  263 

A  time  and  eternity,  must  sympathise  with  philanthropists  who 
dt  some  adequate  substitute  for  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law. 
^erpetoal  imprisonment  is  the  proposed  alternative.  But  can  we 
epsod  on  the  so-called  perpetuity  ?  Were  it  possible  to  ensure  it, 
Sr  Walter  Crofton  by  the   plan  he  proposed    at  Manchester  for 

Skting  the  punishment  in  its  advanced  stages  would  perhaps  have 
ed  the  required  guarantee.  But  as  yet  none,  and,  least  of  all, 
ht  conyiet,  would  doubt  the  possibility  of  personal,  humane,  or 
nlilieal  considerations,  determining  the  punishment.  In  the  State 
riiOD  of  Massachusetts,  during  a  term  of  thirty  years,  46  per  cent, 
toder  life  sentences  have  been  pardoned,  and  the  average  time 
erved  was  six  years  and  three  months.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  the 
omparative  value  of  the  current  coin,  and  of  a  bill  which  might  be 
ishonoured,  or  discounted  at  a  fraction  of  its  nominal  worth,  would 
msare  the  generally  estimated  difference  between  the  punishment 
f  death  and  that  of  life  imprisonment.  The  new  Bill  about  to  be 
ilrodueed  into  Parliament  proposes  the  farther  modification,  but  not 
16  abolition,  of  the  punishment  of  deatli. 

Time  will  not  admit  of  the  review  of  the  enactments  of  the  hte 
eidon,  which  have  tended,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  prevention 
r  crime.  We  may  mention  the  Trades  Union  Act,  34  &  35  Vict., 
,  31 ;  the  Railway  Regulation  Amendment,  34  &  35  Vict.,  c.  78 ; 
16  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  34  &  35  Vict.,  c.  12,  already  referred 
K  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  and  other  enactments  calculated  to 
romote  the  education  of  the  lower  classes.  And  especially  we 
iQit  hail  with  satisfaction  the  operations  of  the  Endowed  Schools 
xt,  from  which,  if  wisely  conducted,  we  may  anticipate,  as  the 
ssolt  of  utilizing  a  vast  amount  of  property  dedicated  by  the  piety 
ad  munificence  of  past  generations  to  educational  purposes,  the 
etter  qualification  of  the  middle  classes  for  that  enlarged  share  of 
leil  and  national  jurisdiction  with  which  recent  legislation  has  in- 
eited  them. 

Id  conclusion,  I  may  be  permitted  to  specify  some  amendments  of 
Diling  law  and  practice  to  which  the  attention  of  the  Association 
v^%  be,  and  I  hope  will  be,  directed. 

(1.)  Uniformity  in  the  management  of  our  prisons. 

(2.)  More  efiective  inspection,  involving  the  question  which  will 
iMAj  be  discussed  at  this  Congress,  the  establishment  of  a  central 
[otrd  of  ControL 

(8.)  The  speedy  abolition  of  the  remaining  small  Borough  gaols,  as 
Deommended  by  the  Lords'  Committee  of  1863. 

(4.)  The  reconstruction  of  gaols  at  present  unsusceptible  of  adap- 
itkm  to  the  cellular  system. 

(jb)  The  employment,  for  various  specified  purposes,  of  a  detective 
roi|  taken  from  the  police)  and  under  the  control  of  the  Commis- 
ip.  The  experience  of  tlie  London  Mendicity  Society,  and  the 
eiety  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  has  proved  the  signal  advantage 
theqratem. 


264  Tlie  Cellular  StfBtenu 

(6.)  The  promotion  of  recommittala  by  camulative  penaltieii  nfa- 
lated  in  part  by  the  discretion  of  the  magistrates. 

(7.)  The  graduated  substitution  in  our  prisons  of  profitable  fir. 
simply  penal  labour. 

(8.)  The  enforcement  of  education  in  our  prisons,  as  proriW 
for  by  the  Prison  Act  of  1 865. 

(9.)  The  compulsory  clauses  of  the  Prison  Ministers  Act  of  IM^ 
enacted  by  the  Lords  during  the  last  Session,  should  bo  confirmed  ^ 
the  Commons. 

(10.)  The  increased  efficacy  of  the  certified  industrial  and  ngri 
schools. 

(11.)  The  amendment  of  oar  licensing  laws. 

(12.)  A  new  vagrant  law. 

And  lastly,  co-operation  with  other  countries  in  the  promotioQ «( 
prison  reform.  Much  benefit  may  be  anticipated  from  the  lutcro^ 
tioiial  Congress  to  be  held  next  year  in  London. 

The  proceedings  of  the  National  Congress  on  PenitenUary  aai 
Reformatory  Discipline,  held  at  Cincinnati  last  year,  are  full  of  iatercit 
Although,  in  the  opinion  of  enlightened  meui  the  present  proUeiiflf 
prison  discipline  is  yet  unsolved,  wo  may  hope  that  the  -oowDgA  rf 
our  friends,  who  will  represent  the  United  Stales  and  other  ooiir 
tries  on  the  occasion  to  which  we  refer,  may  materially  help  us  it 
effecting  somewhat  towards  its  solution. 


TIIE   CELLULAB   BYSTEM. 

How  far  ouf/ht  the  Cellular  St/stem  of  Imprisonment  toleadcpUif 
and  how  far  does  it  necessarihf  interfere  with  Productioe  Lommri 
Bij  William  Tallack  (Secretary  of  the  Howard  Associi* 
tion^  London). 

CONSIDERING  the  long  controversy  for  and  against  the  ceUukr 
system  of  imprisonment,  which  has  continued  for  more  thanfiii^ 
years  to  excite  much  inti^rest  in  the  principal  civilised  nationi|iM 
considering  also  the  numlier  of  practical  experiments  and  GovenuBMl 
commissions  which  have  been  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  dM>< 
mining  its  merits  or  dcm(>rits,  it  is  remarkable  that  no  general  agw 
ment  has  yet  been  arrived  at  in  relation  to  this  system,  by  the  dutf 
countries  of  the  world. 

Not  only  has  no  general  agreement  resulted,  but  a  very  gBHt 
divergence  of  conclusions  on  the  subject  continues  to  exist,  Md  tlirt 
even  amongst  persons  the  most  conversant  with  criminal  treatoMiL 

In  the  United  States,  where  the  controversy  originated  to  a  eoi* 
siderable  extent,  it  is  still  maintained,  with  much  firmness  of  o^UQ% 
by  partisans  of  opposite  views.  The  supporters  of  the  PhiladdfUi 
system,  of  absolute  separation  by  day  and  night  (as  ezempiHiMii 
the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  that  city),  continue  to  ur^  both  b* 


By  WHUam  TalhrL  S89 

I  and  by  appenU  to  facts,  Us  decided  superiority  over  the 
em  adopted  in  all  iho  other  Slnlos  of  the  Uaion— 1>.,  congregAte 
It  labour  by  d&j,  with  total  geparation  only  by  night. 
D  Great  Britain  (thanks  in  a  great  degree  to  Sir  Walter  Crofion), 
County  and  Borough  gaoU  have  generally  adopted  a  modified 
'system  (involviug  considerable  separation  by  day  and  total 
)n  by  night);  but  the  Convict  prUons,  containing  altogether 
ty  10,000  itimal^S)  committed  for  periods  of  five  years  and  up- 
li,  present  tlie  strange  spectacle  of  a  most  jncousiatent  mixluro  uC 
Imeuti  th«  eonvicts  being  conftned  in  separata  cells  for  the  first 
months  of  their  terms,  and  then  for  the  long  remaining  periods 
are  crowded  togetlier  in  corrupting  gangs,  contaminating  one 
her  vrilh  blasphemies  and  obscenities.  Hence  Great  Britniu  has 
tttaltr  arrived  at  two  contradictory  conclusions  aa  lo  the  value 
e  cellular  system. 
huicc  has.  on  the  whole,  I'cjected  or  refused  to  adopt  the  system, 
prefers  the  pian  of  congregate  labour ;  but  the  French  prisons 
>y  no  means  models  for  other  countries,  having  many  of  the  worst 
irm  of  the  vile  mixed  system. 
tlglom,  on  the  other  hand,  which  (with  Holland)  may  be  con- 
ted  as  now  leadiog  the  vaji  of  all  natioiia  in  regard  to  prison 
pHoe,  has  decidedly  committed  itself  to  the  cellular  aystern,  and 
nvertiog  all  its  gaols,  as  fast  as  circumstances  will  permit,  into 
tntious,  iu  which  total  sepiLration  by  Jay  and  uight  is  a  prominent 
re. 

lUand,  after  many  years  of  quiet  vigilance  and  study  of  tlw 
tns  of  other  nations,  has  also  pronounced  in  favour  of  the  eel- 
system. 

rmony,  always  foremost  in  intelligent  observation,  also  appears 
I  taking  a  decided  stand  by  this  plan. 

kly,  ijpain,  Russia,  and  some  other  countries,  have  not  yet 
eiontly  organized  their  systems  on  any  permanent  basis,  so  as  lo 
uoted  on  either  side  of  the  controversy. 

is  moat  important  to  observe,  that  the  cellular  system,  so  suc- 
IbUy  adopted  in  Belgium  and  Holland,  is  very  different  from  the 
tntely  solitary  mode,  which  in  several  Americnu  prisons,  and 
bly  at  Auburn,  called  forth  the  trenchant  strictures  of  Charles 
icoK.     The  rigorous  solitary  system  is  an  inhuman  and  unchristian 

It  tends  certainly  to  cause  madness  and  suicide. 
be  modified  separate  plan  of  modern  British  and  American  pri* 
is  infinitely  better  than  that  unnatural  and  cruel  one ;  neverlhe- 
Ihe  modified  separate,  or  daily  congregate  system,  is  also  shown 
la  resalta  to  be  very  unsatisfactory  ;  for  notwiliistanding  its 
tse  (about  31/.  per  head  per  annum  in  British  prisons),  the 
nr  of  recommittals  continues  to  be  exceedingly  high — 39  per 
and  wo  have  abundant  testimonies  as  to  its  grave  defects,  from 
ri^es  practically  competent  to  pronounce  an  opinion.  For 
^to,  At  ihe  Lancashire  Sessions,  in  September,  1671  (£arl  Derby 
ebalr),  one  of  the  most  active  and  prominent  visiting  magie- 


266  The  Cellular  Syttem. 

trates  of  the  county— ^Mr.  Edmund  Aahworth — said,  that  twent 
jearB*  experience  in  that  capacity  had  convinced  him  that  niDety-nta 
prisoners  out  of  every  100  leave  the  gaols  worse  than  they  enH 
them. 

Another  magistrate  of  much  experience — Mr.  Angus  A.  CroD- 
recently  Sheriff  of  London  and  Middlesex,  writes,  in  a  pamphlet  pob 
lished  last  year: — "  For  one  prisoner  reformed  many  are  corrnpted 
It  is  to  bo  feared  that,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  imprisoDnwai 
gives  an  impetus  to  the  downward  course  of  the  convict**  FortlMr 
it  is  found,  that  in  many  of  the  British  prisons  a  number  of  thdr  In 
mates  are  committed  not  dozens,  but  scores,  and  even  hundreds,  oj 
times  in  succession. 

In  Belgium,  on  the  other  hand,  since  the  adoption  of  the  ntl 
cellular  system,  the  number  of  recommittals  to  the  principal  prisot 
conducted  on  that  plan,  has  diminished  more  than  40  per  cent,  (tin 
official  returns  give  a  still  higher  number),  and  I  was  assured  bji 
prison  officer  of  thirty  years*  experience  in  that  country,  that  hi 
knew  of  no  case  of  a  prisoner  committed  more  than  six  times.  Aw 
throughout  Belgium  the  number  of  prisoners  has  been  reduced  s 
least  30  per  cent,  by  the  new  system. 

The  great  progress  of  prison  discipline  in  Belgium  and  HollaiH 
has  been  no  hasty  work,  but  the  result  of  long  and  very  carefullj 
tested  experience. 

Even  a  century  ngo,  the  prisons  of  these  two  countries  elidtsi 
the  repeated  eulogies  of  the  illustrious  Howard,  who  visited  tha 
again  and  again,  taking  nine  journeys  to  Holland,  and  nearly  t 
many  to  Belgium.  In  the  former  country  he  found  the  gaols  cleai 
and  orderly,  with  their  inmates  employed  at  useful  labour  (cbie^ 
the  manufacture  of  cloth),  of  the  proceeds  of  which  they  receivM 
n  share  to  aid  them  on  their  discharge.  The  Dutch  motto,  wUd 
became  a  favourite  one  with  Howard,  was  ''Make  men  diligent,  am 
you  will  make  them  honest."  This  object  was  accomplished  by  tin 
enforcement  and  encouragement  of  useful  occupation  regulated  b] 
piece-work. 

At  the  same  period,  Belgium  had  established,  in  the  great  prison 
of  Ghent  and  Vilvorde,  the  system  of  entire  separation  by  night 
with  congregate  labour  by  day,  which  was  a  vast  improvement  apoi 
the  horrible  and  almost  unrestrained  contamination  which  then,  tni 
for  a  long  time  afterwards,  formed  a  disgraceful  feature  in  the  gaok 
of  Great  Britain  and  of  most  other  nations.  Many  years  after  thi 
system  had  been  adopted  in  Belgium,  it  was  imitated  in  the  Unite! 
States,  and,  by  a  strange  ignorance  of  its  origin,  it  has  subseqaend] 
generally  gone  by  the  name  of  the  American  System,  just  as  lb 
name  of  the  real  discoverer  of  that  continent,  Columbus,  has  beei 
ignored  in  its  universal  appellation — America. 

It  was  in  1775  that  Howard  paid  his  first  visit  to  Ghent  prisqi 
then  newly  erected,  and  its  features  of  useful  task-work,  vri^  a  shu 
in  the  earnings,  by  the  prisoners,  and  their  complete  ■eparation  \ 
night,  drew  from  him  the  exclamation  that  it  was  a  ^  qoblf  insflt 


ify  Willuim  Tallad:  267 

His  second  visit  there,  in  the  followiag  jear,  dicit«d  ths 
:  that  he  seldom  oaviod  foreign  countries  their  Eituation, 
a,  manners,  or  govemraent,  but  tbat  their  prisons  caused  liim 
ih  for  Englaad.  On  his  eixtli  visit:  to  the  Lonr  Countries  ia 
lie  found  the  prisoners  at  Ghent  iu  a  miaerable  condition  of 
tlisatioD  and  ill  health.  For  ibe  Emperor  JoBeph,  at  the 
itioQ  of  a  few  priralQ  manufacturers,  had  ordered  tlie  useful 
:ti*e  labour  of  the  establishment  to  be  ulmost  discontinued. 
lEuItB  were  such  as  might  have  been  expected.  The  Governor 
of  (hem  ns  "  unliappy  changes,"  and  Howard,  with  his  nsua! 
cn  of  sneeeh,  termed  the  alteration  a  "vile  policy."  Two 
ftfUrwards,  he  had  an  interview  with  the  Emperor  at  Vienua, 
wilhoui  any  ceremony,  complained  sharply  of  the  lack  of 
n  in  many  departments  of  the  prisons  and  other  inslltutions 
;tria.  The  Emperor  asked  "  Where  have  you  seen  any  better 
ilions  of  the  Itind  ?  "  "  There  wax  one  bftler,"  said  Howard, 
Iteat,  hut  (he  added),  not  so  now  \  "  The  Emperor  started  and 
ed  displeased,  but  eventually  parted  from  his  honest -spoken 
'  with  cordiality  and  respect,  and  proraiseil  to  carry  out  some, 
t,  of  hU  recommendations. 

I  comparatively  successful  administrstion  or  the  Belgian  and 
prisons  has  continued  throughout  the  present  century.  But 
the  last  thirty  years  the  governments  nf  both  countries  have 
illy,  but  decidedly,  adopted  tlieir  present  form  of  the  cellular 

two  principal  agents  in  introducing  this  plan  were  the  late 
■    Duc[>otiaux,  of  Brussels,  and  M,  W.  H.  Suringar,  of 

Dnopetiaux's  attention  was  awalcened  to  the  necessity  of 
'  prison  reform  by  bis  own  experiences,  like  Howard.  In 
le  underwent  a  year's  confinement  for  his  writings  in  favour 

r'  in  independence.  Two  years  afterwards,  on  the  achieve- 
that  independence,  the  newly  enthroned  King  Leopold  I.  (of 
Ions  memory)  appointed  M.  Ducpctiaux  to  be  Inspector-General 
e  whielt  he  held  till  his  decease  in  1867.  During 
)g  tenure  of  office  he  devoted  himself  to  the  reform  of  the 
I  of  which  he  had  lelt  and  seen  the  evil  tendency  during  his. 
learceration. 

Wticular  he  had  observed  that  any  amount  of  association  with 
irleoners  not  only  fostered  evil  communications,  but,  which  wa^ 
lore  tnischievons,  ruined  for  life  many  of  the  inmates  who  hud 
lly  been  committed  for  slight  ofTences,  l>y  causing  them  to  be 
leotiy  recognisable  after  their  discharge  by  inveterate  and 
disposed  criminals.  For  example,  Francis  (to  take  any  name), 
renlicp,  imprisoned  at  drst  for  some  theft  amounting  to  half-a- 
in  value,  might  be,  on  bis  discharge,  recognized  by  Alphoose, 
offender,  who  would  thus  have  it  in  his  power  to  bruod  the 
~s  as  a  "  prison  bird,"  and  blast  for  life  his  diameter  and 
s  of  getting  an  honest  livelihood. 


268  Tlie  Cellular  System. 

M.  Ducpetiauz  also  ascertained  that  in  the  boxes  plac 
Belgian  prisons  to  receive  complaints  from  the  prisonersy  tl 
jority  of  these  complaints  consisted  of  requests  to  be  separatee 
the  horrible  companionship  of  hateful  and  depraved  associates. 

His  miud  was  further  impressed  with  the  amount  of  pnnis 
needlessly  inflicted  on  innocent  wives  and  children  bj  verj 
sentences  of  impri.'^onment  passed  upon  their  husbands  and  faU 
sentences  which  involved  also  unduly  lengthened  pecuniary  bi 
upon  the  honest  taxpayer,  whilst,  in  many  cases,  also  great 
juring  the  criminal  by  an  unnatural  and  cruel  separation  fro 
ties  of  kindred  and  the  softening  influences  of  parental  and  oa 
relationships. 

He  reflected  that  if  it  should  be  found  that  the  entire  sepa 
of  prisoners  i'rom  communication  with  others  was  a  punishm 
the  worse  class  of  offendorii,  and  a  safeguard  to  the  better  cm 
advantage  would  be  double.  The  separation  would  be  more 
tory  and  more  deterrent  to  the  wilful,  whilst  more  merciful  and 
curative  to  the  really  penitent.  Thus  shorter  terms,  with  c 
discipline,  might  safely  and  with  many  advantages,  moral  an 
nomical,  bo  substituted  for  longer  and  less  effectual  peril 
partially  associated  imprisonment. 

It  was  also  obvious  that  contagious  and  epidemic  diseases 
be  greatly  checked  by  cellular  separation,  whilst  prison  riot 
rebellions  would  bo  rendered  almost  impossible.  Nor  won! 
sneers  and  laughter  of  reprobate  companions  any  longer  be  i 
efface  from  the  hearts  of  the  less  hardened,  the  impressions  nu 
religious  instructors  or  wise  advisers.  Thus  would  there  be  a  i 
inducement  and  prospect  of  success  for  frequent  visitation  b; 
persons,  whether  officially  connected  with  the  prison,  or  otlu 
as  duty  or  desire  might  prompt  to  offer  their  aid  to  the  prii 
And,  Anally,  the  inmates,  anxious  for  occupation  and  variety 
become  more  diligent  in  their  resort  to  useful  handicraft  : 
(^especially  with  the  additional  spur  of  a  share  in  the  profiti 
more  attentive  to  the  instructive  solace  of  well-selected  books. 

All  these  advantages,  without  any  proportionate  disadvai 
have  been  found  to  result  from  the  practical  adoption  of  the  o 
system  in  Belgium,  where  it  has  been  accompanied  by  thos 
and  merciful  precautions  which  were  neglected  in  the  very  d 
system,  bearing  the  same  name,  once  adopted  in  Amariei 
elsewhere. 

And  it  may  be  mentioned  here,  by  the  way,  that  in  proporl 
the  cellular  system  (apart  from  mere  idle  solitude  and  nnitei 
useful  industry  and  instruction)  has  been  tried  in  this  country, 
been  eminently  successful.  Mr.  Oakley,  the  experienced  gova 
Taunton  gaol,  informs  me  that  when  he  came  to  that  prison  t 
years  ago  it  was  chiefly  conducted  on  the  congregate  systei 
there  were  200  county  prisoners  in  it.  Now  it  is  cellolar  Ai 
out,  and  the  number  of  country  prisoners  is  reduced  to  se 
although  the  district  population  has  increased,  most  of  tho  celb 


Sif  Waiiam  Talhch. 

I  other  counties.      The  same  gentlemftn  also  testifies   [o  t!ic 

I  mischief  which  is  ofleo  wrought  merely  by  iho  cootBct  of 

t,  iat  one  hour  or  leap,  wheii  broaght  together  into  court  for 

lent  beibre  trial,  to  plead  guilty  or  aot  guilty.    For  example, 

oal  criminal  sees  near  him  amongst  the  prisoners  ayouug 

in,  committed  perhaps  for  a  first  and  petty  ofieoce,  and  possibly 

I  guilty  of  that.     After  their  discliarge,  he  may,  in  walking 

pi  ttteelD,  recognize  the  girl  at  the  door  or  down  the  area  of  some 

'    B  where  she  has  obtained  a  aittiattoD.     The  villain  at  onea  sees 

MCt  of  takliig  advantage  of  h\s  brief  recognition  in  court,  and 

B  ftcoosta  the  girl,  reminding  her  of  their  having  both  been  in 

i  such  a  time.    "  For  goojnesa"  sake,"  she  exclaims,  in  fright, 

)  here.     It  would  never  do  for  my  mistress  or  the  oUier 

I  t«  know  that  I  had  been  in  gaol.     It  might  bo  my  ruin," 

B  the  man  cares  nothing  for  this,  and  the  poor  girl  ia  obliged 

"  'a  silence  either  by  direct  bribes  or  by  becoming  his 

r  purposes  of  robbery.     In  this  way  a  brief  prison  recognition 

'  wIh  to  the  future  ruin  of  the  comparatively  innocent  und 

minated.     The  system  of  congregate  arraignment  in  English 

3  be  abolished  aa  soon  as  possible, 

I  Belgian  prison  which  afforda  the  best  means  of  studying  the 

LS  of  Uie  cellular  system  ia  that  nf  Loiivain,  which  was  opened 

",  and  has,  from  its  foundation,  been  conducted  on  principles 

e  most  absolute  separation  of  prisoners  from  each  other,  amelio- 

1  by  the  abundant  visitation  of  caretakers  and  instructors,  by 

rfol  industry  and  recreative  exercise  in  separnlc  garden  yaids. 

'£it«d  this  prison  a  few  months  ago,  in  company  with  M.  Ducpe- 

)  able  and  worthy  successor,  aa  chief  inspector  of  Belgian 

a,  RL  J.  Stevens,  who  was  foi'  seven  years  the  governor  of  tho 

Uishmcnt.     At  the  time  of  my  visit,  there  were  BOO  prisoners, 

i  itn^orant  of  each  other's  faces  and  careers  as  if  they  had  been 

"  '  1  aa  many  sepitrnte  houaea.     They  were  chiefly  occupied 

weavers,  shoemakers,  bookbinders,  and  carpeuiera,  the 

the  smiths  having  cells  of  double  siie  to  accommodate 

1  or  fopge.     There  is  n  trades"  instructor  for  each  bianch  of 

Htry,  na  most  of  the  inmates  are  found  to  be  iguoraiit  of  any 

"l  on  entry.      The   warders  are  mostly  conversant  with  some 

kd  are  selected  not  (as  is  too  frequently  the  case  in  England) 

t  ranks  of  old  aoldiera,  but  on  account  of  their  experience 

^practical  qualification  for  their  special  occupation. 

'any  prisoners  have,  witJi  pcifect  health  of  mind  and  body,  spent 

1  or  nine  years  in  Louvain  prison.     I  saw  and  conversed  with 

6  of  these.     The  one  who  had  been  longest  in  tho  establishment 

i  «  young  man,  aged  twenty-seven,  who  had  been  in  conlmuoua 

•ration  in  his  cell  for  nine  years.     His  crime  was  incendiarism, 

t  he  bad  been  originally  sentenced  to  death,  which  penally  wus 

ted  to  one  of  twenty  years'  imprisonment.     But  inasmuch  as 

igian  Legislature  has,  since  the  inlroduutiou  of  the  cellular 

,  reddced  the  scale  of  all  sentences,  his  term  will  be  rather 


270  The  Celtutar  System. 

less  than  ton  years  altogether.  He  had  three  months  more  to  mti 
when  I  saw  him.  Whilst  in  prison  he  has  leamt  shoemakiu 
writing,  reading,  and  the  French  language  (having  probably  o^ 
known  Flemish  before).  He  has  earned  nearly  16/.  for  his  nun 
discharge,  in  addition  to  as  much  more  with  which  he  has  purehaaal 
food  of  a  better  class  than  the  repulsive  and  scanty  fare  sappBed 
gratis.  In  addition  to  this,  he  has  earned  40/.  or  50/.,  or  more,  kt 
the  State,  towards  the  expenses  of  his  maintenance  during  his  tern,  i 
The  deputy-governor  remarked  of  him,  "  He  is  now  a  very  good  1 
fellow!" 

I  saw  another  prisoner  there  who  had  earned  for  himself  as  mtA  4 
discharge  money  (16/.)  in  the  shorter  period  of  five  and  a  half  ywn.  .1 
His  term  expires  in  six  months.  The  officer  remarked,  **Heiift  ^ 
very  good  man ;  he  will  not  come  again  !**  I 

And  certain  it  is  that  the  comparatively  large  sums  of  moMr     ^ 
which  the  Belgian  prisoners  can  earn  (although  theTalnationof  fav    J 
labour  is,  as  a  punishment,  much  lower  than  its  real  worth),  caoii 
many  of  them  to  start  well  and  easily  in  permanently  honest  carBM^     ! 
and  in  a  much  more  effective  manner  than  the  eleemosynary  liid 
smaller  help  of  discharged  prisoners'  aid  societies. 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  gather  it  from  a  number  of  some- 
what varying  statistics,  the  average  net  cost  of  each  prisoner  it 
Louvain,  after  deducting  the  Government  share  of  his  laboor,  ii 
about  ten  guineas  per  annum.  The  cost  at  Ghent  prison  is  widui 
a  few  shillings  of  the  same.  Hence  the  direct  pecuniary  resvlb 
of  the  cellular  system  are  not  nearly  so  considerable  as  those  of 
American  self-supporting  prisons,  and  hardly  equal  to  those  oft  i 
few  of  the  better  class  of  English  prisons.  But  the  indirect  gn 
is  much  greater  by  reason  of  the  moral  and  prcTentive  resnUl^ 
and  the  shortened  terms  of  imprisonment  which  the  system  nSdj  ^ 
and  effectually  permits. 

The  money  earned  by  Belgian  prisoners,  and  retained  till  their 
discharge,  is  never  forfeited,  even  for  misconduct  Once  earned  it 
is  quite  secure.  I  was  told  that  they  very  often  send  a  portion  of 
their  money  to  their  relatives ;  thus  a  parent  in  prison  helps  a  chiU 
outside,  or  a  child  contributes  to  a  parent's  wants. 

The  articles  which  may  be  purchased  with  the  immediately  dis- 
posable portion  of  the  prison  earnings  are  white  bread,  cbeeMb 
bacon,  milk,  paper,  pens,  tobacco,  &c.  Smoking  is  only  permitted 
as  a  privilege  to  the  better  behaved,  during  their  hours  of  exerne 
in  their  separate  yards,  where  they  are  obliged  to  keep  in  motia^ 
either  by  brisk  walking,  by  gardening,  or  by  paving  with  heaij 
pounders.  Such  exercise  as  treadwhed  work  or  shot-drOl  is  nenc 
used  in  Belgium  or  Holland,  and  is  spoken  of  with  contempt 

I  was  anxious  to  ascertain  the  effect  of  the  Louvain  system  Bpc^^ 
the  health  of  the  inmates,  and  made  careful  inquiries  on  the  poi^JiT 

'PKa  nflR^ial  af^tiflMAB  aVinur  an   nvoiHiarA  mnrfalifv  /iratinnt!  tl.  ttiar  ti^..  .  ^^ 


The  official  statistics  show  an  average  mortality  of  about  21  pve^L^ 

t  oftla^*. 
tially  congregate  prison  at  Ghent,  where  it  is  nearly  3  per  cent,  ^^^* 


per  annum,  which  is  a  considerably  lower  rate  than  that 


Sff  William  Tatlaek. 


2>1 


3  ten  yeara  of  Loavaio  experience  (with  upwards  of  500  inmatea, 
"le  average),  there  have  only  been  fourteen  auicidea  aad  fourteen 
%  of  iitiBDitf ,  tliat  19  to  Boy,  less  tbaa  two  per  aunum  of  each  in 

■  large  prison.     This  state  of  things  compares  not  unfavourably 

*i  English  convict  prisons.      For  example,  at  Portland  prison 

were,  lost  year,    with    1500   prisoners,  sixteen    deatlis,    four 

ipled   suicides,  six   cases  of  insauity  induced,  and   401   meu 

I  under  the  surgeon's  care  for  accidents.     At  Chatham  last 

r  (1669-70)  the  surgeon  reported  eighteen  deaths,  out  of  1400 

't,  970  admissions  to  the  infirmary,  31,849  "casualties,"  and  2S2 

ideots,  "  a  large  proportion  of  which  "  are  reported  as  "  of  a 

Hoas  nature." 

^he  crushing  slavery,  debasement  and  contamination  of  some  of 

\  English  convict  prisons,  e.ipecially  Chatham  aad  Portland,  are  a 
ional  disgrace.  One  of  the  first  remarks  made  to  me  by  the 
mly  governor  of  Ghent  Prison,  was  "  The  English  convict 
Rem  is  worth  nothing — worth  notbing."     Aguin,  at  Amsterdam, 

I  venerable  iM,  Suriugar,  who  for  forly-seveo  yeura  has  been 
bnect^d  with  prison  management,  spoke  with  grief  and  contempt 

Vttie  British  system. 

IId  the  Belgian  and  Dutch  prisons,  the  inmates  are  treated  with 
leh  more  respect  and  Christian  consideration  than  in  our  English 
iTict  prisons.  The  very  important  element  of  religious  instruction 
'»  appears  to  be  resorted  to  on  a  moie  extended  and  more  kindly 
k.  In  visiting  the  female  prisons  at  Brussels  and  Antwerp,  I 
md  the  women  wholly  under  the  care  of  religious  sisters,  in  the 
)p<rtioD  of  about  ten  sisters  per  100  women.     In  our  own  country 

II  tiie  experience  of  Elizabeth  Fry,  at  Newgate,  of  Sarah  Martin, 
^Yarmouth,  and  of  tho  Catholic  Sisters  at  Dublin  and  elsewhere, 

I  proved  that  even  for  the  most  unmanageable  of  all  criminals, 

"raved  females,  the  best  and  only  source  of  hope  consists  in  their 

night  by  sympathizing  religious  women.     And.   in  short,  in  all 

DS,  it  continues  to  be  .verified  by  results,  despite  all  the  sneers 

I  cynics  or  sceptics,  that  "  ihe  Gospel  is  the  power  of  Gfid  unto 

UnOoD  "  even  to  the  most  hopeless  and  degraded. 

f  A  principal  defect  of  the  Belgian  prisons  is  the  absence  of  pro- 

'  m  for  the  voluntary  visits  of  religious  or  philanthropic  persons. 

It  than  the  appointed  and  regular  prison  mioUtera,     In  some  of 

t  Dutch  prisons  arrangements  for  such  systematic  visitation,  by 

Hlicioos  persona,  are  a  praiseworthy  feature.    This  voluntary  visita- 

bn  by  Christian    individuals  or  societies  has  been    perseveringly 

eated  and  promoted  by  M.  Suringar  and  other  Dutch  philan- 

npists.    This  feature  constitutes  the   most   noticeable  difference 

between  Dutch  and  Belgian  prisons,  and  might  with  great  advantage 

Be  ezientirely  adopted  in  Great  Britain. 

The  titnelils  of  such  visitation  have  also  been  found  to  be  very 
|rttt  la  some  of  the  American  and  Italiau  prisons.  Mr.  Jonas,  the 
[  governor  of  Newgate  Gaol,  who  remembers  the  systematic  viaita- 
\  ^tiii  u(  Mrs.  Fry  and  her  stafi*  of  companions,  declorea  that  those 


3 


272  The  Cellular  Syetm. 

Tisits  did  not  interfere  with  the  discipline,  whilst  thej  were  tsij 
usefal  to  the  prisoners.  Anj  cause  of  complaint  on  the  part  eithir 
of  the  prison  officials  or  of  thq  visitors,  may  be  with  adTtntui 
referred  to  the  common  medium  of  a  magistrates'  committee  fil; 
decision  or  attention. 

Sir  Walter  Croft  on  informs  me  that  the  London  Temperanai! 
League  have  recently  solicited  his  aid  in  procaring  admissioQ  into 
some  prisons  for  their  lecturers,  to  address  the  inmates  on  the  erikof,. 
drunkenness.     Such  lectures  could  hardly  fail  to  be  of  great  serviM^  '\ 
and  it  is  satisfactory  to  hear  that  at  least  one  body  of  magistrates^  it  '; 
Wisbeach,  have  opened  their  gaol  to  these  useful  emissaries.  !' 

A  few  words  may  be  added  relative  to  the  Ghent  prison.  Um  J 
establishment  of  1265  inmates  is  chiefly  conducted  on  the  Englidi  i 
plan  of  silent  congregate  labour  by  day,  and  entire  separation  \n,  | 
night.  But  it  has  this  advantage.  One  wing  of  158  cells  is  maosged  \ 
on  the  cellular  system  of  total  separation  from  the  other  prisonen^,  "^ 
but  with  abundant  visitation  by  officers  and  instmctors ;  hence  6h«t'  « 
unites  the  cellular  and  congregate  systems.  Those  prisoners  wb:  \ 
abuse  the  latter,  or  are  detected  in  communication  with  others,  in'  ' 
transferred  to  the  cellular  department  for  a  time,  or  permanently  if 
necessary. 

Ghent  prison  is,  perhaps,  better  adapted  for  life-sentences  thii^ 
Louvain.    I  conversed  with  one  prisoner  who  has  been  confined  then 
for  nearly  thirty-two  years,  for  murder.     He  appeared  to  eigoy  goal 
health,  both  of  body  and  mind.     He  is  now  fifly-oight  years  of  igsi 
Another  prisoner  whom  I  saw  had  been  there  twenty-seven  yeini. 
and  a  third  (aged  fifty-five),  twenty-four  years.    He  told  me  Ui  \ 
health  was  good  in  general,  and  he  greatly  enjoys  reading.     San^.  J 
the  system  which  can  maintain  ciiminals  thus,  for  life,  in  health  a  * 
body  and  mind,  whilst  treating  them  humanely,  making  them  eoib. 
tribute  largely  by  labour  to  their  support,  and  giving  them  oppoc^.  ^ 
tunity  for  reformation  and  repentance,  affi^rds  at  the  same  time  ttii.  \ 
spectacle  of  an  abidingly  deterrent  punishment  for  murder,  and  a  monj   - 
Christian  and  Christ-like  method,  than  cutting  them  off  in  their  siai'. 
by  the  gallows  or  the  guillotine  !     But  for  such  life-time  prisoner!,  it 
is  doubtful  whether  the  full  cellular  system  would  be  humane  or 
successful. 

Kor  is  it  applicable,  unless  with  very  special  vigilance,  to  th|    < 
very  young,  the  aged,  or  the  weak-minded. 

Yet  for  the  general  class  of  prisoners,  its  effects  are  at  once  so  re- 
formatory and  so  deterrent,  that  the  sentences  to  imprisonment  ante    \ 
this  system  may  safely  and  justly  be  rendered  from  50  to  75  peroeBt». 
shorter  than  those  for  congregate  confinement.     Hence  another  ejf 
its  great  and   economical  advantages.     The  Belgian  Legislttan 
has  enacted  laws,  declaring  a  general  reduction  of  sentences  paseei 
during  the  continuance  of  the  congregate  system.     For  example,  an* 
tences  of  twenty  years  under  the  former  system  are  now  redneei 
to  less  than  ten  years,  those  of  ten  years  to  Six  jearSi  and  thou  of 
five  to  three  and  a  half. 


^  By  WUKafn  Tallach  273 

Vuttlly,  die  cellular  system,  as  distinguished  from  the  rigours 
f'the  former  American  solitary  system,  and  as  characterised  by 
it  sabstitution  of  good  communication  for  evil,  and  by  a  much 
{Mster  intercourse  with  officers,  instructors,  and  visitors,  than  has 
iMiefiO'been  a  feature  of  English  prisons,  presents  the  following 
If antages :  — 
;1.  Hflnre   deterrence    than    the    congregate   or    semi-congregate 

S.  Infinitely  more  of  reformatory  effect  and  of  freedom  from  cor- 
•Oplfaig  inflaences. 

8.  More  economy  to  the  State,  or  the  ratepayers,  by  reason  of 
le  mnch  shorter  terms  of  confinement  necessary. 

4.  Less  breaking  up  or  rain  of  the  prisoner's  family,  by  reason  of 
lorter  separation  from  them. 

;!&  A  better  reception  of   religious  and  secular  instruction  in 
jHion* 

&  A  greater  impetus   to    activity  in  useful   and    remunerated 
■Nnir* 
.  t.  General  exemption  from  contagious  and  epidemic  diseases. 

8k  Greater  security  from  escapes. 

9.  Far  fewer  causes  for  prison  punishment,  with  entire  indepen- 
hnee  of  treadwheels  and  cranks. 

.  10.  Greater  facilities  for  the  observation  and  prompt  detection  of 
bMse  or  insanity. 

11.  Protection  to  the  prisoner,  on  his  discharge^  from  future  recog* 
fikm  by  other  prisoners ;  and 

12.  A  greater  eligibility  for  employment  and  a  far  more  effectual 
{HUfication  for  a  career  of  honest  usefulness. 

But,  inasmuch  as  the  best  of  systems  may  be  liable  to  the  worst 
hne  if  not  rightly  administered,  so  the  cellular  jsystem,  to  be  accom- 
inied  by  success,  as  in  Belgium  and  Holland,  must  be  as  vigilantly 
id  unceasingly  guarded  as  it  is  in  those  countries,  against  the  neg- 
Kt  or  mistakes  which  would  convert  it  into  the  rigid  solitary  system 
Hi  system  as  evil  as  the  other  is  good. 


%  Hie  Same.    By  Rev.  John  Field,  Chairman  of  Visiting 
Justices  of  the  North  Riding  Prisons. 

f  tiie  legitimate  object  of  punisliment  bo  the  prevention  of  crime,  it 
be  evident  from  published  cnminal  statistics  that  the  penalties 
inflicted  giievously  fail — ^that  their  lawful  purpose  is  either  pre- 
ntod  or  counteracted.  The  former  occurs  when  sentences  are  passed 
pon  offenders  which  under  any  prison  treatment-^and  especially 
hen  labour,  whether  productive  or  other  is  enforced — are  too  short 
deter  from  crime  or  to  correct  the  criminal;  the  latter  because 
e  nature  of  the  punishment  is  itself  faulty.  Long  observation  has 
nflrmed  my  opinion  that  imprisonments  of  less  than  three  months 

18 


274  The  Cellular  St/stenu 

are  a  moet  fruitfol  source  of  crime.  It  is  not  difficalt  to  aooc 
this.  No  expectation  of  reforming  the  prisoner  is  entertaii 
little  is  attempted,  the  means  needful  being  withheld, 
liberated,  he  returns  as  a  degraded  convict  to  scenes  of  Tioe 
soon  seduced  by  various  temptations  which  he  has  neither  the 
nor  the  inclination  to  withstand.  I  do  not  plead  that  a  sent 
more  than  three  months*  imprisonment  be  inflicted  for  ere 
offence.  Rather  let  a  warning  without  punishment  foUon 
such ;  and  I  would  implore  brother  magistrates  to  act  more  fre 
in  accordance  with  that  clause  in  the  first  section  of  the  C 
Justice  Act— the  insertion  of  which  I  thankfully  obtained  wl 
Bill  was  in  committee — ^which  empowers  justices,  if  thej 
proper,  to  dismiss  the  offender  without  inflicting  a  penalt 
course,  then,  an  increased  or  cumulative  punishment 
awarded  in  case  of  anj  future  offence. 

I  hope  I  shall  not  be  misjudged  a  stern  advocate  for  seve 
as  a  presumptuous  censor  of  my  superiors,  if  I  express  an  c 
founded  upon  careful  observation,  that,  in  many  cases,  the  sei 
now  passed  by  judges  of  Assize  and  by  other  magistrates  in  £ 
are  much  too  lenient  I  have  here  a  list  taken  from  the  u 
calendars  of  a  county  of  all  the  recommitted  prisoners  tried  at  ( 
Sessions  during  the  last  four  years. 

From  this  list  I  strike  out  those  who  had  been  only  once 
convicted,  because  strong  temptation,  or  some  accidental  c 
stances,  may  have  caused  a  single  relapse  into  crime.  Then 
beg  attention  to  the  first  hundred  here  described.  These, 
aggregate,  had  been  in  gaol  898  times — an  average,  witl 
smallest  fraction,  of  four  times  each.  Now,  of  these,  only  S< 
last  convicted  were  sentenced  to  penal  servitude,  although  j 
than  56  had  been  twice  or  more  times  previously  convicted  of 
It  is  also  remarkable  that  in  the  case  of  29,  the  subsequent  ] 
ment  for  felony,  instead  of  being  augmented,  was  for  a  short 
than  had  been  awarded  on  their  previous  conviction.  Now 
and  magistrates  are — and  I  think  wisely — entrusted  with  co 
able  discretionary  power,  but  I  do  hope  that,  at  no  distant  da 
discretion  will  be  so  regulated  that  a  sentence  to  penal  serviti 
seven  years  shall  in  every  case  bo  passed  when  a  prisoner  is 
time  convicted  of  felony.  If  there  be  circumstances  which 
justify  a  mitigation  of  such  penalty,  let  there  be  a  recommei 
to  such  effect  to  the  Home  Secretary,  or  better  if  some  wei 
ciated  with  him  for  such  purposes.  In  these  rare  instances,  t 
cedure  would  be  similar  to  that  we  commonly  pursue  on  con« 
under  the  Excise  Act. 

Surely  towards  these  hardened  offenders  mistaken  clem, 
real  cruelty.  It  may  be  that  they  have  been  made  inca 
through  ill-judged  treatment  when  they  might  have  been  rec 
and  so  we  may  ourselves  be  responsible  for  much  of  their  guL 
their  early  liberation  must  be  forbidden,  because  alike  ioja  - 
themselves  and  to  the  community.    If  a  patient  afillcted  wi 


ktrOA  disenss  ehouM  be  dlsmiBsed  from  lioapilal  Ijoforn  time  lioil 
tloi'^^  for  bia  cure,  w«  should  expect  his  own  relapse,  ami  that 
rootA  be  infected  by  intercourse  with  him,  especially  ahonld 
fnong  those  predisposed  to  euch  inrection  ;  bo  the  untimely 
^  oi  tbese  moral  lepers,  their  return  to  old  hannta,  to  vii^juus 
1^,  ond  to  others  innocent,  yet  inclined  to  evil,  must  almost 
s^d  «t  once,  bo  followed  by  tfieir  relapse  into  crime,  the  con- 
y^%  of  many,  and  the  consequent  tnullipllcation  of  otfendera. 
0fxer  which  I  read  at  a  former  Congress,  I  deprecniei)  the 
,f  Xjord  Carnarvon's  Bill,  which  has  now  become  the  law  for 
l^'K'ion  of  our  prisons.  The  Act  was  founded  upon  the 
Ix^t  crime  would  be  prevented  by  increased  punishment, 
Q^^ins  of  reformalion  should  be  diminished.  Compulsory 
o«ar  WB8  the  proposed  deterrent  from  crime.  The  Act  pro- 
%,  che  Ireadwheel  or  the  crank,  ingtrumenti  which  wisdom 
^O  ily  bad  cast  aside,  should  be  rc-constructed,  and  that  toll, 
-^as^pi^dnctive,  should  bo  enforced  during  the  first  three 
,f  iEapriionmenI :  and  thus  the  eiTurts  of  chaplnins  and  in- 
s^ve  countei-acted  and  rendered  aborlive  at  the  very  time 
p^csially  repentance  and  amendment  of  life  might  be  pro- 
^3mitBadi  injudicious  treatment,  whilst  preventing  reforms 
,  41»r  less  punishment  than  would  lis  the  corrective  seel utinn 
t^lt  with  suitable  employment.  I  may  remind  our  noble 
iM.  *'  "'"'  visits  to  our  priaon,  when  numberless  wretched 
^  -^vlio  had  passed  through  that  llrst  stage  of  punisbmL-nt,  and 
>r^  closely  confined  to  the  cell,  begged  that  they  might  re- 
trendwheel  labour  rather  than  endure  this  more  severe  and 
Intary  discipline.  Such  appeal-i  strengihoned  my  conviction, 
ong  ohaervntion  had  produced,  that  such  aulitudo  Is  far  more 
tl  to  criminals  than  any  toilsome  labour,  nud  therefore  more 
to  <]«ter  from  crime.  But  under  Ibc  present  system,  all 
n  sentenced  to  hard  labour  for  three  months  or  lns4  are 
I  (o  the  depraving  influence  of  the  Ireadwheel  and  di^prived 
I  subsequent  correctional  discipline.  Hence  very  few  are  ro- 
ll ftnd  uumbers  from  time  to  time  return  to  prison. 
I  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  the  recent  Gaol  Act  U  a  fatliiivh  Snd 
tlie  returns  of  nearly  every  important  gaol  in  the  country 
ntion  of  this  statement.  The  number  of  commitments  and 
aitmertts  has  increased  in  a  ratio  far  exceeding  any  iucrease 
ilatioti.  Thus  in  I8G0 — tho  year  preceding  the  operiilion  of 
!t — the  number  committed  did  not  exceed  139,236;  since  that 
lie  increase  has  been  progressive,  until  the  last  published 
1  Btfttiatics  show  it  to  be  not  less  than  1<)8,134.  The  gradual 
Mt  increase  of  those  recommitted  is  yot  more  remarkable;  for 
"  in  tlw  former  year  they  were  but  43,964,  they  have  risen 
98  In  the  last.  Looking  to  particular  prisons  we  learn  the 
!salis.  Let  me  read  a  few  lines  of  a  report  from  the  large 
Wverpool: — "The  treadmill  has  now  been  sufllciently  long  in 
'**>  'or  its  effects  to  bo  felt  by  a  large  proporlion  of  our  pri- 
18—2 


27fl  Tlie  Cellular  St/Btem. 

soners,  and  for  its  influence  and  conseqaences  to  presdnl  llieBU 
The  recommitments  of  those  who  have  experienced  its  BeTerit] 
been  progressive.  They  have  accumulated  in  the  last  quarter 
official  year  threefold.  Of  the  recommitments  in  the  Sept 
quarter,  of  prisoners  who  had  been  in  custody  from  upwards  i 
to  upwards  of  fifty  times,  43  per  cent  had  previously  undergm 
punibhment  of  the  wheel  in  this  gaoL  •  .  •  Since  the  pan 
the  Gaol  Act  in  1865,  the  proportion  of  recommitments  has  ] 
increased.  They  have  advanced  from  50  per  cent,  to  65  per  ec 
1870.  The  recommitments  of  males  who  had  previously  nikk 
the  discipline  of  labour  of  the  most  penal  kind  are  1256;  in 
they  numbered  only  613.*' 

1  have  obtained  a  return  from  the  gaol  of  the  North  Bidiog 
prisoners  committed,  and  of  those  recommitted,  during  the  five 
preceding,  and  the  five  subsequent  to,  the  introduction  of  the  p 
system.  This  return  shows  that  the  increase  of  both  during  the 
quinquennial  period  has  been  enormous.  Thus  the  number  com 
in  the  five  years  previous  to  1866,  was  only  4060,  when 
the  following  years,  we  have  an  annual  and  progressive  incra 
more  than  10  per  cent.,  and  the  number  is  5419.  Therecommi 
are  still  more  remarkable — they  have  increased  during  the  lai 
years,  50  per  cent. ;  the  numbers  being  743  before  1866,  and  1 
the  end  of  1870.  But  there  is  a  still  farther  striking  and  initi 
fact  connected  with  these  statistics.  In  1863  a  portion  of  tl 
Boners  were  subjected  to  more  strict  seclusion  in  their  cells,  ai 
work  given  was  done  in  solitude.  The  advantages  of  thb  pha 
evident,  and  during  the  two  following  years  all  our  prisoners 
thus  treated.  Mark  the  results.  The  recommittals  were  lu 
reduced  more  than  33  per  cent.,  and  a  gradually  decreasing  rsl 
continuous  until  1866,  when,  on  the  reintroduction  of  penal 
for  several  hours  in  the  day,  performed  out  of  the  cell,  thei 
mittals  again  rose  progressively  to  their  former  proportion,  an- 
since  that  time  exceeded  it.  During  the  years  1864,  1865, 
punished  by  close  cellular  confinement,  the  number  committe 
only  1G67,  whereas  during  the  last  two  years  of  treadwhed 
the  number  was  2415.  The  recommittals  present  a  contrast  w 
think  should  claim  yet  more  attention.  Those  during  the  : 
period  were  but  254,  whereas  in  the  latter  they  were  not  les- 
680 ;  as  at  Liverpool,  nearly  threefold  more.  The  result  s 
though  in  one  case  a  town,  in  the  other  a  rural  district.  I 
forget  that  increase  of  population  may  account  for  some  of 
committals,  and  that  photography  has  been  a  means  of  detectia 
old  ofifenders,  but  the  number  thus  accounted  for  is  very  small 

The  causes  of  such  adverse  results  are  apparent ;  the  reeen 
Act,  whilst  containing  some  judicious  provisions,  yet  fails  to  p 
equitable  or  adequate  punishment,  and  the  punishment  wt 
enacts  prevents  improvement  of  character.  Instruments  of  t 
often  instruments  of  torture.  There  is  no  adaptation  of  the  { 
ment  to  the  character  or  crime  of  the  convict,  but  its  ei 


By  Bee.  John  Field. 


277 


J*ApemIentonliUcondi[ionofbody.    Hence  upon  tLe  weak  hqiI 

OviCher  more  than  on  equitable  measure  is  inflicted,  or,  liowever 

a  ibeit  crimes,  tlie  watebful  surgeoa  of  the  prison  will  exempt 

3  from  sucli  punishment.    But  tor  tlio  able-bodied  oiid  hcnltbful, 

ion  f<*''  f'giit  or  nine  hours  in  the  day,  with  iulervnls  of  rest,  is 

tSeient  punishment.     We  call  it  hard  labour,  but  w«  do  not, 

aol,  'whilst  preserving  the  health  of  the  prisoner  and  observ- 

y  goal  arrange luentA,  inflict  upon  him  such  lubour  and 

^     A  shdil  moke  his  day's  work  equal  to  that  of  Ihii  every- 

our  of  the  honest,  liardworking  miner,  the  ploughman  or  many 

,XM-     There  is  nothing  deterrent,  therefore,  in  the  mero  labour. 

ye  lionestiy  I  must  work  tia  liard,  ayo,  and  upou  eaar^er  fare 

■BO    sbelter,  tUun  if  I  steni,  and  nm  unlucky  enough  to  be 

t     «»ud  scut  to  gaol."     Such,  as  respects  the  labour  per  w, 

,  tbe  soliloquy,  or  the  coiTupting  converse,  of  men  evil  disposed 

iiip£«(1    to  oifend.     But  we  are  reminded   that  this  labour  Is 

catl   unproductive,  and  that  in  this  oonsists  the  sting  of  the 

If  not  hard  it  is  irritating.     Unquestionably  it  is  so  ;  and 

D  pr-oponiou  to  the  irritation  thus  produced  is  the  impi-obubilily 

sfoniuitioa  of  the  criminal.     The  etlbrte  of  the  cUaplaiu  and 

ti*   are  frUBtrated  and  futile.     The  prisoner  is  treated  as  a 

Bcl  whilst  his  manhood  is  debased,  the  mahgnity  of  a  flend  is 

le  of  the  earliest  and  mast  earnest  advocates  of  the  separate 
aeDt  of  prisoners  I  deeply  lament  that  recent  legislation  has 
1  much  of  the  good  which  suoli  imprisonment  was  calculated 
-  I  oSiciated  for  many  years  in  the  Urat  county  gaol  con- 
.  Tor  curriug  out  that  plan.  The  system  therein  pursued  was 
a  ns  a  punishment,  labour  as  a  relaxation  of  such  punisk- 
ud  mornl,  religious,  and  mental  instruction  as  the  means  of 
tction.  This  system  was  really  preventive  of  crime.  In  oon- 
t  writh  the  plan  now  iu  operation,  the  number  committed  and 
recommitted  constantly  decreased  through  a  series  of  yeai-s, 
I  may  coulldontly  point  to  its  result  as  far  more  successful  than 
e  of  any  other  system  that  has  been  pursued.  Grod  ^nint  that 
'  legislaLioa  may  restore  the  like ! 


>"  ^tter.  W,  C,  Ojboksb  (Bath)  tbouj^it  our  pontinratal  uoigUbour.i  lind  but 
'■>  tCBtoh  us  on  the  subjoot  of  prisoa  disoipUno,  beyond  what  wb  had  alrandy 

*  frutu  tlio  principle  propounded  hy  Mr.  (Jrawford  and  Mr.  Eiuwll,  in 
""i   aubspquent  jenra.    The  ecDarata  Bvilem  workud  well  \a  most  of  our 

id  be  believed  it<  ojlerstion  helped  to  diminiBh  tlie  number  of  rocummittiils. 
*",  hoireter,  >  lendsncj  to  i»rr^  s  good  b^ steui  too  far.  lord  Pnlnieraton 
>  iM  eonTJut  ought  to  be  kept  in  separate  oualiiiMiient  tor  a  langer  period 
■■  mimUie,  Lboueh  tUe  term  of  his  sentencie  might  be  no  leu  than  terra  or 
»rt«m  jmre,     His  own  ejperienoB  as  a  priBoii  chaplain  conDmied  tlie 

*  or  tbiil  prinoiplo  ;  Lo  believed  the  good  eSects  of  the  Bjatem  worJd  be  lort 
"*~ ■-  n  lastou  beyond  nine  montlia ;  indeed,  to  ensure  those  good  effocM, 


278  The  Cellular  Syeiem. 

it  might  be  deemed  odviaablr,  in  some  caies,  not  to  exceed  six  montW  io| 
tioii.  lie  roiideiiined  the  silent  congregate  system,  because  it  placed  conTi 
unnatural  condition,  presenting  temptations  which  but  few  of  them  could 
sliown  by  the  number  of  prisoners  punished  in  gaols  conducted  on  thai 
With  regard  to  the  tren<l wheel,  wherever  it  was  introduced,  the  lerfioe 
chaplain  were  next  to  useless;  for,  notwithstanding  the  numierout  pn 
suggested  by  tlio  skill  and  experience  of  surgeons  and  goTemon,  exerev 
wheel  Poureil  the  mind  of  tlio  convict  to  such  a  degree  that  he  was  i 
incapable  of  recc'ivinpj  religious  instruction.  In  some  cases— one  or  twow 
own  exjwrience— the  wheel  inflictetl  serious  bodily  injury,  which  ou^t 
be  the  result  of  prison  discipline.  The  machine  jtself  was  entirely  unpf 
as  a  iiicins  of  labt^ur,  and  he  held,  as  a  fatal  objection  to  its  use,  that  it  fa 
reforming  agent. 

Mr.  Cf.  11ltr«t  (Btnlford)  nlso  condenmed  the  wheel  as  unproductive,  eg 
and  altogether  useless  in  tlie  reformation  of  criminals.  The  govemoi 
prison  he  visited  took  occai^ion  to  boast  of  the  groat  saving  this  machine 
but  on  inquiry  it  was  found  that  altliough  the  treadwheel  there  did  a  deal 
its  ()j>erationH  niniply  consisted  in  throwing  down  water  and  bringing  it  \ 
That  was  cnllccl  great  economy.  Tn  the  consideration  of  questions  o 
discipline  the  aim  should  be  not  so  much  to  punish  as  to  reform  the  • 
None  were  so  utterly  bad  as  to  resist  any  instructions  or  improvement  i 
The  limit  of  three  months  as  the  smallest  punishment  for  any  offence  w 
answer,  as  a  rule.  There  were  many  offences,  for  which  a  few  days'  imj^ 
would  l)e  ample  punishment.  But  with  regard  to  any  degree  of  punii 
great  mistake  M-as  now  made  in  not  re(piiring  the  criminal  to  do  some  kin 
ductive  labour,  however  brief  his  incarceration.  He  maintained  th. 
offender  should  bo  so  employed.  When  the  treodwhoel  was  deecribed  ai 
rent,  b<»ing  an  objiHit  of  reptilsion  and  dislike  to  the  criminal,  and  put  \m 
on  that  account,  the  oitender  was  supposed  to  be  more  sensitive  than  the 
of  men  are ;  for  knowledge  of  the  criminal  class  showed  that  it  was  ■ 
gratification  when  they  saw  that  those  who  punished  them  were  put  to 

i)eiise,  without   obtainmg  any  return  from  tue  labour  of  the  offenders  tb 
t  was  generally  held  that  the  degree  of  punishment  ought  to  increase 
frequimcy  of  committals.    While  admitting  much  might  be  said  on  that 
attached  greater  importance  t4»  the  effect  of  the  first  punishment,  which  " 
rally  for  *<a  crime  of  choice,*'  as  it  rarely  happened  that  a  man  was  n 
driven  to  the  (Commission  of  his  first  offence.    In  order  tliat  he  might  be 
employment  the  moment  he  quitted  gaol  he  should  be  taught  to  wort 
trade  before  the  expiration  ctf  his  imprisonment.     Failing  to  find  hcmest 
inent  at  home,  ho  might  be  assisted  in  finding  it  in  the  colonies.    Whatei 
be  argued  in  favour  of  the  silent  system,  the  criminal  would  certainly  g 
his  old  haunts  and  habits,  unless  ho  were  first  instructed  in  some  honest  a. 
nerative  labour  for  his  own  maintenance  after  taking  his  leave  of  prison  L 
Mr.  Bakwick  Bakkr  (Gloucester),  as  a  visiting  magistrate,  who  had  ' 
the  working  of  a  system  based,  more  or  less,  on  the  principles  advancff 
Tallnck,  in  his  ])aper,  desidenited  for  towns  the  adoption  of  rcgulatici 
had  the  effect  of  preventing  the  recognition  of  one  convicted  criminal  \r 
i)\\  their  leaving  gaol.     In  Bristol,  where  thieves  were  accustomed  to  meel 
frequently,  such  regulations  were  necessary ;  indeed,  they  were  enforoec 
that  the  nmtual  recognition  of  released  prisoners  from  the  same  gaol,  witfe 
of  their  discharge,  was  rendered  scarcely  possible.     In  counties,  however, « 
population  was  scattered  over  a  wide  area,  he  did  not  think  prcventif* 
of  that  nature  were  required,  as  the  probability  was  very  slight  that 
fellow-prisoners  would  meet  each  other  in  the  whole  course  of  their  live 
regard  to  short  terms  of  imprisonment,  he  had  himself  advocated  opinia 
differed  from  those  stated  by  Mr.  Field  and  Mr.  Tallack  in  their  respeetiiF 
and  he  was  happy  to  be  in  a  position  to  inform  the  Section  that  the  Fsgw 

Eroposod  on  the  subject  hod  met  with  the  approval  of  the  county  Beodi, 
0  sat,  and  had  been  first  arlopted  in  Gloucestershire  as  a  geneml  ■ 
proposition  was  that  for  the  first  offence,  whether  for  stealing  five  ihiUiH 
pounds,  the  punishment  should  bo  ton  days*  imprisonment,  care  bdn^H 


»  th« 


lU  liaFc  to  auRvr  »  leret 

._     ...  -BMu    yews'    polLee  supm 

if  &  Ulinl   ufFaniui,  reran   jeun'   pi^nsl  urvitudo.  ( 
Piald.    Wlieii   lie  m>il  tiiie   rule  wun  CMU'rally  adopted   i 


I  ilid  nut  wlali  Ihe  Saciion  Ut  imdi>ntijvnir  llml  ii 
(li.ni  i>r.Tp  H  few  iiiiiKi-l'iilPi  who  noted  on  the  old  ayitain 
''"    "   -  ■    -     i    that  ilia  Irtadwhoel  wiu  a  vm] 
'<•  work  M,  uima  tnida.    lu  omi 
I  H-niild  bo  (Inae  t^  any  aUenipt  tl 
iLiid  itltliiiugli  he  luul  Hen  a 
I      i  ■">(.■  tlwir  Mijtrniio.  lie  very  n 

hen  tliey  wont  into  the  ir_. 
idly  happened  that  men  Dceiutflined  to  oohoultiu 
i  (MtsutiMion,  thoueU  tJwj  twd  Inirnl  somo  o£ar  in  IJ 
nted  uint  a  ucnnd  utfenra  wiu  leu  ■  sivn  lit  vitieAnt^M 
■•nabodj  tfiiuld  Kite  II  hiaii  empl(ijin«nt  if  Lielud  been£|l4 
noa  ttwi  alliiuMiier  ilitfi-mnt;  fur  tltu  inanf  hundnds  kffl 
t  ■inploymvnt  niVer  their  diaeliarii^  with  compnratiri?  mm,  eioeptf'l 
s  of  diittculiy.    But  wliut  occnrrcd  in  Lon^i^iV 
-   1.1   iiiiit'}i    iii.iri?  vmIiw   [kim    lii"  ciperidiM  i^S 

■■.■■.■"!■  i|>.>'i»iu>dii«9 
■.I..  ii)obt«ii 

.i..d  been  B, 
-'ti>n  booktVil 

tre  diKbornKii  uUugotbrr,  and  nltJiciiigb  it  nemi^'J 

If  tlio  bulk  of  tlut  number  to  return  tn  crime,  it  wu  ubiurd  ttf  ■ 
d  hunoat  work  for  Ihciii.    Jiut  there  woa  liii*  proTiifiil 
iiuriwlj,  tliM.  hr  witiild  lind  pUau  for  thane  nten  wiMhj 
n.  nndwhu  Bud  thej  could  not  get  work  elacwbera.     iit|Vl 
d  been  thruvn  oul  every  [irifoiicr  in  Coldlnlh  Fields,  BuUuH«|lf 
A  wiU  M  Uwio  in  Maiditonu  Ciuol.  wne  ukni  bf  the  chaplain  a 
mti  «bkl  hn  would  bu  obla  to  do  when  bo  left  the  pri«an,  and  Ul 
ja^  ianriably  to  tho  rifoat,  "  Ob,  luy  old  father."  or  "  old  nwHw," 
b  And  mo  wtirk  in  do,"    Ilia  olBcsr  unokinn  the  inquirj  mule  a  nota 
n  vlu)  oouU  not  giie  auch  itn  nnewor,  lUkd  tlw  raault  ww  that  of 
n  vhn  ieff  prison  in  the  roorse  ot  tho  year,  oolj  about  TOO 
I,,  ,„.,...a.xl  fur  tiii'm.  oil  the  rest  bring  in  »  powtiun  to 
I  <licir  friends. 
.  Iiiiring  visitud  Ilia  onola  ioatanced  hj  Hr. 
■..„;,„„(  ,.,...^i„„  .0  the odmirabla 


O  priKMion  T 


'  beeo  made  of  tho  priaon  ol  Ciitogne,  whaKf  ^ 


Nv  entered  the  world  ignin.     Willi  n^..„ 
iir  borough  iknd  gounlj'  gaols,  that  wh  donoH 
lit'  wliiob  would  only  ruwlt  in  ultor  Iiuliu 
II  jiclou  cboroator    of    ro-comaiittad  priaoot 
'  Mg  them  loioc  tr^e  or  other,  which  tlicy  nigk 
r^e.    Hit  duiiht  many  prisoner!  wont  bank  (li- 
ving lo  ieoro  guol  drnsoM  In  Iheaune  TrI  "hwt  ^ 
-<  i1  it.    At  the  prison  wiUi  which  he  woa  hiiBrfl 
iriniple  of  tliii  leudeney — afl«r  aerring  soinf.V 
I'i'd  oTBtj  disponilioti  tluit  could  be  desired  tm-m 
r<>  lead  on  honoal  life,  but  on  eoonsr  were  U|~ 
::   the  old  aaaoointiooa.  *o  liridly  suggaatad  1)_ 
:M:».  tiHik  ^>ii»>Ttid  liiild  of  Lim,  drew  biio  lo  his  nccuiiouuid  bounta, 
III  apirit  of  defiiince  lu  tiio  law.     It  niu  nlso  well  known  that 
•  been  in  prison,  he  uouldamrue];  ersr  reinstate  hinuelf  in  the 
^*4ASk  Wociwiiied  before  be  woe  prorcd  guilty  of  diBhuoeat;.    Here  uod 


280  The  Cellular  Si/stem. 

there  a  few  instancefl  occurred  of  dieoharged  prisoners  being  talceii 
Borrico,  through  tlio  exercise  of  much  influence  by  those  penone  wh 
tbcmselyos  in  behalf  of  promining  subjects ;  but  to  say  tnat  a  man 
prison  to  the  labour  market  could  command  employment  as  an  honeit 
command  it,  was  an  assertion  entirely  unsupported  by  daily  ezpenenei 

Sir  J.  Fakinqtok,  Bart.,  M.P.,  desired  to  say  a  few  word*  to  tbe 
this  important,  interesting,  and  yet  difficult  question,  which  of  late 
considered  so  closely  as  he  was  wont  to  do  when  he  was  himaeU 
engaged  in  the  administration  of  the  criminal  law.  There  were  two  % 
discussion  to  wliich  he  would  refer.  It  was  argued  by  one  of  the  sp 
in  order  to  attain  the  ends  they  desired,  no  imprisonment  should  csee 
of  three  months.  Tliat  \m»  a  principle  of  which  ho  could  not  app; 
was  one  which  he  did  not  think  could  over  be  adopted  in  its  full  ex 
Legislature.  Were  any  Secretary  of  State  to  ask  Parliament  to  ezpresi 
that  the  administration  of  the  criminal  law  would  be  improred  by  ex 
no  man,  however  s]i<;ht  his  offence,  must  be  imprisoned  for  a  less  ] 
tliree  months,  no  doubt  Parlianiont  would  at  once  refuse  to  adopt  a  la 
as  could  only  end  in  the  escape  from  any  punishment  wmiterer 
proportion  of  oiTcndcrs.  Another  point  to  which  he  desired  to  adver 
ence  to  one  of  the  greatest  practical  difficulties  connected  witli  the 
difficulty  which  neither  of  the  papers  appeared  to  solve.  Asauming 
body  concurred  in  the  advantages  of  the  separate  system,  how  was  the 
of  the  criminal  to  be  carried  on  after  the  expiration  of  the  nine  montl 
ever  period  might  bo  deemed  safe  for  separate  confinement?  H 
admiuistration  of  our  law  luid  become  milder  for  years  past,  both  in  re 
nature  of  the  punishment  and  to  the  frequency  of  its  infliction,  and  it 
that  the  milder  the  administration  became,  the  more  neceesary  would 
of  secondary  punishment.  He  did  not  apprehend  much  difficulty  in  c 
the  comparatively  light  offences  wliich  a  vast  numerical  majority  < 
committed,  bift  wnen  we  came  to  consider  the  necessity  of  inflicting  I 
of  punishment  for  graver  crimes,  we  had  yet  to  determine  how  a  wi 
system  of  punishment  could  be  satisfactorily  sustained,  consistent  wi 
ciple  of  entire  separation.  [Mr.  Tallack  :  It  is  done  in  Belgium.] 
Tallack*s  proposal  would  appear  to  be  that,  whatever  the  period  of  im 
separate  punishment  woula  be  quite  practical.  [Mr.  Tallack  :  Nol 
present  system.  Tiie  system  adopted  in  Holland  and  Belgium  impliei 
of  prisoners  from  their  fellows,  and  not  from  officials,  chaptuni 
religious  instructors,  and  the  like,  with  whom  abundant  oommuni 
permitted  for  the  improvement  of  the  prisoners.]  He  was  ha| 
Mr.  Tallack's  remarks  on  this  important  point,  because  we  should  be  | 
country  to  borrow  any  improvement  which  the  Belgium  or  any  o 
might  suggest  so  as  to  enable  us  to  carry  out,  satisfactorily,  a  ioii| 
imprisonment,  without  inflicting  injury  to  mind  or  body.  The  syitei 
by  Mr.  Barwick  Baker,  who  had  given  an  assiduous  attention  to 
during  many  years'  valuable  experience,  appeared  to  be  the  wisest  aiic 
events  in  rejfnrd  U)  the  great-  majority  of  crimes. 

Colonel  Of.DFfRLD  (Ticehurst,  Sussex)  observed  that  prisoners  mi 
their  own  clothing  with  the  money  they  could  earn  under  the  Bel| 
described  by  Mr.  Tallack.  With  reference  to  the  incident  related  br 
he  suspected  t  hat  many  of  the  prisoners  who  said  they  could  get  woilc 
only  pretended  they  could  get  it,  rather  than  take  work  offered  to  tl 
this  supposition  was  correct,  in  all  probability  those  men  did  not  real 
honest  labour.  The  cellular  system  was  especially  adapted  to  short  im 
in  the  case  of  young  criminals,  who  would  otherwise  meet  with  no 
whatever ;  and  as  it  was  highly  desirable  that  such  a  numerous  daas  i 
should  not  be  allowed  to  escape  punishment,  however  slight,  he  9a{ 
two  or  three  days'  cellular  conflnemont  at  the  police  station  under  the 
superintendent,  miglit  be  found  to  answer  the  purpose  much  better  t 
juvenile  delinquents  to  gaol.  He  would  hold  parents  pecuniarily  m 
loss  or  damage  occasioned  by  children  trespassing  upon,  or  setting  fire 
and  he,  therefore,  suggested  that  wherever  such  ollcncee  were  proved 


281 


4  upon  tlia  paninlj,  a  rule  vbiob, 
I  dJainiiliing  tha  number  (it  oum 
brguudiMiB  to  uoinmii  niinibief. 

'r.  W.  L.  Bt>Bi<itioii  (Weal  Kiding  Prison,  WokeJIeld),  remarking  ttint  the  qncf- 

of  prodaetiTe  Inbaui  in  prisoiu  wna  beooming  inore  ami  lu'iro  (liffldiill  ever; 

r,  dnirol  la  correot  a  piiblubcd  atuUiiiieiit  made  b^  Colonel  Bcrcafonl.  M.P.. 

~h*ae  <n!cu]Kted  tu  jultleod.  in  reference  to  ■nnl'Qukmg  iiC  the  Wakoflelil 

.   Oolonol  Sfntlntd  lind  ]in)l«Gted,  on  behalf  of  hontit  luat-uinkon,  n^inat 

~'T*  Ittbour  in  gatAa,  as  commling  unrairlj  witli  the  tiada  ciutsiile,  nnd  ro 

diHlrew  Hiiong  noriipeople.     Freauming  that  iDch  b  stabiuieut  oould 

•  been  proia{it«d  b;  fiUe  inrommlinn  rurniihed  to  tbe  bon.  momberi  a 

id  himfelr  niiid«  inciuirj,  nnd  found  tbe  manurocturies  the;  viailod  in  full 

a,  ejoepting  foino  cane;  irbere  tbe  week'i  vork  bad  been  broken  b;  a  itnj 

'"  — mnueiue  of  tbe  ab>ence  of  inlomperale  workmen.    Not  onl.r  wos 

ut  the  ngfs  rulud  oa  high  »a  tbe;  Iiad  bftn  for  ;mre  poet,  nithoiit 

duDlioa  hsTiog  token  pbtce  :  bo  Ihnt  he  and  bia  friend  prored  that  tbe 

i]>  in  tlie  HuuM>  of  CoiDtnon!,  that  priTute  manufacturera  euflernl  b; 

on  of  priaon  labuuri  wni  quil«  erroneous.    W^eGeld  now  hod  tiiD 

1  t»do  in  KngUnd;  about  lOOO  prisoner*  wore  oniploycd  in  pro- 

r ;  Mid  in  order  to  be  independent  of  tbe  liability  of  not  obtaining 

uiufaoturera  oulAJda — vhen.  for  tnetance.  a  change  for  tbe  wont 

ir  markM — lbs  nutboritioatheiDBetTea  became  mnniiru^turcr*. 

i>l,  >nd  a  regular  eCnll  of  well-akiUed  officers  who  cnnduoled 

d  the  prieuoen  in  tbe  acquirement  at  the  trades  carried  on, 

^   It  market,  and  sold  in  the  beat.     Care  wni  taken  to  put  the 

nto  IhM  kind  of  work  for  wbiob  the;  were  beet  fitted,  or  b;  wbiob  the; 
n  rouab  aa  the  present  Act  of  Parliament  permitted  tbem  to  earn 
oOBt  ut  their  main  ten  anre.  But  for  the  proiisions  of  thut  Act,  a 
m  would  at  inice  earn  12a.  a  week.  Instead  of  that,  oiie-tbinl  of  the 
mprieonmvnt  was  woated  on  the  unproductiTe  trcndwheel,  notwith- 
Iglhs  dendemtuin  tbat  prison  work  ahould  always  be  mode  producUTe. 
'jRtitrm  Si-BBLina  (St.  Ivte)  augge^tcd  that  sniall  gaols,  o(  wbieh  tbere 
r  in  bis  count;,  witb  nn  arerage  of  fort;  or  Itft;  priaoners,  might  tdit 
Im  MMMontrated  into  one  for  all  practical  purpnaei.  ^o  long  ue  imoll  gaols 
1.  instf  uctora  for  separul^  tradea  would  bo  quite  uacleso,  btiuiuae  tberc  wne 
'--  -■  emplojoiunt  for  theui  tbero.  All  thot  could  be  done  was  to  iitiliia 
r  fts  he  nune  in  b;  giTine  him  work  to  do  ns  n  brloklnjer  If  he  hod 
ui;  followed  that  oJUng.  or  tearing  if  he  were  a  tailor.  While  ncroeiiig 
It  of  tiia  fBOomraondfltiona  «ubinitl«l  b;  Mr,  Toliack,  he  felt  the  force  of 
«  tile  rest,  nomelj,  that  well-behaTed  prisoners  should  bale  a  ■horo  of 
■tiblf  earned  in  prison  b;  produdire  labour.  Although  his  own  oxpsricnce 
1  .....|^  ^^  amaller  olosa  of  gaola,  be  bctiered  timt  more  might  be 

,rlaincd  what  he  meant  when  he  said 
t  under  three  montlis.  Instfiod  oF  do- 
tbe  magistrates  ahould  meet  ererv  crime  witb  that  sentence,  he 
n  Hmplj  to  exercise  the  power  he  bad  under  tbe  Oriminals  Act  of 
tbe  offender  for  l^e  Snt  trJTial  infraotion  of  the  law,  or  exen  for  the 
noo.  bat  in  the  eient  of  a  ro-coniiotion,  ho  ahould  inflict  a  cumulatiie 
t  of  not  less  than  three  months'  imprieonment.  The  plan  adopted  in 
Lsous  of  allowing  the  prisoners  to  work  during  a  greater  portion  of 
■ndalso  to  rereitea  ehnreof  what  the;  earned,  did  [lot  appear  to  haTe 
i  effect  after  all,  since  olmoat  ererj  released  prisoner  returned  to  orime. 
lot  (or  this  result  b;  tbe  fact  tbnt  constant  occupation  killed  time,  and 
crimlnalB  Uy  banish  reflection,  whieh  might  otherwise  prepare  tbeir  minds 
ioua  iatruolion,  so  tbat  on  quitting  prison  life  Ihej  rolapaBd  Into  erinio. 
le  result,  or  neaii;  so,  took  place  at  tbe  great  prison  at  Perth,  which, 
admirabl;  oonduated,  might  be  said  to  be  a  great  mauufoatorj,  where,  of 
ilojed,  about  80  per  cent,  went  back  to  criminal  pursuits,  nolwithaland- 
lad  been  kept  in  separate  conflnement  for  not  leea  than  twelve  months. 
tl«ction  required  DOoBrmation  uf  the  obstnatione  nude  in  bis  paper,  he 


■■  oiinneetAd  with  u 


283  The  Cellular  System. 

need  but  refer  to  one  of  the  best-conducted  pritoni  in  England,  nai 
BirmingliaiOf  where  1*J15  out  of  2277  priioners  ]ast  year  were  re-eom 
also  found  that  of  iyi^'22  prisoners  committed  last  year  at  Wakefield,  m 
f*UKi>'(  were  re-committed.  lie  maintaineii  tiuit  theae  examplee  su 
statement  he  had  made  in  reference  to  the  defects  of  the  Belgian  fjil 
tlie  cellular  system,  tlie  more  heinous  offenders  ought  to  be  kepi  in  • 
flnement  for  a  period  of  not  less  tlian  twelve  or  eighteen  mootlis.  ' 
tion  was  carried  out  when  8ir  Joshua  Jehb  was  Director-Oenen 
prisons,  and  wan  found  to  work  satisfactorily.  In  cases  of  trantpc 
Crawfonl  and  Mr.  Kusscll  so  strongly  urged  that  the  convicts  sfaoul 
Hoparato  conflnemcnt  for  thst  i>eriod,  that  their  recommendation  ^ 
But  a  change  was  introduced  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Joshua  Jeb) 
was  limited  to  nine  mtmths,  and  the  cr)ni>equence  was  a  remarkaUe  < 
in  the  c<mduct  of  the  convicts,  who  created  riots,  and  seemed  incapaUi 
any  improvement  whatever.  With  reganl  to  the  use  of  the  trcaawhe 
lain  of  the  Liverpool  ^aol  informed  him  that  of  312  men  at  one  ti; 
treadwhcel  labour,  only  110  were  nhy!>ic4illy  able  to  undergo  the  puni 
this  was  the  case  in  every  priiion,  the  tread  wheel  was  surely  a  niaciiinc 
objectionable  character. 

Dr.  Wi.NEs  (Commissioner  sent  by  the  Government  of  the  Uniti 
organixo  an  International  Prirtoii  Congnvis  in  Ltmdon)  aiid  be  ha 
discussion  witli  miwh  interest  and  inttruotion.  It  seemed  to  hi 
tliat  there  liad  been  a  little  confusion  of  thought^  if  he  might  my 
the  propriety  of  the  duration  of  a  first  impristmment  was  conoemei 
the  resolution  of  which  would  depend  u])on  the  resolution  of  a  pa 
nnmcly,  what  was  the  end  and  aim  of  impris«mment  ?  It  was  erid 
prisonment  might  be  awarded  for  one  or  other  of  two  purpose 
infliction  of  sufTt'ring  for  the  wrong  done  ;  and,  secondly,  the  amend 
ofTendor,  and  his  restoration  to  virtue,  honest  industry,  and  useful  citi 
a  man,  who  had  not  been  previously  convicted,  were  sentenced  to 
niontiis'  imprisonment  for  a  mere  peccarlillo,  that  was  too  great  a 
unfloubtiHily  so,  for  the  object  was  to  inflict  an  amount  of  su/Tering 
])ortion(Kl  to  the  offence  committed.  But  if  tlie  end  of  punishment  n 
the  num  from  being  a  luul  man  into  a  good  one,  then  tlie  questic 
])ro])nety  of  the  duration  of  punishment  underwent  a  complete  cbi 
not  the  name  thing  at  all.  A  few  days  prior  to  his  departure  from 
was  visiting  a  reformatory  school  at  Hho<.le  Island,  when  the  superintei 
an  incident  which  )x)re  on  the  question  under  discussion.  Tnere  wi 
had  been  pliuwd  in  the  institution  until  he  should  be  adjudged  reform 
had  stayetl  a  year,  the  fatlier  came  to  see  him,  and  was  so  pleased  tc 
improved  that  he  inquired  of  the  superintendent  whether  the  lad  I 
punished  enough  for  the  little  offence  he  liad  committed.  "Wei 
superintendent,  ^'let  us  talk  Uiat  matter  over  a  little.  Here  is  yo 
came  twelve  months  ago  in  rags — he  is  now  clothed  decentlv  an^ 
Ho  came  here  ignomut  of  his  letters,  he  could  not  read  a  syllable— 
read  his  Bible,  and  has  a  tolcnihlo  acquaintance  with  religious  sub 
ho  knew  notliing  about  them  before.  Ho  csme  here,  not  know 
do  a  single  thing  in  the  way  of  pnxluctive  work — now  he  is  all 
gf  a  trade.  After  all  this,  what  do  you  think?"  The  reply  o 
was,  "Well,  I  think  you  had  better  keep  on  a' punishing  of  mm.^ 
the  very  point— the  aim  of  punishment!  Was  it  to  inflict  a  oer 
of  suffering  proportioned  to  the  magnitude  or  the  triviality  of  the  offt 
the  end  to  change  and  make  the  oflender  a  good  man,  an  industriou 
useful  citizen  ?  One  supreme  aim  of  punishment  or  imprisonment  i 
events,  be  to  make  him  better  morally,  mentally,  and  physically,  in  sti 
con8titut«8  manhood  or  womanhood.  When  that  became  the  aim,  de] 
we  ahould  come  to  look  upon  the  prisoner  in  our  gaols  not  so  much  m 
punishment  and  suffering,  as  a  wanl  of  the  State.  Here  the  State  A 
and  take  the  ])lace  of  the  parent  who  had  neglected  the  moral,  physio 
lectual  education  of  his  child  :  and  the  only  remaining  question,  aftei 
be  to  determine  when  the  improved  condition  of  the  priecner  gai 


Discuesion.  S83 

bii  beooming  an  boneti,  industrious,  and  useful  citizen.  Tbere  were 
tbat  appeared  to  make  the  reformation  of  the  criminal  the  supreme 
iahment.  One  was  at  Louyain,  as  instanced  by  Mr.  Tallack  m  bis 
the  other  was  the  House  of  Correction  at  Detroit,  in  the  State  of 
Jider  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Z.  B.  Brockway.  The  system  now 
LouTain  bad  reduced  the  number  of  prisoners  who  relapsed  into  crime 
r  cent,  to  6  per  cent.  Excellent  results  also  followed  Mr.  Brockway  s 
though  they  were  founded  on  the  congregate  plan ;  while  the  LouTuin 
conducted  on  the  separation  principle. 

▲CK  (London)  said  in  reply,  toat  he  had  described  the  present  condition 
ian  prisons,  and  not  tlieir  former  condition,  to  which  Mr.  Field's  re- 
ed, when  he  pointed  out  one  or  two  defects.  Since  the  period  at  which 
isited  the  prisons  there  great  improvements  had  been  introduced,  and 
t^  was  to  dispose  released  prisoners  to  seek  an  honest  living ;  indeed, 
'  I)r.  Wines  in  full  confirmation  of  what  he  himself  advanced  in  bis 
Sect  of  the  system  now  in  force  was  considerably  to  reduce  the  number 
itals.  Wherever  the  system  of  rennmerative  Ubour  had  been  carried 
16  right  accompaniment  of  separation  and  religious  and  secular  instnic- 
suits  were  invnriably  satisfactory.  Mr.  Bobinson  bad  defended  the 
9  of  mat-making  in  prions,  in  reply  to  the  representation  that  tlie 
9  of  mats  in  the  Wakefield  and  other  pri!>ons  unduly  competed  with 
lers  outside.  Tliough  he  would  be  one  of  the  lost  persons  to  suggest 
manufacture  competed  unfairly  with  outside  labour,  no  was  disposed  to 
importance  to  what  he  had  heard  from  the  chief  representative  of  the 
in  question ;  namely,  that  distress  prevailed  among  them  because  the 
his  country  unduly  competed  with  the  outside  trade.  With  regard  to 
system,  he  believed  nine  months'  confinement  vras  too  much  for  that, 
the  separate  system. 

»  confirmed  what  Mr.  Tallack  said  in  his  paper  with  reference  to  the 
f  the  arrangements  and  of  the  order  he  had  remarked  in  the  Belgian 
I  organiiation  and  administration  they  were  certainly  the  most  perfect 
seen,  but  at  the  same  time  he  was  not  an  advocate  for  the  entire  odop- 
3elgian  system. 

OHMOUTH  (presiding)  said  it  was  no  wonder  that  the  problem  of  prison 
ras  difficult  of  solution,  when  we  remembered  that  three  principles, 
r  years,  ago  were  almost  ignored,  liod  now  been  recognised ;  namely, 
jrisonment,  industrial  education,  and  religious  and  secular  instruction. 
1865,  though  a  sort  of  charter  of  prison  dii^cipline,  completely  failed  in 
those  three  principles  together.  The  cellular  system  was  introduced 
integrity ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  carry  out  the  system  during  the 
of  imprisonment,  simply  because  no  man  could  bear  it.  The  question 
ed,  how  could  that  system  be  modified  so  as  to  admit  the  two  other 
f  industrial  education,  and  of  religious  and  secular  education  ?  His 
nee  OS  a  visiting  justice  inclined  him  to  the  belief  that  the  difficulty 
^  met  by  making  the  earlier  part  of  the  imprisonment  rigidly  cellular, 
of  the  starving  diet  given  under  the  Act  of  Parliament.  The  prisoner 
nfined  in  the  cell,  without  employment,  for  one  month :  then  he  shoidd 
labour  to  do,  and  afterwards  profitable  and  industrious  work;  so  that 
of  the  punishment  might  be  gradually  mitigated  until  the  expiration  of 
his  imprisonment.  The  prisoners  should  also  be  brought  together  in  a 
t  was  simply  ridiculous  to  expect  that  any  real  f^ood  could  be  done  by 
a  schoolmaster  devoting  five  minutes  to  each  prisoner.  In  one  prison 
me  the  warder  acted  as  schoolnmster ;  and  if  the  prisoners  could  not 
irder  got  over  the  difficulty  by  reading  to  the  prisoner.  That  kind  of 
illed  *'  education  ! "  From  inquiries  lie  had  made,  be  did  not  scruple 
the  education  of  prisoners  was,  on  the  whole,  grossly  noffleoted  in  tliis 
id  that,  consequently,  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  1865  nad  not  been 
With  regard  to  industrial  education,  it  was  discouraged  by  that 
lile  encouragement  was  even  given  to  penal  education.  The  Prison 
ct  authorised  the  introduction  of  chaplains  other  than  those  belonging 
eh  of  England ;  but  as  this  measure  was  of  a  permissive  character,  tho 


284  Secondary  Puniafimenis. 

sjBtein  it  inaugurated  had  the  effect  rather  of  Tietimifing  the  prisoneriw  ImI 
year  tlic  House  of  Lords  passed  a  Bill  enforcing  the  Act,  so  that  a  priest  shoald  bi 
appointed  wherever  there  were  a  certain  number  of  prisoners  belonging  to  thi 
Itoman  Catholic  Church,  but  the  House  of  Commons  rejected  the  measure.  He  ftU 
])crBuuded,  for  his  part,  that  as  soon  a«  religious  instruction  was  teoured  in  aofl» 
plcto  form,  our  cellular  system  might  so  be  modified  as  to  embrace  the  snofrfii 
co-oporation  of  the  throe  principles  he  now  enunciated.  Parliament  would  Bflt 
jct  consent  to  grant  this  desideratum,  and  all  that  could  be  done  at  present  wasflor 
gentlemen  connected  with  prisons  and  interested  in  their  discipline  to  endesnnv 
to  sulye  the  problem  and  bring  to  Parliament  the  result  of  their  experienee.  Bott 
IIouRCB  would  then  listen  to  the  voice  of  public  opinion,  and  take  into  constdai* 
tion  the  valuable  infonnation  thus  put  before  them.  With  regard  to  the  propih 
siticm  of  Dr.  Wines,  he  very  much  questioned  whether  it  eoula  be  carried  out;  v 
rather  believed  it  might  only  end  in  the  certainty  of  a  perpetual  imprisonment ■ 
far  afl  many  priHoncrs  were  ooneerned,  for  he  could  not  ignore  the  fact  thtt  tb 
greater  number  of  them  were  quite  irreclaimable.  At  the  same  time,  he  felt  tkil 
the  main  and  uncontrovcrted  principle  of  imprisonment  should  bo  the  refonoitMB 
of  the  prisoner,  and  that  the  application  of  this  principle  had  long  been  griefOMlj 
neglected  in  Great  Britain  and  other  countries. 


SECONDARY    PUNISHMENTS.* 

By   wJiat  principks  ought  the  amount  of  punishment  other  Moft 
capital  to  be  regulated  1    By  Mr.  Serjeant  PuLLlNG. 

VIEWING  punishment  only  as  a  part  of  the  system  of  treatment  of 
crime,  wo  are  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  the  chief  object  to 
bo  cared  for  is  that  the  quantity  prescribed  should  be  efficadoia. 
Good  and  evil  we  too  well  know  to  be  equally  attributes  of  poor 
human  nature,  and  as  wo  can  neither  put  down  crime,  or  stamp  out 
evil,  like  a  physical  pestilence,  we  can  only  resort  to  that  courso  of 
treatment  which  we  believe  to  be  the  most  calculated  to  keep  thi 
disease  under — to  cure  if  possible  the  particular  case  treated,  b«t 
before  nil  things  to  prevent  the  malady  spreading. 

Now  the  object  of  exemplary  punishments  being  to  deter  ftm^ 
crime,  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  hit  upon  any  fixed  quantn 
which  will  serve  as  a  specific  ;  what  will  deter  one  will  hafo  m 
perceptible  effect  whatever  on  another.  The  mere  loBs  of  chanetar 
is  a  punishment,  deterrent  enough  to  most  of  us,  to  keep  « 
from  criminal  conduct,  but  loss  of  character  Las  no  terror  for  thi 
habitual  criminal.  Unhappily  among  this  class  of  persons  the  risk 
even  of  detection  and  punishment  has  little  deterrent  e&ct,  whikt 
wo  may  assume  that  the  mere  amount  of  punbhment  enters  littii 
into  the  thoughts  of  most  of  those  who  commit  a  first  crime.  Tb 
dread  of  capital  punishment  did  not  deter  from  sheep  steiliDf^ 
or  from  forgery,  people  of  previous  good  conduct ;  and  the  risk  of 
the  last  dread  sentence  of  the  law  does  not  even  now  deter  fino 
murder ;  whilst  we  may  certainly  assume  that  the  mere  danger  of 
incurring  the  penalty  prescribed  for  theft  operates  very  littlo  to 
prevent  depredation. 


•  See  Trumactitm,  1864,  p.  313;  1865,  pp.  203,  258;  1868,  p.  360L 


By  Mr.  Seryeant  PuUiaff.  8S5 

{Vom  this  timt  mere  punialimiiut  will  not  alone 
rime  more  than  the  dread  of  it  will  servu  us  h 
Puaislimrnt  csn  only  be  of  Bervicc  us  u  part  of  the 
trsfttmcnt  nt  crime  and  criminals.  To  be  of  any  ellicucy 
IRB  as  a  known,  rerlnin  consequeuce  of  doing;  wrong — not 
;  npOQ  volunlecr  prosecutions,  or  upon  unskilled  or  cn- 
Doagislrates.  but  following  inevitably,  as  far  as  human 
D  can  present  tl,  on  the  heels  of  crime,  and  puniehiueiit 
fng  (o  be  felt  as  a  direct  consequence  of  crime  to  tho 
ibould  be  made  to  operate  oa  fur  as  po^aible  by  nay  of 
igainit  its  recurrence ;  the  criminal  being  forced  to  work 
eforai,  to  give  earnest  for  his  future  conduct,  and  to  mako 
)r  hia  past  misconduct  in  the  way  of  compensation  to  the 
arty,  and  to  the  State  for  the  coat  his  misconduct  has 
i.  The  prescribed  puniahment,  or  pooal  coDsequonce  of 
the  criminal  would  thus  go  far  to  prevent  the  spread  of 
ler. 

ertainty  of  punishment  would  effectually  be  ensured  by 
1QS  for  crime  not  being  led  ws  now  to  mere  volunteers,  but 
Lc  prosecutor ;  and  by  such  u  reform  of  our  Magialmtca 
to  produce  uniformity  and  elHciency  in  the  administration 
:  also  by  a  diminution  of  the  many  quibbles  of  the  law 
1  faoorem  vif(r,  the  old  eystem  of  capital  punishments 
created,  and  which  still  have  to  bo  weeded  out  of  our 
jnrlsprudenco  :  and  the  moral  quibbles  as  to  responsibitily 
,  which  owe  Ihcir  origin  to  the  same  source, 
uttmentof  criminals  in  prison,  ameliorated  as  it  undoubtedly 
by  modern  reforms,  should  not  be  left  to  the  capricious 
lent  of  prison  officials,  to  bo  learned  only  by  actual  inmates, 
jrd  to  a  system  which  should  he  uniformly  acted  on,  and 
ttn  to  those  who  may  be  contemplating  a  career  of  crime  i 
the  term  of  actual  imprisonment  has  expired,  the  convict 
deemed  under  a  recognizance  for  his  future  good  beha- 
i  liablo  to  be  called  upon  for  a  definite  period  uFlerwards, 
that  he  ia  leading  an  honest  life.  We  require  to  sorao 
a  security  from  those  who  use  merely  thieata,  and  yet 
from  the  actual  perpetrators  of  crime. 
ist  requirement  I  have  made  ia,  in  accordance  with  Ben- 
axim,  that  the  measure  of  pnnishment  should  outweigh  the 
ived  from  the  offence.  We  are  in  this,  as  in  many  other 
very  inconsistent.  We  make  the  amount  of  relief  afforded 
iper  a  debt  due  from  him,  but  excuse  the  criminal  whoao 
I  much  greater.  We  refuse  to  relieve  the  trader  whoao 
contracted  by  fraud,  hut  we  send  out  into  the  world,  uc- 
Iho  criminal  deapoiler.  Were  the  receiver  of  stolen  good! 
if  hia  obligation  to  disgorge  hia  nefarioua  gains,  the  pun 
would  be  far  more  eflicacioits  as  a  deterrent  than  the  risk 
unount  of  corporal  puuishment. 
the  prospwt  of  gua  by  crime  as  far  as  possible  taken  awa; 


1 


286  Secondary  Punishments, 

from  the  criminal,  oar  gaols  would  bo  less  full*  We  have  done  aw 
with  the  old  feudal  notion  of  a  general  forfeiture  of  ftlmuf  pn^Mffl 
but  liability  to  moke  restitution  and  amends  for  wrongs  seemi 
me  to  stand  on  a  wholly  different  footing.  I  would  fitsten  upon  tl 
criminal  offender  this  obligation  to  make  actual  compeosatiOB  I 
his  offence,  and  on  the  other  hand  I  would  give  to  the  raallj  f 
formed  criminals,  protection  and  assistance  in  gaining  an  hooe 
livelihood  by  his  own  exertions ;  or,  failing  this,  by  work  assigM 
him  at  the  public  cost. 

Mr.  T.  B.  LI.  Baker  read  a  paper  on  the  question,  in  which  1 
said  that  the  Justices  of  Gloucestershire  had  agreed  to  reconunai 
to  their  brethren  of  the  county  the  adoption  of  a  general  rule  i 
passing  sentences  for  felony,  with  a  view,  less  to  an  exact  ratalii 
tion  of  the  particular  ofieuce  committed,  than  to  the  preyentim  < 
future  crime.  It  was  proposed  that  the  sentences  should  be  regi 
latcd,  less  according  to  the  supposed  heinousness  of  the  last  offeM 
than  by  the  probable  continuance  in  crime,  as  shown  by  prenm 
convictions,  aud  this  to  a  far  greater  degree  than  has  been  usm 
giving,  as  a  general  rule  in  ordinary  cases,  ten  days  for  a  first  ea 
viction,  six  mouths  for  a  second  (with  police  supervision)i  and  sen 
years'  penal  servitude  for  a  third.  It  was  believed  that  if  a  m 
knew  that  having  been  in  gaol  once,  he  was,  if  again  conviolei 
nearly  certain  of  six  months'  sentence,  that  knowledge  would  have 
far  more  deterrent  effect  on  him  than  if  he  believed  that  his  senteiK 
depended  on  the  view  that  the  court  might  take  of  the  particoli 
crime  committed.  It  was  not  urged  or  wished  that  the  rule  shool 
be  a  rigid  one,  or  that  it  should  be  suddenly  or  unanimously  acted  a 
by  all  the  Bench.  The  public  adoption  of  it,  however,  has  been  in 
portant,  as  it  has  given  authority  to  the  prison  officials  and  to  th 
police  to  tell  a  prisoner  what  will  probably  be  his  sentence  if  agiii 
convicted.  Our  great  object  in  punishment  is  to  obtain  the  maximu 
of  deterrence  with  a  minimum  of  pain,  and  a  tolerably  definite  ida 
of  punishment  will  deter  far  more  than  a  vague  idea  that  some  pn 
ishment  will  be  inflicted  which  a  man  always  hopes  will  be  sliglit 
One  effect  which  it  is  gradually  producing,  which,  though  of  far  ha 
importance  than  the  repression  of  crime,  is  worth  the  attention  d 
all — but  of  some  counties  especially — is,  that  while  it  increiM 
deterrence  it  decreases  the  **  daily  average  **  of  prisoners.  Thii  I 
of  importance  to  all — not  merely  on  account  of  the  slight  expcBM 
of  maintenance,  but  because  the  detention  of  men  in  an  unoatanl 
state  at  a  cost  to  the  country,  instead  of  maintaining  themselves  iid 
enriching  the  country  by  their  labour,  is  an  evil  only  to  be  borne  fix 
the  sake  of  diminishing  the  far  greater  evil  of  crime.  But  to  aif 
county  which  happens  to  find  its  crime  outgrowing  its  gaol,  and  fa 
dreading  to  be  called  to  lay  out  several  thousands  in  additionl 
buildings,  it  may  be  especially  worth  considering  whether  a  deerens 
of  prisoners  may  not  be  preferable  to  an  increase  of  cells.  The 
writer  then  quoted  statistics  of  Gloucester  gaol  to  show  that  theien* 


Discussion.  287 

not  exceeding  fourteen  days  "  (most  of  these  being  ten 
ses)  and  those  '^  not  exceeding  six  months  "  have  con- 
ireased,  while  those  of  one,  two,  or  three  months,  and  of 
8  years,  have  diminished ; — the  effect  being  that  the 
ige"  is  much  decreased,  although  the  system  has  not 
sufficiently  understood  t(f  have  any  effect  in  diminishing 
of  convictions.  But  when  it  is  felt — as  it  must  soon  be 
cially  af^er  the  passing  of  the  late  Prevention  of  Crime 
nee  of  six  months  with  seven  years*  police  supervision, 
ter  protection  to  society  than  an  imprisonment  for  one 
I ;  and  that  a  sentence  for  two  or  three  months  is  less 
•f  future  crime  than  one  of  ten  days  with  a  knowledge 
lontbs'  imprisonment  will  come  next  time,"  such  a  reduc- 
*  daily  average  "  in  gaols  will  take  place  as  will  probably 
lounties  from  additional  buildings  for  the  present ;  while 
e  doubt  that  were  nearly  all  the  third  convictions  re- 
1  society  for  a  lengthened  period,  the  number  of  second 
convictions  would  very  greatly  decrease,  and  the  daily 
aols  would  sink  to  such  a  degree  as  would  postpone  such 
an  indefinite  period.  He  had  little  doubt  that  when  the 
'ell  understood  the  number  of  very  short  sentences  will 
)ase.  Many  masters,  who  find  servants  committing  slight 
will  take  them  to  a  Petty  Sessions,  and  get  them  a  week 
imprisonment,  and  thus  prevent  a  habit  of  stealing  ;  but 
ij  cause  more  convictions,  he  believed  that  it  will  greatly 
daily  average  of  prisoners. 


DISCUSSION. 

t  Oox  said  it  certainlj  was  difficult  to  determine  what  should  be 
of  punishment,  other  than  capital.  Every  man  concerned  in  the  ad- 
f  justice  must  hare  desired,  at  one  time  or  another,  to  frame  in  his 
ne  rules  by  which  to  regulate  the  sentences  to  be  passed  upon  the 
ght  before  him.  It  was  impossible  for  any  judge  to  sit  hour  after 
after  day,  trying  criminals,  without  feeling  the  necessity  of  obsery- 
for  his  own  guidance  when  called  upon  to  determine  what  should 
lar  punishment  for  a  particular  prisoner.  For  his  own  part  he  had 
iTour  to  do  this,  but  after  the  exercise  of  much  care  and  thought,  he 
that  to  lay  down  a  principle  was  far  easier  than  to  adhere  to  it. 
chambers  or  study,  ho  might  consider  every  crime  in  the  abstract, 
18 :  If  the  case  be  that  of  a  man  who  has  robbed  his  master  by  means 

>  fraud,  then  we  lay  down  the  principle  that,  where  the  mere  offence 
icreased  in  criminality  by  the  fact  that  advantage  of  his  position  has 
d  that  the  crime  of  broach  of  trust  is  added  to  the  crime  of  theft,  in 
9  punishment  should  bo  increased  by  reason  of  the  double  criminality, 
kind  of  scale  of  punishment  was  drawn.    But  when  you  came  to 

>  in  court,  although  you  may  have  the  case  of  a  servant  robbing  his 
ill  the  elements  of  the  crime  may  be  present,  a  large  number  of 
reumstancee  appear.  The  offender  is  young,  and,  as  a  servant,  he 
«d  in  circumstances  of  extraordinary  temptation.  Now  you  could 
youni;  criminals,  led  perhaps  by  a  bad  example,  as  you  dealt  with 

so  you  had  necessarily  to  modify  your  principle  until  it  became 
f  annihilated.    But  much  more  might  yet  be  done  to  remedy  what 


I 


288  Secondary  Puni^imenis. 

was  undoubtedly  a  great  dofcct  in  the  prcsont  ndniinistration  of  the  criiniiial 
namely,  tlie  variety  of  Fcutenccii  passed  by  diffortnt  judges  in  different  parts  of 
country;  for  idcntiral  offences  every  jud^  took  nis  own  riew  of  a  parties' 
offence.     On(>  hod,  ]>erhap9,  a  peculiar  hostility  to  house-breaking,  another  wi 
stran<;:oly  up))<)BiHl  to  Honietliing  eliio,  while  each  rcgnrrlc<l   the  subject  of     _ 
liostility  as  lx>ing  worse  than  other  kinds  uf  crime.     And  so  with  the  magiitr'^,-^^ 
You  found  oni>  ptmiHhing  with  nine^iumtliH  wliat  another  magistrate  punir.c^^  , 
with  ten  <iayB — tiie  same  dinparity  being  shovm  by  judges  even  of  thesu; 
courts.     No  doubt  the  judges  might  bo  brought  to  agree  together  upon  g 
rules,  according  to  which  puniHiiment  should  bo  administered.    The  reason  o^^ 


disparity  in  sentences  for  the  siiiue  offence,  was  that  the  judges  had  not  yelt^ 
'down,  for  their  own  guidance,  anything  tliat  approached  the  principles  of  P^'O'^^  ^ 
niont.  There  miglit  bo  a  conference  of  judges  and  magistrates  hold,  say,  onoe  a^    ^^^^^^ 


so  that  a  question  of  grtnt  importanco  affecting  the  administration  of  ^m^^    m 
throughout  tlio  country  might  be  talked  over,  with  a  view  to  dctennine  upon  *^ 

formity  of  treatment  with  regard  to  tho  crimes  most  frequently  oommiued  i 
time,  for  there  was  a  fashion  of  crime,  certain  crimes  prevailed  at  certain  tims^ 
according  to  the  severity  of  the  punishment  they  diminished  in  number,  or 
peared  altoget  her.   Tn  tho  application  of  punishment  lie  maintained  that  a  vei 
distinction  should  bo  drawn  hetweon  tho  professional  criminal — the  man 
crime  bin  business,  and  who  lives  Hystematicallv  by  the  plunder  of  locietj- 

maii  who  commits  a  crime  from  sudden  impulso  or  momentary  temptation..      ^ 

fonner  class  required  to  bo  dealt  with  differently  from  the  mere  occidental  cr*s^    Xa^ 

who,  it  was  hoped,  would  bo  deterred  by  tho  punishment  he  had  to  under^-v^i^^^ 

tho  further  pursuit  of  crime.    There  was  no  such  hope  for  the  habitual  cr  ~       ^ 

class,  for  a  man  who  has  made  a  business  of  crime  coiUd  live  by  nothing 

question  then  presented  itself,  how  tiro  those  persons  to  be  dealt  with  ? 

viction  was  that  the  right  way  to  deal  with  tho  habitual  criminal 

punitth  him,  at  fin^,  witli  a  long  term  of  imprisonment,  as  tho  only  meaasj 

serving  society  froiri  his  depredatioiiK;  for  as  long  as  he  was  at  lai^,  depencs' 

he  wan  at  his  work;  tuni  him  out,  ami  ho  was  bock  to  his  profestiorx. 

twenty -four  hours  from  the  time  lie  left  gaol.    Exjierience  of  euch  a  dais 

went  to  show  that  thoy  were  lw>yond  reformation,  and  tho  only  course  that: 

open  to  society  was  to  make  tho  exercise  of  the  trade  of  tho  habitual  ei 

diiTicult  as  ]iostiible  by  preventive  measures,  or  to  make  it  impossible  for 

use  his  hands  at  all  by  locking  him  up.     He  thought  important  steps 

taken  in  that  direction;  fur  it  was  quite  monstrous  that  although  the 

London  knew  tlie  verv  kind  of  houses  where  Imbitual  criminals  reiort< 

the  very  criincH  they  cuiiitnitted,  yet  such  persons  were  allowed  to  remain 

us.     Every IkkIv  knew  that  theso  criminals  were  habitually  living  by  pli 

tho  community,  and  yet  that  the  ctmimuuity  had  no  kind  of  security  for  th. 

behaviour  while  they  remainefl  nt  large.    A  groat  deal  was  said  a\x)ut  th» 

of  tho  subject,  and'  esixvially  by  those  who  said  how  monstrous  it 

men^s  houKi.>H,  and  to  require  from  them  an  account  as  to  how  thoT  sot 

For  his  part,  ho  bod  yet  to  learn  that  society  was  not  quite  justified  in 

from  a  man  who  was  known,  or  l)clieved  to  bo  a  professional  thief«  that  h^ 

give  an  account  of  his  mode  of  lifo.     If  ho  were  honest  he  could  tell  the 

BO,  but  if  dishonest,  and  unable  to  account,  surely  there  would  be  no  great! 

in  calling  up<m  him,  either  to  live  honestly,  to  quit  tho  community  alt0( 

go  into  gaol,  where  he  liad  no  op{)ortunity  of  exercising  his  propensitic 

regard  to  the  question   of  accuiinilated  penalties,  the  law  aid,  two  i 

attempt  to  tie  the  hands  of  judges,  by  introducing  a  provision  requiring  ju^ 

third  convict  irnis,  to  sentence  prisoners  to  penal  servitude.     Mr.  Baker 

would,  of  course,  to  some  extent,  justify  a  suggestion  of  that  kind; 

otlier  hand,  if  it  were  made  compulsory  upon  all  occasions  to  send  a 

third  conviction,  to  penal  servitude,  tho  consequences  would  in  many 

most  formidable,  because  it  frequently  happened  that  a  third  conriction  w 

of  professional  or  Imbitual  criminality.    In  rural  districts  more  particular 

were  small  agricultural  crimes  which,  though  they  certainly  were  lanenir 

be  better  termed  paltry  offences,  and  could  not  come  within  the  cat^goiy 

crimes.    It  was  quite  impossible  to  fetter  the  hands  of  judges  in  that 


,/^  rtow  do  WW  to  aill  upon  Uiflm  to  oierciBe  the  iliMretionMy  powor  tLiey 

r-it:  li  ■  liwls  mora  seierity  tiuui  Ihej  had  Iwrni  wont  to  do.     With  regard 

,cr  <3 1  ohich  mu  nppendol  U  the  punishment  of  pmsl  urritddo,  be  woe 

fcrnow  whnt  was  r»lly  tneont  by  tHiit  lapf  rriaioii,  not  touUI  the  poiic* 

7K~    oauld  he  llnd  thnt  that  luprriisian  iru  nay  practical  iinpeduaent 

-^Uic  way  of  ■  criminal.    He  held  in  his  hand  a  dociuoent  of  a  moBt 

-   cbanwtcr;  it  was  a  list  sent   in  to  liim  at  the  boji^inning  of  the 

_  r  which   he   piwded,   euttiag  forth   Ibo   por«on«   who   &i   been 

E  «ted.      Although  a  prisoner  on  a,  Bocond  cunTictian  wiw  renilored 

:w  puDiihiaent,  namiily,  penal  (enitudo  and  police  mperrisiun,  hore 

shown  tu  he  adminiUeretl  in  it  way  ihnt  One  cuiild  Bcarculy  credit. 

-^-  ^ — —  this  list,  a  perfOn  who  had  been  ooDriclsd  twelve  tiroes  was 
^-^TT"^  ^~}  *"  three  or  toor  monthi'  impriBonment  for  coah  offence,  lie 
,^-_  -Mif  light  puaishmeute  which  had  been  inflicted  for  repeated  u£Feiicee, 

^l:  ^E.-^  the  face  of  that,  how  the  law  could  hold  ariminals  in  lemnai  i    He 
■^  -!■    ilicB  magistraUs  Would  give  Iheir  attention  to  Ihii  subject.    Undsr 
^ —     j_i         Jurisdiction  Act,  mugislratea  had  a  sunimary  powor  to  dial  with 
a  "^t  ambeudementg,  in  certain  owieti,  limited  in  niaount  tn  &i. :  but  there 

-  -^ — ^E^MCrdinary  exception,  thut  if  the  prisnner  pleaded  guilty,  the  niosi*- 
^^         -^t^Ltia  cognisance  of  that  plea,  whatever  thu  ninaunt.    iiow  waa  that 
^E^  It  WM  a  law  well  known  ta  professional  thievee,  &nd.  whan  any  ol 

•^  w  :^Kr-onght  before  the  nukEistrates  tiley  preferred  lo  plead  giulty,  beoauw 
:^^^ir^^  ^Bi  Ihe  ntagistratee  could  not  gire  thoui  more  than  six  mimths,  whenwi 

I  ■  ■  "SE^xience  would  not  be  \et»  than  penal  servitude.  In  this  way,  nuigis- 
~i  maotlu'  imprisonment  old  olfendets  who  would  have  heeu 
Hrritudo  three  or  four  times  OTPr  hod  they  boon  committal  to  the 
lune  which  he  oontend«l  the  magiitrates  ought  to  take 
id  of  aocepting  the  plm  of  guilty,  they  should  delay  the  oiereiea  of 
.  on  until  inquiry  had  been  made  to  fUiafy  them,  not  that  the 
^*_  h«n  priviously  convicted,  but  tbot  ho  bad  not  been  couyiotai  before. 
":>.  ininal  was  out  of  the  hands  of  the  judge,  what  might  bo  terinKl  "  a 
■^'^:^Dn  of  puoiahment"  should  toJra  place;  and  this,  be  held,  clearly  came 
^>4:=wpe  of  the  question  before  the  tiection.  Undoubtedly  the  law  could 
■ «;»  than  apply  certain  punishments  to  certain  offencee.  Tberefore,  in 
*~-~%ifflnW|  me  judges  had  to  consider,  not  so  much  the  character  ol  the 
^W  all,  as  the  nature  of  tbo  crime.  Wo  ought  to  punish  the  crima 
b  f  and  in  the  gaol,  we  must  punish  tbo  criminal.  We  should  then  con- 
■»^*iire  of  the  crime  as  regards  the  menial  and  moral  character  of  the 
"»  fummits  it.  What  he  contended  for  was,  that  when  the  prisoner  was 
"  ■— •)  in  pud,  and  undergoing  his  seutonce,  we  should  apportion  big 
*^  neeor£ng  to  bis  character  and  tba  nature  of  the  crime  he  hod  com- 
*  V^hat  if  be  were  an  habitual  criminal,  be  should  be  treated  as  such  by  » 
i  ^H>nment,  in  the  course  of  which  he  ought  ta  be  called  upon  to  work ; 
<?«intmufd  UDl.il  he  had  worked  out,  by  the  tweat  of  bis  brow,  the 
'**'*"«^»  <3t  the  properW  ho  had  stolen,  that  would  doubtless  have  a  deterring 
''1E*'^3a:s.  iiu,  mind.  Following  up  tbo  same  principle,  prisoners  should  tw 
"*•  'v*  bife  in  gaols,  for  different  trEotmont,  occording  to  their  particular 
''**^^~.  If  one  man  were  of  n  vii)lent  disposition,  his  treatment  ought  to  ha 
?^  ^K~<3m  that  of  a  man  whose  mind  had  a  tendency  to  fraud,  from  » 
^^*»  lE»TeieJon  of  the  disposition  of  the  prisoners  respectively,  he  thought  it 
ctioible  to  regulate  the  punishment  to  the  diameter  of  the  criminal 


ho 


.tko 


to  (London)  observed  that  tbo  metropolitan  police  courts  generally 
.    ]prwHBr»  in  order  t.i  ascorlain  whether  Ihev  bod  be«n  previously  ooil- 
■»-        Jl'toeiiuslalce  which,  be  believed,  waa  commonly  mailo  in  this  matter  was 
tn  ■u.pjx'ung  that  tbo  magistrates  were  in  'u>  great  a  hurry  to  convict,  but 
'~  "   (  that  any  poijcs  force  was  capable  of   reccgnising  all  iho 

19 


•• -    ¥         ^  '      '    ""'O ' —      — 

found  that  those  persons  had  been  preriously  of  {i^ood  cbumcter. 
serranti  who  had  been  under  one  mistress  for  two  or  three  7c 
with  etealing.  In  suoh  a  case  as  that  there  was  rery  little  p 
person  beine  an  old  offender,  and  the  magistrate  would,  likelr  < 
plea  of  guilty  and  deal  with  her  case  at  once.  It  was  said  toa 
tlie  justices'  clerk  influenced  the  Bench ;  he  beliered  there  waa  t 
for  the  supposition  that  inquiries  as  to  the  character  of  prieoaen 
by  tlie  advice  of  the  justices  clerk.  With  regard  to  the  apportionn 
magistrates  and  judges  experienced  a  great  difilculty  on  that  sul 
iiinc  of  trial,  when  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  were  before 
difficulty  would,  of  courM,  be  considerably  increased  if  risiting  jui 
know  little  or  nothing  of  the  cose,  wore  cedled  upon  to  apportion ' 
to  direct  what  punishment  the  prisoner  should  undergo.  Ho  wai 
to  approve  of  Uie  system  of  short  sentences,  advocated  by  Mr. 
for  mucli  harm  was  done  by  lung  sentences,  especially  to  juTeni 
was  well  known  that  tlie  views  of  the  juvenile  thief  were  very  roi 
were  based  upon  fictitious  stories  that  he  read,  and  tluit  the  effec 
soon  be  dissiiHitcd  by  t^%'eIlty-f()ur  hours'  confinciupnl  in  the  depre 
of  a  police  cell.  Once  let  a  la<l  go  to  pris<tti  for  tliroe  weeks  or  1 
be  sure  to  get  accuntonied  to  prison  diHciplino,  which  then  wouli 
effect  upon  him — at  any  rat«  considerably  Icm  than  a  brief  deten 
station.  In  reference  to  greater  similarity  of  sentences,  that  was, 
desirable  object,  which  he  l)elicre<l  might  soon  be  attained  by  a 
the  judges;  but  not  by  legislative  enactment,  for  anything  do 
magistrates  in  the  passing  of  sentences  would  simply  render  the  1 
Mr.  Georoi  Uurst  (Bedford)  said  it  was  dilHcult  to  fix  a  soal' 
because  no  two  crimes  exactly  agreed  in  all  the  circumstanoea 
been  called  to  the  inequality  of  sentences  passed  upon  persons  wl 
vioted  several  times,  the  punishment  being  lighter  at  the  la 
former  part  of  his  career.  This,  however,  might  often  happen, 
ing  us,  if  we  were  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances,  beoai 
committed  a  second,  tnirdi  and  fourth  offence  under  circumstanci 
sheer  want  of  subsistence.  He  held  that  for  the  first  offence  a 
more  sererely  punished  than  for  subsequent  ones,  inasmuch  aa 
was  one  of  choice  rather  than  necessity,  whilst  the  second  was  gei 
of  necessity  rather  than  choice.  The  argument  that  punishme 
some  reference  to  the  kind  of  crime  committed,  might  well  a 
assault,  especially  upon  wives  and  children.    The  man  who  com 

nf   nfVnnPA  \\wkiK  an  oflTUW*i«1  H^Anfl  of  rwM*arknnl  aiiffArirKy  •  Iia  xrmm   mm 


._.        He  bnlimed  no  mnn  ■ 
p  g  him'  bock  to  a  better  el 
'^     wd  oTer  again  th&t  we  w 
*"*"  once  K^iiired  wm  pt' 


IS  so  )Ad  but  thnt  HntnBtliing  mJeht  b« 
e  of  fwline  and  conduct.  It  hod  Wn 
e  TGly  mucD  the  crantureB  of  habit,  and 


bbits  of  tbo  habitual  eriminai,  whEoh  cutdd  not  be  bopofull;  under- 
Uut  oImb  wore  put  in  the  waj  of  eatting  on  honed  lining  ufter 
tB.  Ha  ihould  be  kept  in  gool  until  be  acquired  bnbite  of  iudunry 
l^  ff\l  him  a  Fhancei  either  in  his  own  countrj  or  tome  other,  of 
i.*JM«l  lirdihood,  for  if  he  were  again  sent  into  the  world  without  an^ 
k«  oT  obtaining  aubaistmce,  be  must  aa  a  matter  of  coui»e  fall  into  hi* 
t«veTBr  determined  be  might  be  to  reform  himself.  The  mnn  who 
o"  that  he  got  hia  liTine  in  a  le^timnto  and  honeit  way,  ehould  be 
^  pince  wbere  he  might  learn  habita  of  induitrj  which  might  enable 
bi*  own  liTing.  The  introduction  of  better  ciraumilanoea  would  ha*e 
#o«terlng  better  habit*,  and  to  there  might  bo  hope  of  reforming  eren 
inrod  Imbitual  criminal. 

ECJIODIB,  M.F.,  apprehended  one  of  the  greateit  erila  of  the  preaent 
nlabment  waa  an  oril  diiUnotly  atlributablo  to  Icgiabtion.    For  many 
ffcA  Riding  of  York,  he  had  obeerred,  with  regret,  Iho  difficulty  that 
■vrorkins  of  an  Act  of  Parliament,  which  required  that,  whcra  the 
gc»  had  a  prerioualy  conrictod  prisoner  before  them,  and  one  whom 
"-  ougfat  to  send  to  penal  serTitude,  the  term  under  such  pireumaMinoeB 
lewk  than  aeron  years.     As  had  been  truly  remarked,  the  principal 
tbe  reformation  of  the  offender,  whether  jurenilo  or  adult,  was  to 
.   pnniahmenC  felt.    With  regard  to  tlie  puniahmoat  of  tbe  ;rouiig  he 
^  abort  BoUlary  confinement  would  have  the  effect  of  reforming  a  lad 
ti    it  might  bo  desirable  to  allow  magiatTDlas  to  exeroiso  the  power, 
y   -wpre  persuaded,  from  the  ciroumatancee  of  the  case,  that  no  other 
.niihment  would  aufflce.     For  his  part,  howerer,  he  beliereil  juTonile 
»«»ld  bo  beat  roprflfsed  by  imposing  a  fine  upon  the  father  or  care- 
looting  to  look  after  hia  ofiild.     The  fallier  would  then  feel  the  noons- 
JMg  future  pcnolljea,  and  would,  in  all  probability,  prraerre  bis  child 
V^lnt  hod  been  done,  up  to  thnt  time,' for  the  oil;  "Arab?"    Nothing 
Mut,  when  the  potioe  got  hold  of  him  and  took  him  before  a  magie- 
lai'  wouC  punishment,  aud  was  then  let  loose  upon  aociety,  no  belter 
a   e^lueation.    Indosd,  if  a  plan  were  propotod  to  educate  thivree,  none 
>»  •jfectiTa  than  that  adopted  in  the  treatment  of  the  nnfortunnto  city 
'<Mun  ago,  thanks  to  Hr.  Barwick  Baker,  the  first  ides  of  rclormntinn 
iHiy  e^^ed  into  effect.     More,  however,  yet  remained  (o  be  done  by 
BviQr  tJDM  Hr,  Bsrwick  Boker'a  plan  was  brought  forward,  ho  lutd  held 
ay  rale,  it  was  not  desirable  to  leore  reformatory  echoola  iiitdcr 
on  entirely,  but  that  punishment,  with  reference  to  any  age  or 
_     .  .    be  under  state  control.    Ho  still  mnintoined  that  state  control 
^•peciaUy  in  the  punishment  of  jurcnile  criminab.    With  regard  to 
ptmulalion  generally,  he  was  oonTinced  that  their  reformation  would 
>Ot«a  by  Btakmg  their  punishment  felt,  whether  by  long  imprisonment, 
Dnmnent,  or  any  other  method,  eieeptions  being  mode  in  the  caee  ot 
whose  parents  ought  to  pay  me  penalty.    He  could  not  follow 
sue  oontention  that  the  first  offence  ahould  he  more  severely  punished 
tm  ones.    The  magiitrato  might  haTe  his  own  ideas  of  what  would  be 
criminal  brought  before  him,  but  he  was  not  left  quite  free  to  oxerciae 
1  in  the  matter :  but  if  any  person,  other  than  the  justice,  were  to  take 
rtf  to  aAninialer,  or  to  apportion  puniahment,  it  would  be  a  very  retro- 
if  tJiKt  punishment  were  to  commence  with  great  severity  and  culminate 
dnortbed  by  Hr.  Berimnt  Coi.     Rather  let  the  punishment  he  felt  in 
ttbmee,  then  it  ahould  bo  known  to  the  criminal  population  generally, 
i»«  conviction,  that  n  heavier  sentence  would  follow  on  a  wwond  eonvjc- 
^ter  the  eecund  offenoe  that  n  third  conviction  would  be  visited  with  a 
punitbment  indeed,      Sut^b  was   the  plan   Bubetantially  adopted  in 

19—2 


i9i  ^eeorutary  Punuhmenii. 

Glonoester  and  other  countiee,  and  it  was  clearly  applicable  to  tlie  en 
as  a  bodj,  with  whom  we  had  most  to  do,  and  whom  it  was  most 
reform.  Ho,  for  one,  did  not  consider,  because  a  man  fell  from  a  lug] 
criminality,  he  was  to  bo  punished  ex  necessUate  rei.  To  him  the  loss 
name  was  infinitely  more  serere  than  the  imprisonment,  which  the  crii 
mostly  dreaded.  With  regard  to  justices'  clerks,  he  would  recommeoc 
should  bo  remunerated  by  a  fixed  salary,  not  because  he  thought  the 
did  what  was  indefensiUe,  but  because  it  was  desirable  any  aoMidal  wl 
attach  to  a  very  worthy  class  of  men  should  be  remored.  The  law 
fault  in  this  particular,  since  it  did  not  prohibit  the  appointment  of  s 
at  a  fixed  salary.  Then,  with  regard  to  stipendiary  magistrates,  there  ^ 
ing  among  lawyers  that  their  more  general  substitution  for  the  unpaid 
woidd  haTo  the  effect  of  making  the  sentences  upon  prisoners  more  eq 
they  now  were.  A  notion  proyiuled  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  espee 
manufacturing  districts,  that  most  magistrates  had  strong  feelings  upoi 
of  gain.  That  they  were  prone  to  more  severity  of  punishment  for 
the  part  of  workpeople  tluLn  for  offences  that  were  not  immediatsij 
with  manufactures.  Ue  did  not  bb^  this  notion  had  any  real  foundati 
but  at  any  rate,  it  had  obtained  firm  hold  in  the  public  mind,  and 
done  to  diMipate  it  might  have  a  beneficial  effect.  That  suggestion, 
farourcd  the  more  general  appointment  of  stipendiary  magistrates; 
maintained  that  Henry  Sheridiui's  short  Act  ought  to  have  been  compu 
application  to  all  largo  boroughs,  and  that  any  one  with  a  population 
ought  to  have  a  stipendiary  magistrate.  Had  that  been  aone,  we  si 
haye  had  the  advantage  of  arriyine  at  one  set  of  sentences,  and  have  be 
that  system,  the  operation  of  whiou  gaye  rise  to  the  somewhat  common 
the  trade  districts,  '*  If  he  is  brought  up  before  So-^tnd-So,  who  are  bt 
manufacturers,  won't  they  warm  him  for  stealing  that  doth." 

G^ie  Bey.  W.  C.  Osborne  (Bath),  as  chaplain  to  a  gaol,  could  not  s 
had  been  said  to  pass  unchallenged,  at  least  in  some  respects.  He  be] 
crime  was  much  less  in  extent  Uian  was  generally  imsj^ned,  and  that, 
examination,  it  might  be  found  that  the  habitual  criminals  did  not  nui 
than  a  thousand  in  the  country.  Judicial  statistics  set  down  hundzec 
sands,  but  flyo  out  of  eycry  six  were  potty  offenders.  Of  those,  accord 
"  blue-book"  he  hold  in  his  hand,  80,000  wero  offenders  against  the  lot 
boroughs  and  counties ;  5000  or  GOOO  wore  yagrants ;  and  so  it  would  s 
the  more  serious  offences  were  but  few  as  compared  with  preyious  y 
Habitual  Criminals  Act  had  his  strongest  condemnation,  as  a  danfferou 
since  it  gaye  almost  unlimited  power  to  the  police  oyer  the  crimmaL 
this  enactment  work  ?  Under  it,  tho  retumeu  convict  was  obliged  to  n 
self  at  least  onco  a  montb,  say,  for  two  or  three  yoars,  consequently  be 
go  very  far  away.  Suppose,  however,  he  had  to  change  his  place  of 
and  in  doing  so,  omitted  to  notify  the  change,  ho  come  at  once  under  t 
tiie  police,  who  said,  "  Now  I  know  you ;  bo  off,  or  I'll  report  yoa" 
he  "  took  to  tlie  road."  That  was  a  conversation  he  had  frequently 
the  Act  were  carried  out  in  its  integrity,  tliis  would  be  the  result.  C 
supposed  that  so  poor  and  unfortunate  a  creaturo  would  be  able  to 
immediately  on  his  quitting  gaol  ?  This  now  Act  would  seriously  intc 
that  class  of  men  settling  down  and  getting  an  Loneet  livelihood.  W 
stable  was  enabled  to  say  to  a  troubleeonio  follow,  "  If  you  don't  be 
report  you  to  the  chief,  wo  hod  at  onco  an  imperium  »i»  imperio,  and 
onminal  population  would  be  placed  at  the  moroy  of  a  member  of  the  k 
in  the  police  force.  With  regard  to  tho  passing  of  one  set  sentence,  ii 
of  the  circumstances  attending  the  criiuo,  that  would  appear  monstroua 
tion,  for  if  such  a  proposition  hod  effect,  a  man  who  repeated  the 
breaking  into  a  shop  and  there  stealing  a  bread-loaf,  would  be  sentenoi 
years'  imprisonment,  and  for  a  third  offence  of  the  same  kind,<seyen  jt 
servitude.  He  thought  a  little  too  much  was  said  about  the  advanti 
photography  possessed  under  the  Habitual  Criminab  Act  If  a  man 
AToid  detection,  he  made  his  photograph  of  none  elEect  when  ho  ifaa" 


Diteuaion,  S9S 

.  pnt  onp  on.  or  othsrwise  altered  liis  perions!  nppwiranco.  Nor  had  i«- 
J(  tJiB  TBliitf  whioh  their  great  number  eipiifled,  for  many  old  offendera 
Y  |»lf-wilt«d,  in  fact,  onn-teiith  or  the  nrisonen  th«n  in  gaol  vers  im- 
010.0  women  had  been  rfoommjtted  no  rawer  than  tvcntj-four  times  for 
,0.  Wheu  these  omtierB  were  tnkpn  into  BOTuideration,  it  would  bs 
I  th«  graTilj  of  the  erime  ooaimitl«d  in  the  oountry  wa«  not  so  grenl  m 
'-rtv  w<re  uA  to  Bi»>poiio. 

JouK  P«LB  {Sorthnllerton)  agreed  that  prime  coidd  be  reprewed 
^_  iiaJly  by  tho  endeaTonr  ia  refonn  Ihan  by  actual  pTmiahmBnt.  The 
"^rliii^u  eiislMl  between  flrat  conrictions  and  firet  punlshmenls  ought 
^0  ilintinctly  Bmintnined,  and  in  reference  lo  the  opinion  eipressed  by 
cMl  this  pniot^  he  otnenred  that  our  law  had  admitted  tho  prinotpla 
;  ofl™°*  nrti  nut  be  risited  wjlh  punishment,  that  a  wnming  inight  be 
^JBo*""!!  biit  Ihil  punishmmit  tnuit  follow  a  second  offence.  Aewpting 
[plA  be  entiroly  eoneurred  in  Mr.  Hunt's  view  that  the  first  puniib- 
J^  be  acTere.  Ohita  prindpio,  id  reference  to  punishment,  waa  a 
^"^  jh  Ouehc  to  be  Btriotly  ndhered  to.  Tba  proposition  of  Mr.  Serjeant 
«  {inioncr  iliould  be  d»)t  with,  in  reference  more  to  his  oliarsoter 
orutie  lie  ronimilted,  could  not  be  too  strangly  urged,  but  it  wai  a 

>  detenuine  how  the  chanieter  ehould  be  eatlinat^.  The  toorned 
I  fa«  would  do  that  by  the  number  of  oonTietioiw,  and  he  remarked 
I  or  lareeniffl  mi|;!it  ba  of  the  moat  trifling  chanieler.  8o  they  might, 
d  be  well  to  bring  petty  ofTtmcee  under  the  term  of  Inreeor  as  dit- 
■■om  felony.    But  supposing  a  criminal  wore  conriot^  n  third  time  of 

ehataetec  would  become  so  stamped  with  infamy  that  it  would  be  an 
•sielT  if  he  were  released  soon  from  tinpriannment ;  he  woid<l  go  Torth 
'  cmminal,  and  aa  such  would  tempt  others.  In  that  way  we  had  a 
on  of  offenders.  The  learned  BCriaint  said  he  had  no  oiperience  in 
Ek  of  the  criminal  law,  after  he  had,  aa  n  judge,  passed  senteneo  upon 
^Ihat  rema.rl  appeared  to  bo  oonflrmed  by  n,  subsequent  one,  that 
Aif  hard  labour,  must  at  once  be  iuQieted  upon  a  eriminni  as  a 
•Om  crime  generallj,  and  n  terror  to  the  crimiual  bimeelf.  Hi»  own 
laSered  from  that  of  the  learned  Bi^rjeant  in  this  poiut,  inasmuch  ns  it 

>  to  ny  with  perfect  conftdenco  that  labour  wns  a  mitigation  of  the 
t  of  ths  seclusion  of  the  cell.  For  if  a  prisoner  wore  deprirod  of  the 
~  of  labour,  ho  would,  before  the  lapse  ot  ten  days,  beg  iinni  for  some 

*"         Tr  was  well  known  that  criminals  would  almort  do  anything  rather 


Reeled  to  the  severe  disciplini 
«*•»».    In  f(   ■      "■ 


,  solitary  conflneramt  was  felt  so  keenly  tluit  it  was  unsafe 
.  tjejond  a  short  trm,  He  was  among  the  earliest  adrocntes  for  the 
~  "timuent  of  offenders,  chitily  on  tho  ground  that  that  system  coidd  be 
^  *D  the  particular  ehnrocter  of  the  criminal.  To  deal  with  nil 
.  10  uniform  plan  was  a  great  mistake.  We  knew  when  men  were 
r"  thH  number  of  their  conTictions,  but  when  they  were  eommittod  lo 
"H^mJ  execution  ot  the  sentence  remained  ;  and  ho  would  xugmst  that 
■  be  Sppoitit«d  to  regulalo  t)ia  punishment.  Their  duly  should  be  to 
^^  -  rt.  to  the  visiting  jusliws,  who  might  then  indicate  the  special  kind  of 
^  'wfiiofa  ths  ehaneter  of  each  particular  prisoner  appeared  to  demand 
VrtwMifra. 

w«i,i.  (Chief  Constable  of  Leeds)  presumed  that  the  charnctor  of 
lAj  different  from  that  of  Leeds,  or  Mr.  Osborno  would  not  have 
-  -  unfavourable  an  impression  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  the  Habitual 
'  -Act,  eince  the  passing  of  wbiclj,  indictable  crime  in  Leeds  had  dicremed 
't,,  rtreet  robberies  with  violence  having  fallen  from  42  to  28.    Within 
" — iod  >J]  etoHei  of  indictable  offences  had  declined  from  959  to  S49. 
a  put  in  operation  in  Leeds  aa   soon  as  ever  it  became  law.     Aa   ■ 
!,  he  selected  offlcers  to  look  after  known  tlueves,  who  had  been  so 
na,  at)d  whom  the  police  coTild  soon  find.    These  habitual  orimiuols 
WKined  that  if  they  persisted  in  the  habit  of  getting  women  to  walk 
^,  iM  was  the  custom  among  streot  Uueves  of  that  claai,  they  would  be 


294  Secondary  PunUhmmU. 

arrested.    A  few  of  the  worst  characters  were  taken  into  eoitodj 

a  general  exodus  of  that  class  of  thieTes.     Had  he  heen  empower 

to  Hull,  and  other  places,  to  enforce  the  Act  there,  as  it  had  \ 

same  result  would  hare  followed,  and  the  entire  class  would  h 

With  respect  to  the  revocation  of  licences,  no  doubt  that  was  a  ( 

of  the  magistrates  which  might  be  considered  arbitrary ;  nor  wi 

the  police  also  had  great  power  entrusted  to  them,  but  when 

judiciously  exercised,  he  hold  that  no  hardship  was  inflicted  upoi 

lers.    The  first  revocation  of  a  licence  in  Leeds  effected  gooo,  v 

other  property  belonging  to  the  same  owner,  and  to  others  also. 

got  their  nouBes  occupied  and  received  the  rent,  they  did  not  app 

about  the  character  of  the  tenants ;  but  now  that  they  found  then 

whenever  their  tenants  incurred  a  penalty  under  the  Act,  they  t 

their  houses  occupied  by  persons  who  would  carry  out  the  law  ini 

it    For  this  purpose  owners  granted  only  short  leases  to  puUia 

that  one  offence  against  the  law  should  forfeit  the  lease  held  by  t 

Leeds,  only  one  information  had  been  found  necessary,  for  th< 

licence  in  that  instance  hod  operated  as  a   most  salutary  cau 

victuallers  generally.    There  had  also  been  but  one  revocsttion 

licence.    In  Leeds  no  measure  had  ever  worked  better  than  the  H 

Act,  the  public  hod  firmly  supported  the  police  in  carrying  it  ii 

criminal  ever  complained  of  unfair  treatment  under  its  operation. 

Lord  Teionmouth  (Clmirman)  called  attention  to  what  was  U 

"  The  Cumberland  System  "  for  vagrants,  remarking  that  its  succ 

must  be  attributable  to  the  fear  aJl  vagrants  had  of  meeting  M: 

there.    In  Cumberland,  however,  the  system  was  rendered  in* 

present  state  of  the  wanls.    He  had  visited  the  workhouses,  and  f 

wards  there  so  execrably  bad,  that  to  send  a  vagrant  into  one  of 

lead  to  the  spread  of  infectious  disease.     What  ne  himself  saw  in 

the  accounts  ne  received  from  the  workhouse  masters  in  Cumberli 

to  get  the  North  Biding  Quarter  Sessions  to  pass  a  motion  on  th< 

communicate  with  the  Home  Secretary  and  tne  President  of  the  ] 

The  revelations  were  perfectly  startling,  and  the  workhouse  masl 

Quarter  Sessions  to  do  anvthmg  in  their  power  with  a  view  to  f 

tion  of  the  vagrant  waras,  or  obtain  some  modification  of  tlu 

them.    It  was  clear  that  the  vagrant  system  could  not  be  carri* 

(}ovemment   undertook   the   clmrge  of   its  application  all    or 

Ma^^istrates,  he  held,  ought  to  be  allowed  discretion  in  the  dii 

onerous   duties,    though    tliat  discretion   should   be   kept  witl 

judges,  much  less  magistrates,  were  not  infallible.    Puhlic  od 

brought  to  boor  upon  the  magisterial  Bench,  and  much  gooa 

in  that  direction  if  tlie  press  were  to  continue  to  record  pre< 

decisions  of  magistrates,  the  verdicts  of  juries,  summary  juriadic 

inasmuch  as  that  kind  of  publication  had  produced  an  enect  air 

wick  Baker  seemed  disposed  to  draw  a  hard  and  fast  line,  when  1 

cumulative  penalties  should  be  fixed.     It  should  be  recollected  th< 

of  delinquency,  and  in  the  duo  exercise  of  their  discretion  mi 

consider  whether  the  prisoner  was  entitled  to  any  mitigating  ciro 

they  pronounced  their  decision  against  him.    But  the  main  qu 

effect  had  penal  servitude  ?    Under  the  Act  the  magistrates  wc 

alternative,  either  to  send  a  man  to  penal  servitude  or  to  prison,  a 

not  bring  their  minds  to  inflict  a  long  term  of  penal  servitude  n 

not  demand  so  severe  a  punishment,  they  sent  the  man  to  prison. 

The  two  years*  system  of  sentences  could  not  be  worked  well  in 

people  thought  solitary  confinement  should  scarcely  last  nine  i 

consequence  was  that  our  prisons  were  filled  to  overaowinf .    Tbd 

tration  which  condemned  tne  hard  and  fast  line  at  once.    As  for 

depending  upon  their  clerks,  his  experience  in  \he  North  Biding  i 

enabled  hun  to  say  that  they  exercised  their  own  discretion,  andth 

had  nocewarily  to  ooniult  the  clerks  in  an  Act  of  Parliament^  thMi 


Tradaiff  in  StoUu  Property. 

FtltBsieh.  Oar  mngiBtntlM  ware  irlddy  different,  aa  a  clus,  from  the  men 
i^ Mitiut  on  Uia  continetit,  wbo,  lo^  want  nf  like  employment,  were  ofUn 
idlritokiuB,  and  Indulged  a  spirit  of  nriitocracj.  In  cuneliision.  while  ke 
('M  join  In  kll  of  ttm  propoaitinoi  for  radical  and  viirious  reformi,  ba 
i  M  ile*pBir  of  at  Inut  ninie  of  them,  if  a  general  cuction  wore  mwle  U 
to  tin  etwioter  uf  the  nugietsrial  B»ncli. 


TUADINO   IN   STOLEN   PBOPERir.* 

ft  JUeomres  may  the  Trading  m  Stolen  Property,  wJtether 
W<^Art«>u/  1/  or  Eeeeiviiig  it  in  PUdi/e,  be  most  effectually 
ifni^ti  f    By  Edwin  Hill. 

Iip<»r*iiiice  of  puttiug  a  atop  to  the  traffic  in  stolen  property 
C  Ije  doubled  by  any  one  who  accepts  the  well-known 
_"  tliorewere  no  receivers  there  would  ba  no  tliievee."  But 
ecsX  lliia  importance  much  more  deeply  wheu  wu  reflect  that 
fxk.^ilittes  fur  the  disposal  of  petty  pilfei'ings  that  exist  in 
to^wns,  are  a  Boru  temptfttion  to  the  children  of  the  very 
BOKxnmeatiG  thieving  at  a,  very  eitrly  age;  and  honce  to 
fcl=ȣts  that,  unless  broken  by  some  external  force,  will 
■.Illy  result  iu  the  children  growing  up  confirmed  ciimi- 
:^7eAlc  up  these  pernicious  facilities,  therefore,  would 
i  -^  Avmy  those  allurements  by  which  now  hundreds, 
^gperhapa  even  tens  of  thousands,  are  at  the  outset 
i'^7'  ^a  drawn  abide  from  the  paths  of  honesty,  Eiud  their 
1^:»  coming  worthy  and  useful  members  of  society  destroyed, 
-^  Expressing  this  iniquitous  trafBc,  at  first  sight  the  detcc- 
*^c~inging  to  juBlJce  of  Ihoae  engaged  in  purchasing  stolen 
•^^r-  advancing  money  upon  it,  would  ecera  a  task  of  no  great 
fe-  *Vr- 

K  -^^^ry  such  dealer  must  have  a  place  of  business  to  which 
^      ^an  take  their  booty  as  they  secure  it. 
►         3la  must  be  known  to  many  thieves,  or  his  profits  would 
^^^eate  him  for  tlie  risks  he  must  run. 

ij  Tliose  who  know  him  as  a  receiver  aro  of  a  claafl — espe- 
Bpecla  its  younger  members — presumably  open  to  induce- 
isiBt  in  his  detection ;  a  class,  too,  that  Uie  detectives  know 
to  deal  with  ;  as  any  one  studying  the  police  reports  will 
'>Tn  seeing  the  very  recondite  information  they  do  obtain 
orimes,  in  respect  of  which  the  greatest  puns  have  been 
'  effect  their  concealment. 

Beung  the  acknowledged  importance  of  suppi-easing  this 
L  traffic,  and  the  appiu*eot  ease  with  which  the  guilty  parties 
got  Hi,  it  may  he  reasonably  asked,  why  is  not  the  thing 


"  Bee  Swsiojwi  iVwMrfiHji,  1868-9,  p.  27;  18l>9-70,  p.  137. 


296  Trading  in  Stolen  Property. 

donef  Or  rather,  why  has  it  not  been  done  long  agof  Tl 
answer  I  can  give  is,  that  the  fault  lies  with  the  Legifllata] 
law  against  reccIviDg  stolen  property  is  ineffectual,  and  the 
that  have  been  made  of  late  to  induce  the  Legislature  to  i 
strong  enough,  and  searching  enough,  to  reach  and  master  tl 
have  failed  to  do  more  than  to  obtain  a  few  small  crumbs  of  ii 
mont.  As  the  law  now  stands,  the  impunity  it  affords  is  s 
that  in  London  alone  the  high  probability  is  that  for  every 
which  the  guilty  parties  are  caught  and  punished,  there  are  t 
6000  which  the  law  fails  to  reach. 

A  few  cases  will,  perhaps,  show  most  clearly  the  points  ii 
our  law  is  defective. 

The  first  and  second  case  which  I  shall  mention  conec 
absolute  purchase  of  stolen  property ;  the  remaining  cases  i 
the  receiving  of  such  property  in  pledge. 

When  I  was  a  very  young  man  I  had  the  management  o 
large  works,  in  which  the  rolling  of  copper  was  carried  on. 
employed  in  the  works  was  detected  in  carrying  off  a  heavy  ] 
copper,  secreted  under  his  clothes.  Upon  being  qucstioi 
stated  that  a  man,  who  kuow  where  he  worked,  had  incited 
steal  the  copper,  and  promised  him  twopence  per  pound  for  i 
should  bring.  Now  this  copper  was  worth  tenpence  per  ponii 
to  remelt,  and  it  was  in  an  unfinished  stage  of  manufacture,  ii 
state  it  is  not  on  article  of  sale.  Impressed  with  the  import 
detecting  the  tempter  of  the  boy,  and  finding  the  boy — in  tl 
of  getting  his  own  punishment  mitigated — willing  to  carry  the 
straightway  to  the  receiver,  as  he  would  have  done  had  tl 
remained  undiscovered,  I  requested  the  chief  of  the  polico 
place)  to  send  a  detective  to  follow  tlie  youth,  and  to  secure  i 
so  soon  as  he  should  have  purchased  and  taken  possession 
Cvpper.  Thin,  however,  the  constable  refused  to  do,  beci 
happened  to  know  that,  since  the  control  of  the  copper  hi 
temporarily  recovered,  the  law  would  hold  that  the  chan 
stolen  goods  no  longer  attached  to  it,  and  hence  that  an  ind 
ibr  receiving  stolen  goods  could  not  be  sustained.  So  that  th 
notwithstanding  his  having  incited  the  theft,  and  (obvious^ 
the  belief  that  the  copper  was  stolen  property  having  bou^ 
fifth  part  of  its  value,  and  while  in  an  unfit  state  for  sale),  won 
been  enabled  to  escape  with  impunity  by  virtue  of  an  idle  tech 
which  did  not  diminish  his  guilt  by  one  iota. 

No.  2. — ^A  dock  labourer,  not  long  ago,  was  detected  in  carr 
five  pounds  of  white  cofice  beans  in  his  stockings,  taken  froi 
from  which  a  large  quantity  had  been  stolen  within  a  few  da 
a  conversation  (after  the  event)  with  one  of  the  citj  ja 
suggested  that,  as  the  man  no  doubt  intended  to  sell  ihe  bei 
police,  instead  of  taking  possession  of  them,  might,  by  promii 
intercede  for  the  man,  have  induced  him  to  carry  the  betos 
receiver,  whereby  to  efiect  his  detection.  But  the  judge  she 
head,  and  told  me  that,  although  the  police  might  not  haTO  i 


ma.  M7 

.  the  beans,  tlie  \&w  would  bold  that  they  hud  virtually  re- 
possession of  them  for  tho  owners,  and  that  hence  the 
Rtfetscter  of  stolen  goods  would  no  longer  attach  to  them.  Now  liad 
ihe  police,  in  ignorance  of  this  legal  refinement,  and  anxious  to  break 
op  Uin  irttile  of  the  receiver  hit  upon  the  plan  just  mentioned,  and 
Knt  the  thief  straightway  to  the  receiver,  and  had  the  receiver 
boDgbl  the  coffee  bcaua  for.  perchance,  let's  Ilian  a  quarter  of  their 
nlae,  be  aho  seeing  that  the  man  was  but  a  laboui'or,  and  that  he 
bad  eoQceaiod  the  beans  in  hiu  clothes,  in  filiort,  had  he  bought  them 
under  circninslaaced  every  one  of  wliich  went  to  prove  that  tha 
property  must  have  been  stolen,  the  law,  so  soon  as  it  should  hare 
■  sight  of  the  fortuitous  inlerferenco  of  the  police — of  which  tha 
liver  could  have  known  nothing — would  refuse  to  hold  him  as 
grwise  than  au  innocent  man.  Our  law  has,  by  some  lawyers, 
1  called  the  perfection  of  human  reason,  but  if  this  were  a  fair 
pJe  of  It,  it  would  better  deserve  to  ho  called  the  extreme  of 
lativo  absurdity.  Surely  the  object  of  the  criminal  law  ia  to 
Kt  the  honest  againEit  tlie  operations  of  the  dishonest;  but  it 
imes  a  mockeiy  when  its  spirit  can  be  thus  defeated  iguominiously 
I  msre  quibble  raised  upon  its  loiter. 

"o.  8. — Ametiu  Collins,  a  charwoman  employed  at  the  offices,  1^5, 
ghureh  Street,  Loudon,  was  delected  with  twenty-two  pawn- 
et*  in  her  possession,  for  coals,  boots,  umbrella-'',  i&e.,  including 
'  BUB  pie  pairs  of  ladies' boots,  quite  new,  and  bearing  piivate 
le  marks  conspicuous  on  the  heels ;  and  these  being  worth  1/.  12(. 
•  pledged  for  10*.  Their  owner  said  truly  that  there  could  be  no 
leelloa  to  trade  if  pawnbrokers  were  allowed  thus  to  take  from  a 
'lan  of  the  pi-isoiier'e  appearance  new  goodB  with  the  trade  marks 
I    thom^      The  prisoner    was    punished,  but  nut  so  the  pawn- 

0.  4, — Ellen  Davey,  convicted  of  pledging  eleven  unfinished 
mocks,  the  property  of  Messrs.  Murray  &  Paterson,  Government 
factors.  The  pawnbroker  was  not  charged  with  the  heavier 
IC<  of  receiving  stolen  goods,  but  was  called  to  account  for  the 
ler  offences  of  taking  in  unfinished  work,  and  neglecting  to  insert 
IMWner's  addi-cas  in  the  duplicates. 

0.  5, — Two  women    were    sentenced   for  robberies  at  railway 
ons,    many  pawn-tickets  being  found  upon   them.     It  was  re- 
I  conrt  that  "  the  readiness  with  which  passengers'  luggage 
be  pawned  is  lamentable." 

\e.  G. — ^Thieves  who  had  stolen  and  pledged  many  trinkets,  and 
r  articles,  also  pledged  for  6$.  a  timepiece  of  remarkable 
Bsnnce,  which  had  cost  the  owner  3/.  I0<.  and  the  pawnbroker 
received  a  printed  police  notice  with  a  description  of  the  timepiece 
'  two  days  before  he  took  it  in.     The  magistrate  commented 

WAj  upon  the  transaction,  but  what  cored  the  pawnbroker  for 

t,  limx  be  merely  lost  his  6*. 

fo.  7. — ^At  Lambeth,  Alfred  Aments,  a  young  man,  was  finally 

~  '     *  upon  a  charge  of  having  in  Ma  poesosston  a  quantity  of 


298  Tradmg  in  Stolen  Property. 

property  supposed  to  have  been  stolen,  also  sixty-two  pawn  tick 
relating  to  other  property,  the  proceeds  of  robbery,  indicating  fix 
two  breaches  of  the  law,  against  receiving  stolen  goods  withi 
punishment. 

No.  8. — A  case  was  related  in  the  newspapers  of  a  gold  ring  w 
valuable  jewels  having  been  accepted  in  pledge  from  a  valet  (n 
had  stolen  it)  by  the  assistant  of  an  eminent  pawnbroker,  w 
advanced,  I  think,  12/.  upon  it  Now,  by  law,  the  ring  ought 
have  been  kept  intact  for  twelve  months,  instead  of  which,  aeooi 
ing  to  the  account,  the  stones  were  taken  out  and  sold  for  some  4 
within  forty-eight  hours,  yielding  the  enormous  profit  of  28/.  beiid 
the  value  of  the  ring  itself,  and  proving  that  the  pawnbrol 
reckoned  absolutely  upon  the  non-reclamation  of  the  ring ;  leaving 
scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  he  had  a  shrewd  guess  how  the  pi 
perty  was  obtained,  for  surely  no  honest  owner  would  have  be 
willing  to  part  witli  it  for  a  sum  so  greatly  below  its  value.  In  tl 
case,  as  in  the  other  cases  of  pawniug,  no  proceedings  were  ttk 
against  the  pawnbroker.  Indeed  under  the  existing  law  the  dl 
oulties  are  such  that,  although  I  have  ascertained  it  to  be  the  opiiu 
of  some  of  the  most  eminent  magistrates  in  London,  that  a  very  lai 
portion  of  the  non-monetary  property  stolen  in  London — peilM 
even  a  major  portion — goes  into  the  hands  of  the  pawnbrokers,! 
conviction  of  u  pawnbroker  for  receiving  stolen  goods  is  a  things 
believe,  quite  unheard  of.  This,  I  thiuk,  must  have  arisen  from  1 
circumstance  that,  whilst  against  a  buyer  of  stolen  property  1 
insufficiency  of  the  price  given  for  it  is  strong  evidence  of  a  gvi 
knowledge,  the  smallness  of  a  loan  proves  but  little,  because  1 
borrower  might  not  have  required  more,  and  therefore  chi 
not  to  incur  a  greater  charge  for  interest.  And  in  justice  to  l 
pawnbroker  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  asking  for  a  small  si 
on  loan  would  not  of  itself  put  him  upon,  his  guard,  as  the  asking 
an  unduly  small  price  would,  or  ought  to  do  a  purchaser.  'St 
this  it  appears  that  even  were  the  law  made  effectual  against  I 
buyers  of  stolen  property,  it  might  still  remain  ineffectual  against  1 
lenders  of  money  upon  it. 

I  shall  now  consider  what  means  we  have  of  dealing  vigoroa 
with  both  forms  of  the  booty  traific.  Except  from  the  gnA 
improvement  in  knowledge  and  respect  for  the  rights  of  otbi 
which  we  hope  for  as  the  result  of  the  greater  attention  about 
be  paid  to  cducatiou,  that  of  the  poorer  classes  especially,  the  a 
forces  available  for  the  purpose  in  view  that  I  know  of,  are  :— 

(1.)  Improved  legislation. 

(2.)  The  giviug  a  better  direction  to  the  exertions  of  the  p<dicei 

(3.)  Public  opinion. 

The  change  in  the  law  which  I  have  to  suggest^  and  which  ak 
(in  my  mind)  can  make  it  strong  enough  and  searching  enoof^ 
deal  effectually  with  the  guilty  traffickers  in  stolen  property,  is  1l 
of  making  the  intent  to  commit  a  crime,  coupled  with  tm  eft 
adapted  to  carry  out  such   intent,  sufficient,  if  iul^  proved, 


By  Edwin  Hill.  SSd 

the  conTictioQ.  and  punishment  of  the  accused  pBirty, 
Iter  ha  had  Bucceeded  in  effecting  his  purpose  or  uot.  Our  taw 
■  that  the  guillj  intention  ia  the  essence  of  the  crime,  and  it  it 
^owu  ibat  a  person  holding  a  criminal  intenlion  has  done  his 
t  to  carry  it  into  effect,  how  can  the  iolerfereDCo  of  some  for- 
^a  oircumstance  that  fruslratoa  liia  efforte,  or  some  nice  (juibblo 
.  the  legal  deSnition  of  the  crimu,  in  any  way  lessen  his  guill,  or 
I  him  the  less  an  enemy  to  the  community,  whose  Bafety  demands 
llis  career  «hall  be  aiTcsted  7 

this  priDciple  were  adopted  of  making  the  criminal  intention, 
led  with  oetermined  ellbrts  to  carry  it  into  elfect,  legally 
imlAut  to  the  completed  crime  [(excluding  capilnl  punishment 
e  Ihe  crime  fell  short  of  completion),  a  force  and  efficiency  would 
Ten  to  our  criminal  law  which  it  now  sadly  wants ;  and  we 
d  be  spared  witnessing  tboae  frequent  and  scuudalous  failures  of 
■ir,  by  which  the  safety  of  the  contmunity  is  imperilled,  aud 
Kw  itself  brought  to  shame  and  disgrace. 

I  drawing  the  clauses  of  an  Act  embodying  this  principle,  it 
U  be  important  (o  use  words  comprehensive  enough  to  include 
I  traffickers  wbo,  being  tiicerly  indifferent  whether  goods  offered 
tem  for  Bole  or  pledge  had  been  stolen  or  not,  oould  scarcely  be 
to  "  well  know  "  that  they  were  stolen  goods, 
'though  the  probable  mode  in  which  a  law,  embodying  the  sug- 
1  principle,  would  operate  to  stop  the  receiviug  ot'  stolen  goods 
)dge,  uamoly,  the  setting  of  snares,  could  not  but  be  distastofal 
.  right^ninded  persons,  it  would  seem  that,  unless  we  are  willing 
t  the  evil  coniimie  unchecked,  we  must  needs  resort  to  it,  over- 
Ing  oar  repugnance  as  best  ne  can  \  fur  now  the  law  is  little 
than  a  dead  letter ;  and,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  other  plan 
iriug  it  life  and  streugth  to  fulfil  its  purpose  has  ever  been 
nted. 

1  who  read  the  police  reports  must  know  that  when  letter- 
og  ia  the  post-offices  is  found  ^to  be  going  on,  the  plan  adopted 
be  detection  of  the  thief  is  to  make  up  a  "  test  letter  "  con- 
ig  EQoney  or  other  m'ticles  of  value,  and  so  direct  it  that  it  shall 
through  the  hands  of  the  suspected  individual,  who,  if  the 
r  is  stopped  on  its  way,  is  immediately  searched,  aud  in  most 
I  found  to  have  the  letter  or  its  contents  ia  his  possession, 
bgoas  means  are  used  in  detecting  suspocied  barmen  and  shop- 
iVhen  there  are  signs  of  wrong  going  on.  Coin  is  marked, 
an  agent  is  employed  to  make  a  purcliase  with  it  from  the 
Kted  individual,  who  if  the  marked  coin  does  not  reach  the  till, 
once  challenged  with  the  theft.  And  by  this  use  of  the  lest 
's  and  the  marked  coins,  dishonesty,  that  could  otherwise  hardly 
constantly  being  brought  to  light.  The  means  are 
sire,  but  when  it  is  asked  what  other  effectual  means  can  be 
\  the  answer  cometh  not.  Tha  evil  is  a  ^gautic  one,  and  if 
unchecked  it  is  sure  to  increase  ;  but  if  it  be  keenly  hunted 
I   and  the  guilty    parties  brought  to  speedy  and  appropriate 


300  Trading  in  StoUn  Property. 

punishment,  we  may  hope  that  it  will  soon  be  all  but  extirpiMs 
in  which  case  these  distasteful  means  of  detection  may  be  almost 
wholly  laid  aside. 

I  have  said  ''appropriate  punishment'*  Punishment  slioidd, 
whenever  practicable,  consist  of  some  ill-consequence  to  the  enlprit 
naturally  growing  out  of  the  crime,  ad  a  known  liar  finds  that  hs 
cannot  get  believed  even  when  speaking  the  truth.  When  a  pawii- 
broker,  or  any  trader  acting  under  a  licence,  persists  in  breaking  tin 
law,  whether  by  receiving  goods  primd  facie  stolen,  or  otherwise^ 
what  so  proper  as  to  take  away  his  licence?  For  why  should  lit 
be  any  longer  suffered  to  carry  on  a  trade  which  he  cannot,  or  will 
not,  conduct  in  a  lawful  manner,  so  as  to  avoid  inciting  either  yom^ 
or  old  to  plunder  his  neighbours. 

Having  had  some  experience  of  the  great  unwillingness  of  tiM 
Legislature  to  adopt  energetic  measures  for  checking  crime  at  ito 
sources,  I  cannot  hope  for  the  speedy  passing  of  a  law  competent  to 
the  practical  suppression  of  the  booty-market;  it  is,  therefore,  wel 
to  consider  what  can  bo  done  under  the  existing  law,  or  with  snek 
small  improvements  therein  as  wo  may  further  obtain  as  time  gofil 
on.  I  have  more  than  once  suggested  the  formation,  in  the  poGei 
establishments  of  our  large  towns,  of  a  special  department,  consisting 
of  a  few  active  men  of  rare  sagacity — well  paid,  of  course — to  devote 
themselves  entirely  to  the  detection  of  those  whom  I  have  termed 
the  "  criminal  capitalists,"  namely,  they  who  find  residences  for  tha 
criminals,  and  they]  who  cash  their  booty ;  whereby  to  enable  tbe 
police  authorities  to  bring  the  law, -such  as  it  is,  to  bear  upon  then 
whenever  practicable.  Such  department  to  keep  a  register  of  aft 
houses  wherein  thieves  are  suffered  to  reside  or  to  congregate ;  and 
those  also,  in  respect  of  which  it  is  believed  that  stolen  goods  an 
taken  in,  whetlier  on  purchase  or  in  pledge  ;  and  to  take  care  that  a 
constant  watch  shall  be  kept  on  such  places  ;  also  from  time  to  tiBM 
to  communicate  with  the  chief  proprietors  of  such  houses,  and  i( 
need  be,  to  remonstrate  with  them  upon  the  wrongfulness  of  snfib* 
ing  their  property  to  be  used  for  such  purposes,  and  pointing  oat 
that  the  rents  their  tenants  pay  them  can  have  had  no  other  scone 
than  the  plunder  of  their  neighbours  ;  also  calling  their  attention  to 
the  very  slight  difference  there  is  between  receiving  the  knova 
produce  of  stolen  goods,  and  receiving  the  goods  themselves. 

Lastly,  in  order  to  bring  the  force  of  public  opinion  to  bear,! 
think  the  register  of  these  houses,  together  with  the  names  of  tUr 
owners  and  occupiers,  and  a  short  statement  of  the  grounds  of  so^ 
cion  attaching  to  each,  should  from  time  to  time  be  laid  before  ilia 
magistrates  of  the  district,  and,  so  far  as  they  might  think  fi^be 
made  public. 

In  conclusion,  I  will  venture  to  say  a  few  words  regarding  tb 
feeling  that  I  suppose  we  all  entertain  unconsciously,  that  to  increaia 
the  stringency  of  the  criminal  law  and  the  energy  of  its  admimi' 
tration,  although  advantageous  to  the  honest  portion  of  the  conk* 
munity,  is  an  act  of  hostility  towards  the  criminal  class.    But  tUa 


iea  the  opiuion  that  it  ia  a  disadvantage  to  the  criminal  to  cora- 
lim  to  abandon  his  crirainal  courses,  an  opinion  that  but  Cew  would 
Bedly  mnintain.  Al  all  events  improved  lo^islatioa,  so  far  as  it 
1  have  the  efTcct  of  remoTiDg  lemptatioDB  and  destrojini;  tho 
itica  for  the  commission  of  crime,  must  surely  be  regardeJ  as 
tmest  charity  towards  those  in  whose  path  sueb  temptaliooa 
Id  otherwise  lie;  and  as  regards  the  numerous  helpless  infftDta 
K  oQspring  of  criminals — who  are  boru  and  brought  up  so 
Mnded  by  evil  of  all  kinds  that  their  escape  from  bad  courses 
Id  be  miraculous, — legislation,  that  should  in  the  end  destroy 
»  eril  Burroundings,  and  thereby  rescue  these  hapless  children. 
I  the  Bad  fate  awaiting  them,  would  be  an  infinite  charity  to 
a,  although  to  us  but  the  discharge  of  an  imperative  duty, 
n  a  calculation  that  I  made  some  years  ago  I  came  to  tho  start- 
coDclagioQ  that  to  make  good  the  great  waste  of  life  that  occura 
be  criminal  classes — even  after  allowing  in  tho  calculation  for 
p  who    join  the  criminal  ranks  altliough  not  bora  thereto — 

tho  birth  amongst  us  of  seven  such  infants  day  by  day,  or 
of  2500   in  each  year.     To  atrengthea  the  case  further 

lem  next  to  impossible. 


On  the  Same.     By  George  Attenborouoh. 

tUntOT  but   feel  that  in  reading  a    paper  upon   this  important 
:t,  I    have  taken    upon   myself  a   most  responsible  duty,    but 
It  my  efforts  may  prove  beneficial.     I  know  that  the  statements 
.'  propoBilioQs  I  have  to  make  will  bo  made  to  ladies  and  gcntle- 
I  desirous  of  ascertaining  trnth,  and  who  are  well  capable  uf 
minating  between  facts  and  theories,  and  I  desire  that  it  fihould 
toideratood    that   in  giving   direct   contradiction    to  many  pre- 
^^  tnd  generally  entertained  opinions  as  lo  what  becomes  of 

en  property,  I  ehall  only  state  that  which  I  have  personally  seen 
m  prepared  to  prove  by  the  testimony  and  books  of  persons  of 
highest  respectability,  whose  evidence  would  bo  deemed  conclu- 
I  in  any  court  of  law,  and  will  therefore,  I  am  sure,  bo  accepted 

'he  question  appears  to  mo  to  divide  itself,  and  maj  be  best 
msed  under  three  heads,  namely  : — 

I.)  Where  the  great  bulk  of  stolen  property  is  not  disposed  of. 
[.)  TTheie  it  is  disposed  of. 
I.)  The  remedy  for  the  evil. 

am  aware  that  tho  popular  idea,  and  probably  the  one  held  by  a 

B  proportion  of  those  whom  I  liave  the  honour  to  address,  ia  that 

major  part  of  tho  chattel  property  stolen  finds  its  way  to  pawn- 

and  \i  received  by  them,  if  not  with  an  actual  guilty  know* 


302  Trading  in  Stolen  Propertt/. 

ledge,  at  least  with  an  amount  of  careless  readiness  that  is  morally 
as  mischievous  in  its  results.  To  this  theorj  I  am  enabled  from  m 
experieuce  of  more  than  forty  years  as  a  pawnbroker,  for  some  time 
with  three  establishments,  and  for  the  last  nine  years  as  Hon.  Seen- 
tary  to  the  Metropolitan  Pawnbrokers'  Protection  Society,  to  gift 
a  most  unqualified  denial.  I  can  state  further  that  the  stolen  ehtttelf 
taken  in  pledge  by  pawnbrokers  are  positively  infinitesimal  in  pro* 
portion  to  the  quantity  stolen.  A  very  large  proportion  are  stoiei 
by  persons  who,  fVom  a  childhood  of  street  arab  life,  have  been 
initiated  into  all  the  arts  and  mysteries  of  the  burglar  and  odur 
professional  criminals;  and  during  the  whole  of  ray  ezperieneel 
have  never  known  a  London  burglar  to  pledge  stolen  propertj,  ori 
pawnbroker  to  have  to  appear  as  evidence  against  him.  The  thtePh 
anxiety  is  to  obtain  a  safer  market,  one  in  which  his  nnlawfol  poseei- 
sions  will  be  at  once  melted  into  ingots,  or  otherwise  transfornej 
so  that  they  can  be  readily  sold. 

It  is  true  that  domestic  servants,  shopmen,  swindlers,  and  amateof 
thieves  do  sometimes  resort  to  the  pawnbroker  ;  it  is,  however,  I 
singular  fact  that  such  persons  almost  always  keep  by  them  the 
duplicates  which  pawnbrokers  invariably  give  to  pawnors,  and  tlMt 
those  duplicates  form  in  many  cases  the  only  conclusive  proof 
against  the  thief,  and  lead  to  the  discovery  of  the  property  and  ill 
restoration  ;  but  as  pawnbrokers  not  unf requently  have  to  appear  ai 
witnesses  against  such  persons,  that  circumstance  has  been  accepted 
by  the  public  as  proof  that  they  are  constantly  dealing  with  improper 
characters  and  receiving  stolen  property  from  them,  whereas  it  shooM 
rather  bo  regarded  as  evidence  that  dealing  with  a  pawnbroker  il 
dangerous  to  a  dishonest  person,  and  is  likely,  not  only  to  insure  Ui 
detection,  but  to  furnish  the  strongest  possible  proof  of  his  guilt 

I  have  taken  some  trouble  to  ascertain  how  often  pawnbroken 
have  to  appear  as  witnesses  against  dishonest  persons  in  proportioi 
to  the  number  of  pledges  annually  received.  There  are  in  the 
London  metroi>olian  district  and  suburbs — including  Woolwidi  sad 
Wandsworth,  two  outlying  districts — thirteen  poHce  courtSi  anl 
assuming  (what  I  believe  to  be  greatly  in  excess  of  the  £iet)  thit 
each  court  has  in  it  every  day  one  new  case  in  which  a  pawnbroker 
is  concerned,  that  will  give  4056  cases  annually.  I  find  that  the 
number  of  duplicates  printed  for  London  pawnbrokers  in  each  yeer 
exceeds  30,000,000,  and  presuming  that  4056  of  these  80,000,000 
pledges  were  for  stolen  property,  the  result  will  be  one  in  7891. 
Also  that  if  the  470  pawnbrokers  of  London  have  annually  anumg 
them  4056  police  cases,  it  gives  but  8^  to  each,  a  number  qiiHa 
inconsistent  with  charges  of  guilty  knowledge  or  culpable  oire- 
lessness  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  30,000,000  gives  annosllj 
to  each  pawnbroker  an  average  of  63,829  pledges.  Farther,  a  not 
insignificant  portion  of  these  cases  are  initiated  by  the  pawnbroker 
himself  giving  the  first  intimation  of  his  suspicions  to  the  police^  i 
fact  which  is  but  rarely  mentioned  at  the  trial,  but  is  included  in  the 
one  universal  statement  of  the  police  force,  ^*  from  information  that  I 


By  Oeorfft  Attenborcuffh. 

Ired,"  K  statement  rrom  which  some  revy  curious  deductioDi 
It  be  drawD  jf  inquired  into. 

liBfl,  however,  been  nsserteil  that  a  Itirge  proportion  of  tiie  stolen 
crty  pledged  with  pawnbrokers  is  not  diacoverf'd,  and  that  tUe^ 
76  a  large  profit  from  the  narae  when  forfeited.  My  answer  to 
anwarmnled  and  purely  theoretical  aaaumption  ia,  that  every 
ibroker  kiiowa  perfectly  well  that  a  fraction  over  95  per  cent,  of 
iQ  pledges  ho  receives  are  redeemed,  nad  consequently  are  free 
saspicion;  and  thnt,  of  the  5  per  cent,  unredeemed,  he  has 
nal  knowledge  of  the  owners  of  at  least  3  per  cent. ;  and  it  Is 
f  unfair  to  conclude  that  if  he  has  no  knowledge  of  the  parties 
;ing  the  romuiuiiig  2  per  cent,  they  are  therefore  necessarily 
I  properly.  From  a  return  I  procured  officially  five  years  since 
138  members  of  the  London  Pawnbrokers'  Protection  Society, 
BpplicHtioa  to  the  200  memhers  thereof  in  reference  to  this 
ct,  I  found  tliBl  some  of  them  bad  not  had  occasion  to  appear  ia 
olice  court  for  several  years,  and  that  the  average  number  of 
Iges  given  up  to  the  owners  by  the  132  pawnbrokers  was  leas 
I  i  in  13,000;  while  I  venture  to  affirm  that  no  pawnbroker 
M  deny  that  stolen  property  was  in  liia  possession  if  he  knew  to 
contrary.  Ciiminal  charges  against  pawnbrokers  are  certainly 
le  as  rare  as  against  any  other  trade  or  profession,  and  it  is  sn 
grfaukt  fact  that  for  more  than  thirty  years  only  oue  London 
|ar  pawnbroker  has  been  charged  with  any  criminal  oficnce  of 
kind  whatever,  and  that  the  cose  against  that  one  was  slopped 
tho  Recorder  of  London,  before  whom  it  was  ahotit  to  be  tried, 
C  being,  aa  bo  stated,  no  evidence  whatever  against  the  defendant." 
^ie  it  unimportant  to  observe  upon  the  commercial  position  whioll 
twnbroker  holds,  and  which  he  would  imperil  by  participation  in 
proflia  of  crime.  Few  pawnbrokers  employ  in  their  bnsiness 
Dapitftl  than  2000/.,  many  as  much  as  10,000/.,  some  20,000/., 
I  «Tea  more  than  30,000/,,  so  that  it  must  bo  admitted  that  ft 
rnbrokttr  has  a  commei'cial  position  of  importance  to  himself  and 
lUy,     If  it  is  said  that  the  evils  attributed  to  the  pawnbrokers 

I  regard  to  stolen  property  arise  from  carelessncsa,  my  reply  ii^ 
k  pawnbrokers  are  unable  to  do  at  a  brief  interview,  and  without 
hnoe  of  any  kind,  that  which  it  IVcquently  puzzles  both  judges 
[juries  to  do  with  the  aid  of  witnesses,  namely,  to  decide  betweetk 

II  and  innocence:  and  further,  the  ingenuity  which  was  practised 
the  act  of  dishonesty  is  in  its  turn  practised  upon  the  pawnbroker 
tn  he  is  made  the  medium  for  disposing  of  the  stolen  property. 
Bunercial  principles  would  also  induce  a  pawnbroker  to  avoid 
lea  property  to  the  very  utmost  of  his  power;  for  my  own  ex- 
liBOCe,  which  I  believe  to  be  not  in  the  least  singular,  convinces 
I  that  of  all  the  stolen  property  which  is  iuadvertently  received  in 


•MGOnunitUd  for  trial,  but  abuonded  from  bii  bail,  and  hksnotii 


304  Trading  in  Stolen  Proper^. 

pledge  by  my  assistants,  considerably  more  than  half  has  to  be  !•• 
turned  to  the  owners  without  payment  of  the  sum  lent  thereon.  I 
conclude,  therefore,  that  no  pawnbroker  would  be  so  blind  to  Ui 
own  interest  as  to  accept  stolen  property  in  pledge  if  he  had  uf 
suspicion  whatever  of  its  character  as  such. 

If  it  be  objected  that  my  remarks  apply  exclusively  to  pawnbnh* 
ing  as  carried  on  in  the  metropolis,  I  reply  tliat  I  have  endeavomi 
as  far  as  possible  to  confine  myself  to  matters  which  have  ariM 
under  my  personal  observation  ;  but  from  an  intimate  knowledge  and 
a  large  official  correspondence  with  many  provincial  pawnbrokon,! 
have  reason  to  believe  that  my  remarks  are  applicable  to  the  bHi» 
ness  throughout  the  United  Kingdom. 

The  question  where  the  bulk  of  stolen  articles  are  dispoaed  of  ■ 
so  important,  and  involves  such  serious  statements  in  reftreneo  li 
certain  trades,  that  I  should  shrink  from  entering  upon  it  bat  bm 
my  knowledge  that  the  members  of  this  Association  are  desirous  rf 
ascertaining  truth,  however  repulsive,  and  applying  the  remodj^ 
however  difficult. 

I  place,  then,  first  upon  the  list  a  number  of  receiving  hoBm 
known  as  ''  Fences,"  which  exist  in  London  and  every  la^  tova 
The  existence  of  these  places  is  well  known  to  the  policOi  bat  tti 
latter  are  unable  to  deal  with  them  unless  some  specified  act  of  reee»> 
ing  can  be  proved,  which  is  exceedingly  difficulty  as  the  buainoHii 
carried  on  under  some  other  guise,  not  uufrequently  as  a  low  hm* 
house,  for  instance,  so  that  the  passing  in  and  out  of  bad  chanetn 
causes  no  remark.  In  these  houses  the  means  of  identifying  propartf 
are  speedily  destroyed,  and  all  hope  of  tracing  it  is  lost.  A  nMn 
summary  mode  of  dealing  with  these  parties  is  requisitei  and  will  kl 
suggested  before  I  close. 

A  very  largo  portion  of  the  least  valuable  stolen  property  ii 
unquestionably  received  by  what  are  known  in  England  as  doily  ff 
leaving  shops,  and  in  Scotland  as  wee  pawns.  The  parties  nb 
carry  on  this  business  purchase  goods  from  whoever  brin|(8  thfl^ 
upon  an  implied  understanding  that  they  may  be  re-purehaied  If 
the  owners  within  a  given  time,  probably  a  month,  but  mm 
frequently  a  week.  No  duplicate  or  other  memorandum  of  Al.1 
transaction  is  given  to  the  person  depositing ;  no  books  are  kq>t;  ili 
the  entire  business  is  so  utterly  opposed  to  fair  commercial  pii» 
ciples,  and  so  contrary  to  the  law,  that  the  apathy  of  magistrates  ui 
police  in  reference  to  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted.  Such  houses  m 
very  numerous  ;  the  business  is  carried  on  openly  every  day  in  tli 
week,  including  Sundays.  An  Act  passed  the  Legislature  a  te 
years  since  having  special  reference  to  these  houses,  but  it  hm 
become  a  dead  letter,  being,  I  suppose,  too  impracticable  to  soppMi 
the  evil. 

The  most  painful  part  of  this  subject  is,  however,  the  easy  lii 
unsatisfactory  manner  in  which  goods  of  every  kind  are  purchased  Ij 
tradesmen  of  the  highest  respectability,  who  would  shrink  fbom  kooi^ 
iogly  doing  any  act  in  which  dishonesty  can  be  involTed  i  and  yat  I 


By  Oeorge  Aitenborough.  305 

e  to  state,  that,  armed  with  a  few  gentlemen's  or  ladies'  cards, 
got  ap  exterior,  and  a  fair  amount  of  assurance,  a  person  could 
w  hoars  easily  dispose  of  the  contents  of  the  library,  the  plate 
nr  jewel  case,  or  any  or  all  of  the  clothing  or  other  personal 
of  any  person  in  this  room,  to  shopkeepers  who  would  not 
the  smallest  suspicion  that  the  parties  became  improperly 
ied  of  the  goods. 

enUeman  walking  through  the  streets  of  London,  and  doubtless 
fother  large  towns,  will  frequently  see  in  windows  such  an- 
iments  as  '^  Libraries  and  parcels  of  books  purchased,''  '*  Old 
nd  eilyer  bought,"  "  Wardrobes  purchased,"  «&c.,  and  should 
,  by  the  offer  of  goods  for  sale,  any  of  these  houses,  many  of 
are  kept  by  most  honest  and  respectable  people,  ho  will  soon 
alpable  proof  of  how  little  care  is  exercised  in  the  purchase  of 
ty,  and  how  easily  goods  improperly  obtained  may  be  passed 
careless  but  otherwise  innocent  holders.  The  goods  are,  of 
,  soon  disposed  of  or  converted  into  more  negotiable  condition, 
by  the  identity  is  destroyed ;  and  the  fact  that  some  of  these 
I  seldom  or  never  appear  as  witnesses  in  cases  of  felony,  while 
»rokers  have  not  unfrequently  to  do  so,  is  easily  explained,  as 
case  a  memorandum  of  the  transaction  is  given  to  the  pawnor 
be  frequently  retains,  and  the  property  is  kept  intact  for 
s  by  the  pawnbroker,  while  in  the  other  case  no  memorandum 
)n  to  the  vendor  or  made  by  the  purchaser,  and  all  evidence  of 
insaction  is  speedily  obliterated. 

I,  however,  quite  unnecessary  for  either  the  owners  of  property 
ir  servants  to  leave  their  houses  to  dispose  of  property  of  any 
nr  to  submit  to  answer  uupleasant  interrogatories  as  to  whether 
re  in  legal  possession  of  that  property  or  not,  as  facilities  for 
«dy  disposal  are  brought  daily  both  to  the  breakfast  room  and 
rvants'  hall.  I  hold  in  my  hand  forty-four  advertisements  cut 
he  Times  of  the  11th  ult,  in  which  parties  are  informed  that 
of  every  imaginable  description  are  purchased  for  cash,  and 
'  letters  are  attended  to.*'  It  is  probably  presumed  that  this 
intimation  is  sufficient  for  the  upper  ten  thousand,  but  from  a 
istocratic  paper  I  have  advertisements  which  state  that  the 
isers  give  the  highest  price  for  '*  Ladies'  and  gentlemen's 
ig  apparel,  regimentals,  uniforms,  officers'  outfits,  Indian 
books,  plate,  jewellery,  trinkets,  old  china,  miscellaneous 
ty,  &c.,"  and  "  Money  orders  or  cheques  by  return  for  country 
8."  These  advertisements  appear  almost  daily,  and  are  suffi- 
f  expansive  to  include  every  article  in  a  gentleman's  establish- 
but  to  my  judgment  would  be  somewhat  more  honest  and 
al  with  an  additional  paragraph  to  the  effect  that  no  questions 
inquisitive  or  unpleasant  character  would  be  asked.  To  test 
sent,  during  last  month,  in  an  assumed  name  and  from  a  re- 
district  in  Wales,  five  parcels  to  five  of  these  advertisers, 
panied  by  a  letter  to  each  asking  for  a  remittance.  Tho 
9  were  purposely  done  up  in  dirty  old  paper  and  the  letters 

20 


306  Tlie  Trading  in  Stolen  Property. 

written  to  correepond,  so  that  they  might  appear  as  BUftpiciom  « 

possible.     The  plate  was  engraven  with  various  initials  and  creMi, 

In  course  of  post  I  received  remittances  without  a  single  qnestiit. 

I  give  the  result  below,  premising  only  that  what  is  c^cd  the  coH  ^ 

price  is  the  amount  which  I  should  readily  lend  at  the  present  tim 

on  the  articles  enumerated.  ;, 

Coit.  CMhML 

£,  9,  d,         £  tn  I' 

No.  1. — Silyer  plato,  14oz.  6dwt«.  3  11  9    ...    3   6  1 

No.  2. — 1  coati  'Ss.f  2  ycsts,  Tm.  6r/.,  1  pair  trouBers,  5^., 

2dre8Bea.l2jf.,8iWor  plate,  Sox.  5dwtf.,45«.  0<2.    3  11  U    ...    2  5| 
No.  3. — 1  coat,  8^.,  2  vest^,  Ca.,  1  pair  trouBert,  Ss.,  3 

dreflsep,  21^.  (kl 2    3  6    ...    0  18  f 

No.  4. — 2  coate,  10;.,  3  Tosts,  8«.  6(f.,  1  pair  trousers,  is,     1     2  G    ...    0  15  4 
No.  5. — 2  coats,  11^.,  2  Tests,  59.,  1  dress  7«.,  siWer  plate 

40Z.,  i£v/9«     •••  •••  .•.  ...  ...  •••      ««      t)      V      ...      1     O   V 

They  cost  me    ...     .£12  11    9 

Total  amount  receiyed      £B  \0  v 

The  parcel  No.  1  was  sent  to  a  highly  respectable  silveramith,  «|i| 
forwarded  by  return  a  fair  trade  price  for  tho  goods»  but  the  prai 
paid  by  the  other  four,  who  received  goods  of  the  total  value  (|i, 
pledges)  of  9/.,  were  no  less  than  3/.  175.  below  what  a  pawnbrofar 
would  willingly  have  advanced,  a  rate  of  profit  quite  aufficienly  Mt, 
only  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  not  over  scrupulous  persons,  but  to  f^;. 
for  costly  advertisements,  to  which  it  is  more  than  time  that  IM 
attention  of  the  police  was  directed.  None  of  these  parties  had,  ffi 
have,  tho  smallest  knowledge  of  the  person  they  wore  correspon£^| 
with,  and  I  leavo  tho  members  of  this  Congress  to  form  their  o«|. 
opinion  of  how  far  such  a  system  is  likely  to  conduce  to  reducing  thi 
contents  of  their  libraries,  plate  chests,  or  wardrobes. 

Some  years  since  business  called  mo  into  the  back  or  meltii| 
room  of  a  London  reiiuer,  since  deceased,  and  while  there  I  m: 
struck  with  the  fact  that  (apparently  in  the  usual  course  of  basinoA, 
crucibles  at  a  white  heat  were  in  tho  furnaces,  ready  for  anjaii; 
metal  that  the  next  visitor  might  biing.  Persons  came  into  tbL 
room  as  freely  as  though  it  were  a  common  room  in  a  tavern,  saf. 
took  from  their  pockets  or  bags  either  gold  jewellery,  or  silver  plal% 
as  the  case  might  be,  and  placed  them  in  the  respective  crudhil^ 
where  they  were  speedily  reduced  to  ingots,  and  purchased  bj  tU:* 
refiner,  who  evidently  had  no  knowledge,  and  apparently  no  desire l9- 
have,  what  articles  of  plate,  jewellery,  or  watch  cases,  the  ingots  b, 
purchased  had  previously  composed.  Again,  I  leave  the  membm . 
of  the  Congress  to  form  their  own  opinion,  simply  stating  that  tk|  I 
proprietor  of  this  business  was  an  illiterate  man,  who  began  life  widl  ^ 
a  very  small  amount  and  died  worth  over  80,0()0/.  Let  it  be  nndflh;  - 
stood  that  I  make  no  charge  against  refiners,  or  any  other  body  of  < 
tradesmen,  nor  am  1  in  a  position  to  state  that  the  practice  above  di-  ; 
scribed  is  carried  on  at  the  present  time ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  tiiiti 
large  quantities  of  manufactured' precious  metals,  the  produce  of  ikfl* 
fully  contrived  burglaries,  are  continually  purchased  and  broken  upff 


%  George  AUenhomtQh.  3l)7 

by  receivers,  bo  that  it  ia  not  without  luqulrj'  or  scruple 
•  to  nsk  how,  aud  wbei-e,  the  ingots  bo  acnuireU  are  disposud  of. 
mBidering  tlic  remedy  for  the  evik  involved  in  iho  rccuptloii 
a  properly  by  nny  persons  whutevcr,  whether  wilfully  or  by 
of  due  care,  1  must  nocesaarily  leave  the  regions  of  fact  for 
of  opinion,  but  I  hope  to  be  able  to  shadow  out  a  mode  by 
tt  they  may  be  greally  mitigated,  if  not  altogeilier  eradicated. 
call  has  been  made  for  eome  years  for  the  appointment  of  a 
e  prosecutor ;  and  though  not  disposed  to  discuss  the  question 
hw  such  ao  officer  ie  needed  for  prosecutions  generally,  I  am 
g^y  of  opinion  that  in  all  matters  relating  to  prosecutionn  for  iho 
r  reception  of  stolen  property,  a  public  prosecntor  would  be  a 
aa'  ctieok  npon  either  the  wilful  or  careless  reception  of  such 
liTty.  With  regard  to  persona  keupine  houses  where  the  police 
roason  to  believe  that  stoleu  goods  ore  systematically  dealt  wiih, 
nblic  prosecutor  should,  upon  evidence  being  ptaued  before  him 
10  oath  of  not  less  ilian  two  credible  persons,  be  at  liberty  to 
his  warraut  for  searching  tbe  premises,  and,  if  needful,  he 
d  prosecute  the  parties  carrying  on  sucli  business,  and  the  pos- 
iQ  of  goods  proved  to  be  port  of  tbe  produce  of  not  loss  than  throe 
lies  ^Duld  be  held  to  be  evidence  of  guilty  knowledge,  cusiiug 
Uie  accused  the  burden  of  establishing  his  innocence.  Thero 
d  be  one  such  prosecutor  for  each  police  district.  He  should  be 
risler  or  solidtor  appointed  by  the  Homo  Secretary,  and  paid  a 
salary  fVom  the  county  rates,  without  any  fee  or  emolutnent 
kble  &om  individual  prosecutions.  It  may  also  be  u  question 
her  it  would  not  be  well  to  cast  upon  him  the  duty  of  vetoing, 
need  be,  of  prosecuting,  the  authors  of  any  advcrtisemenis  which 
be  classed  with  provocatives  to  crime. 
Hlers  in  second-hand  or  job  goods  of  any  kind  whatever  should, 

^^T  Opinion,  be  compelled  to  take  out  annual  licenses  at  a  cost  not 
i&ng  U.  each,  and  procurable  at  any  money  order  post  otQce  in 
Waited  £ingdom,  such  license  to  be  in  the  form  of  a  railway 
m  ticket,  and  to  have  printed  thereon  the  special  duiit-s  and 
Uliea  involvad  by  its  possession.     Upon  the  purchase  or  taking 

^^change  of  any  goods  of  second-hand  or  job  character  from  any 
ensed  person  he  should  be  compelled  by  law  to  cuter  in  proper 
t  alt  such  goods,  together  with  the  name  and  address  of  the 
r  tnd  the  sum  paid,  and  within  Iwenty-four  hours  of  lUe  pur- 
I  should  send  notice  to  the  police  station  that  he  had  purcliased 
in  goods  and  that  they  were  kept  intact  for  inspection,  such 
r  of  notice,  if  sent  by  the  post,  not  being  liable  to  postage.  The 
ity  should  be  inspected  by  the  police  within  twenty-four  hours 
icipt  of  such  notice  and  if  they  had  reasonable  ground  to  believe 
Ihc  goods  were  part  of  the  proceeds  of  a  robbeiy,  they  should 
Bre  from  the  public  prosecutor  an  order  upon  the  purcbuaer  to 
the  goods  intact  for  fourteen  days  and  to  furnish  them  with  the 
R  and  address  of  the  person  from  whom  the  goods  had  been 
idiased.  In  case  no  discovery  should  bo  mado  by  the  police 
20—2 


SOS  Tlie  Trading  m  Stolen  Pf^opert]/. 

during  tlie  fourteen  days  that  the  pcopertj  was  the  prm 
robbery,  the  dealer  should  be  at  liberty  to  treat  the  bmi 
way  he  thought  proper;  but  if«  while  in  his  possessii 
that  of  any  other  person,  an  owner  should  bo  discovered 
goods,  he  should  have  power  to  reclaim  them  upon  payme 
amount  originally  given  by  the  first  dealer,  who  shoald  i 
the  subsequent  dealer  any  excess  or  profit  charged  to  him  i 
transaction. 

I  would  further  suggest  that  all  licensed  dealers  and  pan 
through  whose  information  robberies  are  discovered  and  th 
])rosecuted  be  paid  not  less  than  10^.  6d,  per  day,  or  : 
thereof,  for  their  attendance  at  police  courts  and  on  the 
the  prisoners;  and  that,  by  some  arrangement,  the  lo« 
should  be  reduced  as  much  ns  possible  from  the  grieva 
which  at  present  makes  the  prosecution  of  a  criminal  a 
fVightful  to  contemplate  ;  while  the  wretched  dole  of  2s,  p 
more  of  a  mockery  than  a  compensation. 

I  also  believe  that  it  is  highly  desirable  that  persons  phu 
perty,  or  the  parties  offering  it  for  sale  or  pledge,  in  the 
the  police  for  investigation,  ought  to  be  protected  from  civ: 
in  such  cases,  unless  actual  mala  fidet  can  be  proved  agaii 
I  suggest  this,  as  at  the  present  time  any  dealer  or  pawnl 
expected  by  the  public  not  only  to  act  as  an  amateur  detec 
to  do  so  entirely  at  his  own  risk.  Actions  against  pawnbi 
such  cases  are  but  too  common,  and  as  they  are  almost  ii 
brought  by  persons  unable  to  pay  costs,  the  pawnbroker  kn 
he  must  in  any  case  suffer  ;  and  is  therefore  glad  to  comprc 
case,  much  to  the  gratification  of  unscrupulous  attorneys, 
too  readily  lend  themselves  to  such  actions. 

I  am  also  of  opinion  that  the  law  by  which  an  owner  c 

back  Ptolen  property  should  bo  amended,  and  that  either  aj 

public  prosecutor  should  be  arbitrators  in  such  cases  ;  an 

the  property  has  been  lost  either  through  the  owner's  vice 

caret CHHuess,  the  amount  given  or  lent  thereon  should  be : 

the  innocent  holder.     The  present  state  of  the  law  in  thii 

frequently  presses   most  unjustly  upon   innocent  holders  < 

propeity,  and  cannot  be  other  than  a  strong  inducement  to 

withhold  information   respecting   it,  ns  that  information  if 

certain  to  transfer  the  loss  occasioned  by  another  person's  vi 

lessness,  or  misfortune  to  themselves.     A  short  time  since 

broker  lent  2/.  10^.  upon  a  watch,  and  finding  by  the  poll 

the  following  day  that  it  had  been  stolen,  gave  informatio 

police,  who,  from  that  information  arrested  two  females  i 

accompanied  the  owner  to  a  house  of  bad  repute.     They  sti 

the  prosecutor  had  given  them  the  watch  to  raise  money  up 

the  magistrate  believing  this  statement,  discharged  them,  bat 

the  pawnbroker  to  give  the  prosecutor  the  watch  without  ] 

of  the  money  advanced,  thus  making  him  provide  the  meani 

gratification  of  an  immoral  person's  bad  propensities,    Casei 


Discussion.  309 

Qy  anjusty  although  quito  legal,  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and 
i  bo  moltiplied  far  beyond  the  limits  permitted  by  the  rules  of 
Congress. 

J  eondusions  upon  the  subject  under  discussion  are  twofold, 
ely : — 

..)  Hiat  if  all  pawnbrokers'  shops  were  forthwith  closed  by  law, 
"e  would  be  no  diminution  in  crime,  but  that  cases  of  detection, 
eiction,  and  restoration  of  property,  would  diminish  in  a  very 
xptible  manner. 

B.)  That  without  any  special  reference  to  pawnbrokers,  legislo- 
lis  needful,  and  to  be  eifoctive  in  working  should  bo  as  simple  as 
able  in  details. 

fear  that  I  hare  not  only  somewhat  transgressed  the  ordinary 
it  of  time  allowed  for  the  reading  of  a  paper,  but  have  also  in 
A  degree  tried  your  patience,  for  which  forgive  mo.  My  object 
not  been  to  show  that  pawnbrokers  arc  eitlicr  wiser  or  more 
est  than  other  tradesmen.  They  are  humari  and  therefore  imper- 
,  and  as  liable  as  others  to  be  deceived  by  dishonest  and  desigu- 
persons,  and  all  I  ask  for  them  is,  that  they  should  not  be  judged 
traditional  theories  or  popular  prejudices,  but  from  facts,  and 
li  the  same  measure  of  Christian  charity  which  is  clicerfully 
vded  to  every  other  profession  or  trade,  when  one  or  more  of 
r  number  commits  an  error  or  even  a  crime.  If  I  have  succeeded 
his,  and  in  directing  your  attention  to  some  effectual  means  by 
eh  the  ready  disposal  of  stolen  property  can  bo  suppressed,  I 
II  have  an  abundant  reward. 


DISGUSStOK. 

r.  Serjeant  Cox  said  all  would  feci  extremolj  indebted  to  3f  r.  Attcnborough, 
had  undoubtedly  removed  very  strong  prejudices  that  prevailed,  even  in  the 
is  of  the  judges,  with  respect  to  the  connection  of  pawnbrokers  with  the 
ipt  of  stolen  goods.  He  was  at  flr^t  very  much  startled  by  Mr.  Attenborough^s 
unent  about  the  fewness  of  such  recoiuts  by  pawnbrokers  from  professional 
res,  but  as  he  reflected,  carrying  bock  his  memory  to  his  own  experience,  he 
i^t  he  could  confirm  Mr.  Attenborougli's  statement.  It  was  t  rue,  as  that 
bman  stated,  that  in  nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty,  at  least  where  the  thieves 
>  professional  thieves,  the  property  was  not  traced,  but  it  was  usnuUy  traced  in 
eases  of  servants  and  other  persons  who  did  not  make  crime  a  badness,  but 
were  tempted  to  commit  crime  for  the  purpose  of  some  temporary  gratifica- 
.  He  could  also  confirm  Mr.  Attenboroiigh  in  this,  tliat  it  very  rarely 
pcned,  out  of  the  multitude  of  cases  which  came  before  tlie  courts,  timt  tlie 
^  bad  any  reason  for  reproving  a  pawnbroker.  He  did  not  think  it  had 
urred  above  three  times  in  the  course  of  his  whole  experience,  and  it  was  his 
f  to  try  about  1500  prisoners  every  year.  He  could  not  recall  above  two  or 
IS  instances  in  which  he  had  had  occasion  to  tell  a  pawnbroker  that  he  had 
Mred  improperly.  The  difllculties  were  immensely  greater  than  the  public 
posed  in  desJing  with  transactions  of  this  kind,  because  pawnbrokers  could  not 
when  ft  person  walked  into  their  shops  from  his  personal  appearance  whether 
WIS  ft  thief  or  labourer  who  was  pawning  goods  in  a  legitimate  manner. 
J  could  only  form  their  judgment  from  the  nature  of  the  article  offered  to 
to.    It  was  perfectly  true  that  articles  taken  to  pawnbrokers  as  a  general  rul^ 


Thf  Tradiwj  lit  Stolen  Property. 


.,   _;2?v. 

n-alilj  Ibcir  urcupation  of  i    ^       ^Tii'^^'^ 
tliiliTi  KiHiila  I'rurn  F«rvuiil>  uthI  iitliiT  wmini'.    'llow  w«n)  Mich  p«raiiiu.  «^^  ^ 

villi  !>    Mr.  AllriiborHidi  liiiil  i'.>iiiiiU-l>'lv  ttlRUMcU  of  the  quraUoo     :k9-k  «I^  "^^i^ 
C«iilill«tl<>i<D«illilliP|a<tiibnilii'rii.     lie  tlmiiglit  it  would  be  difficult      ^  -^"V^! 

limn  III  rply  on  tlw  i-lmrwIiT  iit  iIip  piwiilinikcn  theniarlTC*,  wid  f»-i.-.»-     -"^''jrff 
CiHiiliirl'  lit  ttii'ir  iHwiiHiiii  ntu-  iiilisinni  jnlly  in  Tvry  gii'id  lianda.    VTiUk 
(ithrr  clarHiM  iif  dniliTf ,  innrinp  utiiiv  dinlrnt  nciro  parliculitriji  tha  U^ 
iitl*-iii|itr<l  lixlnd  vriili  iIk'iii.    li  rci|uin'il  ihat  tliry  ibould  not  buv  d 
wnii  iiiip  "f  till-  funiiirilr  •■li.ii'rti     -  ■    - 

hlliulll  mil  llUy  of  IHTMlTIl 

i-pHiiin  hoiiranr  llu>  dny.    ii  nii..  ••■| _.—  •■»,. _», m   —        ^  ^  ■ 

dmliiilif, ciintaininK lli^  iiiunra  nnd  nildman  ut  tlie  nenoiu  trtiui  mhm*^^^;^-*  ^  '• 
biiiislil  llirir  gnudii.  if  tlii«  liiw  wen;  ulrirtlj  oWrrrd  lucKirould  bcuMfv^-'  «y  *  ^  ,  -a 
n  sniit  i-lin'k  iiimii  mini',  tif  niiiri*  ji  wiu  not  ti)  be  cipBctal  liint  tbe(»^-^i»»  *"V  J 
liiyiti  wiHiId  bp  i>f  nny  niliii\  for  no  ppnuin,  pawnini!  rt«lm  k"™!'.  "«JJ  ft^^^f'  ,**  a.  1 
nvil  nnnic  or  xhlivM,  hiil  t)ip  un>  rf  tlip  r^ntrj  would  iliow  that  tbed^^^^^  *^*'c  -si 
iKjii^lit  iTrMiii  lliinitii  nl  n  ctrlnJn  time  ?i>r  n  certain  [irirc ;  rurb  intot'**^,^  "f,  ■ 
wiHilil  bi-  (iT  (OMtt  wliw  III  ihc  jHilinv  nml  llio  In*  nuRlit  m  be  eilrfmelj (k^^T*  i**  '•^, 
ill  iiil'iircin|!  all  it*  m|iiin>iiienlii.  Uul,  i»  n  (rifiHiT  of  rniTt,  l)w  law  '*^L»t'  ^''*' 
I'liriirred.  Il  niri'lv  liik|i|>i'ned  njini  a  cnK  in  wliirli  a  mannc  ilore  dMl»t*^  ^ji''' 
nmei'mHl  eaitw  ln-furr  ibi>  eimrt  tbiir  llic  dmlpr  liad  ridBlled  nil  that  in*nei^,^^'K9'^ 
<if  bini— Ihat  Ihi  bad  nlbcr  biia|!lil  nt  the  proper  time  or  krpt  a  reguUr.  -^ict^**! 
•iiHi  nefilMi  llirm  wan  ti»  rmmly:  on  llie  dmlcm  could  not  be  puniAi****^^  £ 
jiid^  ciHibl  (iiil,v  rrjinin-  Ibmn.  'AVIiat  hi<  wiiulil  like  t»  do  would  baU  ^^  to 
inarine  rtiim  draleni.  if   tbry  faib-d  to  obm'rre  tbe  ruiuiremcnta  of  tha*"-*  ,, 

hv  Ft|irrM   mai'l  inrntii~nt>)Hinpilde   fur   llie    jinHCMion    of   KUim   kociCk>^>^ 
tfiniw    uiHin    tbi'iQ    Ibr  Ininlpu   of    proof   tlial    they  had    not  "^      -»•* 

fUNid*  iliFlHilK^tly.      Tlml    uiiiild   bo  riiiP   I'hrck  iipin  thrm.     He  nuo 
_..  .1. ._  —      ..     I.  ... .    _i..  .1.  .1     _.  ^ipj  yj  piodB  br  (mall  tradeaman, 


•n  of  iHTWina  vim  ciirriiil  mi  no  trade  at  all  tut.  that  of  mriTiiu  i    9**- 
■  ■      '       B  ke«ptn  in  LooCx 

I,  or  abop*,  atutfi^fr^j 
V  [ilaifH.  in,  iir  ut  llie  cml  uf  alli^i,  for  initance.    Ua  tc 


Alan/  ut  Ibi-ir  bim-c*  wrre'  njipnn'ntly 


llip  wi'll-kiiijwn  rvctiTinc-liouaB  keeper*  i 

■■    "  ".ic-liouio    -      ■ 


llie  inii*tvBlualili>arIicb-K  were  acnl  lo  thiiM;  place*.  Ur.  Attenborough  ponxi^kn-  rS-wa 
ailn-rtirviniiilti  In  Ihp  nnwupajierii  wbicli  were  a  (irait  tomplntion  to  pemm  »  — r-m  _  ' 
Giiulitry,  Jiaiiii'iilarly  tn  pi^riinlti  wliu  wimtcil  immej.  and  wrrp  able  to  ptf^rn  ■->* 
aendin|i<ilT  in  a  Kkfi>  wsv  l<i  T»nib>ii  nrtirlc*  within  ibrir  meh  and  Setinrj  j  ji  .^^ 
miHiev  in  ri-liirii.  ISiii  iliai  iliil  ni>i  bITiti  ibe  rrcriTcr.  What  wai  wuttd^E^^^  ^'^ft 
lindliim  lii|p-t  lnJilurbmi.  If  weciiibl  KupRnrtaiiT  mnna  bT  wliirhtlnfX^  '^•n^ 
be  ai4iH'TiiI,  inw  ibfii-l  of  tin-  Ijiw  would  be  nrinvdiMf.    He  tliought  the  o-o  ^[*  "i 

in  whii-li  weniiibl  i-fTrHunlly  liil  tlir  rei-e[irpm  winilil  be  by  offering  nm  ^^^~-*J.-  '^ 
inent  lo  tliKviii  to  "i.)ilit"nj><in  ilmn.  If  wecould  miikeererytweiTirl*^'^*-*'*";!)^ 
hi>  Mil  ilvnlins  wiib  a  tliicf,  thai  he  did  niil  know  but  that  tlie  tlurf  mtiT-^^  J^  '^^/ 
liiin,  we  Fhonlit  injiin-  that  nrcivi-r'a  acruritj,  anil  inake  him  mipidoai  ^r^  *  ^^~^'t^ 
with  tbii>v#ii  lit  rtll.    Wiiubl  il  mil.  \k  p»K»ibla  li>  bold  oul.  n  alrong  indu(».^  ^»^ 

ntlniii  lltnt  mil.  i>»lhnt  Ibi-  ni'civcr  would  be  jmniBliiil  inrtmil  of  tbetH^  "*"  'i^t^ 
KTPiTer  wna  in  fncl  (lie  rrtniiiiitl.  It  wax  an  old  uyinfi,  but  none  the  ^ti^^^~~  ^"^^ 
if  thrro  wnv  nu  nwJverH  Ibi-re  wniilil  be  nn  tbiern,  or  very  few.  Tl^j^^Jt^  ; 
ivoeirrr  llial  ruhIp  III!'  Iliief,  and  tlicrcfore  the  receiTrr  wb»  the  woi»e.  ^^^^*' iJ^fl 
hail  In  amlencu  Uith  for  a  miiir  be  alwav*  gaTe  the  receirer  eiaetlj  ftj^  U 

]Hiniabmpnt  be  sutv  lu  Ihp  tliipf.  If  nlhicf  gim  the  piilioe  i^f"""—  ^~^'liL*^ 
rpppiTer  lie  wmdd  filailly  Iw  tijin  |!o  «iil  rrre,  if,  br  ao  doin^,  he  rouliL  ^^n;:^,^  V^ 
TVreiTpr.  Hv  thniebl  aiitufthin):  uf  thai  mrl  iiiighl  he  done,  for  in  c^  n^^^ilu^ 
I'Hmis  Ihe  bei-t  prrTeiillTi-  wn«  l^i  nuike  criniinnli  afmid  of  one  ajiotl&^^i  ^^  "g  f^ 
M  tlii\v  hiiil  cotiliik'ui'v  it)  i'::l'  iiiK'!li<:r,  llii;v  would  gij  on  committing  c?^:-,-^'^^ 


"'"*<»,7 


Discussioru  311 

^^  coaMetic^t  m  between  tbiereB  and  receivers,  was  destroyed,  tbe  bond  of 
^^  ^uJd  ^  loosened.  It  was,  therefore,  most  important  to  offer  inducements 
tf^'^^/iif./ m  /odo  this.  An  objection  made  to  his  view  two  yearn  ago  was,  that  the 
'2'^>e9(^£'  fit  thief  was  inadmissible;  juries  would  look  upon  him  with  suspicion, 
Aip^yj^  -would  not  believe  him.  but  a  little  mure  credit  should  be  given  to 
.^^l^^^t;^  of  prisoners,  ^reat  care  of  course  being  taken  to  test  their  evidence 
*^  ^    Idj  the  probabilities  of  the  case.    lie  feared  that  a  groat  many  of  Mr. 

«  proposals  would  be  ditiicult  to  be  carried  into  operation.     He 
»ubted  whether  police  supervision,  or  the  appointment  of  a  public 
ould  ^t  over  the  one  groat  tiisk  of  obtaining  proof.      What  we 
obtam  evidence  of  fact.    Tho  present  law  would  enable  us  pretty 
if  the  facts  could  be  proved,  but  tho  dilllculty  was  to  obtain  proof 
such  men  actually  did  reccivo  goods  with  a  guilty  knowledge.    A  great 
been  made  by  the  Habitual  Criminals  Act,  now  confirmed  by  the 
Crime  Act,  in  throwing  upon  Uie  receiver  tho  burden  of  proof  that 
of  stolen  goods  was  an  honest  one,  if  that  receiver  Iiad  been  pre- 
ted,  and  warned  that  that  prior  conviction  would  be  used  against 
Id  not  conceive  why  that  should  not  be  tho  rule  in  all  cases.    Why 
throw  upon  a  man  who  was  found  in  the  possession  of  stolen  goods 
^    proof  that  he  had  obtained  them  honestly  ?    Our  law  was  founded 
-^t  principle,  that  a  man  should  be  presumed  to  be  innocent  until  he 
■  be  guilty,  and  that  the  burden  of  proof  of  guilt  should  fall  on  the 
That  might  be  ri^ht  where  there  was  no  strong  fact  telling  against  a 
n  he  was  found  with  stolen  goods  in  his  possession,  surely  there  would 
lone  to  him,  and  undoubtedly  a  groat  good  would  be  dono  to  society, 
him  to  clear  himself,  and  show  how  he  had  oome  by  tho  goods,  and, 
I  do  so,  he  must  take  tlie  consequences  of  such  conduct,  on  the 
ij^at  he  had  received  them  guiltily.    Mr.  Attenborou^h  had  made  one 
^-n  to  our  knowledge,  which  would  be  of  much  practical  benefit — that, 
"^olen  goods  were  pawned,  the  persons  who  pledged  them  were  not 
3ut  accidental  thieves.    This  would  be  an  excellent  test  whether  a  man 
lional  thief  or  not,  and  in  future  he  should  use  it,  and  if  he  found  a 
.Wen  property  had  been  pledgee^  it  would  carry  to  his  mind  a  strong 
.^  the  prisoner  was  not  a  professional  but  an  accidental  thief.     The 
teemea  with  knowledge  and  instruction  which  might  be  made  the 
f  considerably  improved  legislation. 
-,^  1AM  Paeb  (liondon)  said :  We  know  that  without  the  criminal  capi- 
minal  labourer  would  not  exist,  and  that  the  thief  must  have  a  home 
Now  why  should  landlords  be  permitted  to  let  their  houses  know- 
sves  ?    He  ^spoke  with  personal  knowledge  when  he  said  that  there 
landlords  in  London,  and  he  had  no  doubt  there  were  in  other  large 
let  houses  to  tliievos  and  gained  higher  rents  from  them,  than  they 
other  people.    That  was  a  state  of  things  that  ought  not  to  be. 
3rd  was  bound  to  inquire  into  the  cliaracter  of  his  tenant;  and  if  he 
3i  a  house  to  a  thief  he  ought  to  be  responsible  to  tho  law  for  so  doin^. 
be  no  doubt  tliat  many  criminals  got  off  through  most  absurd  tochni- 
ch  ought  to  be  removed.     One  important  suggestion  made  by  Mr.  Hill 
"m^iilty  intention,  coupled  with  proved  steps  to  carry  out  that  intention, 
^'sstitute  a  crime,  and  bo  punished  as  such.     Tho  principle  of  the  te»t 
to  be  carried  out  for  tlie  purpose  of  detecting  tho  receivers  of  stolen 
persons  who  incited  others  to  steal.     What  Mr.  Attenborough  had 
advertiscmonts  was  very  important,  and  something  should  be  done  to 
s  far  as  possible,  the  incentives  to  commit  crime.    This  subject  had 
the  Congress  for  many  years,  and  he  held  that  the  time  had  come  when 
of  tbe  Association  ought  \o  take  it  into  grave  consideration.    If  he 
Lcr  he  would  move  "  That  the  two  papers  which  had  been  read  that  day, 
others  that  had  been  read  on  previous  oc-casions  before  the  Association, 
referred  to  the  Council  for  consideration,  and  report  at  the  next  meeting 
ly  of  the  plans  which  had  been  suggested  might  be  carried  out,  and 
should  be  taken  to  induce  the  Legislature  to  give  them  the  force  of 


812  The  Tradhig  in  Stdeii  Property. 

Colonel  Batclitf  (Birmingham)  ntid  hit  eiporienoe  led  him  to  bdi 
stolen  goods  were  constantly  token  to  the  pawnbrokers. '  That  wm  the  ess 
of  disposing  of  them.  Ho  also  found  frequently  that  the  most  ez])erienoec 
took  tiio  goods  to  pawnbrokers.  From  facts  that  had  come  to  hia  know 
concluded  that  pawnbrokers  ought  to  be  under  a  verj  strict  rtaime,  A 
there  was  but  one  pawnbroking  establishment,  which  was  in  the  ha&di 
Goremment ;  and  such  was  the  superrision  that  no  stolen  goods  could  1 
there  without  being  detected.  Whj  should  not  the  same  plan  be  iid< 
England  ?  He  was  persuaded  that  if  it  were  adopted  it  would  effect  a  c 
able  diminution  in  the  amount  of  crime  yearly  c<jmmitted.  He  had  had  w 
tunity  <»f  examining  t)io  establisliment  at  Valetta,  and  nothing  could  I 
urgnnix€<1  than  the  system  there  carried  out.  As  to  receiying  houses,  Uh 
bo  known  to  the  police,  but  it  was  impossible  to  adjudicate  in  recard  to  tbi 
out  prooi.  Mr.  Serjeant  Gox  had  referred  to  pubJio-housee.  Wlien  it  wi 
that  stich  houses  were  liarbouring  thieyes  or  receiying  stolen  goods  their 
were  inyariubly  pnf»i>cnded,  and  since  the  alteration  of  the  law  there  bad 
the  Slime  fsciirty  for  granting  license!!.  Therefore,  as  regarded  publie-hc 
did  not  think  thut  there  need  be  any  apprehension.  It  rarely  nappen« 
professional  thief  would  giye  information  which  would  lead  to  the  detc 
others,  in  order  tluit  he  might  himsi>lf  have  less  punisliment.  It  would  \ 
happy  circumstance  indeed  if  we  could  get  thieves,  when  in  custody,  to 
what  they  had  done  with  the  stolen  gofxls.  Juyenile  thieves  would  some 
so.  Ho  waa  of  opinion  that  Uie  police  should  yisit  lodging-housesa  fc 
known  tlmt  payment  was  made  at  times  by  articles  instead  of  money. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Trlfer  (Liyerpool)  expressect  himself  at  a  loss  to  understam 
goyemment  ofHcial,  not  haying  the  responribihty  on  his  shoulders  wliich  i 
pawnbroker  had,  would  bo  a  better  judge  of  what  was  and  what  was  not  sfa 
perty.  In  tho  paper  read  that  mominfir  there  was  a  statement  that  in  Loo 
one  person  ]iunished  there  were  5000  offences.  If  he  rightly  road  Mr.  Hil 
of  last  year,  tlmt  was  founded  on  the  supposition  that  every  known  rece 
posed  of  two  articles  per  week  ;  that  the  Known  receivers  amounted  to  so 
like  4600 ;  and  tliat  consequently  450,000  articles  were  disposed  of  per  ai 
London  alone.  Tliis  Mr.  Hill'  described  repeatedly  as  an  estimate.  ] 
Telfer)  deprecated  any  extraordinary  value  being  attached  to  suoh  e 
because  when  calculations  were  founded  upon  them  they  were  apt  to  ase 
importance  of  facts.  From  the  "  Jiulicial  Statistics,  18(>9,"  he  could  gii 
two  facts — not  suppositions — which  pointed  to  a  different  method  of  dcaL 
ptolen  property.  It  was  stated  tliat  in  the  year  18(^9,  in  England  aiu 
tliorc  were  21,017  known  tliieves,  and  2U,(>3()  suspected  persons,  Thi 
probably  tho  persons  who  perpetrated  tho  largest  proportion  of  the  i 
committed.  But  how  many  robberies  were  committed?  450,000?  S 
robberies  of  personal  chattels,  such  as  could  bo  easily  carried  about  and 
of  wero  51,2ti0.  Tliese  figures  coincided  remarkably  with  the  exact  nu 
persons  who  were  described  as  sus|)ected  or  known  tliieves.  Our  duty,  tl 
was  to  stop  thieving  as  well  ns  the  reception  of  stolen  property.  He  br  n 
advocated  that  ]K)rson8  should  be  allowed  io  receive  stolen  property  as  theg 
and  without  iKMiig  punished  for  so  doing;  his  only  object  was  to  point  to  t 
end  of  the  scale  which  he  thought  our  jurisprudence  should  attack.  Then 
these  50,000  persons  whom  he  aiisuiuvd  to  l)e  destitute  of  honest  mean 
sistence,  a  largo  number  wore  thieveri  from  necessity,  from  loss  of  ehan 
througli  tho  want  of  actual  bodily  strengtii  to  earn  a  day*s  wages  ;  and  he 
it  was  the  business  of  philanthropy  and  of  philanthropical  statesmen  tofi 
means  uf  shutting  them  off  from  their  nefarious  occupations. 

Captain  Caktwkight  aaid  that  as  a  pawnbroker  enjoyed  in  his  busineae  | 
vantages,  there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  be  subject  to  special  reg 
and  he  did  not  believe  the  pawnbrokers,  being,  as  a  body,  honest  and  strai^ 
tradesmen,  would  object,  in  return  for  special  advantages,  to  have  such  re| 
imposed  upon  them.  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox  that  ezperienetc 
never  took  tho  property  they  had  stolen  to  pawnbrokers ;  and,  therefonb 
required  amending  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  reach  the  plaoes  vl 
property  was  disposed  of,    Tboeo  places  wcro  known  in  all  toe  grett 


i  not  «Btnhed  ^  Cho  police,  beewiw  tixfj  thniiglil  Ihir 

]  wftuili  Uis  UiipTos.    Bat  if  the  polios  liad  pi>wer  oier  suob 

f  would  at  nnue  go  to  the  offioioU  of  priaonii,  anil  otoore  haTing  «inS- 

1  ndatinna  wii.b  the  prisoners,  anil  thut  get  inrommtiun  irliioli  uiiuld  bb  mule 

»,  if  iJidre  worrj  nHiini  of  following  it  up, 

tauiKT  S*rrurii>  wid  it  mu  a  great  Mtisfaction  to  find  that  there  iru  tu  b 
.imt  •  rar;  Urge  minount  of  HgrMment  between  Mr.  llili  and  Hr.  Attsn- 
k|^  M  to  the  iteM  whtfvh  had  bei>n  tnlton  to  prerent  the  reception  of  Btolsa 
my,  Menl  dfolert  wore  not  put  under  the  enijie  reetrintiom  u  p»wlibrokcr« 
;  Mid  metal  doilfr*,  he  liad  no  hesitation  in  Nifin;.  were  the  principal  ea\ln* 
IwH*  eriminalitT  in  the  metropolig.  Thej  were  tinder  no  nutrictiuna  nt  all. 
|of«an«d  lo  him  that  if  regulations  MMoewhat  siiailor  to  thoH  Applied  to 
knken  were  applied  to  tlie  metal  dealers,  and  tbej  wire  bound  to  rDgialer 
tUfl( Um7  Twexed,  and  giiea  receipt  t»  the  seller  for  ererjthing  piirotiused, 
— UH  wonid  gnUly  assist  in  the  prerention  of  crime.     It  might  bo  ni'l  tliot 

-*  wwdd  dealrof  the  ticket;  hut  a  duplicate  mieht  bs  kept:  and  if  the 

fna  under  a  poiinl  obliention  to  keep  tuoh  a  duplicate  it  wuuld  alwuya  be 
tallia  paUcw  to  sell  uropcrlT  to  this  person  and  to  |li*o  information  asain't 
br  nut  Keeping  diiplicittiis.  Yba  manne  store  dealers' duplicates  ■hoald  al»t> 
d  for  the  purpose  of  finding  stolen  proi>ertj.  A  sohoolmaster  who  wna 
ly  depritect  of  his  pupils  lUrougb  their  being  taken  to  the  [yilice-ttation, 
aing  ooquaintaJ  with  the  Habitual  Criminals  Act,  procured  the  itnprJHin- 
B  marine  etare  dealer  who  bought  a  clock  weight  worth  WTea  farthiiigi  for 
"ng,  from  one  of  the  bo;r'i  *^''  '<■>''  '>^"  P^f  in^  with  it  in  schoul.    Tbie 


that  before  long,  notwithstanding  the  dimcultiea  tluit  lay  in  the  tray, 
m  wnicb  were  the  principal  poinia  ouinprieed  in  the  papers  of  Ifr.  Alten- 
jh  Mkd  Ur.  Hill  would  be  pawed. 

I  HlU.  said  that  in  speaking  of  the  number  of  crimes,  Ur.  Hill  Hid  not  mean 

Btsirof  nMirietiana,  but  uie  number  of  thefts  oommitted.    The  estimate 

VBded  upon  them  and  bis  long  experience,  and  it  was  not  made  ai  mndom. 

WilMtbMOf SK.  U,P.,  was  utisSed  that  there  wu,  and  Irnd  been  for  manj 

B  mott  abiurd  notion  in  regard  lo  tlie  culpability  of  pawnbroker!,  as  a  class, 

•BciftBd  receipt  of  stolen  properly.     Generally  gpeating,  not  onlj  by  Aot 

lianenl,  but  on  every  ground,  it  was  not  merely  tlie  duty  hut  it  became  the 

Kty  of  a  pawnbroker  to  take  care  that  his  business  woe  carried  on  honestly. 

tuSfHtai  toot  oocoaionally  pawnbrokers  of  a  low  cbies  bad  roceircd  stolen 

t  Mid  taken  procovlingt  to  cover  their  crime.    As  a  general  propnaition— end 

with  much  experience  in  the  manufacturing  districla  in  the  north  of 

-«di*hoimt  pawnbroker  was  nearly,  if  not  abeolutely.  impossible.     The 

bf  with  RMtal  dealers  and  tboee  who  were  known  to  be  rooeivers  nt  stoltm 

WVf,  liTing  in  the  rery  heart  of  a  town.    He  saw  no  reason  why  men  who 

fawTD  to  keep  rcaeiTiag  houoes  should  not  be  put  under  much  more  stringent 

"UN  than  tboee  the  pawnbroker  was  subject  lo.     He  thought   thers  was 

■n  Act  which  ordered  metal   and   marine   store   dealers,  as  Iboy  were 

called,  td keep  aregisl«rof  suchthingsae  Ihey purchased,  but  thelaw 

go  (kr  wioilgh  heoaufo  it  did  not  impa»  a  penalty  for  not  keeping  such  a 

.    B»  did  not  think  mueb  good  would  be  dona  by  giving  a  rBCeipl  to  the 

O  had  brought  stolen  gpoSa  for  sale.     He  held  that  some  penalty  should 

foled  on  the  reeeiTer  for  not  keeping  a  record  of  the  articlee  be  purchased. 

R  north  of  England  the  marine  store  dealer  wu  praotically  without  control. 

'  twen  Baked  why  a  system  similar  to  that  in  vogue  in  Valetta  could  not  be 

md  into  tbie  country,  and  he  saw  a  good  reown  why  tlut  could  not  be 

TalBtto  was  a  rery  aniill  pliue,  and  the  juriMliction  wiu  an  extr<<nielr 

Wio.     Bngland  with  all  its  Gommercial  interesta  and  all  ita  wealth  ROiild 

B»d«  labinn  to  provision*  applicable  lo  a  plaoe  as  small  as  Tolettn.    Then, 

BStook  not,  there  were  eTiU  connected  with  the  Croremioent  institution  in 

,  tlie  litaMt  d«  Putt,  which  required  a  graat  deal  of  reitriotion.    The  Moale 

}  is  Igtmt,  ItBneillea.  and  Pnris  h«l  been  charged  with  lending  it?  ai4  to 


314  Tlie  Trading  in  Stolen  Property. 

governmont  for  goTem mental  purpotes.  He  could  not  help  tbinkinff  U«tif 
fouie  course  of  action  were  pursued,  luch  a«  he  had  indioatea,  by  whioi  pMi. 
brokerf  and  marine  storo  dealers  could  be  put  under  fair  but  not  oppnahi 
rcgulationc,  the  system  of  pawnbroking,  as  it  was  in  England,  could  beeaniadti 
much  wore  cosily  and  with  fur  Iwttor  results  tlian  by  liarin^  central  oflkvMek 
OS  those  in  France.  It  was  a  very  dangerous  projxisition  indeed  to  sweep  §mm 
any  business  wlmtever  under  any  cinni instances,  and  logislatire  action  in  thi 
country  must  not  bo  called  upon  to  take  measures  which  bordered  on  the  intea* 
peratc.  It  would  bo  erroneous  to  say  that  because  crime  liad  been  deteeted  k 
particular  instances,  the  paunbroking  tnule,  or  any  other  trade,  should  be  irat 
awav,  and  tiint  a  new  sytit^tni,  unknown,  and  almost  up  to  this  moment  untboqpk 
of,  dliould  bo  put  in  the  place  of  that  which,  after  all,  had  not  been  found  to  mm 
worke<l  bv  any  ini^ans  evil.  It  did  not  follow  that  because  property  wasboo^ 
for  loM  tLan  its  value  that  there  was  anything  wrong  in  the  transaction.  Ant 
might  bo  out  on  pleasure,  find  his  money  run  short,  and  be  without  mesBirf 
sui)plenientnig  his  rt^qiiireniontfi.  Upon  that  he  might  pledge  his  watch  forliL 
The  pawnbroker  would  lend  him  more  because  it  was  worth  more,  and,  iidtd, 
it  would  be  his  interest  t^>  loiul  more  u}Mm  it^  but  all  that  was  wanted  migfathi 
simply  the  railway  fare  homo.  In  such  u  transaction  there  could  be  nodv| 
wrong  on  the  part  of  the  jiawn broker. 

Dr.  Wises  (New  York)  obK-Tved  that  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox  liad  suggested  a  method 
by  which  the  class  of  receivers  of  stolen  goods  might  }>erhaps  be  to  a  great  eiteit 
suppresMxl,  if  not  extenninaU.Hl,  namely,  by  inducing  the  tliieres  themselfei  ll 
"  blow"  or  **  split"  u|K>n  tiio  {>ersons'to  whom  Uiey  took  the  atoDen  goods,  lb 
thought  nothing  was  moro  essential  to  the  suppretvion  of  thieving  than  to  tnpfim 
the  ])estilent  class  of  receivers,  who  wero  the  breeders  of  thieves.  He  had  vnM 
a  largo  number  of  gaols  in  Americii,  and  cfmverse<l  with  many  of  the  thieves floih 
fined  in  them.  After  ingratiating  himself  a  little  with  them  he  bad  freqiMrilf 
put  the  question,  "What  is  the  condition  most  onential  to  your  success  in  tM 

Iirosucution  of  your  business?"  And  the  uniform  answer  had  been  in  8ub8taiiee,*ft 
mow  all  the  *  fenccH*  witliin  a  circuit  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles."  •*FeBfl«* 
was  tho  word  usc<l  to  describo  receivers.  The  ]X)int  upon  which  his  mind  labomi 
was  whether  we  could  induce  thieves  to  do  a  thing  which  would  destroy  tUr 
business ;  and  if  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox  couUI  give  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  qucUki 
a  great  benefit  might  bo  done  to  society. 

Mr.  Serjeant  Cox  said  tho  process  by  which  he  proposed  ti)  achieve  that «d 
was  by  exempting  tho  thief  from  punishment  if  ho  gave  such  information  ■ 
would  enable  the  court  to  convict  the  receiver.  Of  course  this  could  not  bedoH 
cm  the  unsupported  evidence  of  the  thief;  hut  liis  information  might  lead  to  tfai 
production  of  satidfiictory  testimony  as  to  tho  cul^Nibility  of  tho  piirsons  poinied 
out.  If  this  could  bo  done,  distrust  would  be  thrown  among  rcceiven,  andtk^ 
woidd  feci  themselves  imsafe. 

Captain  Caktwrioiit  romarke<l  that  there  was  hardly  a  professional  thief  wbs 
did  not  say  that  ho  liad  not  a  grudge  againtttthe  receiver,  and  this  would  makethi 
method  suggested  by  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox  moro  likely  to  succeed. 

Mr.  Attkndorouuii  said  he  ha<l  an  o])p<jrtunity  not  long  ago  of  having  MM 
talk  with  a  man  who  had  been  three  or  four  times  convictra  of  burg^ariet.  Bi 
was  known  to  be  so  clever  a  hand  that  his  nickname  was  "the  Jumper,"  thift 
having  boon  given  to  him  bccauf«  ho  was  able  to  jump  out  of  a  first-floor  hviMm 
with  a  plate-basket  in  his  hand  and  not  spill  any  of  the  contents.  Hs  W 
now,  however,  endeavouring  to  cam  an  honest  living.  Having  asked  him  te 
information  in  writing,  the  man  sulisctiuently  wrote  as  follows: — **Bui>da»tfl 
systematic  thieves  never  pledge  stolen  property  at  pawnbrokers ;  they  aupoM  d 
it  to  persons  called  '  fences,*  men  who  never  tlueve  themselvef,  but  who  ottflOM" 
mand  at  any  time  any  amount  of  money  to  buy  stolen  property.  These  mB  M 
a  numerous  class,  ^me  keep  shoi)8  and  puss  as  respectable  tradesmen,  olIlB 
keep  public-houses,  and  others  do  nothing  but  bu^  and  sell.  In  the  flnt  phoi— 
I  am  speaking  of  tho  professional  burglar  and  thief  and  not  of  petty  oiie»--whil 
a  burglary  is  going  to  be  done,  and  a  good  one— for  instance,  such  as  Lord  Foii^ 
— the  fence  is  told  of  it  in  orfler  that  he  may  be  prepannl  for  the  burfdan  wMi 
they  come,  and  it  turns  out  all  well.    Benjamin,  of  Higley  Street,  Bed  Lion  Stn4| 


Prevention  of  Crime.  315 

w  the  man  who  bought  all  Lord  FoWs  plate,  excepting  a  few  small  things ; 
id  Poewy  waa  the  man  that  took  it  to  him.  I  mention  the  names  of  these  two 
MB  because  they  are  both  in  Australia.  When  stolen  property  is  taken  to 
wen,  if  it  IB  plate,  it  is  melted  down  by  them  before  they  giye  you  the  money,  but 
at  bj  all  fenoei.  Jewellery  and  watcbes,  if  in  largo  quantities,  are  sent  abroad. 
!Im  jewels  are  taken  out,  and  the  gold  goes  into  the  pot,  but  neyer  to  the  pawn- 
ipkm."  He  had  no  doubt  of  Uie  good  faith  of  the  letter.  Mr.  Hill  had 
wi  that  the  intent  to  commit  crime  should  be  punishable ;  but  how  was  a 
mon'e  intent  to  be  ascertained.  He  maintained  that  it  would  be  exceedingly 
Infrmii  to  legislate  for  intents.  He  thought  it  would  be  utterly  impossiUe 
»|ei  a  thief  to  '*  split*'  on  the  rooeiyer,  for  if  he  were  to  do  so  his  life  would 
It  in  danger.  Further,  if  such  a  system  were  carried  out  he  felt  certain 
kit  it  womd  be  attended  with  danger  to  the  liberty  of  honest  men.  As  to  Uie 
nden  of  proof,  his  idea  was  that  if  a  suspected  house  was  searched,  and  part 
H  the  produce  of  three  robberies  found  in  it,  the  occupier  should  bo  assumed  to 
hnl  in  stolen  goods  and  be  punished  accordingly.  He  hoped  be  would  not  liye  to 
m  the  busineis  of  pawnbroking  handed  oyer  to  the  Ck>yernment  Was  property 
■f«  in  Fhmoe  and  Malta  than  in  England  ?  and  if  not,  the  systems  in  those 
poultries  were  no  improyement  on  our  own.  There  were  no  satisfactory  means 
of  letting  at  the  fair  yaluo  of  the  goods  that  were  stolen.  The  coat,  for  instance, 
■boh  he  waa  wearing,  was  worth  'M.  to  him ;  but,  probably,  if  ho  wanted  to  sell 
4  he  would  not  be  iu)le  to  get  aboye  15«.  for  it.  There  was  the  recent  case  in 
■faiGh  a  butler  stole  a  quantity  of  plate,  on  which  86^.  was  lent.  When  the  case 
PMM  before  the  magistrate  the  yalue  was  put  down  at  800/.,  but  when  it  was 
■li^iBd  it  was  found  to  be  not  more  than  iSOl,  It  would  thus  be  seen  that  the 
abi  put  upon  property  was  frequently  fictitious,  and  could  not,  therefore,  be 
tiki  on.  Pawnbrokers  were  subjected  to  seyere  criticism.  There  were  30,000,000 
of  pledges  in  London  and  the  neighbourhood  during  the  year,  and  in  that  yast 
■nber  of  transactions,  by  470  pawnbrokers,  it  was  not  surprising  if  there  were 
HOM  enors.  But  it  was  yery  rarely  that  the  magistrates  who  were  constantly  on 
^  Bench  saw  cause  to  reproye  or  reprimand  pawnbrokers.  During  his  forty 
fmnf  experience  no  judge,  and  yery  few  recorders,  hod  done  so.  Pawnbrokers 
oight  to  be  lodced  upon  more  charitably  and  with  a  more  liberal  eye ;  and  if  his 
pMT  brought  that  result  about  he  would  regard  that  day  as  one  of  the  brightest 
of  Ids  life. 
Hr.  Serjeant  Cox  haying  seconded  the  resolution,  it  was  carried  unanimously. 


PREVENTION   OF   CRIME.* 

The  Rev.  T.  R.  W.  Pearson  read  a  paper  containing  **  Some 
Phctical  Suggestions  as  to  the  best  means  of  Preventing  Crime  in 
Sng^d  and  Wales."  He  pointed  out  that  the  criminal  classes  of 
Ei^iaDd  and  Wales  reached  15*4  per  cent,  of  the  entire  population. 
Hb  experience  led  him  to  think  that  to  correct  was  not  always  to 
(lerent  He  suggested  the  erection  of  preventive  establishments, 
Ae  portals  of  which  should  be  open  at  all  times  to  those  in  danger  of 
tnptttion.  To  those  who  are  hahituh  of  our  gaols  a  money  pay- 
ment should  be  affixed  to  incarceration.  All  the  labour  performed 
b  prison  should  go  to  the  reduction  of  the  rates,  and  the  cost  of  a 
friioner's  maintenance  whilst  in  gaol  should  be  defrayed  by  him 


•  See  Transacliont,  1865,  pp.  105-203 ;  1866,  p.  208 ;  1867,  p.  70. 


3 1 6  Prevention  of  Crime. 

after  his  discharge,  such  liability  to  bo  paid,  under  police  supervision, 
by  InstAlments,  and  such  supervision  to  ceaso  when  all  dio  inslil- 
ments  were  paid.  The  number  of  admissions  to  gaols  was  ali- 
mented by  the  **  drunk  and  disorderlies,*'  who,  by  the  way,  ww 
not  so  much  victims  of  quantity  as  quality.  Let  them  force  thi 
excise  ofRcer  to  the  proper  performance  of  his  duty ;  let  the  number 
of  beerhouseij  bo  restricted;  let  workmen  be  paid  on  Friday ;te 
employers,  if  they  would,  pay  their  employes  at  their  own  homei; 
let  no  benefit  society  hold  its  meetings  in  a  public-house;  let  pnb^ 
licans,  known  to  nervo  an  intoxicated  customex:,  bo  fined  beaTi1j| 
repeal  the  Wine  Licenses  Bill  of  1860;  let  tho  power  granted  to 
grocers  and  confectioners  of  selling  wines  and  spirits  be  taken  ftwnri 
let  no  license  be  j^ranted  to  any  person  on  his  or  her  individual  apfn^ 
cation  ;  and  lastly,  let  all  education  have  religion.  He  recommenddl 
and  enforced  (1.)  Tho  anticipation  of  crime  and  its  prevention  by  tls 
erection  of  Preventive  Establishments.  (2.)  The  necessity  of  tm 
us  the  accompaniments  of  sentencoJ>,  such  fines  to  be  levie<l  by  instil* 
ments  under  police  superviniou.  (3.)  The  enforcement  of  the  Exdtt 
laws  making  penal  the  adulteration  of  all  excisoable  articles  and  otki 
restrictions  upon  licensing  houses  and  their  habituis  ;  and  (4.)  Ha 
paramount  necessity  of  a  religious  education  as  a  preventive  of 
crime. 


Mr.  J.  II.  Balfour  Buownk  read  a  paper  on  '*A 
Efficient  System  of  Punishments  with  a  View  to  the  Reprenkn 
of  Crime.*'  Tho  objects  of  punishment,  he  said,  were  three: — (L)  To 
prevent  the  individual  punished  from  again  committing  crioei 
(2.)  To  deter  others ;  and  (3)  if  it  bo  possible,  to  reform  the  criounil, 
and  muko  him  a  useful  member  of  society.  It  was  a  &ct  that  thl 
present  punishment  did  not  prevent  a  relapse  into  crime.  We  inti 
men  and  women  who  had  been  eight  times  in  prison,  and  they  wol^ 
with  all  solemnity,  and  a  few  words  of  red  tape  advice,  sent  to  pod 
servitude.  Was  not  this  a  solemn  farce?  Did  not  tho  reappeanuN 
of  the  criminal  in  the  dock  prove  something  more  than  jodg^ 
suggested  in  charges  to  grand  juries?  Did  it  not  prove  thai  sir 
system  was  a  useless  i^ham,  in  so  far  as  the  prevention  of  a  rsooa- 
mission  of  crime  was  concerned  !  It  was  only  the  first  plnnge  inH 
))ri8on  that  was  horrible.  That  over,  there  was  a  considsnUo 
amount  of  comfort  and  enjoyment  in  prison,  and  that  and  Uie  aiiauiN 
look  which  the  world  gave  to  the  criminal  rendered  punishmeBt^M 
a  means  of  preventing  ciime,  utterly  inctiicacious.  Passing  OTeriM 
unnecessary  for  his  present  purpose,  the  deterrent  effects  ol  pmurih 
nient  upon  those  who  would  not  be  kept  virtuoos  except  by  sthtf 
considerations  than  tho  fear  of  incarceration  in  prison,  the  wrilv 
asserted  that  none,  or  next  to  none,  of  the  crimhial  class  proper 
ever  made  useful  members  of  society.  Starting  from  the 
that  none  should  have  liberty  who  were  unable  to  use  it,  he  said  tbn 
was  little  doubt  that  that  which  was  enrned  alone  was  valaiUk 
Most  gifts  and  charities  did  barm.    He  proposed,  in  snbstitiilta  of 


Tnfenuiiionat  Prtton  Conijress. 

I  present  system,  a  ttyateia  of  Goes  in  coDJunctiou  willi  irnprlsoii- 
i.  It  WU3  n  syslem  wliich  would  compel  the  iudividuul  AimMlf 
J  for  liis  criminal  transgression.  It  was  a  syatem  which  woulil 
Ct  n  money  payment  Trom  the  criminal  in  the  sbapo  of  the  labour 
vhicb  ho  was  best  suited  by  liis  training,  habil«,  or  capacity.  A 
r  should  he  allowed  to  do  what  ho  did  onlside  in  i^o  far  aa 
t  ires  compatible  with  a  certain  ejstem  of  prison  discipline.  By 
\  means  a  man  would  be  able  to  eai-n  a  aulficieut  sum  of  money 
Bcompense  the  GoTemment  for  Ihe  whole  expenses  of  hia  deten- 
I  in  person.  He  might  be  allowed  to  work  overtime  in  order  to 
Tot  csira  comforts.  His  gains,  afler  they  hod  been  applied  to 
mra  maintenance,  ought  to  be,  in  the  second  place,  appropriated 
Die  support  of  those  who  were,  previoas  to  his  imprisonment, 
'ent  upon  his  exertions.  And  further,  be  thought  that  out  of 
irniDgs  prisoners  ought  to  be  able  to  savo  a  certain  sum,  under 
weoftlie  prison  governor  or  Ireasurisr,  and  that  certain  aum  should 
'he  measure  of  the  punishment  of  the  criminal.  If  this  system 
i  adopted,  the  sentence  of  a  man  would  be  that  he  should  be 
ined  in  the  house  of  correction  until  such  time  as  he  bad,  by  his 
9  labour,  after  paying  for  hts  own  maiuteniuice,  and  that  of  those' 
gwere  dependent  upou  him,  amassed  n  certain  sum  of  money, 
this  way  punishment  would  become  naturally  systematic  and 


r  Remarks  on  the  Intematwnal  Prison  Congress /or  1872. 
B'y  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  Walter  Crofton,  C.B. 

Is  meetings  of  the  "  Repression  of  Crime "  Section  have 
•  always  been  of  importance,  and  on  reference  to  the  records 
liir  proceedings  it  will  be  seen  that  our  discuaaions  have  very 
erally  produced  legislative  and  administrative  improvements— 
«  not  always  as  speedily  as  we  may  have  desired — but  they 
abeen  made  at  last,  and  very  much  in  the  form  which  we  have 

Tot  important  as  our  meetings  have  always  been,  the  importance 
cry  much  enhanced  on  the  present  occasion,  because  we  have 
par  midst  a  very  distinguished  gentleman  (Dr.  Wiuca),  who  has 
B  appointed  from  the  United  Slates  as  a  Commissioner  to  arrange 
ao  "International  Prison  Congress,"  in  London,  during  next 
uner. 

Iiose  conversant  with  penal  discipline,  and  the  reports  of  the 
ion  Asaooiation  at  New  York,  will  at  once  recognise  the  judl- 
s  selection  which  bos  been  made  in  the  appointment  of  Dr. 
M.  Reports  on  penal  discipline  from  Germany,  France,  Italy, 
from  our  colonies,  very  clearly  illustrate  the  influence  which  the 
Hu  Association  of  New  York  has  so  beneficially  exercised. 
Wa  are  moat  of  us  aware  that  there  was  a  National  Congress  held 
Cinoinnati  la  October,   1870,  oa  Penitentiary  and  Reformatory 


3l8  International  Prison  Congnsi. 

Discipline ;  bat  not  many  are  informed  that  this  Congress  rsi 
in  the  declaration  of  a  very  large  number  of  most  importani 
▼aluable  principles.  Many  of  these  will,  no  doubt^  be  Tery 
roughly  discussed,  and  from  many  points  of  vieW}  at  the  Internal 
Prison  Congress.  I  will  invite  your  attention  to  a  few  which  I 
will,  at  the  present  day,  be  accepted  with  very  great  anani 
namely,  that — 

I  L^The  progressive  classification  of  prisoners,  based  on  chan 
and  worked  on  some  weU-adljusted  mark  system,  should  be  estaU 
in  all  prisons  above  the  common  jails. 

II.---Since  hope  is  a  more  potent  agent  than  fear,  it  should  be 
an  ever-present  force  in  the  minds  of  prisoners,  by  a  wdl-dc 
and  skilfully-applied  system  of  rewards  for  good  condoct,  ia^ 
and  attention  to  learning.  Rewards,  more  than  punishment) 
essential  to  every  good  prison  system. 

III. — The  prisoner's  destiny  should  be  placed,  measurably,  i 
own  hands;  he  must  be  put  into  circumstances  where  be  will  be 
through  his  own  exertions,  to  continually  better  bis  conditioi 
regulated  self-interest  must  be  brought  into  play,  and  made  consi 
operative. 

lY. — High  qualities  and  a  special  training  are  required  to  n 
good  prison  or  reformatory  officer.  Then  only  will  the  adc 
tration  of  public  punishment  become  scientific,  uniform,  and  so 
ful,  when  it  is  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession,  and  me 
specially  trained  for  it,  as  they  are  for  other  pursuits. 

y. — A  system  of  prison  discipline,  to  be  truly  reformatory, 
gain  the  will  of  the  convict  He  is  to  be  amended ;  but  how  i 
possible  with  his  mind  in  a  state  of  hostility  ?  No  system  can 
to  succeed,  which  docs  not  secure  this  harmony  of  wills,  so  thi 
prisoner  shall  choose  for  himself  what  his  officer  chooses  foi 
But  to  this  end  the  officer  must  really  choose  the  good  of  the  pri 
and  the  prisoner  must  remain  in  his  choice  long  enough  for  vir 
become  a  habit.  This  consent  of  wills  is  an  essential  condit 
reformation. 

YI. — The  most  valuable  parts  of  the  Irish  prison  system 
more  strictly  penal  stage  of  separate  imprisonment,  the  refom 
stage  of  progressive  classification,  and  the  probationary  staj 
moral  improvement  and  natural  training— are  believed  to  I 
applicable  to  one  countiy  as  another — to  the  United  States 
Ireland. 

YH. — More  systematic  and  comprehensive  meUioda  shoal 
adopted  to  save  discharged  prisoners,  by  providing  them  with 
and  encouraging  them  to  redeem  their  character  and  regun 
lost  position  in  society.  The  State  has  not  discharged  its  whok 
to  the  criminal  when  it  has  punished  him,  nor  even  when  i 
reformed  him.  Having  raised  him  up,  it  has  the  further  duty  1 
in  holding  him  up.  And  to  this  end  it  is  desirable  that 
societies  be  formed,  which  shall  co-operate  with  each  other  is 
work. 


Si/  the  Rigk  Hon.  Sir  Waltei-  Crofton,  C.B. 


319 


kin  the  last  few  weekB  I  bavo  received  the  report  of  a  Com- 
ou  Peoal  Diseiplioe  ia  the  colooy  of  Victoria.  Tou  will  be 
learn  that  thi'i  report  eatirely  approves  tlie  principles  which 
•a  long  adrocateil,  aud,  under  the  oitine  of  tho  "  Croftoii 
whicb  had  been  thoroughly  iorestigated  by  a  commissioner, 
kends  its  adoption  lo  tho  utmost  exteiit  which  the  position  of 
ny  will  allow.     Tho  report  says  : — 

t  the  testimony  borne  to  its  value   by  eminent  jurisU  and 

n  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  are  coauliiaive  arguments  in  its 

The  souuilneas  of  ihi)  abslrjwt  principles  upon  which  it  is 

le  careful  minuteness  with  which  its  multifurious  details  have 

pvught  out  I  tlie  manner  in  which  each  step  in  the  disciplinary 

,ia  made  lo  conduce  to  the  same  end,  namely,  the  reclamation 

prisoner;  the  skilfulness  with  which  the  co-operation  of  the 

himself  towards  the  attainment    of    that  end  is  gradually 

and  the  sagacious  blending  of  severity  at  one  stage  of  the 

with  demeucy  at  another ;  all  these  are.  elements  in   the 

system,  which  hardly  seem  to  admit  oE  iraprovemeot.     We 

errors  incorporated  them,  so  far  as  possible  with  the  system 

use  for  estnbliiihment  in  Viutoria." 

by  oompniiiig  this  approval  of  principles,  for  which  we  have 
conteojed,  with  those  which  I  have    stated  to  have  been 

I  at  the  Cincinnati  Congress,  it  will  be  gratifying  to  note  how 
n  accord  thoughtful  minds,  after  carefol  examination,  ore  on 
It  essential  points  of  penal  discipline. 

bid  ihts  great  coucurrence  on  fundamental  prinoiples  in  the 
lad  opinions  of  Professor  Mittermaicr,  of  Van  Der  liruggen 
[y  Uiuiater  of  Juslico  in  Holland),  and  Count  Cavour,  who 

passed  away  from  this  world.  Wo  liud  it  in  the  very  recent 
Dil  opinions  of  distinguished  men  in  Italy,  Germany,  Franco, 
I,  ana  in  many  of  our  culoaics.     I  hail  tbis  great  accord  on 

fundamealal  i>rinciples  essential  to  a  good  system  of  penal 
le,  as  a  harbinger   of    a  successful    international  gathering. 

II  do  much  no  doubt  at  tbis  mectiug,  and  there  is  much  to  be 
Airtber  a  besoficlal  development  of  these  principles.  It  is 
\g  to  accept  theories;  it  is  auother  to  make  practical  appli- 
}f  tbem. 

we  quite  eure  that  our  practice  is  up  to  our  theory,  and  do 
suMcient  thought  and  time  to  attain  this  end  I  I  do  not 
that  we  do.  Wo  worked  very  hard  some  few  years  since 
our  principles  recognised,  hut  after  their  recognition  it 
lo  me  that  we  slumbered  and  slept,  and  did  not  take  suf- 

heed  of  their  development.     For  my  own  part  I  cannot  read 

wrts  of  the  New  York  Prison  Association  without  feeling 
raal  amount  of  good  the  eserlions  of  a  similar  body  could 

,  this  country. 

rood  the  prison  literature  of  the  day  without  realizing 

[ro  never  was  a  lime  when  the  public  of  all  nations  more 
Deceasity  of  dealing  with  prison  reforms  than  at  present. 


320  tniet^naiional  Prison  CongrM. 

What  do  wo  find  in  a  neighbouring  country — although  diBtra 
with  its  troubles  and  its  cares?  The  American  commissioner  not 
a  most  warm  and  active  interest  in  this  question.  It  is  well  km 
that  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  before  the  commencement  of  the 
with  Germany,  had  actually  appointed  a  commission  to  inquire 
the  best  means  of  employing  liberated  criminals. 

Let  us  briefly  glance  at  our  own  position  in  this  matter.  Dv 
the  last  Session  of  Parliament  a  '*  Prevention  of  Crime  "  Aet 
passed — it  has  superseded  the  '*  Habitual  Criminals  Act,"  wl 
although  undoubtedly  of  value,  aimed  at  too  much,  and  eflbcted 
little. 

I  have  so  oflen  pointed  out  the  shortcomings  and  impracticaluli 
of  some  of  the  provisions  of  this  Statute  that  I  need  do  no  more  al 
present  time  than  congratulate  the  meeting  on  having  obtaiiK 
substitute,  which  will  enable  supervision  to  be  carried  out  n 
systematically— with  less  oppression  to  the  criminal,  and  yet  i 
greater  protection  to  society  ;  I  am  of  course  assuming  that  sufBe 
pains  are  taken  with  the  development  of  the  new  Statute— If  od 
wise,  all  legislation  of  this  character  defeats  its  own  object.  Bi 
strikes  me  very  forcibly  that  these  restrictions  on  the  crini 
classes  render  it  doubly  imperative  upon  us  to  divest  them  of  na 
hardship.  Some  few  days  since  I  was  reading  some  of  my  rep 
on  the  Irish  Convict  System — written  eleven  or  twelve  years  n 
1  found  that  in  urging  the  general  adoption  of  registration,  sq 
vision,  photography — intercommunication  between  governors  of  gi 
&c.,  I  took  especial  pains  to  add  that  this  was  only  part  of  a  whol 
that  it  should  also  be  felt  that  each  criminal,  previous  to  his  Qm 
tion,  has  been  invited  to  co-operate  in  his  own  improvemeati  i 
that  he  has  been  made  aware  of  the  stringent  course  which  nil 
pursued  towards  him  afler  his  liberation. 

I  have  also  added,  that  the  great  desideratum  of  obtaining 
co-operation  of  the  public  in  the  absorption  and  reclamation  M 
liberated  convict  is  better  attained  by  the  exhibition  of  those  dirir 
of  amendment  in  a  form  to  generate  the  confidence  of  the  poUk 
the  tests  of  character  and  temptations  to  which  they  have  b 
exposed  ;  those  desirous,  of  amendment  having  been  so  provel 
a  very  strict  requirement,  and  rigid  system  of  classification  k 
ordinary  prisons.  Now,  is  one  prison  system  in  this  country  of  ■ 
a  nature  as  enables  us  to  feel  that  each  criminal,  previous  to 
liberation,  has  been  invited  to  co-operate  in  his  own  amendHi 
Wc  know  that  the  '*  mark  system,"  which,  if  judiciously  mA 
conduces  to  this  end,  is  carried  out  in  the  convict  establisbna 
But  how  stands  the  case  with  the  longer  sentences  in  the  countjrj 
borough  gaols  ?  In  some  instances  this  question  could  be  ■ 
factorily  answered,  but  in  the  great  majority,  I  much  fear  it  wc 
be  otherwise.  There  has  been  a  great  desire  expressed  to  inqi 
into  tho  operation  of  the  Prisons  Act,  1866,  for  there  are  ■ 
complaints  with  regard  to  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the  treati 
of  prisoners  under  the  same  sentence. 


Sy  the  tiighi  ffbn.  Sir  l^aJtfr  Cro/ioj, 

-J  uncleniablo  in  these  daya  of  progress  that  sufficient  lime 
[ftpsed  to  produce  eitlier  giioJ  »v  bml  rosuU§,  and  therefore  au 
~T  bj  committee  or  commiti^iiQn  carmot  fiiU  to  be  of  value. 
m  opinion  is,  that  the  Statute  lias  elTecied  much  good,  but  tbat 
i  been  ver;r  imperfectly  ileveloped,  and  is  susceptible  of  great 
Dvement. 

Ith  regard  to  the  more  natural  training  of  convicts  before 
e,  we  have  not  done  very  much.  We  certainly  have  refuges 
T  female  convicts,  which  assuredly  tend  to  recoucilc  the  public 
tar  employment.  But  with  regard  to  the  males,  we  have 
ig  of  8  very  special  character  to  loolc  at  as  an  illastrtttiou, 
id  the  coDvict  encampment  at  Lusk,  near  Dublin,  wliich  has 
I  lest  of  fifteen  years*  experience ;  and  when  we  consider 
ricts  which  have  passed  through  ihe  ordeal  in 
^e,  the  really  self-government,  without  abuse,  which  has  pre- 
l  in  it  for  so  long  a  period,  the  retention  of  the  system  by  so 
different  governmeols,  the  many  chauges  in  executive  offices, 
mit  that  it  is  a  model  which  should  be  very  generally  followed, 
I   which  raeriis  very  close  attention  by  the  InternationBl 


L  of  the 

ione  good  servico 

lie    rtconimends 

ks  of  the  countiy, 

liner  m  which  lie 

I  Qcouomical 


fl  exhibition  of  criminals  in  such  a  form  conveys  to  the  thought- 
Ind  much  more  than  appears  on  the  surface,  both  with  regard 
Mt  has  preceded  that  stage,  as  well  as  to  what  is  to  follow  it. 
few  months  since  Captain  Du  Cane,  the  Ciiairraan  of  the 
ion  of  Convict  Prisons  in  England,  brought  the  subject  of  the 
lyment  of  convicts  before  the  Society  of  Arts.  I  had  not  the 
lire  of  attending  the  meetinc;,  but  I  have  road  a  pamphlet 
bh  by  Captain  Du  Cane,  lecoramendiog  th 
tynieut  of  convicts,  and  I  am  sure  he  has 
)CaIling    public    attention    to    tho    point. 

mployment  in   the  ditfefent    detence  woi 

hough  he  does  not  mention  the  precise  nii 
I  locaU)  them,  we  may,  I  think,  fairly  assi 
Ab  that  their  location  and  treatment  would  be  of  a  different 
p  from  what  it  is  in  the  ordinary  prisons — and  we  should  by 
means  present  the  criminals  to  the  eyes  of  the  public  with  more 
ftl  and  reliable  tests  of  well-doing.  We  should  thus  be  enabled 
nKluceketnreE,  and  other  npplianaoa  calculated  to  induce  amend- 
,wlilcb  It  would  be  dillicult  lo  carry  out  iu  ordinary  prisons. 
Is  has  been  brought  very  forcibly  to  my  mind  of  late — in  coa- 
oca  of  a  strong  desire  expressed  by  the  Temperance  Associa- 
D  have  their  lecturers  admlttad  to  prison.  Now,  knowing  the 
t  to  drink  which  the  criminal  classes  generally  are.  I  cannot 
tll«  conviction  that  it  would  be  extremely  to  their  advuntage 
they  should  have  the  opportunity  of  hearing  such  lectures. 
the  Carlisle  Uefuge  for  female  convicts  at  Winchester,  with 
li  I  am  connected,  we  have  latterly,  through  the  kindness  of 
Temfwrance  Association,  eiperienced  the  ndrnntago  of  these 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  thero  may  not  be  some 
"■"  Hi 


822  ProUctian  of  Animals^ 

difficulty  in  carrying  out  these  lectures  in  gaols,  but  I  believe  them 
to  be  mainly  on  the  surface,  and  by  no  means  to  be  weighed  againit 
the  beneficial  results  which  would  most  probably  accrue.  Iff  hov« 
ever,  these  objections  should  be  deemed  insuperable,  I  submit  thtt^ 
it  is  another  reason  for  dispensing  with  too  much  restraint  dnring 
the  latter  period  of  sentences. 

Let  us  think  of  these  things,  for  we  shall  haye  to  discuss  then 
very  minutely  at  the  International  Prison  Congress. 

The  Belgian  system  will  no  doubt  engage  much  of  the  time  of  As 
Congress.  It  appears  to  us  that  it  would  be  almost  impossibii, 
consistently  with  the  due  preservation  of  mental  and  bodily  heallk,  « 
to  detain  in  strictly  cellular  confinement,  prisoners  for  twenty  ^od  ^ 
even  thirty  years.  Mr.  Tallnck  is,  I  understand,  to  give  the  SectiM  ^^ 
an  account  of  his  visit  to  the  prisons  of  Belgium  and  Holland,  whiob  ^ 
will  be  extremely  valuable  in  considering  the  subject.  i 

For  my  own  part,  without  entering  into  the  question  of  how  ktf  i 
it  may  be  desirable  to  retain  prisoners  in  strictly  cellular  confiaemat,  \ 
I  feel  bound  to  demur  to  the  direct  liberation  of  prisoners  from  nHh  ^ 
an  artificial  treatment^  believing  that  the  public  will  not  co^openti  ■-. 
in  giving  employment  to  prisoners  without  it  can  be  shown  Ast  , 
their  tests,  previous  to  liberation,  have  been  of  a  natural  and  reliabia  i 
character.  No  person  has  a  higlier  appreciation  of  strictly  cellakr  ~q 
imprisonment  than  I  have,  but  only  in  its  place,  and  that  place,  fcr  I 
the  very  important  reasons  which  I  have  given,  is  not  at  the  end  of  % 
sentences.  1 


Amendment  of  the  Law  relating  to  the  Protection  of  Animah.*  Bf    { 

John  Colak.  J 

ii  TN  the  case  of  cruelty  to  any  of  our  own  kind,  the  oppressed  has  j 
X  a  tongue  that  can  plead  his  own  cause,  and  a  finger  to  poiat  i 
out  the  aggressor  ;  all  men  that  hear  of  it  shudder  wiih  horror,  anl  \ 
by  applying  the  case  to  themselves,  pronounce  it  cruelty  with  thi  ] 
common  voice  of  humanity,  and  unanimously  join  in  demanding  the 
punishment  of  the  offender,  and  in  branding  him  with  infamy.  Bni 
in  the  ease  of  cruelty  to  brutes,  the  dumb  beast  can  neither  utter  his 
complaint,  nor  describe  the  author  of  his  wrong ;  and  if  he  eoaH 
what  laws  are  now  in  force,  or  what  court  of  judicature  does  dov 
exist,  in  which  the  suffering  brute  may  bring  his  action  against  the 
wanton  cruelty  of  barbarous  man?  " 

The  above  question  was  asked  by  an  eminent  and  learned  writer 
in  a  work,  entitled  *'  The  Duty  of  Humanity  to  Inferior  Creatare%" 
which  appeared  about  a  century  ago ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  yfltf 
1809  that  an  application  was  made  to  Parliament  for  a  law  to  protsot 
animals.  The  Bill  which  Lord  Erskinc  introduced  to  the  House  cf 
Lords  passed  witliout  opposition,  which  circumstance,  ia  these  dqi 


H* 


•  See  Trandoetiotu,  1870;  p.  282. 


By  John  Cohm.  323 

I  Upper  House,  should  he  lemcmbereii.  if  only  to 
limii  me&aiirea  are  not  inrttrinbly  thrown  oul,  but  are 
snacted  trith  ulacrity,  by  that  august  aasembly.  The  Bill 
passed  by  the  Lords  was  r^eoted  by  the  Coinmou«, 
ittempt  iQ  FarliameDt  a  pause  occurred,  when  the  pro- 
B  question  appears  to  liuve  been  clieckcd  by  the  war  (and 
blesaing  ia  not  blighted  or  withered  by  war  T)  In  1822 
trtin,  ossiBted  by  Sir  Francis  BurJatI,  Buxton,  Wilber* 
thcr^  brought  a  Bill  into  (lie  Uouae  of  Comniona,  similar 
proposed  by  Lord  Erskine,  which  was  ultimately  poaeed 
Aniendmeuta  wern  made  during  (he  reign  of  William, 
twelfth  and  thjrteeuth  year  of  the  present  reign  a  slill 
ndraent  and  extension  of  the  law  was  made  by  the  Act 
lore  effectual  Prevention  of  Cruelly  to  Animals."  This 
rfdea  in  its  principal  seoliou — 

any  person  aball,  from  and  after  the  passing  of  this  Act, 
,  ill-treat,  ovcr-drive,  abuse,  or  torture,  or  cnusc  or  pro- 
ruelly  beaten,  ill-treated,  over-driven,  abused  or  loitured, 
,  avery  such  oflender  aball  for  every  such  oQence  i'orfeil 
yenolty  not  eiceedJng  Rve  pounds," 

•n,  we  have  a  bappy  response  to  the  questiou — "  What 
force  against  the  cruelty  of  man  towards  dumb  beasisl  " 
be  olnurved  tliat  the  section  just  quolei)  punishes  every 
every  offence  against  ani/  animal.  At  first  aij^ht  this 
ouM  appear  to  Ijo  aa  complete  us  Ihe  most  nnlunt  advocate 
'  could  dcsir^  i  but  if  we  turn  to  the  interpretation  clause 
that  the  word  unimiil  shall  l>e  taken  to  mean  nny  "  horse, 
9g,  bull,  ox,  cow,  heifer,  steer,  c:tlf,  mule,  ma,  sheeft, 
pig,  sow,  goat,  do)r,  cat,  or  any  other  domestic  animal " 
a  lay,  among  the  myriads  of  senticut  creatures  whloh 
bout  the  country  only  a  few,  and  thoso  in  the  service  of 
«  protected  agaiust  wanton  croelty.  Herein  is  the  great 
!  Act  to  which  on  thlji  occasion  I  shall  have  the  honour  to 
tentjon. 

1  be  more  convenient  before  doing  this  lo  nssuino  that 
)  no  discussion  at  thii<  Congress  in  respect  of  the  proicc- 
!Btic  animals  from  all  and  every  kind  of  cruelly,  and 
)  proceed  at  once  to  the  examination  of  the  imperfect 
f  the  present  Act,  which,  as  before  quoted,  was  di?signed 
Uial  preveulion  of  cruelly  to  domestic  animals, 
lection  is  directed  against  the  fighting  and  bniiing  of  dogs, 
her  animals,  when  carried  on  in  a  place  kept  for  ttio 
[otliing  cnn  exceed  the  loathsome  cruelty  of  the^e  offences, 
source  of  coneiderable  pride  to  the  Royal  Sooicly  that 
rts  mainly  soch  practices  have  become  illegal.  Owing, 
its  bad  construction,  this  section  does  not  forbid  baiting 
;,  provided  the  offendcia  select  a  field  or  yard,  or  other 
ilaoe,  for  the  performance  of  their  delectable  amusement. 
%  Mrpnw  permts  acquaiaied  with  Uie  shrewd  iaatinctB 
21—2 


324  Protection  of  AnimaU. 

of  tho  dog  and  cock-fighting  fraternity  that  this  defect  of  the  ImI|| 
especiallj  with  regard  to  hadgers,  has  heen  detected  by  the  '*  ftum* 
and  that,  consequently,  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  baitiDgandfip^ 
ing  have  been  carried  on  with  open  defiance.  Again,  under  the  adriei 
of  counsel,  it  appears,  these  loTers  of  low  sport  carry  on  daily  «- 
counters  between  dogs  and  rats — "  beauties  fresh  from  the  sewen^* 
as  their  sennation  announcements  advertise  the  public.  The  nt- 
pit  is  undoubtedly  kept  for  the  above  purpose,  but  also  to  provide  a 
convenient  cover  for  occasional  dog-fights  and  other  sport  On  tks 
ground  of  cruelty  to  dogs  (if  not  to  rats),  and  to  prevent  the  fartfaer 
development  of  sanguinary  instincts,  these  degrading  exhibitioii 
ought  surely  to  bo  forbidden  by  an  amendment  of  the  third  sectkm 
of  the  Statute. 

An  alteration  in  sections  7,  8,  9,  10,  11  is  needed  to  prevent  nM 
called  knackers' agents  from  evading  the  Act  by  purchasing  hoiM 
consigned  for  slaughter  and  selling  them   again  for  labour*    lUi  ■ 
lamentable  defect  enables  thousands  of   men  to  perambulate  Un 
country  and  collect  infirm,  miserable,  and  of^en  diseased  horses,  th 
wrecks  of  past  favourites,  and  these  poor  things  are  made  to  travel  «m  : 
hundred,  two  hundred,  or  three  hundred  miles  to  save  their  mercilMi 
owners  the  cost  of  railway  carriage  to  London  as  dead  caroiMi.  ■> 
They  feed  perforce  on  the  high-road  grass  and  thus  endanger  otbv 
horses  and  even  human  beings  should  they  be  affected  with  glandcii^ 
and  it  is  common  to  see  them  drop  and  die  firom  exhaustion  on  lilt 
roadside.     Lord  Erskine  alluded  to  this  evil  in  his  day,  whidiil 
undiminished  by  legislation,  as  a  shocking  abuse,  *'  because  committei 
under  tho  deliberate  calculation  of  intolerable  avarice.     I  allnds  Is  : 
the  piractice  of  buying  up  horses  when  past  their  strength,  fromdl ' 
age  or  disease,  upon  the  computation  (I  mean  to  speak  literallj)  of 
how  many  days*  torture  and  oppression  they  are  capable  of  hnag] 
under,  so  as  to  return  a  profit  with  tho  addition  of  the  flesh  and  8U%'; 
when  brought  to  one  of  the  numerous  houses  appropriated  for  thi  \ 
slaughter  of  horses." 

A  section  should  also  bo  added  to  enable  magistrates  to  dsstnf 
entirely  worn  out  horses  brougbt  before  them,  and  thus  provide  IM 
readiest  and  only  effectual  means  for  ending  the  sufferings  of  sock 
poor  brutes.  ^ 

Again,  Icj^islation  is  needed  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty  is  i 
butchers*  slaughter-houses.  This  may  be  done  in  some  meason  hf  i 
provisions  which  would  open  butchers'  slaughter-houses  for  inspa^  i 
tion  at  reasonable  hours,  just  as  the  houses  of  horse-slaughterers  dov  :; 
are  accessible  under  this  Statute  to  constables  and  other  anthoiiaii  I 
inspectors ;  but  the  true  remedy  for  the  reckless  and  cruel  behaviov  -; 
of  boys  and  men  now  cngagetl  in  private  slaughter-houses  will  te  j 
found  in  compulsory  enactments  for  the  killing  of  animals  inteaM  J 
for  human  food  in  public  abattoirs.  This  remedy  is  needsd  m  I 
sanitary  grounds  and  for  security  against  impure  fbod,  but  it  is  abis^  ^ 
lutely  necessary  to  correct  the  heddlessness  and  riotonaness  of  tki 
English  butcher  boy*s  education.    In  private  houses  eraeltyfrncdlei 


By  John  Colam.  325 

korrora  of  which  the  hum&u  heart  can  ecarccly  coaccire. 
B  Ihem  public  and  the  public  eye  alone  vrill  impose  a  ealutary 
k  on  the  coD^uut  of  butchers,  drovers,  and  others  engaged  therein. 
If  it  is  time  that  public  abattoirs  were  ert^ctcd  at  lenst  iu  the 
ppolis,  and  that  Englaod,  whilKt  boastiog  of  hvr  advanced 
Uity  and  her  Christian  propagoudism,  should  toko  aleps  to  pre- 
cnormities,  the  recital  of  which  would  make  heathens  shudder, 
battoira  have  existed  for  years  iu  contiueutttl  cities,  and  ia  some 
ir  own  Urge  towne,  and  doubtless  would  have  Iteen  erected  ia 
Ion  hut  for  our  worship  of  parish  bofirds  snd  vested  interests. 
)ere  are  undoubted  practicul  dilhculties  iu  the  way,  hut  all  these 
be  surmounted  by  practical  men. 

iiriug  to,  at  least,  an  ambiguity  and  obscurity  of  this  Statute, 
b«rle83  otfouders  are  acquitted  during  the  year,  who  Imve  been 
J  of  ntglect  to  their  animals,  many  raagistratps  (especially  those 
Kendly  to  prosecutions  for  cruelty)  contending  titut  an  overt  act 
I  be  }H'Oved  to  constitute  an  offence.  Thus,  n  man  may  now 
old  food  from  his  dependent  cattle  until  they  die  of  starvation, 
»  may  permit  milk  to  accumulate  in  (he  udders  I'f  his  cow 
Bh  barbarity  is  called  " overstocking");  or  ho  may  expose, 
ig  inclement  weather,  his  slieep  which  have  been  shorn  of  their 
I  or  be  may  commit  a  score  of  other  brutal  acts  of  oniission,  and 
!Ct  to  perform  his  most  obvious  duties — not  everywhere,  but 
ioly  in  those  jurisdictions  where  magistrates  have  decided  to 
rue  the  Statute  as  before  described. 

{sin,  tlio  impounding  clauses  of  the  Act  should  be  made  to 

nl  Pinders  to  provide  slielter  for   imprisoned   animals.     The 

tite  oondilion  of  brutes,  penned  up  in  parish  pounds,  without 

to  turn  their  bodies,  to  revive  urculation,  and  constrained  to 

Bp  to   their   hocks,    in  a  slough   of  mud   and   excrement, 

dted    the    commiseration    of  many   beholdets.     What  mora 

nble  spectacle  than  such  appearance  of  our  pounds,  and  yet  so 

of  cure  T     Tbc  object  of  these  receptacles  is  the  protection  of 

tj — not  the  prevention  of  cruelty — and  property  should  Iw 

on  to  supply  needful  f<lielter.     Otlen  this  is  n  most  serioaa 

when  impounded  animals  are  the  auhjects  of  litigation,  during 

I  time  they  remain  expoEcd  iu  a  confined  posiliou  to  the  worst 

i,  rains,  and  snows  of  winter. 

ftin,  provision  is  wanted  to  punish  physiologists  and  their 
Dia  who  may  be  guilty  of  needless  ajid  cruel  experiments  on 
lis,  and  to  di<^qutdify  alt  persons,  except  those  specially  licensed, 
10  performance  of  operations  on  hviug  creatures  not  reuderad 
SB  by  an  onssthetic  agent.  The  most  distinguished  medical 
Avour  legislation  of  this  character,  and  its  hdoption  would  not 
onue  a  ce^ation  of  untold  suffering,  but  would  place  a  stigma 
I  pDKUices  which  Aberuethy  has  denounced  as  "  disgusting  to 
ton  decency,"  and  tending  "to  harden  the  feeliogs  of  the 
lIor,"but  which  now  obiuin  immunity  before  the  law,  by  plead- 
tn  their  behalf  that  sacred  name,  "Science."    If  we  mK  "0 


326  Protecttm  of  Animah. 

Science !  Avhat  deeds  of  cruelty  haye  been  done  in  thy  name**— wW 
shall  give  answer  to  the  question  1 

Finally,  further  powers  are  needed  to  reach  the  owners  of  animab 
for  their  foremen)  who  have  committed  their  dumb,  helplev  di* 
pendents  to  labour  while  in  an  unfit  state.  Grenerally  as  JjH  i 
Erskine  argues — *'  The  master  is  the  obvious  culprit^"  though  he  tm  ; 
seldom  be  reached  by  the  present  law.  The  adoption  of  words  in  Hm 
2nd  section  which  are  used  similarly  in  the  drd  section,  and  innri- 
ably  employed  in  every  Statute  of  the  United  States  and  Gansd% 
namely,  **  did  cruelly  ill-treat,  or  authorise,  or  permit,  or  suffer  to  bi 
cruelly  ill-treated,"  &c.,  such  simple  addition  would  absolutely  enMe 
the  officers  of  tho  Society  or  police  constables,  instead  of  prooeedisg 
against  the  comparatively  innocent  driver  or  other  agent,  to  briag 
under  the  penalties  of  this  Act  the  true  offender  and  *'ob?ioii 
culprit." 

The  above  recommendations  have  been  enunciated  from  the  Beock 
by  leomed  magistrates,  and  are  founded  on  the  long  ezperioioa  «f 
the  Society,  and  of  the  police  authorities  engaged  in  enforemg  tte 
Act,  and  I  beg  to  submit  they  are  required  for  the  efibctual  pretei- 
tion  of  cruelty  to  domestic  animals. 

But  the  principal  defect  of  the  present  law  is  the  entire  abseoeerf 
protection  against  tho  most  flagrant  abominations  perpetuated  oi 
undomestic  animals. 

liats  are  covered  with  turpentine,  set  fire  to,  and  then  ehssed 
until  their  bodies  fall  a  calcined  cinder.  Foxes  have  several  tiaa 
been  hunted  to  death  on  three  legs,  the  other  limb  having  bees 
brutally  chopped  off  by  their  pursuers.  Otters,  polecats,  weasels,  sal 
other  vermin  have  been  blinded  by  acids,  mutilated  in  the  mart 
savage  manner  and  turned  loose  to  die  of  suffering  and  hoogv. 
The  eyes  of  birds  are  pierced  with  red  hot  irons  and  then  confined  ia  ^ 
tiny  cages  until  they  die,  and  otherwise  mutilated.  Ferocious  aaimdii 
undergo  unheard  of  atrocities,  in  order  to  maintain  necessary  dii» 
pline  and  performing  powers  before  gaping  crowds  at  public  exkibi* 
tions.  The  catalogue  of  these  and  like  cruelties  upon  imdooMilis 
animals  would  weary  and  disgust  you ;  but  I  b^  to  be  allowed  tostals 
that  numerous  instancee  of  the  following  shocking  treatment  flf 
rabbits  have  recently  been  placed  before  the  Society,  inqniied  int^ 
and  authenticated. 

*'  An  Enkmt  to  Game. — A  new  way  of  killing  rabbits  has  bea 
devised  by  a  farmer,  near  Tewkesbury,  namely,  setting  fire  to  te 
gorse  round  a  small  warren  in  such  a  way  that  none  of  the  nbUs 
could  escape,  it  being  fired  at  all  points  simultaneously.  This  ha 
did  a  few  days  ago,  and  wo  understand  that  a  young  fox  was  ism 
afterwards  wandering  about  suffering  severely  from  the  cfleeti  sf 
fire.  Rabbits  were  also  seen  for  days  after  in  the  Deighboariiood-'^ 
some  with  their  legs  partly  burnt  off,  others  with  their  baeks  borat 
and  in  a  most  pitiable  plight,  their  cries  being  heartrending.  This 
is  surely  a  case  for  tho  exercise  of  some  of  the  provisions  in  Msiiia*a 
Act,  and  wo  certainly  hope  the  police  will  bring  the  efitedtn  to 


i 


By  John  Colam.  327 

joilice.  In  a  fox-hunting  countr  j  the  burning  of  foxes  will  scarcely 
be  tolerated.  If  the  poor  rabbits  did  as  thoir  nature  prompted  them 
■■^take  a  little  of  this  man's  com — there  were  other  moans  of  destroj- 
iag  them,  and  plenty,  unfortunately,  of  poor  people  who  would  have 
lam  glad  of  one  to  put  in  their  pot  Let  us  hope  such  dastardly 
omdiict  will  meet  with  the  condign  punishment  it  deserves/' — Wov' 
mtlerskire  Chronicle. 

Iq  one  case  similar  cruelty  was  enacted  by  the  Chairman  of  a 
Geonty  Bench,  after  which  nearly  100  rabbits  were  found  roasted  to 
death.  In  a  notorious  case  the  Society  took  proceedings  for  the 
mk»  of  exposing  the  perpetrator,  with  what  result  the  following  news- 
ftper  report  will  sufficiently  inform  you : — 

^A  magistrate  in  Hampshire  was  summoned  before  the  bench  at 
Ilogsclere,  charged  with  having,  on  Sunday,  the  30th  of  January, 
*  caused  bis  servants  to  cut  off  one  of  the  legs  of  a  fox/  This  was 
done  in  the  defendant's  presence ;  and,  '  shortly  after,  while  still 
bleeding,  the  fox  was  taken  out  and  hunted.'  It  ran  about  two 
buidred  yards,  when  the  hounds  killed  it.     The  Ciiairman  severely 

SHurared  Mr. *s  conduct ;  but  said  that,  '  as  a  fox  is  not  a  do- 

■estic  animal,  it  does  not  come  within  the  meaning  of  the  Act  for 
tke  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,'  and  ho  dismissed  the  case." 

Well  and  truly  might  the  raven  say  in  the  Oriental  fable,  *^  I  per- 
ceive what  the  power  of  evil  is — it  is  clear  that  man,  insatiate  man, 
is  oor  devil." 

The  student  of  history  will  some  day  account^  as  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  features  of  English  humanity  to  animals,  the  cruelty 
to  iMdomestic  animals,  which  the  law  tacitly  sanctions.  He  will  ask 
**  Why 'were  those  creatures  denominated  ^ercs  nature  excluded  from 
the  operations  of  the  Statute  t  Why  was  a  chicken  protected  and  a 
wild  fowl  tortured  ?  Why  a  house-cat  was  considered  an  animal  and  a 
wood-cat  not  ?  Why  a  dog  is  an  animal,  and  a  fox,  a  wolf,  or  a  jackal 
ii  not ;  why  a  mule  is  an  animal,  and  a  zebra  not ;  why  a  lop-eared 
nbbit  is  shielded  from  lU-treatraent,  while  a  warren-rabbit  may  be 
nested  to  death  ?  Should  not  the  law  invariably  protect  the  weak 
against  the  strong,  and  prevent  the  invasion  of  individual  rights  1 " 

The  tendency  of  law-givers  is  ever  to  protect  themselves,  and 
hence  certain  animals  which  are  not  property  have  been  protected 
as  property,  and  animals  which  are  property  have  been  effectually 
protected  as  property — ^less  on  the  score  of  humanity  than  of  that  of 
peconiary  interest  ;  for  example,  punishment  for  wounding  a  cow 
naj  be  seven  years'  imprisonment  under  the  *^  Malicious  Injuries  to 
Property  Statute,"  (t.«.,  for  the  protection  of  the  owner's  interests,) 
whiie  the  punishment  for  the  same  act  would  be  only  three  months' 
imprisonment  under  the  Cruelty  to  Animals  Statute  (t.£.,  for  the 
prolactioii  of  the  cow). 

Ii  then,  cruelty,  which  Montaigne  hold  to  be  the  worst  of  all 
vieeSy  and  which  is  twin  with  murder — is  such  cruelty  of  less  oc- 
eoaat  in  English  morals  than  theft  ?  Surely  not.  But  maybe  it  is 
contended  that  animalS|  like  women,  have  no  rights. 


328  FrotecHtm  of  AnimaU. 

Lord  Erskino  puts  this  point  with  marked  indignation — **  Animali 
are  considered  as  property  only — they  have  no  rights."  And  k 
this  selfish  consideratioD  seems  to  have  resided  the  principal  cmm 
of  the  indifference  shown  by  our  Legislature  towards  wild  animak. 
Erskine  saw  that  he  would  struggle  in  vain  for  the  protection  of  al 
animals. 

He  says,  it  may  be  asked  why  the  enacting  part  of  this  Bill  **  fidh 
so  very  short  of  protecting  tlio  whole  animal  world."  The  aosmr 
is — *'  I  have  gone  as  far  as  I  dare  at  the  present  moment,  and  thi 
whole  Bill  might  be  wrecked  by  an  impracticable  effort  to  extendi^ 
but  I  shall  be  glad  to  follow  others  in  the  attempt,"  hence  it  wasthii  l 
animals  which  are  property  became  protected  under  two  Statute^ 
while  those  which  are  not  property  were  left  entirely  unproteeftei 

The  condition  animals  have  been  left  in  by  modem  legislatioa 
reminds  one  of  a  story  told  of  a  respectable  Guacho,  who  ezbortei 
Mr.  Darwin,  when  riding  in  the  Pampas,  to  spur  his  jaded  steel 
Mr.  Darwin  represented  that  the  animal  was  exhausted.     '^Nenr    -i 
mind,"  replied  the  Guacho,  <'  it  is  my  horse  I  "    With  some  difi^coltf    1 
]\Ir.  Darwin   made  him  comprehend  that  it  was  from  motives «    j 
humanity,  and  not  from  the  fear  of  diminishing  the  value  of  a  pieea    - 
of  property,  that  he  was  induced  to  forbear.     '<  Ah,  Don  Carlos  P-    . 
exclaimed  the  man,  with  a  look  of  astonishment,  **  what  an  idea ! "    . 
It  was,  however,  the  common  idea  fifty  years  ago,  when  the  authoe 
of  **  Parliainentury  History  for  the  year  1826,"  presumed  to  teaek 
Sir  Francis  Burdett,  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  Martin,  as  well  as  Loid 
Erskine  (all  promoters  of  the  new  Bill),  as  follows  :— 

'^  We  maintain  that  all  legislation  on  this  principle  is  absurd  aai 
vicious ;  that  the  constitution  (or  the  protection  of  the  ri^its  of 
human  beings)  ought  to  be  the  sole  object  of  human  legialatifA  i  ■  ; 
that  no  reason  can  bo  assigned  for  the  interference  of  the  leffislatar    : 
in   the  protection  of  animals,  unless  their  protection  be  conneelai  • ' 
cither  directly  or  remotely  with  some  advantage  to  man ;  and  thal^ . . 
therefore,  that  advantage  constitutes  the  real  and  the  only  gromd  . 
for  the  legislator's  interposition." 

The  Edinburgh  Review  does  not  expend  its  irony  on  the  writer  o( 
the  above  passage  in  order  to  expose  his  selfishness  and  ahamete  ■ 
disregard  for  the  claims  of  animals ;  but  simply  twits  him  with  a 
charge  of  ignorance  in  not  having  discerned  that  man's  interest  had 
been,  up  to  that  time,  the  sole  ground  of  every  argument  presented 
to  Parliament  in  favour  of  the  Bill  for  the  Protection  of  Animakr  . 
Both  the  writer  of  the  '*  Parliamentary  History"  and  his  reviewer, as-  ^ 
well  as  journalists  of  the  period,  entirely  ignored  the  propositiQa 
that  animali?  have  a  clear  and  solid  right  to  humane  treatment  tnm 
the  hand  of  man. 

This  is  now  conceded  by  our  foremost  writers,  but  only  aa  r^gaidi 
domestic  animals,  though  if  true  as  regards  them,  why  is  it  not  trae 
as  regards  all  animals?  Are  not  all  animals  placed  under  maa^ 
dominion,  the  domestic  animals  being  those  which  he  haa  taoMd  la 
subserve  his  own  interest  t    Because  the  latter  are  valuable  to  hiiH^ 


y  John  Colam.  329 

promote  bis  pecuniary  welfare,  ia  that  the  true  ground  for 
Be  treatment  T  Arene  lo  be  humane  only  for  beuefila  received 
.  horses,  cattle,  and  other  useful  creatures,  auil  for  the  social 
(B  which  are  conoectod  with  domestic  dogs  or  cats.  Real 
Dity  takea  much  higher  ground  than  this,  and  imperatively 
ida  that  prutcciion  should  be  accorded  to  nil  God'^  senbitive 
ires,  because  itiey  are  sensitive.  Bishop  Butler  says  that  if 
reaiuro  be  sentient,  i.e.,  capable  of  suffeiiiig  pain  or  eojoyitig 
ire,  it  is  cause  sufficient  ^hy  we  should  refrain  from  inflicting 

Kud  should  bestow  on  it  pleasure  when  we  may.  That  is  euoU};b. 
need  go  no  further,"  aajs  another  writer,  "  to  seek  for  a  pri- 
ground  of  obligation  for  mercy.  Many  other  moiives  may,  and 
me  in  to  enhance  and  modify  this  obligation  ;  but,  etandio};  by 
_  it  ia  sufficient.  If  wo  could  divest  ourselves  of  every  other 
and  even  admit  the  dreadful  hypothesis  that  neither  man  nor 
"  had  any  creator,  but  came  into  existence  by  eome  concourse 
nnscious  forces  ;  yet  even  then — in  a  sunless,  hopeless,  fatherlets 
■—there  wonid  siitl  remain  the  same  duty,  if  the  creature  could 
■in,  lo  avoid  inflicting  it;  if  it  could  feel  pleasure,  to  bestow  it. 
Uinoi  get  below  this  principle.  It  is  an  ultimate  canon  of 
tl  law — a  necessary  moral  law  (in  metaphysical  parlance) — 
■  W9  caunot  even  conceive  the  contrary,  nor  figure  to  our 
Ulions  H  world  or  a  condition  of  things  wherein  the  obligation 
ho  fiuapended  or  reversed." 

Bc  why  should  a  broad  line  of  dislinctiou  bo  laid  down  by  our 
I  regards  our  treatment  of  domestic  and  uadomestie  animals 
itively  ?  Are  they  not  each  generated  in  the  same  wny.  nourished 
tsamc  way,  and  dying  in  the  same  way.  Alike  endowed  with 
ioal  powers,  with  emotions  and  moral  sentiments,  the  broad 
!B  between  man  and  the  brute  are  strikiug  indeed.  These, 
r,  though  they  constitute  the  most  obvious,  form  only  a  small 
(of  such  analogies.  In  common  with  ourselves,  tbe  brute  pos* 
lh«  five  senses  of  sight,  bearing,  taste,  smell,  and  touch,  those 
to  all  knowledge,  and  they  ai'e  endowed  sometimes  with  a 
of  EODsibility  unknown  to  man.  In  each  are  the  functions  of 
J  and  sight  performed  by  organs  esisiing  in  pairs.  In  both 
decay  of  the  body  repaired  by  means  of  tbe  circulation  of  the 
wkidi  is  itself  carried  on  by  tbe  mechanism  of  a  heart,  arteries, 
UDS ;  and  the  blood  is  supplied  by  tbe  same  fuuctions  of  di- 
BssimibttioQ,  and  escrementation  carried  on  in  mucii  the 
'»y  in  both.  In  each  alike  does  that  moat  mysterious  of 
the  brain,  seem  to  be  the  point  of  contact — the  connecting 
'tween  spirit  and  matter ;  the  seat  of  perceptions,  ideas,  and 
i;  the  spring  of  voluntary  and  involuntary  motion;  the 
between  the  mental  will  and  the  material  limbs;  aud  in  each 
lose  wonderful  functions  carried  on  by  means  of  an  equally 
,   rious  nervous  system. 

Intarch  teaches  us  that  "  kindness  and  beneficence  should  be  ex- 
\  to  creatures  of  all  species,  and  these,"  he  says,  "  will  flow 


880  Protection  ^  Animals^ 

from  the  breast  of  a  well-natured  man,  as  streams  iiofi 
oopions  fonntain.*' 

'*  I  cannot  conceive,"  says  tho  present  Lord  Stanhope,  " 
man  shoald  wish  to  limit  his  humafiitj  only  to  mankind.  W 
it  not,  on  the  contrary,  embrace  the  whole  sphere  of  the  crea 
to  those  animals  whom  we  have  it  not  in  our  power  to  befrii 

Another  writer  sajst — '^Perhaps  one  of  the  most  cert 
that  the  true  meaning  of  sympathy  with  nature  is  bei 
extensively  recognized  in  our  times  is  the  visible  spread  of 
that  every  sentient  creature  ought  to  be  treated  with  hnma 
as  much  as  the  members  of  our  own  species.  As  a  coroUai 
advance  of  enlightenment  which  prevents  us  from  mi 
lunatics  and  burning  old  ugly  women,  we  have  learnt,  th 
universally,  the  propriety  of  consideration  for  all  sorts  of  an 
reptiles;  loathing  and  terror  in  the  presence  of  hideous  and  o 
shapes  has  become  exchanged  for  gentle  pity.  It  is  seen  t 
dumb  and  helpless  things  have  a  capacity  for  something  whio 
passes  with  them  for  pleasure.  Who  that  has  read  can  1 
French  poet*s  picture  of  tho  black,  venomous  toad,  squattin 
on  the  edge  of  its  stagnant  ditch  on  a  summer  evening,  and 
in  its  own  humble  way  the  calm  of  the  surrounding  scene 
are  plenty  of  grown-up  people  of  cultivation  still  to  be  f 
would  scarcely  feel  that  they  were  doing  anything  very 
they  gave  the  poor  monster  a  poke  with  a  stick,  or  set  a 
plague  him.  But  there  are  fewer  people  now  of  this  ini 
unreflecting  devilishness  than  there  were  twenty  years  i 
the  whole  tendency  of  the  modem  spirit  is  to  make  su< 
fewer  still.  Respect  for  happiness,  even  in  the  rudest 
uncouth  shai)e  which  we  can  imagine  happiness  as  assumin| 
widely  perceived  to  be  one  of  the  first  of  social  duties." 

''  Hurt  no  living  creature  "  was  one  of  the  laws  of  Tri 
Christians  who  adopt  such  maxim  discover  no  motive  moi 
than  the  reasons  already  given,  that  all  animals,  more  o 
capable  of  suffering  and  pleasure,  and  are,  more  or  less^ 
dominion.   In  such  dominion  resides  our  trust  and  their  rigl 
says  Lord  Erskine,  ''  in  the  examination  of  their  qualitie 
and  instincts,  we  could  discover  nothing  else  but  that  adm 
wonderful  construction  for  man's  assistance  ;  if  we  found 
in  animals  for  their  own  gratification  and  happiness*— no  . 
to  pain  or  pleasure — no  grateful  sense  of  kindness,  no  sufi 
neglect  or  injury;   if  we  discovered,  in  short,  nothing 
animated  matter,  obviously  and  exclusively  subservient 
purposes,  it  would  be  difiicult  to  maintain  that  the  domi 
them  was  a  trust" — except  as  | regards  property.     But  e: 
reverse  is  the  case,  and  they  have  *'  organs  and  f eelines  fbr 
enjoyment  and  happiness "  (See  his  speech  in  the  Hoas€ 
before  referred  to). 

My  conclusion  therefore  is : — The  power  which  is  del 
ps  over  the  animal  world  is  like  every  other  gift  of  Prov 


By  John  Colaiit.  S31 

vrdcej  according  to  ibo  rules  of  jiutico  and  mercy,  and  not 
iiDg  to  llie  wautDU  iustigutions  of  cruel  caprice.  Acting  by 
I  leave  in  God's  stead,  we  mast  govern  Hia  creatures  with  tlio 
'  lienerotence  wbich  pervtides  the  culire  being  of  Ilim  from 
i  wo  luwu  received  iLu  trust : — 


(y  iilaughter  animals  for  his  sustenance ;  lie  may   make  war 

Ibem  when  ihey  destroy  liis  property,  and  mar  his  comfort ; 

i;  preaa  Ihem  into  liia  service,  and  compel  tliem,  within   the 

of  kBrnanily,  to  do  his  bidding.     This  aurely    ia  enough.      It 

dee  notiiiog  wbicL  can  contrdmte  to  our  real   wantA  and  real 

aesB.     All  beyond,  wiiiuh  Irides  with  life  and  inflicta  p&in,  i4 

A  Kud  therefore  wicked,  and,  as  opposed  lo  the  very  nature  of 

)eit]',  cannot  receive  Uig  sanction  in  ourselves. 

the  above  reasoning  bo  sound,  it  follows,  that  not  only  on  the 

'  of  humanity  to  the  animaU  concerned,  but  also  for  the  ad- 

g«  of  society  at  larj;e,  the  m^\s  of  our  sUitutory  law  should  ho 

ied  to  wild  aniuuda.      It   has   been   abundantly  shown  that 

If  towards  such  creature*  extensively  exists,  and  tbet  the  right 

cmel  to  them  has  almost  settled  inio  a  conviction.     If  anything 

needed  to  show  the  evil  elfects  of  our  present  law  on  humanity 

'  ,  it  would  be  this  fact  of  demoralizatiou.     Let  ua  not  be 

this  prevailing  cruelly  to  wild  animals,  even  though  kept 

'tut  in  check  by  the  spirit  of  humanity  to  domes^c  animals,  is 

dl  of  stupendous  magnitude.      A  great  ancient  teacher  admoii- 

I  his  pnpila  for  the  good  of  society  and  for  their  own  happiness 

(o  keep  their  hearU  tender,  and  nothing  can  be  more  true  than 

to  take  pleasure  in  the  infliction  of  any  kind  of  unnecessary 

t  positively  vicious,  is  dangerous,  while  it  is  equally  true 

practice  which,  though  not  criminal  in  itself,  yet  wears 

tb«   sympathising   sensibility  of  a   lender    mind,  niuat  render 

HI  nature  proportionably  less  iit  for  society. 

It  it  may  he  contended  lljat  an  alteration  of  the  law  would  inter- 

Witli   country  sports.     Not  at  all— not   necessarily,  certainly. 

"  Animal  World,"  where  this  subject  has  been  discussed,  an 

ia  given  to  this  objection.     It  saya,  "  Why  are  some  only  of 

I  shielded  by  the  lawt      A  solution  of  this  mystery   mnst  be 

;  in  ihc  nervous  anxiety  of  our  lagislalors,  lest  by  their  own 

ij  should    be  restricted  in  the  liberty  to  hunt  and  shoot  for 

; '  but  the  blot  on  our  Statute  Book  must  be  regarded  as  a 

at  (to  Buy  the  least)  if  the  legitimate  objents  of  sportsmen  can 

laUy  well  secured  witliout  this  partial  and  nnomalons  legiala- 

Uamane  sportsmen  are  piububly  the  most  furious  in  abhor- 

of  wouton  cruelty,  or  of  practices  which  are  called  '  unfair 

'    Many  of  these  men,  watching  the  signs  of  the  times,  contend 

t  would    be    better,  instead    of    absolutely  excluding    certain 

Is  which  are  victiua  to  their  '  spoil '  from  protection  ngainat 


332  Repremon  of  Crime  Summary. 

wanton  craelty,  to  rely  on  the  magistrate's  definition  of  the 
cruelty,  and  thus  bring  all  animals  under  the  Operation  of  the 
As  the  magistrate  is  now  guided  bj  public  opinion  in  com 
obscure  phraseology  as  re<rards  domestic  animals,  so  then  as  r 
others  the  recognized  practices  of  society  would  haye  immunity 
the  law.  Prosecutors  are  also  governed  by  public  sentiment,  a 
move  only  in  unison  with  a  prevailing  sense  of  justice.  If  \ 
so  the  fears  of  sportsmen  need  not  prevent  a  more  Christian,  i 
as  logical  and  complete,  statutory  protection  of  animals. 

But,  at  all  events,  if  the  contrary  argument  be  insisted  o 
defence  of  sport  hns  surely  become  desperate.  Is  cruelty  to  co 
to  permit  of  sport  ?  Will  tho  extension  of  the  Act  to  wild  a 
prevent  sport  ?  If  so,  why  1  If  there  be  no  cruelty  in  tl 
will  remain — if  there  be,  it  stands  condemned  by  this  defence. 

Finally,  let  me  close  with  Lord  Erskine's  instructive  words 
contain  the  best  argument  I  can  conceive  for  the  alteration 
H«  says  : — 

*'  The  cruelties  which  we  daily  deplore  in  children  and  in 
arise  from  defect  in  education,  and  that  defect  in  education  fn 
very  defect  in  the  law  which  I  ask  your  lordships  to  remedr : 
the  moral  sense  of  the  parent  re-animated,  or  rather  in  thu  1 
created  by  the  law,  the  next  generation  will  feel,  in  the  first  di 
their  ideas,  the  august  relation  they  stand  in  to  the  lower  worl 
the  trust  which  their  station  in  tho  universe  imposes  on  them ; 
will  not  be  left  to  a  future  Sterne  to  remind  us,  when  we  pn 
even  a  harmless  insect,  that  the  world  is  large  enough  for  both 


MISOELLANEOUS. 

The  Hoy.  W.  C.  Osborn,  chaplain  of  the  Bath  gaol,  i 
paper  on  ''  Bestrictions  upon  Imprisonment  under  Bnmmaiy 
diction  for  Minor  and  First  OfPoncos. ' '  *  He  said,  in  the  prime 
mont  of  the  reformatory  school  system,  imprisonment,  in  add! 
detention  in  a  reformatory  school,  was  never  contemplated, 
school  was  to  be  instead  of  the  gaol,  not  an  addition  to  it.  Tl 
sequence  of  this  had  been  that  the  number  of  children  imprison 
not  much  decreased  since  the  passing  of  the  Hefonnatoxr  £ 
Act,  and  there  aro  still  nearly  10,000  children  sent  annuaUj 
^aols.  Tho  Reformatory  Schools  Act  obliges  the  committing : 
Irate  to  sond  tho  child  that  is  considered  by  him  a  fit  subjeot : 
rofonnatory  school  to  prison  for  fourteen  days.  He  ahowe 
imprisonment  in  a  gaol  was  a  very  serious  matter,  anc 
the  imprisonment  of  children  was  wrong  in  principle,  as  n 
useless  in  practice.  This  sinning  against  the  child  was  par 
its  application,  for  it  affected  almost  exclusively  the  {KMirar  i 
of  society.    It  produces  more  evils  than  it  remedies.    Th< 

•  Seo  Tronwtvmi,  1802,  p.  52L 


1/umU(uuou«, 


333 


;  or  requira  that  either  the  poor  bLouIcI  be  pimialied  for 
rertj,  or  that  Hie  welI-t/>-do  classes  slionld  bo  diegraci-'d 
krooratioii.  Ho  was  decidedly  in  favour,  not  of  levelling 
it  of  leveUing  up,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  rich,  but 
lake  of  the  poor,  or,  in  otlior  words,  adapting  the  law  tn 
imetancea  of  the  latter.  He  would  suggest  (1)  that  all 
attendnnt  upon  the  puntshmont  of  offences  under  sununiiry 
on  should  be  defrayed  by  public  funds,  as  under  recorders, 
I  of  Quarter  Sessions,  and  judges  ;  (2)  that  tines  should  be 
led  amording  to  the  condition  of  the  offender,  as  well  as  the 
(8)  that  tines  might  be  allowed  to  be  paid  by  periodic 
its ;  (4}  that  those  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  fines  front 
)r  want  of  employment  be  expected  to  give  some  oquiv&Iont 
r  ftt  the  union-house,  or  some  other  public  institution  or 
roric ;  (5)  that  on  those  unable  to  comply  with  those 
—children,  aged,  imbocile,  and  infirm  persona— detention 
on  house,  or  some  punishment  short  of  imprisonment  be 
I  (6)  the  mode  of  proceeding  with  children  to  be  this, 
rther  measures,  that  no  chUd  under  sixteen  years  of  age, 
ided  for  any  ofi'ence  punishable  by  summary  jurisdiction, 
t  oommitted  to  prison,  unless  the  child  had  been  previously 
d  to  a  reformatory  school. 

tev.  W.  C,  OsBOEN  also  road  a  paper  on  "Seculoi-  In- 
in  Prisons  and  Unions."  He  said  that  before  long  they 
jrly  hope  to  see  every  cliild  in  the  country,  under  tie  age 
e  or  thirteen  years,  brought  under  the  instruction  of  a 
ettiT  or  schoolmistress  ;  hut  what  was  to  be  done  for  those 
above  that  age,  and  adults,  whose  poverty  or  crime  miglit 
em  under  necessary  or  compulsory  dotoution  ?  Without 
ng  upon  the  large  proportion  of  inmates  of  prisons  and 
les  inat  were  unable  to  read  or  write,  suiEcient  had  been 
rove  that  there  were  Bome  hundreds  of  thousands  of  adults 
institutiona  whose  education  had  not  only  been  neglected, 
I  were  without  the  elementary  tnowlcdge  which  every 
Kuig  might  to  possess,  and  which  every  civilised  nation 

I  give  to  their  indigent  and  demoralized  classes.  The 
hv  this  condition  of  things  rested  with  the  magistracy  and 
r  guardians.  The  country  was  greatly  indebted  to  those 
n  for  their  honorary  but  latorious  labours,  and  would  be 

II  greater  obligations  if  they  would  aeriously  conaidor  the 
ft  adult  education  for  criminals  and  paupers  in  thoso 
institutions  within  the  reach  of  their  ofBcial  influence,  and 
e  such  Fteps  as  the  imjiortance  and  magnitude  of  the  work 
d  from  them.  The  Prison  Act  of  1863  doubdess  authorised 
tig  juBtioes  to  make  adequate  and  ef&cient  provision  for 
ry  aMUlar  instruction  in  the  gaols,  and  gave  them  power 
its  application  for  the  purpoae.  But  the  Act,  in  ita  re- 
rules  for  tlie  secular  instruction  of  prisonera,  had  been  so 

ted  that  one  of  the  most  important  means  of  reforming  our 


334  Repression  of  Crime  Summary. 

danfforous  and  criminal  classes  had  been  totallj  neglected  in  soob 
gaols,  and  employed  only  as  a  form  and  a  farce  in  others,  h 
union-houses  tne  idea  of  employing  schoolmasters  and  school* 
mistresses  in  the  instruction  of  adults  had  been  seldom  entertsinod, 
although  they  contained  oven  a  greater  number  of  uneducated 
persons  than  the  prisons,  and  although  instruction  could  be  g;iTeii 
m  them  in  a  more  oifoctive  and  convenient  manner  than  in  gaols. 

Miss  Mart  CxiLPEifTEB  read  a  paper  on  ''Certified  Industtid 
Schools,  and  their  Belation  to  School  Boards."    The  writer  stUed 
that  these  schools  are  related  to  reformatories  in  having  the  pofwsr 
of  legal  detention,  and  therefore  being  under  the  direction  of  thi 
Secretary  of  State,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  prefim 
imxnrisonment,  and  therefore  no  stigma  attached  to  the  imnatjt 
She  gave  a  brief  history  of  the  reformatory  movement,  shoviu 
the  principle  on  which  those  schools  were  founded,  and  their  olgsji- 
as  pre^ientive  institutions ;  and  enumerated  some  difficulties  whuali 
had  beset  the  schools  in  consequence  of  their  peculiar  positicm,  aai 
showed  how  these  might  bo  removed.     It  was  partioularly  wuom 
sary  that  the  exact  intention  of  certified  industrial  schools  flhoiljl. 
be  understood,  now  that  the  school  boards  were  beginning  a  niw 
era  in  the  educational  condition  of  the  country.    They  most  not  W 
considered  as  applicable  to  those  children  who  have  hitherto  been 
sent  to  ragged  scnools,  or  in  any  case  as  a  remedy  for  simple  desti- 
tution.    For  these  last  cases  the  workhouse  schools  should  be  nubil 
eligible;  nor,  in  the  other,  should  the  country  bo  made  to  pay  Itt 
per  annum  for  thousands  of  children  in  our  large  towns,  who  migU 
be  educated  and  trainod  at  the  expense  of  a  few  pounds  per  amm 
from  the  local  rates.      They  would,  however,  be  most  importurt 
auxiliaries  to  the  school  boards,  if  strictlv  limited  to  those  (mildrea 
who  require  absolute  removal  by  day  and  night  from  their  preieal 
influences,  and  if  payment  for  such  were  enforced  from  pareniii 
In  conclusion,  she  trusted  that  the  difficulties  which  had  arisn 
would  in  no  way  lessen  the  confidence  of  the  public  in  them,  or  the 
due  emplo3rmcnt  of  them  by  tho  school  boaros,  and  recommended 
the    following   as  a  means    of   removal    of   the    difficulties:  — 
(1.)  Granting  a  certificate  to  such  schools  as  are  boarding  schoole 
only  without  an  admixture  of  day  scholars,  and  withdrawing  tiie 
permission  for  children  to  sleep  out  of  the  house  except  such  ss  am 
ro^larly  licensed  out.      (2.)  Strictly  limiting  the  admission  d 
children  to  such  as  come  under  the  meaning  of  the  Act,  and  nol 
extending  it  to  cases  of   simple  destitution.      (8.)  Using  men 
vigorous  measures  to  enforce  payments  on  parents  whose^iiUni 
are  sent  to  industrial  schools.      (4.)  Bringing  workhouse  sehooli 
under  the  management  of  a  special  board,  elected  for  the  pnnoee 
by  the  ratepayers,  and  thus  introducing  into  the  education  of  fltt 
children  dependent  on  parochial  relief  that  voluntair  element  wMeh 
has  been  found  so  successful  in  the  certified  industrial  schools. 


^■F.nTT 


EDUCATION, 


eddcation  op  neglected  ccildrem.* 
\lftfie  Education  of  Neglfcted  Children  be  best  prwided  for? 

ipiesdoii  considered  in  rogaid  to  Industrial  ijclioola  and 
atioa  to  the  School  Boanls,) 

KAEY  CAEPENTER  retui  a  ^aper  on  tlie  shove  question, 
iper  conunenced  by  remarlung  that  the  neglected  and 
Idren  of  the  comniunity,  and  what  should  be  done  with 
kd  buen  a  subject  for  the  comuderation  of  the  Afisociation 
I  first  Confess  at  Bimiinghom.  in  1857.  A  quarter  of  a 
ago  the  wretched  condition  of  thousands  of  children  was 

vividly  before  the  pubbc  by  the  first  attempt  to  establish 
Bchouls.     It  'was  repeatedly  urged  that  whether  the  con- 

tiiese  children  was  looked  at  &om  the  stand-point  of 

btmerolence,  or  as  a  matter  of  hard,  dry  political  economy, 
lit  was  the  same.  It  was  well  known  that  moat  of  those 
erod  such  institutions  wore  grovelling  in  ignorance,  low  in 
and  uncirilieod  in  manners.  Beared  in  a  pauper  atmo- 
lepressed  in  spirit,  a  lai^  portion  of  them  wotud  themselTos 
long  adult  paupers,    and  become   the   progenitors   of    a 

degraded  race.     Others,  whom  a  pound  or  two  per  annum 

(diciously  might  have  rescued,  were  now  coating  the  State 

per  year  in  a  reformatory,  or,  if  that  had  been  neglected, 

idreda  directly,  and  far  more  indirectly,  as  convicts.  The 
Let  of  the  Legislature  had  ovidently  aoiepted  the  principle 
iry  child  in  the  country  should  have  the  means  of  obtaining 
m,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  parents,  or,  in  case  of 
Rbility  or  neglect  of  the  State  to  provide  it,  I'roceeding  to 
T  how,  under  the  provisions  of  tlie  Act,  school  boards  could 
with  the  lowest  cluss  of  the  population  hitherto  untouched, 
lior  pointed  out  that  if  the  school  boards  provided  a  suf- 
of  elementary  schools,  and  enforced  attendance,  with  the 
r  of  free  schooling  where  necessary,  ragged  or  simple  free 
pols  would  then  become  uimecessary.  The  ragged  schools 
fgiaally  established  to  act  on  the  yery  lowest  class,  but,  as 
"MM  of  every  similar  movement,  the  improveiuent  of  the 
had  attracted  to  them  a  class  superior  to  those  for  whom 
iro  intended.  In  proportion  as  this  was  the  case  many 
I  would  be  left  behind  untouched,  just  as  the  Sunday  school 
QBvnt  condition  did  nut,  in  ordinary  cases,  affect  the  class  of 


i  1866,  pp.  307.  348, 


336  Education  of  NegheUd  Children. 

cliildren  who  frequent  ragged  schools.  After  re&n 
wretchedness  prevailing  in  the  lower  parts  of  large 
author  stated  that  all  who  wore  personally  fjEuniliar  wi 
dition  of  the  worst  parts  of  larg^  towns  were  ftdly  a' 
impossibility  of  extending  elementary  education  in  soch 
the  establishment  of  any  number  of  elementary  schoo 
experience  had  proved  that  the  ordinary  n^g^&i  sdho 
grapple  with  the  difficulty.  In  four  coiurts  visited  by 
in  Bristol  in  March,  1871,  it  was  found  that  only  one 
children  between  three  and  twelve  years  were  receh 
schooling,  while  in  another  district  ^e  proportion  wi 
third,  though  every  possible  efiPort  had  been  made 
obstacles  to  the  attendance  of  the  children  at  school 
viewing  the  history  of  the  efiPorts  made  to  reach  the  ne 
destitute  children,  the  reader  proceeded  to  consider 
position.  It  was  evident  then  that  the  ordinary  raffget 
absolutely  unable  to  cope  with  the  gigantic  work  to  De  d 
had  been  done  by  the  voluntary  system,  but,  until  some 
element  was  introduced,  nothing  more  could  effectual!; 
touch  this  evil.  The  actual  state,  not  only  of  the  chil« 
the  families  to  which  they  belonged,  must  demonstrate 
attendance  at  an  ordinary  day  school  would  not  be 
improve  these  children.  Their  homes,  their  habits, 
general  condition,  were  such  that  ''compulsory  attends 
wliole  day,  in  a  school  where  they  will  be  fed  and  tau^l 
work,  and  civilised  as  well  as  educated  intellectually,'' 
meet  their  wants.  Such  schools  had  long  been  establi 
north  of  England,  and  in  Scotland,  with  admirable  re 
Education  Act  did  not  give  school  boards  power  to  gi^ 
but  boards  of  guardians  could,  if  they  thought  fit,  ord 
to  be  made  to  the  school  for  all  children  having  dai 
rates,  and  could  enforce  payment  by  all  parents  who  ne^ 
offspring.  The  reader  expressed  the  hope  that  in  evei 
the  school  boards  would  direct  the  special  attention  of  ' 
to  every  child  in  a  neglected  and  destitute  condition,  i 
until  not  a  child  could  be  found  who  was  not  brought 
educational  influences  as  were  adapted  to  his  circumsti 
following  are  the  suggestions  Miss  Carpenter  recommend 
tion  : — (1.)  That  a  central  office  shall  be  established  h 
with  the  school  board,  to  which  all  cases  of  neglected 
children  should  bo  referred  for  future  action.  (2.)  The 
shall  be  instructed  by  the  proper  local  authorities  to  d 
office  all  children  whom  they  may  find  wandering  about 
in  the  streets.  (3.)  That  agents  shall  be  appointed  b 
for  the  different  districts  of  the  city,  who  shieul  use  ev< 
induce  children  to  attend  regularly  the  common  sbho< 
ordinary  National,  British,  or  other  pay  schools,  and  a 
board  for  payment  where  the  parents  are  unable 
(4.)  That  application  shall  be  made  by  the  agents  to  t 
behalf  of  aU  children  who  are  shown  to  be  unfit  for  1 


foT  an  order  for  ttoir  regular  attendance  at  aomo  day  foed- 
Qstrial  school,  approved  by  tho  board  as  fit  and  proper,  or 
^  by  tliem  witli  payment  for  education.  ThougU  a  board 
irder  attendance  at  any  particular  echool,  yet  if  the  child  is 
\y  vnablo  to  attend  any  other  school,  it  can  require  him  to 
d^y  iuduetrial  school.  (5.)  That  the  board  not  being  able 
foi*  tho  food  of    Buuh  ijhildren   ehuU  arrange   with    the 

I  of  the  poor  to  send  to  a  day  feeding  industrial  acUooI, 

by  the  board,  all  children  above  three  years  old  receiving 
sJief,  n^th  payment  of  not  leas  than  Is.  Gd.  per  week  for 
^ad  instruction  of  the  child.  (6.)  That  in  all  cases  whore 
ticable  weekly  payments  for  the  food  of  the  child  shall  be 
upuu  parents,  in  relief  of  the  expenses  of  the  school. 

nil  children  who  cannot  bo  reached  by  this  agency  shall 
[it  before  the  laagiatratos  for  sentence  to  a  certified  in- 
ihool,  payment  being  enforced  on  tho  pareat.  In  oon- 
Cisa  Carpenter  hoped,  therefore,  that  when  there  is  an 
Sducational  Act  there  ivill  be  distinct  provisions  made  for 
3Xff  industrial  day  schools,  in  connection  with  the  school 
^^  chut  these  may  have  power  to  build  and  assist  them, 
ckUdriitn  to  them  hy  theli  ageuts,  instead  of  bringing 
>ire  tho  magistrates  to  ho  placed  under  legal  detention. 
scrtonsioa  of  the  present  power  of  the  board,  and  by  a 
zroiee  of  such  power,  in  co-oporation  with  voluntary  efi"ort, 

hof  ed  tlwt  uie  class  of  destitute  and  neglected  children 
ig&t  exist  in  our  cities. 


DISCDSSIOK. 
Ford  (Dandini} ;  IThe  Lindoa  Board  appointed  a  committM  to  con- 
>ui<il  be  (lone  in  cODJiinction  with  oiiating  induglrinl  Kiboob.  Ihut 
v»oartti  u  meoting  oi  119  tunaj  of  tho  manager!  of  oartjjled  indvutrjal 
uLd,  be  sot  logotJier,  and  afterwards  of  ragged  Khaalii.  Much  infor- 
C>k*>kMrairat  these  nuwtings,  and  it  wna  diitinctlj  made  known  that  Iho 
••--'•iiia  iml  to  work  iu  opposition  to  the«e  eliiting  ogenciM,  but  to  lue 
_  if  puvaible.  Tliu  practical  ooDoluiion  arrived  at  ana  that  measures 
^^  J^n  to  iwuocLiiri  iho  uumber  and  capabililiee  of  tho  Tsrioui  refornia- 
I'lk  iTioaghuut  tlio  metropolis,  and  also  wlielber  the  number  of  boys  that 
'""  Bp  out  of  tho  atreeta  would  eioeed  the  nccommMlution.  Upon  the 
eouuailtee  found  there  \rere  Tuoanciea  in  oiirting  Khoou,  nod 
d  Uut  no  industrial  (cbool  should  be  built  b;  the  Board  until 
had  liecil  tilled,  'i'hej  abiu  rccommBiidcd  the  appointment  of 
ba  the  children  froiu  the  etreeti,  and  U>  wnd  tliem  to  the  industrial 
^•oquiry,  they  found  a  similar  olHaer  to  ttuit  described  b;  Kin 
■  btiag  at  work  in  Bristol  was  at  work  in  Landun,  ocling  under  n 
■MooMtion,  'mnd  tluC  ho  bad  been  for  somo  time  taking  any  bof 
isould.  l>o  dealt  with  under  the  loduitriol  Suhools  Act.  It  laay  be 
Ukt  auj  little  ragguJ  boj  ttut  lauj  bo  found  in  the  slrc«t  can  be  dealt 
'^;b>M  Aol.  but  such  is  not  tho  cose.  Tho  parents  of  thoao  bojs  let  them 
idlj,  nnd  it  ie  not  fair,  nor  acuunling  to  law,  that  each  bo^s  should  bu 
a«lr  handa,  at  a  ohnrge  upon  the  Stiito  of  13/.  a  jear,  siiaplj  bwause 
»tA  nogloct  their  dutf .  It  is,  therefore,  ouly  a  leloriion  of  hoyi  with 
OMk  deal  under  the  present  law.  During  the  five  jean  this  oMoer  bos 
nk  in  London  bobaslAkenup  TOO  children,  eiorj  one  of  whose  casus 
ttHnuuiLhTj  enquired  into.    Coae*  of  att«(npt«d  imposition  ore  not  un- 

22 


33d  Educaiim  0/  NegUoUd  Children. 

frequent.  A  good  many  of  the  boys  were  plaoed  in  certified  ii 
"Mmbj  oould  not  be  so  dealt  with,  and  had  to  be  plaoed  in  toUb 
the  fathers  oame  under  the  Beformatory  Schools  Act;  some  ol 
taken  to  their  parents,  who  were  cautioned  that  if  th^  allowed  1 
the  streets  thej  would  lose  them.  From  this  part  of  his  ezpei 
rated  Miss  Carpenter's  statement  that  only  the  worst  parents  n 
their  children.  As  regards  the  cost  of  dealing  with  these  bo; 
made  an  agreement  to  pay  the  industrial  school  managers,  and  tfa 
to  work  remarkably  well  as  far  as  the  limited  powers  of  tha  ] 
Act  ^oes.  A  slight  amendment  of  the  Industrial  Schools  Act  n 
proTide  feeding  achools  at  the  expense  of  the  Home  Office.  1 
meet  the  case  is  power  to  apprehend  all  the  destitoto  children  fo 
and  to  take  them  to  a  feeding  day  induitrial  school  by  a  goremn 

Mr.  A.  H.  Safforo  (London)  had  watohed  the  working 
Schools  Act  for  some  years,  and  was  sorry  to  say  the  amount  of ' 
to  him  but  a  drop  in  the  ocean.  In  Surrey,  Protestant  sAool 
be  goty  although  we  can  get  plenty  of  Bonum  Catholic  schod 
Southwark  is  concerned  he  was  of  opinion  that  we  could  fil 
schools  with  adyantage,  than  we  could  raise  money  for.  He  1 
course  of  his  experience  that  when  a  parent  had  succeeded  in 
into  an  industrial  school  he  is  exceedmsly  anxious  to  ^  anot 
found  that  those  most  anxious  to  get  their  children  into  induetri 
their  natoral  guardians,  but  their  step  parents.  It  not  unf requc 
such  parents  bare  money  i^ut  as  a  temptation  to  their  ehildr 
then  charge  them  criminally,  and  so  get  them  sent  to  an  industi 
it  is  well  uiown  that  a  boy  who  comes  out  of  an  industrial  se! 
start  in  life  than  those  who  haTC  not  had  the  adTantage  of  the 
Uiere.  We  cannot  depend  on  the  parents  even  were  ther  we 
mother,  in  most  cases,  goes  out  washing  all  day,  and  the  fatner  c 
to  stay  at  home  to  see  that  his  children  go  to  school,  so  that  we 
other  machinery.  In  New  York  they  hare  a  list  of  all  the  chi 
be  at  school,  and  the  officer  compares  that  with  the  children  in 
absentees  are  then  inquired  for,  and  if  they  are  absent  from  no 
are  searched  for  in  the  street  and  taken  to  the  school.  If,  aft 
quencies  of  this  sort,  the  boys  are  deemed  incorrigible  they  are  tl 
industrial  scbooL  The  onus  should  be  upon  the  parent  in  thi 
send  the  children  to  school.  If  they  are  unable  to  control  then 
might  reliere  themselyes  of  the  responsibility  by  formally  callin 
board  officer  to  see  that  the  boy  went  to  school.  Fkiling  this,  t 
be  held  responsible,  and  punished  for  neglecting  to  see  that  1 
school.  We  are  punishing  persons  for  neglecting  to  obserre 
health,  surely  we  should  do  the  same  by  thoee  who  neglect  thi 
morality  and  education. 

Mr.  TnoMiiB  Chatfikld  Clarki  (Member  of  the  London  Sck 
London  School  Board,  with  a  yiew  to  saying  the  ratepayers*  mon 
do  anything  towards  the  building  of  industrial  schools  so  long  i 
modation  in  existing  institutions  in  the  neighbourhood  of  I^m 
boys  carrying  on  any  ostensible  occupation  cannot  be  taken  be 
and  it  is  a  most  difficult  matter  to  disooyer  when  the  oocupati<m 
A  boy  may  carry  a  single  box  of  matches  in  his  hand  from  < 
the  ouier,  and  hu  parents  may  assert  that  he  is  engaged  in  an  ooc 
for  the  support  of  the  family.  In  such  cases,  which  may  almc 
oases  of  systematic  be^maryt  the  children  do  not  come  under  the  1 
Act  This  is  one  of  the  difficulties  with  which  we  are  now  fl| 
where  we  haye  fiye  officers  continually  at  work.  Thoy  are  mei 
experience  in  dealing  with  tlio  poor ;  they  maintain  their  positi 
ana  judgment,  and  are  not  unnecessarily  harsh.  As  to  feeding 
day  schools,  that  is  a  question  which  is  now  cropping  up  in  tli 
Board.  The  question  really  is  how  many  of  the  raggra  childrei 
the  school  unless  there  is  power  to  feed  them  in  the  middle  of  ti 
Carpenter's  plani  money  would  be  abstracted  from  the  pooketi  o 


ilrei  only  juM  remoTed  from  the  pauper  clua,  and  I 
'*         "  -J-  --     -  deriTed  f         ->--  --■---> 


Id  return  in  Ibe  eTening  to  homw  wbero  thor  we  not  under  good 
ben,  UBJn,  mainr  parentx  woiUd  xmd  their  children  to  the  ichool 
Ihe  dinneri  uui  not  for  tbe  take  ot  the  ii 


a  Sunday  KhooU.  Manj  pnrenU  >end  tbeir  ohildren  to  8und^ 
for  the  aue  of  matrrud  beneQla  than  educational  adrantagM.  We 
deal  in  London  with  another  practiutU  question.  The  guardian! 
paid  turn  sums  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  the  out-door 

In  une  diatrict  of  the  metropolis  800  children  are  paid  for  b;  tba 
:diuw,  and  thef  are  now  uking  that  thin  coat  ahould  be  tnken  oE  tbeir 
eboot  Bawd.  Hitherto  the  Board  hu  not  oonnnted  to  do  tliie,  and 
)  thnt  dSDianda  coneider&ble  attention.  I  do  not  think  it  right  the 
M  Mioe  lAke  &eM  obildren  off  the  hands  of  the  guardiani,  who  in 
IT*  better  nieans  of  iscenaining  the  aotusl  position  of  a  poor  man 
d  bu.  It  inaj  be  interestinei  bonerer,  to  some  here  to  know  that 
Board  aanFtioni  the  elaborate  report  that  boa  been  prepared  bj  the 
ia  hoped  that  by  eetabliahing  total  officers  all  thfoiigb  London  we 
:i  get  clearly  and  accumtelj  at  the  posilion  of  the  poor  in  the  vorioul 

to  deal  with  eooh  diatriet  according  lo  it*  wants.  At  present  we 
ultjr  in  reliering  Poor  Iaw  guardians  of  tbe  paTment  for  thousand! 
t  acfaool.  whiob  is  in  fact  a  sort  of  out-door  relieF.  How  we  shall 
rts  of  oOciole  sent  out  to  gather  children  into  induatrial  seboota; 
Dwke  lliow  eSorU  more  suowtaful  in  gaining  in  tbe  class  we  desire 
luir  we  can  feed  the  cbtldren  in  our  sohoola  without  creating  an 
Iperlsni  in  tbe  future  j  and  how  wo  sbnll  do  tbem  good  periaanentlj, 
I  Ibem  awaj  from  the  had  iuduences  of  the  homes  of  those  thej  are 
ive  with,  are  all  questions  whiob  tbe  Board  bos  continuallj  before  it. 
ut  BoTLCT  {London)  stated  tbat  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  North 
rial  School  wore  turned  out  ver;  good  serraute.  He  congratulated 
I  tbe  feeling  in  CiTour  of  compulsion. 

Dr.  Etnn  (member  of  tJie  London  School  Board)  could  not  help 
n>  are  in  somewhat  of  a  dileiunui.  There  ie  no  amoH  diflicultj  in 
m  lo  industrial  Khools.  and  there  is  great  diSlcaItT  in  deciding  what 
m  of  the  school  should  be,  because  it  muat  be  in  the  nature  of  a 
u  o  «ohoDl.  It  is  also  tbe  essence  of  Che  ajstem  that  it  ebculd  be  lo 
>liintary.  Uin  Oirpentsr  inaiita  that  the  children  must  be  fed,  and 
in>  iaverT  little  choice  between  feeding  schools  and  industnal  schools. 
Injj  eaid  that  so  long  oa  the  children  go  back  in  the  erening  from 
Is  to  bomes  where  tboj  are  under  bad  tmluoncoa,  their  education  will 

under  u  great  diaadrantage;  and,  if  the;  are  not  to  be  under  that 
Ihej  must  bo  taken  to  the  industrial  schools.  This  i»  our  dilemma, 
ir,  occurred  to  biin  that  it  iiiigbt  be  pomible  to  aUow  the  children  to 
B  da;  in  such  occupation  aa  the;  followed,  and  tbe  other  half  in  Iba 
llis  armn^niBnt  the  children  would  not  be  preTcnted  from  doing 
'  tbeir  liung,  and  parents  would  not  be  deprivml  of  whaterer  earning* 
wke.  If  we  take  a»a;  tbe  fhildron  altogether,  and  call  upon  the 
itribnto  towards  their  maintenance  and  education,  he  was  afraid  wo 
iblis  to  carry  it  out.  Great  as  are  the  theoretical  and  the  economical 
iWenr,  the  evil  will  be  in  some  respeote  remedied   by  giving  tbe 


Baoou  LiHBBBT  (Frescot)  taid  aome  oompromiee,  such  as  that 
Dr.  Bigg,  would  be  most  TOluable ;  but  no  sysleni  of  f'leding  ragged 
CB  ought  to  be  asseatad  to  without  rerj  grare  consideration,  I)r. 
uad  tbst  if  you  do  not  feed  these  obildren  in  a  da;  scbool  jou  roust 
iBoartiBed  industrial  si-huul,  atid  whiehever  course  jou  adopt  ;ou 
tita.    There  is,  howerer,  one  important  difference  between 

Kne  thing  people  of  this  clan  dread  ie  being  taken,  bvfora 
ctitgnee  It  die  greatest  bar  at  the  pKtent  V\aw  \ia  ^^^m% 
22—^ 


340  lEducatvon  of  NegtecUd  Chitdren* 

people  ibrowing  ihoir  children  on  tho  cbarity  of  indusirial  b^iooIb.  ^ 
nana,  if  you  open  ibcso  schools  wilh  dinners  you  multiply  the  eri 
roffgod  school.  Wliy  liaTO  we,  in  former  times,  opposed  Miss  Gar] 
ef^ts  to  get  goTernmcnt  grants  for  ragged  schools  ?  Without 
principle  that  there  was  nothing  ncMlcd  in  the  school  but  a  stick  ar 
naTO  always  insijtod  that  the  discipline  of  the  ragged  school  was  h 
pay  school,  and  we  felt  pure  that  hy  offering  free  ^ucation  we  shoul 
mto  these  schools  a  class  which  hiul  no  business  there.  Miss  Oar 
that  these  schools  haye  been  used  by  those  who  ought  not  to  be  the 
now  oskcd  to  promote  schools  offering  the  great  temptation  of  s 
Not  only  would  it  pauperise  the  parents,  but  it  would  be  a  yery  stro 
to  theniJ|to  let  their  children  wander  about  the  streets  rageed,  unwaah 
a  course  of  treatment  to  which  the  children  must  ineyitaUy  succumb 
should  bo  tried  by  the  London  School  Board,  he  trusted  that,  insteac 

generally  introduced,  the  experiment  would  bo  made  in  one  district  oi 
oweyer,  only  one  true  solution  of  the  question,  and  that  is  the  rigj' 
of  the  principle  of  the  Poor  Law.  If  the  parents  are  unable  to  eiii 
earnings  of  their  children,  then  admit  both  parents  and  children  ii 
and  there  take  care  of  them.  Nothing  do  parents  luite  so  muc 
enforcement  of  the  English  Poor  Law ;  it  is  a  stronger  deterrent  ere 
the  magistrate. 

Mr.  Mark  Whitwill  (Bristol)  said  what  we  haye  to  do  is  to  ; 
generation  growing  up  as  bod  as  the  present  generation  of  parents, 
district  in  Bristol  where,  within  a  radius  of  seyenty  yards,  there  wei 
who,  through  the  drunkenness  of  their  parents,  are  utterly  negle 
running  wild  in  the  etrccts,  who  beg  and  steal  and  get  their  liyine 
get  nothiilV  from  their  parents,  but  iust  enough  to  keep  body  and  soiu 
one  case  there  are  four  children  whose  father  is  dead,  and  whose  m< 
all  day,  and  returns  drunk  at  night.  It  would  bo  a  mockery  to  offer 
book,  when  his  cliief  want  is  brnid.  lie  was  therefore  most  anxiou 
plan  adopted  such  as  that  described  by  Miss  Carpenter. 

Mr.  Bi'8nELL  said  he  was  sorry  to  find  so  strong  a  feeling  againi 
schools.  It  is  simply  impossible  to  proyide  for  the  dense  mass  of 
found  in  all  large  towns  by  means  of  industrial  schools.  Such  schoo 
in  sufficient  number,  and  if  the  industrial  school  system  is  to  meet 
of  the  case,  it  will  haye  to  be  extended  yery  largely  indeed.  Affaii 
are  many  reasons,  not  the  least  formidable  being  that  of  cost.  If 
can  be  adopted,  and  if  the  Elementary  Education  Act  is  to  be  efficien 
Uiere  must  be  a  mid-day  meal.  You  cannot  put  a  book  into  a  child 
any  hope  of  improyftmont,  if  he  han  an  empty  stomach.  The  childre 
Ho  did  not  fear  the  result  of  sending  children  back  to  their  homes,  i 
been  under  training ;  but  he  would  take  care  to  keep  the  children  i 
OS  many  hours  as  pof^sible.  lie  would  get  them  to  the  school  as  ea 
during  the  day,  and  keep  them  as  late  as  ho  could.  In  order  to  prev' 
of  pauperising  both  children  and  parents,  he  would  proyide  some 
ployment  for  tho  children  during  the  mid-day  hours,  by  which  the 
their  dinners.  This  would  preyent  the  yiolation  of  the  principle  m 
sisted  on  by  some,  that  the  children  should  not  be  fed  gratuitouslj 
parenti  should  not  bo  depriyod  of  tho  odyantoge  to  be  gained  by  tbi 
the  labour  of  their  children.  Then,  as  regards  sending  the  children 
parents,  he  asked  whether  it  was  not  more  likely  that  the  children 
the  parents  for  good,  than  that  the  parents  will  influence  the  childn 
present  these  poor  children  haye  not  presented  to  them  any  cot 
poyerty  and  comfort,  between  cleanliness  and  filth,  between  monli 
rality,  betwon  the  comfortable  home  of  a  school  and  the  miserable 
which  they  liye ;  but  bring  them  once  to  school,  present  to  the  child 
contrasts,  and  then  you  may  hope  tliat  you  will  disgust  the  child  wit 
its  parents,  and  lead  it  to  indoctrinate,  as  far  as  a  child  can,  the  mine 
witk  the  feeling  and  spirit  of  tlie  child.  If  that  be  impossible,  at 
may  hope  that  the  child  will  grow  up  with  different  hopes,  different 
andarpirationitromlVvQif^oi  \U^T«i\tA.    VThen  the  JSlementary  '. 


jl,  as  Um  sxpocience  of  aehool  hcmrds  ma;  liifgot.  he  ibould  be 
'  in  the  ameading  Act  for  fe«ding  the  <^bildrDn.  At  to 
.  lid  b*  a  grent  ooat  in  tha  ritt«pavera,  he  remarked  that 
Inwlr  Ui  bmr  tlie  coat  of  workbouwv,  priaona,  po'jioe.^.,  and  that  there 
(bat  fallawi  lieavilj  u]>on  ui  u  tJinC  ontnileil  by  pauperiim  and  crime. 
ieourrgd  bj  feeding  and  nluratliig  dMiiliiie  obildren  would  load  to  Iba 
Nduolion  of  this  Ui.  IIo  iviui  strongly  of  Dfiinion  that  oompulsory 
tut  wluHil  bIuiuIU  b«  mrriiil  out,  or  the  Education  Act  -will  became,  in 
^atalt  events,  a  dNtd  letter.  He  did  not  think  romp utiion  should  be 
it  iuatt«r  with  loboal  buanis,  biit  should  be  nttogtther  conipuUory  br  Act 
BKlt.  We  find  that  tlia  altetidanoe  of  children  between  three  nod  Bre  at 
t  lolionla  stiuids  nt  n  hlghur  average  than  children  of  any  other  age.  This 
becsiUM  the  parent  ia  delighted  to  get  rid  of  her  children  for  the  day.  and 
U  taken  oare  of.  Let  ub  eeiie  upon  the  ohitdren  of  between  three  and 
^  that  Ihev  are  alt  put  to  aehool,  and  that  none  of  them  e«cape  bj  reaaan 
Nit)'  of  their  piironts.  Let  ua  do  with  our  youn^  children  aa  we  do  with 
[  Owt,  Kate  u[ran  thont  while  thej  arc  young,  brinp  them  into  the  aehool 
I  are  infante,  and  baring  got  ibem  there.  <to  our  ben  to  keep  them. 
UlwaKTKK  aaid  :  In  the  unt  iilace,  she  wlalied  it  lo  bo  distinctly  under- 
t  tile  oerljfled  induatrisl  acboula  are  abaoliitel;  uutaide  this  queition. 
I  aalnd  Ur,  Iaw  what  was  to  be  done  with  theae  millions  of  children,  he 
I— the  certified  industrial  schools  muM.  undertake  their  education !  She 
)  whether  he  waa  aecioui  in  propoaioe  that  the  countrv  should  b*  toisd 
Ulid  for  aTory  child  whote  parents  would  not,  or  conid  not,  send  it  to 
I^B  must,  in  oonsideriug  theau  queaUone.  deal  with  pounda,  ahiUingf.  and 
be  Biota]  argument  ia  no  use  iu  the  world  in  preaenting  a  acbeme  before 
tf.  We  must  deal  with  Ihe  money  part  of  the  question,  and  when  we 
we  the  immcnae  absurdity  of  auppofing  ibat  the  certiHed  industrial 
d  Kforautoriof  form  a  panacea  for  the  eril  of  which  abe  complained. 
Ion  School  Boftril  baa  begun  Tcrj  wisely  in  seeing  bow  far  they  nre  a 
LOd  iliey  haf  •  ditoorered  that  it  la  only  a  ohild  hero  and  thera  that  con 
ibaintfiiBlrialachooli.  In  thnftaliBb'caahs  hod  giren,  it  voutd  be  found 
I  ar>  eighty-four  children  in  one  district  who  are  nil  receiring  proper 
lUid  only  cue  wo*  aent  to  a  certified  industrial  aehool.  Wo  have  two 
■nd  one  ebip-indue trial  acbool  at  Brintol ;  but  the  ship  ia  only  half  full. 
Dot  be  filled.  The  only  war  of  getting  a  child  into  it  i>  to  get  the  police 
Uatohlldcloaely,  and  tee  nhelhr^rbc  can  jiutiry  bla  being  sent  to  tbein- 
AmA.  But  if  thl»  can  be  done,  the  parenta  do  not  like  the  children 
D  V9f  trow  them  itguinst  Ihoir  wilL  You  cannot  look  to  the  indualrial 
'ftmoHU  of  orcrcoming  the  evil.  Sheriff  Watson,  nf  Aberdeen,  tried 
b  avercomD  the  difficulty  by  offering  a  dinner,  but  this  was  not  enough. 
Ihtt  the  better  class  of  children  were  glad  to  come  lo  his  aehool  nod  eat 
',  but  tlie  Tagront  eloas  remained  uatouobed,  becnust  thev  preferred  their 
laj  bfoius  tlieir  parenta  preferred  to  hare  them  at  their  beck  and  call. 
•iMln.  thanrore.  reaolted  upon  another  phin;  he  secured  a  large  barn, 
ihenif,  he  was  ahle  to  go  to  work  in  u  more  authontative  mi^nner  than 
Bd  UAi  the  police  upon  a  certain  day  to  bring  all  the  children  they 
ID  ill*  street  ragabondinng  about,  aim  they  brought  them.  The  Kene 
',  trom  Ilia  kickina  and  itrucgUng,  but  bo  i^ave  tbem  a  dinner,  be  gave 
t  inatruotion,  aind  he  gare  them  another  meal  in  the  errning.  He  aafd 
iitin  might  be  catuidered  as  a  brenoh  of  the  liberty  of  the  aubjeet,  but 
'■  Hank  he  had  done  more  Ihan  giro  Ihem  n  rough  inritation  to  dinner. 
I4  in  tho  evening,  he  lold  them  to  come  ngiun.  and  they  would  And  a 
taiction.  and  workprorided  for  tbom.  "  I  cannot  make  you  oome,"  ha 
laaa  Ukeyou  up  if  yoo  won't  come,  and  will  Togabondin  in  theatroct." 
Qtieooe  wa*  that,  in  the  eourss  of  six  months,  the  300  or  400  vagunta 
bo  two.  Thit  ia  n  simple  fiu't.  TograncT  woa  nnniliilat«d  in  Aberdeen- 
it  wwild  not  hate  had  its  death-blow  if  Sheriff  Wataon  had  not  gone  a 
id  the  ordinary  poncrs  reateil  in  eheriSa.     The  acbool  bmrda  hate  thai 

Kcd.    But  then  oomea  the  queation  of  waya  and  mrona,     She 
*.    She  had,  in  individual  cases,  made  nigged  children  int 


i 


342  Education  of  Neglected  Children. 

rMpectnble  trftdetmen,  without  going  against  the  lawi  of  political  eoonomj.    Ha 
plan  is  firKt  to  have  the  children  at  icnool  br  eight  oVlock  to  a  good  brtakfiMt 
8ho  would  ^ive  them  a  dinner,  a  Terj  plain  and  inexpenrive  biit  aubftantial  dniMi^ 
made  well  of  noup  and  a  little  bread,  in  the  middle  of  the  day;  and  »hft  would  gjfi 
thorn  another  meal,  perhaps  of  porridge,  or  cocoa  and  bread,  polatablt  and  waobr 
Homo,  beforo  thoy  fi^Q  home,  it  mar  be,  at  seven  o*clock.    She  would  keep  thm 
the  whole  daj  under  civilizing  influences.    She  should  make  it  a  half-time  nbodt 
and  pTc  Kome  time  for  plnj,  which  she  thotiglit  very  important.    A§  regards  III 
contAminatinn:  influences  of  the  home,  Mr.  BushoU  spoke  the  truth.    Mr.  BM§ 
Watson  and  Dr.  Guthrie  found  the  children  were  not  contaminated.    Th«r  nuMb 
would  be  occupied  all  day,  and  bo  trained  to  take  a  pleasure  in  what  is  good,  b»» 
cause  the  mind  docs  t»ko  a  pleasure  in  what  is  good  intuitively.    Now,  grant  ttat 
the  feeding  school  ought  to  bo  tried,  she  would  not  advise  that  the  School  Boad 
shotdd  establish  a  number  of  such  schools  all  over  the  City.    Let  the  School  Bond 
subsidize  in  a  risht  way,  but  not  give  anything  for  food.     Nor  would  she  kt  tin 
Secretary  of  State  give  anything  for  food.    He  must  do  so  in  the  case  of  the  oati« 
fled  indu«trial  scIiooIh,  but  the  children  in  that  case  are  in  his  hands.    How,  tha, 
should  the  food  be  obtained  ?    Let  the  guardians  pay  for  the  school  fee,  sad  for 
tlio  food.    Let  them  pay  not  less  than  U,  (V/.  per  week  to  the  managenof  tki 
school,  that  is  all  that  the  pchool  and  the  food  would  cost,  and  the  giiaidisii 
would  be  certain  that  tho  children  would  not  grow  up  paupers.    In  the  case  of  tki 
older  children  they  would  very  nearly  pay  for  their  own  food.     She  hod  had  bm 
earn  several  shillings  a  week  by  wood-chopping,  which  is  an  ercoedingly  profiiM 
trade,  and  a  trifle  may  be  got  from  tlie  parents.     Many  would  pay  id.w^g 
week  to  have  their  cliildren  oiT  their  hands  in  i>uch  a  school  as  tliat,  with  tks 
knowledge  that  they  would  bo  properly  cared  for.  and  she  felt  sure  that  tb 
managers  of  such  schools  would  make  the  school  itself  find  the  rest.    Where  ia 
puoh  a  system  is  the  premium  upon  pauperism  t    Nowhere. 


Uofiomay  the  Education  of  Neglected  Children  he  best  provided forf 

By  tJie  Rev.  Brooke  Lambert. 

(Dealing  with  the  second  point  in  the  Special  QuesUon : — In  whit 
form,  if  any,  may  Compalsion  be  beak  applied  ?) 

I  PROPOSE  in  this  paper  to  assume  that  compulsion  should  be 
applied,  to  trace  first  the  position  of  school  boards  with  ref«^ 
once  to  It,  suggesting  iu  passing  any  modifications  of  the  system 
which  may  seem  necessary,  and  then  to  proceed  to  the  consideratioi 
of  what  further  national  legislation  on  tho  subject  may  be  required. 
In  examining  the  subject  we  shall  do  well  to  remember  that  of  the 
nations  which  may  claim  to  have  an  infiuence  on  the  history  of  the 
world,  only  Prussia  and  Switzerland  in  this  hemisphere,  and  in  the 
west4^rn  hemisphere  only  that  part  which  falls  under  the  dominion  of 
the  United  States,  have  a  compulsory  law.  We  shall  do  well  to 
remember  further  that  in  Prussia  the  compulsory  law  is  a  theoij 
rather  than  a  fact,  seeing  that*  '^  in  the  year  1869  there  wereonlf 
ten  prosecutions  of  parents  for  not  sending  their  children  to  echool 
in  the  whole  of  Prussia  and  Saxony,  containing  a  population  of 
26,200,000,  and  this  not  because  the  law  was  insufficiently  admin- 
istered, but  because  education  is  so  highly  prized."  On  the  other 
hand,  in  America,  where  a  general  compulsory  law  exists,!  '^^^ 
attendance  is  no  better,  indeed  hardly  so  good,  as  in  the  average  of 

*  Spence  Watson's  Report  to  the  Newcastle  School  Board,  p.  4. 
t  Eraser*!  Report  to  Schools'  Inquiry  Commistion,  p.  96. 


in  England."  It  is  further  to  tie  remembered  that  in  two 
in  countries,  Scotland  and  HoSland,  which  Bet  us  the  example 
tlional  inatiera,  there  are  ao  compulsory  lavrs,  and  that  in 
riand,  whilst  in  the  canton  of  Zurich  the  attendance*  aeema 
i-oxteneipe  with  the  populatiou,  in  the  French  cantons  the 
Dco  is  far  from  satisfactory,  and  waa  in  the  years  1846-53 

Ediiaiiiiabiug.t  In  Tasmania,  and  Australia  generally,  we 
e  teetinioiiy  of  itr.  Pears,  that  without  compulsory  laws 
ion  is  general,  and  that  the  subject  forma  one  of  the  regular 
p"  questions.  These  facta  may  serve  to  enforce  the  theory, 
■pace  does  not  allow  me  to  argue  out,  that  attendance  at  school 
alar  in  proportion  as  the  public  conscience  is  awakened 
I  matter :  llint  without  this,  compulsory  laws  become  a  dead 
,  that  with  this,  lawa  become  useless,  or  thitt  without  laws  it 
*B  the  end  which  they  are  designed  to  bring  about.  I  have 
dstics  to  show  how  far  law  may  create  a  public  coDScience 
I  matter.  I  have  tried  to  get  figures  to  show  what  proportion 
iTictions  were  returoed  in  countries,  where  compulsory  laws 
immediately  after  their  enactment,  lioplug  to  discover  a 
nluDg  proportion  in  each  auccaesive  year.  1  have  failed.  A 
lie  statement  in  the  Gonnecticat  Nineteenth  Annual  Report,} 
r,  "In  Prussia  in  1819  compulsory  laws  requiring  every  parent 
icate  his  children  were  enacted.  At  firat  there  waa  violent 
tioD,  and  the  usual  hue  and  cry  of  invaded  rights,  but  in  twelve 
Erime  and  pauperism  bad  diminished  40  per  ccnt."^iB  declared 
1  authority  of  Dr.  Neumann  of  Berlin  to  be  a  pure  invention. 
ret,  whilst  I  have  Or.  Neumann's  authority  for  the  statement 
^1  compulsion  alone  has  I>een  tha  means  of  producing  the 
ictory  resulta  where  satisfactory  attendance  exists,  facta  are 
rbat  contradictory.  For  instance  Mr.  Mark  Pattison's  figures, 
BgJ  a  decrease  of  (S40-3U2)  238  convictions  in  the  three 
.betweeu  1847  and  1850  after  the  enactment  of  some  modili- 
f  in  the  compulsory  law,  are  balanced  by  the  statement  that 
lyeara  succeeding  lt)30  a  large  increase  in  the  convictions  bad 
place,  till  in  1856  they  had  risen  to  1780.  On  the  other  hand 
old  seem,  from  Spence  Watson's  Report  quoted  above  (based 
llatemeut  of  Mr,  Matthew  Arnold),  that  since  then  the  public 
'mce  has  been  awakened.  Yet  with  Mr.  Pattison's  ^gures 
us,  we  can  hardly  attribute  to  law  alone  this  satisfactory  result, 
as  at  once  to  the  conaidoration  of  the  position  of  our  school 
with  reference  to  compulsory  education.  The  law  of  1S70 
34  Tict.  c.  75,  s.  74)  empowered  school  boards  to  make  bye- 
Ibforciiig  attendance  at  school  on  all  children  between  the  ages 
I  and  thirteen,  and  allowed  them  to  prescribe  the  time  during 
Bucb  children  were  to  attend,  and  to  grant  partial  or  total  ex- 

■am  WBtaon'a  Report,  p.  3. 

tthe«  Aruuld's  R«port  to  Duke  ot  Newcastle's  Conuniuion,  TuL  IT.,  p.  136. 
^^Btoil  by  Fnuer's  tUport,  p.  41. 

ttk  Pattiion'i  Report  to  Duks  of  KoircMtle  Commiinon,  Vol.  17.  p.  194. 


344  Education  of  Neglected  Cliildreru 

emption  from  attendance,  to  such  children  as  were  certified  by  Her 
J^fnjesty'a  inspectors  to  have  attained  a  specified  standard  of  educatkm. 
Now  to  most  persons  not  versed  in  educational  matters,  it  maj  seeii 
that  having  this  law  there  is  little  left  for  schoolboards  to  do  but 
to  pass  a  stringent  law,  and  enforce  it  bj  moans  of  the  magistntfli. 
Educationists    know    very    well    that,    besides    the    diffiooltj  of 
framing  bjo-laws  which   shall  not  press  unduly  on   the  parent^ 
the  mcro  power  of  compelling  a  child  to  go  to  school  (or  to  get  Ui 
name  entered  on  a  school  register)  is  valueless,  unless  some  fortlMr 
means  arc  taken  to  procure  the  regular  attendance  of  those  chiUroi 
whoso  names  arc  boruc  on  the  books.     The  bje-laws  of  Bootle-eooh 
Linacre,  a  suburb  of  Liverpool,  may  serve  as  a  sample  of  the  laws 
which   have  received  the  sanction  of  the  Committee  of  CoaneO; 
indeed,  I  have  heard  from  a  gentleman  whose  information  on  then 
subjects  is  almost  official,  tliat  they  are  considered  by  the  Committee 
of  Council   to   form   a   satisfactory  model.     Liverpool,  Stockportp 
Oxford,  and  Blackburn,  have  adopted  bye- laws   almost  identied. 
Birmingham  has  adopted  the  general  form  witli  some  admirabk 
alterations.     By  these  bje-laws   power  is  taken   to    enforce  die 
attendance  at  school  of  fdl  children  between  the  ages  of  fire  and 
thirteen,  unless,  in  the  case  of  children  over  ten  they  have  passed  the 
fifth  standard,  in  which  case  they  are  school  free,  or  unless  they  have 
passed  the  fourth  standard,*  in  which  case  they  may  compomid  hj 
an  attendance  of  fifteen  hours  per  week,  i.e.  by  half-time  attendanee. 
And  so  far  the  bye-laws  seem  excellent ;  but  on  looking  at  the  notioe 
to  the  parent  by  which  this  attendance  is  to  be  enforced,  we  find  that 
the  parent  is  charged  to  send  his  child  to  school  within  fourteen  daji 
Supposing  he  does  not  comply,  then  a  second  notice  is  to  be  serrei^ 
requiring  his  attendance  as  a  meeting  of  the  School  Board  at  »— 
date.     Now  let  us  take  a  case,  and  see  how  this  works  practicallf. 
Thomas  Jones  is  served  with  a  notice  to  send  his  child  to  schod. 
He  determines  to  disregard  the  notice,  and  afler  fourteen  daji  tke 
official  calls  again,  and  summons  him  to  attend  a  meeting  of  tke 
school  board,  and  show  cause.     He  attends,  and  makes  some  ezenie^ 
and  is  allowed,  as  he  certainly  ^viIl  be  allowed,  a  fortnight  more  to 
get  clothes,  and  then,  finally,  he  sends  his  child  to  school     Here  we 
have  certainly  a  moutli  wasted  in  preliminaries,  but  that  is  not  of 
much  importance  if  wo  have  secured  the  attendance  of  the  child  at 
school ;  but  after  a  fortnight's  schooling,  the  child  becomes  irregular, 
and  eventually  drops  attendance.     Then  the  school  ofilcer  calls  again, 
the  same  formality  has  to  be  transacted  (the  notice  is  only  [inBootle, 
Liverpool,  Oxford,  Blackburn,  Stockport,]  made  out   for  fonrteen 
days — in  Birmingham  the  first  notice  is  for  fourteen  days,  in  the  aab- 
sequent  notices  the  time  is  diminished),  another  fortnight's  notice, 
another  attendance  at  the  school  board,  which  probably  does  not  sit 
immediately  at  the  expiration  of  the  notice,  this  time  only  a  week's 


*  Birmingham  makoB  children  school  free  after  paaaing  the  fourth  stiodiitit 
and  half-timers  after  passing  the  third. 


By  the  Bev.  Brooke  Lambert.  815 

and  then  the  old  state  of  things  recurs.  This  is  what  would 
a  a  country  viUagey  and  in  smaller  tovms,  where  a  man  can 
M  traced.  But  in  our  large  centres,  the  proceeding  would 
ittle  Taried.  Here  Thomas  Jones  would  attend  or  not 
lodce,  but  be  sure  of  this  that  when  it  came  to  exacting  anj 
9  he  would  adopt  the  same  plan  with  the  school  board  which 
sts  with  his  landloid  and  creditors  universallj;  he  would  dis- 
»  and  leave  not  a  *'  rag ''  behind ;  *  disappear  to  carrj  out 
nother  school  board,  as  he  does  with  other  landlords  and 
rs,  the  same  game  of  hide  and  seek.  Or  at  best  he  would,  if 
ned  for  the   non-attendance  of  his  child,  plead  some  fault 

particular  school,  receive  orders  to  send  his  child  to  some 
ehool,  and  the  child  would  bo  sent  from  school  to  school  at 
Is  of  three  weeks,  to  disorganize  the  classes,  and  wear  out  the 
»  of  successive  teachers.  This  is  no  imaginary  picture.  I 
le  figures  of  my  own  school  in  the  parish  of  Whitechapel, 
we  had  to  deal  with  a  class  of  children  of  this  sort.  Of  the 
n  on  the  books  we  only  managed  to  get  (in  1865)  28  per 
ind  (in  1867)  37  per  cent,  to  attend  the  200  times — and  taking 
nber  of  children  who  were  in  attendance  at  tlie  school  at  one 
re  found  that — 

I  =  51*42  per  cent,  had  attended  less  than  1  year 
I  =s  200        „  „  1  year,  less  than  2  years 

J  =  10-71      „  „  2  „  3      „ 

=  12*13      „  „  3  „  4      „ 

i  =    5*71       „  „  4  „  6      „ 

)  „  „  more  than  5  years. 

these  figures  might  be  considered  exceptional  as  referring  to 
>1  in  an  unfavourable  locality ;  but  it  is  to  be  remembered  that 
these  unfavourable  localities  that  these  bye-laws  will  have 
requently  to  be  put  in  force.  But  the  general  average  of 
mce  throughout  the  country  as  shown  in  the  Annual  Report  of 
mmittee  of  Council  on  Education  for  the  cun-ent  year  gives 

but  litQe  more  favourable.  The  table  (p.  3)  No.  3  gives 
lowing  figures — 

AT  THE  SAME  SCHOOL. 

40'31  per  cent,  have  attended  less  than  1  year 

23*3        „  „  1         „        2  years 

150        „  „  2        „        3      „ 

9-44      „  „  3        „        4      „ 

5*8         „  „  4         „         D       „ 

6*15      „  „  more  than  5  years. 

a  persuaded  that  the  more  the  fact  of  irregular  attendance  is 
sed  on  the  minds  of  those  interested  in  education  the  sooner  wo 


Whitechapel,  out  of  1198  cases  of  prosecution  for  non-compliance  with 
cination  Act,  one-third  could  not  be  proceeded  with  because  oetween  the 
the  serrice  of  the  notice  and  the  time  allowed  for  compliance  they  had 
ired.    See  '*  Sessional  Proceedings,"  Yd.  III.,  Ko.  9,  p.  159. 


816  Education  of  Neglected  (Mdrm. 

ehall  get  what  must  come  some  day — schools  arranged  geogr 
to  accommodate  certain  districts,  and  when  we  have  these, 
more  easj  to  deal  with  this  (I  use  an  epithet  none  too  strong] 
evil.  But  meanwhile  with  these  figures  before  us,  what  be 
any  attempt  merely  to  secure  the  insertion  of  a  child's  nan 
school  register?  And  how  can  the  bye-laws  be  said  to  a 
real  difficulty  ?  Here  we  have  one  blot^  happily  one  ea 
removed,  in  the  bye-laws  sanctioned  by  the  Committee  of 
for  many  large  towns.  •  The  bye-laws  must  at  least  be  mad 
form  to  the  Birmingham  pattern  in  this  respect,  and  th 
Board  must  have  meetings  not  less  than  once  a  week  in 
make  the  short  notice  of  practical  use.  The  Blackbnn 
Board  attempted  to  meet  the  difficulty  of  irregular  attendi 
proposed  a  bye-law'  forbidding  the  parent  to  transfer  his  chi 
other  elementary  school  within  the  year,  or  before  such  c 
been  presented  for  examination,  but  the  Committee  of  Coui 
that  this  stipulation  was  not  within  the  limits  of  the  Act* 
school  boards  have  tried  to  meet  this  difficulty  by  defiuing  th 
ance  which  shall  be  paid  for  in  the  case  of  the  children  of 
poor  (the  most  irregular  class),  at  a  certain  minimum,  thus 
the  onus  of  securing  attendance  •  on  the  schools.  This  i 
regulation,  but  managers  of  schools,  who  have  long  been  wi 
a  compulsory  clause  to  fill  their  schools,  will  get  but  cold 
out  of  it  The  screw  of  poverty  has  not  yet  enabled  then 
their  attendance  regular.  However,  the  plan  is  worth  d 
for  without  it  payment  for  children  will  only  promote  irr 
The  Bristol  Board  had  met  the  difficulty  very  ably,  and 
regret  to  learn  that  the  plan  has  since  been  so  much  mod 
the  best  part  has  been  eliminated.  Their  proposal  was  \ 
that  attendance  meant  ten  attendances  per  week,  and  to 
attendance  in  no  week  when  the  absences  amounted  to  four 
From  time  to  time  the  attendances  would  be  added  up,  all 
which  the  child  had  attended  less  than  six  times  would  be  c 
the  attendances  in  the  other  weeks  added  up,  and  the  sun 
by  ten  would  give  the  amount  of  weeks  to  be  paid  for. 
tunntely  the  plan  has  been  watered  down  till  full  payment 
allowed  for  any  week  in  which  ^ye  attendances  have  be 
This  is  almost  as  weak  as  the  Liverpool  plan  of  payment  c 
each  attendance.  It  presents  no  new  inducements  to  schools 
there  is  more  yet  to  be  done  in  this  matter  by  the  personal 
of  the  schoolmaster,  and  that  if  he  visited  his  scholars  as 
man  visits  his  parishioners,  a  very  great  increase  in  the  a 
would  accrue.     At  any  rate,  as  I  have  before  said,  it  will 

*  The  Bladcbum  School  Board  had  mode  a  calculaUon  bj  whioh 
that  29  per  cent,  of  the  full-time  children  in  that  town  are  alwajs  f 
BchooL  The  Council  Office  Report  gires  no  statisticfl  hj  which  we  can 
in  reference  to  the  whole  country,  hut  the  total  number  on  the  schoo 
1870-71  was  1,940,026,  and  the  total  in  arerage  attendance  was  1,355, 
an  average  of  09*54  per  cent,  present,  and  dO'ii  per  cent  absent. 


By  the  Rev.  Brooke  Lambert.  347 

\  00 r  hold  on  tbis  as  one  of  the  means  towards  securing  regular 
dance.  Let  us  nov^  turn  to  tho  regulations  of  the  London 
61  Board,  who  seem  to  me  to  have  attacked  the  question  of 
•olston  io  a  very  practical  way.  Their  byo-laws,  like  the  others 
re  quoted,  provide  for  the  exemption  of  children  over  ten  from 
A  attendance  if  they  have  passed  the  fifth  standard.  But  they 
er  allow  any  child  over  ten  years  of  age,  who  can  prove  to  their 
'action  that  his  work  is  necessary  to  his  parents  to  compound  by 
1  hours'  attendance  per  week  (t.f.,  two  whole  days,  or  five  half 
).  They  have  not  at  present  formulated  any  system  of  fourteen 
'  notice  and  summons  to  parents.  They  have  substituted  for 
what  one  of  the  members  of  the  Board  has  described  to  me  as 
aborate  system  of  worry,  reserving  the  summons  for  such  cases 
e  certain  to  ensure  a  conviction  before  the  magistrate.  This  is 
irisest  of  policies;  to  invoke  the  law  too  often,  to  make  it  do  the 
m's  work,  is  unwise.  To  carry  their  plan  into  effect  they  pro- 
to  establish,  in  each  of  the  ten  districts  into  which  London  is  for 
3l  board  purposes  divided,  a  committee,  and  each  divisional 
nittee  may  appoint  sub-committees  to  whom  it  will  delegate  its 
{rs.  These  committees  will  divide  their  respective  areas  into 
icts,  each  to  be  under  tho  control  of  one  visitor.  The  com- 
!0  will  direct  and  control  the  visitors,  who  will  have  to  schedule 
lames  and  addresses  of  all  children  within  the  school  age,  show- 
D  the  schedule  the  particulars  of  the  school  attendance,  or  non- 
dance,  of  each  child.  The  visitor  will  furnish  the  master  of 
school  with  the  names  of  the  children  in  his  district  who  ought 
tend,  and  the  visitor  will  further  report  to  the  committee  all 
I  of  the  infringement  of  their  bye-laws  or  of  tho  Workshop  Act. 
ince  for  two  half  days  or  one  whole  day  in  the  week  is  to  be  an 
ce  against  the  bye-laws,  and  frequent  irregular  attendance  is 
to  bo  considered  a  breach  of  such  laws.  The  families  in  which 
>reach  of  the  law  occurs  will  be  visited,  and  notices  will  be  served 
lem  to  attend  before  the  committee,  and  the  committee  will 
.  diRcretion  admonish  or  punish.  In  their  report  on  the  scheme 
Committee  recommend  that  the  visitors  appointed  to  carry  out 
aws  shall  be  women,  such  as  district  visitors  and  others,  who 
had  experience  of  tho  poor.  They  hope  that  many  ladies  will 
ond  willing  to  undertake  the  work.  The  advantage  of  this  plan 
aking  the  interference  as  little  obnoxious  as  possible,  and  in 
Dg  the  machinery  distinct  from  that  used  to  put  in  force  the 
{trial  Schools  Act,  is  undoubted.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
ass  of  visitors  whom  they  hope  to  retain  will  be  able  to  do  their 
,  and  on  this  point  I  have  my  doubts,  mainly  because  the  dis- 
where  the  irregular  attendance  will  be  most  glaring  will  be  the 
.  furnished  with  those  from  whom  such  help  can  be  obtained, 
ber  respects  the  suggestion  is  most  valunble.  We  want  as  little 
Mible  of  the  policeman  in  the  work.  But  the  feature  of  the 
ie  is  the  appointment  of  an  attendance  committee  to  carry  out 
jre-laws,  and  the  resort  to  the  law  in  the  last  and  not  in  the  first 


348  Education  of  Neglected  Children. 

instance.  Thb  feature,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  bo  kept  in  vie 
other  school  boards.  From  Manchester  I  have  no  very  defini 
formation,  but  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  a  somewhat  si 
system  is  under  discussion.  In  Newcastle  a  very  elaborate 
founded  on  the  foreign  system  has  been  formulated  under 
auspices  of  Mr.  Spence  Watson.  Here  the  district  school  1 
will  keep  the  register  of  all  children  within  the  school  age^ 
having  once  a  year  in  the  summer  served  notices  on  all  the  pa 
who  have  children  just  attaining  five  years  of  age  to  send 
children  to  school,  they  will  examine  the  monthly  returns  of 
school  to  see  how  far  the  two  lists  correspond.  Inquiry  is  t 
made  where  the  children  do  not  attend  by  an  officer  of  the  m 
board ;  the  parents  are  to  be  summoned  to  attend  the  board ;  an 
the  statements  of  the  parents  the  complaint  will  be  discbai 
suspended,  or  continued.  If  continued,  the  district  board  mai 
force  the  bye-laws  of  the  school  board,  and  all  proceedings  are  1 
submitted  to  it.  Here  again  we  have  as  the  prominent  featun 
establishment  of  what  I  may  call  admonition  committees,  with 
appropriate  officers.  These  arc  most  essential.  We  wish  to  pro 
education,  but  in  order  to  have  the  country  on  our  side  we 
provide  that  it  be  wisely  enforced.  We  must  beware  lest  the  Ian 
into  discredit  or  disfavour.  The  law  will  fall  into  discredit  i 
provisions  cannot  be  enforced,  as  has  proved  the  case  with 
Industrial  Schools  Act;  and  therefore  we  must  have  commi 
to  examine  very  thoroughly  into  each  case,  so  that  none 
such  as  are  absolutely  sure  of  conviction  are  taken  before 
magistrate.  The  law  will  fall  into  disfavour,  and  create  a  fe* 
against  education,  if  it  be  too  harshly  applied,  and  therefore 
case  must  be  examined  on  its  own  merits  by  an  equitable  rather 
n  judicial  authonty.  Before  I  pass  on  to  the  question  of  gei 
legislation,  I  have  a  suggestion  to  make  with  regard  to  the  fui 
action  of  school  boards.  I  think  that  if  school  boards  were  to 
power  to  levy  the  school  rate,  in  districts  where  it  was  deemed  cl 
able,  in  the  form  of  school  pence,  or  to  levy  the  school  pence  as  a 
such  a  plan  would  much  facilitate  regularity  of  attendance.  V 
the  committees  formed  on  the  plan  suggested  by  the  London 
Newcastle  School  Boards  are  provided  with  the  statistics  o^ 
families  in  their  districts,  they  should  assess  the  school  wages  pa} 
by  parents  with  children  of  school  age,  according  to  the  numbf 
those  children,  and  then  school  wages,  levied  as  a  school  rate,  w 
be  paid  weekly,  either  to  the  schoolmaster  or  to  the  visitor  of  tbelx 
The  families  would  be  divided  into  three  classes : — (1.)  Those  i 
though  living  among  the  very  poor,  could  afford  to  pay  a  hlj 
school  wage  (t.e.,  publicans,  and  shopkeepers  of  the  better  cli 
(2.)  Those  who  could  only  pay  the  ordinary  school  fee; 
Those  who  could  be  excused  payment  on  the  ground  of  pov( 
Perhaps  the  best  plan  would  be,  to  let  class  1  pay  the  sd 
rate  (as  well  as  the  school  wage),  for  they  w^ould  almost 
variably  be  householders ;   to  give  to  class  2   a  certificate  of 


Sy  ike  ttev.  Bi*ooke  Lambert.  34d 

ttnption,  on  oondition  of  the  payment  of  school  wages  ;  and  to  give 

to  class  3  an  absolute  ezemption.     For  under  the  theory  of  the  Act, 

ill  who  are  not  under  the  age  of  five,  or  over  the  age  of  thirteen,  ought 

to  be  paying  school  wages,  unless  under  some  exceptional  circum- 

itances.     To  collect  from  them,  therefore,  what  they  ought  to  be 

pajing,  is  no  hardship,  and  when  it  becomes  a  hardship,  they  have 

^  school  board  committee  between  them  and  the  magistrate.     It  is 

$  simple  and  effective  way  of  bringing  home  to  the  parent  his  duty. 

In  most  cases  it  would  be  collected  without  difficulty  by  the  school- 

BSflter,  but  when  the  child  was  absent,  or  the  school  wage  unpaid, 

the  officer  of  the  board  would  be  called  in.     Such  a  system  of  regular 

pijment  of  school  wage  enforced  by  law,  and  recoverable  as  a  debt, 

would  be  a  most  valuable  stimulus  to  regular  attendance.     Those  who 

know  what  an  influence  a  wet  Monday  has  on  the  week's  attendance, 

ind  how,  after  missing  a  day,  parents  often  keep  their  children  home 

ffx  the  whole  week,  lest  they  should  not  get  their  full  twopence  worth, 

.  will  see  that  the  payment  of  the  fee,  whether  the  child  were  present 
or  not,  would  have  a  most  valuable  influence  on  the  attendance.     This 

\  ii,  in  fact,  the  plan  adopted  in  Lower  Canada,  and  the  effect  is  thus 
described.*  *'  The  liability  of  attendants  and  non-attendants  equally 
to  this  payment  (which,  though  capable  of  being  legally  enforced,  is 
not  always  exacted),  is  considered  by  the  superintendent  to  be  one  of 
the  sorest  means  to  obtain  regular  and  numerous  attendance/'    This, 

■  it  is  to  be  remembered,  is  the  system  in  Germany,  f  '*  In  Saxony 
each  commune  fixes  its  own  cataster,  in  which  every  family  is  rated 
It  so  much.  The  principle  by  which  it  must  be  guided  in  laying  this 
usessment  is,  how  much  the  parents  can  afford  to  pay,  not  how  much 
is  required  to  cover  the  cost  of  the  school.  These  sums  so  assessed 
are  school  fees.  They  are  collected  by  the  school  board  officer."  •  .  . 
**  In  Saxony,  as  we  have  seen,  the  principle  of  the  rate  is  a  com- 
bhiation  of  a  personal  and  a  property  tax.  In  other  countries  it  is  a 
rarely  personal  tax :  so  much  a  family  in  Wurtemberg,  so  much  a 
head  in  Brunswick.''  It  is  satisfactory  to  learn  that  the  cry  raised 
for  free  schools  seems  to  be  dying  away.  The  opinion  of  practical 
educationists  will  always  be,  that  the  payment  of  a  fee  is  a  very 
fanportant  aid  to  regular  attendance;  and,  theoretically,  the  parent 
^  had  just  as  much  right  to  claim  free  schooling  before  as  he  has  now. 
If  contribution  to  taxation  entitles  him  to  exemption,  then,  inasmuch 
IS  a  third :(  at  least  of  the  school  expenses  are  pafd  out  of  the  general 

*  Fruer's  Report  to  Schools'  Inquiry  Commission,  p.  295. 

t  ICark  Ffttti8on*8  Beport,  p.  185. 

}  In  Prussia — 

Local  taxation  (including  school  fees)  produces    .  71*64  per  cent. 

^dowments •        .    7'22        „ 

General  taxation 21*23        „ 

of  the  whole  expenditure  on  education. — M.  Pattison^  p.  187. 

lo  Ensland — 

Local  payments,  subscriptions,  and  school  fees     .  61*37  per  cent* 

Bndowments i        .    4*13 

Other  sources >        «    1*62 

General  taxation         ..•••«  33-85 


1) 


^50  Education  of  Negleeted  Children. 

taxation  of  the  country,  he  is  entitled  to  claim  fi^e  schooling 
and  an  J  additional  amounts  he  may  be  called  upon  to  pay  will  li 
weighed,  when  the  committee  investigate,  as  they  will  have  to  ii 
gate,  whether  his  expenses  are  in  proportion  to  his  earnings  80 
as  to  entitle  him  to  a  reduction  of  the  school  wage,  or  to 
exemption  from  it. 

I  now  pass  on  to  the  question  of  general  legislation.  Hi 
we  have  considered  methods  for  obtaining  regular  attendant 
for  as  these  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  parents, 
school  boards  can  deal  with  them  only;  the  State  can  deal 
employers,  and  the  best  fulcrum  we  can  obtain  for  our  pui 
is  gained  by  rendering  the  employers  responsible.  They  o 
found ;  they  cannot  move  away  directly  a  prosecution  is  institute 
they  ore  morally  liable,  for  the  bribe  of  employment  is  too  gi 
temptation  for  the  parent  to  resist,  when  his  child's  eamiDgi 
add  to  his  small  income.*  The  Workshops  Act,  and  the  Hal 
Act,  are  instances  of  the  interference  of  the  State  in  this  n 
The  former  (the  Workshops  Act)  has  hitherto  failed  in  its  oper 
because  it  has  not  hitherto  been  put  in  force.  Whether  the  emplo; 
of  Government,  in  place  of  local  inspectors  will  do  all  that  is  rei 
may  be  doubted,  seeing  that  the  test  of  age  ;is  one  most  diffic 
apply.  One  of  the  school  inspectors  in  his  report  of  this  year 
mistake  not),  says,  that  he  found  on  asking  the  age  of  a  chil 
reply  given  in  the  form  of  another  question,  do  yon  mean  the  re 
or  the  mill  age  f  Were  it  possible  to  ticket  a  nation  as  is  d 
foreign  countries,  undoubtedly  the  plan  reported  by  Mr. 
Pattison  to  be  in  vogue  in  Saxony  f  would  be  the  simplest,  ** 
day  the  child  misses  without  valid  excuse  is  marked  in  a  book, 
hiissed  days  are  not  counted  in  the  eight  calendar  years,  whid 
be  made  good.'*  This  system  is  not  feasible  in  England,  but  a  ii 
cation  of  it  may  be  tried  in  the  cases  of  oil  children  who  come 
the  Half-time  or  the  Workshops  Act.  First,  let  these  Acts 
altered  as  to  provide  that  no  child  should  be  allowed  to  work  at 
factory  or  workshop  unless  he  had  passed  the  third  standard  (s 
for  strange  as  it  may  seem  the  Half-time  Act  has  worked  a 
education,  since  some  parents  have  argued  that,  since  their  ch 
must  go  to  school  when  they  go  to  the  mill,  they  may  as  wel 
till  they  go  to  the  mill  to  go  to  school.  At  any  rate  there  won 
no  great  harshness  in  this  proviso.  Furtlier  let  it  be  enacted  tl 
one  should  be  allowed  to  pass  from  half  to  full  time  on  a  mere 
ficate  of  age,  but  only  on  the  production  of  a  certificate  thath 
passed  the  fourth  or  fifth  standard.  This  clause  with  suitable  ^ 
tions  should  bo  added  to  the  Industrial  Schools  Act  The  effit 
this  would  be  to  make  uneducated  labour  unsaleable  in  the  mi 
and  whilst  it  would  make  the  employer  the  culprit  in  case  of  a  b 


*  Ap^rentiy,  not  really ;  for  tho  amount  spent  in  child  labour  li  in  moi 
Bubtraotod  from  the  wages  of  the  adult, 
t  Beport,  p.  IW. 


JSy  the  kev.  Srooh  Lamiert.  ftSl 

law,  and  so  ensure  its  enforcement,  it  would  alao  ftct  indirectly 
I  pureni,  who  would  be  compelled  to  educate  bis  child  if  he 
I  to  touch  hia  wages.     TIte  next  suggestion  I  have  to  make  is 
liich  I  always  ciiunect  with  the  nains  of  a  valuable  member  of 
Bsociation,  Mr.  Clay,  who  in  a  letter  to  the  Dailif  News  at  least 
%n  ago  mooted  a  plan,  which  he  aflerwards  developed  at  tlie 
noce  on  the  Mnacfaester  Education  Bill,  in  1 869.    I  cannot  tell 
ithas  not  attracted  more  attention.  I  have  never  heard  nny  serious 
made  to  it.  In  genrral,  tvhen  it  has  been  brought  forward,  it 
mply  been  put  on  one  aide,  I  fane/  because  it  is  so  simple,  and 
unasaailnble.     Hie  proposition  was  that  all  uneducated  labour 
be  liable  to  taxatiou.     Ho  pi'oposed  iu  fact  that  a  tax  should 
i  on  every  servant  employed  in  whatsoever  capacity,  but  that 
reduction  of  a  certificate  that  the  servant  had  passed  the  fourth 
'd  (say)  should  be  deemed  a  receipt  for  such  tax.    Such  a  tnx 
if  properly  introduced,  press    heavily  on   no   one,  but  the 
t  of  ita    institution  would  be  to  send  don-n  the  value  of  un- 
tied labour  in  the  market  to  such  a  discount,  tlmt  in  ten  years  we 
t  hope  to  see  few  uneducated  person!:.     I  wi::h  for  no  sudden 
^  which  would  affect  the  present  members  of  the  working 
Let  those  who  are  twenty  years  old  and  upwards  wander  in 
Etdemcss  to  which  their  sins  or  their  parents'  sins  have  con- 
ed ihcra— they  have  punishment  enough;  but  for  the  future, 
be  sake  of  those  who  are  daily  b<^iug  incorporated  in  the  ranks 
s  labouring  class,  let  some  such  plan  be  adopted — the  sooner  the 
'  for  the  good  and  fur  the  glory  of  England.     Now  that  the 
has  declared  that  ihore  shall  be  education  for  all,  now  that  our 
vsities  arc  thrown  open  to  all,  and  our  endowed  schools  are 
moulded  into  a  sliapc  which  will  enable  a  future  Whitliogton 
come  Lord  Chancellor  iustead  of  Lord  Mayor,  we  may  fiiirly 
iressuro  to  induce  all  to  avail   tiiemselvcs  of  the  advantages 
i  to  tliem.     And  I  tiunk  State  action  might  go  further,  and  in 
Other  ways  bring  home  to  the  minds  of  all  that  it  considers 
of  education  a  serious  fault.     With  the  convincing  proofs  of 
Dul-door  relief  is  sapping  to  its  foundations  the  national  con- 
»» I  think  it  would  be  no  severe  euactmaiil  to  refuse  out~relief 
ily  to  any  uneducated  parent,  and  to  order  into  the  workhouse 
•rent  who  had  been  convicted  of  an  oSeuce  against  the  bye-laws 
s  school  boai'd  during  the  year  preccdiug  his  application.     And 
k  that  whenever  the  individual  comes  face  to  face  with  the 
be  should  be  reminded  of  what  is  required  of  him  in  this 
L     And   iherefora  at   registration,  which  I  hope  will   soon 
6  oompulsury  in  oil  cases,  at  civil  marriages  (which  are  fast 
wing  in  our  mauufucturing  ccutres),  on  application  fur  hawkers' 
Pther  licenses  I  would  iucrease  the  formalities,  for  all  those 
er  twenty  years  of  age)  who  had  no  education  certificates  (four 
I  beace),  for  all  those  who  now  cannot  write  their  names,  and  iu 
bra  latter  coses  interpose  delay  and  even  inflict  extra  expense,  in 
laeert  oe  plainly  as  possible  that  want  of  education  is  a  wrong 


352  tjiucatxon  of  KegUded  CkUdreru 

to  tbo  State.  The  new  Ballot  Bill  will  practicallj  dialnaie 
who  cannot  write :  and  I  do  not  see  why  the  principle  shoi 
carried  further.  I  would  make  England  a  very  uncomfort 
for  the  uneducated  man.  I  have  but  one  more  snggeatioii 
unpalatable  one  I  fear.  I  fully  recognize  the  difficulty  of  add 
rates ;  I  fully  recognize  the  danger  of  enlisting  the  syni] 
the  ratepayers  against  education,  if  the  rates  be  made  to 
heavily  ;  and  on  this  account  I  much  regret  the  system  oi 
the  education  rate  with  the  other  rates,  a  system  which  wil 
collection,  but  may  entail  evils  dearly  purchased  at  that  p 
I  think  that,  in  certain  exceptional  cases,  districts  which 
done  their  duty  should  be,  like  individuals,  subject  to  fine, 
follow  the  principle  of  the  Sanitary  Act,  and  empower  tlie 
of  the  Local  Management  Board,  on  complaint  of  inhal 
of  Her  Majesty*8  Inspector  of  Schools  or  Factories,  to  can 
mission  *  to  issue  when  it  was  alleged  that  the  Workshoj 
systematically  disregarded,  the  average  of  attendance  at  c 
below  a  certain  standard,  or  the  neglected  children  exist 
large  proportion — ^and  on  proof,  to  surcharge  on  the  local 
amount  otherwise  certified  by  the  Committee  of  Council  to 
the  schools  in  that  district  out  of  general  taxation.  The  evi 
of  education  is  a  contagious  disease.  Districts  in  which  i 
to  exist  should  be  proclaimed  districts,  and  individuals  suffe 
it  should  be  marked  and  separated  from  their  neighbour 
degrees  might  we  hope  to  create  that  national  conscience 
of  education,  which  alone  can  make  compulsory  laws  efilcai 
enduring. 

The  Rev.  A.  W.  WoRrniNOTON,  read  a  paper  on  '*  Edi 
places  without  School  Boards."  He  said  that  while  cho 
had  been  clecicd  voluntarily  in  many  places,  and  would  be 
by  compulsion,  there  were  also  many  towns  and  countrj 
provided  with  full  school  accommodation,  in  which,  thei 
school  board  would  be  elected,  and  no  compulsory  powers 
The  schools  in  such  places  would  be  scantily  filled,  the  atte 
irregular,  and  the  teachers  be  frequently  inferior.  The  i 
use  the  influence  of  landlords,  employers  of  labour,  and 
doles  as  a  means  of  securing  scholar.^,  would  lead  to  bitti 
amongst  opposite  school  authorities.  It  would  also  mak 
think  they  were  conferring  a  favour  instead  of  receivin 
sending  their  children  to  school,  and  they  would,  therefc 
irregularly.  In  manufacturing  districts  the  Factory  A< 
enforce  the  education  of  half-timers;  the  Workshops  Act 
so  more  and  more  as  its  recently-added  powers  were  fnllj 
into  work;  agricultural  children  might  be  got  to  school  bj 

*  The  oommiflflion  would  cost  nothing,  becauM  the  retumt  of  oonv 
the  ichool  rtgiBter,  could  supply  the  details,  and  eupenede  the  nentiit 
•videoce. 


DiscussiorL  353 

proTision  of  the  new  code;  Denison's  Act  might  be  employed  by 
[:aardian8  to  enfotce  the  school  attendance  of  pauper  children  ; — 
ill  these  means  were  insufficient,  and  required  an  energy  which 
districts  in  question  were  devoid  of,  or  else  they  would  already 
)  formed  school  boards.  It  would  be  useless  to  thrust  school 
ds  npon  them,  for  they  need  not  adopt  the  compulsory  clause, 
light  be  possible  to  make  school  attendance  a  condition  of  all 
iDile  labour,  but  such  a  rule  would  be  difficult  to  enforce  except 
requiring  every  child  at  work  to  hold  a  certificate  of  age  or 
»tion.  No  child  might  be  allowed  parochial  relief  unless  it  had 
rtificate  of  having  attended  school  for  the  previous  week;  and 
children  idling  in  the  streets  might  surely  be  taken  to  school  by 
hool  officer ;  but  in  the  cases  they  were  considering  the  locality 
Id  not  provide  such  an  officer,  and  they  were  driven  at  last  to 
conclusion  that  in  these  cases  the  authority  to  enforce  the 
ndance  of  children  must  be,  not  a  local,  but  a  national  officer, 
that  the  proper  arrangements  would  have  to  be  made  by  Parlia- 
iU 


DISCUSSION. 

J.  Wbitwill  (Bristol):  It  is  quite  true,  as  Mr.  Lambert  has  stated,  that 
ieeline  by  the  Bristol  bye-laws  to  pay  the  fees  of  any  children  who  do  not 
e  fire  attendances  a  week ;  but  it  does  not  at  all  follow  that  we  shall  settle  with 
icboolB  week  by  week.    It  has  not  been  decided  by  the  board  vet  whether  we 
1  keep  a  running  account  and  pay  by  the  quarter.    As  re^rcls  compulsion  I 
'  state  tliat  prol»blY  the  Bristol  Board  will  issue  a  notice  intimating  tliat  the 
nt  must  send  his  cliild  to  school  within  fourtoen  day8,  and  that  if  he  has  any 
letion  to  urge  iigainst  complying  vf  ith  the  notice  ho  nuiy  state  it  to  the  Board  on 
»y  named  in  the  same  notice.    A  month  ago  the  Board  appointed  an  agent  for 
district,  and  requested  him  to  look  after  all  the  children  in  the  district  who 
e  not  at  school  and  ought  to  be  there,  or  who  attended  irregularly.      That 
dI  has  been  able,  by  merely  saying  that  he  would  soon  haye  power  to  compel 
n  to  send  their  children  to  school,  and  that  they  had  better  do*8o  at  once,  to  induce 
parents  of  a  considcriiblc  number  of  children  to  send  them  to  school  forth- 
h.    In  this  way  more  tlian  one-lialf  the  children  have  entered  school  during 
Isst  fortnight,  and  the  agent  lias  been  instructed  to  follow  up  his  success.    It  is 
nded,  but  not  actually  decidi^d,  to  map  out  the  city  into  districts,  and  appoint 
■gent  in  each  district,  the»e  agents  being  probably  under  the  control  of  a  sub- 
imittee  for  each  district,  and  they  will  endeavour  as  far  as  possible  to  induce 
Bidance  at  school  without  recourse  being  had  to  the  magistrates.    Some  of  the 
ipoMis  made  by  Mr.  Lambert  are  of  a  startling  character.     One  of  those  is 
t  mployers  should  be  made  responsible  for  tne  attendance  of  children  at 
ool,  by  no  child   being  allowed   to  work  at  all  until  he  has  passed  a  giyen 
adud.      With  this  I  thorouglily  sym))athised.      At  Bristol  we  haye  made  a 
lubtion  in  the  bye-laws  that  no  child  be  allowed  to  be  a  lialf-tiinor  until  he  has 
nd  tlie  fourth  standard,  and  that  no  child  be  allowed  to  loiivo  school  until  ho 
I  DMwd  the  fifth  standard.    The  principle  of  surcharging  nil  districts  that  do 
i  00  their  duty,  he  thouglit,  will  meet  wit.h  violent  opposition,  and  as  public 
ision  in  favour  of  compulsion  is  only  just  being  fonuod,  he  was  rather  afraid  of 
ndocing  anything  that  may  have  the  effect  of  turning  the  current  of  opinion 
iiMt  that  principle. 

Iba  Bey.  Dr.  Ktgg  in  closing  the  discust^ion  said :  It  has  been  stated  that  the 
i^wi  adopted  by  the  London  School  Board  have  been  founded  on  certain 
nnan  laws.  This  is  not  so.  The  bye-laws  of  the  London  School  Board  have 
ea  odoptnl  after  a  very  protmctcd  discussion,  and  have  ])eon  worked  out  by 

1^ 


354  Large  ScJiooU  v.  Small  Schools. 

1>ractical  men  to  meet  the  neceesities  of  the  case  without  reference  to  anj  Genu 
aws.  Mr.  Lambert  hue  ehown  that  no  mere  fulminotion  of  law  will  ever  anfl  || 
bring  Iho  children  to  school,  and  that  it  ib  only  by  the  force  of  public  omnioi^ 
coupled  vrith  steady  and  constant  application,  that  the  law  can  be  other  &aa  i 
dead  letter.  It  is  rery  desirable  that  sonic  representation  should  be  madeb)rtUil 
{Section  in  regard  to  the  system  of  indirect  compulsion  which  would  reqnivii 
certain  standard  of  education  before  children  could  be  allowed  to  go  to  voi^ 
and  a  higher  Htandard  before  thov  could  be  allowed  to  become  full-timen.  Bcfe^ 
enco  hiuj  Unrn  matle  to  Mr.  Clay  s  suggestion  propounded  in  18(58:  but  surdritii 
oufllcicntly  unfortunate  that  a  serrant  should  be  unable  to  read  and  write,  witlibrt 
luiring  a  pen<onal  fine  imposed  upon  him  al;Mi,  because  he  is  found  throoKh  thi 
neglect  of  his  ^mrents  to  be  without  the  power  of  reading  and  writing.  Tvotr 
three  of  the  remedies  suggested  by  Mr.  liambert  could  hardly  be  adopted  at thi 
present  time;  but  they  will  be  useful  to  us  as  showing  the  practice  ends  to  b' 
aimed  at,  and  pointing  out  one  way  of  aiming  at  them.  We  must  all  feel  tfaift- 
cminent  servicT  lias  be(>n  rendered  by  Mr.  Lambert  to  the  cbum  of  ^dudtiML  A' 
f{uestiou  of  great  importiuicM  has  been  touched  upon  by  Mr.  Worthington.  It  it 
dear  tliat  if  there  is  no  K'hooi  Ix^anl  in  any  dii^trict  there  will  be  no  power  ti 
enforce  school  attendance. 


LAUGE   SCHOOLS  V.   SMALL   SCnOOLS.* 

Wliat  five  the  Advantages  and  Dtsadrantages  of  Large  as  «»•' 
jxircd  icit/t  Synnll  Schooh  ?     By  the  Rev.  J.  H.  RiGG,  D.D. 

1UIE  question  of  Largo  versus  Small  Schools  may  be  looked  at  i 
.  the  academic  side  only,  ns  it  respects  the  intellectual  instnu 
and  discipline  of  the  tjchohirs,  or  it  may  be  regarded  in  its 
wjpect,  that  is,  as  it  relates  to  the  formation  of  the  moral  habits 
character  of  the  scholai-s.     I  think  it  will  be  convenient  to 
the  consideration  of  the  subject  in  this  latter  aspect  till  after  we 
considered  it  in  its  bearing  on  the  po^it  of  intellectual  discipIiDe 
instruction. 

It  is  evident,  again,  that  the  question  of  large  or  small 
may  be  considered  in  relation  cither  to  elementary  or  to  secoD< 
schools.     No  doubt  some  principles  niTccting  the  question  must 
common  to  both  these  chu^ses  of  schools  ;  but  the  much  greater 
of  particulars  and  complexity  of  subjects  involved  in  the  stucUcs 
Hucd  in  secondary  schools,  together  with  the  more  highly  de^ 
differences   of  intellectual  character  and  capacity  in  the  8ch< 
render  variety  and  individuality  of  tutorial  manipulation,  if  I 
speak,  much  more  necessary  in  the  ca^>o  of  the  pupils  in 
schools  than  of  the  children  in  elementary  schools.     PerhapSi 
fore,  it  might  tend  to  simplify  the  discussion  which  is  before  Q%ii 
were  first  to  investigate  the  question  as  it  respects  sohools  of  elt 
tary  instruction,  and  then  as  it  respects  secondaiy  schools, 
wards,  as  I  have  intimated,  the  question  of  large  versus  small 
in  its  moral  bearings  might  l>e  tnkeu  up. 

If,  then,  in  the  lirst  place  we  turn  our  attention  to  the  cue 
elementary  schools,  it  seems  evident  that  the  practical  ques&Nl 


*  For  much  Ycduable  information  ou  the  subject  lec  Society  tf  Arti  Jom 
1870-71. 


\ 


By  the  Bee.  J.  H.  Bigg,  D.D.  355 

m 

dly  one  of  large  venu»  small  schools,  but  of  the  limits  of  size 
hill  which  ao  elementary  school  must  he  worked,  if  it  is  to  be 
eieiit,  of  more  or  less  large  schools.  Small  elementary  schools 
lid  never  pay,  and  may  be  left  out  of  account.  If  the  question  lies 
•ween  less  numerouti  private  schools  in  which  an  attempt  is  made 
tesch  the  scholars  on  the  old  plan  of  merely  rote  learning,  and  such 
rried  and  necessarily  imperfect  individual  instruction,  as  could 
lie  in  such  schools  be  given,  and  larger  schools  organized  on  the 
idem  principle  of  collective  instruction,  tested  and  worked  in  by 
maom  of  indiyidual  questioning,  there  can  be  no  doubt  which  sjsteui 
I8t  be  preferred.  I  do  not  need  to  explain  the  principles  and  guueral 
se  of  oar  system  of  instruction  in  public  elementary  schools.  The 
It  qaestion,  pertinent  to  our  general  inquiry,  seems  to  be  what 
onld  be  the  size  of  the  classes  assembled,  let  me  say  on  the  gallery 
at  the  desks,  to  receive  simultaneous  instruction  from  one  teacher. 
:  coarse  an  average  must  be  taken ;  there  are  teachers  who  can 
ich  a  class  of  fifty,  and  test  their  attention  and  their  intelligence  as 
teners,  better  than  another  can  teach  a  class  of  thirty.  It  will  be 
point  for  consideration,  I  venture  to  suggest,  in  to-day's  discussion, 
how  many  scholars  Uie  collective  class  in  an  elementary  school 
raid,  as  a  rule,  consist  Is  twenty  or  is  fifty  too  few  or  too  many  ? 
Mmld  the  average  be  fixed  at  thirty,  or  forty,  or  more  or  less  ? 
Another  question  which  bears  upon  the  inquiry  is  what  should  be 
I  nmnber  of  pupil  teachers  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  fully- 
lined  and  certificated  teachers?  It  is  evident  that  more  teachers 
1  be  employed  when  some  of  the  teachers  may  be  merely  pupil 
idiers  at  a  lower  rate  of  pay.  That  is  to  say  the  question  is  not 
\j  one  of  theory  and  science,  it  is  one  of  ways  and  means.  Few 
ho  elementary  schools  could  be  made  to  pay  if  there  were,  for  ex- 
pie,  a  trained  teacher  to  be  maintained  for  every  thirty  children. 
b  evident  also  that  without  pupil  teachers  there  would  be  no  rising 
Bth  who  would  be  in  the  earlier  stages  of  training  for  the 
ifeasion* 

b  aeems  to  be  pretty  nearly  agreed  now  that  the  number  of 
ISren,  in  a  juvenile  school,  should  not  exceed  three  times  the 
bfaer  which  the  principal  teacher  can  take  at  one  time.  The 
putite  division  of  the  school  corresponds  to  the  three  principal 
geets  taaght.  Reading,  with  which  may  bo  classed  all  that 
Eicens  the  general  intelligence  and  increases  the  scholar *s  general 
burledge,  as  geography,  history,  and  object  lessons ;  writing,  with 
lA  must  go  dictation,  composition,  l)ook-kco])ing,  and  drawing ; 
1  arithmetic.  The  teacher  is  supposed  always  to  have  one  of  these 
MB8  himself  in  hand ;  his  two  pupil  teachers  to  have  the  others. 
therefore,  the  number  in  each  class,  the  proper  average  number 
collective  instruction,  is  thirty,  it  will  follow  that  ninety  is  the 
per  number  to  be  managed  by  one  trained  teacher  and  two  teacher- 
ireDttces  or  pupil  teachers.  If  forty  is  the  proper  number  for  a 
w,  one  hundred  and  twenty  will  be  the  number  of  children  to  be 
led  at  one  time  under  the  care  of  a  trained  teacher.     In  other 

2a— 2 


356  Lcarge  Schools  v.  Small  Schools. 

words  he  can  manage  a  school  or  a  school  department  of  1! 
average  attendance.  The  unit  of  calculation  is  thus  shown  to  t 
number  who  can  be  taught  efficientlj  at  one  time  iu  a  class. 

But  in  the  arrangements  of  a  large  school,  the  trained  and  o 
cated  teacher  with  his  contingent,  divisible  always  into  three  d 
may  be  taken  as  the  unit,  and  then  the  question  comes  to  be-^ 
many  such  trained  teachers  can  be  associated  together  nndei 
chief  direction  of  one  of  the  number,  so  that  unity  may  be  faliyi 
tained,  and  that  one,  the  chief,  may  retain  his  own  proper  fora 
only  as  su])erintendcnt  of  the  whole,  but  as  himself  a  teacher 
his  own  special  department,  wliich  would  naturally  be  the  hig 
]May  three  teachers  be  thus  associated  together,  having  eharg 
of  nine  classes,  and  assisted  by  six  pupil  teachers  ?  Or  mvf 
four  bo  thus  associated  with  twelve  classes  and  eight  pupil  teae! 
Is  it  possible — if  possible,  is  it  desirable, — to  go  even  beyond 
Would  it  pay  for  a  cliief  master  even  in  some  cases  to  be  en 
given  up  to  tlio  work  of  overseeing  and  testing  the  educational  ( 
tions  of  a  large  number  of  teachers  placed  under  him  t  If  it  be 
possible  and  desirable,  how  far  may  such  a  process  be  car 
What  special  advantages  attend  it  ?  How  and  on  what  prineiph 
the  limits  of  efficiency  be  assigued? 

(Jne  thing  is  evident,  that  a  large  school  with  only  one 
teacher,  can  be  more  easily  sustained,  and  therefore  more  ampi] 
plied  and  worked  with  better  instruments,  than  a  small  school, 
small  school  will  be  poor;  often  struggling;  the  large  w31 
ample  funds.  A  head  teacher  of  much  more  force,  and  altof 
of  higher  power?,  can  be  secured  for  the  large  than  for  the 
school,  because  a  much  higher  remuneration  cnn  be  offered, 
under  such  a  teacher,  supported  by  proper  assistant  teacho: 
discipliue  of  the  whole  school,  including  the  assistant  and  the 
teachers,  will  he  much  higher  than  iu  the  small  school.  Ib 
small  public  elementary  school  seems  to  be  every  way  at  a  dlsi 
tage  as  compared  with  a  well  organized  large  school.  Tlie  qw 
as  I  have  said,  is  merely  what  arc  the  limits  of  size,  what  i 
degree  of  largcnej^s,  compatible  with  thorough  unity  of  workk 
have  assumed  that  a  large  school  should  not  be  worked  on 
pupil  teachers.  Of  course  it  may  be  so  worked.  But  I  in 
that  the  highest  efficiency  demands  some  such  proportion  of  aa 
certificated  teachers  as  I  have  indicated,  and  could  not  be  secoi 
a  large  school,  say  of  from  200  to  300  children,  worked  (m^ 
principal  teacher  and  pupil  teachers.  For  the  present  teadei 
very  scarce ;  and  the  Education  Department  cannot  choose  bal 
large  schools  to  bo  worked  by  the  pupil  teachers  only  in  addb 
the  chief  teachers.  But  I  do  not  suppose  this  will  long  cond 
be  the  case.  Before  many  years  I  expect  that  in  large  fl 
the  employment  of  assistant  certiticated  teachers  will  be 
impemtive. 

All  this  time,  it  will  be  remembered,  we  are  regarding  oi 
question  of  elementary  schools.    Perhaps  it  might  hdp  to  i 


fiy  the  Hev.  J.  H.  Rigg,  B.D.  357 

I  inTestigation  of  the  whole  subjcnt,  if  we  approached  tUo 
1  now  from  the  side  of  the  chtldroii  tlicmselves,  a^  ragarjed  in 

r:t  of  their  ajfe,  their  aex,  and  their  gpeoial  needs  or  oapacitiea. 
school  establifibmtint  intended  to  meet  fully  the  wants  of  a 
pQlotu  district  should  include,  if  we  may  follow  the  programme, 
r  mr  present  purpose,  oE  the  Luttdou  School  lioard,  ati  inlknt 
fBTtiacDt,  a  junior  mixed  depanmejit  (ages  from  seven  or  under  lo 
M  nod  (irer),  and  two  seuior  departmeoU,  one  for  boys  and  one  for 
rla.  In  sucli  an  arrangement  ihe  iufiint  years  would  be  from  three 
under  scveu,  or  nearly  four,  and  the  atlendaucu  iu  this  departiueut 
paid  be  more  regular,  for  obvious  reasons,  lliau  in  the  caae  of  older 
ifldren.  The  number  of  years  included  in  the  juvenile  school 
IBKB  wuiilil  be  rather  leas — would  be  as  nearly  as  possible  three, 
id  lb«  atleudance  would  bt'  .-mmcwhat  less  regular,  espeuiully  on 
le  part  of  ihu  girls.  It  would  follow  thiit  tbe  infants'  acUool  would 
iMitt  Bometvhat  more  geliokirs  than  the  junior  school,  and  would 
mr  u  decidedly  higher  average  atiendunce.  The  range  of  time  iu 
K  senior  scboul  would  be  from  nine  and  upwards  to  thirteen,  many, 
vwever,  Ijoing  half-time  scholarH  ;  l\\e¥(.i  «cliools  togelhi^r  woul<i 
wnfore  number,  in  ult  llkeliliuod,  as  many  as  the  iufanU'  scUodI  by 
Mlf:  anil  L'ai^h  might  perhaps  be  reckcut-d  at  about  half  of  the 
P^U.  Beming  these  ihinga  in  lumd.  a  xchoni  eBinblishment to 
ifvide  for  7^0  uhildrcn  iik  average  ntleadunc.i>,  between  tiiu  ages  of 
pee  and  thirteen,  might  perhaps  not  improperly  bo  divided  as 
flipws:^lufHnts  in  average  attendance  260,  juoior  school  230, 
pBior  hoys*school  130, senior  girls'  130.  The staH' icquired  for  Buch 
n  cii.i!ili>.)iiiicnt  might  perhaps  be  estimated  as  not  kis  than  two 
Ik.ts,  and  four  pupil  teachers  for  the  lufanls,  the  same 
ule,  and  the  same  for  the  two  senior  departments.  Au 
.t  iitlance  of  7oO  would  of  course  represent  a  considerably 
irgtr  :ii:iiiLier  on  tho  books. 

[.{inch  :v  school  establishment  as  this  would  alTord  an  instance  of  a 

^rge  e!emetitai*y  school,  as  large  as  most  of  the  larger  schoob  to  be 

[iimd  in  "ibcr  couutries,  and  larger  than  many,  adapted  naturally  to 

1  iliiions  of  society,  and  naturally  graded  in  general  accord- 

.'.■j'i  and  capacity.     In  its  grading  it  would  differ  from 

iiukeo  of  as  the  graded  schools  of  the  large  towns  of 

ill  the  difference,  I  venture  to  think,  is  in  its  favour.  The 

[piilcd    folioels  of  America  are  not  adapted  to  the  wants  of  this 

Wiatrj.     They  neglect  the  immense  advantages  of  the  pupil  teacher 

j^eoi:  they  do  not,  as  a  rule,  embody  the  admirable  teaching  science, 

pA  iUb  method  and  results,  of  our  infant  training  system,  as  to  which 

jLfluirica  is  coming  to  learn  of  this  country,  and.  at  the  same  time, 

Afy  are  not  perfectly  adapted  lo  meet   the  wania  of  the  higher 

jtcotidary  edueation.     No  doubt  they  hare  their  strong  points  of 

tSeieucy,  and,  when  worked  by  such  admirable  teachers  as  the  firet- 

dM*  teachers  of  tlie   LTuited  States,  they  produce  excellent,  often 

irosd«rrut,  results  iu  the  superior  elementary  instruction  of  cliUdren 

*  B  ^rade  corresponding  to  our  town  middle-class  people. 


fB_Sr8d 


incliue  towards  the  former  arraDgement. 

In  any  grouping  of  such  a  sort  it  maj  be  asBumed,  for 
to  recoguitsc,  that  an  infant  school  teacher  can  take  charg 
what  larger  number  of  children  than  the  teacher  of  a  ji 
school;  and  again  that  tho  proportion  of  scholani  to  tei 
senior  primary  schools  should  bo  somewhat  smaller 
junior  mixed. 

1  have  also  assumed  that  it  is  a  decided  advantage  to 
tlrcn  together  up  to  the  age  of  nine  or  ten,  due  provision 
for  teaching  sewing,  <&c.,  to  the  girls,  but  that  it  is  not 
unite  tho  sexes  in  the  senior  departments. 

I  may  add,  in  passing,  that  there  ap])ears  to  be  a  gei 
ment  among  those  whom  I  may  speak  of  as  ^'  experts" 
education,  that  the  employment  of  female  teachers  in  ji 
Kchools  might  with  groat  advantage,  in  respect  ofl 
elFiciency,  as  well  as  of  economy,  be  earned  much  farthei 
hitherto  been,  especially  in  rural  districts. 

Few,  I  imagine,  would  dispute  the  immense  superio' 
large  elementary  school  organixation  as  I  have  describ 
abortive  attempts  at  individual  care  and  instruction  whic 
and  are  all  that  can  be  made,  by  overworked  and  singh 
at  least  under-aided,  elementary  teachers  in  small  sch< 
l«nvor  classes.  What  is  needed  to  complete  the  large  sd 
nation,  is  continual  and  efRcient  oversight  in  the  playgro 
as  in  school. 

In  what  I  havo  thus  far  read,  I  have  merely  attempte 
general  principles,  illustrating  them  in  part  by  reference 
])ossible,  and  apparently  feasible,  arrangements  when  m 
sion  is  to  bo  made  on  a  great  scale.  Other  arrangements 
which  the  advantjige  of  large  and  well- organized  scho 
secured,  may  be  made  to  suit  different  localities.  I 
instance,  that  hero  in  Leeds,  whcro  I  may,  perhaps,  be 
say  that  the  plans  and  arrangements  for  schools  seem  1 


By  ilie  Rev.  J.  H.  Rigg^  D.D.  359 

uid  to  conduce  both  to  economy  and  efficiencj,  as  the  mistress 
Ihe  infant  school  could  very  well,  if  a  superior  woman,  teach  both 
fB  and  girls  up  to  nine.  The  result  would  probably  be,  more 
xit  iu  the  infant  school,  and  more  complete  gradation  and  dore- 
ling  of  work  upwards,  always  supposing  the  mistress  to  have  the 
Bstance  of  an  efficient  certificated  under-teacher,  besides  pupil- 
idiers. 

In  a  village,  I  venture  to  recommend  that  there  should  never  be 
ve  than  one  school,  under  an  able  mistress,  with  certificated 
aitanty  if  necessary,  taking  charge  of  both  boys  and  girls  of  all  ages, 
eept  where,  also,  an  agricultural  half-time  school  could  be  estab- 
hed.  Village  children,  except  under  a  half-time  system,  are  not 
iriy  to  remain  at  school  long  after  ten  years  o^  age.  At  present 
net  compulsion  to  attend  school  up  to  thirteen  years  is  not  likely 
be  applied  to  villages. 

Where  there  is  but  one  school,  it  ought  on  every  account  to  be 
dsr  a  mistress.  A  master  cannot  teach  sewing,  nor  can  he  pro- 
riy  handle  infants  (as  a  rule),  nor  can  a  female  pupil-teacher  bo 
prenticed  to  him. 

For  a  small  town,  or  a  large  and  populous  village,  two  schools 
l^t,  I  think,  suffice,  one  for  infants,  juvenile  boys  up  to  nine 
ura  old,  and  girls,  the  other  for  boys  of  from  nine  upwards. 
In  the  way  I  have  ventured  to  indicate,  it  appears  as  if  small 
lools  might  almost  be  done  away ;  and  all  schools  might  be 
kced  under  the  management  of  well-paid  and  efficient  teachers. 
ith  a  proper  grouping  of  villages  or  small  parishes,  and  country 
ildren  can  and  will  gladly  walk  two  miles,  or  even  more,  to  a  good 
lool,  the  public  elementary  school  need  seldom  have  fewer  than 
m  160  to  200  children  in  average  attendance.  The  cost,  it  must  bo 
oembered,  of  maintaining  a  school  of  ninety  is  not  greatly  less 
in  of  maintaining  one  of  200  children,  while,  of  course,  the  income 
more  than  twice  as  largo. 

[  must  now  turn  to  the  question  of  large  versus  small  secondary 
tools.  This  is  by  no  means  the  same  question  as  that  which  we 
ire  been  considering  in  regard  to  primary  schools.  The  nature  of 
\  subjects  taught  makes  a  material  difference ;  the  variety  of  sub- 
ta  makes  a  difference  ;  and  the  manifold  variations  of  intellectual 
meter  and  development  iu  the  scholars,  which  increase  as  educa- 
Q  advances  from  stage  to  stage,  and  as  the  individuality  of  each 
lolar  unfolds  itself  in  his  progress  towards  adolescence,  these  make 
leij  important  difference. 

Let  us  proceed  to  compare  small  secondary  with  large  secondary 
lools;  which  means  practically  small  boarding-schools  of  a 
lerior  class,  with  either  very  largo  private  boarding-schools,  or 
|a  proprietary  or  public  schools. 

Jl  small  school,  then,  regarded  simply  on  the  side  of  intellectual 
truetion  and  training,  must  either  be,  caieris  paribus^  much  more 
tlj  or  much  less  efficient  than  a  large  school.  A  large  school 
litB  of  grading  very  minutely,  so  as  to  put  together  in  the  same 


360  Large  Scltods  v.  Snudl  SchooU. 

class  boys  of  very  nearly  the  same  attainments ;  and  three  times  a  jeir, 
if  not  oftener,  there  may  be  promotion  of  competent  scholartiota 
higher  classes,  and  a  readjustment  of  all  the  classes  in  tme  and  elon 
gradation.  If  provision  is  made  in  a  small  school  for  as  complete  • 
sorting  and  grading  of  the  scholars,  and  for  as  many  classes  in  pro. 
portion  to  the  different  attainments  of  the  scholars,  as  in  largi 
schools,  it  can  only  be  by  the  employment  of  a  proportiooitely  j 
increased  number  of  teachers. 

Then,  aguiu,  the  large  school,  as  a  rule,  at  all  events  the  large 
public  school,  will  be  able  to  secure  a  greatly  superior  diM  of 
teachers.  I  dure  not  say  that  the  large  school  will  of  necessity  do 
this,  still  less  that  it  has  always  done  this.  So  far  as  large  pubb 
schools  arc  concerned,  patronage,jobbing,  local  influences,  the  vsriosi 
evils  incident  to  board  management,  whether  close  or  elective,  htit 
wrought  infinite  mischief  in  the  past ;  and  inefficient,  I  had  slmoit 
said  worthless,  as  teacherH  in  private  schools  have  been  in  past  yoin, 
and,  I  suppose,  in  past  generations,  the  teachei's  iu  public  Mbooli 
have  probably  on  the  whole  been  scarcely  better,  in  many  instana% 
and  in  some  have  undoubtedly  been  much  worse.  But  in  then 
matters  the  improvement  has  been  very  great  during  the  last  dnen 
years.  And  all  that  I  have  said,  or  have  to  say,  is  that  the  isi|i 
public  school  can,  if  its  managers  will,  secure  a  superior  clau  rf 
teachers  to  those  employed  in  the  private  school,  especially  if  the 
private  school  be  also  small.  The  pay  must  be  better,  and  the  positioi 
of  a  teacher  is  much  more  independent  and  more  conspicuoiB.  ; 
The  teacher  of  a  public  school  is  a  public  officer.  Of  course  prifili  ' 
schools  may  be  large,  as  well  as  public  schools.  But,  as  a  rok^ 
private  schools  arc  at  least  comparatively  small,  and  public  sehooli  j 
are  large.  In  the  case  of  a  large  public  school  the  conditions  favooN  i 
able  to  efficiency  of  which  I  have  just  been  speaking  are  at  their 
maximum. 

A  coDsiderablo  advantage  in  the  case  of  large  schools  is  the  intel- 
lectual stimulus  and  the  play  of  a  healthy  and  honourable  emolstiM 
which  find  place  in  connexion  with  a  large  class;  especially  when  fer 
the  successful  scholar  in  such  a  class  there  is  a  prospect  of  prooft 
and  public  promotion. 

Nevertheless  there  seem  to  me  to  be  cases  in  which  the  advant^i 
is  decidedly  with  the  first-class  private  school,  a  school  under  m 
accomplished  and  able  master  with  numerous  and  thoroughly  eon- 
potent  assistants — no  doubt  a  very  costly  sort  of  school,  and  properly 
and  deservedly  so — rather  than  with  the  large  school,  whether  piifsti 
or  public.     In  such  a  school  the  character  of  each  scholar  can  be 
more  particularly  and  individually  studied.    The  timid  and  baekuvA 
can  be  much  better  handled,  more  gently,  more  searchingly,  niore 
stimulatingly,  more   encouragingly,  and  more  helpfully,  altogetkr 
more  effectually.     Subtle  peculiarities  of  temperament  and  eapalniitj 
can  be  much  better  taken  account  of  and  dealt  with.     Nay,  in  wm 
cases,  even  a  clever  boy,  a  boy  of  exceptional  quickness  and  brilliaaeji 
especially  in  the  earlier  stages  of  his  course,  can  be  more  folly  aai 


By  the  Ree.  J.  H.  Ri^,  D.D. 

\y  branght  forward,  can  be  more  coagenially  dealt  witli  and 
sped,  than  be  could  be  in  the  crowd  of  «  Ini-ge  school. 
R  tnatter  of  fact,  my  esperience  is  that,  np  to  the  age  of  thirteen 
first-clfLfti  private  schools  do  actually  brin^  eaholars  better 
■rd  than  the  best  large  HcbooU,  than  the  best  public  schools.  In 
1  ecjiool,  iadiridual  attention  hardly  cao  be  given  to  a  boy  that 
it.  If  Le  has  not  got  on,  if  Le  CalU  below  the  average,  from 
rer  cause,  all  that  cuti  be  done  is  to  keep  him  back,  to  keep 
'hero  ho  \i,  when  tlie  others  Mie  promoted  lo  a  higher  class, 
riwliati  so  long  aa  the  boy  iiiis  to  uike  hie  chance  in  a  crowd, 
^ke  backwardness  or  even  Htupidity,  may  be,  has  often  proved 
;0iily  a  certain  form  of  thoughlfhlnex?.  An  acute,  subtle-mi  tided 
(or  instance,  of  wide  discurfivcucss,  or  of  a  very  seantliing 
■r  of  wind,  will  sometimes  show  to  great  disadvantage  in  a  larfte 

Bonder  rapid  consecutive  leaching,  however  skilful.  He  has  his 
!,  bis  questions,  his  iliHicultieB,  his  objections,  about  which  hn 
itling  Bud  pondering,  while  average  rote-learning  lads  of  qaick 
idle  intelligence,  but  not  of  much  depth,  are  assiduously  aud  in 
1  of  intelligent  faith  following  tbi?  teacher.  He  is  IciY  behind, 
!r  reachedor  dealt  with  at  all;  his  thonghts  are  never  answered, 
nlty  L9  never  tapped,  iff  may  so  speak;  bis  character  and  needs 
ivei*  found  out;  he  has  to  teach  himself,  and  is  perhaps  alto- 
dialieartened.  This  is  especinlly  the  case  with  scjiolars  of  real 
ility  in  respect  of  the  higher  suhjocLs  of  schokstic  study,  the 
of  arithmetic,  mathematics  in  general,  the  elements  of 
■nd  tlie  principles  of  grammar.  In  short,  there  are  scholars 
im  u  large  school  is  unsuitable,  until  after  they  have  mastered 
s  introduction  to  all  the  miun  branches  uf  study. 
here  let  me  revert  to  the  question  of  grading  in  schools.  In 
a,  1  believe,  many  large  schools  are  organized  on  tbe  principle 
'  each  class  there  is  but  one  master,  who,  in  its  proper  class- 
I  teaches  to  the  same  scholars  ail  ibo  essential  subjects,  and  is 
for  the  tiital  education,  at  (hat  stage  and  grade,  of  all  the 
the  does.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  a  method  which  can 
n  elementary  schools,  which  is  incompatible  with  thorough 
snperior  education  for  elder  boys.  I  heUeve  all  experienced 
will  allow  that  the  arrangement  of  classes  should  vary,  at 
tba  more  advanced  branches  of  education  for  boys  and  girla, 
ig  to  the  different  nature  of  the  subjects  taught.  To  have 
I*  grading  for  classics  and  mathematics,  for  geography  and 
Btetie,  for  uiodern  languages  and  for  science,  cannot  be  right. 
U  any  more  tolerable  to  grade  in  the  same  classes  for  English 
oar  and  for  algebra,  than  for  modern  Innguages  and  science.  In 
Mt  elementary  stages  of  education,  when  what  is  taught  is 
■nd  almost  equally  open  to  the  apprehension  of  the  average 
SDcb  a  method  may  work,  aud  may  be  llie  only  method  prac- 
'  available;  but  at  every  step  beyond  tlte  elements,  as  the 
T»  advance,  individual  peculiarities  of  capacity  and  of  geniua 
[ftly  to  develop  the  in  selves,  tending  tu  separato  between  scbolttr 


362  Tmi^c  ScliOoU  V.  Small  ScJtoois, 

and  scholar,  and  diversities  of  taste  and  powers  will  cause  the  mm 
scholar  often  to  be  quick  in  one  department  and  slow  in  anotberf 
advanced  in  one  department  and  backward  in  another.  And  jet 
quickness  may  only  mean  superficiality  in  certain  cases,  while  slow- 
ness  may  mean  thoughtfulness ;  and  the  slow  student  who  appetn 
obtuse  at  the  beginning  of  his  course  in  a  particular  branch  of  stodj, 
may,  if  properly  handled,  develop  into  the  masterly,  the  comprebea* 
sive  and  even  the  rapid  prize-man  of  a  later  stage.  I  conclude,  there- 
fore, that  in  the  large  school  for  secondary  education,  different  lines 
of  grading,  difiereut  sets  of  classctii,  and  different  sets  of  teachers, 
are  necessary,  in  connexion  with  the  different  lines  of  study. 

What  I  have  now  been  saying  will  appear  to  many  who  hear  mn 
so  obvious  and  elementary  a  truth  in  the  science  of  teaching,  as  no 
to  have  needed  to  be  said.  And  yet  this  evident  truth  I  find  to  b 
continually  disregarded  in  the  current  talk  about  graded  schools  fo 
English  scholars. 

And  now,  lastly,  I  am  bound  to  say  a  few  words  in  regard  to  th 
moral  aspect  of  the  tiuestion,  as  between  largo  and  small  school  i 
They  need  but  be  few,  as  this  side  of  the  question  involves  no  con 
sideration  that  is  not  very  simple  and  obvious. 

The  theory  of  a  small  private  school  is  that  the  schoolmaster  shoal 
be  in  hco  parentis,  only  that  he  would  represent  the  parental  sidei 
its  aspect  of  not  unkindly  but  yet  unbending  strictness  of  rule.  H 
should  be  a  wise,  experienced,  virtuous,  self-restrained,  and  yet 
somewhat  stern  parent,  not  severe  indeed,  but  firm  as  abstract  lai 
itself.  Well,  there  have  been  such  schoolmasters,  but  they  have  bee 
very  few.  The  number  of  schoolmasters,  however,  whose  govern 
ment  is  much  better  than  that  of  an  unwise  or  unvirtuoua  parent  : 
not  so  small.  The  theory  of  the  very  large  school,  on  the  other  hand 
especially  the  Inrp^o  public  school,  is  that  the  school  community,  lik 
the  national  community,  is  governed  partly  by  puldic  law  and  il 
sanctions,  and  partly  by  the  public  opinion  of  the  community.  Tb 
schoolmaster  is  no  longer  suppobcd  to  take  any  minute  or  immediati 
personal  oversight  of  the  scholars,  or  to  bold  any  quasi-parenta 
relation  whatever  ;  he  is  governor,  king,  judge,  that  is  all. 

Of  course  in  a  comparison  of  such  dilfcrcnt  ideas  of  a  school n 
these,  everything  will  be  seen  to  depend  on  the  character  of  the  privitt 
schoolmaster,  or  of  the  large  school,  and  on  the  disposition  nd 
character  of  the  scholar.  A  bad  small  and  private  school  is,  I  sop- 
pose,  much  worse  than  even  a  bad  large  and  public  school.  Qaestiou 
here  arise  as  to  varieties  of  cases,  such  as  we  might  easily  suppos^- 
which  I  will  not  even  attempt  to  state,  much  less  to  discuss.  Bit 
it  is  evident  that  a  good  small  private  school  may  be  the  only  school 
suitable  for  children  of  a  certain  character.  Timid  and  sensitiTe 
boys,  for  example,  are  unfit  for  the  ordeal  of  a  large  school,  At 
least  a  large  boarding  school.  At  such  a  school  they  will  not 
be  rallied  into  manliness,  they  will  be  cowed  and  crushed.  Hose 
life  and  public  day  school  life,  or  at  least  large  day  school  life,  fitted 
and  framed  into  each  other,  supposing  the  home  to  be  good  and  tho 


liool  to  be  gODil,  appear  to  me  to  furnish  tlic  best  means  od  the 
hole  of  educating  the  hoy  who  has  mastered  the  fii-at  elements  of 
lUruciion.  Probably  the  bsiuc  syBtein  would  be  equally  good,  or 
~~n  more  absolutely  suitable)  for  girls,  under  the  bke  conditions. 
or  to  thai,  irhetbcr  a  small  private  or  a  large  public  school  be 
e boat  for  s  boy  who  is  to  leceivo  a  thorough  education  must,  I 
ntarc  to  think,  depeud  on  circuniBtaoees.  Boarding  schoolii,  I 
bppoM,  there  must  be  ;  but  though  such  schools  are  necessary, 
tivt  our  present  eondttion^  I  couJeiiB  that  J  regard  them  as  neces- 
ny  evils.  Those  countries,  I  think,  have  ii  great  advantage  over 
^glind,  At  leiisl  in  this  one  respect,  in  whioh  home  life  and  sya- 
llBitic  itnd  eOieient  public  school  instruction  ure  provided  in 
IsmbiDalion  lor  the  children  Aom  infancy  till  they  approach 
(Iole«ence. 


,!&.  Jv«)u*ll  Favke  (Luiiiluiij  slid  lu)  luul  Leiinl  with  «iir|iriHu  u'tit  rugrel  liiftl 
Ijttwo!  tlie  tfaohecs  of  Leeds  were  prwent,  heiauBo  tbeorr  mash  be  brought 
llie  tut  of  practice.  There  were  many  rpuson*  nby  the  icbool  ol  th«  future 
"  b(  n  UrgD  one.  Tb«  eucntint  thmrp  of  lew^ing  rMluced  to  itsiimptmt 
a  was  tlint  of  tb(  minii  of  t]u  learher  noting  on  and  being  enJusiTcly 
wilh  IIiB  mind  of  Lhe  arJiobir,  nnd  it  tlic  tfocher  irna  obliged  In  direct  hia 
nuon  to  n  Larger  mimbertbaDono  there  was  nloiwiir  poirer.  Knn  Jt  Ibereirere 
J  tiro  pupilf  one  iraidd  certainly  suffer  in  Rome  degree.  Tberefore.  ok  we  in- 
Mdtbe  number  of  pupiliiredimitiiiihodtbsl'oraeof  theiMuenceeiereicMl  bftbc 
iliBFaa  tfaouughL;  and  in  oldon  timas  at  Eton  we  had  reoiiHil  tboehaunli^of 
I  doetnr  aflompting  to  teach  10(1  bo7a.  Thu  nioit  elDcieiit  lUdtructiDn  i>  given 
m  mind  anting  on  one  luind,  and  making  >t«  peruliaritiM  a  ii|>«cial  stud;  ;  no 
1  totOd  b*a  taacher  wliudid  nut  nliiily  (lie  minds  of  bis  pupils;  he  might  bfn 
tnr,  bnl  a  lei^turer  was  mil  a  teneher.  for  llinleetiirfr  stuud  nl  n  dtstanre  froiii 
tStti  abilst  ilie  t«ncb(r  must  e»me  olwv  In  il.  Bui  whitp  nil  Lbi*  was  tlien- 
■Ih  truB,  the  quntion  came  befnro  us  as  nne  ol  nnj-s  and  nieans,  and  ne  were 
M  (ram  eoanoiuioal  ronslderaltuiw  10  I'onsent  to  luoilii'v  the  lliNiry  of 
(I  Uarliing ;  and  if  tre  nere  nbliged  to  gira  up  the  liiniry,  We  hail  belUT 
Ml  to  the  opposite  mtretne,  because  we  should  t«apb  lor^B  nuliiben  boiler 
tmatl  munlwri.  The  reasons  for  [hit  were  tolersblj  obrious.  If  be  had  a 
ol  tnU-a-doEen  haya,  tueb  us  were  Ui  be  Councl  in  board ioR-K-houU.  he 
i  probkbl;  haTo  six  etronglj  marked  initiTidualitios.  six  min^  wliich  hail 
id  at  a  eertnia  stage  bj  raried  nnd  dilTerent  procassee;  this  education  nl 
bj  diflbrent  masters  would  make  the  actual  condition  of  tha  sii  widely 
to  WW  impoMJble  but  tbot  there  should  be  great  gnlfe  between  the 
"'■"  '-  ijftorwuiCB  which  would  tar  disqualify  them  to  recctre  a  common 
.  [rom  Uie  same  teacher.  But  suppose,  instead  of  sii,  there  were 
degr«B  of  difference  would  bsoon»M)UBnllysmat1iiT-.  there  would 
M  an  the  nme  levul  in  man;  respecti,  and,  tberefore,  ripe  for  the 
and  tha  Inndonc;  wliioh  in  the  one  case  would  not  be  adapted  to  the 
__  _  ibe  olher  be  adapted  to  thu  sixty  in  conscquenue  of  their  bein^  more 
en  the  sanie  lotd.  Ilnrol  training  and  education  had  much  lo  do  nith  the 
r,  and  the  ichool  of  the  future  would  therefore  be  a  whool  with  Rrst-ratc 
with  tenchers  »limulalod  to  do  their  rcry  bcrt,  well  paid,  and  in 
of  pomfort.  Such  large  ilay  schoole  would  edinil  in  some  degree  of 
•daWCioo.  When  tlie  theory  of  eiliioalion  came  In  be  properly  considered, 
b«  oonsidered  a  aiugulor  tiling  that  parents  should  have  separated  their 
from  home  inllnsneM  and  consigned  Ibeni  to  assaeiations  which  they  knew 
'  whwh  in  many  caws  wore  unsuitable.    With  first-rata  tohools, 


364  Large  Schooh  v.  Svudl  SclwoU. 

maoliinerj  of  tko  best  deBcription,  and  thorouglily  efficient  teaoben,  opportunity 
would  be  given  to  the  father  and  the  mother  for  teaching  at  home  bj  meusof 
home  influence.  Largo  and  well  orpmizcd  echoolfl,  conducted  bj  men  who  wer9 
experte  in  teaching,  linving  under  thriu  teachers  who  were  also  trained  to  leidi 
woald  best  suit  the  hopes  and  wishes  of  the  age  to  come,  for  which  we  ven 
preparing;  and  if  we  did  not  consider  tlie  gain  now,  if  we  put  it  off,  when  the 
time  reaUj  did  come  there  would  be  a  reason  for  postponing  its  further  oon* 
dderation.  Therefore,  having  regard  to  all  educational  mtcresta  it  was  our  dotj 
to  consider  the  question  now  in  relation  to  its  bearing,  not  only  in  the  present,  but 
also  in  the  future. 

Mr.  EnwiN  Pkaum  (London)  said  that  the  largo  school  tlieory  deserved  support, 
not  only  for  the  reaHon  urged  by  Mr.  rayiio,  hut  for  another  which  apparentlj  ru 
contrary  to  his  argument.     lie  properly  poinlcd  out  that  the  higllo^t  t4!«ching  wu 
to  bring  the  suiK'rior  mind  into  contact  with  the  inferior  one,  or,  as  Carlyle  phrMed 
it,  **  to  make  a  fctudy  of  individual  aptitudes  with  a  perpetual  variation  of  metni  to 
attain  the  same  en((5<."    If  we  obtained  that  particular  individual  study,  then  wi 
gained  an  educative  influence  over  the  minds  of  a  numl)er  of  children,  which  wu 
obviously  BU|K'rior  to  the  oriUnary  pnMrsM  now  U'rmed  instruction.     There  vast 
little  confusion  between  what  wtis  iiK'ant  by  crducatioii,  and  what  by  instruetion, 
hut  we  might  nay  that  the  influence  which  a  good  master  would  exercise  over  hit 
scholars  was  one  thing,  and  was  of  the  higher  possible  moment,  and  that  the  inftroe- 
tion  whieli  lie  gave  tliein  woi*  a  widely  different  thing.    The  imparting  of  in» 
struct  ion  might  prnrticnlly  bo  regarded  as  something  mechanical ;  there  was  t 
certain  amount  of  information  or  which  the  scholars  had  to  become  possessed ;  but, 
in  addition  to  that,  an  educational  iiifluenro  might  be  exercised  ;  and  one  of  the 
main  reasons  why  a  large  school  would  be  preferable  to  a  small  one,  was  that  in 
a  large  school  you  were  almost  sure  to  have  a  head  master  who  would  be  psid 
very  much  b(*tter  than  the  master  of  a  small  school,  and  wlio  woiUd,  therefore, be 
a  very  euperior  man.     At  flrst  sight  it  would  appear  that  the  master  of  a  small 
school  would  liave  op}X)rt unities  of  bringing  himcelf  into  contact  with  indiridoal 
pupils  wit.h  salutary  (H)nBe<[uences,  which  the  master  of  a  large  school  would  not 
liave  ;  but^  when  it  was  remembered  that  the  master  (»f  a  large  school  would,  in  all 
probability,  be  a  much  superior  man,  the  argument  in  favour  of  the  small  school 
fell  to  the  ground.     As  a  fact,  it  was  the  mattters  of  large  schools  who  had  been 
able  to  exercise  great  influence  upon  their  scholars;  and  that  of  Dr.  Arnold  at 
Kugby  ^as  probably  augmented  infinitely  because  hundreds  of  young  men  psmd 
under  it,  whilst  in  all  likelihood  it  woulci  have  been  proportionately  diminished  if 
the  boys  had  been  numbered  by  tens  instead  of  hundreds.    The  economical  aspect 
of  the  question  was  immediately  important,  in  view  of  the  steps  oontempUtea  bf 
school  boards,  because  large  schools  not  only  gave  sreat  increase  of  efficiency,  but 
also  gave  it  at  a  greatly  r^uoed  cost  per  heocL     It  had  been  shown  by  Mr.  Alln, 
in  his  report  to  tne  Society  of  Arts,  that,  while  a  school  for  forty  children,  which 
only  allowed  a  salary  of  70/.  a  year  to  the  master  and  mistress,  who  could  not  be 
expected,  for  that  money,  to  possess  any  high  intellectual  attainments,  cost  2/.1UIW. 
per  head  per  year,  a  school  for  4(10  children,  allowing  150^.  for  the  master,  W. 
for  the  mistress,  and  good  salaries  to  monitors  and  assistants,  could  be  maintaiDed 
for  1/.  per  head  per  year.    Therefore  if,  instead  of  having  forty  or  fifty  childm 
in  a  school,  he  had  many  times  that  number,  and  divided  them  into  olaiseit  he 
could  put  a  well-paid  teacher  at  the  head  of  each  class,  and  a  superior  man  at  the 
head  of  the  school,  and  in  that  way  we  should  bring  to  bear  upon  the  childmi 
somewhat  of  the  same  kind  of  influence  which  had  been  exerted  sd  beneficially  upoR 
the  youth  of  the  middle  classes,  by  the  head  masters  of  some  of  our  great  poUie 
schools.    He  would  not  however  pursue  the  subject,  since  the  Section  baa  be«D 
joined  by  one  who  had  made  himself  an  authority  upon  it. 

Mr.  Ildwik  Ciiadwick,  C.B.  (London)  said :  This  question  would  govern  the 
whole  elementary  and  general  education  of  the  country,  because  it  was  quite  dear 
that  by  simultaneous  teaching  in  large  classes  we  could  obtain  results  the  equivilnti 
of  which  could  be  obtained  otherwise  only  by  having  one  teacher  to  one  pupil;  and 
therefore  by  this  simultaneous  class  teaching,  we  should  be  enabled  to  get  childreo 
well  through  the  three  B's  in  about  three  years,  whereas  it  was  utterly  impoauble 
by  teachmg  on  the  small  bccJo  to  get  them  through  in  less  than  six  or  seven  yean 


tan  for  Chi)  vffl  (nil;  explained  b;  Mr.  Allen,  who  ibawed  tUnt  vben  liemM 
J  >  cliua  of  Iwenty  out  nt  >  BvUnol  uF  fuKf,  the  iDilruclJon  addrened  la  fin 
rt  to  SttMn,  whilst  if,  iRBtwiduf  liaringllTuof  aaoH,  lie  had  W  twcntj-STS 

Kit,  ewh  Bfould  Imve  deriTed  na  m— '■  ' — "' ~'''' '■'-'  "'— 

[Mtim 

«i«.i.—     -...., - 

I  boght  for  H.  ingtcod  u(  21.  ■  hnd,  and  in  a  shorter  drac  tlmn  other  Dhildren. 
|rin3pla  hud  bem  itctcd  ou  in  the  United  Suiet  with  'vr;  grmi  tuoocw.  The 
Mnf  in  lime  would.  h>  thought,  gorem  and  necuiibUe  nvgregationa  and  Lhe 
IBM  of  denuminational  feeling.  This  ccoaooiT  liad  bevn  rEohiredal  PaTenhnrn. 
ft  Mtenl  pariibn  united  tu  fonn  one  sohool.  and  u  Ilia  ohiiruli  jmtIj  eon- 
d  Dot  (o  teach  the  cateebiim  to  the  children  of  diuontera  if  the  parents 
~  i  in  writing,  there  Hers  in  the  school  OOO  i^hurcli  and  SOU  dtuentine 
a ;  but  if  the  dluenteri  bad  been  kept  out  it  iraukl  bare  taken  tbe  llOU 
B  [our  and  a  half  jeara  to  learn  that  which  the;  could  not  learn  in  three, 
■aenlori  tJone  could  not  have  giren  the  mtoe  iusLruulion  U>  their  children  iii 
19  dtniNe  the  lime.  Mr.  Fears  bad  pointed  oiit  an  important  ooniiUention 
■  to  the  uunlitj  Of  Ibe  masters.    It  was  a  comtiiun  inoiim,  "Ag  i«  the 

M  the  children ;"  nud  nu  person  of  even  aLttlo  eiperieueein  ginugorerii 

icodd  helpiecingUiemaslrrortniBtreH  reflected  in  tbe  ebildren.  Ibe  remit  at 
(ibMOWMthBl  Llie  labour  market  was  rising  connderablj.  Of  conrseaealarj'of 
■■jtar  iroutd  not  attract  the  right  eortofmaelfrforBiicliaKibaali  but  tbecotu- 
den  enabled  the  committee  toomplojahigh  order  of  master;  be  hud  SOW.,  and 
wmirtresaHiViiK(uatlf  well  paid ;  and  jet  the  coitof  ibeaahool  wnaonlf  It.  per 
,  If  we  went  on  lilmidering  lu  disrtgnrd  of  Uie  adrantngve  of  union  we  ahould 
itOOMnebMdi  to  it.  Ilia  plan  would  neoGMitale  large  nogregationtof  children  in 
^UWWliool.DndthB infante  would  hare  tocoino  witb  the  rcatnt  tbe  faniilT,and 
AottheEnfantKhool.  Ibis  woe  found  to  work  well  in  praccieeforamdiueof 
"  -  111.1  die  joliuul.  Tn  SoulLiiicI.  llie  elder  bojs  wcnletcn  tiiur,  Bye,  or  eii 
il.'v  ■  iil'l  .:•■!  .'i!  :1  I.  i:i.ii.  r  iiijiiju,  teoching  equal  to  that  eecured 
'  !  '  I  ;  '    ''i  I'lijaiwdaiMi  mental  traiuinp  for  li. 

I  liii.-ohildron  weredriUed  with  gr»l 
<'''<l  Che  condition  of  tlte  parochial 
above  one  in  three  of  the  children 
p  cont.  went  to  the  bod  ime  wiij  or 
.11  sarcaiititudaot  band,  ami,  uid  leg,  which  imuiennl;  fnciblated 
\,na  keeping  of  cmplojment.    It  was  formerl;  found  that  lads  vtlin 
•ohool  up  to  tlieir  foorteenlli  jear  beouue  runaway  anprenlices, 
.    .       ID  reoeou,  Uie  annwur  ufluii.  wa>i  "  I  uuuld  uut  stand  tbe  htbonr : 
.__  poinfnl  for  ma,"     Vi\iitr  llic  new  ejnUim  in  tbe  district  »ohooU,  the 

did  itol  amoinit  to  t«o  inWend  of  IK)  percent.;  tboehililrun  were  taken 

l^errleo  at  fast  oa  the;  left  schuol ;  and  this  aucoeis  mu  oi'biefvJ  bj  the  proiwr 
~  'oalion  and  diiiaion  of  educational  labour. 

0.  C,  Mat  (London)  Wat  couyinoed  of  tbe  utilitj  of  large  echoolt.    Dr. 
■d  oorredlf  alJiled  that  punil-leachen  ffouUI  not  be  requirid  in  future. 
Xer.  Dr.  Brno:  I  said  the  proiiortion  of  ccrtiJUiited  niaatcrt  would  be 
ued.  Mid  that  of  pupil-lcscliera  diminished ;  but  I  sbonhl  be  sorr^  to  too  tbe 
i-teaeh«r  ^ttem  dune  nway  nilli. 

f-tlJiST  mid  all  would  dcjiend  upon  agr.  In  Kiireiiiburg,  nmny  jean  ugu. 
'ifletJon  wns  arrived  ai.  that  epci-inl  knowledge  coulil  bo  TOoiinuniealed 
'    CKljf  by  well-tminiil  innslprs.    To  redncii  eipeusf,  a  ooiobinatiwi  wna 


'btmbnit  in 
Vlmi  Mkvd  I 


L^ 


a  to  order  to  form  a  lapgi.  whool ;  tenchers  under  tlic  agfi  iJ  eishtoon  w 


mtlj 

fe^.  .         ■  . 

no^Ofed;   nil  llie  teocbers  wore  Bpcciolly   trained  for  iho  »  _ _._ 

Im  were  such  ua  to  justiff  us  in  lookin^i  t/i  hu'go  idiooU  and  tratncd  teaoheri 
ilB^eucy,  con  ibi  I  led  with  econoui^  of  tiiue  and  of  meuiu. 
^^     B«v.  Bhooki;  IjAMHUIT  (London)  euid  one  point  whiiib  wim  raised  was 

dAer  of  nupilt  it  wot  ulvitable  U>  group  in  u  otuee;  and  it  iHwined  that, 

ilg(X>prin«niul  teacher  of  lucb  obililj  as  ougbl  to  be  obtained  for  a  large 


f,  1w  would  be  nhle  to  superintend  other  teacbert  in  a  war  of  wbich  we  know 
'"gj"  *"*"  elempntary  and  secondary  schools  nt  present.  In  tie  Middle  Cln*« 
bvtXtf  of  I«ndcin,  of  whi<-b  Mr.  Jowett  was  bead  iiuuier,  be  did  not  tmrli  nt 


366  Hdticatton  of  Oirls. 

all;  he  spent  his  whole  time  in  snperintendinfc  the  work^  and  Mr.  Fitdi  had 
reported  that  the  school  stood  wonderfully  in  all  points  that  made  a  lehool  whd 
it  ought  to  be.  The  more  the  figures  with  regard  to  the  saviuf:  of  expense  in  Ui|d 
schools  were  gone  into,  the  more  would  it  be  seen  tliat  we  could  arrire  at  no  otw 
conclusion,  tlmn  that  the  large  schools  wuuld  enable  u»  to  realise  a  large  pscumut 
saving.  It  was  well  to  coll  attention  to  what  was  naid  on  tiiis  subject  hy  Mr. 
Fussell,  in  his  last  report  on  the  Church  of  England  schools  inspected  br  mm  ia 
Middlesex.  He  showed  tlint.,  in  a  school  for  1)0  boys,  a  ininimuni  staff  eoit 
125/.,  whilst  in  a  school  for  *SiO  boys  a  ininimuni  staff  cost  27(V. :  so  that,  in 
teaching  powers,  a  school  of  *2^A)  nee(l  not  coitt  much  more  than  double  what  om 
of  90  cost.  Anotlier  view  of  the  matter  was  this :  in  the  i>chool  of  DO,  the  em- 
t  ributions  of  the  pupils  would  amount  to  40  ]K'r  cent,  of  tlie  cost,  whilst,  in  the 
f>chool  of  lioO,  the  contributions  would  amount  to  5G'(>  per  cent.,  so  that  theesfifig 
in  the  cost  of  the  larger  school  was  enormous. 

Mr.  Jamkk  Wilson  (Member  of  the  Leeds  School  Board)  eoid  this  queition 
was  of  immediate  moment,  because  many  fH.*hool  boards  were  making  arraign 
ments  for  the  building  of  schools,  the  ire  of  which  would  to  a  great  extent deUh 
mine  the  character  of  the  education  tA>  be  given.  In  this  country  recentljir  maagr 
schools  had  been  built  with  a  number  of  cLiss  rooms,  so  tbat  children  might  be 
separated  into  classes  for  special  instruction :  and  it  seemed  to  him  tliat,  whilsthe 
large  school  arrangement  might  be  judiciously  worked  for  children'  under  nine 
years  of  age  among |whom  there  was  a  good  deal  of  imitation  and  of  kamiig 
from  each  otlier,  for  children  above  that  ugc  when  they  began  to  think  more  for 
tliemsclvcs,  it  might  be  advantageous  to  adopt  the  cluss-room  system,  and  bring 
the  mind  of  the  teacher  to  biiir  more  directly  on  that  of  the  scholar.  In  this 
way,  it  seemed  to  him,  we  might  combine  the  two  systems  and  deriye  a  double 
advantage. 

The  Bev.  Dr.  Biog,  in  dosing  the  debate,  said  it  must  be  remembered  tint  tbe 
advantage  to  be  gained  by  having  a  large  elementary  school  was  this,  that  if  ve 
were  able  to  put  together  m  a  class  children  who  were  as  nearly  as  possible  at  one 
stage,  one  teacher  might  teach  five  boys  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  thirteen,  hot 
in  100  boys  you  would  have  live  twenty'it,  and  with  each  twenty  you  might  deii 
almost  as  with  one  boy,  so  that  you  would  get  in  tliis  case  five  teachers  to  do  the 
work  which  one  would  have  to  do  in  the  otlier,  with  the  further  advantage  thai 
while  one  teacher  would  instruct  only  one  of  tlie  five  pupils  at  a  time,  each  of  tbf 
five  teachers  would  be  instructing  simultaneously  twenty  boys  as  spedallj  aid 
directly  as  if  they  were  one.  In  the  larger  class,  too,  there  were  advantages  of  which 
Mr.  Payne  lost  sight — the  munv-sided  illustrations  of  lessons  which  the  answin 
of  pupils  would  supply,  and  tue  stimulus  of  competition  which  was  a  potent 
influence  with  children. 


EDUCATION    OP    GIULS.* 

\V/uil  are  the    Special  Requirements  for  tlie  Impwcatwut  ofih 

Education  of  Girh  ? 

MRS.  W.  G.  GREY  read  a  paper  on  llic  question.*  The 
writer  said,  the  first  and  most  essential  of  the  reqairc- 
meots  for  improving  tlie  education  of  girls,  as  it,  was  sure  iu  time  to 
be  followed  by  all  the  rest,  was  a  truer  conception  of  what  educatiou 
was,  and  what  were  its  uses.  If  the  true  view  of  it,  as  the  drawing 
out  and  cultivation  of  faculty  and  the  formation  of  right  habits  of 
thought  and  action,  were  generally  accepted  by  parents  and  societj, 

•  «ee  TranwctioHs,  1869,  p.  ^»1 ;  1870,  p.  iVOC. 


by  Mrs.  W.  G.  Grey.  36? 

acknowledged  that  such  education  was  as  necessary  to 
>  men,  and  that  its  object  was  to  fit  them  morally  and 
%  not  for  the  matrimonial  market,  but  to  do  their  duty 
aithfully  in  the  station  of  life  to  which  they  might  be 
)  second  requirement  was  the  improvement  of  schools 
setter  organization  and  a  system  of  inspection.  Mrs. 
ted  the  plan  of  large  day  schools  or  classes,  with  boarding 
innection  with  them  for  pupils  from  a  distance.  Where 
Is  prevented  the  establishment  of  such  schools,  she  sug- 
1  alternative  the  association  of  several  schools  iuto  a 
school  forming  a  class  or  division,  and  the  whole  group 
one  large  school.  Co-operative  societies  might  bo  as 
>r  education  as  for  other  objects,  if  ably  and  honestly 
The  examination  of  schools  was  of  great  importance,  and 
mid  be  exerted  on  the  one  hand  to  obtain  qualified  ex- 
erms  within  the  reach  of  second  and  third  gnide  schools, 
>thcr  to  induce  mistresses  to  desire  and  invite  examina- 
don  should  also  be  made  to  enable  young  women  desir- 
jarry  on  their  education  to  a  higher  stage  through 
ions  as  the  College  for  Women  at  Hitchin.  The  third 
was  the  training  of  teachers.  This  might  be  done  with- 
jnse  of  training  colleges  by  attaching  pupil-teachers  to 
school,  who  should  be  instructed  rfhd  superintended  in 
)y  the  head  mistress,  by  inducing  young  women  to  take 
as  a  profession,  and  by  measures  for  the  examination 
tion  of  teachers  by  a  public  and  recognised  authority, 
md  last  recpiiremcnt  was  that  girls  should  have  an  object 
)rk  for,  and  not  look  to  marriage  as  their  only  career. 
I  be  taught  from  their  childhood  that  they,  like  their 
St  take  their  share  of  the  work  of  life,  and  must  be  edu- 
it  well.  They  should  bo  not  only  allowed  but  induced 
their  own  maintenance  where  their  parents  could  not 
ependent  provision  for  them  ;  or,  if  they  were  provided 
uld  hold  themselves  bound  to  help  and  train  themselves 
mtly  in  doing  the  unpaid  work  of  the  world.  Finally, 
dvised  women  to  abjure  the  "rest  and  be  thankful" 
B  thankful  iudced  for  the  ground  they  had  gained,  and 
able  and  generous  men  who  had  helped  their  cause,  but 
t  until  they  had  won  the  right  and  the  means  to  the 
ire  of  which  their  nature  was  capable. 

IT  GuRNKT  also  had  a  paper  on  the  subject.*  The 
V  dividing  the  middle  class,  for  whom  provision  was 
hree  sub-divisions — (1st.)  The  daughters  of  professional 
e  of  the  upper  class  reduced  in  circumstances  ;  (2nd.)  The 
radespeople;  and  (3rd.)  The  more  intelligent  children  of 
labourers,  went  on  to  review  what  was  done  for  theni  in 

ted  in  full  in  the  EngU$hiooman*6  lieview,  January,  1873. 


868  JSducatm  of  GirU. 

other  countries,  as  compared  with  the  nothing  done  for  thei 
own.  Amongst  other  countries  America  stood  first  in  the 
for  education  and  in  the  cheapness  of  instruction,  the  fees 
from  11«.  to  30«.  annually.  The  three  grades  of  schools — i 
schools,  high  schools,  and  colleges — were  passed  iu  review, 
advantages  of  a  mixture  of  the  sexes  discussed.  Passin] 
£urope,  the  paper  showed  what  large  provision  was  made  1 
education.  In  Prussia  girls  were  not  admitted  to  the  Gym 
the  Real-Schiilen  ;  but  there  were  two  classes  of  higher  an 
Burgher- Schiilen,  supported  partly  by  public  funds  and  p 
fees,  and  these  provided  an  education  superior  in  kind,  if 
tended  in  range,  than  that  oifered  in  America,  Germi 
thoroughly  mastered  the  idea  that  education  was  meant  to 
the  mind,  and  not  the  memory :  to  d<jVclop  the  reason, 
merely  the  power  of  reply.  In  bwltzerland,  with  its  mixct 
for  boys  and  girls,  and  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  the  compuli 
kept  the  schools  full,  and  an  excellent  education  was  given, 
hardly  fair  to  compare  Continental  prices  with  English,  I 
seemed  exceedingly  small,  and  in  Frankfort,  in  the  higher  £ 
Schiilen,  were  less  than  21,  per  annum.  Failing  any  State 
and  whilst  waiting  for  the  development  of  the  Endowed  Sch< 
to  meet  the  case  of  girls,  it  might  be  asked,  What  could  be 
England  by  voluntury  effort  ?  In  the  first  place.  What  e* 
was  wanted  ?  Education  much  the  same  as  in  boys'  scho 
good  masters,  able  to  supply  a  thorough  literary  education, 
to  call  out  the  powers,  and  produce  thoughtful  women,  n 
every  emergency  of  life.  English,  thoroughly  and  grama 
taught,  with  metre,  rudimentary  history,  and  physical  science 
should  be  the  work  ;  drawing,  foreign  languages,  mubic,  i 
play.  Needlework  should  not  be  forgotten,  and  physical 
was  all-important.  Had  anything  been  done  in  this  direction 
Camden  North  London  Collegiate  Day  School,  under  the  i 
tendence  of  Mis:}  I3uss,  seemed  to  provide  just  such  a  school 
school  contained  200  girls,  from  hix  to  eighteen,  i>sky]ng 
to  lo/.  per  annum.  A  lower  school,  in  coimextion  with  it, 
cf^ually  successful.  Miss  (vurney  then  commented  on  the  ad 
of  such  schools  as  providing,  by  economy  of  managemen 
variety  of  teachers  on  all  subjects;  as  providing,  in  a  mia 
classes,  a  social  intimacy  much  needed ;  and  in  creating  h 
independence  and  esprit  de  corps  not  learnt  in  private  school 
paper  concluded  by  expressing  a  hope  that  the  Endowed 
Commission  would  create  such  schools,  as,  if  public  funds  p 
the  buildings  and  scholarships,  would  pay  all  working  e 
by  means  of  school  fees. 


Hcou  Smytm  JLuton) :  I  ha»e  noticed  witb  nmcli  rtgnt  Ibot  both 

(Q  regard  tbe  girls  of  England  a*  mISiIj.  triralouB  huaband-biinUrs ; 
D  proMtt  o^init  their  being  regarded  in  anj  sucli  ligbt.  Il  ia  becauw 
•0,  and  be^uie  I  fear,  tbal  in  our  endeaTOun  Lo  imprOTe  the  middle 
^D  of  ({if  la,  we  mu;  do  ■□□lothing  whicbviU  ubiui^  tlis  luitural  ot 

tbn  worse,  tbat  I  wisb  to  urga  the  greateat  i-aution  m  tbii  matUr.    I 

we  transfer  the  edunttion  of  eirli  to  Urge  wbooU.  nod  then  draft 
UTBoitira,  we  sliall  run  soms  r'lA  at  cbanging  tbe  nature  of  the  girl* 

iuproTing  tbeir  Dbaractere.  No  one  wQo  bu  been  engaged  in  th« 
life  but  will  K>^  how  muob  he  liaa  been  ioHueucod  bf  touie  paMing 
I  often  (rith  betitation  and  doubtfiill;.  hj  a  woman — a  word  wbiiji  did 
HI)  nn  intellect  »barpened  and  rendered  inlense  aa  jou  would  hare  il, 
t  Dntura  wbiob  Ood  boa  giien  ber. 

»bH  CoOHE  T*Yi.oB  (Cork) :  IJiare  is  ana  principle  brought  out  in 
paper  wbiebia  notalwaj^evalearl^perceiTedaaitaiigbt  be.  I  refer  to 
.  deflDition  of  oducaliun— that  it  is  not  the  inelrucling  in  deUiiU  tbat  U 
.butlheleodingforth.  the«{ri«i,  inmDiters  of  education.  But  atthough 
I  to  IM  wtniuin  educated  t-a  n  Ter;  high  at&Ddard,  which  should  otwu^ 
I  her.  I  wnnt  tii  know  what  i*  to  nocur  ofleririirdi.  Should  there  not 
wr  open  for  woman  to  eierciM  her  education  in?  In  loolcing  upon 
)  a  mere  lallietiu  odnuita^e,  we  are  apt  (o  lose  sight  of  the  neeeaeitT 
uinel  intu  whioh  it  maj  be  nioved.  Uiu  Carjienter  said,  in  a  rjwech 
r  ber  the  oilier  daj,  tbat  there  wu  no  waj  in  wbich  a  woman  could 
kUd,  but  abe  bud  berwlf  open  to  the  reluK  that  there  wen  man;  ways 
■iDnua  ihanld  not  edueale  herself.  Bduonlion  should  be  eooouraged 
*  of  making  a  woainn  iudependenl  ;  sbe  should  not  be  dependent 
I,  and  the  chief  object  of  her  education  should  not  be  to  make  her  a 
ling  epeelaole  for  otbere  lo  oonlflmphile-  The  chief  odvatitage  of  t, 
notion  tbould  b«  lo  enable  her  to  work  (or  horeelf  and  to  gire  her  on 

o[  aaming  ber  own  liling ;  but  ali  the  mine  time  to  aToi<)  creating  a 
ue  itveltinM.     For  thcw  reofoiu  1  hope  we  aholl  not  lose  sight  of  the 

that  we  sbaU  derise  certain  uppropriato  cbonnels  for  the  employment 
)diM»t«d  as  we  desire  tn  see  Ihein. 

■LT  BATiia  {member  of  the  London  School  Soanl):  Considerable 
u  been  uudo  lu  America  in  tlie  papers  reml  to-day,  and  there  leemi  to 
wion  ibat  America  bos  much  better  armngoniculs  fur  the  education  of 
I  are  lo  be  fouTid  in  this  couutry,  hut  I  think  Ajuerica  is  far  too  highly 

Uuil  piiinl.     I   bate  lalelj  oome  across  much   evidence  upon   tbia 

tlmt  eiidence  hoacome  from  the  Americans  theineelves.  An  American 
■  imj  home  onlied  on  me,  and  asked  what  ne  were  doing  in  Bngland 
imitatioQ  b;  the  Americans  i  She  lold  me  that  altJiough  tho  Amerlmn 
«rli  wore  in  some  respects  odmirablc,  in  others  tliej  were  deplorable, 
ibed  to  And  out  in  what  th^y  could  imitat.e  our  management.  During 
r  iseeb.  too,  I  baie  seen  two  French  ladies,  who  keep  a  school  near 
1  frequented  by  English  and  American  girli,  and  these  ladies  tohl  me 
ma  girls  ore  ijuite  uneducated  when  the;  come  orer,  for  though  they 
lare  some  knowledge  of  testbetios  and  pKycbolagy,  they  are  naile  unndu- 
p  as  «ll  UMfuI  knowledge  is  concerned.  As  to  the  American  teachers, 
■n  lady  bos  told  me  that  in  all  the  highest  siibjecU  of  instruction  th^ 

la  Moploy  men,  because,  with  very  few  ejiceptiona,  women  are  not  uC 
ri,  na  UBt  hate  not  the  necessary  cultiration.  That  is  no  doubt  the 
Oe  want  of  a  high  alandard  of  oiamiuatioa  for  women  in  America.  In 
r  I  KB  in  DO  way  unwilling  to  learn  from  Ibe  Americans,  but  I  should 
,  in  what  we  are  aiming  at,  we  should  be  endeavouring  to  pruduoe 
.  Whot  we  want  to  produoe  is  English  women  oC  the 
Intion  of  unytbiug  else.  Upon  the  general  question  I  have 
1  believe  that  during  the  Inst  three  .rears  there  has  been  u 
tion,  ami  Ibnt  IbeeifoHsof  our  rncndu  bnve  been  rather 

24 


370  Education  of  Girls. 

too  much  scattered.  The  first  thing  I  hare  to  suggest  is  the  deTelopment  of 
examinations,  which  produce  the  most  beneficial  effects  upon  schools,  and  te 
bring  up  the  standard  of  schools  in  every  way ;  to  act  upon  schools  unifw 
private  as  well  as  public,  and  also  upon  home  education.  That  seems  to 
most  important  thing  to  press  on  at  ])re8ent  as  re^rds  earlier  education.  Al 
risk  of  being  accused  of  partiality  for  a  scheme  m  which  I  am  personally  i 
ested,  I  would,  in  the  second  place,  urge  the  importance  of  pressing  on  witb 
college  for  women,  which  is  the  best  thing  for  giving  women  the  highest  ea 
at  the  present  time. 

Miss  Isabella  Todd  (Belfast) :  The  great  and  provailinff  idea  which  sboi] 
fought  asainst  is  tliat  ignorance  is  the  privilege  of  all  girls  who  can  afford : 
soon  as  they  have  left  school.  Parents  are  continually  asking,  "  Why  shoaU 
daughter  trouble  herself  with  Latin  and  mathematics  ?  She  is  not  intended  I 
a  governess,  or  to  earn  her  own  bread  ; "  or  else  they  say,  slightingly,  "Oh, 
she  may  amuse  herself  with  these  things."  Any  idea  of  making  a  girl  in 
either  to  herself  or  to  the  world  is  at  once  set  aside  as  something  absurd, 
notion  is  altogether  ignored  that  there  is  work — real  work — for  every  hn 
being  to  do  unless  it  is  deliberately  shirked.  Those  who  are  engaged  in 
different  organizations  for  assisting  the  higher  education  of  girls  should  kee] 
mind,  in  answering  such  obji'ctions  as  are  constantly  rai.ncd  against  them,  tki 
is  bettor  not  to  enter  so  much  into  details  as  to  go  rack  to  the  principles  of  adi 
tion,  and  steadily  and    pcrsii^tcntly  point   out  that  no  faculty  which  anv 

Csesses  is  given  her  to  be  wasted,  and  that  it  is  as  much  her  duty  and  tai 
parents  and  friends  to  have  her  jfocultics  and  powers  fully  cultivated  as  ft 
possibly  be  in  the  case  of  a  young  man. 

Mr.  JoHEPii  Pat.nk  (London) :  Many  persons  have  pointed  out  the  faultf  f 

of  female  education,  and  have  suggrsted  remedies,  but  there  is  one  thing  that 

not  been  sufficiently  noticed,  and  that  is  a  fault  noticed  by  the  Commisskniv 

their  report,  which  constantly  states  the  results  of  their  inquiries  in  such  wori 

tliese,  "Want  of  thoroughness  and  foundation;  want  or  system;  slovenlhM 

inattention;  unnecessary  time  given  to  accomplishments;  want  of  organiatii 

and  so  on.     It  is  rather  surprising  that  it  should  not  be  seen  that  the  fimdaoM 

remedy  for  all  this  must  be  the  better  teaching  of  the  teacher;  that  is  the  pi 

which  really  is  at  the  foundation  of  all  the  faults  found  with  the  system.  Wegoi 

a  ffirls'  school  in  which  we  see  the  children  engaged  in  what  is  oalle<1  leann 

We  find  them  listless,  indifferent,  uninterested.    They  ^ve  no  attention  to 

teachings  of  the  teacher,  and  we  see  that  there  is  something  altogether  wroii| 

the  bottom  of  the  system.     We  go  again  in  the  course  of  a  month  to  the  ■ 

school.      The  school  has  remained  exactly  as  it  was,  the  school  arraogoni 

and  furniture  are  the  same,  the  forms  ana  desks  have  the  same  relation  to  « 

other,  the  school  books  are  exactly  the  same,  but  we  see  a  total  change  bM 

curred  in  the  whole  spirit  of  the  school.    This  does  not  arise  from  any  addit 

to  the  school  funds ;  not  a  single  farthing  has  been  contributed  to  make  the  idl 

more  efileicnt,  but  a  new  main  spring  lias  been  put  into  the  school  in  the  shape  o 

new  teacher,  who  knows  how  to  direct  the  minds  of  the  children,  how  to  earn 

their  ohanuder,  to  stimulate  an  interest  in  learning,  who  knows  in  fact  the  i 

of  education — an  art  in  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  most  teachers  are  lamentd 

deficient.    This  teacher  has  learnt  from  his  own  experience  something  of  pi^ 

ology — something  of  what  the  human  mind  can  do;  and  he  has  learnt  eoa 

thing  in  the  school  of  physiology  ;  he  has  ascertained  what  effects  are  prodoeed 

the  body  by  the  action  of  the  inmd  ;  ho  has  bt>come  acquainted  with  the  eleoMi 

which  go  to  the  formation  of  cliaractor,  especially  the  character  of  children; 

knows  now  to  invito  the  interest  of  his  pupils,  what  infiuences  to  bring  to  fai 

upon  their  characters,  and  how  to  direct  them  mentally,  physically,  and  monE 

Thus  the  school  is  changed,  and  thus  we  find  that  the  real  question  of  queilio 

with  reeard  to  education  now  is,  how  to  teach  the  teacher  liow  to  taaoh.    KofH 

schools  liavo  been  referred  to,  but  many  of  them  do  not  do  the  work  in  the  mn 

sense  of  the  term — they  simply  teach  a  routine  already  established,  and  hou  ti 

the  best  thing  to  do  is  to  make  that  routine  [lermanent.    The  reign  of  routioehl 

lasted  long  enough,  and  it  is  high  time  that  it  should  be  de|X)wd,  and  thit  til 

reign  of  the  ecience  of  education  should  take  its  phice. 


Discussion.  371 

Mr.  Feet  WILL  (London) :  A  second  meeting  is  now  being  arranged  for  in 
behiej  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Charles  Read,  to  establish  in  the  north  of 
[mdon  a  middle  class  school  for  1000  bojs  and  1000  girls.  But  one  of  our  diffi- 
idtMB  is  the  paucity  of  teachers,  and  I  believe  that  one  country  we  must  look  to 
■ore  than  any  other  for  experience  in  this  matter  is  Qermuny,  whose  school 
||iteni  has  stood  the  test  of  fifty  years*  experience.  A  German  gentleman  has 
basD  in  Knpland  seeing  what  can  be  done  towards  opening  up  a  correspondence 
htvera  this  country  and  Germany,  not  only  with  a  view  to  improve  the  systems 
«{ die  two  countries  but  also  to  give  facilities  for  a  year's  training  to  the  teachers 
in  tfie  foreign  country.  The  arrangements  are  as  yet  immature,  but  when 
cpnpletad  they  will  do  much  to  mend  the  present  defective  character  of  our 
tnen. 

Mrs.  GftEV :  In  answer  to  what  fell  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smytbe,  I  would  say  I 
U  not  the  least  desire  or  intention  to  detract  from  the  character  of  either  single 
qf  married  women,  but  what  I  spoke  of  was  the  position  of  women  when  they 
Mtm  small  means  and  small  prospects  of  marriage,  and  when  they  are  doomed  to 
fin,  or  rather  to  restate,  in  uselessness  and  insie;nificance,  and  are  often  looked 
down  upon  simply  hecause  they  have  not  married.  No  one  thinks  more  of  old 
Buds  tban  I  do  and  I  don't  know  how  England  would  get  on  without  them.  At 
Ae  suae  time  I  do  not  depreciate  married  women  nor  the  institution  of  marriage. 
&ie  happiness  is  only  to  be  found  in  marriage,  but  that  is  just  as  true  for  men 
m  for  women :  and  I  do  not  see  why  women  should  look  forward  to  that  happi- 
MM  more  than  men,  or  regard  it  in  any  other  light  tluin  the  supreme  grace 
of  late,  to  be  accepted  as  God's  blessing  when  it  comes,  but  not  to  be  toiled  for  or 
ViitBd  for  in  idleness.  As  to  Mr.  Smythe's  view,  that  the  education  of  women  in 
mrrenities  would  bring  about  a  change  in  the  feminine  character,  I  do  not 
bdiere  it  would  have  that  result.  The  feminine  character  has  been  given  by  God 
od  nothing  can  change  it.  Such  an  education  as  I  have  spoken  of  may  give 
fnlities  to  women  which  they  do  not  possess  ut  present.  They  would  acquire 
man  self-control  and  independence,  and  accustom  themselves  to  exercise  judg- 
MDt  in  difficult  circumstances,  but  education  would  not  occasion  women  to  lose 
I^Binine  characteristics  given  to  them  by  God.  With  reference  to  Mr.  Taylor's 
oberrations,  I  would  remind  the  section  that  I  especially  advocated  this  train- 
ing of  ^rls  to  do  work  in  the  world ;  and  as  regards  Mr.  Payne's  remarks  on 
(m  training  of  teachers,  I  was  afraid  that  I  liad  dwelt  almost  too  long  upon 
tbit  subject.  No  one  can  feel  more  deeply  than  I  do  the  value  of  training  good 
totdiers,  but  I  feel  also  that  good  teachers  will  follow  npon  good  general 
dacttion. 

The  Chairman  (Mr.  Baines),  in  closing  the  debate,  said,  I  have  listened  with  the 
dineet  attention  and  the  liveliest  interest  to  the  jiapers  which  have  been  read,  and 
to  toe  discussion  upon  them.  Both  papers  have  been  characterized  by  the  highest 
pMoble  moral  tone,  and  have  dealt  with  the  highest,  purest,  and  most  public 
ifhited  objects,  which,  if  obtained,  will  conduce  to  the  creation  of  an  intellectual 
1^  virtuous  nation,  as  well  as  to  the  happiness  of  women.  Mrs.  Grey's  paper 
HI  18  judicious  in  its  vievrs  as  it  was  elegant  in  its  stjlo,  and  I  hardly  know  what 
Unit  can  be  found  with  it.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  are  great  and 
arioos  defects,  on  many  accounts,  in  the  present  female  education  of  the  country, 
htf  DO  one  should  consider  remarks  of  that  kind  as  bearing  upon  individual 
■boolsi  I  have  known  ladies'  schools  conducted  by  ladies  of  the  very  highest 
tafcnt,  where  the  teaching  was  of  the  best  description,  but  they  are  the  exception, 
■d  not  the  rule.  It  is  much  to  be  wished  that  teaching  of  that  kind  could  be 
fnemlly  provided.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  girls'  scliools  which  are 
pnaoancea  by  inspectors  and  commissionern  to  be  very  seriously  defective;  some 
H  paying  much  more,  attention  to  superficial  accomplishments  than  to  solid 
)^iurements,  and  others  upon  other  grounds.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
mtt  which  the  education  of  women  has  had  in  the  endowments  of  England  has 
RBn  miaerably  small — infinitely  less  than  it  should  have  been,  considering  the 
iportonco  of  the  claim.    But,  besides  this,  there  is  a  great  want  in  this  country 

what  the  Germans  called  pedagogy,  or  a  knowledge  of  the  art  and  science  of 
Qcation,  among  female  teachers.  Abroad  this  is  studied  as  a  science  to  a  much 
eater  extent  than  in  this  country.    The  onlv  objection  to  the  grouping  of  small 


373  The  IVarh  of  Vhtverskies. 

Bohools  toff^her,  wbich  is  a  moet  admirable  suggeition  contained  in 
paper,  is  tnat  it  seems  scarcely  practicable.    Tbe  difficulty  of  acreeiv 
the  Tarioos  schools  should  diTide  the  different  departmente  or  edw 
jou,  at  the  same  time,  adhered  to  the  plan  of  grouping,  would  be 
Tairj  great,  but  the  subject  well  desorres  attentire  consideration. 


THE  WOBK  OP   UNIVERSITIES.* 

Oti  the  work  of  tlte  Universities  in  higlier  Education*     £ 

Stuart,  MA. 

rrtHERE  is  an  increasing  demand  for  higher  education  t 
X  the  country — I  mean  for  that  education  which  open 
developes  the  faculties  with  which  the  human  mind  is 
This  education  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind  is  obtained  by 
a  variety  of  ways.  The  public  newspapers  are  great  educ 
the  existence  of  public  libraries  and  cheap  literature  help 
educate  themselves.  Every  person  must  conduct  the  proc 
own  true  education  for  himself.  There  is  no  scientific 
for  instance,  comparable  with  the  attempt  to  perform  an  e 
for  ourselves.  The  object  of  education  is  to  teach  a  just  ui 
servation  with  logical  deduction,  and  that  is  only  to  be  sal 
acquired  by  attempting  it.  Yet  in  the  process  of  educatii 
one  may  be  helped  very  greatly.  The  object  of  a  teacher  i 
his  pupil's  endeavours  in  a  right  direction,  to  make  his  en 
a  luminousness  on  that  which  caused  them,  to  encourage  1 
endeavours  by  dexterously  guiding  those  endeavours  to  sue 

One  vast  barrier  to  the  progress  of  self-education  is  tbe 
to  know  what  to  begin  with.  Another  barrier  is  the  fatal 
one's  own  errors.  These  are  the  two  points  where  a  tea 
value — first  to  show  the  pupil  where  to  apply  his  energy  i 
fully,  and  second,  to  lead  him  to  profit  by  his  own  mistakee 
permitting  those  mistakes  to  be  fatal. 

I  mention  these  points  thus  definitely,  because  I  wish 
out  that  a  very  little  assistance  often  enables  a  man  to  acqu 
tion  who  would  not  have  otherwise  been  able  to  do  so  ;  an 
I  wish  also  to  point  out  that  education,  though  it  need  not 
tinual,  must  be  a  continuous,  process .  The  teacher  requii 
with  the  minds  of  the  taught  from  time  to  time,  and  over  a 
able  period  of  time. 

It  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  see,  more  ofien  than  I  care  tc 
real  intellectual  effort  actually  die  away  because  of  the  waQ( 
able  to  find  what  to  apply  itself  to.  Of  course  I  know  1 
mental  power  will  never  be  at  a  loss,  but  there  is  a  vast  i 
intellectual  effort  capable  of  being  exerted  by  those  who  : 
be  supplied  with  an  adequate  object  for  its  exercise*  Largf 
of  excellent  books  on  all  subjects  are  within  the  reach  of  : 


♦  See  Thtnsacfion^,  1868,  p.  .'570 ;  1870,  p.  3ia 


Btf  Jnmes  Shtari,  M.A.  373 

the  (luesiioD  coDtmuall;  occurs,  among  all  these  books  which 
hi  X  to  road,  ond  how  ehould  I  set  about  it  ?  It  is  here  that  a 
»  word  cveu,  from  one  bettor  informed  tlian  ourselvw,  may  save 
TMrfl  of  toil,  and  perhaps  linal  disappointment. 
The  sources  of  higher  eductitiDQ  in  the  couotry  have  as  yet  been 
oniTertities.  There  education  is  given,  and  professedly  giren, 
1  the  view  of  Iraitting  the  mind, 

a  speaking  of  higber  education,  and  it8  extensioo  to  the  country, 
bU  here,  however,  point  out  that  there  is  a  marked  dietinctioB 
higher  education,  itj  the.sonsc  in  which  I  am  using  it,  and 
ical  education.  Anything,  of  course,  may  be  used  to  lead  out 
bculties  of  a  man's  mind,  and  nothing  is  more  useful  or  more 
towards  this  end  than  the  materials  of  his  own  trade. 
;  It  the  same  time,  this  h  not  the  object  of  technical  education, 
eb  aims  at  instructing  a  man  in  hia  own  particular  calling,  and 
eb,  u  it  is  practically  given,  haa  rather  a  tendency  to  narrow 
1  to  expand  the  mind.  That  man  is  now  best  technically  edu< 
A  who  become»<  bust  litted  to  take  his  share  in  the  division  of 
vr,  and,  allhou^ii  commercially  successful,  the  mental  result  of 
ffiviaiou  of  labour  it  the  very  reverse  of  truly  educational 
Ipbg  rather  thuu  expanding  the  mind.  Professional  education 
It  higher  education. 

he  universitiej),  however,  have  only  been  able  to  reach  a  very 
U  number,  This  is  chiefly  owing  lo  the  cost  of  living  there, 
A  has  aa  yet  pi'actically  shut  them  to  those  who  could  not  obtain 
im  of  about  200/,  a  year.  A  great  step,  however,  liaa  been 
J  taken  there  towards  reducing  the  necessary  expenses  of  k 
m^  by  the  admission  of  what  are  called  unattached  students, 
that  step  the  universities  may  bo  now  truly  said  to  have  opened 
rodncation  to  all  men.  1  do  earnestly  hope,  aud  I  do  not  doubt 
'  they  will  also  ere  long  open  their  education  and  endowments 
S  women.  The  University  of  Cambridge  lias  been  taking  notable 
t  towards  this  end,  which  ia  so  absolutely  neceeaury  for  the  trua 
ineement  of  national  education.  But  "  all  men  "  and  "  all 
ten"  in  these  sentences  only  includethose  who  can  procure  some 
*  of  continuous  leisure.  There  are  vast  masses  who  desire  edu- 
ID,  and  who  cannot  procure  this  leisure  ;  and  there  ia  n  growing 
^,  both  at  the  universities  and  elsewhere,  that  they  should 
avour  to  reach  in  some  way  those  masses  of  our  countrymen  and 
itrywomen  who  are  eager  for  education,  and  who  cannot  get  it, 
that  for  tliat  end  they  should  add  to  their  present  character 
ewhat  of  the  missionary  character.  They  have  already  carried 
idea  out  to  some  extent  in  the  local  examinations  for  boys  and 
,  sod  in  the  higher  examinations  for  women.  But  more  is 
ed  than  examination  in  the  case  of  those  who  arc  not  at  school, 
hare  no  college  at  which  they  can  attend;  indeed,  the  univer- 
I  themselves  have  continually  endorsed  the  principle  that  ex- 
ling  and  teaching  should  go  bund  in  hand. 
ow  coucomitantly  with  these  views  the  question  is  arising,  both 


374  The  Work  of  Unwenitiet. 

at  the  universities  and  elsewhere,  whether  the  funds 
universities  hold  for  the  encouragement  of  educatioa  m 
some  respects  be  more  advantageously  used  for  that  end  thai 
A  large  portion  of  our  funds  is  used  most  advantageousl 
that  which  is  used  in  the  shape  of  scholarships,  and  aspayi 
fessors  and  lecturers.  But  the  greater  portion  is  used  ic 
of  fellowship.  A  fellowship  is  a  reward  of  merit,  but  i 
conditional  reward.  There  are  at  Cambridge,  and  it  is 
Oxford,  about  360  to  400  fellows,  receiving  for  the  mosi 
to  800/.  a  year.  Of  these  about  100  are  engaged  in  1 
Cambridge,  and  retain  their  fellowships  even  though  1 
otherwise  have  lapsed  on  account  of  this  teaching  wor 
are,  therefore,  about  250  persons  holding  fellowships  in 
subject  to  no  conditions  of  doing  work  for  them.  These  f 
under  different  conditions  and  at  various  colleges.  In  aim 
celibacy  is  a  condition  ;  in  some  college?,  subject  to  thic 
they  are  retained  for  life,  in  others  only  if  orders  are  ta 
Church  of  England,  and  iu  others  for  periods  varying  fr< 
fifteen  years.  The  question  presses  more  and  more  upon 
large  sum  of  money  best  used  for  the  interests  of  educati 
is  given  in  the  shape  of  unconditional  rewards?  I  am  wi 
the  difficulty  of  attaching  to  the  tenure  of  a  fellowship  f 
dition  as  the  pursuit  of  science  or  of  literature.  It  is  in 
possible  to  apply  the  test  of  such  a  condition  being  ful£ 
am  not  entirely  opposed  to  the  principle  of  uuconditionB 
by  that  means  many  men  are  assisted  into  professions  and 
take  a  better  position  in  them  than  they  otherwise  woulc 
professions  are  thus  supplied  with  educated  men,  and  th< 
benefited  indirectly.  But  without  impugning  the  princi] 
resident  fellowships  or  of  rewards  given  entirely  uncond 
cannot  help  thinking,  in  common  with  many  others,  that 
tion  of  the  university  endowments  thus  employed  is 
large,  being  verymuch  the  larger  part  of  the  whole  ino( 
university.  There  is  a  feeling,  in  which  I  wholly  symp 
without  abolishing  non-resident  fellowships,  and  withou 
conditions  to  them  all,  there  should  be  a  diminution,  eiti 
yearly  value  or  in  their  period  of  tenure,  and  that  this 
accompanied  by  an  extension  of  the  means  of  retaining 
by  doing  educational  work  for  them.  Such  a  method  as  tl 
of  the  gradual,  not  of  the  revolutionary,  character,  and  1 1 
by  this  means  the  funds  of  the  university  would  be  most 
and  naturally  turned  into  those  channels  in  which  they 
most  beneficial  to  the  cause  of  education  throughout  the 
large. 

A  Fellow  may,  I  believe,  in  most  colleges,  retain  his 
on  condition  only  of  serving  in  some  office  to  which  he  ; 
pointed  by  his  college.  I  think  that  this  privilege  mi| 
extended  to  those  who  might  be  duly  appointed  to  do 
work  in  some  of  our  large  towns,  and  the  meaning  of  *^  di 


ioe  *'  migbt  lie  well  extended  to  sy^lemittic  teaching  in  such 
Bh  It  »boald  be  the  duty  of  a  man  eo  appointed  to  devote  hia 
I  to  leaching  by  loctnres,  and  by  night  claBses,  and  an  inter- 
iBge  at  times  of  teachers,  between  various  towns,  willing  to 
operate  in  «uch  a  scheme,  would  securo  n  variety  of  subjects 
■  g  taught. 

The  establishment  of  colleger  in  towns,  such  us  Owen's  College  in 
iUKhester,  anil  the  like,  is  the  end  at  which  I  would  tLim  ;  but  wo 
It  remember  that  there  are  very  few  ]>lacos  wliera  this  would  be 
iill  possible.  There  are,  perhaps,  few  towns  which  could  support 
imnaneDtly  resident  staff  of  professors,  and  much  education  may 
^di*Mininated  at  present  by  leas  ambitious  effort.  The  residenco 
I  town  for  a  few  winters  of  a  man  of  recognized  ftttainmcnts, 
xa  doty  it  should  be  to  devote  himself  to  teachiug  the  subjent 
ihich  he  had  devoted  himself,  would  be  of  an  incalculable  benefit 
IhU  town,  and  would  pave  the  way  for  more  extended  efiort, 
*',  without  some  such   influence,  might  remain   for  vears  im- 

le. 

IT  toch  a  system  as  I  propose  were  to  grow  into  any  perinaoent 

I,  the  arrangements  as  to  lectures  and  lecturers  might  be  in  ihe 

of  M  sjiidicAie,  who  should  consult  thn  towns,  the  towns  being 

rf  to  guarantoa  a  certain  quota  of  the  lecturer's  salary.     The 

idntment  of  lecturers  would  be  a  matter  of  mutual  arrangement, 

those  who  do  service  iu  the  towns  might  be  entitled,  by  a  new 

lie  of  their  resi>octive  colleges,  to  the  same  privileges  as  those 

do  college  service,  or  to  some  modilication  of  those  privileges. 

But  I  do  not  think  that  such  a  system  as  this  is  to  be  expected  to 

"I  whole  and  complete  at  the  lirst  wave  of  our  w.ind.     Indeed  I  do 

think  it  desirable  to  attcrapt  to  begin  with  anything  like  a  com- 

le  tyiVata  or  even  a  system  At  all.     AVliat  I  should  advise  is  this, 

t  if  any  town  is  able  to  fmd  an  audience  willing  to  receive  soma 

eation,  and  can  guarantee  a  certain  salary  to  a  lecturer,  say  for 

space  of  one  or  two  j-ears,  they  should  apply  to  the  university  to 

g  them  to  Und  some  fellow  of  a  college  (if  they  have  not  already 

id  one)  who  would  be  willing  to  undertake'  the  office,  and  who 

lid  be  permitted  in  virtue  of  it  to   retain  his  fellowship  while 

Vag  iho  appointment,  which  might  well   be   to  begin  with  fur  a 

M  time.     There  wooM  be  a  difficulty  in  a  college  granting  such 

srilage,  even  though  it  desired,  inasmuch  as  it  is  very  (juestionable 

the  Btiitutca  of  tlie  colleges  would  perniit  them  to  render  a 

wihip  tenable  under  any  other  circumstances  than  those  under 

th  they  are  at  present  tenable,  but  the  statutes  even  of  colleges 

be  changed,  and  if  the  question  be  brought  forwaid  by  ajiplioa- 

■uch  as  1  have  described,  there  would  be  more  likelihood  of  suoti 

Rtnte  being  made  at  the  application  of  any  college.     To  make 

a  statute  would    only  require  the   consent  of  the  governing 

^'  of  tUe  college,  ami,  as  far  aa  I  have  seen,  these  governing  tiodiea 

ilodrous  of  doing  all  in  their  power  for  education  where  they  seq 

efforla  would  be  of  avail. 


376  The  Work  oj  UnwersUteB. 

The  suggestions  which  I  have  here  made,  if  they  were  foonded 
theoretical  considerations,  might  be  open  to  many  objection^  aru 
from  a  fear  as  to  the  difficulty  of  their  practical  working.  It  mi 
be  said,  in  the  first  place,  that  there  might  be  very  few  if  any  toi 
found  who  would  desire  such  a  scheme  at  all,  and  it  might  be  « 
in  the  second  place,  that  if  any  town  wants  education  of  a  high  or 
it  can  get  it  for  itself  without  applying  to  the  aniversity.  Bnt 
propositions  which  I  liave  made  are  by  no  means  theoretical,  bat 
what  has  practically  been  brought  before  me  for  several  yean^  b 
by  the  existence  of  and  by  the  difficulties  connected  with  the  sjat 
of  educational  lectures  for  ladies,  which  have  been  established  a 
for  some  time  in  many  towns  of  England,  and  those  connected  w 
similar  systems  of  teaching,  which  have  been  carried  out  to  so 
extent  also  for  [working  men.  As  a  fact,  large  classes  of  bi 
have  always  been  obtained,  and  have  entered  into  the  work  of 
class  eagerly,  and  with  much  meritorious  perseverance  and  soeei 
On  the  other  hand,  those  who  have  undertaken  the  conduct  of  n 
classes  have  been  almost  universally  fellows  of  colleges,  and  here 
very  difficulty  arises  which  the  system  I  have  pointed  to  wo 
correct.  We  constantly  find  that  these  men  are  unable  to  contii 
the  work  of  their  classes,  on  account  of  the  fact  that  the  syil 
being  purely  voluntary  fails  to  guarantee  that  permanence  of  empl 
ment  which  it  is  necessary  to  offer  in  order  to  secure  the  continoi 
of  the  service  of  first-rate  teachers.  These  lecturers  are  not  abk 
compete  pecuniarily  with  other  attractions,  and  the  fellows  who  as 
us  leave  us  for  more  permanent  employment.  They  would  not  d( 
if  the  conduct  of  such  teaching  might  in  some  way  or  other  ooi 
some  privilege  on  them  with  respect  to  retaining  their  fellowtl 
Tliat  element  which  I  have  already  pointed  out  as  so  necessaiy 
the  success  of  education,  namely  its  continuousness,  would  thui 
gained. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  then,  in  considering  the  practicability  oft 
a  scheme,  that  the  proposals  here  made  are  made  because  of 
evident  solution  they  would  afford  in  actual  instances  of  a  prini 
difficulty. 

Mr.  Jahbs  Hetwood,  F.R.S.,  read  a  paper  ''  On  the  Subject! 
Examination  for  Oxford  College  Scholarships  and  Fellowshi] 
The  following  is  the  substance  of  the  paper: — Of  about  1700i 
dents  at  Oxford,  more  than  400  are  college  scholars,  each  with 
average  allowance  of  about  80/.  a  year,  tenable  for  five  years.  ! 
sum  of  35,000/.  a  year  represents  the  total  income  for  coll 
scholarships  and  exhibitions  at  Oxford.  In  the  sixth  form  of  U 
borough  College,  consisting  of  more  than  thirty  boys,  between 
ages  of  sixteen  and  nineteen,  nearly  every  boy  is  destined  for 
universities.  The  father  of  a  boy  in  the  sixth  form  of  that  sd 
intends  his  son  to  try  for  a  college  scholarship  at  the  univen 
Marlborough  College  composition  in  1861-2  for  the  sixth  form  o 
prises  five  English  essays  ;  the  length  of  each  from  one  to  ti 


By  James  ffeywood,  F.R,S. 

E«haets  of  paper.  Twice  each  week  a  passage  from  some  Lutin 
reek  KUthor  is  translated  at  length  into  EngUsh.  In  Latiu, 
ig  the  year,  there  avo  seven  original  copies  of  hexameter  versos, 
about  forly-five  lines  ;  two  oiiginal  prose  Latin  eseajs  are 
en,  each  cont&iuiag  at  least  thirtj'  lines.  Out  of  school,  there 
twenty  copies  of  elegiac  Latin  verses,  each  about  tweoty 
long,  eleveu  copies  of  hexameter  verses,  mid  two  of  lyrios, 
dated  from  various  auihoi's.  lu  school,  there  are  three 
IS  of  cK'giac  Latin  VL'rses,  and  two  of  hexameters,  enuU 
I  ten  or  twelve  linos  loug.  In  Laliu  prose,  twelve  tranala- 
I  Rra  made  out  of  suhoo!,  from  various  authors,  each  about 
il^  lEues  in  knglii ;  and  in  school,  there  are  nine  translations 
I  English  into  Latin  prose,  each  fourteen  or  fifteen  lines  in  lengtli. 
""[  composition  esercises,  during  the  year,  comprise,  out  of 
1,  fourteen  iambic  verse  exercises,  each  from  sixteen  lo  twenty 
llong,  mtunly  from  Shakspeare;  in  school,  seven  iambic  verse  exer- 
I,  each  about  teu  lines  in  length.  In  Greek  prose,  out  of  scbool. 
Ken  exercises  from  various  aulhors,  each  about  twenty  lines  long  ; 
[d  school,  four  exercises,  each  from  ten  to  fourteen  lines  in  length. 
Bobslance  and  matter  of  all  the  classical  works  read  are  expected 
I  prepared  for  the  quarterly  and  half-yearly  school  examinations, 
uthematics,  four  regular  lessons  are  given  weekly,  and  n 
riting  malhematiciau  can  get  six  hours  a  week  out  of  regular 
1  hours.  At  Oxford  exercises  are  giviug  way  to  philological 
1.  Colleges  encouri^B  this  by  setting  papers  on  "philology" 
kbdidates  for  scholarships,  and  a  considerable  amount  of  such 
pledge  is  often  displayed  on  these  occasions  by  schoolboys.  The 
hg  of  Latin  at  Oxford  is  expected  Lo  be  free  from  grammatical 
Every  oaTididate  can  be  required  in  three  hours  lo  translate 
t  psssago  of  English  adequately  and  correctly.  But  it  is 
to  expect  a  literary  composition,  which  shall  have  merit  as  a 
tof  polish,  to  bo  produced  in  the  same  lime.  The  number  of 
^  fellowships  ut  Oxford  is  somewhat  over  3U0,  and,  as  300/. 
■r  has  been  taken  as  the  maximum  dividend  of  college  iucome 
WB  fellowship,  this  would  give  an  annual  distribution  of  90,000/. 
for  ihc  .100  fellowships.  Nineteen  heads  of  colleges  preside  over 
tbe  leading  collegiate  institutions  of  Oxford,  and  their  oollecUve 
bame  is  estimated  at  33,000/.  a  year.     In  actual  practice,  colleges 

Pcford  contrive  to  fix  their  time  of  election  for  new  Fellows  so  as 
tch  the  students  who  are  just  out  of  iho  honour  examination 
tls  for  the  B.A.  degree.  The  whole  body  of  Fellows  of  a  col- 
at  Oxford  are  electors,  aud  they  naturally  examine  in  what 
fe«3'  know,  and  the  conduct  of  the  examination,  according  to  Rector 
^isoD,  "  usually  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  youngest  on  the  list,  oa 
lioiwlf  most  fresh  from  the  performance  of  t!ie  exercises  in  which 
he  oompotilion  cliiefly  consists.  A  fellowship  examination  is  thus  a 
Mre  repetition  of  the  examination  iu  the  public  schools,  by  a  lesa 
Dmpetent  board  of  examiners.  If  a  young  Bachelor  of  Arts 
i^es  in  the  higher  wieniific  study  of  any  '  branch  of  knowledge,' 


378  The  Work  of  Universities. 

ia  proportion  as  his  insight  deepens,  in  that  proportion  he  tees  hii 
hopes  of  a  fellowship  vanish  ;  ho  will  be  easily  distanced  in  '  Lata 
composition'  bj  a  junior  competitor,  warm  from  his  feats  of  hojuHi 
rhetoric,  or  ready  with  reams  of  speculative  declamation  on  *phJk* 
sophy.* "     Twenty  or  thirty  fellowships  which  become  vacant  efoy 
year  are  filled  up  by  the  same  number  of  the  most  distingnitM 
students  of  that  year.     Having  described  the  course  of  instmctiOB, 
and  the  possibility  of  ''cramming"  in  the  philosophical  departmeirt^ 
he  said  that  at   Cambridge,  in   1862,  the  majority  of  the  colkgt 
fellowships  were  annually  conferred  on  candidates  who  had  obtained 
high  classical  honours  in  tlie  degree  examination.     With  refereoes 
to  the  Classical  Tripos,  that  of  126  students  who  obtained  pUoesia 
the  first  class  in  the  classical  examinations,  from  1851  to  1859,  eig%« 
three  were  elected  to  college  fellowships ;  and  that  a  preponderaoosof 
encouragement  is  given  at  Cambridge  to  the  classical  student,  not  oolf 
in  prizes,  scholarships,  and  temporary  rewards  of  various  kinds,  M 
also  in  the  most  solid  and  lasting  rewards  the  University  can  bestow. 
The   examinations  at   Cambridge  for   the  University  ScholarBhip% 
and   those   for   the   Chancellor's  Medals,  differ  from  the  Clanicil 
Tripos  Examination,  chiefly  in  the  superior  value  attached  in  then 
to  composition,  and  in  the  original  exercises   in   verse  and  proM 
required,  both  in  Latin  and  Greek.     When  a  graduate,  either  of 
Oxford  or  Cambridge,  has  thoroughly  mastered  the  Greek  and  Litift 
languages,  and  has  been  appointed  to  the  headship  of  an  important 
school,  he  feels  a  pleasure  in  the  success  of  the  classical  pupils  under 
his  care  ;  but  he  can  hardly  avoid  also  being  aware  of  the  unsoitabb* 
ness  of  exclusively  classical   studies  to  many  boys  in  any  modern 
school.     A  modern  department    has  been  formed  in   Marlboroogk 
College  to  meet  the  demand,  at  the  present  day,  for  instructioo  in 
branches  of  knowledge  connected  with  the  nineteenth  century;  kA 
the  Rev.  J.  F.  Bright,  Master  of  the  Modern  School  at  Marlborongb, 
reports  of  this  school,  in  1862,  that  *'  scarcely  a  half-year  passes  bol 
several  boys,  whose  intellects  were  stifled  in  the  uncongenial  atmo* 
sphere  of  the  classics,  pass  from  the  Upper  School  to  the  Modern 
School,  and  flnding  there  room  for  their  peculiar  talents,  regain  their 
self-esteem,  again  set  cheerfully  to  work,  and  gain,  with  their  im- 
proved character,  a  good  and  sensible  education,  if  not  so  perfect  • 
one  as  the  classical  system   oflfers.     Nay,  more,  they  not  nn&f- 
quently  attain  high  positions  in  the  school  ;  for  the  last  two  yean 
the  chief  mathematical  prize  has  been  carried  oflf  by  modem  idKX^ 
boys."     **  Were  there,"  observes  Mr.  Bright,  "  the  same  applianoN 
for  modern  as  for  classical  teaching,  the  same  well-annotated  bodn^ 
the  same  carefully-arranged  grammars,  the  same  accepted  cnrricoloa 
of  classical  authors,  an  education  might  be  given  in  modern  as  aecQ* 
rate  as  in  ancient  subjects,  while  in  comprehensiveness,  in  so  far  at 
it  would  be  concerned  with  the  wider  field  of  modern  thought,  it 
might  even  have  the  advantage."*     The  University  of  London,  by 

*  "  Appendix  to  the  Report  of  the  Boval  Commisaionem  of  Inqairv  into  oeitM 
English  PubUo  Schools,  1864,*'  p.  513. 


By  Jamei  Hmfwoodj  FM.S.  379 

on  a  knowledge  of  either  French  or  German  in  its  matrica- 
icamination,  has  necessarily  influenced  all  the  schools  and 
connected  with  its  examiDations  to  furnish  an  accurate  and 
Lical  acquaintance  with  either  French  or  German  to  the 
who  propose  to  enter  the  metropolitan  university  ;  and  the 
corporations  of  learning  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  may 
the  amount  of  Greek  and  Latin  required  at  their  leading 
examinations,  and  may  encourage  in  all  the  grammar  schools 
mntry  the  study  of  modern  literature. 


EDUCATION   IN   INDIA.* 

on  of  the  Masses  in  India*      By  Sasipada  Banebjee. 

Jucation  of  the  masses  is  utterly  neglected  in  British  India. 
>y  are  trodden  down  by  the  superior  castes,  whose  influence 
ing  but  beneficial.  The  Hindoos  are  generally  divided  into 
;es^  the  Brahmins,  the  Khitryas,  Boyesas,  and  the  Sudras.  The 
IS  enjoy  privileges,  religious  and  social,  in  which  the  others  are 
debarred  from  sharing.  Again,  the  last  class  is  sub-divided 
3ral  divisions,  according  to  their  different  trades  or  callings, 
lose  who  weave  cloth  are  known  as  the  Tanty  caste.  Those 
iss  out  oil  from  mustard  seed  are  called  Kuloo ;  those  who 
shoes  are  called  Moochee,  and  so  on.  Persons  of  one  caste 
will  not  eat  in  the  house  of  a  person  of  another  caste,  or 
I  any  other  class  but  their  own.  There  is  no  sympathy  be- 
le  caste  and  another.  In  ancient  days  education  was  con- 
the  higher  orders ;  none  but  the  Brahmins  could  read  the 

1  books  of  the  country,  the  Sudras  were  even  forbidden  to 

2  word,  Cm,  the  name  of  God.  The  civilization  and  refiue- 
the  ancient  Hindoos  were  confined  to  the  higher  classes,  the 
millions  were  looked  at  and  treated  as  beasts  of  burden. 

he  Mahommedan  rule  the  country  assumed  a  still  darker  as- 
iry thing  good  was  put  a  stop  to,  and  even  corruptions  crept  into 
ler  classes.  The  better  days  of  India  commenced  from  the 
en  the  English  took  the  supremacy  of  the  country.  After 
the  political  disturbances,  the  English  Government  in  India 
their  attention  to  the  better  administration  of  the  country. 
Dn  commenced  with  the  higher  and  the  middle  classes, 
and  schools  were  opened  in  all  the  presidency  towns  for  the 
on  of  the  children  of  those  classes.  It  might,  however,  be 
lat  the  richest  classes  did  not  at  first  derive  much  benefit  from 
cious  arrangement  of  Government.  They  are  not  stimulated 
necessity  of  earning  a  living,  neither  have  they  any  taste 
ary  acquirements,  so  that  they  have  generally  kept  them- 
oof  from  all  educational  influences.  The  middle  class  came 
to  reap  the  greatest  benefit  from  the  newly  organized  insti- 


•  See  Transactions,  1870,  p.  352. 


380  Edtuxition  in  India. 

• 

tutions  opened  by  Goyemment  and  by  missionarj  sodeties,  1 
education  of  the  Hindoos.  The  masses,  however,  have  been  h; 
entirely  neglected.  The  schools  under  the  grant-in-aid  system 
have  been  opened  in  different  parts  of  the  country  by  ei 
native  gentlemen,  have  touched  some  of  the  higher  orders 
Sudras,  but  the  teeming  millions  are  entirely  without  any 
tional  influences  whatever.  These  latter  are  satisfied  with 
present  condition,  not  knowing  anything  better ;  they  are  so 
degraded  that  some  of  them  will  not  take  any  work  if  they  e 
pay  the  landlord's  (Khajana)  rent,  and  if  they  have  rice  in  the 
sufficient  for  the  day's  food.  They  are  induced  to  work  by  1 
only.  They  know  no  thrift  to  provide  for  the  rainy  da] 
the  consequence  is  that  hundreds  and  thousands  die  of  stai 
whenever  there  is  any  famine  In  the  country.  This  will  be  tb 
of  things  as  long  as  they  remain  ignorant.  By  educating  thes 
rant  people,  and  teaching  them  the  importance  of  habits  of  thi 
shall  not  only  do  them  an  immense  good,  but  shall  save  the  c 
from  the  famines  and  pestilence  which  now  periodically  visit 
is  now  beginning  to  bo  felt  by  advanced  Hindoos,  and  a 
Englishmen  residing  in  India,  that  the  present  state  of  things 
be  altered,  for  the  good  of  the  country  generally,  and  that  the 
and  the  most  degntded  have  a  right  to  that  education  whicl 
can  develop  the  faculties  which  God  has  given  them.  It  is  ni 
their  right,  but  it  is  also  the  duty  of  Government  to  give  the 
education.  The  days  have  gone  by  when  the  ruler  of  a  couo 
gardod  only  his  own  comforts  and  enjoyments  without  cons 
the  happiness  of  his  subjects.  In  these  days  of  civilizatu 
enlightenment  this  state  of  things  cannot  be  allowed  to  pass  i 
reprobation  from  the  enlightened  community. 

The  Indian  Government  has  done  something  toward  the  ed 
of  the  masses  by  encouraging  Vernacular  Schools,  but  unforti 
this  influence  has  not  been  generally  felt.  The  circle  Pa 
(petty  village  schools)  are  frequented  by  the  children  of  thi 
middle  class.  This  system  is  looked  upon  by  the  Education  I 
ment  in  India  as  very  feasible  on  account  of  its  being  less  ex] 
than  any  other.  But  it  has  not  touched  the  masses  of  the  popi 
Government  has  of  late  given  some  attention  to  the  quel 
popular  education,  which  is  now  one  of  the  leading  topics  of' 
in  India.  It  therefore  seems  desirable  to  bring  the  subject 
the  English  public.  As  the  ordinary  elementary  schools  do  n 
the  wants  of  the  masses,  two  other  sorts  of  schools  seem  abi 
necessary.  First,  schools  in  which  industrial  work  is  combini 
intellectual  instruction.  Where  industrial  work  is  taught  aloi 
some  knowledge  of  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  there  yi 
harmonious  development  of  the  mind  and  the  body.  The  es 
ment  of  such  schools  would  be  an  important  movement*  H 
industry  and  diligence  would  be  taught  in  them  from  early  di 
at  the  same  time  the  pupils  would  receive  an  education  whict 
raise  them  from  their  present  degraded  condition. 


J5y  Saaipada  Baturjef.  881 

Coodly,  uigUt  BcliooU — tUone  will  be  for  youug  men  who  havo 
!  lo  attend  &117  induatrial  or  otber  schoula,  but  huve  to  labour 
tbe  (laj  for  their  living.  There  ehould  be  a  diiftirent  system 
klion  in  the  proposed  industrial  and  tlie  night  schools  from 
is  giren  in  schools  intended  for  the  higher  classes.  Popular 
ig  books  should  bo  prepared  suited  to  the  class  of  people  for 
I  ifaey  are  intended.  Simple  methods  of  giving  instruction 
d  be  adapted  lo  economiao  time,  so  that  tbe  workiBg  men  may 
information  and  ideas  in  a  short  time  without  entering  into 
te  details.  It  should  be  the  aim  and  object  of  these  schools  to 
,te  the  minds  of  the  masses  with  better  thoughts  ratlier  than  lo 
them  scholars.  Of  course,  the  door  of  further  progress  must 
_it  Open  to  all,  so  that  any  one  who  shows  aptness  Sir  further 
Opnwnt  will  have  opportunities  of  pursuing  his  studies  in  the 
r  schools.  Education  will  raise  the  character  and  position  of 
'oriting  mail.  It  is  a  Rreal  misfortune  in  India  that  labour  is 
tnkoued  honourable.  He  is  regaided  as  the  most  respectable 
■  SB  nothing.  The  effects  of  this  mistaken  notion  are  very 
LS  to  the  prosperity  of  tlie  people.  Even  English  education 
been  able  to  root  out  this  feeling  from  the  national  mindt 
the  present  grnnt-in-aid  system  Englbh  schools  have  beeo 
in  Mmost  all  the  principal  towns  in  the  country,  and  the 
arsitles  have  given  a  great  impetus  to  education  in  the  upper  and 
liddle  classes.  Some  of  tho  wel!-to>do  have  been  inspired  to 
iheir  children  English  education,  and  they  have  taken  advan- 
of  the  grant-in-aid  schools.  Their  children  receiving  a  little 
Sah  education  look  upon  their  fathers  as  mean,  so  much  so  that 
lof  tUem  even  attempt  to  hido  their  pareniagc.  English  educa- 
jtMpires  them  with  an  ardent  desire  to  become  clerks  in  the 
ernment  offices,  where  they  will  be  able  ijuietly  to  drive  their 
The  hard-working  life  of  their  fathers  docs  not  suit  them — 
is  uot  hanourable  to  them.  This  is  sufficient  reason  for 
Dg  industrial  schools  where  labour  will  be  taught  as  not 
honourable  but  absolutely  necessary,  A  separate  sort  of  school 
K  different  mode  of  instiuction  are  thus  required  in  order  to 
le  the  masses  of  India. 

the  present  circle,  a  Fatshala  system,  one  Pundit,  {a  Bengalee 
ber)  goes  about  teaching  in  four  or  live  Patahalas,  each  of  which 
idcr  the  raaoagement  of  a  Gnroomahasoy,  who  is  an  old  school- 
er class  teacher  competent  only  to  teach  boys  aritlimctic  and 
Iwritiug.  I  would  suggest  that  tbe  proposed  industrial  and  the 
t  schools  be  under  tbe  management  of  some  qualified  teadiers 
linlcd  with  English.  Popular  lectures  should  be  given  on 
ical  subjects— such  as  physical  science,  agriculture,  botany,  me- 
cs,  &c.  These  lectures  should  nut  he  confined  to  the  pupils  of 
pdostriid  and  tho  uight  schools,  but  should  be  open  to  the  entire 
ing  people  of  the  district.  By  these  popular  lectures  I  believe 
great  good  would  be  accomplished  ;  the  importance  of  this 
01  be  sufTtciently  estimated.    In  places  of  business  where  many 


382  Education  in  India. 

children  and  young  men  work  together  to  earn  their  livelihood  (Ii 
influences  of  education  and  enlightenment  can  more  easily  make  thd 
way,  than  hy  any  individual  attempt  to  bring  together  the  childrei 
for  the  sake  of  education  only.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  eottoi 
and  jute  factories  have  been  established  by  European  capitalistj  lo 
different  parts  of  the  country.  Besides  there  arc  iron  foundries  and 
other  workshops  employing  a  great  number  of  poor  children.  Wa 
have  further  coffee,  tea,  and  other  plantations  which  also  give  work 
to  a  large  number.  In  all  these  places  there  are  many  children  to 
be  educated,  if  only  schools  could  be  opened  to  carry  out  the  objeeti 
It  is  a  subject  worthy  the  attention  of  the  capitalists,  for  by  edo- 
cating  their  workmen  they  would  not  only  raise  a  low  and  degradoi 
people  but  also  improve  their  own  re^jourccs.  For  the  more  educated 
and  skilled  the  as^fistauts  the  bctte'*  would  be  the  work  obtained  from 
them.  Benevolent  managers  may  be  induced  to  open  schools,  but 
without  the  interference  of  Government,  without  some  Icgislatiie 
enactment,  the  work  of  education  cannot  spread  extensively  umongit 
the  factory  operatives,  since  the  desire  of  obtaining  education  bar 
not  yet  been  awakened  in  their  minds.  At  Barahauagar,  a  manufa^ 
turing  town  north  of  Calcutta,  the  managers  of  the  jute  factory  baTO 
already  opened  a  night  school  in  connection  with  their  works ;  bat 
they  cannot  sufiiciently  exert  their  influence  to  bring  their  people  to 
attend  it  regularly.  Some  authority  over  the  children  is  rcquiiel 
which  the  Legislature  only  can  give.  The  best  course,  which  wooll 
at  once  have  a  sure  effect  on  the  factory  children,  would  be 'to  inUt)* 
duce  a  half-time  Factory  Act  into  India,  similar  to  that  long  in  foroi 
in  this  country.  Wo  have  tried  every  moans  in  connection  witb  the 
subject  in  Barahanagar,  have  visited  the  house  of  the  working 
people  and  attempted  to  exert  an  influence  over  them  to  bring  then 
regularly  to  the  night  school,  but  our  endeavours  have  not  been 
successful ;  the  more  we  direct  our  thoughts  to  the  subject,  the  more 
important  the  Factory  Act  seems  to  us.  In  some  of  the  large  factories 
in  India,  such  as  that  at  Barahanagar,  the  half-time  system  ii 
already  in  operation  as  regards  the  numbers  of  boys  and  girls  and 
the  hours  of  lalx)ur,  but  no  arrangement  of  any  kind  is  made  for  the 
education  of  the  children,  as  is  required  in  the  half-time  and  tbe 
Factory  Act  systems.  The  introduction  of  the  above  Act  in  Indii 
seems,  therefore,  absolutely  necessary  for  the  education  of  the  factoiy 
children. 

We  ought  also  to  provide  some  education  for  the  criminaK  and 
especially  for  those  whom  the  court  pronounces  and  the  public  loob 
upon  as  such,  though  chance  might  have  drawn  them  info  wrong 
ways,  without  any  will  or  premeditation  on  their  part.  How  manj 
of  our  present  criminals  have  become  hardened  sinners  becaoM 
society  would  not  receive  them,  neither  would  Government  or  tbe 
public  do  anything  to  improve  their  condition.  The  object  of  every 
punishment  is  to  correct,  not  to  make  people  worse.  In  India  the 
case  has  been  otherwise.  For  petty  thefts  little  children  are  brooght 
before  the  magistrate,  whipped,  and  with  a  bad  name  pot  out  into 


By  Sasipada  Banerjee.  d83 

streets.  Friends  forsake  them,  society  disowns  them,  and 
vernment  sends  them  out  with  the  brand  of  wickedness  and  vice. 
){de  will  not  trust  them  with  any  work — penniless,  friendless,  and 
neless,  they  are  compelled  to  rove  in  the  streets.  And  what  is 
\  consequence  of  this  ?  They  are  brought  again  and  again  before 
I  magistrates  for  offences,  for  which  they  are  again  and  again 
upped,  and  as  usual  turned  out,  till,  for  a  graver  offence,  they  are 
it  in  prison.  On  one  occasion  a  boy,  fourteen  years  of  age,  was 
ought  before  a  magistrate  only  two  days  after  he  had  been  turned 
It  with  twenty  stripes  for  a  similar  charge,  and  on  being  asked, 
hen  he  was  again  fastened  to  receive  twenty  stripes,  how  he  could 
ink  of  stealing  immediately  after  having  been  previously  punished, 
(Ottered  a  simple  truth,  which  sets  aside  the  present  system  of 
mioal  punishment  in  India.  '*  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  have  nothing 
Mt,  my  friends  will  not  take  mo  in;  the  court  will  whip  me,  and 
m  me  out  into  the  streets."  These  were  his  words.  Though 
;un  punished,  and  perhaps  willing  to  amend,  he  sees  no  means  of 
^oeoring  his  food ;  he  must  go  out  again,  to  steal,  or  commit  any 
ber  offence,  till  he  is  put  into  the  prison,  where  he  will  be  glad  to 
main  rather  than  wander  about  hungry  in  the  streets,  and  without 
ing  able  to  supply  his  necessities.  Prisons  and  punishments  have 
en  long  working  to  stop  crime  in  India,  but  have  failed ;  and  how 
ig  is  the  experiment  to  be  allowed  to  continue  ?  To  -arrest  the 
rtfier  progress  of  professional  theft,  vagrancy,  and  crime  in  India, 
»be8t  oourse  would  be,  first,  to  afford  the  education  best  suited  to 
dr  circumstances  to  all  persons  who  come  under  the  direct  control 
Government  in  prisons.  The  Indian  prison  discipline  does  not 
ilode  intellectual  instruction,  nor  is  education  generally  imparted 
prisoners,  except,  in  a  few  cases,  through  the  medium  of  other 
soners,  who  may  have  obtained  some  education  previous  to  their 
itence.  There  should  be,  as  in  England,  systematic  attempts  to 
se  the  condition  of  convicts ;  secondly,  to  open  reformatories  and 
Instrial  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  and  to  introduce  that  system 
ich  has  been  accepted  for  nearly  twenty  years  in  England. 
[  have  humbly  attempted  to  give  u  few  suggestions  for  the  edu- 
ion  of  the  masses  of  my  country,  in  the  hope  that  the  Council  of 
)  Social  Science  Association  will  bring  this  important  subject 
der  the  notice  of  the  Government. 


tfiss  CARPBirrEB  read  a  paper  on  '^  Female  Education  in  India." 
e  first  explained  that  the  social  customs  of  the  races  inhabiting 
lia,  the  Hindus,  the  Mahommedans,  and  the  Parsees,  had  for 
Dy  hundred  years  kept  the  women  in  seclusion  and  ignorance,  and 

British  Government,  when  introducing  a  system  of  education 
)  India,  did  not  attempt  to  do  anything  for  female  education,  in 
sequence  of  their  principle  of  non-interference  with  social  customs. 
3  extension  of  male  education  had  led  to  that  of  the  other  sex.     In 

Bengal  and  Madras  Presidencies  the  missionaries  gave  tlie  first 


d84  Science  Teaching. 

impetus  to  female  education,  and  established  schools.  Enlig 
native  gentlemen  took  up  the  work,  and  the  Government  i 
grant  in  aid.  In  Bombay  Presidency  educated  natives  beg 
movement,  and  girls'  schools  had  been  extensively  establishec 
out  any  Government  help.  It  was  proved,  therefore,  that  a 
existed  among  educated  natives  for  the  education  of  the 
portion  of  the  community.  The  schools  now  existing  w 
present  very  deficient  in  all  that  we  should  regard  as  neo 
The  school  accommodation  was  seldom  good — there  were  uo 
female  teachers,  very  deficient  educational  apparatus,  and  no 
schools.  These  could  not  be  supplied  without  Government  hel 
voluntary  effort  was  also  needed.  In  accordance  with  the  de 
native  gentlemen,  the  Government  made  a  grant  to  each  presi 
in  1868,  for  the  establishment  of  a  normal  school.  Two  pr 
attempts  had  been  made,  at  Dacca  uud  at  Nagpore,  to  educate 
widows,  with  a  view  to  their  becoming  teachers.  It  was,  ha 
impossible  to  suppose  that  women  who  had  been  previously  i 
cated  could  be  transformed  into  teachers  by  a  few  years'  instn 
nor  could  they  learn  the  art  of  teaching  without  practice  in  a 
under  an  experienced  teacher.  Existing  girls*  schools  might  be 
improved  by  the  introduction  of  well  trained  English  mistx 
one  of  whom  might  superintend  in  a  school  where  there  was  i 
master  who  could  act  as  an  interpreter.  Such  superintendent 
introduce  with  his  aid  the  English  system  of  teaching,  which 
be  learnt  by  widows  acting  as  pupil  teachers  in  England,  who 
have  charge  of  classes.  The  most  advanced  of  such  pupil  te 
might  enter  the  normal  schools,  and  eventually  good  native  \ 
teachci*s  might  be  trained.  The  infant  school  system  shoi 
introduced  into  India,  the  bulk  of  the  girls  now  in  schools 
under  eight  years  of  age.  Miss  Carpenter  recommended  that 
meantime  young  women  who  had  been  educated  in  the  varioo 
institutions  in  India  for  the  daughters  of  English  or  Eurasian  of 
native  converts  and  others,  if  duly  qualilied,  should  receive  tn 
in  the  normal  schools,  and  their  acquaintance  with  the  langua^ 
with  the  country  would  soon  make  them  useful  teachers. 


SCIENCE   TEACHING.* 

On    the    Teaching  of  Social    Science    in    Elementary   & 

By  Whateley  Cooke  Taylor. 

ICA.N  well  understand  the  title  of  this  paper  sounding  emir 
absurd  in  the  ears  of  some  who  are  assembled  here  this  d 
hear  it.  The  teaching  of  Social  Science  in  Schools  I— the) 
say— will  you  tell  us  firnt  what  Social  Science  is,  and  next,  h 

♦  ScM*  Transact ionti,  18C0,  p.  .17(5;  1870,  p.  .120. 


rcfaensive  a  eubjoct  could  ever  possibly  he  made  to  form  a  part 
dioary  cleinenlury  instluolion  ?  I  am  fully  prepared,  I  say, 
lis  prelimiaary  ridicule,  and  with  a  view  to  conciliating  Dxosa 
I  kavc  supposed  to  bo  ils  oiigiualorg,  and  witii  an  apology  to 
*'  s  far  this  ranuner  of  introducing  my  subject,  I  have  to  make 
[  will,  that  13  in  fiict  my  uole  aim  and  purpose,  tliat  is  the 
in  tbat  I  am  iiore. 

Dcial  Scieoce  is  tlio  Sciouce  of  Society,  and  Society  is  the  name 
Sv6  to  tbe  phenomenon  of  an  aggiegalion  of  Iminiiu  beings  with 
circumstauceB  that  their  congregating  together  give  rise  to. 
i  itself  Is  the  name  we  give  to  a  number  of  rules,  laws,  or  - 
ties  which  proof  or  experience  show  to  be  invariable.  Thus  ' 
Science  is  llie  rules,  laws,  or  tendencies,  that  are  developed 
a  a  number  of  persona  congregate  together,  and  the  studying  it 
a  etody  of  these  rules,  laws,  or  tendencies,  and  the  teaching  it 
le  teaching  of  these  rules,  tendencies,  or  laws. 
Ilk  is  what  it  is  ;  I  will  further  tell  them  what  it  is  not.  It  is 
ihe  science,  ihat  is,  the  rules,  laws,  or  tendencies,  of  any  man  or 
lUi  or  thing  in  any  other  Ihan  in  the  social  state,  that  is  in 
JOD  to  other  men,  women,  or  things.  It  is  not  for  instance  the 
l,Uwg,  or  tendcndesof  a  man  in  relation  to  himself,  ur  a  woman 
llktioii  to  herself,  or  a  thing  in  relation  to  itself.  Not  agnin  of 
mao  being  in  relation  to  anything  superhuman,  or  a  material 
rt  in  relstjon  to  anything  immaterial.  Not  even  of  a  material 
et  in  relation  lo  one  human  being,  but  only  in  relation  to  several. 
e  there  no  mixing  and  meeting  of  men  and  women  and  things, 
t  would  ba  no  social  science,  nor  is  there  any  now  except  on 
not  of  and  concerning  this  mixing  and  meeting, 
lit  when  a  mixing  and  meeting  of  men  and  women  takes  place, 
they  utilize  and  are  engaged  with  tlie  qualilies  of  each  other 
ef  the  things  that  surround  them,  then  various  relations  between 
other,  and  between  each,  and  other,  and  these  things,  are  estab- 
i.  And  these  relations,  which  are  as  much  a  portion  of  nature 
«  men,  or  the  women,  or  the  things,  and  as  necessary  and  in- 
ible  in  their  t4;ndencies,  are  the  subject  of  this  science,  and  are 
In  provided  for,  or  against,  as  they  affect  the  community  well  or 
It  becomes  vastly  important  then  to  watch  the  tendencies  of 
t  relations,  to  endeavour  to  understand  them,  to  systematise 
I  as  soon  as  understood,  and  impart  tlio  understanding  to  others, 
this  we  may  do  by  means  of  other  rules,  laws,  or  tendencies, 
Ming  our  inner  consciousness  am)  will,  witli  the  origin  anil 
ire  of  which  this  science  has  nothing  to  do. 

hope  I  have  sat islac tori ly  answered  the  fivst  (|ueslion.     I  shall 
e  that  I  have  done  so. 

m  these  tendencies  or  laws  have  been  sufficiently  watched  to 
ndcrstood,  and  sulGciently  understood  to  be  reduced  to  a  systeia 
icehenaible  by  human  intelligence,  the  time  has  come  to  teach 
,  How  then  is  this  to  be  dune! — how  is  Social  Science  to  be 
bt  in  achooU  7  Now  the  expreasiou  "  the  teaching  of  science  " 
25 


386  Science  Teaching. 

oflen  convoys  to  people's  ears  a  wrong  impreBsion  from  what  1 1 
mean.  It  suggests  a  very  lengthy  and  profound  course  of  study, 
investigation  of  many  recondite  and  remote  considerations.  Sac 
notion  is  correct  of  those  who  endeavour  to  make  themselves  ( 
versant  with  all  parts  of  a  science,  or  with  all  sciences,  for  nodi 
short  of  Omniscience  is  capable  of  this,  and  those  noble  sfnrits  i 
attempt  it  arc  in  reality,  as  they  well  know,  but  approaching  as  n 
as  may  be  permitted  to  this  great  ideal — *'  picking  up  shells  on ) 
shore  of  the  great  ocean  of  truth."  But  it  is  nowise  true  of  the  m 
important  results  of  scientific  research.  It  is  indeed  so  much  1 
contrary,  that  these  when  once  thoroughly  comprehended  seem  to 
so  simple  as  to  be  self-evident,  and  we  cannot  understand  how  we 
any  one  else  can  ever  have  been  so  stupid  as  to  have  been  blind 
them.  It  is  that  wo  are  the  slaves  of  words  ;-^that  word  ''science**  1 
a  learned  sound,  aud  not  always  do  we  realize  and  remember  vl 
it  is,  namely,  the  explanation,  and  nothing  more,  of  those  ftp 
which  we  find  in  operation  around  us.  Combustion,  gravitatii 
atmospheric  pressure,  roundness,  hardness,  perspective,  distu 
here  arc  a  few  of  the  scientific  truths  which  we  early  learn  w 
perfect  case,  and  on  which  many  centuries  of  painful  research  hi 
been  expended,  and  probably  will  be  expended  throughout  all  th 
Yet  if  I  were  to  propose  to  you  to  teach  the  mathematical  i 
physical  sciences  iu  elementary  schools,  would  it  not  seem  to  } 
even  more  strange  than  my  proposal  to  teach  the  social  sciene 
Nevertheless  I  propose  to  you  no  more  in  the  one  case  (lian  in  i 
other.  I  propose  that  as  the  results  of  physical  and  mathemiti 
scientific  research  are  taught  to  the  young,  so  should  the  resoll 
social  scientific  research  be  taught  At  present  this  is  not  done.  Il 
thought  highly  important  to  teach  a  child  of  the  nature  of  the  £• 
that  it  is  round, — a  most  difilcult  conception  for  him  to  realise. — I 
not  of  the  nature  of  health,  or  wealth,  or  government,  matteft 
infinitely  greater  consequence  to  him  and  far  easier  of  realizati 
You  hold  it  a  prime  essential  of  civilization  that  some  knowlei 
should  be  had  by  all  of  the  arts  of  reading,  writing,  and  countk 
but  not  so  of  the  arena  in  which  these  arts  are  to  be  exercised.  ( 
absurdity  fartlier  go  ?  Certainly  the  first  tlting  to  teach  a  child  H] 
introducing  it  into  a  state  of  existence  with  which  it  was  previos 
unfamiliar,  would  seem  to  be,  some  knowledge  of  the  constitutioB  i 
construction  of  its  new  abode,  and  the  nature  of  the  fellow  creali 
whom  it  was  for  the  first  time  to  meet,  and  of  the  laws  that  govi 
them.  But  this  is  generally  the  very  last,  and  not  unfrequently  ii 
left  to  find  them  out  by  painful  experience  itself.  True  a  It 
mother  will  endeavour  as  much  as  possible  to  dissuade  her  ek 
from  knocking  its  head  against  denser  matter  or  stuffing  its  fist  b 
the  fire,  either  of  which  performances  the  laws  of  physical  setei 
show  to  be  injudicious,  but  of  its  rel^ktions  to  its  fellows  how  mo 
will  she  teach  it  ?  Nay,  will  she  not  teach  that  little  wrong— ( 
dirty  little  boys  and  girls  will  all  be  naughty,  and  the  clean  Mt 
boys  and  girls  will  all  be  nice.    And  yet  there  are  other  itA 


Ics  biick  ones,  gainst  which  young  heads  aro  ''  knocked " 
iojurcd;  and  other  meansof  "  hurning  your  fingers"  boeWes 
t  ]>rtmitivo  ones  adopted  in  otiier  days  by  Muliue  Scffivola 
rCranmer. 

My  it  will  be  objected  that  the  physical  truths  which  I  have 
litulftQCcd  are  not,  in  fact,  taught  primarily  in  schools  at  all.  but 
I  part  of  the  teaching  of  tho  domestic  circlo.  That  therefore 
ualogy  does  not  hold  good.  To  this  1  meroly  answer,  so  much 
yoree  for  llie  schools.  It  is  tho  curse  of  our  present  systems  of 
jatwOi  01)0  and  all,  that  their  ajma  are  so  narrow  and  their 
I  utility  so  shamefully  and  deliberately  limited.  Because 
'  is  the  case  I  see  no  reason  that  it  should  ever  be  so.  I  am 
advocating  a  continuance  of  error,  but  the  removal  of  it.  Nor  is 
liing  that  I  shall  say  of  the  teaching  of  schools  inapplical tie  to 
8  of  the  domestic  circle,  though  tho  ono  happens  to  bo 
Ibeme  at  the  present  time,  and  the  other  does  not ;  indeed, 
>uld  like  to  see  the  two  teachings  far  more  closely  assimilated, 
iru  advanced  schools  are  concerned,  I  would  have  social  science 
ila  place  alongside  physical  science,  or  mnthematioal  science,  or 
Other,  but  so  far  as  elementary  schools  are  concerned,  1  should 
,ta  see  its  obvious  truths  taught  not  only  alongside,-  but  before 
■  of  «ny  other  science.  And  I  should  like  acieutiBc  training  to 
I  precedence  ofnrt  training  always  in  early  life,  and  in  all  courses 
lainentary  instruction.  I  would  have  the  mind  exercised  and 
nded  befoi-e  it  ia  set  lo  condescend  to  details.  I  would  wish  it 
»  taught  to  be  large,  and  liberal,  and  generous,  and  humane, 
ire  it  was  taught  to  be  anything  else.  Jteading,  writing,  and 
itiog,  are  exceedingly  useful  accomplishments,  there  are  none 
B  to,  there  are  none  so  much  so ;  but  they  cannot  of  tberaselves 
a  one  iota  of  the  destitution,  vice,  crime  and  unhappiness,  with 
th  this  world  abounds.  It  is  the  application  of  these  to  right 
^  and  especially  the  right  application  of  them,  that  gives  them 
ealy  true  utility  they  can  ever  possess.  This  is  the  legitimatfl 
•f  edacalion,  and  I  tell  you  with  all  previous  deliberation  as  to 
Weight  of  wliat  I  am  about  to  say,  that  without  this  aim  and 
boat  thia  result-,  your  education  will  ever  be  nothing  belter  than 
>  and  a  curse.  The  study  of  the  nature  and  the  laws  of 
ith,  and  the  nature  and  the  laws  of  wealth,  to  take  but  two  de- 
,  but  two  of  the  principal  departments,  of  social  science,  is 
wd  all  comparison  of  immeasurably  more  consequence  to  hu« 
Blty  ihan  the  teaching  of  any  other  art  or  science  that  ever 
,— lo  the  individual  as  well  as  lo  the  State.  It  is  the 
liinj;  of  these  I  advocate,  and  especially  their  teaching  in 
teotojy  schools.  Nor  cun  I  see  any  practical  diHicul  ty  in 
.way  of  carrying  out  the  scheme.  Once  n  young  student 
ufficieotly  advanced  to  have  been  able  to  commit  to  memory 
exo«8aively  complex  matter,  the  English  alphabet,  even  with 
assistance  of  poetical  and  pictorial  illustrations,  he  or  sba 
'  '  '  '  advauoed  to  rec^ve  and  lay  to  heart  some  simpls  , 
25-i 


388  Science  Teaching. 

truths  of  health  and  economics.  It  is  not  more  difficult  U 
a  liTclj  interest  in  the  archerj  achioTements  of  A  or  the  ca 
clivities  of  B,  than  in  the  cause  of  feeling  easy  or  nneasj  in 
at  times,  and  in  the  origin  and  nature  of  "  things  useful  ai 
able''  (t>.y  wealth).  Were  but  one  half  the  pains  expc 
teaching  the  latter  that  is  wasted  with  much  ingenuity  on  tb 
society  would  certainly  be  the  poorer  both  by  many  bad 
and  many  bodily  and  monetary  complaints.  I  have  someCia 
myself  in  a  village  or  a  factory  school  a  melancholy  spe 
what  was  going  on  around.  Here  would  be  an  urchin  sob* 
in  that  terrible  mental  morass,  the  multiplication  tablet  ai 
striving  by  bodily  convolutions  to  wriggle  himself  through  tt 
ful  puzzle.  Here  would  be  another,  bending  his  little  bo< 
much  blurred  book,  and  hopelessly  endeavouring  by  the  < 
exertions  of  his  tongue  and  forefingers  to  trace  straight  1 
curves.  A  little  further  off  a  class  would  be  spelling  out  it 
lesson  ¥rith  thoughts  far,  far  away.  I  have  taken  up  the 
learn  the  subject  of  their  studies,  and  can  any  one  not  p 
forewarned  guess  what  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  I  have  foi 
be  ?  I  can  scarcely  expect  yon  to  believe  me  when  I  tell 
in  those  nine  cases  I  have  found  it  to  be — Zoology  !  I  hai 
the  book — a  lion  with  a  fine  jaw  development  has  stared  n 
flEice,  or  a  tiger  pretomaturally  fierce.  I  have  turned  ovw 
and  have  fallen  on  a  pelican  ;  or  again,  and  have  dropped 
elephant  Can  any  one  conceive  a  folly  greater  than  this 
it  electro -biology,  or  psychology,  or  photography,  there  woi 
to  me  to  bo  some  excuse,  for  these  are,  after  all,  studies  w 
more  or  less  concerned  with  the  affairs  of  men.  But  tt 
children  who  have  nothing  but  their  hard  hands  and  soft 
help  them  on  through  life,  must,  forsooth,  be  set  to  study  t 
of  brutes  with  which  there  is  scarcely  the  slightest  possibilit 
ever  coming  in  contact,  instead  of  the  facts  and  principles  ^ 
the  laws  of  their  existence,  and  which  must  inevitably  sb 
destiny  in  the  time  that  is  before  them.  Surely  there  is  s 
fundamentally  wrong  in  our  system  of  education  when  this  \ 
is  permitted.  It  would  seem  as  if  all  the  perverted  ingi 
mankind  had  been  set  to  work  to  discover  something  the 
removed  from  human  interests  for  human  beings  to  be  taugh 
hit  upon  this  subject  Yet  this  is  but  typical  of  the  whole 
I  do  not  of  course  object  to  the  study  of  zoology, 
but  only  to  its  taking  precedence  of  every  other, 
the  name  of  all  wonderment,  should  infant  minds  be  ear! 
with  horrible  details  of  pelicans  and  tigers,  and  then 
vided  with  a  strong  tendency  to  nightmare  ?  after  all,  ever 
not  miserably  destined  to  be  the  keeper  of  a  menagerie  I  t 
child  who  lives  is  destined  to  fill  up  some  place  or  other  in  I 
ture  of  society,  and  as  it  fills  it  well  or  ill  will  be  prosperoi 
reverse.  How  many  of  those  who  laboriously  draw  crooke 
and  add  usele:S8  figures  will  make  use  of  their  poor  focnlfiefl 


^tiona  hereafter,  or  will  not  rather  forget  them  almost  as  soon  aa 
'  scbooliug  ia  done  !  but  to  every  one  the  knowledge  of  the  means 
ialtli  and  the  means  ol'weulth  U  of  interest  wid  importanoe,  and 
more  bo  the  older  ihej  grow.  If  but  few  of  the  hours  spent  in 
muctuuiical  trifling  or  in  the  production  of  zoological  amace- 
ll,  were  spent  in  tenchiug  the  simple  elements  of  social  science, 
itve  me,  we  would  not  have  one  uccompliahed  penman  or  one 
Kt  arilbmeticiaii  less,  and  we  would  hnve  many  more  contented, 
dsoW,  and  rigLl-lliinking  persons. 

it  remuns  to  mo  to  show  that  there  is  a  present  urgent  necessity 
tliin  reform,  in  doing  so  let  mo  ask  any  of  you  hero  to  recall 
uwas  taught  you  in  your  childhood  of  the  material  social  con- 
Uttf  life.  I  will  give  you  my  own  experiences,  I  was  found 
|iuliy  somewhere  or  otlier,  aud  this  was  my  introductiou  to  life. 
r  ituy  on  arriving  thei-o  was  to  believe  what  I  was  told,  and  to 
"1 1  was  bid.  What  I  was  tolt)  was  that  everything  iu  this  world 
ordered  so  that  good  hoys  always  obtained  everything,  and  bad 
fi  always  came  lo  bad  ends  ;  what  I  was  to  do  of  course  was  to 
"  no  and  not  lo  be  the  other.  In  the  amiable  scheme  of  ex- 
to  which  I  was  introduced,  the  political  economy  of  Mr. 
prevailed,  and  every  one  was  rewarded  according  to  his 
ml  worth,  not  according  to  his  utility  lo  others,  and  least  of  all 
W^iitg  to  unalterable  principles  or  laws  actiug  altogether  beyond 
leontroL  The  more  one  laboui'ed  the  richer  naturally  ho  became, 
I  no  affliction  ever  overlook  any  people  but  in  consequence  of 
ii  wickedness.  Yet,  strangely  enough,  poverty  and  virtue  always 
nU  together,  aud  mouey  was  >'  the  root  of  all  evil."  The  honest 
tuan,  by  industry  ajid  rectitude  of  conduct,  iuvariably  arrived  at 
Bpetence  and  a  clean  shirt,  the  dishonest  infallibly  became  ragged. 
lUre  was  Ute  abundant  mother  of  us  all,  aud  was  evermore  heaping 
rbeneSts  upou  us. 

rb«se  wid  such  like  are  the  teachings  of  childhood,  and  how  do 
7  prepare  us  for  the  truth?  We  pass  the  vegetable  period  of 
iHaoca  and  begin  lo  look  round  us,~  aud  to  ihink — What  do  we  now 
t— and  what  conclusions  do  we  draw  t  We  see  that  almost 
uy  fact  iu  lite  presents  absolutely  the  opposite  appearance  from 
■I  we  have  been  taught  to  expect,  aud  we  reasonably  enough  draw 
leoaclumou  that  we  have  been  taught  wi'ong.  Wo  dnd  that  the 
Bd  boys  are  not  always  the  best  oS'  in  this  world,  aud  that  the  bad 
« sometimes  are.  We  find  that  the  consideration  of  moral  worth 
snters  into  (juestious  of  hiring  at  all,  aud  that  labourers  are 
miwrated  on  far  other  principles.  We  find  the  more  the  earth  is 
hi,  the  ledfl  proportionate  returns  it  yields,  and  we  lind  that  the 
It  firtuous  persoDB  are  sometimes  visited  with  the  saddest  afflic- 
I.  We  find  that  nature,  so  far  ti'om  ordering  all  things  for  our 
■rent  good,  visits  us  with  plague,  pestilence,  and  famine,  with 
He  and  murder,  and  inordinate  desires,  with  poverty,  disease,  and 
Rh.  We  find  that  money  is  the  source  of  good  instead  of  the  root 
evil,  and  we  have  Bometimee  even  the  unlooked  for  spectacle 


390  Science  Teaching. 

presented  to  us,  of  the  hard-working  artisan  whose  hair  is 
nncombed)  whoso  clothing  is  ragged,  and  whose  shirt  is  iinwai 
How  do  we  reconcile  all  this  with  the  lessons  we  have  been  tan 
we  cannot  do  so,  and  vainly  do  we  strive.  If  strong  we  n 
against  the  deception  that  has  been  imposed  upon  us,  and  seek  rd 
it  may  be,  in  a  worse  belief ;  if  weak  we  miserably  snccamb  1 
and  float  torpidly  down  the  sluggish  waters  of  delusion  to  the  ( 
ocean  of  the  unknown.  Heuco  arise  those  vidlent  dismptioii 
society  when  the  deceit  has  become  intolerable.  Hence  that  pc 
in  life  known  to  most  thoughtful  and  imaginative  minds,  when 
faith  seems  fantastic  and  all  fact«  chaotic,  and  they  recklessly  ; 
refuge  from  both  in  misanthropy  or  cynicism.  Do  we  not 
somethiog  of  this  around  us  at  the  present  time  ?  Is  not 
character  of  our  society  unbelievinc  and  unearnest  %  Is  not  thu 
tone  of  our  popular  literature  ?  I  do  believe,  that  if  many  pen 
considered  to  be  educated  and  worthy  of  esteem,  were  asked  I 
honest  opinion  on  our  social  state,  it  would  be,  that  the  whole  t 
was  incomprehensible,  and  they  didn't  much  care. 

But  is  it  so  difficult  to  understand  the  social  economy  of  our  ti 
By  no  means.  There  is  much  that  is  difficult  and  seemingly  coi 
dictory  on  its  surface,  but  there  is  also  much,  and  the  more  impa 
part,  that  is  easy  and  necessary  and  deteripinate.  The  mere  ki 
ledge  that  there  are  difficulties  and  seeming  contradictions  is  it» 
gain;  it  is  something  to  find  that  the  typical  good  boy  is 
necessarily  all  good,  nor  the  typical  bad  boy  necessarily  all  bat 
is  the  first  great  stride  in  a  right  knowledge  of  the  world;  it  if 
incomparable  lesson  of  diversity.  I  have  called  this  an  incompsi 
lesson,  for,  compared  with  most  others,  it  is  so ;  but  there  ia 
other  which  is  nearly,  if  not  altogether,  its  equal,  a  lesson  di 
even  from  those  sad  facts  of  poverty — {lisease  and  adversify, 
from  the  necessity  of  opposing  their  devastating  power — the  | 
lesson  of  contrivance.  Diversity  and  Contrivance!  Let  ms 
teach  these  two  lessons  thoroughly  to  mankind,  and  I  will  dd 
the  fatal  influences  of  your  false  theories  to  corrupt  them  after, 
the  former  they  learn  that,  ev^n  as  there  are  ever  tall  and  shoi 
life,  and  wise  and  foolish,  so  must  there  ever  be  great  and  s 
and  rich  and  poor,  and  that  tlie  theory  of  pure  equality  is  unteo 
By  the  latter,  that  the  most  virtuous  person  or  community 
struggle  in  vain  against  poverty  and  disease  if  he  or  they  do  nc 
the  right  way  about  opposing  them,  but,  by  judicious  contriv 
this  way  may  bo  found.  Are  not  these  more  useful  lessons 
the  others,  or  than  those  which  a  re-action  from  the  others  too ' 
gives  rise  to  ?  And  are  they  not  in  themselves  far  nobler  ? 
not  grander  to  think  of  the  variety  of  types  of  good  and  evil,  ai 
their  strange  proportions  and  combinations  iu  individuals,  thi 
fancy  all  human  character  at  one  dead  level  ?  And  is  it  not 
nitely  more  stimulatiug  to  energy  and  industry  to  regard  Natm 
the  light  of  an  obstacle  to  be  overcome,  than  in  that  of  a  I 
minister  to  languid  needs?     And  this  is  the  right  conoeptionc 


we  it  in  every  triumph  of  human  Bkill  in  the  physical  worlil 
ml  as  with  which  ibis  age  in  so  familiar.  Has  not  that  Nature 
sioce  ML-emeil  to  say  to  us,  thus  far  shalt  thou  go  and  no  fai'thsr, 
she  places  rivers  and  mountiutis  iu  our  path,  and  oceans  and 
tieserts.  ^ad  we  reply  lo  Nalure,  nay,  liut  we  will  ubg  Con- 
uce  against  you,  vfo  will  turn  your  powers  on  yourself,  aud  we 
fB  the  rivers  and  pierce  the  mountaiiis,  we  send  ahips  across  hut 

>  aod  aeaa  through  her  deserts  of  sand.  And,  as  in  llio  physiual, 
n  the  sociul  word.  Nature  has  seemed  to  say,  I  will  grow 
)uoua  herbs  to  pollute  your  blood,  and  I  will  send  pestilence  and 
oe  amongst  you,  und  a  selfish  desire  for  gaiu  to  promote  a 
diy.  Aud  we  i-eply,  your  poisonous  herbs  we  will,  by  contri- 
S,  use  against  your  pestilence,  that  they  may  each  destroy  the 
r,  and  your  seilish  desire  for  gain  we  will  utilise  to  lay  up  large 
I  of  provisioDS  against  the  time  when  your  famine  comes.  These 
the  leMons  (o  teach  mankind;  not  of  the  uselesaneas  of  rlclicA,  or 
hippiness  of  being  poor;  anil  these  are  the  lessons  of  social 

,  The  usele&sness  of  riches!  Was  there  ever  so  demoml- 
tiJsehood  procltumed?  The  happiness  of  being  poor!  Mean 
sellish  indeed  would  be  the  spirit  that  could  feel  tliat  happiness, 
ml  if  iheco  mock  doctrines  are  d.ingcrous  and  demoralising  to 
Dore  prosperous  among  us,  as  they  too  surely  are,  how  much 
are  they  so  lo  those  whose  very  existence  is  dependent  on  their 
i  or  falsehood.  I  am  aghast  when  I  ponder  this  awful  cousider- 
.    Let  me  put  to  you  a  case,  that  we  may  rightly  measure  the 

>  by  which  ^vo  stand.  I  bring  to  you  a  man,  honest,  sober,  and 
■minded,  a  man  who  lias  for  thirty  years  worked  ten  hours  a 
tbat  you  mtiy  live  in  luxury.;  who  has  u  numerous  family  at 
twbiun  he  has  steadily  striven  to  bring  up  in  the  fear  of  God 
lovo  of  man,  and  who  is  at  this  moment,  ho  and  those  hapless 
,  Starving,  dying  from  ioanition,  perishing  for  want  of  food — for 
.of  food  I — from  off  ihe  surface  of  this  fair  and  smiling  earth  I 
yau  tell  him  of  the  bouuleousucas  of  Nature  1 — that  poverty 
contentment  ever  go  together,  and  riches  are  but  vanity  T 
yOB  dare  to  repeat  these  puerile  fullucies  nowT  You  will  not 
to  do  eo  lest  he  strangle  you  for  the  affront.  Why  then  have 
rrer  taught  them?  Why  have  you  misled  this  raauT  Surely 
jy  ever  were  good  for  anything,  now,  aiior   a    long    life    m 

y  and  rectitude  of  conduct  is  the  timo  that  he  ehould 
tir  fruits.  Were  they  ever  good  for  anything  ?  Are  tliey 
Are  they  not  true  !  Are  they  palpably  and  shamefully 
?  They  are!  Then  hoiv  have  you  evei-  dared  to  teach  this 
that  which  you  knew  to  be  a  lie,  and  shall  he  not,  now  that  he 
'mad  it  out,  be  revenged  on  you  I  Ho  has  ever  had  the  harder 
life  already,  it  is  he  who  has  toiled  while  yuu  have  eujoyed  its 
.  Ktid  yet  on  this  very  poinl,  this  matter  of  labour,  wherein  you 
Irotn  the  lirsl  had  tliu  ndvitntnge,  this  vital,  this  essential,  this 
me  point,  you  haVe  grossly  and  ncedlecaly  deceived  him  1 
ily  ancl  needleuly  deceived,  for  all  these  lad  foots  of  nature 


892  Science  Teaching^ 

might  have  been  explained  to  him  from  the  first  had  yoa  but  so 
to  go  the  right  way  to  do  it.  What  have  you  taught  him  of  di^e 
and  contrivance  T  What  of  the  infallible  operation  of  the  { 
economic  laws  of  supply  and  demand,  by  which  his  remuoen 
has  been  regulated  from  the  first  ?  How  have  you  explained  to 
the  principles  of  population,  and  the  law  of  agricultural  indos 
You  have  taught  him  none  of  these  things,  and  when  your  fo( 
fancies  miserably  break  down,  and  ho  is  face  to  face  with  wani 
blames  not  nature  that  she  is  exacting,  but  man  that  he  is  uo 
and  your  own  ruin  and  his  ensue. 

Tills  is  no  fancy  picture  ;  it  is  very  far  from  it.  I  warn  yon 
such  a  crisis  as  I  have  described  is  fast  approaching,  that  yea 
tottering  on  the  edge  of  such  a  precipice.  There  is  a  porteo 
phantom  dogging  the  steps  of  our  prosperity,  and  it  already  caiti 
vast  and  tlireatening  shadow  before  it.  I  allude  to  the  Intemati 
Society.  Do  not  mistake  me  ;  I  desire  to  speak  of  that  assoeit 
with  all  reserve  as  of  one  of  which  I  know  very  little,  nay,  witl 
respect  as  of  one  whose  objects,  so  far  as  I  understand  them,  i 
eminently  creditable  and  humane.  These  objects  appear  to  b 
better  the  condition  of  the  labouring  classes,  and  to  promote 
Christian's  fondest  dream  of  ^^  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  tow 
men/'  But  their  doctrines  of  the  means  by  which  this  is  to  b 
complished  are  poisoned  with  error.  How  could  they  be  othem 
You  have  sedulously  taught  them  one  set  of  fallacies  for  many  y 
and  at  last  they  have  found  you  out.  What  is  it  natural 
should  do,  on  finding  these  to  be  bitterly  untrue,  but  to  plunge 
others  exactly  the  reverse  ?  You  have  told  them  not  only  tha' 
earth  is  yours,  but  **  the  fulness  thereof,"  and  for  a  time  they 
believed  you.  But  with  advancing  knowledge  they  have  lei 
that  the  "  fulness  *'  is  theirs,  and  take  care  that  they  don't  dei 
the  earth  also.  You  have  both  of  you  ignored  in  both  your  t 
systems  to  whom  really  belongs  both  that  fulness  and  this  e 
and  whose  inflexible  laws  you  never  can  attempt  to  supersede 
impunity.  It  is  only  by  a  resolute  study  of  those  laws,  those 
and  exquisitely  adjusted  laws  of  social  science,  and  by  a  wide  c 
sioii  of  the  knowledge  of  them,  that  you  or  they  can  hope  to  i 
the  consequent  catastrophe  that  is  impending.  I  beg  of  you  n 
lightly  dismiss  this  caution.  I  tell  you  that  your  social  syslei 
honeycombed  with  secret  dangers,  and  I  call  on  you  to  pn 
against  them.  Let  this  be  done  in  other  countries  by  the  last  n 
such  has  never  been — let  us  hope  it  never  will  be — the  spirit  oi 
nation.  You  must  meet  them  half  way  ;  you  must  face  them 
truth  and  science  ;  it  is  with  the  school  book  you  must  disarm  t 
not  by  the  manoeuvres  of  your  military  and  police.  You  have 
started  a  vast  educational  organization,  to  what  account  is  it  t 
turned?  Will  you  still  teach  your  scholars  to  scrawl  unk 
characters,  and  study  the  habits  of  hippopotami,  or  will  you  inti 
them  truly  in  the  material  concerns  of  life?  On  the  answer  w 
you  shall  ultimately  give  to  this  question  rests  your  hopeof  safel 
the  future. 


By  Joseph  Payne.  393 

Joseph  Payne,  of  London,  read  a  paper  "On  the  Teaching 
fmentaiy  Soience  as  a  Part  of  the  Earliest  Instruction  of 
an."     The  writer  commenced  by  referring  to  the  fact  that  at 
t  Birmingham  meeting  of  the  Association  he  had  maintained 
le  "  results  which  were  paid  for  "  ought  to  include  the  open- 
the  children's  eyes  to  the  wonderful  natural  phenomena  by 
they  were  surrounded,  and  which  continually  asked  to  be 
aed  and  appreciated,*  and  to  Canon  Kingsley's  (]^uotation  of 
irordfi  in  his  address,  as  President  of  the  Education  Depart- 
B^  the  Bristol  meeting,  and  his  recognition  of  the  principle 
represent,  as   **not  only  the  soimd  foundation  for  all  our 
oal  eduation  but  for  aU  education  whatever;   which,"  Mr. 
ley  added,  "  must  be  built  on  Nature  and  Fact,  these  being,  to 
xrd  Bacon's  expression,  the  voice  of  Gt>d  revealed  in  things." 
ngout  this  idea,  the  writer  maintained  that  Nature  and  Fact's 
Ilium  of  instruction,  being  especially  adapted  to  tlie  circum- 
0  of  children  when  first  made  the  subjects  of  formal  teaching 
to  supersede,  or  at  least  supplement,  old  Established  Boutine's 
alum,  which  had  been  allowed  to  usurp  its  place.  All  human  be- 
le  urged,  are  pupils  in  the  great  school  of  Nature  and  Fact  before 
ome  under  formal  instruction,  and  their  earliest  lessons  under 
ofessed  teacher  ought  to  be  a  continuation  of  those  already 
ed;  a  continuation  in  the  same  spirit,  and  by  the  same  means, 
^acher  who  talks  of  beginning  a  child's  education  forgets  that 
)urse  of  instruction  really  began  at  the  child's  birth,  and  is 
ly  far  advanced.     In  taking  his  pupil  in  hand,  he  ought,  in 
to  make  his  lessons  truly  effective,  to  enquire  what  the  child 
id  at  the  last  school,  and  how  he  learnt  it.     If,  instead  of 
this,  he  introduces  seK-devised  plans,  having  no  relation  to 
by  which  his  pupil  has  learnt  all  that  he  already  knows,  ho 
aench  instead  of  quickening  intellectual  life.     This  is  a  very 
on  result  of  ordinary  elementary  teaching,  conducted  by  men 
'omen  who  have  never  been  scientifically  trained  to  teach,  and 
t  really  know  what  education  is,  and  what  it  is  capable  of 
ng.    Now  Nature  and  Fact  do  their  work  by  bringing  the 
9  mind  into  direct  contact  with  material  objects,  a  contact 
.  first  excites  observation,  comparison,  judgment,  and  roason- 
nd  secondly,  stimulates  the  mind  to  experiment  and  invention. 
)rofessed  teacher,  who  takes  nature's  place,  should  adopt  her 
and,  by  training  the  youthful  mind  in  her  spirit,  lay  the 
ation  for  all  subsequent  instruction,  whether  scientific  or 
ry.      Observing,  moreover,  that  nature's  curriculum  of  in- 
ion  is  confined,  for  the  most  paii;,  to  lessons  connected  with 
»1  needs,  and  is  received  unconsciously  by  the  pupil,  the 
yr  should  recognise  it  as  his  special  business  to  convert  the 
scious  employment  of  the  faculties  into  a  conscious  employ- 
in  wiiich,  while  the  materials  and  spirit  are  the  same,  the 
;  aimed  at    is  higher,   and    the  method    more  systematic, 
re  makes  her  pupil  a  man,  it  is  for  the  teacher  to  make  him  a 
ated  man.    Hence  the  necessity  for  the  teacher,  whose  con- 


394  Science  Teaching. 

Bcious  action  and  influence  are  to  carry  on  the  processes  alreadj 
commenced.   The  fac^t  must  Le  recogui8ed  that,  although  Nature  \m 
taught  the  child  mucli,  alio  has  left  him  in  a  rudimentary  condition. 
Slie  has  taught  him  to  observe,  but  not  to  observe  accurately;  to 
notice  the  relations  of  objects  to  oadi  other,  but  only  in  a  geneni 
way.     The  teacher  is  to  supplement  her  work  by  making  what  ii 
lax—  strict,  what  is  general — special ;  to  keep  the  pupil's  attentioo 
fixed  on  an  object  until  it  is  fully  appreciated  by  nis  mind.    Tke 
entires  process,  then,  of  the  earliest  instruction  should  be  one  rf 
training  the  faculties  for  their  subsequent  work,  and  for  this  in- 
struction God's  book  of  the  universe  is  better  suited  than  any  boob 
of  men.     Tlio  facts  and  phenomena  of  nature  are  the  sentenoei^ 
words,  and  letters,  which,  before  all  others,  the  child  should  be 
taught  to  read ;  and  if  taught  to  read  them  by  a  teacher  who  knovi 
his  business,  they  furnish  the  soundest  and  the  most  interesting 
instruction  that  the  child  is  capable  of  receiving.     The  matfriaS 
also  for  the  lessons  are  constantly  at  liand,  the  mculties  for  nsmg 
them  are  constantly  ready  for  use,  and  it  is  the  very  raisoh  ikn 
of  the  teacher,  the  purpose  for  which  he  exists,  to  bring  tin 
materials  and  the  faculties  into  contact,  and  thus  to  make  the  chili 
iind  tongues  in  trees,  sermons  in  stones,  and  books  in  the  numinff 
brooks.     For  want  of  such  teaching  the  child  grows  to  a  man,  m 
as  a  man  lives  all  his  life,  carrying  with  him  eyes  which  do  not  lee^ 
ears  which  do  not  hear,  a  mind  which  does  not  think.    By  meaai 
of  sucli  lessons  the  art  of  observing  may  be  definitely  taught,  the 
art  of  inventing  prompte<l,  and  the  method  of  scientific  inveiti- 
gutiou  initiated.     One  obvious  and  inestimable  advantage  of  sock 
a  course  is  that,  by  bringing  tlie  child's  mind  into  direct  contftct 
witli  facts,  ho  lennis  from  the  facts  themselves,  not  from  the  second- 
hand explanation  of  others.     He  sees,  hears,  handles,  analyses,  for 
himself,  and  tlierefore  knows  well  what  he  knows  at  all.    This 
quickening    instruction,   which    involves  real    mental    discipline^ 
through  mo  exercise  of  tho  mind  at  first-hand  on  matters  of  fact, 
ought    to  accomi)any  if  it  docs  not  precede  all  literary  study 
as  well  in  primary  as  in  all  other  schools.     We  have  a  right 
to  demand  that  tlie  children  of  the  i)oorest,  instead  of  being  confin^ 
to  the  hum-drum  of  the  three  R's,  taught,  as  tlieso  generally  are, 
in  the  dullest  and  most  unscientific  way  possible,  shiul  have  their 
eyes  opened  to  the  wonderful  natural  phenomena  by  which  they  are 
surrounded.     That  those  suggestions  are  not  merely  theoretical  ii 
shown  by  the  fact  which  came  under  the  notice  of  the  writer  after 
his  paper  was  written,  that  such  a  course  of  instruction,  practiot% 
applied  to  Botany  as  a  **  fourth  fundamental  branch  of  study,  vhid 
shall  afibrd  a   systematic   training  of  the    observing  powers  d 
children,"  has  been  carried  out  by  Miss  Youmans,  of  New  York, 
and  expounded  by  her  in  **  Pirst  Book  of  Botany,"  publirfwd 
by  l^fessrs.  Appleton,  of  New  York.     It  has  been  shown,  in  this 
valuable  little  work,  that  early  education  can  be  rescued  firom  tb 
routine  of  mere  verbal  acquisition,  by  a  method  that  ^timulatee 
curiosity,  awakens  and  trains  observation,   and  by  making  ths 


Industrial  Teaching.  d95 

inil  a  subjeotiTe  agent  in  his  own  instruction,  induces  a  habit  of 
oependent  thought. 

INDUSTRIAL  TEACHING.* 

Mr.  W.  H.  Hbbford^  of  Manchester,  read  a  paper  <'  On  the  Half 
Uiool)  Time  System,  as  applicable  to  the  Early  Education  of  all 
Ittses."  Objectors,  he  said,  might  be  asked  to  show  why  such 
ne  should  not  be  divided  between  physical  and  mental  training, 
lombined  bodily  and  mental  training  ought  to  be  adopted,  because 
lijy  while  very  important,  would  not  do  everything  for  the  body 
Bf  more  than  for  the  mind.  Half-timers  (factory)  got  on  with 
keir  head  work  as  well  as  whole  (school)  timers.  Bodily  work  in 
ohool  age  was  far  more  needful  to  children  of  the  wealthier  class. 
a  dealing  with  this  question  conventional  objections  could  not  be 
gmidered,  as  class  distinctions  ought  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
jiiestion.  Want  of  time  could  be  met  by  teaching  better,  and  by 
siehing  nothing  useless.  The  chief  durect  argument  was '  the 
nportance  of  physical  training  ;  while  the  chief  indirect  argument 
fltt  that  mental  pressure  on  chUdren  during  their  school  age  was  too 
mli  was  increasing  and  ought  to  be  lessened.  Experienced 
idierB  had  given  their  opinion  that  from  two  and  a  half  to  three 
onn  of  close  mental  attention  was  the  most  that  should  be  exacted 
nm  children  under  thirteen,  and  probably  if  more  was  demanded 
icre  was  not  really  got.  The  advantages  of  this  regular  physical 
liDing  were  very  many — more,  in  fact,  than  people  calculated.  It 
fomoted  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,  and  weariness  of  learning 
ronld  not  follow  :  the  taste  for  reading  would  grow,  not  be  stifled, 
neh  a  system  of  physical  training,  for  boys  as  well  as  girls,  should 
Bgin  with  the  Kindergarten  games  and  exercises  till  seven  years  of 
;e;  then  from  seven  till  fourteen  there  should  be  drill,  hard  work 
id  singing  ;  and  at  fourteen  classes  would  naturally  divide.  Those 
ho  went  to  work  for  their  living  would  only  need  intellectual  help ; 
hile  those  who  studied  on  would  continue  bodily  work  and  drill  to 
6  end  of  their  school  time.  Whether  such  a  scheme  was  practical 
'  not  was  not  the  question,  but  whether  it  was  wise  and  right  must 
le  day  be  realized. 

Mr.  Charles  Lamport  read  a  paper  on  '^  The  True  Incidence  of 
^1  Education  on  Industrial  Efficiency."  The  object  of  this 
^  was  to  show  that  the  true  incidence  of  school  education  on 
iutrial  efficiency  is  to  be  found  in  general  culture,  in  contradistinc- 
n  to  what  is  called  '*  technical  education  "  pure  and  simple.  Esti- 
Uing  the  supposed  effect  of  school  training  abroad  in  giving  point 
d  ibrce  to  foreign  competition,  by  our  trade  returns,  that  effect 
pears  greatly  exaggerated.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  our 
ports  have  nearly  doubled,  and  to  those  countries  which  are  said 
be  raining  us  by  their  competition,  those  exports  are  largely  in 
teas  of  the  average  increase.     Further,  the  effect  of  lower  wages 

•  See  TransaciioM,  1865,  p.  962. 


396  Industrial  Teaching. 

and  protection,  both  fiscal  and  bj  carriage,  is  illogically  orerlookec 
when  cheapness  is  spoken  of;  and  cost  of  production  is  ignored  wben 
quality  is  in  question  ;  and  when  taste  and  variety  in  design  and 
colour  are  concerned,  no  fair  allowance  is  made  for  tbe|influeDce  of 
climate  and  of  race.  Tlie  pointless,  pithless,  illogical  replies  nuuie 
by  most  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  England  to  the  circoitf 
inquiries  of  the  Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  1867,  prore 
how  little  the  subject  of  education,  and  its  effect  upon  iDdustml 
efHcicncy,  is  understood  in  this  country.  Not  a  single  reply  touches 
cither  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  question. 

No  distinction  is  made  between  instruction  in  the  technicalities 
of  any  trade,  and  instruction  in  the  sciences  applicable  to  those  trades. 

No  distinction  is  made  between  the  deficiencies  of  masters  and  men, 
t.tf.,  directors  and  manipulators,  when  the  want  of  '^  technical  in* 
struction  *'  is  assigned  as  a  cause  of  a  successful  foreign  competitioa 
in  industrial  productions. 

The  assumed  fact  of  successful  competition  is  ascribed  in  a  manner 
the  most  loose  and  vague,  to  the  absence  of  '*  technical  instructioD,*' 
without  an  attempt  to  state  precisely  how,  when,  and  where,  tlM 
want  of  it  is  felt. 

No  distinction  is  mado  between  competition  in  articles  the  pro* 
duct  of  machinery,  and  in  articles  the  product  of  manual  laboor; 
nor  between  articles  of  utility  and  necessity,  and  those  of  taAt 
and  luxury. 

A  statement  so  hazy  and  inarticulate  might  be  safely  overlooked 
were  it  not  that  it  engenders  and  supports  a  general  misconceptioii 
of  the  real  state  of  the  case :  and  mny  help  to  do  mischief  in 
preventing  the  spread  of  a  good,  sound  system  of  school  instnie- 
tion.  Supposing,  however,  that  technical  education  is  proved  to  be 
the  cause  of  foreign  superiority,  if  it  exists,  the  extent  and  meanittg 
of  that  education,  as  shown  in  the  "  trade  **  and  "practical  schoob" 
wherein  technology  is  taught,  may  be  learnt  from  the  report  of  s 
French  Commission  to  inquire  into  technical  instruction  in  Germaojr, 
Austria,  and  Switzerland,  lately  laid  before  the  Parliament  of  tlui 
country.  A  glance  at  the  curriculum  of  the  "  trade,"  and  tte 
"  practical  schools  '*  of  Prussia  and  Germany,  will  show  how  tho- 
roughly the  subordination  of  mere  technology  to  general  culture  ii 
maintained  in  these  schools. 

In  1860  there  were  twenty-five  "  trade  schools"  in  Prussia.  Tba 
average  class  hours  for  summer  and  winter  is  53^,  of  which  6^  only 

have  any  special  reference  to  technology,  namely : — 

Hoan. 
Construction  and  estimates  ...         ...         ...     3 

Study  of  machines  ...         ...         ...         ...     1^ 

Industrial  chemistry         ...         ...         ...         ...    2 

(Drawing  is  also  taught ;  but  England  is  not  deficient  in  oppor* 


J^y  Charles  Lamport,  &9't 

the  '^  practical  schools  "  the  time  devoted  to  the  different 

la  in  each  week,  and  for  six  classes,  is  as  follows  :^ 

Hoan. 

Religious  instruction         12 

Grerman  language ...         ...         ...         •••         ...  16 

Latin        ditto      •••         •••         •••         ..<         •••  34 

French     ditto       ...         •••         •••         •••         ...  32 

English     ditto       ...         ...         ...         9 

Greographj...         ...         •••         •••         ...         •••       8 

JCXlSlOrV  •*•  «.•  ..■  •••  •••  «.•        JLJL 

Natural  history  •••  ...  ...  ...  ...  8 

Caligraphy...  ...  ...  ...  ...  ...  7 

Mathematical  and  commercial  calculations  ..«  19 

xJULysics       •.•  .••  ...  .«•  •••  ••  u 

v/nemiscry  .*•  ••«  ••*  *••  ...  •••  ^ 

\7eoni6Lry  *■•  •••  •••  ...  •••  •••  ^ *■ 

Singing       ...  •••  ...  •••  ...  •••  7 

Gymnastics  ...  •••  ...  12 

"be  opinion  of  the  Commissioners  upon  the  course  of  instruction 
ipressed  in  the  following  extract  from  the  Report  :«- 
The  *  Practical  Schools '  are  not  frequented  by  those  who  desire 
gh  literary  education,"  and  it  is  added,  '^  still  less  do  they  offer 
tnical  instruction  bearing  more  or  less  directly  on  industry.''  A 
f  significant  remark  follows  : — 

At  the  period  of  their  foundation  an  effort  was  made  to  give  part 
Jiese  schools  a  more  technical  direction,  but  it  could  not  be  suffi- 
itly  scientific  or  sufficiently  practical  to  attain  the  end  desired, 
the  results  wore  anything  but  favourable." 
Lt  Chemnitz  (Saxony),  there  was  a  school  for  master  artizans 
1  forty-nine  pupils,  and  one  for  master  builders  with  eighty-four, 
the  curriculum  of  the  average  '^  practical  schools  "  is  nearly 
itical  with  that  already  particularised  for  Prussia,  and  in  them 
re  is,  strictly  speaking,  no  technology  taught. 
^  Bavarian  course  of  instruction  in  the  *^  Industrial,  or  Trade 
ools,"  adds,  to  the  Prussian  standard  instruction  in  the  ''ele* 
Its  of  mechanics,"  four  hours  out  of  180,  in  place  of  instruction 
he  Latin  and  English  languages. 

)a  the  whole  that  Report  clearly  shows  that  special  or  technical 
raction  is  subordinate  to  general  culture ;  and  the  opinion  of  a 
Btinguished  professor  "  is  quoted  to  prove  that  the  race  in  special 
ntific  knowledge  is  ultimately  won  by  means  of  general,  not  special 
nmg. 

lore  recently  information  was  sought  by  Lord  Stanley  ''  relative 
technical  or  industrial  education  in  foreign  countries,"  in  a 
rcalar  addressed  to  Her  Majesty's  Minister  abroad."  This  com- 
ed  a  series  of  questions  to  be  answered  by,  or  through  those 
isters.  The  result  is  a  Blue  Book  published  in  1868,  of  564 
68.  The  spirit  of  the  question  is  embodied  in  question  2,  "  what 
antage,  if  any,  has  resulted  from  these  schools,  &c.  (industrial 


39S  tndustrial  Teaeliing* 

schools),  In  promoting  or  extending  the  manufaotqres  w 
they  are  connected  ?  "  To  this  question  Mr.  Lowther  i 
Prussia*  *'The  advantage  obtained  is,  that  there  has  be< 
good  class  of  workmen  established  which  thinks,  and  hai 
ledge  of  the  things  they  are  required  to  make,  and  con 
comprehends  more  easily.  The  class  of  workmen  baa  bei 
better  mannered,  more  civilised  and  refined,"  For  Sweden, ! 
very  vaguely  replies—^'  Artistic  skill,  and  skill  in  the  pnx 
works  of  industry,  have  undoubtedly  been  promoted 
schools."  As  to  Holland,  Mr.  Burnley  states— *^ The  fooi 
all  these  schools  (1857)  is  of  too  recent  a  date  to  admit  of 
elusion  in  this  respect  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that 
intended  for  the  diffusion  of  general  knowledge,  without  i 
ence  to  any  particular  profession  or  trade."  For  Deum 
Strachey  honestly  states  his  inability  to  answer  the  questi 
wise  than  by  *^  mere  conjectures  and  impressions,"  and,  i 
wisely  prefers  **to  leave  them  without  reply."  In  ref< 
Switserland,  Mr.  Rumbold  says — ^*'  Technical  instruction,  i 
called,  for  the  working  classes,  is  little  known,  and  still  lest 
in,  in  Switzerland,  and  without  much  exaggeration,  as  ] 
conclusive  a  chapter  might  be  written  respecting  it,  as  the  ( 
one  on  '  Snakes  in  Norway.'  What  is  believed  in,  and 
most  conscientiously  carried  out  in  Switzerland,  is  thoroug 
education ;  education  for  the  masses  reaching  down  to,  an 
ing,  as  it  were,  the  lowest  depths  of  society."  From  Fi 
result  of  the  inquiry  is  a  report  drawn  up  specially  by  the  ^ 
of  Public  Instruction,'*  and  no  categoricial  answers  are  att< 
the  questions.  The  following  extracts  will  show  the  sooj 
whole  document,  having  reference  to  the  points  discusse 
paper.  "  The  general  education  is  never  given  with  a  vi< 
trade  or  pursuit  more  than  another."  "  Public  education  c 
as  is  well  known,  three  degrees,  namely,  primary,  secom 
superior  instruction."  Of  these,  secondary  instruction  "  pre 
pupils  for  various  pursuits — as  schools  of  industry,  comm 
agriculture.  Technical  instruction  seems  thus  to  be  the  crc 
the  edifice  of  secondary  special  instruction,  as  the  higher 
instruction  is  that  of  the  secondary  literary  and  scientific 
tion." 

Reverting  once  more  to  the  report  of  the  French  Commi 
specttng  the  effect  of  technical  or  partial  instruction,  as  compi 
that  of  general  culture  in  the  after  pursuits  of  life,  the  : 
extract  is  strongly  confirmatory  of  the  superior  advantag 
latter.  '*  The  experience  of  the  military  schools  at  Meti 
Cyr  has  long  shown  that  the  pupils  who  combine  advanced 
acquirements  with  the  study  of  the  sciences  are  nearly  alwi 
who  attain  most  distinction  iu  after  life."  From  America  i 
Austria  no  I'eport  has  been  printed,  but  quite  enough  is  set 
the  two  reports  (that  of  the  French  Commission  in  1863,  a 
English  Consular  one  iu  1867)  to  show  that  if  foreign  ooi 


By  Chatiti  Lamport. 

_  j'ealily  and  of  nationul  importance,  and  if  it  be  foundod 
I  edncatiouiil  ndvantagea,  it  ia  clearly  not  upoa  the  limited,  one- 
d,  «xclueive  culture  wliich  we  in  England  underataud  when  we 
he  nngmmmBticiil  and  iindefinablo  term  ^Technical  Education. 
>duca.tioDnt  superiority  of  tbe  German,  no  doubt,  is  unquesliou- 
\  but  ita  utilitarinn  eS'ect  in  life  is  rather  felt  and  sbowu  by  the 
nl  atmosphere  of  knowledge  it  difibses,  acting  and  reacting, 
in  RpeciBc  results.  What  boating,  cricket,  football,  &c.,  do  for 
Boglish  yoalh,  in  engeoderiug  and  upholding  n  apirit  of  atUleti- 
\f  die  Mquisition  of  knowledge  does  mora  sac  fur  the  Gnrtnan 
fliHss.  The  latter  daro  as  little  be  ignorant  as  the  young 
liihnisn  dare  be  a  milksop  and  a  coward. 

)  thn  German  and  Swiss,  knowledge,  the  possession,  and  intelli- 
e,  the  condition  produced  are  recjuireracuts  as  pressing  as  ihc 
rfor  food  and  of  raimoni.  But  there  is  nothing  partial  or  tecli* 
[  in  this,  and  beyond  the  admitted  evidence  of  superior  cul- 
In  the  German,  and  of  taste,  aptitude  in  design,  from  race  and 
a  In  the  Frenchman,  the  bill  of  indictment  against  the  English 
uiu's  intelligence  may  bo  ignored,  in  the  face  of  the  enormous 
se  in  our  exports  to  Gormany  and  France.  All  the  great 
eptions  and  enterprises  of  the  last  half-century — steam  engines, 
ads,  telegraphs,  &c. — have  been  originated  and  worked  out  by 
jhmen,  and  we  may  safely  leave  the  region  of  taste  and  sug- 
»e  skill  in  design  to  the  more  versatile  foreigner,  looking  for  the 
iMent  of  advautnges  in  Free  Trade.  The  cry  that  our  artisan 
I  be  educated  in  applied  science  is  made  in  evident  ignorance  of 
liUB  of  our  gigantic  trade  organizations.  Division  of  labour 
I  one  hand,  and  the  economical  necessity  for  interchange- 
j  of  puna  in  various  machines  on  the  other,  clBim  from  the 
i«h  artisan  not  comprehension,  but  concentration  of  ideas.  The 
nt^ofthe  nge  is  more  and  more  towards  the  sobstituliou  of 
lino  for  hand  labour,  and  brings  the  condition  of  the  reaiduary 
'labour  more  and  more  to  the  nature  of  tlio  single  machine  it 
and  watches.  The  successful  working  of  a  largo  manufactur* 
IBtabtishment  depends  upon  the  merging  of  individuality,  iu 
n.  Thought,  theory,  inventive  skill,  and  scientific  applications, 
it  from  the  head  of  the  concern,  would  be  simply  disturbing  or 
active  elements.  Nay,  even  the  heads  of  large  concerns  must 
thought  and  originality,  as  to  results,  into  close  watching  of 
\j  ooooomical  processes  to  produce  those  resulta.  He  is  no 
r  asked  to  design,  but  to  lender  for  the  execution  of  certain 
mbroitted  to  him,  not  for  criticism  but  for  calculations  of  cost. 
TOgineera  of  I'ailways,  of  water-works,  iHtc,  design  their  own 
t,  and  would  resent  interference.  Hence,  it  is  really  becoming 
«  that  education  is  not  reijuircd  to  stimulate  and  to  lead,  hut 
Dow  in  order  to  counteract  the  hardening  effects  of  an  inexor- 
Industrial  system.  It  is  wanted  not  to  make  a  man  so  much  a 
r  worker  as  to  keep  up  bis  power  of  thought,  and  retain  the 
t  Ot  his  humanity  I     The  manager  and  master  class  iu  this 


400  Industinal  Teachtnff. 

country  is  unquestionably  deficient  in  scientific  training — ^bnt  wi 
have  German  testimony  to  the  fact  that  it  must  be  grafted  on,  not  be 
a  Hubstitute  for  general  culture.     On  the  whole,  the  agitation  for 
so-called  technical   education  seems  to  proceed   from  the  pofwlir 
fallacy  that  rcady-to-hand  expedients  are  most  practical  and  ihen^ 
fore  best ;  but  the  most  practical  is  that  which  is  the  most  endnrii^ 
effective  ;  and  **'  cram  "  and  superficial  training  are  of  all  ezpedieBly 
the  least  philosophical  and  least  utilitarian.    If  special  or  tedudnl 
inntruction  be  not  desirable  on  the  ground  of  its  being  the  ptrtiil 
although  ready,  remedy  for  an  acknowledged  evil,  neither  is  tha 
argument  admissible  that  it  is  good,  because  it  mliy  be  better  tlia  - 
nothing ;  inasmuch  as  on  the  one  hand  it  consumes  time  and  oppa^  -i 
tuuity  needed  for  general  culture,  and  on  the  other  hand  tends  Is  J 
relax  effort  under  the  idea  that  the  best  remedy  has  been  ahtsi^   : 
applied.     On  the  foundation  of  general  culture,  technical  and  speciil  | 
scientific  training  may  be  erected  ;  but,  taken  alone,  the  tendeoej  of  ^ 
all  partial  triuning   is  towards    one-sided  and    imperfect   meiitrt  { 
development,  the  opposite  of  what  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  all  edne^  -| 
tionists,  even  for  industrial  purposes.    As  regards  the  artisan,  tkt  -' 
workshop  is  the  best  practical  school  for  technicalities,  and  ^pnif  *^ 
ticesbip  the  time  for  learning  ;  and  if  masters  provided  in  that  school^  j 
as  by  the  apprenticeship  contract  they  are  bound  to  do,  adeqnit^  j 
that  is  to  say,  theoretic  and  scientific,  as  well  as  mantud  training, ov  i 
workpeople  would  be  second  to  none  in  the  world.    The  greatot  ; 
failure  is  in  those  best  able  to  help  themselves — the  manager  sa^J^ 
master  class  ;  and  if  this  class  continues  inferior,  the  remedy  is  eiq^  J 
and  efficacious,  namely,  to  bring  over  to  this  country  the  bestfonipil 
managers,  as  Minton  and  others  have  done.     On  the  whole,  wU^'.i 
great  room  for  improvement,  there  is  no  valid  ground  for  alamupt's 
views.      Not    only   do   we  maintain    the    lead    in   supplying  tk|i-:J 
world's  material  wants  by  the  produce  of  our  labour  and  capita^  ^ 
but  every  important  mecbunical  invention,  every  valuable  sclentil^  i 
discovery,  and  every  original  movement  for  promoting  human  dnfip 
zation,  has  sprung  from  English  brains  and  been  worked  cot  if 
English  energy.     If,  in  the  face  of  this  broad  fact,  it  is  asserted  tint 
the  fine  edge  of  our  intellect  is  gone ;  that  the  foreigner  is  ahead  ojt. 
us,  and  that  henceforth  wc  must  take  a  secondary  place  in  the  woridV: 
great  race,  all  that  need  be  said  in  reply  is,  that  such  inferiority  addf.: 
to  our  wealth,  stimulates  our  energy,  strengthens  our  resonreei 
increases  our  infiuencc,  promotes  intellectual  activityi  and  girca » 
liberty,  peace,  and  contentment. 


MlSOELLAN£OrS< 


Mr.  Ir*  IL  Salens  Hon.  Sec.  of  the  Yorkshire  Board  of  £dacatioi| 
road  ''A  Survey  of  Educational  Work  in  Yorkshire.'*     The  ptptf  ] 
compared  the  means  for  primary  education  in  Uie  elementary  achaeia 


skiliire  with  those  EUpplietl  throughout  Kuglnnd  And  Wnba. 
B  269  «diool  boards  in  England  and  VVnIea  in  July  last,  Yoik- 
Slood  Kt  the  (leail  of  ihe  lial  with  Iliirlj-two.  twelve  of  whiuh 
,  boroughf.  These  twelve  boroughs  had  a  population  of 
me-half  of  tlii:  population  o?  tlia  wliole  counij  ;  su  tliiit  it 
foonil,  without  including  the  population  compriaed  in  the  juiia- 
nof  the  remaiuing  tweuiy-two  parochiul  bonrds,  that  in  the 
tof  one  year  one-half  of  the  population  of  the  county  had  beon 
fA  uador  the  beneficial  inducnce  of  the  Education  Act.  Spcuk- 
r  the  quality  of  the  education  given  in  the  county,  the  author 
r>vouraUle  compariaons,  and  stated  that  there  were  101  ticience 
Is  in  Yorkshire,  or  one-seventh  of  the  whole  number  in  bng'and 
falea,  haviug  3502  atudenta.  The  tirat  step  of  any  magniiude 
to  improve  the  quality  of  education  in  the  county,  was  the  reaolu- 
f  th>!  Yoi'ksbire  Board  of  Education  to  establish  science  clatsea  for 
!r children  of  primaiy  schools  at  Sheffield,  in  order  to  rhowlhat 
idintents  of  science  could  be  taught  to  suhoulboya  with  beneficii)! 
The  amount  of  knowledge  gained  wiis  considcrahle,  which 
ne  testimony  to  by  the  parents  of  I  he  childi'en  und  the  achooU 
The  necessity  for  a  continuation  of  ihese  classes  has  since 
«bnated  by  the  speciiil  grant  to  the  managers  of  Stiitc-aided 
Is  for  each  scholar  who  passes  a  satisfactory  examination  in 
definite  branch  of  natural  science.  There  were  two  trade 
county,  one  at  Hull  and  tlie  otliei-  at  Keighley.  By 
schools  was  meant  schools  in  which  the  pupils  receive  a 
Bgh  general  education,  and  are  also  instructed  specially  in  those 
tin  of  science  which  are  connected  with  the  trade  of  the  district. 
I  Ui«  former  was  visited  by  Dr.  Lyon  Playfair,  C.B,,  who 
1  to  (he  Trinity  Uoard  that  tlio  appliauces  for  teaching 
ton  efficiently  were  very  hinull,  and  the  results  of  training 
The  school  was  consequently   re-oiganized,  and  is  rcpotled 

0  be  a  model  school  iu  every  respect.     The  school  was  placed 

1  list  of  the  science  schools  of  the  i^cieoce  and  Art  Dt-purtment, 
I  boys  hove  been  annually  examined  hy   the  Government. 

VStands  at  the  head  of  the  science  schools  in  its  special  trade 
itte,  and  the  boys  on  leaving  the  schools  go  to  «ea  in  first-class 
«i  apprentices.  With  resjx  ct  to  that  at  Keighley  he  especislly 
d  the  al  lent  ion  of  the  Congress  to  two  important  principlt^s 
which  the  ischoul  was  founds  and  the  result  of  tlieir  applica- 
»  the  education  of  the  district.  The  tir^t  wns  ihut  a  central 
llioo  givinji  instruction  ol  a  high  ttantlard  should  be  pknicd  in 
district,  and  so  organized  that  it  sliouid  dmwallthe  be^t  school 
from  the  smaller  schools  up  iutu  it;  and  tho  second,  ibnt  the 
ehool  instruction  should  nut  be  nbrupily  terminated  when  (he 
-lifu  commenced,  but  still  be  syatemaiicully  continued. 
ley  might  well  be  proud  of  its  tinde  school,  and  to  the  «<• 
t  DMtingers  thereof  was  the  honour  due  of  being  the  pioneers 
important  educational  movement  in  the  mnuufucturing  distiicta 
DOilb  of  England.  TUc  school  was  opcucd  iu  January,  ihu 
2i} 


402  Education  Summary. 

object  being  to  supply  a  liberal  and  practical  English  edaeatioo 
supplemented  by  tbe  systematic  teaching  of  such  art  and  scieooi 
subjects  as  are  applicable  to  the  trades  of  the  district.  Of  thi 
endowed  schools  it  had  become,  with  hardly  an  cxceptioo,  nece8ar)f 
to  re-organize  them,  in  order  to  conform  them  to  the  requirements  of 
the  day.  With  regard  to  the  Yorkshire  College  of  Science  which  it 
had  been  determined  to  establish,  he  said  it  was  designed  for  tbe  oil 
of  persons  who  would  afterwards  be  engaged  as  foremen,  maii4gei% 
or  employei*s  in  engineering,  manufactures^  agriculture,  mioiogqr 
metallurgy,  and  also  for  the  training  of  teachers  of  technical  scieoeei 
The  total  cost  of  the  college  would  be  100,000/.,  towards  whiek 
already  some  munificent  subscriptions  had  been  promised  by  Sir 
Andrew  Fairbairn  and  others.  The  Dean' and  Chapter  of  Durfaia 
had  promised  a  scholarship  of  the  value  of  100/.  per  annum,  andthi 
Endowed  Schools  Commissioners  held  out  the  hope  of  substaatiil 
aid  in  the  appropriation  of  mis-appropriated  uon- educational  endows 
ments.  During  the  two  years  that  have  elapsed  since  it  was  deter* 
mined  to  establish  the  college,  the  Committee  have  been  engaged  ii 
the  preparation  of  an  elaborate  scheme  which  will  shortly  be  iiU 
niitted  to  .the  county.  There  were  nine  Schools  of  Art  in  the  ooonqf? 
being  onc-thirtoenth  of  the  number  in  Groat  Britain  and  Ireland,  ttt 
according  to  the  same  ratio  having  1602  pupils.  The  annual  ev 
amination  in  elementary  knowledge,  in  connection  witli  the  Yorkihiif 
Board  of  Education,  he  said,  had  produced  unmistakably  good  resfliU 
in  providing  a  common  course  of  study  for  the  various  institntell 
devoted  to  the  primary  education  of  adults,  and  in  testing  annuaftf 
the  efficiency  of  the  teaching.  Moreover,  the  certificates  and  priitf 
have  exerted  an  appreciable  influence  upon  the  industry  of  the  papttf 
Mr.  Sales  directed  attention  to  the  evening  science  classes,  vA 
afterwards  referred  to  the  Universities'  Local  Examinations.  TbiN 
are  six  permanent  centres,  Han*ogate,  Huddersfield,  Hall,  Leedf 
Sheffield  and  York  respectively,  and  occasionally  an  extra  oMll 
Wakefield.  The  number  of  male  students  presented  for  cxamimtiit 
during  the  ten  years  the  first  centre  for  the  local  examination  rf 
the  University  of  Cambridge  was  established,  rose  from  twenty-dgi 
in  1860  to  290  in  1870,  or  150  more  than  Lancashire,  and  eight  dM 
than  London.  Taking  the  whole  country  into  account,  more  thd 
one-sixth  of  the  local  work  of  Cambridge  University  was  dooeii 
Yorkshire,  where,  last  Christmas,  there  were  290  candidaidi 
Pldncational  lectures  of  a  high  class,  first  established  in  1867,  bd 
been  given  to  women  in  Leeds,  Bradford,  York,  ShefHeld,  and  H«* 
dersfield,  and  they  had  been  attended  by  considerably  more  tlrii 
2000  students.  A  Students'  Library  and  an  Educational  Depositd] 
liad  been  established  by  the  Yorkshire  Board  of  Education  for  Ai 
use  of  educationists  in  Yorkshire.  The  popular  concerts  given  « 
Saturday  evenings  in  the  Town  Hall  were  described  as  having  bw 
of  tbe  greatest  service  in  educating  the  large  numbers  attendit 
them  to  appreciate  and  enjoy  really  good  music,  and  all  admitted  tin 
the  Corporation  could  not  make  a  belter  use  of  the  Victoria  Hi 


Miscellaneous.  403 

data  \3fj  providing  cheap  and  elevating  entertaiumcnts  for  the  people. 
Od  certain  days  the  borough  organist  confined  himself  to  organ 
teeitals,  when  were  introduced  not  only  the  standard  works  of  tlio 
great  masters  of  organ  composition,  but  also  excerpts  from  every  new 
mrk  of  importance,  which  could  possibly  be  transcribed  or  satis- 
ftttorily  executed.  As  to  the  cause  of  the  educational  activity  in 
Yorkshire,  the  author  of  the  paper  said  that  thirty-four  years  ago 
Kr.  Baines  took  the  initiative  in  founding  the  Yorkshire  Union  of 
Kedumics'  Institutes,  and  to  the  labours  of  this  Union  was  due  the 
wmstent  public  advocacy  of  education  throughout  the  length  and 
mdth  of  the  county  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  during  the  whole 
ll  which  time  Mr.  Baines  had  been  president  of  the  Union.  But  it 
ins  to  the  practical  labours  of  the  Yorkshire  Board  of  Education  that 
fD  much  of  the  educational  result  was  due.  Its  policy  was  to  initiate 
Imk  and  to  carry  on  any  portion  uncared  for  by  any  other  body,  but 
Ik  withdrew  from  any  labour  that  could  be  done  without  its  aid. 

:.Dr.  Spark,  the  Leeds  Borough  Organist,  read  a  paper  on  '*  Vocal 
Kltic  a  Necessary  Branch  of  Education."*  He  said  that  in  the 
CvitiTation  of  music,  as  in  the  establishment  of  schools  of  art  and 
ivign,  we  are  in  the  rear  of  most  other  civilized  nations.  The 
lofe  of  music  pervades  all  classes  of  society.  The  existence  of 
ft'  natural  taste  for  the  art  is  widely  spread,  and  needs  only  or- 
■MBiaatioa  and  cultivation  to  produce  the  most  satisfactory  results. 
Zhe  enormous  sums  annually  expended  in  the  United  Kingdom 
Trchiefly  upon  foreign  art  and  artists  —  afford  sufficient  {HX)of 
■t  the  desire  to  gratify  this  taste  for  music  at  almost  any  cost. 
Boti  notwithstanding  our  wealth,  our  natural  aptitude  and  love 
Epr  the  art,  our  constant  demand  for  and  .employment  of  music  in 
paUic  and  private  life,  it  is  a  fact  that  our  education  as  a  nation 
b.eztremely  defective  in  this  respect;  and  our  Government  gives 
Eltie  or  no  aid  towards  the  encouragement  and  development  of  this 
Wt^  whoae  beauty  scarcely  surpasses  its  utility.  Only  a  few  years 
11(0  was  withdrawn  the  paltry  subsidy  of  oOO/.  to  the  lloyal  Academy 
if  ,Mufiic — the  only  institution  of  the  kind  wo  possess — and  it  was 
rilh  eoniiiderable  difficulty  that  Sir  Sterndale  Bennett,  and  other 
tiding  members  of  the  profession,  induced  the  Prime  Minister  to  re- 
Ualder  the  question,  and  continue  this  small  annual  payment. 
kad  it  is  only  recently — since  the  passing  of  the  Elementary  Educii- 
ien  Billy  when  a  golden  opportunity  was  afforded  of  making  vocal 
ilOBie  an  indispensable  part  of  the  education  of  every  child — that  the 
Bet^getic  remonstrances  of  several  good  and  earnest  musicians  sue- 
atded  in  wringing  from  Mr.  Forster  the  promise,  not  of  assistance, 
irt  that  in  schools  where  music  was  not  taught  a  fine  should  be  im- 
oeed  upon  the  teachers  of  1^.  per  head.  This  is,  indeed,  a  hard 
At  pre.sent  the  children  in  all  elementary  and  national  schools 
taagbt  vocal  music  chiefly  by  ear,  and  without  any  authorized, 


*  This  Paper  has  been  printed  in  full  by  the  Aullior. 

26—2 


404  tlducatioii  Stimmaty, 

definite  system  of  part  singiDg ;  there  is  a  complete  absence  of  pfan, 
and  great  deficiency  of  knowledge  on  the  part  of  teachers  and  iotpee- 
tors.     The  re^jult  is  most  unsatisfactory,  and  utterly  unworthy  of  our 
great  and  successful  efTorU  in  other  hranches  of  education.     In  oar 
grammar  school.4  the  case  is  worse,  presenting  a  lamentable  contnit 
to  the  practice  of  our  forefathers,  and  the  custom  in  similar  schocA 
in  other  countries.     Among  the  puhlic  schools  where  music  is  re^ 
garded  as  a  most  valuable,  if  not  an  indispensable,  branch  of  edoei* 
tion,  I  may  instance  Rugby  and   Marlborough,  and  St.  MidfteTs 
College,  Tenbury.     Not  only  Germany  and  France,  but  Ameriei 
outstrips  us  in  musical  education.     The  Americans  spare  no  tronUi^ 
time,  or  expense  to  gratify  their  taste  for  music.     In  Germany,* 
most  of  us  know,  musical  education  is  universal  and  complete.   Ii 
schools  of  every  grade — in  conservatoriums,  at  home  and  in  pnblie-^* 
music  is  taught,  encouraged,  and  assisted  by  the  State;  loved,  eoU 
vated,  and  cherished  by  all  classes  of  society,  from  the  emperor tt 
the  pea^nt.     But  in  England  we  are  not  deficient  as  a  nation  ii 
musical  instinct ;  far  from  it,  for  we  possess  some  of  the  best  ems* 
posers,  singers,  and  instrumentalists  in    the  world ;  but  these  trt 
individual  cases,  arising  generally  from  inborn  genius  and  indomit- 
ablo  energy  nnd  perseverance.     The  mass  of  the  people,  high  wA 
low,  rich   and   poor,  arc   musically  uneducated,    and    prefer  o^ 
what   they  can  understand — weak,  meaningless  compositiona   m 
this  love  of  music,  and  this  deficiency  in  its  cultivation,  we  mj 
attribute  the  spread  of  that  sensuous,  debasing  class  of  so-calM 
comic  f^ongs — which  delight  the  young  men  of  the  period— in  «« 
mubic  saloons  and  concert  halls.     To  counteract  this  baneful  ittfl- 
cnco  the  rising  generation  should  have  correct  ideas  concerning  ml 
music  instilled  into  them  before  they  can  contract  vicious  tastes,  idw. 
which  will  prove  an  everlasting  and  effectual  antidote  to  any  tea* 
dency  to  form  vicious  tastes.     The  best  music  should  be  perfonarf 
upon  every  fitting  occasion,  and  at  admission  prices  within  the  reMb 
of  all.     What  we  require  in  this  country  is  sound  musical  instroetiiii 
and  substantial,  as  well  as  systematic,  government  aid.    Ui\fbcti- 
natcly  in  music,  as  in  some  other  matters,  the  tendency  of  the  ip 
is  towards  display  and  not  knowledge.     This  evil  will  only  be  reoifr 
died  when  it  shall  be  considered  indispensable  for  teachers  to  possw 
ccnificAtes  of  merit  and  efficiency,  or  musical  degrees  granted  at  otf 
universities,  by  experienced  musicians,  by  authorized  colleges,  orkf 
national  institutions.     Something  has  been  done,  we  are  aware, Iqf 
the  Committee  of  Council  on  Education   in  the  recognition  of  tkl- 
AVilhelm  and  Tonic  Sol-fa  systems  of  teaching  vocal  music,  bat  111 
concession  is  so  small  as  to  leave  musical  instruction  mainly  in  Al 
liands  of  uncertificated  and  incompetent  teacliers.     it  has  beenstatol 
that  the  chief  plea  of  the  government  for  its  first  omission  and  spk- 
sequent  tardy  admission  of  music  teaching  in   the  clauses  of  thi 
Elementary  Education  Act,  was  the  fact  that  the  inspectors  genenlf 
are  unacquainted  with  the  art,  and  unable  to  conduct  the  neoeSMiJ 
examinations.     Doubtless  this  is  a  difficulty,  but  how  has  it  Im 


405 


n  America  untl  elacwhem?  Uy  u  uouise  ivlilch  I  oppre- 
1  at  onoe  be  adopted  here  in  i-sspect  lo  otlier  brani-hes  of 
-tbe  formatioD  of  a  coimnUatou  of  emiuont  professional 
who  would  repoi't  to  llie  GoFeniRieiit  upon  the  best  ineAris 
rting  musical  instruction  in  schools,  and  ofonltivating  ihc  art 
If  throughout  the  country.  Doubtless  it  would  be  an  nd- 
I  to  have  a  cenlrnl  board,  as  in  the  case  of  the  drawing 
lent :  and  certainly  there  should  be,  us  in  America,  district  in- 
■^tlie  best  and  most  cultivated  men  of  the  professiou — whose 
would  be  to  visit  all  schools  within  their  jurisdiction,  in 
I,  direct)  nud  eucourage  teachers  as  well  as  scholars  in  their 
ige  Knd  practice  of  music.  An  excellent  scheme  has  juBl 
n<nD  up  by  the  Church  Schoolmasters'  and  Schoolmistresses' 
«ut  Inslituiion  of  Leeds,  iu  which  it  is  proposed  to  improve 
I  for  part-singing  in  our  local  school!,  by  bringing  together 
illy,  in  the  Tuwu  Hall,  a  large  selected  number  of  pupils  to 
red  and  secular  part  musie,  simultaneously  dlsliibuied  for 
to  each  school.  The  teachers  naturally  feel  that  nomething 
to  be  done  to  improve  the  children's  knowledge  of  part- 
;  their  present  cfl'oris  being  almost  entirely  confined  lo  the 
,  of  melodies  only,  thus  affording  a  painful  contrast  to  the 
acquirements  in  this  branch  of  education  in  Germany, 
land,  France,  and  America.  The  wilter  sincerely  believed 
ich  might  be  done  by  which  the  means  of  musical  isstruc- 
lld  be  nmde  io  much  greater,  rendier,  and  more  elficient,  that 
lile  generally  niiglit  be  able  to  appreciate  nud  enjoy  the  soul- 
stiains  of  the  great  masters  of  song. 

ff,  R.  Selwat  read  a  paper  on  "  Teaching  Temperance  in 
'tary  Schools."  The  pnper  commenoed  with  an  allusion  lu 
'  that  in  the  preseut  duy  schoolin asters  wcro  not  merely 
to  impart  book-learning  lo  iheir  pupils,  but  also  to  tench 
laws  affecting  the  phyfical  welfai-e  of  their  bodies,  and  the 
'  MTangemeuia  upon  which  the  health  of  communities  very 
[cpended  ;  and  duublless  all  would  admit  that  an  important 
Rueh  learning  should  be  to  throw  around  the  youug  the  shield 
both  of  precept  and  example,  against  everything  which 
lier  in  itself  an  evil,  or  which,  being  innoceni,  might  under 
^VHnistaDces  become  the  parent  or  fruitful  source  of  mischief 
ne.  The  teacher  of  the  yoong  would  not  be  loug  in  dis^ovcr- 
Et  there  was  one  evil^thatof  itilcmperanco — which  by  tiio 
iddnt  testimony  of  judges,  magistrates,  coroners,  and  medical 
tY  and  other  mission ui-ies,  and,  indeed,  of  M  qualilied  to  give 
ilon,  was  tite  great  source  from  whence  sprung  most  of  ilm 
His  afflicting  ibe  community.  Iu  the  fuce  of  au  evil  like  this 
testimony  so  unanimous  as  to  its  eictent,  the  safest  and  wisest 
would  be  lo  prevent  the  youny  uf  both  sexes  forming  the 
I  using  these  drinks,  which  could  easily  be  done  by  training 
I  personal  nbsiiuence.  The  possibility  of  so  doing  was  made 
Inr  from  the  success  which   had  attended  the  furmation  of 


406  Education  Summary^ 

Bands  of  Hope  throughout  the  country.  Against  this  course  i 
reasonable  objection  could  be  urged,  for  few  persons  were  unprepm 
to  admit  that  children  were  better  without  than  with  intoiicatu 
drinks.  When  teachers  to  their  other  important  duties  addedi  i 
was  to  be  hoped  would  soon  be  done,  that  of  circulating  infomuUio 
on  the  elements  of  science,  including  the  laws  of  human  phjnokfg 
and  the  physical  well-being  of  the  race,  the  relation  of  intozicatiif 
liquors  to  the  human  frame  must  have  its  due  place  in  any  ndi 
instruction.  It  was  not  desired,  nor  was  it  meant  to  be  8uggest«i| 
that  temperance  teaching  should  be  introduced  as  a  separate  braafll 
of  tuition  in  elementary  schools,  but  only  that  teachers  should  hm 
such  an  enlightened  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  this  subjeoCii 
to  be  both  able  and  at  all  times  ready  in  giving  general  and  coUectni 
lessons  in  those  branches  of  ethics  or  physics  to  which  the  mattv 
properly  attached,  to  add  words  of  instruction,  counsel,  or  wuraiin 
as  Uio  occusion  might  seem  to  demand.  It  was  also  to  be  hoped  tint 
in  future  issues  of  such  l>ooks  the  editors  would  eliminate  fro* 
them  the  erroneous  matter  concerning  the  production  and  action  tf 
intoxicating  drinks  which  too  many  of  them  still  contained. 

Mr.  TV.  B.  Dalby,  Lecturer  on  Aural  Surgery  at  St  6eoig6*i 
Hospital,  London,  read  a  paper  on  *'  The  Education  of  the  Dtit 
and  Dumb  by  means  of  Lip  lleading  and  Articulation."  Tlic  pajwr 
comprised  a  detailed  account  of  the  so-called  German  system,  ml 
discussed  its  advantages  and  disadvantages  compared  with  the  ooe 
almost  univcrsdiy  employed  in  England,  namely,  talking  by  the 
finger  alphabet  (dactylology)  and  manual  signs.  Although  the 
system  was  that  chiefly  in  use  in  Belgium,  Holland,  Gemuui]^ 
Austria,  <&;c.,  it  was  at  the  present  time  in  its  infancy  in  England, 
and  it  was  urged  that  a  fair  trial  of  it  should  be  given,  and  thit  ll 
should  bo  carefully  investigated,  so  that,  after  a  decision  had  beei 
arrived  at  by  those  best  able  to  judge,  it  might  in  future  either  he 
adopted  in  the  place  of  the  other  plan,  or  discarded  altogether* 
Ivofercnco  was  made  to  the  history  of  teaching  deaf  mutes  in  thh 
way,  and  the  first  account  of  it  seems  to  have  related  to  as  far  back 
as  the  year  700  a.d.  Subsequently,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Johti 
Wallis,  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  at- 
tempted to  introduce  it  into  England.  The  means  employ^  to 
place  the  child's  lips  and  tongue  in  the  proper  positions,  and  to  is* 
duce  it  to  evoke  sounds,  were  described  for  the  whole  of  the  phonetie 
alphabet;  also  the  way  in  which  it  was  taught  by  joining  die 
letters  to  form  words,  to  read  the  same  words  from  the  lipi  of 
the  teacher,  to  appreciate  their  meaning,  to  read  them  whea 
written  down,  and  finally  to  write  them  itself.  It  was  shown  lioir, 
although  it  was  in  the  early  part  of  the  education,  a  tedious  aod 
wearying  process  to  the  teaclier,  mute  children  could  be  taught  to 
understand  what  was  said  to  them  by  watching  the  lips  of  the 
speaker,  and  to  reply  in  ordinary  language,  which,  if  not  euphoniooi^ 
was,  at  any  rate,  perfectly  intelligible.  To  show  that  this  was  not 
only  possible,  but  the  ordinary  result  of  this  kind  of  edocatioo, 


MittvUanema.  407 

I    in    Rolterdoin  anil    Viouiia  were   referred    to,    which    are 

I  open  to  tlie  public  on  certain  days  of  tlio  week,  aril  it  whs 

1  QUI  that,  so  long  as  tliis  resalt  was  achieved,  llie  further  iu- 

on  of  mutes  might  lie  carried  on  indefinitely.     The  educatSou 

ctiili)  commencos  at  tlie  age  of  seven,  and  eight  years  are  ex- 

1  before  wonts  can  be  read  from  tha   lips  of  anotlier,  who 

ks  williont  more  Ihan  iisaul  clcnrnesB  and  precision.     Tlie  tirae 

imd  will,  llierefore,  be  considerably  more  tlion    for   the  otber 

(  but  Mr.  Dulby  endeavoured  lo  show  that  this  ai^ument  ought 

Id  {mhkss  much  weight,  if  when  tlio  child  leaves  school  he  can 

ntuid  and  gpeak  iu  the  langimgQ  of  ihe  many,  while  a  mute 

I  can  only  use  Uie  finger  alphabet  and  manual  signs  will  nocessa- 

psMeaa  only  the  language  of  other  mutes,  and  those  comparatively 

"  3m  constant  intercourse  with  the  deaf  and  dumb  has  induced 

I  tbeir  mode  of  speaking.     It  appears  that  it  is  quite  tm< 

ibia  ta  combine  the  two  systems,  as  it  is  found  that  if  a  child 

talk  on  liis  fingers,  he  will  never  have  suHicient  perseverance  to 

▼tie  his  powers  of  imitation  (>uough  to  be  able  to  acquire  auy- 

j  like  facility  in  talking  by  the  ordinary  way.     Nearly  twice  as 

J  tnpre  teachers  ore  necessary  than  for  the  old  eystem,  but  tha 

pally  in   procuring  them,  which  at  fir^t  sight  might  seem  an 

ntion,  is  to  be  got  over,  inasmuch  as  great  experience  is  only 

Vide<l  from  lliem  when  dealing  with  quite  the  young  children, 

therefore  ihe  teachers,  fresh  to  Iheii'  work,  would  commence 

Glasses  of  the  most  advanced  pupils,  and  their  duties  would  not 

ro  more  than  the  oi'diaary  acquironients  of  schoolmasters.    When 

rbad  become  familinr  with  Uie  method  of  instruction,  ihey  would 

promoted  to  teach  the  less  forward  children,  and  as  they  pro- 

'  1  skill  their  ^aliirlcs  would  be  proportionalely  raised.     In 

iwnyan  incentive  would  be  given  to  acquiring  jiroKciency,  and  aa 

oUgrew  up,  so  would  well-qualified  teachers  increase  in  number. 

t  the  close  of  the  paper.  Jlr.  Dalby  introduced  Mr.  W.  Van 

\  director  of  the  Institution  in  London  for  Deaf  Mules,  con- 

1  the  German  systero,  and  Mr.  Edward  Polano,  a  pupil  of 

who  was  borci  deaf,  but  who  wa*  able  to  understand  spoken 

'_    _       lud  to  speak   himself.      Mr.  Polano,  when    Bpnkea   to, 

ehed  tlie  lips  of  the  speaker  with  the  closest  attention,  and  the 

Qt  they  ceased  to  move  he  gave  his  own  reply,  speaking  with 

J  and  distinctness,  hut  with  a  strange  harsbnes.i  of  tone,  which 

A  how  utterly  unacquainted  he  was  with  the  sound  of  liis  own 

Iu  order  to  lost  the  system  thoroughly,  the  examiuer  stood  a 

uce  of  two  or  three  yards  from  Mr.  Polano.  and  then,  merely 

ihe  movement  of  his  lips  in  forming  the  words,  and  without 

ving  any  sound  lo  escape  from  them,  wet\t  on  talking  silently. 

\  Ksnlt,  however,  was  precisely  the  same.     Every  observation 

JlislAutly  met  and  answered  by  Mr.  Folano,  whose  knowledge  of 

[lage  was  thus  unmistakably  shown  to  have  not  the  slightest 

DBcUop  with  sound. 


408 


HEALTH. 


BSMOVAL  AND  UTILIZATION  OF   8EWAGE. 

What  are  the  best  and  most  Economical  Methods  of  Re 
and  Utilizing  the  Sewage  of  large  Towns  f  • 

MR.  CHRISTOPHER  RAWSON  read  a  paper  on  the  " 
FrooesB  of  Utilizing   Sewage."     The  name   of  tlie 
has  heen  derived  from  the  initialB  of  the  chief  ingredient 
namely,  Alomina,  Blood,  Clay,  and  Charcoal    After  giving  an 
of  the  yarions   ingredients  employed,  the  paper    referred 
mechanicnl  part  which  consists  in   thoroughly  incorpDratia, 
suitable  mill,  by  grinding  with  water,  the  clay,  sulphate  of  i 
and  charcoal.  Hiis  mixture  is  then  transferred  into  a  pit,  ii 
is  a  stirring  apparatus,  that  keeps  the  mixture  in  constant  a| 
The  blood  is  added  to  this,  which  forms  what  is  termed  the  ** . 
mixfure.     This,  when    well    incorporated,  is  lifted  by  pa 
bncketo  into  a  mixing  pit,  through  which  the  sewage  is 
Tho  '*  A  B  C  "  and  the  sewage  ore  here  gently  mixed  logs 
means  of  an  agitator,  a  certain  definite  time  being  allowed  i 
mutual  action.     The  treated  sewage  is  then  allowed  to  floi 
settling  tank.     There  it  remains  from  four  to  six  hours, 
this  period  the  precipitated  matter  accumulates,  at  the  bottoi 
taiikii,  as  a  fine  mud.    The  water  over  this,  if  the  prooeas  li 
properly  carried  out,  will  be  clear,  tasteless,  inodorous,  and 
mical  analysis  fit  to  pass  into  any  stream.    This  water  ia 
termed  the  effluent.    Its  purity  depends  entirely  upon  the  cai 
has  been  devoted  to  the  treatment  of  the  sewage  by  the  ^  i 
the  strength,  proportions,  &c.,  of  which  must  be  adapted 
requirements  of  the  sewage.     So  soon  as  the  water  haa  beei 
or  let  off  from  the  surface  of  the  mud,  the  latter  is  pura| 
tanks,  where  it  is  allowed  to  settle.     A  further  quantity  of 
thus  withdrawn,  so  as  to  leave  the  mud  as  free  from  that  1 
possible.    Sulphuric  acid  in  small  quantities  is  then  added  tol 
for  the  purpose  of  decomposing  insoluble  phosphates,  and  c 
as  sulphate,  any  free  ammonia,  to  prevent  the  loss  of  the  1 
the  dicing  process  and  in  all  future  exposure  to  the  atu 
The  mnd  is  then   transferred  to   the  drying  sheds.     At 
floors  heated  by  steam  are  chiefly  being  used,  although  other  i 

•  Sm  Transactions,  18G9,  p.  488;  1870,  p.  874. 


Smumal  and  Cftttbation  o/ 8gioa^% 

kre  in  progress.     Afler  being  driod  it  is  ren 
■creened  and  stored   ready   to   be  packed  i 
ta  use.      The  manure  has  been  submitteil  to 
nic&l  unal^sis,  und  lliHt  of  actual  ii«e  by  the  s^ctelhiljsts. 
tie  former  it  meets  wit|i  little  favour,  while  tlie  laltar  .give 
Ified  approlialioD  ot  it.      In  almoit  every  case  fanneri*,  who. 
Aden  trial  of  it  in  small  (luantitici*  have  eagerly  sought  Ipr  ■,. 
BuppUes.      An  important  consideration  connected  with  the 

C "  proce§a  is  the  comparative  cheapness  at  which  tUe 
can  be  erected.      Heavy    expenses    must  naturally  bfe  i 

in    preparing    land   for  irrigaliou.      It   is  successful  in  a  . 
^ittt    point   of   view,    and    pays.       Even    in   the   South  Jft'-'' 
d,    where    coals  and    (.■hemicuts    are  far    more    expensive 
B  the    north,    the   Native    Guano    costs    the   coucern    only 

35a.  per  ton,  leavijig  a  clear  profit  of  21.  per  ton.  The 
Ues  of  Leeds  resolved  some  months  ago  to  nisko  on  ex- 
itat  trial  of  the  "ABC"  process.  Their  works  are  hardly 
Itpleted,  and  certainly  not  yet  in  such  neut  condition  aa  we 
hart ly  to  see  them,  sliU  liiey  tvill  alford  an  opportunity,  of 
ifae  process  iu  aciual  operation.  The  works  are  situated  at 
»p,  to  the  south-east  of  the  town,  and  adjacent  to  the  river 
On  the  Ml  of  lite  entrance  is  a  chimuey  ninety  feet  high, 
l»kea  the  protlucis  of  combustion  of  two  boilers  having  a  noin< 
irer  of  tliirty  horsed  each,  and  also  the  ateam  and  gases  from 
ring-sheds.  Each  of  these  sheds  has  an  area  of  about  1000 
feet :  they  are  heated  by  steam,  which  passes  below  iron  floore, 
i  being  placed  on  these  in  a  thick  liquid  state.  Over  the  snr- 
the»  floors  a  current  of  hot  air  is  drawn  from  the  boller-tlues, 
K  nt  the  further  end  of  each  shod  by  flues  leading  to  the 
f.  It  will  hence  be  seen  that  the  principle  of  drying  involves 
Ue  mode  of  applying  heat  both  Above  and  below  the  mud. 
i  purpose  of  iucreitsinj;  this  upper  drying,  a  cover  is  placed  at 

hesghc  above  the  mud,  removable  when  it  is  dry,  and  replaced 
tesh  mud  has  been  spread  on  the  floor.  The  effect  of  the 
I  to  increase  the  draught,  and  at  the  same  time  it  prevents 
>f  beat.  The  remainder  of  the  arrangements  in  regard  to 
ery,  "ABC"  pita,  and  tiie  agitoling  or  centre  pic,  &c.,  are 
^  iimilar  lo  the  general  plans  already  described.  The  selllin;;- 
niah  is  at  ihe  sf>uih-eust  of  the  works,  has  a  length  of  1 7U  feet, 
At  in  width,  and  about  12  feet  in  depth.  The  "AU  C"  pro- 
pre'eminenily  suited  for  treating  and  utilising  the  sewage  iif 
wns.  The  ctHuent  wtiter  can  be  made  clear,  iundoroua,  and 
chemically  pure;  the  process  can  be  carried  on  free  from 
«,  and  Ihe  protiis  are  large  and  certain.  It  i 
I  question,  aa  by  the  production  of  a  natural  mai 
I  cost,  the  more  costly  artificial  manures  will  be  r 
WbiJa  the  addition  lo  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom 
Jncalculable,   by  the   application    to   the  soil,  of  r 

lltttfiohest  uiauurial  treasure,  now  cast  recklessly  into  the 


likewise 


>uld  be 


410  Removal  and  Utilization  of  Sewage. 

sea,  and  entirely  lost  to  the  country.  Towns  are  equally  interested, 
as  they  might  convert  to  a  profit  that  which  is  now  a  nuisance  aod  \ 
source  of  expense. 

A  paper  by  Dr.  Robert  Elliott,  of  Carlisle,  on  the  question,  ns 
read.  He  said,  to  leave  the  dirt  of  towns  to  accumulate  and  patn^ 
was  to  produce  disease  and  death  in  a  thousand  forms;  whereUyto 
remove  this  constant  cause  of  destitution  and  disease  in  towns  from 
its  place  of  production  to  the  open  country  was  to  exchange  an  injiuy 
for  an  advantage.  The  gain  of  removal  was  probably  understated 
by  calculating  it  at  ten  shillings  a  year  for  every  human  being,  or 
5000/.  a  year  for  every  ten  thousand  people.  This  was  a  small  turn 
— perhaps  not  one-tenth  of  that  thrown  away  worse  than  uselesdj 
on  proven tible  diseases  and  premature  death.  To  avoid  the  evjb 
arising  from  filtration  and  precipitation,  it  has  been  urged  to  adopt* 
plan  known  as  the  dry-earth  or  earth-closet  system,  which,  althoD(^ 
applicable  to  the  country,  was  not  suitable  for  our  large  tomuL 
The  only  practical  system  apparently  seemed  to  bo  an  elaboration  tnj 
extension  of  the  plan  of  Mr.  Alexander  McDougall,  of  Penrith, 
which  had  been  in  operation  for  upwards  of  twelve  years  at  Carlisle. 
The  mode  suggested  for  simultaneously  upholding  the  purity  oj 
towns'  atmosphere  and  of  the  waters  of  our  rivers,  and  of  saving 
and  profitably  using  the  refuse  in  question,  was  stated  as  follows  :— 
That  the  sewage  should  bo  removed  by  underground  drainage,  hk 
that  there  should  be  a  daily  supply  of  water  at  the  rate  of  say  thirtj 
gallons  for  each  member  of  the  population,  leading  to  undergrouil 
tanks,  suitable  in  capacity  and  number,  arranged  at  equal  distinea 
from  each  other,  and  forming  a  circle  outside  the  town,  eachtaal 
supplied  with  ventilation  into  the  furnace  chimney  of  a  suitibh 
steam-engine,  the  doublo  use  of  which  should  bo  to  work  arevolnii| 
washer  within  the  connected  tank,  and  to  project  the  well- mixed  mi 
deodorised  sewage  to  its  next  destination  through  mains,  either st 
once  to  the  neighbouring  fields,  or  onwards  to  other  tanks  and 
steam-engines  similarly  arranged  at  points  still  further  away,  where* 
ever  such  fertiliser  may  be  needed.  Such  tanks,  even  in  somi 
instances  without  steam-engines,  might  be  placed  on  nataral  oi 
artificial  eminences,  from  which,  as  in  the  working  of  thewata 
supply,  the  contents  might  be  distributed  by  gravitation  thioogl 
service  pipes  and  their  accompanying  arrangement  of  taps  to  where' 
ever  the  sewage  might  be  wanted. 

Mr.  W.  T.  McGowEN,  of  Bradford,  followed  with  a  paper,  in  whid 
he  confined  his  observations  chiefly  to  towns  having  large  popoii 
tions,  where  the  sewage  is  laden  with  manufacturing  refuse,  when 
the  neighbouring  localities  are  studded  with  superior  dwelliagl 
where  suitable  land  is  dear  or  comparatively  inaccessible,  and  i 
the  legal  and  other  impediments  in  the  way  of  enforcing  sews; 
irrigation  upon  them.  Having  considered  what  is  meant  by  iiTJ|S 
tion,  the  writer  proceeds  to  discuss  its  application  to  large  coantk 
of  manufacturing  industry,  drawing  comparisons  between  its  adapts 


By  Bcbert  SymingtoTu  411 

nail  towns,  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  sewage,  and  the 
ical  and  local  facilities  for  its  conveyance  and  removal,  and 
lanical  appliances  for  its  distribution.  Having  illustrated 
^stacles  to  be  encountered  in  dealing  with  the  question,  the 
3S  that  the  River  Commissioners  have  had  to  contend  with 
;  down  rules  for  the  purification  of  refuse  waters  on  the  spot, 
irrassments  of  the  Legislature,  and  the  failure  of  experi- 
ithout  coming  to  any  satisfactory  solution  of  the  subject,  the 
Eune  to  the  conclusion  that  although  sewage  irrigation  may 
ed  to  advantageously  in  the  case  of  small  towns  where  dr- 
ies admit  of  the  proceeding  being  successfully  and  inoffen- 
rried  out,  there  are  sound  reasons  for  holding  the  system  to 
cticable  for  large  manufacturing  towns  if  they  are  to  under- 
whole  operation  themselves  ;  and  that  if  the  sewage  of 
ces  is  to  be  applied  to  the  purposes  of  irrigation,  it  can  only 
in  some  such  way  as  has  been  suggested — by  the  government 
nain  outfaces  to  sea  sands  with  a  view  to  their  reclamation  ; 
,  meantime,  the  local  authorities  would  have  to  direct  their 
to  the  best  means  of  purifying  the  sewage  in  the  vicinity 
'earn  to  which  the  water  belongs,  by  mechanical  or  chemical 
r  by  both. 

OBERT  Stkington  also  read  a  paper  on  the  question  descrip- 
16  method  of  dealing  with  sewage  proposed  by  Mr.  Strang,  of 
.  This  method  differs  essentially  from  any  of  those  which 
ret  been  brought  before  the  public.  It  is  based  on  the  broad 
[round  that  no  excremental  or  other  polluting  matter  should 
sd  to  enter  the  sewers  at  all.  That  every  kind  of  impurity, 
coming  from  dwellinp^-houses  or  public  works,  should  be 
and  dealt  with  separately  at  its  source.  It  is  contended  that 
t  miscellaneous  filth  of  a  town  has  once  passed  into  sewers, 
irect  connection  with  the  houses,  it  is  impossible  to  prevent 
ecoming  injurious  to  health.  Irrigation  and  all  the  other 
which  use  common  sewers  as  the  means  of  conveyance,  cure 
•half  the  evil ;  they  may  purify  the  rivers,  but  it  has  not 
wxi  that  any  of  them  will  prevent  the  formation  and  escape 
gases.  As  to  the  so-called  dry  closet  systems,  the  very 
laracter  of  their  operation,  together  with  the  trouble  and 
attending  their  management,  render  them  inefficient  and 
to  large  towns.  The  method  proposed  by  Mr.  Strang  pro- 
•racticable  means  of  dealing  with  allHhe  noxious  elements  of 
without  sewers.  It  is  suited  to  the  existing  water-closet 
and  would  be  the  means  of  extending  that  system  on  a 
an  to  poor  and  crowded  localities,  replacing  the  offensive 
althy  arrangements  common  in  such  parts ;  and  it  secures 
iluable  ingredients  of  the  sewage  in  a  concentrated  form  for 
ral  purposes.  Taking  as  an  example  of  the  working  of  this 
the  mode  in  which  it  proposes  to  deal  with  the  most  hurtful 
)f  the  sewage,  namely,  the  excreta  of  a  large  population. 


4  IS  Removal  and  UHlixaticn  of  Sewage. 

this  would  be  intercepted  m  it  comes  froni  the  soil-pipe  of  a 
house  or  block  of  bouses,  by  the  patent  sewage  filter,  which  for 
the  essential  and  distinguishing  feature  of  the  scheme.  This  filtei 
so  constructed  that  the  urine  and  solid  parts  are  entirely  retained,  i 
the  water  allowed  to  flow  off  free  from  all  contaminating  matt 
The  filter  consists  of  a  cast-iron  box,  divided  horizontallj  into  t^ 
compartments  by  a  perforated  bottom  or  grating.  In  the  upper  pt 
tion  of  the  box  above  the  grating  is  plac^  a  bed  of  common  ssIm 
which  forms  the  filtering  medium.  The  whole  discharge  from  t 
soil-pipe  enters  the  lower  division,  where  the  urine  and  solids  i 
retained,  while  the  water  passes  upwards  through  the  filter,  andikr 
off  into  the  drain  in  a  perfectly  innocuous  state.  The  contents  of  t' 
lower  part  of  the  box  may  be  disposed  of  in  one  or  other  of  ti 
ways.  By  providing  a  movable  covered  ash-box  to  stand  under  t' 
filter,  the  bouse  ashes  and  other  kitchen  refuse  could  be  depont 
there,  and  when  ic  had  received  the  contents  of  the  filter  the  wIk 
could  bo  easily  removed  by  the  scavenger,  thus  doing  away  with  t 
ordinary  ash-pit9,  dust-bins,  &o.,  or  the  filter  could  be  emptied  it 
a  close  cart,  and  the  contents  removed  in  their  natural  state,  ai 
being  done  by  the  cleansing  department  of  the  City  of  Glasgow 
present  As  regards  the  efllcicncy  of  this  apparatus,  it  has  be 
examined  and  approved  of  by  many  scientific  and  practical  nu 
The  extreme  simplicity  of  this  apparatus  renders  It  capable 
universal  application.  It  is  suited  to  public  institutions,  such 
barracks  and  workhouses,  to  public  works,  dwelling-houses,  urini 
&c.,  and  it  is  obvious  that  if  so  applied  the  conditions  of  a  perf< 
scheme  of  sewerage  would  be  complied  with,  for  the  polluting  matb 
would  never  bo  allowed  to  come  in  contact  with  the  soil  at  ill, 
that  the  poisoning  of  wells,  the  fouling  of  sewers,  and  the  poUuti 
of  rivers  would  all  be  prevented,  and  there  would  be  no  waste  of  1 
valuable  substances  contained  in  the  sewage. 


PlSOUSSfOK. 

Dr.  F.  J.  MouAT  (London),  speaking  from  experience  derived  in  the  Salt,! 
the  flrft  question  to  be  determined  wov,  how  tq  remove  and  get  rid  of  Mwagtin 
manner  most  conmstcnt  with  the  maintenance  of  the  public  health,  and  wbn  1 
had  been  decided  it  would  be  time  to  hand  the  question  over  to  the  engineMr  i 
the  agrieulturist.  The  problem  came  before  him  when  iie  had  char^  of  lad 
priions,  with  a  death-rate  of  80  per  lUOO,  produced  by  excrementitioui  ■§! 
and  he  tried  every  method  of  removal,  and  some  with  considerable  not 
without  fairlj  dealing  with  the  question  as  one  of  health.  The  first  papir  i 
objected  to  the  direct  application  of  human  and  other  excrement,  to  the  soil; 
it  so  bappened  that,  in  the  oldest  and  most  minute,  if  not  the  most  seiM) 
system  of  agriculture  in  the  world,  that  of  China,  it  was  applied  directly  \» 
soil  as  fresh  as  it  could  be  obtained ;  and  the  Chinese  farmer  would  not  oOQt 
to  take  it  unleM  he  had  it  when  it  was  quite  fresh.  Though  there  was  sooMtl 
offensive  in  the  removal  itself,  half-an-hour  after  its  application  no  bid  od 
oould  be  detected.  The  method  which  he  ultimately  adopted  was  that  of  tlie] 
Mr.  Moule,  and  he  carried  it  out  successfully ;  and  in  the  first  year  thsda 
rate  was  reduced  to  i5  per  1000.    But  the  dry-earth  system,  like  a  water  91k 


ba  tba  DiMiu  of  preserving  and  dieiemiiuting  the  gsmis  uf  cbuli-ra  which 
b«  deatro]^  only  t^  fire. 

"V,  H.  Uic'iAEL  (London)  nu  FPrtatn  that  a  gentlemiiin  nho  niit  s  sewage 
pru  a  bog,  •n'i  tbu  irngation  wu  detrimental  to  bnlth,  could  nerer  hnva 
l'  ft  weli-cnndiieled  wimge  fans.  The  £ilinburgh  maadoio  Kara  not  a 
ifamii  thof  wera  monog^  iu  total  canCrariet;  lo  the  (erj  Brat  principle* 
I  proper  iiewage  irrigntian  tuToi.  The  solid  constituants  of  nmniire  which 
IBUemai]  propoeed  to  remare  and  economiie,  were  the  urorthleu  part  of  it, 
Ik  Arte  tiring  in  dsiling  with  irrigation  wo*  tu  wparate  the  whole  oF  the 
(DTHtittienta.  The  admiraUe  inetliod  sdoptsd  br  Ur.  Baldwin  Lalhuiu.  in 
■  BiiduQ*,  made  tbie  euciceuful.  Anj  procea  cimt  Iciidcd  oiil;  to  eepuraUi 
^A  eonilitiienu  of  sewage  must  be  put  aside  ra  utterly  northlres.  The 
it  die  manure  lay  in  the  fluid  portion,  the  aoap-sudai  slop.*,  anil  the 
I  and  (be  dr^-rartb  ^stein  failed  in  thia,  Ihat  it  took  up  the  solid  part 
n  Bbauld  ba  delighted  U>  get  rid  of.  Wbot  wouUl  the  advocalca  of  Uis 
A  ij^aMm  do  with  the  fluid  eontonlJ  of  the  sewer*?  Ue  did  not  ndroaute 
^np  '■  but  hsTing  been  engaged  for  Dian<r  Trar«  in  watching  irrigation,  be 
tticdid  promitc  not  onlf  to  remove  on;)  eoiirce  of  nuisance,  but  to  be  ei- 
''  "-  lefioial  in  produejng  food — beeauiie  to  talk  only  of  rye-grass  being 
rM  Ml  abaurdit]-.  So  far  as  he  ooulil  see  at  that  tinin,  irrigation  wi* 
tij  prooeae  that  answered  the  necoisar;  rcinUition  of  reinorina  the  whole 
~'  mce,  and  it  cuuld  be  applied  to  land  without  ureating  the  alightost 
HI  to  persons  liring  in  the  immediate  rioinitj.  Thvre  woe  no  eaitse  of 
B  which  biid  bevn  shown  to  hare  arisen  from  Mwage  irrigation,  anil  the  latnt 
ice  showed  tliat  on  sewage  irrigation  fariTts  so  large  a  proportion  as  1(1 
I-  could  be  returned  tor  the  luonej  in  rested  b;  local  a    ' 


_.   of  thai  which  relieved  them  entirely  from  r 
■  beueSl  in  every  sense  to  the  ratepoyera. 
'dlTtxn  UosRELL  (  Uoncheatcr)  said  that  they  wei 


IS  of   V 


r,  bnt  « 


1,  and  whioh  mutt 

I  told  they  ought  to  oarr; 
n  moil  towns  difficult  to 
d  in  his  system  Ue  inale 

itained  that  every  portion 


Fitia 


,    i.  larca  propirtion  of  the  refuse  tv 

iniaU  ashes  asn  deodoriser  of  eicreiui 

.m  refuse  should  be  dealt  with  at  its  < 

g(  the  WatOT  that  woidd  otherwise  bt  used,  and  the  present  cost  of  removing 

r  bt  would  Iti  closeta  in  n  town,  and  rvmore  the  refute  for  nothing. 

•H  Kawliiuon,  C.B..  C-li-  ^London)-,  sud  there  were  several  thinia 
o  be  done  to  secure  the  health  of  modem  Gummunitiea.  and  tlie  Srst  of 
I  was  to  drain  lliu  mbsail,  neglect  of  whieh  involved  dampness,  and  a  bijjh 
of  mortal itf.  If  leverH  were  laid  at  a  proper  indinntion  there  was  no  cost  of 
Mj'Mee — water  found  its  own  lo^s,  and  would  travel  aa  far  aa  we  liked  to 
R  eonduite.  Hef  um  was  now  carried  awaf  by  meana  of  water,  and  we  were 
f  tbat  the  drains  corrupt  the  ntinosphere  of  our  houses.  If  that  were  the  caae 
ne  annoMsnrily  to.  Ko  drwn  ought  to  ooinmunioute  with  any  house,  hut  it 
kl  to  be  out  oIT'  by  a  veiitiUtJng  shaft.  If  dried  earth  disinfecta  immeiUate!;, 
Vstopa  putretonion  fur  a  time  sulGoient  to  let  matur  Ilow  beyond  '.be  pre- 
■  "  town.  }f  we  had  the  enrlli  closet  wo  must  have  aeparale  intervention 
M  a  week,  but  to  be  it  perfectly  eleiu  we  ought  to  have  iuterventjon 
i  If  we  had  dry-earth  closets,  demanding  intervention  onoe  a  day.  would 
imala  of  the  present  daj  take  the  trouble  of  keeping  the  pane  sweet  and 
~  U  interventions  were  doilv.  we  must  have  3tlj  nunipulation*  in  the 
1  ir  weekly,  dfty-two.  Wo  were  told  that  the  value  of  the  manure 
tba  lit-  per 'bead  of  the  population.  Would  rtnj  one  accept  the  sum 
^^'  •  trouble  involved  in  iifty-two  manipuhjtions  in  the  year  ?  The  dry- 
nlwal  might  do  for  deUobed  dwellings,  and  for  large  eBtabliiluneiita, 
W  ji^lsi  wnere  there  was  full  control  over  the  ininatLA  and  manaiers 
I  pM  toe  Mist  of  manipulation  and  aUendance.  At  some  of  the  Indian 
ta  tbef  baveabundoned  tbesepunite  oartli-boi  of  each  individual,  and  hjne 
'■1  a  SMieral  one.  und  appointed  a  paid  agent  to  carry  away  the  excreta.  He 
bdl«a  nnny  of  our  public  buildiajis  where  the  i!oreraorg  hid  thoucbt  proper 
p  ont  the  wnt*r-«losrtt  and  aubslibute  earlh-Dloaels:  but  the  only  reason,  no 
IP  ha'iMukI  nsoertBin.  for  tbia  ww  that  wal«t-alonK«  gave  a  gi«aL  deal  ut 


414  liemoval  and  Utilisation  of  Sexoage. 

trouble,  and  needed  confltant  repairs.  In  lieu,  therefore,  of  wnter-doseti,  ti 
liad  substituted  what,  required  uncenping  work,  because  the  boxes  were  takeo< 
daily,  and  in  one  of  our  great  lunatic  asTlumi*  it  requin-d  three  men  to  renc 
thcw  boxe^.  If  they  hud  condescended  to  take  a  little  more  care  of  the  iriti 
cIoM't^,  he  was  Miti?ficd  that  tliey  could  have  worked  them  with  one-twentieth  ja 
of  the  trouble  and  cost  of  earth -closets.  However,  that  was  not  the  question.  H 
must  remove  the  excreta  cither  in  a  dry  or  in  a  wet  stnte.  If  we  removed  it  in  tk 
dry  state,  it  mu^t  bo  done  by  mechanietil  agency;  if  in  the  wet  state,  it  remore 
it-ielf,  provided  proper  drains,  at  a  proper  inclination,  were  constructed.  If  th 
site  of  a  town  were  so  low  that  no  outlet  could  bo  found,  then  steam  power  vtmli 
do  what  was  wanted  in  the  cheaiH'st  form  without  liumaK  agency  in  each  dfrriliii| 
8ewagc  might  bo  applied  to  land  with  perfect  success,  without  nuisance,  tw 
probably  with  profit.  Tlie  c<mclujiion  to  which  ho  had  come  wasjthat  nohuBH 
means,  so  far  as  we  know  of,  dealing  with  town  sewage  by  chemicals,  doesmw 
than  remove  one-eighth  of  the  salts  from  the  effluent  water;  and  that  the  brigl^ 
clarified  sewage  water  was  in  tlio  best  possible  condition  for  being  put  on  the  In 
for  irrigation.  Mr.  Blackburn,  who  had  a  sewage  farm  at  Aldersnot^  wonH  In 
one  acre  of  ground  for  any  patent  manure  manufacturers,  and  he  would  gin 
them  his  sewage  to  manipulnte— it  was  the  richest  that  cx>uld  be  got,  there  bni| 
si\(-een  instead  of  eight  grains  of  anmionia  to  the  gallon — if  the  water  was  retimw 
tt)  him  when  they  bod  done  with  it.  If  manufacturers  by  the  *' A  B  C^proni 
could  make  the  manure  worth  *M.  or  4/.,  or  any  higher  amoimt  per  ton,tlM] 
woidd  do  what  all  the  chemists  ho  had  been  in  contact  with  told  him  wu  in> 
possible  to  Ixj  done.  However,  the,'K>  gentlemen  said  they  got  that  price  for  it,ud 
tliero  he  must  leave  the  matter.  For  such  counties  as'  York  and  Lancaster  th 
que4tion  was  a  very  important  on (^  because  they  might  expect  legislation  on  the 
subject. 

l)r.  Macmillan  (Hull),  looking  at  the  iK'Culiarities  of  that  town,  low  in  situitnii 
with  intermittent  drainage,  und  surrounded  by  a  clay  soil,  thought  it  ai^ 
re<piiro  a  ctmibination  of  systems,  and  Bugge^ted  that  efllucnt  water migbt  be  diitri< 
buted  in  the  town  itself  for  trade  purpr.)se8. 

Mr.  K.  C'ravp.n  (iSouthport)  was  convinced  that  the  most  healthy  way  of  conm- 
iug  excrement  was  by  water  in  enclosed  sewers.  But  this  did  not  'prevent  tn 
formation  of  gases  injurious  to  health,  and  therefor©  it  was  necessary  to  xm 
chemical  agents  either  to  prevent  decomposition,  or  to  destroy  the  injurious giM 
produced.  To  sliow  the  value  of  water  for  carriage  he  mentioned  that  in  South' 
jiort  there  were  cesspools  constructed  with  the  idea  of  intercepting  the  solids;  bat 
on  exivmining  that  of  a  C(mva1es(*ent  hospital  with  :^2()  beds,  which  had  been  in  qe 
seven  years,  it  was  found  that  there  was  not  a  quarter  of  an  inch  of  sediment  it 
the  botUmi,  showing  that  the  excrement  was  garriod  away  in  suspension.  But  if 
it  were  possible,  not  only  that  cholera  germs  might  lx»  propagated,  but  thst  tm 
the  ova  of  tape-wormf<  might  be  carrieil  to  fields  to  infect  cattle,  the  matter  wm 
tme  demanding  consideration. 

Mr.  Kawlinson  said  that  at  Edinburgh  thousands  of  cows  were  fed  upon  MWigi 
grass,  and  medical  otficerA  had  carefully  examined  their  hospital  books  fornxtm 
year.-*  Isick  to  ascertain  whether  there  had  bwn  any  excess  of  that  form  of  diieWi 
and  they  had  failed  to  discover  that  there  liail  heeti  anv  excess. 

Mr.  P.  OvKKUEX  (Secretary  and  Engineer  to  the  Native  Guano  Componj),!! 
vindication  of  the  eflluent  water  of  the  •*  ABC"  process  against  the  opinions  ef 
chemists,  as  cited  by  Mr.  Kawlinson,  that  the  "A  B  C"  process  did  not  appctf 
to  exert  appreciable  influence  on  ammonia,  remarked  tliat  the  latter  wassconiti* 
tuent  which  was  almost  entirely  removed  by  soaking  through  the  soil  eupportinf 
vegetation.  If  it  were  true  that  the  "A  B  C"  eflluent  was  better  for  irrintidd 
purposes  tlmn  simple  sewage,  that  provKl  that  sewage  required  treatment,  and  tint 
the  product  of  the  **  A  B  C  "  process  was  stmiething  saved  from  wa!<te. 

Mr.  Enwix  CnAi)Wi('K,C.B.,  maintained  that  theclienpest  mode  of  removal wvbr 
water,  which  arrested  decomiyisition,  and  carried  the  S4*wago  away  most  conipl«tri». 
In  England  we  had  a  gocKl  test  of  the  water-closet  system,  as  water-closeti  veiv 
brought  into  the  prison  cells.  As  a  rule,  no  class  of  pertons  have  so  high  a  depd 
of  health  as  priwmers.  The  death-rate  was  reduced  to  about  three  or  four  ptf 
lUUO.    It  was  lamentable  at  this  time  that  the  distinction  should  not  be  undentori 


IXeeusdoju  415 

If-cleaQsing  sewer,  and  one  which  allows  the  deposit  to'aooumulate. 
ras  a  further  distinction  hetween  sewage  fresh  and  sewage  putrid. 
Id  be  more  important  than  that  distinction.  If  anybody  going  to  a 
perceiresa  foul  smell  he  may  be  satisfied  that  the  sewage  is  bad.  Visit* 
rshot  farm  he  discovered  from  the  smell  that  the  sewage  was  bad,  and 
ip  had  been  ill-drained.  Decomposition  began  ordinarily  in  three  or 
la  if  they  attended  properly  to  sewage  they  would  get  rid  of  it  in  a 
ta  ought  to  bo  in  the  field,  not  in  mechanical  suspension,  but  in  chemi- 
tion.  If  Dr.  Mouat's  prisons  had  been  properly  drained,  though  he 
the  death-rate  by  a  half,  he  might  have  reduced  it  further.  He  re- 
in Leeds  for  forty  years  this  matter  had  remained  as  it  is,  with  such 
.  When  he  examined  the  question  he  found  that  a  loss  of  about 
iar  was  caused  to  the  town  from  loss  of  labour  by  sickness ;  and  from 
ebility  not  less  than  300,000^.  a  year  was  lost  to  the  population.  That 
of  ienorance  of  sanitary  science. 

3  (Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  Birkenhead)  laid  down  as  a  prin* 
le  excreta  of  man,  the  refuse  of  houses,  and  the  sweepings  of  streets 
conyeycd  from  the  habitations  of  men,  and  from  under  their  noees,  as 
ossiblo.  As  to  the  mode  of  getting  rid  of  excrement,  only  one  plan 
xsessful  in  Birkenhead,  and  that  was  its  removal  by  water.  He  had 
people  for  refusing  to  convert  privies  into  water-closets ;  theji^  had 
t  they  preferred  earth-closets;  they  were  told  they  would  still  be 
ny  nuisance  they  might  create,  and  in  no  instance  uad  anything  but 
B  been  adopted.  The  occupants  of  the  better  olass  of  houses  would 
g  else.  Without  them  we  must  have  sewers,  and  therefore  we  might 
I  them.  It  was  impossible  to  empty  ash-pits,  even  if  excreta  were 
ithout  some  offence. 

.\£D,  M.F.,  said  Mr.  Micliael  and  Mr.  Rawlinson  had  amply  and  ably 
he  views  he  entertained,  and  he  simply  wished  to  corroborate  what 
id  as  to  tlie  perfect  success  of  the  utilization  of  sewage  by  irrigation, 
d  been  completely  sewered,  and  the  sewage  was  thoroughly  utilized ; 
>ed  the  fields  at  tul  seasons  of  the  year,  and  on  no  occasion  had  he 
nything  offensive.  He  attributed  that  to  the  foot  that  the  solid  por- 
)  sewage  were  screened,  although  he  did  not  think  they  were  screened 
ley  were  by  Mr.  Baldwin  Latham  at  Croydon.  Screening  was  a  very 
oatter  as  affecting  health,  because  effluvia  did  not  arise  so  much  from 
s  from  the  solid  portion  lodging  in  the  open  courses  and  putrifying. 
d  experiment  was  a  success  both  m  a  financial  and  a  sanitary  point  of 
eath-rate  had  been  materially  diminished  since  the  town  was  drained 
wage  utilized,  and  no  complaint  hod  been  made  of  its  producing  a 
There  could  be  no  doubt  that  water  was  the  cheapest  carrier,  and 
bad  to  deal  with  large  bodies  of  people,  as  in  Leeds,  all  your  appliances 
f-acting  and  not  dependent  upon  servants. 

icillor  Maradex  (Leeds)  believed  that  all  difficulty  would  be  avoided 

the  component  parts  of  sewage  separate,  and  deplored  that  in  that 

igh  the  mixing  up  of  all  kinds  of  refuse,  there  were  wasted  yearly 

of  cinders  and  coals  which  could  bo  sold  at  5«.  a  ton,  besides  hundreas 

other  refuse  which  would  bo  useful  if  not  mixed  with  ashes.    The 

liquid  were  worth  10,000/. ;  it  cost  \)QO(H.  to  remove  them ;  and  all  the 

ed  for  everything  it  could  sell  was  4000/.,  and  on  that  there  was  a  loss 

[Mr.  E.  Chad  WICK  said  that  in  France  and  Belgium  and  elsewhere  on 

nt,  the  system  of  separation  had  been  tried,  and  it  had  universally  failed. 

rates  approached  the  death-rate  of  Leeds,  when  they  might  have  been 

one-third.]    Mr.  Marsden  said  the  system  was  in  work  successfully  in 

Bf.  Holland  (London)  said  the  only  feasible  plan  was  that  of  removal 
.rriage.    A  large  portion  of  the  filth  of  a  town  wan  inevitably  mixed 

ri  quantity  of  water ;  we  could  economically  separate  the  two ;  we 
of  the  dirty  water :  it  required  but  little  additional  expense  to  make 
ay  all  filth,  and  it  was  much  cheaper  to  carry  off  all  filth  by  one  plan, 
Ty  a  large  portion  by  one  and  a  small  portion  by  another.    In  many 


416  kemovid  and  UiUizatioH  0/  Sewage. 

plaoeni  thouffb  not  in  all,  irrigation  was  the  n)o«t  feanble  plan,  and  in  nearlj  all 
there  were  diOlculties  in  applying  it  which  inToWed  eipense.  He  had  a  Mfflpb 
of  the  ** A  B  C  "  guano  analyzed  by  a  chemist  who  said  that  7s.  a  ton  was  too  niich 
for  it.  He  had  known  farth-closets  managed  eo  well  that  they  were  not  § 
nuisance ;  and  the  objection  to  them  was,  not  that  they  could  not  be  msmyi 
without  being  a  nuisance,  but  that  in  nearly  erery  case  they  were  a  nin'Mn 
because  they  were  not  properly  attended  to.  In  conclusion,  he  contended  An 
the  legal  nght  to  carry  drainage  through  land  without  paying  oompeositiQi, 
except  for  damage  done,  ought  to  be  extended  to  irrigation  works. 

Mr.  Councillor  Mathrrh  (Leeds)  said  that  water-carriage  had  been  bqh 
recommended  than  any  other  system,  but  the  time  had  not  arriTcd  yet  wbenof 
gentleman  could  take  upon  himself  to  bat  that  this  or  tliat  was  the  best  t6bim, 
because  the  position  of  towns  wuuld  determine  the  system  to  be  applied.  Ha 
"ABC"  Company  certeinly  dealt  with  the  sewage  better  than  any  other  ijitMi 
that  had  been  made  known  to  the  Town  Council  of  Leeds,  and  the  manure  im 
reported  to  have  turned  out  well  in  the  hands  of  several  farmers. 

Mr.  A.  Leiuhton  :  Admitting  that  water-carriage  was  the  cheapest,  and  aeent* 
ing  the  statements  made,  on  the  one  band,  as  to  tlie  commercial  Talue  of  tn 
*' A  B  C  "  manure,  and,  on  the  other,  as  to  the  quality  of  the  effluent,  be  wndd 
suggest  a  combination  of  the  **  A  B  C  "  system  with  irrigation,  and  the  '*ABC* 
SYMtt-m  for  places  whore  irrigation  was  impracticable. 

Dr.  A.  Benzt  (Commissioner  in  the  Punjaub)  said  that  the  dry-earth  ijitMi 
liad  been  largely  employed  in  the  gaols  of  India,  and  the  excreta  used  as  mawn 
within  200  or  300  yarus  of  the  gaols,  without  any  injurious  consequences  nnu^ 
If  the  experience  of  the  Punjaub  could  be  applied  to  this  country,  it  was  dear  tht 
rewage  could  be  niiulo  use  of  at  a  short  distance  from  the  towns  where  it  m 
prtxluced.  The  fwtid  matter,  mixed  with  earth,  was  applied  in  the  rolid  for& 
and  the  land  was  afterwards  deluged  with  water.  Although  favourably  diffOM 
towards  the  earth  system  in  India,  and  applying  it  with  succees  to  solid  exenlii 
they  were  unable  to  apply  it  to  the  deodonzation  of  liquid :  the  cost  of  can}i|| 
earth  for  the  purpone,  even  there,  wliere  labour  was  cheap,  was  too  great ;  hnea 
the  liquid  manure  was  carried  out  of  the  gaols  in  vessels  by  the  convicti  tm 
poured  upon  the  land.  The  inference  he  drew  from  his  own  experience  was,  thit 
since  towns  must  have  drains,  they  may  as  well  use  them  for  carrying  away  andl 
amount  of  solid.  Although  in  India,  sewage-grown  produce  was  used  in  tne  pd^ 
parasite  diseases  did  not  exist  in  them. 

Mr.  Watekiiouhe,  M.P.  (one  of  the  Visiting  Jubtices  of  the  West  Riding  Eoiii 
of  Correction),  said  that  botii  solids  and  liquids  were  there  mixed  with  dry  eutki 
and  need  in  Uie  garden  within  the  precincts  of  the  prison,  and  the  products  wm 
consumed  in  the  prisona,  and  no  evil  effects  had  followed. 

Mr.  W.  Hope  (Parsloes,  Barking)  wished  to  correct  the  impression  that  aewiai 
could  not  be  utilized  all  the  year  round.  Ho  used  that  of  the  town  of  RumfoNi 
in  bard  fro»t  and  in  suiiiiiicr  all  the  same.  He  took  nil :  he  was  bound  to  do  at 
by  his  contract;  he  paid  the  town  000/.  a  year:  he  was  bound  throujilitib 
Court  of  Chancery  to  hold  it  harmless,  and  he  hod  no  difficulty  in  domg  JL 
There  were  two  kinds  of  irrigation,  throuf^h  the  land  and  over  it.  Snnaea 
irrigation  was  used  on  a  large  farm  at  Croydor.,  the  sewage  passed  over  • 
broMlth  of  land,  was  caught  by  a  **  catch -water  *'  ditch,  which  gave  the  name  totha 
system,  redistributed  over  another  breadth,  and  caught  again ;  but  thit  ]to  pn 
no  security  for  the  purification  of  the  sewa|;e.  Tested  in  winter  it  was  found  Hat 
out  of  scToii  ports  of  ammonia  in  the  orisinal  sewage,  five  poased  over  withoit 
being  absorbed.  On  his  own  farm  not  a  drop  of  sewage  could  escape  from  tka 
surface ;  all  must  go  through  five  or  six  feet  of  soil  into  the  subsoil  drains.  Aa  n- 
garded  ammonia  the  effluent  water  was  the  same  in  winter  and  sununer.  He  bad 
proved  conclusively  the  success  of  irrigation  by  downward  filtration.  In  onkr 
fully  to  utilize  the  sewage  he  should  like  an  acre  to  every  twenty  persons.  Hehal 
recommended  Birmingham,  instead  of  purchasing  TiOOU  or  0000  acres  of  laad.  ti 
buy  only  sufficient  to  purify  the  sewage,  in  the  first  instance ;  to  have  psit  af 
their  suudl  area  let  out  as  a  model  farm,  and  gradually  to  educate  the  sarrcntndilif 
farmers  until  they  wore  temi>t«d  to  take  the  surplus.  He  staid  he  could  not  eon- 
veivv  how  the  necessity  of  under-druining  could  be  a  moot  point,  beoauae  undtr* 


Discussion*  417 

linftgs  was  the  great  diecoTery  of  this  century  in  agriculture,  and  no  farmer  who 
ew  bia  business  would  pay  a  high  rent  for  land  which  had  not  been  under- 
lined. [A  Gjintlcsian  stated  that  the  under-drainago  at  Croydon  had  been 
km  up  to  meet  the  altered  conditions  of  sewage  farming.]  That  might  haro 
eo  done,  but  it  was  not  necessary,  it  might  haye  been  necessary  rather  to  put  the 
•IDS  deeper.  As  to  entozoo,  it  was  quite  clear  that,  if  danger  existed  at  all,  it 
tt  sDormous ;  but  ova,  in  tlicir  Toyage  by  water  to  a  farm,  must  make  many 
lOunnd  revolutions,  enough  to  addle  tlie  egg  of  a  goose,  as  he  had  proved,  and 
,  order  to  their  development,  they  must  have  moisture  and  a  minimum  tern- 
fiture^  M>  tliat  variations  of  temperature  and  final  exposure  to  atmosphere 
mt  forely  kill  them.  It  might  be  different  on  a  farm  whiph  was  not  under- 
imed,  and  which  was  allowed  to  become  a  pestilential  swamp,  but  on  a 
iQ-msnaged  farm  the  sewage  was  never  more  than  half  or  a  quarter  of 
I  inch  thick  on  the  surface,  and  even  if  ova  were  in  contact  with  the  stumps 
mis,  it  was  difficult  to  cut  that  shorter  than  two  inches.  He  had  an  ox 
«d  from  sewage-fed  parents,  fed  exclusively  on  sewage- grown  produce  at 
onford  for  twenty-two  months,  and  on  dissection  it  proved  to  be  quite  healthy. 
I  attributed  that,  not  so  much  to  the  food,  as  to  the  water  the  ox  drank,  for  it 
M  kept  from  the  horse  pond,  which  was  the  great  source  of  parasitic  diseases. 
Mrs  was  one  thing  chemistry  could  not  do,  and  that  was  to  take  out  of  sewage  a 
lotion  of  ammonia  so  attenuated  that  it  amounted  sometimes  to  only  five  or  eight 
rti  in  100,000 ;  and  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  England  having  analysed 
i"AB  C"  manure,  found  that  its  proportions  of  ammonia  were  one,  one  and 
hslf,  and  two  and  a  half,  instead  of  four  and  a  half,  and  its  proportions  of 
Ml^lifttes  about  two  instead  of  nine. 

Hr.  CaoFT  (Huddersfield^,  said  whatever  system  were  adopted  for  excreta, 
MS  would  still  remain  a  large  quantity  of  refuse  to  be  dealt  with,  and  the 
oomolation  of  which  was  a  great  evil  in  towns.  The  reduction  of  the  ash-pit 
QHDOe  ought  at  once  to  be  undertaken  by  local  authorities.  The  importance  of 
iij  removal,  practised  on  the  continent,  was  forced  on  our  attention  by  increas- 
t  mortality  from  zymotic  diseases. 

jfr.WxBSTEB,  Q.C.,  F.R.S.,  held  that  there  could  be  no  question  that  the  re* 
OTiL  of  sewage  by  the  water  system  was  the  best  and  most  economical ;  but  there 
m,  DO  doubt,  places,  such  as  birniingham  and  Leeds,  where  the  irrigation  system 
rdved  enormous  difficulties  as  to  the  extent  and  distance  of  land,  and  therefore 
eh  places  must  consider  whether  there  was  any  other  practical  mode  of  dealing 
ith  sewage.  The  irrigation  system  succeeded  most  couipletely.  but  surely  some 
Muial  system  might  be  found.  As  a  matter  of  pure  science  he  thought  it  dis- 
editsble  that  some  means  could  not  be  found  of  restoring  wliat  had  been  put  into 
n£9  in  a  fluid  state.  Surely  it  could  be  af>certained,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  whether 
«'*AB  C"  manure  was  worth  the  price  it  was  said  to  fetch,  and  whether  the 
ABC**  effluent  was  as  valuable  as  opponents  of  the  system  had  declared  it  to  be. 
t  all  events,  until  these  matters  were  authoritatively  settled,  it  behoved  all  to 
vid  the  expression  of  extreme  opinions. 

Hie  FassiDEST  (Mr.  GK>dwin)  wished,  in  the  interest  of  the  community  at 
fgi,  to  urge  that  irrigation  should  be  employed  extensively,  and  in  all  places  where 
eoold  possibly  be  adopted ;  and  he  asserted,  moreover,  that  he  had  the  strongest 
ound  for  doing  so.  What  was  the  use  of  a  Royal  Commission,  of  the  labours 
the  British  Association,  and  of  the  Rivers  Pollution  Commission,  all  cominf?  to  a 
lelofion  in  favour  of  irrigation  in  most  cases,  if  they,  who  could  not  possibly  go 
othe  subject  ininutcly  to  the  same  extent,  were  not  to  attend  to  the  recomnien- 
ions  made  ?  He  maintained  that  the  evidence  from  farms,  from  Mr.  Black- 
n's  farm  at  Aldorshot,  of  which  he  knew  something,  and  a  number  of  others,  as 
Croydon,  and  Mr.  Hope's  valuable  farm  at  Rumford,  ought  to  induce  thorn  to 
that  irrigation  was  the  best  means  to  employ.  With  regard  to  the  ''ABO" 
cess  he  vras  very  anxious,  knowing  tliat  it  was  a  great  interest,  not  to  say 
thing  unfair ;  but  really  he  was  compelled  to  say  that  these  gentlemen  said 
ne  than  they  could  possibly  prove.  They  said  they  got  3/.  lU^.  per  ton  for  the 
rare.  But  would  they  prove  that  it  was  worUi  iU,  lOs.  per  ton  ?  Such 
mists  as  he  had  spoken  to  said  it  was  not  worth  that.  The  expensive  process 
ch  WM  gone  through  could  not  possibly  produce  a  manure  at  suoh  a  price  as 


418  Sanitary  Improvement  of  Dwellings. 

that  manure  was  worth.  It  was  all  very  well  to  say  tliat  they  bad  sold  soman; 
thousand  tons,  but  they  hnd  not  yet  proved  the  raiue  of  it,  or  that  the  ivnm 
would  continue  its  use.  Then,  with  regard  to  this  effluent  water,  which  thej  m. 
they  were  quite  willing  the  irrigators  should  hare.  That  did  not  answer  tlu 
question  at  all.  Was  it  true  that  this  effluent  water  was  sufficiently  purified! 
Uo,  however,  feared  to  pursue  the  subject,  seeing  that  the  process  was  now  a  oeil 
commercial  speculation,  but  nothing  tliat  the  "ABC"  advocates  had  said  or  doM 
had  affected  Iiis  mind  on  the  subject  of  irrigation.  We  had,  tlien,  seen  thatwi 
must  get  rid  of  sewage  immediately,  that  water  was  the  re«idiest  means  of  tru» 
porting  it,  and  that  when  properly  disposed  of  on  land  it  really  did  Dodsnisf 
whatever  to  surrounding  persons — there  was  China,  for  example,  a  country  tu 
had  had  irrigation  ceneridly  at  work  for  lOUO  years,  and  a  great  deal  loneer  perioi 
by  their  own  records — and  all  the  evidence  was,  ho  thought,  in  favour  of  irriatioi 
He  hoped  that  the  people  of  Leeds  would  look  into  it.  They  must  no Lur 
delay,  with  a  thousand  middens — the  death-rate  told  Uiem  of  the  work  that  ludt 
be  done — and  of  the  **  A  B  C  "  process  they  must  satisfy  themselves  either  as  % 
its  goodness  or  its  badness.  If  good,  let  tliem  adopt  it  entirelv ;  but  if  bad,  the 
at  once  they  must  set  to  work  to  get  rid  of  the  sewage,  and  put  it  on  the  Ian 
around. 


SAKITARY   IMPROVEMENT   OF   DWELLINGS.* 

On  Certain  Important  Points  in  the  Sanitary  Condition  of  Vii 
lages.  By  Dr.  Acland,  F.R.S.,  Regius  Professor  c 
Medicine^   Oxford, 

ONE  peculiarity  of  the  meetings  of  this  Congress  is  to  be  foin« 
in  the  varied  points  of  view  from  which  the  same  object  is  pre 
sented  to  the  mind ;  points  of  view  sometimes  so  different  that  Am 
central  object  can  hardly  be  believed  to  be  the  same.  You yesterdq 
had  a  discussion  on  the  disposal  of  sewage,  on  a  gigantic  scale,  in  greil 
towns.  I  wish  to  draw  your  attention  to  what  at  first  seems  in 
insignificant  point  in  the  same  subject;  whether  it  isso,  yourfl 
judge.  For  it  I  venture,  with  a  purely  practical  object,  to  flolidt 
the  attention  of  the  Section,  and  especially  of  those  members  uriio, 
as  owners  of  land,  have  weight  in  country  districts,  or  who,  ai 
loaders  of  public  opinion,  can  influence  masses  of  people. 

In  any  well-ordered  modem  toNvn  the  poor  have  the  cleanMg 
and  scavenging  of  the  surroundings  of  their  homes  done  for  them. 
In  a  village,  or  in  an  isolated  cottage,  the  labourer,  often  ill-fed, 
always  over-worked,  either  i^erforms  this  duty  himself  or  it  is  kft 
imdono.  He  has  to  do  it  before  his  day's  work,  after  it,  or  by 
losing  it.  What  this  implies,  if  a  man  be  not  strong,  those  vko 
know  the  people  well  can  alone  judge. 

The  effect  of  this  one  circumstance  is  more  injurious  than  can  be 
readily  estimated.  It  need  hardly  bo  re2)eated  that  it  is  productiTe 
not  seldom  of  the  most  injurious  efiects  on  the  health  of  tne  fainS^' 
The  water  is  poisoned,  fevers  are  originated,  and  permanent  ifl- 
health  is  often  engendered  through  recurring  bowel  attacks.  Bat 
the  more  serious  matter  is  that  a  generally  untidy  and  miserable 
state  of  the  surroundings  becomes  the  habit  of  the  family.  He 
children  grow  up  with  these  associations,  having  no  other  hone 
standard  of  decency.     They  have  known  and  desire  nothing  else. 

«  Bee  Thmioctums^  1866,  p.  731. 


By  Dr.  Acland,  F.R.S.  419 

This  cause  is  sufficient  to  account  for  an  observation  made  by 
[joid  Kimberley,  and  confirmable  by  every  one  familiar  with  cottage 
popidation.  He  said,  in  a  meeting  of  the  Norfolk  Chamber  of 
Agriculture,*  "  We  have  given  a  very  good  cottage  to  a  labourer, 
gad  we  find  that  he  does  not  appreciate  it  at  all.  He  puts  his 
apples  into  one  room,  docs  not  innabit  another,  and  would  put  his 
Jiff  into  a  third  if  we  would  let  him." 

i(ow  it  may  seem  almost  trifling  to  dwell  on  so  small  and  well 
neognised  a  point  of  sanitary  mismanagement,  yet  the  doctrine  of 
*' nothing  stronger  than  the  weakest  part"  holds  good  in  this 
instance.  If  a  rural  population  itself  is  indifferent  to  the  state  of 
the  gorroimdings  of  its  dwellings,  it  will  be  indifferent  to  much 
else.  The  old  proverb,  cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness^,  is  probably 
true  if  "  next "  be  interpreted  as  "  parallel  with."  It  is  doubtful 
whether  a  wilfully  or  mdifferently  dirty  household  is  even,  in  a 

Snoine  and  vigorous  sense,  a  godly  one  ;  and  something  must  be 
ne  promptly  m  this  matter  if  we  are  to  second  effectually  the 
educational  efforts  which  are  engaging  the  whole  nation. 

The  magnitude  of  the  evil  may  not  be  apparent  to  all  without 
explanation.  In  a  village  with  which  I  am  familiar,  there  was  no 
covered  or  hidden  accommodation  in  a  long  street  by  a  river  side- 
It  seems  all  but  incredible  in  the  present  day.  A  high  road  runs 
through  this  village,  and  many  tourists  pass  daily.  It  is  in  a 
neighoourhood  much  looked  after  by  a  very  benevolent  landlord. 
The  evil,  however,  was  just  outside  his  property.  The  poor  people 
king  powerless  against  their  small  landlords,  became  indifferent, 
with  a  certain  touching  sense  of  degradation.  A  mother  lately  s€ud 
to  me,  "Worse  for  my  poor  children  to  be  brought  up  so  than  for 
OS  older  ones  to  be  so  :  bad  enough  for  us,  worse  luck.'* 

There  is  something  almost  nauseous  in  perusing  these  subjects  in 
detail ;  but  it  has  to  be  done  if  we  want  to  appreciate  the  evil  and 
find  the  remedy.  This  happened  to  me  lately.  Sitting  early 
in  the  morning  in  a  cottage,  I  saw  the  housewife  about  to  make 
some  tea.  To  my  surprise  she  poured  the  boiling  water  into  a  tea 
mp,  and  having  carefully  tasted  it,  she  filled  the  teapot.  **  Didn't 
jfou  scald  yourself?  "  I  said ;  "  why  did  you  do  that  ?  "  **  Oh  !  " 
ihe  replied,  "  I  did  not  know  whether  the  child  had  filled  the  kettle 
Wore  the  cattle  droppings  had  run  into  the  stream,  or  after — I 
always  like  to  taste  and  see." 

A  considerable  farmer's  wife,  in  a  largo  farm  having  some  1000 
ibeep,  had  to  look  to  the  water,  she  said,  on  all  rainy  days,  to  see  if 
it  was  fouled  or  no  by  the  closet.  If  it  was  she  sent  **  down  the 
hill  a  long  way  "  for  the  day's  water  supply.  This  was  an  old  farm, 
flierefore  probably  submitted  to  for  several  lifetimes. 

I  oould  tell  many  facts  of  this  kind  to  show  the  extreme  gravity 
of  this  matter  in  our  rural  districts,  grave  from  its  effects  on  the 
health  of  individuals — grave,  more  grave,  from  the  effect  on  the 
moral  nature  by  engendering  indifference,  and  on  the  intellectual 


*  See  Affriculture  CommissioD,  1867i  Second  Beport,  p.  67. 

27—51 


420  Sanitary  Tmprovetnent  of  DweUingi. 

powers  of  observation  and  reasoning,  by  breeding  ignorance,  blunt- 
mg  faculties,  and  keeping  up  false  opinions  on  matters  of  everr- 
day  life. 

We  need  not  now  consider  the  causes  of  such  things  in  this  age. 
We  have  nearly  done  with  that  kind  of  inquiry.  It  is  useless  to 
discuss  any  more  the  torpor  of  the  last  century,  the  pppositiMi 
to  physical  science  by  the  religious  world,  or  the  bygone  national 
apathy  as  to  preventive  medicine.  Those  evils  wo  hope  are  ended. 
"We  seek  now  practical  remedies  for  the  past,  and  reasonable 
prevention  for  the  future. 

Now  the  remedy  seems  to  bo  this — that,  mutatis  mutandis^  the 
same  sanitary  care  should  be  bestowed  on  a  cottage  in  the  count7 
as  on  a  house  in  a  town. 

In  the  case  of  a  well-ordered  town,  the  community  proyides 
water  for  its  members  and  removes  their  refuse  for  them.  Not  so 
in  a  village.  The  chances  are  in  many  districts  that  every  cottage 
or  every  other  cottage  has  its  well,  and,  there  bcin^  of  course  no 
sewers,  its  own  cesspool.  The  expense  and  the  nsk  from  vant 
of  organization  are  both  multiplied.  The  results  seem  almost 
incredible.  You  walk  into  the  country  where  all  seems  so  pure 
and  is  so  beautiful.    You 

"  Go  up  aud  watch  a  now  bom-rill 

Just  issuine  from  itfl  mossy  bed, 
Streaking  the  neath-olad  hill 

With  a  bright  emerald  thread.  '* 

Below  you  see  some  two  or  three  cottages  bosomed  in  the  glen, 
and  further  down  a  hamlet,  then  a  village,  and  next  the  town.  Is 
there  not  some  strange  fatality  by  which  the  human  tenants  care- 
lessly mar  a  spot,  so  free,  so  pure,  so  bright ;  and  that  the  freshest 
and  best  placed  habitations  are  allowed  to  pollute  the  stream, 
and  make  it  unfit  for  all  the  rest  ?  Yet  we  have  all  seen  scores  of 
such  hamlets.  God's  gifts  in  profusion  are  astonishing ;  yet  they 
are  more  astonishingly  and  most  wastofully  spoiled.  AndTrhy? 
from  simple  ignorance  of  the  mischief  done,  and  risks  incurred; 
from  mere  want  of  skilled  superintendence  by  instructed  persons, 
from  the  lack  of  a  little  systematic  management. 

It  may  be  said  that  our  scattered  populations  are  not  worth  fts 
care,  or  that,  if  worth  the  care,  then  the  supervision  would  be  too 
costly,  so  that  the  care  of  hamlets  and  villages  is  either  impracti- 
cable or  visionary.  Issue  may  be  joined  on  both  these  objectioni. 
The  rural  populations  are  becoming  nurseries  for  town  populations. 
They  cast  into  the  towns  either  a  strong,  decent,  manly  people,  or 
an  enfeebled,  ignorant  piT)geny,  brought  up  unwisely. 

Now  the  rural  districts*  contain  no  less  than  9,808,811  persons, 
having  increased  in  the  last  ten  years  by  668,428.  They  mcrease 
in  great  measure  as  is  justly  remarked  by  the  Registrar-General  in 
the  last  census  f  by  assuming  the  form  of  small  towns,  and  there* 
fore  by  carrjdng  their  character  and  habits,  good  or  bad,  withthett 

•Total  population,  22,704,108;  141  dietxictf,  57  sub-districU,  12,900,2»7. 
t  Beport  on  last  Census,  p.  21. 


By  Dr.  Aelaudy  Jt.R.S.  421 

into  those  towns ;  electing  as  their  administratlTe  officers  persons 
conformable  thereto. 

The  immigration  of  the  rural  into  the  urban  population  is  no- 
ticed on  the  Continent  also,  and  is  in  fact  a  necessary  law  of  modem 
omlization,  depending  on  varying  causes,  some  obvious,  some  more 
zeoondite. 

The  case  of  these  villages  is,  therefore,  apart  from  special 
linmaniiy  towards  the  individuals,  truly  a  national  question.  It  is 
of  importance  as  regards  the  futui*e  of  the  persons,  and  of  the  class ; 
and  is  of  importance  as  regards  the  executive,  who  are  to  guide 
them  for  the  niture.  It  affects  the  towns  as  well  as  the  villages, 
and  abuts  on  national  health-problems  of  the  £rst  importance. 

As  to  the  persons  and  the  class  enough  has  been  said.  As  to  the 
executive  who  are  to  guide  them,  the  great  measure  of  last  session, 
iriiioh  undertook  to  harmonize  into  one  whole  all  existing  powers 
bearing  on  the  public  health ;  and  which  has  assigned  to  one  Minis- 
ter the  duty  oi  consolidating  and  improving  the  law  wherever 
impioyement  and  consolidation  is  needed,  has  virtually  ended  the 
question. 

With  respect  to  the  purely  rural  districts,  the  great  powers  of 
the  Public  Health  Acts  at  present  reside  with  vestries  and  guar- 
dians. In  many  cases,  therefore,  they  are  indirectly  in  the  hands 
of  the  veiy  class  of  persons  who  require  guidance  and  help.  Here- 
in lies  a  gpreat  part  of  the  strength  of  the  Local  Government  Board. 
It  enlists  in  the  cause  of  public  health  every  ratepayer  who  votes 
on  matters  of  parish  organization,  and  engages  all  the  medical  men 
oftke  poor.  Will  they  all  act?  will  they  apprehend  their  own 
loaterial  interests  ?  We  may  not  doubt  that  they  will.  What  has 
to  be  done  in  these  classes  of  difficult  social  questions  must  often, 
I  am  convinced,  be  done  by  the  people  with  the  aid,  but  not  by  the 
compulsion,  of  law. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  future  condition  of  the  agricultural 
population  is  one  of  the  great  problems  of  our  country.  It  is  in- 
timately linked  with  two  of  first-rate  moment,  namely,  **the  inci- 
dence of  local  taxation  and  the  Land  Question."  Various  witnesses 
before  the  *^  Commission  on  the  Employment  of  Children,  Young 
Persons,  and  Women  in  Agriculture''  had  evidently  this  on  their 
iBinds  when  they  spoke  of  the  state  of  cottages  as  one  of  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  Notwithstanding  the  earnest  efforts  of  philan- 
tbopists  and  societies,  whether  in  preparing  designs  of  cott^^s,  or 
fir  the  erection  of  houses  through  profitable  building  societies, 
tliere  is  indeed  much  to  be  done  by  me  Local  Government  Board 
in  almost  all  the  purely  rural  districts  where  there  are  no  wealthy 
and  large-minded  proprietors. 

Lord  Derby  seemea  to  speak  with  less  than  his  usual  caution  as 
ft  statesman  when,  the  other  day,  at  Liverpool,  he  spoke  with  the 
mpearance  of  contempt  of  small  farmers.  In  some  parts  of 
Kigland  even  now  large  farmers  have  been  hoard  to  question 
"vkether  the  small  farmers,  on  certain  lands,  cannot  get  more  out  of 
it  than  large  farmers ;    the  man,  that  is,  with  his  family — his 


422  Sanitary  Improvement  of  Dwellings. 

labourers  being  of  his  family — ^rather  than  the  great  agricnltar 
wjth  his  dependants. 

Small  farms,  well  managed,  mean  thrifty  families,  independf 
men,  a  very  type  of  plain  Englishmen.  To  neglect  this  class 
our  fellow  subjects,  to  speak  slightingly  of  the  small  hill-counl 
farmers,  in  districts  whore  site  and  climate  are  unfavourable 
machinery,  is  to  raise  a  prejudice  against  some  of  the  most  oontenl 
and  laborious,  the  most  upright  and  sturdy,  of  the  British  peop 
It  is  to  throw  discouragement  on  a  race  to  be  religiously  presem 
rather  than  submerged  in  the  imiformity  of  ambitious  struggle  : 
wealth  :  a  class  to  be  made  to  sliare  with  us,  who  lead  more  ei 
lives,  whatever  are  the  real  improvements  and  blessings  of  modi 
culture ;  uiul  uU  the  more  because,  by  their  simpler  ways,  they 
before  us  tlie  clianns  of  fresh  and  imspoiled  natures. 

Who  is  a  more  intelligent  worker  than  a  hUl-country  shephei 
Who  more  skilUnl  at  her  proper  work  than  an  English  or  Sea 
hill-coimtry  housewife  ?  Aid  who  can  furnish  to  the  State  child: 
more  robust,  men  more  true,  if  only  their  sanitar}'*  surrouDdii 
can  bo  bettered  ? 

Reverting  to  the  specific  proposition  from  which  I  started, 
observe  that  cottages  in  rural  districts  should  be  scavengered 
the  community,  and  not  by  the  occupier.  There  are  two  ways 
which  this  can  be  done.  The  one  in  villages  where  regular  sew 
and  water  supply  can  be  provided  and  maintained,  me  other 
isolated  cottages,  where,  irom  the  expense,  these  methodi 
practically  inapplicable. 

In  Broad  Clyst  the  former  has  been  lately  tried.  An  intereit 
account  is  given  in  the  last  number  of  the  Bath  and  Wat 
England  Journal^  with  full  particulars  as  to  cost.  In  Stanton  H 
court,  in  Oxfordshire,  the  latter  plan  has  been  put  in  operation 
the  dry-earth  system  by  Colonel  Harcourt,  the  son  and  suooei 
to  the  venerable  and  scientific  Canon  Harcourt,  owner  of  Nunehi 
An  inspector  paid  by  Colonel  Harcourt  goes  weekly  to  the  cottt 
on  the  estate  to  examine  and  report  on  tne  condition  of  the  doe 
The  first  of  these  methods  cannot  pay  interest  on  the  outlay-H 
can  only  be  done  by  persons  who  have  capital  at  their  command, 
is  carefully  carried  out  by  Baron  Eothschild.  Neither  the  paridi 
the  imion  can  be  called  on  to  contribute  to  a  purely  local  improveou 
except  on  the  principle  by  which  a  great  landowner  has  to  : 
namely,  that  he  must  have  good  houses  for  those  who  till  his  li 
the  outlay  being  calculated  as  for  the  whole  of  his  property, 
the  whole  there  is  no  doubt  that  an  arrangement  could  oe  maA 
every  rural  district  whereby  the  poor  labourer  may  have  the  nei 
sary  surroundings  of  his  home  kept  in  order  for  him,  like 
fellow  artizan  in  the  town.  That  it  would  conduce  to  his  h&i 
iness,  energy',  and  comfort,  no  one  will  dispute  ;  and  that  it  wo 
be  just  and  politic  no  statesman  will  question,  and  that  the  claa 
agricultural  poor  are  worth  the  anxious  care  of  the  nation  a 
will  gainsay  who  believe  in  the  existence  of  national  health.  I 
ference  of  opinion  will  probably  arise  only  on  the  quettion^B 


By  P.  H.  Holland.  423 

ji  village  and  cottage  sanitary  supervision  bo  best  brought  about, 
^  which  executive — what  is  the  least  cost,  and  the  least  amount  of 
iterference  with  private  and  personal  rights?  This  must  form 
16  Babject  of  a  further  communication. 


fhai  are  the  best  Means  of  Securing  the  Sanitary  Improvement  of 
Human  Habitations'^     By  P.  H.  Holland. 

?ETr  will  dispute  that  it  is  as  wrong  to  let  a  dwelling  that  is  unfit 
Of  healthy  habitation  as  to  sell  food  that  is  unwholesome,  or  that 
boBe  who  commit  either  of  these  offences  recklessly  are  very  cul- 
laUe,  and  that  those  who  do  so  knowingly  ought  to  be  severely 
imufihed,  for  wilfully  exposing  others  to  needless  danger.  It  does 
iAy  however,  follow  that  every  house  that  has  any  sanitary  defect 
rnst  be  forthwith  left  untenanted.  The  case  is  closely  analogous 
)  that  of  doubtful  food.  If  a  law  were  enforced  that  no  food 
rcept  that  in  perfectly  good  condition  coidd  be  sold,  much  that 
lay  DC  eaten,  and  is  eaten  with  no  proved  injury,  would  be  con- 
emned,  and  many  now  well  fed  would  go  short.  All  that  can  be 
aasonably  required  from  a  dealer  in  food  is  not  to  sell  any  so  bad 
s  to  be  unwholesome,  and  the  precise  point,  for  example,  at  which 
teat  which  is  gamey  passes  into  that  which  is  putrid  is  hard  to 
X.  So  also  with  dwellings ;  we  aU  know  that  a  house  which  is 
bee,  or  damp,  or  dark,  or  foul,  is  unfit  to  live  in,  but  what  degree 
f  space,  dryness,  light,  and  purity  it  is  right  to  insist  upon  as  in- 
ispensable  are  questions  needing  considerate  inquiry.  This, 
jowever,  we  do  know,  that  a  very  large  proportion  or  the  dwellings 
1  large  towns  are  fatally  defective,  as  is  proved  by  the  higher 
eath-rate  at  all  ages  amongst  the  inmates  of  such  houses  than 
mongst  others  of  the  same  class,  living  in  the  same  town,  with 
he  same  climate,  with  similar  employments,  similar  earnings,  and 

similar  command  over  the  comforts  of  life. 

It  is  constantly  seiid,  and  it  is  often  true,  that  those  who  live 
jider  these  wretched  conditions  do  so  because  they  prefer  to  spend 
heir  money  in  drink  for  themselves,  rather  than  in  rent  for  better 
ecommodation  for  their  families,  and  they  are  unhealthy  because 
iey  are  intemperate.  That,  however,  woidd  be  only  a  very  partial 
od  imperfect  explanation  of  the  great  excess  of  mortality,  especially 
finfimtile  mortality,  which  is  often  double  the  average  ;  moreover, 
ronkenness,  and  especially  dram-drinking,  the  most  destructive 
nm  of  intemperance,  is  the  effect  as  much  as,  often  more  than,  the 
itiBe  of  that  depression  it  temporarily  relieved,  but  permanently 
Kgravates.  It  is  to  a  large  extent  caused  by  living  in  polluted 
IP  and  in  darkness,  dirt,  and  gloom.  To  diminish  those  causes  of 
epression  would  be  to  diminish  both  craving  and  the  excuse  for 
ram-drinking,  and  it  would  cost  far  less  to  remove  the  cause  of  the 
raving  for  stimulants  than  to  indulge  it,  oven  if  to  indulge  did  not 
icrease  it  as  it  does. 

An  unhealthy  house,  however  apparently  cheap,  is.  really  dear, 
"here  is  no  doubt  amongst  those  conversant  with  the  economy  of 
lie  poor,  that  such  a  house,  however  low  rented,  is  a  co«d^  ^^iwi^ 


424  Sanitaty  Improvement  of  DweUinge. 

of  extravagance.  No  fair  difiPerence  of  rent  between  that  for  a 
house  fit  and  one  unfit  for  healthy  occupation  will  pay  for  mon 
than  a  very  small  part  of  the  loss  the  ill-health  it  causes  entails ; 
for  wherever  there  is  excess  of  fatal  disease,  there  must  also  be, 
though  not  always  in  the  same  proportion,  excess  of  disease  not 
fatal,  interrupting  productive  emplovment,  diminishing  streneUi 
and  |)ower  of  aUention,  and  thereK)re  skill,  thereby  lefiseauig 
earnings  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  the  difference  of  rent,  bj 
paying  which  these  losses  might  be  avoided.  Sickness  of  women 
and  of  cliildren,  and  even  of  infants,  though  it  may  not  director 
reduce  earnings,  docs  so  indirectly  and  always  causes  expense.  It 
also  dhniniBlius  the  comfort  of  all  the  household,  causes  loss  and 
costs  OS  well  as  suffering. 

There  are  few  not  actual  paupers  who  have  not  enough  to  bny 
Rome  few  comforts,  in  addition  to  the  absolute  necessaries  of  life; 
but  so  long  as  a  large  pi'oportion  of  the  poorer  classes  are  housed 
as  they  are,  they  cannot  procure  that  greatest  of  all  comforts,  a 
healthy,  happy,  and  contented  family,  in  a  dwelling  deserving  the 
sacred  name  of  home.  How  those,  who  cannot  save,  shall  ootaia 
dwellings  that  deserve  that  name  is  the  difficulty,  and  a  formidable 
one  it  is,  but  not,  let  us  trust,  insurmoimtable,  for  if  it  be,  whst 
hope  for  our  country  is  there  ?  How  can  we  expect  that  he  who 
lodges  like  a  pig  should  live  like  a  Christian.  The  difficulty  is  tbst 
some  cannot  and  some  will  not  pay  the  rent  demanded  for  decent 
accommodation.  They  say  they  cannot  afford  it ;  but  living  in  un- 
healthy houses  is  wasteful,  not  only  of  comfort,  health,  and  life, 
but  of  money,  and  as  it  is  just  and  wise  not  to  allow  unwholesome 
food,  however  low  priced,  to  be  sold,  so  would  it  be  just  and  wise 
to  forbid  unwholesome  houses  to  be  inhabited.  So  long  as  sodi 
dwellings  are  aUowed  to  be  let  in  competition  with  others  will  tb 
price  of  building  land  be  run  up,  and  t)ie  poor  crowded  toge^er  in 
dangerous  proximity,  so  as  to  obtain  the  largest  possible  rent  ont 
of  the  smalloBt  possible  space,  at  the  sacrifice  of  health,  comfoit, 
safety,  and  morality,  forcing  many  to  become  a  misery  to  them- 
selveB,  and  a  danger,  a  burden,  and  an  annoyance  to  the  communis, 
simply  to  permit  the  owners  of  certain  building  land  to  let  it 
beyond  its  proper  and  natural  value.  That  this  is  the  effect  is 
evident.  If  the  excessive  over-crowding  of  poor  districts  were 
effectually  prevented,  it  is  clear  that  towns  must  increase  more  in 
size  and  less  in  density,  with  the  effect  of  diminishing  the  price  of 
land  in  the  town  itself,  and  increasing  it  in  the  suburbs.  The 
benefit  of  spreading  the  population  over  a  larger  space  would  not 
be  unmixed,  but  it  seems  certain  that  the  inconvenience  of  hring 
further  from  work  can  be  greatly  diminished  by  increased  fadlities 
of  commimication. 

It  is  essential,  however,  if  the  habitations  of  the  poor  are  to  be 
generally  improved,  that  the  competition  of  houses  unfit  to  Hve  in 
must  be  prevented,  by  forbidding  the  letting  of  such  for  habitation. 
This  is  no  new  principle  of  legislation  In  Manchester,  Liver- 
pool, and  many  other  towns,  and  in  all  places  under  the  Fablie 


By  P.  H.  Holland.  425 

1th  Aot,  cellar  dwellings  cannot  be  let  except  under  stringent 
titions.  And  if  it  be  right,  as  no  one  doubts,  to  forbid  the 
ng  of  a  class  of  dwellings  because  it  is  scarcely  possible  that 
'  can  be  healthy,  it  cannot  be  wrong  to  forbid  iJiose  to  be  let 
ch  are  decided  by  competent  authority  to  be  unfit  for  habita- 

Jlowing  that,  the  question  follows — ^At  whose  cost  ought  dwell* 
)  unsafe  as  healthy  habitations  to  be  rendered  safe  ? 
.t  the  first  glance  the  answer  to  this  question  seems  easy.  It  is 
lently  as  wrong  to  let  for  habitation  dwellings  dangerous  to 
Ith  and  life,  as  it  is  to  sell  food  unsafe  to  eat.  If  the  owners  of 
I  either  procure  that  unfit  to  eat  or  allow  it  to  become  so,  they 
st  dispose  of  it  in  seme  way  not  dangerous  to  others,  and  are 
ly  liable  to  punishment  if  they  attempt  to  escape  their  loss  by 
ring  unwholesome  food  for  sale.  If  the  owners  of  dwellings 
eh  are  unsafe  to  live  in  try  to  let  them,  why  should  they  not  be 
ally  liable  to  punishment  if  they  do  so  wilfully  ?  why  should 
f  not  be  prevented  doing  in  ignorance  what  endangers  the 
lih  and  life  of  others  ? 

Siat  they  should  be  prevented  doing  what  is  well  known  to 
oee  others  to  imminent  hazard  all  will  agree,  but  at  whose  cost 
cause  of  the  danger  should  be  removed  is  disputed,  and  natur* 
'  80.  When  a  dwelling  is,  or  becomes,  uns^e  for  habitation, 
onsequence  of  some  defect  of  its  own,  for  example  because  it  is 
properly  drained,  or  because  its  drains  are  so  misconstructed  as 
live  passage  into  the  dwelling  of  sewer  gas,  or  because  its  rooms 
"e  no  chimneys  or  other  openings  for  ventilation,  or  because  the 
f  or  wall  lets  in  water  and  do  not  keep  in  warmth,  or  because 
inmates  are  dangerously  numerous  for  the  enclosed  space,  such 
lis  and  defects,  should  be  removed  at  the  cost  of  those  who  receive 
rent,  though  very  often  such  faults  cause  more  expense  in  loss 
■ents  than  need  be  spent  for  their  removal.  Whether  that  be  so 
lot,  such  faults  thot  must  endanger  tlie  health  of  the  inmates 
;htnot  to  be  allowed  to  continue,  even  if  the  inmates  themselves 
old  not  complain.  No  one  has  a  right  to  expose  even  his  own 
to  needless  danger,  still  less  can  ho  innocently  expose  those  of 
wife,  or  children,  or  neighbours. 

t  often  happens,  however,  that  a  house  which  would  not  be 
lealthy  in  an  open  situation,  has  become  so  because  it  has  been 
ely  surroimded  by  other  buildings  which  impede  the  circulation 
lir,  and  very  generally  by  their  appurtenances  pollute  the  air 
f  confine.  In  such  cases  it  would  be  unjust  to  throw  upon 
owner  of  a  house  which  has  been  rendered  unhealthy  by  the 
sequent  erection  of  other  buildings,  the  cost  of  rendering  it 
lihy,  to  do  which  often  involves  the  removal  of  buildings  which 
tract  the  passage  of  air  and  light.  Possibly,  in  strict  justice, 
98  who  have  erected  the  buildings  obstructing  ventilation  should 
sompelled  to  remove  them,  but  it  is  often  difficult  or  even  im- 
sible  to  prove  which  precise  bmlding  does  the  mischief  to  which 
ly  contribute,  and  wMch  the  removal  of  few,  and  those  perhaps 


426  Sanitary  Improvement  of  Dwellings. 

not  the  last  built,  may  most  effectually  diminish.  Fox 
small  court  may  have  long  had  only  a  narrow  ent 
evil  apparent  imtil  the  adjoining  land  was  built  una 
a  case,  the  best  course  may  be  to  take  down  the  buud 
entry  and  so  obtain  free  passage  for  air.  At  whose 
such  an  improvement  be  effected  ?  Most  justly  at  the 
all  whose  property  would  be  improved,  but  this  would  b 
to  ascertain  and  estimate  in  just  proportions,  and  the  a 
so  would  add  so  greatly  to  the  expense  and  other  i 
to  the  improvement,  that  it  is  better  to  charge  the  cost 
provements  upon  the  general  rate  of  the  district,  and  to 
cost  and  the  benefit  to  different  parts  of  the  district 
such  improvements  as  equally  as  possible  in  different  ; 
district. 

Though  the  cost  of  such  improvements  may  appear 
they  are  not  really  so  heavy  as  they  appear,  for  me  r 
large  receive  great  countervailing  advantages.  Every 
renders  a  town  more  desirable  as  a  place  of  residenc 
rent,  or,  what  is  the  same  tiling,  renders  occupiers  able 
to  pay  higher  rates,  without  requiring  a  diminution  of 
inhabitants  of  low,  neglected,  and  unhealthy  spots, 
every  sense  of  the  word,  to  belong  to  the  dangerous  d 
disease  engendered  amongst  them  is  not  confined  t 
misery  which  makes,  them  reckless  and  imruly  make 
unpleasant .  neij^hbours,  and  whenever  danger  to  the  ; 
arises  it  is  ohieny  from  such  classes  it  is  to  be  feared.  ( 
is  nearly  certain,  that  it  wil  be  impossible  to  apportion 
charge  which  each  must  bear  to  tlie  benefit  each  will  n 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  conmiunity  at  large  will  be 
securing  healthy  and  contented  neighbours.  Allowing  n 
to  give  more  than  we  may  get,  do  wo  not  often  get  far  m 
give.  Let  us  think  of  our  duties  as  well  as  our  rights, 
our  duty  to  see  that  the  poor  are  not  exposed  to  needl 
death,  impoverishment,  and  debasement.  In  this  as 
cases,  what  is  our  duty  is  unquestionably  our  interest. 


DISCUSSION. 

Dr.  6TALLAEO  (London) :  If  the  principle  be  unBOund  that  Gowt 
pay  for  the  improrement  of  dwellings,  I  see  no  reason  that  any  oth 
should  be  drawn  on  for  the  purpoee.  All  steps  in  that  direction  an 
I  object  to  the  maintenance  of  private  property  of  any  descriptioi 
rapense.  The  experiment  made  at  LiyerpooL  has  been  a  complete  f 
time  has  LiTerpool  been  in  a  more  unhealthy  state  than  during  the 
and  this  is  so,  notwithstanding  200,000^.  of  public  money  lias  bea 
the  improreipent  of  private  property.  The  law  lias  already  pre 
destruction  of  houses  unflt  for  human  habitation,  and  the  law  sho 
out  But  there  is  another  side  of  the  question.  It  is  all  very  wd 
b6uses,  but  the  best  house  may  be  made  unhealthy  by  the  occupant 
other  hand  the  worst  house 'may  be  made  wholesome  by  decent 
instance  quoted  by  Dr.  Acland  of  action  by  a  landlord,  is  an  instao 
the  right  direction,  but  I  should  bo  hopeless  if  I  had  no  one  to  I 


iHscusnon.  427 

indloTds  to  make  the  homes  of  the  poor  reallj  \rhai  they  should  be.  The  principle 
re  must  go  upon  is  to  bring  the  influence  of  the  intelligent  to  bear  upon  the  ^ 
gBoranL  The  cure  for  these  e^ils  is  to  be  found  in  a  great  measure  in  Uie  mixing 
2  intelligent  people  with  the  ignorant,  of  clean  people  with  dirtj  people.  I  do 
loi  see  that  because  a  man  is  poor  he  should  be  interfered  with  m  his  private 
boose  anj  more  than  one  who  is  rich ;  and  it  could  not  be  permitted  that  any 
■an  should  be  roused  up  at  night  to  see  whether  he  has  two  or  three  people  in 
Us  bed-rooms.  The  official  system,  if  carried  out  fully,  would  do  a  great  deal 
■ore  harm  than  good.  Our  object  should  rather  be  to  generate  a  better  public 
opinion;  mix  the  intelligent  with  the  ignorant;  introduce  house-to-house  yisitation. 
It  is  a  question  of  pure  social  organization,  and  surely,  if  we  can  organise  any- 
tUng,  there  is  no  reason  why  such  a  visitation  should  not  bo  organized. 

Dr.  Fkigus  (Glasgow) :  Tne  Improvement  Commissioners  of  Glasgow  have  been 
OBg^ed  of  late  in  an  endeavour  to  get  the  people  to  work  in  tbe  centre  of  the 
town,  and  to  live  in  the  suburbs ;  but,  by  the  enormous  increase  on  the  Clyde  of 
iron  ship  building,  the  reverse  of  this  has  been  the  case — people  have  lived  in  the 
centre  of  the  city  and  worked  in  the  suburbs.  We  Imve  a  large  admixture  of  the 
Celtic  element,  and  wherever  that  is  so  you  will  have  a  larse  death-rate.  They 
CODS  from  the  west  Highlands,  and  never  think  of  learning  the  English  language. 

ISr.  G.  W.  Hastings  :  I  think  Dr.  Acland  himself  admits,  at  the  conclusion  of 
kis  paper,  that  with  regard  to  tbe  manner  of  carrying  out  these  sanitary  im- 
|iOfements  there  may  t^  a  difference  of  opinion,  and  it  is  just  that  difference  of 

r'  lion  which  1  am  anxious  to  express.  Who  are  to  be  the  persons  charged  with 
execution  of  this  work  in  the  rural  districts  ?  What  1  said  yester£ty  upon 
An  point  was  not  based  entirely  on  theory.  I  happen  to  live  where  I  have  pain- 
ifd  eridence  of  the  evils  not  only  of  the  present  system,  but  of  what  would  be  the 
molt  of  the  system  which  the  Sanitary  Commission  and  Sir  C.  Adderley*s  Bill 
would  establish.  I  live  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Malvern,  in  a  purely  rural 
£itriet.  The  town  of  Malvern  is  under  a  Board  of  Local  Commissioners,  and  the 
nail  district  in  which  I  live  is  under  the  Board  of  Guardians,  who,  so  far  as 
MJamces  are  concerned,  are  the  health  authority  of  the  district,  and  have  very 
iaportant  powers.  Supposing  we,  tbe  guardians,  were  invested  with  all  the 
utoority  Sir  0.  Adderley's  Bill  proposes  to  gire  us,  and  supposing  the  medical 
dker  of  a  union  were  made  the  otBcer  of  health  for  that  district,  we  should 
flnd  ourselves  met  at  every  step  with  difficulties,  the  chief  of  which  would  be 
tht  conflicting  jurisdiction  of  the  two  authorities.  For  instance,  here  am  I  living 
€■  the  boundary  of  these  two  sanitary  districts.  The  boundiu*y  line  of  the 
Ifslvem  Local  Commissioners  comes  within  a  (quarter  of  a  mile  of  my  gate,  and 
within  that  boundary  the  authorities  of  my  district  can  do  nothing  in  sanitary 
utters,  although  they  are  guardians  of  the  poor  over  the  whole  town  of  Malvern, 
fb  esny  out  sanitary  improvement  throughout  the  country  under  such  conditions 
teems  to  me  impracticable.  The  only  authority  capable  of  doing  anything  in 
wutary  matters  with  effect  must  be  on  authority  having  control  over  a  large  area, 
and  not  coming  into  conflict  with  other  authorities  at  almost  every  door. 

Mr.  W.  B.  Smith  :  In  Glasgow  we  have  turned  people  out  of  their  houses 
and  insisted  upon  the  strict  rule  of  so  many  people  for  so  many  cubic  feet  of  space ; 
bot  we  have  been  met  by  systematic  opposition.  As  soon  as  the  inspector  makes 
Uiappeazsnce  the  sien&l  is  given,  and  when  he  comes  to  a  crowded  quarter  he  finds 
only  tbe  proper  number  in  the  rooms.  I  would  recommend  instruction  in  sanitary 
attsrsinscboc^ 

Mr.  Chaelss  Lamport  (London) :  I  maintain  that  architects  should  endeavour  to 
euTj  oat  old  Fuller's  maxim,  that  a  man  should  build  his  house  to  live  in  and  not 
to  look  at.  Architects  at  present  do  not  attempt  this ;  they  seek  to  moke  a  fine 
oatode  and  leave  the  interior  to  hap-hazard.  Generally  speaking,  the  only  venti- 
htica  provided  for  an  ordinary  sitting-room  is  an  open  fire-place,  which  is  useless 
ia  summer  time,  because  the  impure  air  collects  above  the  opening  and  never 
ifaseends  to  it  until  the  whole  room  is  impure,  or  else  the  chimney  is  fitted  with 
one  of  Dr.  Amott's  ventilators  which  more  often  lets  smoke  into  tbe  room  than 
esrries  impure  air  out,  from  the  simple  reason  that  tbe  opening  of  the  fire-place 
ii  larger  than  the  opening  of  the  ventilator  and,  therefore,  the  draught  runs  into 
the  room  instead  of  out  of  it.    In  theory  good  ventilation  means  ohange  of  air. 


428  Sanitary  Improvement  of  Dwetthiffi. 

which  if  moTementi  and  moTement  of  air  constitutes  draught  which  is  prri 
hut  if  Uie  draughts  are  warm  without  being  impure  thej  are  not  prejudjcu 
system  to  be  e&ient  must  proride  for  ingress  and  egress  of  pure  and  im| 
when  the  fire  is  lighted  or  when  it  is  not,  when  as  in  the  winter  the  fir 
exhauster  and  takes  the  impure  air  to  the  fire-pUce,  or  when,  as  in  sumnn 
light  or  the  human  breath  makes  the  impure  air  collect  in  the  upper  par 
room.  Thus  all  systems  to  be  good  must  combine  warmth  and  double  si 
well  OS  diffusion  and  cheapness,  and  should  be  so  constructed  as  not  to  b 
fe^d  with  by  the  ignorant  The  system  which  I  hare  carried  out  combine 
On  the  top  course  of  bricks  round  my  sitting-room  I  ran  a  three-inch  til 
pipe  and  mode  an  opening  from  it  at  erery  three  feet  into  the  cornice 
room  which  was  open.  Tnis  air  passage  I  made  to  communicate  with  i 
which  I  caused  to  oe  built  side  fay  side  with  the  chimney  and  carried 
top  of  the  house.  In  summer  the  kitchen  fire  would  heat  the  chimns 
and  cause  the  air  in  the  air-shaft  to  be  heated  and  rise.  This  would  d 
impure  air  through  the  cornice  of  the  room  and  thoroughly  yentilate  it  fi 
parts.  In  winter  the  fire  would  be  lighted,  and  the  fire  being  the  exhaoi 
impure  air  would  run  to  the  open  chimney.  This  would  draw  air  down  t 
shaft,  but  OS  it  would  come  down  the  chimney-stack  it  would  become  partly 
on  the  road  and  would  enter  the  room  through  the  cornice  in  all  parts. 

Mr.  Bawlinson,  C.E.,  C.B.  (London):  This  question  of  the  best  form  of 

habitation  may  be  regarded  from  a  statesman's  point  of  riew,  from  a  b( 

point  of  Tiew,  or  from  a  purely  philanthropic  point  of  riew.    Looking 

question  as  statesmen,  we  find  that  human  habitations  haye  been  neglectei 

tne  Tery  earliest  dawnings  of  history.    I  know  of  no  nation  that  has  paid 

tion  as  it  ought  to  do  to  the  dwellings  of  the  lower  class  population.    I  spes 

a  full  knowledge  of  the  habitations  of  this  country,  and  also  with  some  Imo 

of  the  houses  of  the  labourinff  classes  upon  the  continent,  in  America,  i 

India.    And  the  sum  total  of  tne  story  amounts  to  utter  and  gross  nedec^ 

generates  a  mass  of  misery,  crime,  and  disease,  quite  indescribable.    Ther 

safety  for  any  people,  there  is  no  securit;^  for  any  Ck)yernment,  until  stsi 

haye  worked  out  the  problem  how  the  eyil  is  to  be  remedied.    One  of  th 

eyils  of  the  construction  of  dwellings  in  this  country  is,  first  of  all,  the  utter 

gard  of  appropriateness  in  matters  of  site  and  subsoil.    After  that  comes  m 

and  the  mode  of  construction,  and  then  the  mode  of  management  subss^ 

Now,  whether  you  are  goins  to  build  cottages,  yilla  residences,  or  palaces,  u 

necessity  is  to  haye  a  dry  subsoil.    If  not  jiaturally  dry,  the  soil  must  be  dr 

the  best  means.    The  second  necessity  is  that  the  area  upon  which  the  bu 

are  about  to  be  erected  must  be  isolated  from  the  subsoil,  and  the  cheapo 

best  means  is  to  use  concrete.    The  next  thing  is  that  there  should  be  pc 

damp'proof  course  to  preyent  the  damp  rising  into  the  walls ;  then,  if  tiM 

basement  story,  it  should  be  isolated  from  the  ground ;  the  earth  should  no 

in  contact  with  the  walls.    With  regard  to  t£e  arrangement  of  the  room 

Lamport  has  described  briefly  and  admirably  what  means  must  be  appUed  1 

yentilation.    I  may  finrt,  howeyer,  say  that  domestic  houses  have  two  purp 

serye  as  we  use  them.    They  haye  the  domestic  purpose  for  the  family— ai 

the  cottager,  that  is  the  entire  purpose  the  house  serves,  as  they  haye  few  yisi 

and  the  more  ornamental  purpose.    But  there  is  the  time  when  sickness  < 

and  people  ought  to  be  taught  that  they  cannot  liye  healthily  within  ^ 

walls  of  their  dwelling,  whateyer  the  arran||[ement  may  be,  if  they  do  not 

their  windows  and  admit  air.    Those  who  yisit  the  dwellings  of  the  poor  i 

see  to  it  that  the  windows  of  the  bed-rooms  are  opened,  and  if  they  do  not 

the  landlord  should  be  asked  to  make  the  reouisite  alterations.    If  the  outii 

be  let  in  nature  will  do  the  rest;  she  will  oxodize  and  purify.    If  tber 

window  on  a  staircase,  and  there  is  no  other  means  to  procure  yentilation,  I  r 

mend  that  the  window  should  be  let  down  some  three  inches  from  the  toi 

screwed  fast,  so  that  none  of  the  seryants  or  any  one  else  could  eyer  close  it  t 

or  night.    I  know  of  coses  where  great  benefit  has  been  done  by  this  simp] 

pedient.    Then  as  to  closet  arrangements.    I  once  hod  to  inspect  Windsor  C 

and  there  one  would  imagine,  if  eyer  there  was  perfection  to  be  found,  it  i 

ttdit  where  Her  Majeftj  hbd  to  reside.    In  1821,  Parliament  TOted  fiOO,000^ 


I)i8CU8Bion.  42d 


lace  of  residence  for  Gkorge  the  Fourth.  Up  to  the  end  of  WillUm 
'eign,  I  found  that  750,000^.  hod  heen  expended  upon  the  castle. 
)n  came  to  the  Throne,  in  the  year  1844,  the  state  of  the  castle  hod 
,  and  was  so  offensirei  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  live  in  it ; 
und  upon  examination  that  there  were  no  tewer  than  fifty-three 
in  the  basement,  all  of  them  full  and  orerflowing.  It  took  some 
ly  the  evil,  but  it  had  been  orercome,  and  now  probably  Windsor 
of  the  healthiest  plAces  in  the  world. 

ET  (Blackburn) :  The  work  in  this  matter  divides  itself  into  two 
to  amend  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  dwellings,  and  the  other  is 
'  of  informing  the  population,  by  every  means  at  command,  of  the 
cienee  in  sanitary  matters.  Local  bodies  are  not  always  to  blame, 
•do  are  often  found  living  in  houses  of  a  wretched  character;  when 
tter  houses  for  Be?,  more  a  week.  I  advocate  for  the  national  health 
3rity,  that  will  not  only  look  after  the  large  centres  of  population, 
cognizance  of  the  whole  country,  from  one  end  to  the  other.  The 
ry  knowledge  is  not  confined  to  the  poor. 

(BirkenhejS)  :  The  condition  of  the  rural  population  requires  con- 
>t  equal,  attention  from  the  Legislature  to  that  of  the  populations 
ns.  The  crying  evil  is  that  no  proper  provision  is  made  for  dealing 
js  element  for  spreading  disease,  death,  and  sickness — the  excrement, 
iall  thing  to  call  upon  the  Legislature  to  see  that  this  substance  is 
I  such  a  way  as  to  promote  the  health  of  the  inhabitants.  No 
\m  built  without  proper  provision  for  conveniences,  receptacles  for 
having  a  yard  in  the  rear.  At  present  we  have  houses  built  with 
ively  under  them,  and  with  privies  reared  aeainst  the  house  in  such  a 
rails  of  the  dwelling-house  becomes  tuinted  by  the  soil.  The  1  egis- 
lat  it  has  done,  has  given  the  local  bodies  power  to  enforce  proper 
they  have  made  all  the  powers  permissive  instead  of  compulsory, 
tly  they  are  never  enforced.  We  must  have  an  authority  to  enforce 
superior  to  the  interest  of  landowners,  builders,  op  cottage  owners 
J  that  an  improved  cottage  would  so  add  to  its  cost  as  to  make  it 
ih  of  the  cottager. 

LET  C.  C.  Db  Rexzy  (Lahore) :  I  hive  noticed  a  great  many  back -to- 
I  in  Leeds.     Some  are  even  modern  houses,  for  which  a  considerable 

Such  a  system  is  necessarily  unwholesome,  and  in  all  probability  it 
eal  to  do  with  the  reputation  for  unwholesomeness  that  Leeds  has 
such  houses  there  can  be  no  yards,  but  the  great  defect  is  the  want 
entilation. 

IE  WiLS05  said  that  architects  were  to  blamo  in  a  great  mea- 
badness  in  construction  of  the  dwellings  of  the  poor.  There  was 
udice  in  the  minds  of  the  better  class  of  persons  against  proper 
Little  progress  is  made  in  these  matters  jus>t  because  people  will  not 
3W  persons  who  are  able  to  give  advice,  and  just  because  our  Legis- 
supied  with  party  struggles  that  it  cannot  attend  to  the  health  and 
3  nation. 

llor  Gallsworthy  :  With  regard  to  buildings,  he  said  the  Local  Acts 
(Ticient  power  to  see  that  proper  accommodation  is  given.  Improve- 
ng  carried  on  in  the  town,  and  I  know  it  is  the  intention  of  the 
)troy  the  whole  of  the  worst  houses  that  exist.  There  is,  however,  a 
rent  required,  as  well  as  a  power  to  destroy,  and  the  Buildings  Com- 
>ught  it  wise  to  get  extended  powers  so  as  to  prevent  the  erection  of 
old  courts.  At  the  present  time  the  town  has  not  the  power  to  pre- 
ion  of  buildings  in  courts. 

xsox,  C.E.,  C.B. :  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of  holding  an  inquiry 
of  turning  my  attention  to  some  of  the  sanitary  defects  here,  and  1 
out  previously  what,  in  my  opinion,  woidd  be  a  remedy  for  one  of 

It  would  not  cost  much.  Leeds  has  already  been  sewered.  There 
rough  the  main  streets,  and  some  of  the  tributary  streets  also,  although 
not  complete.  But  the  sewers  are  not  ventilated  at  this  moment, 
!S  ore  connected  with  these  unventilated  eewersi  and  thftt  is  one  of  the 


430  Sanitary  Improvement  of  DvodUnge. 

elements  causing  the  excessire  mortality  of  Leeds ;  and  I  plead  with  the  peop] 
Leeds  to  make  tne  openings  up  to  the  streets  as  they  are  made  in  London,  tc 
the  gases  come  up  at  as  many  points  as  possible,  and  let  the  atmosphere  dilute 
gases  and  render  them  innocuous.  Some  of  the  streets  are  paTea»  othen  in 
suburbs  are  not  pared  at  all,  and  streets  in  the  huart  of  the  town  are  in  a  ! 
state.  If  the  town  has  not  the  money  it  should  borrow ;  if  it  has  not  the  poi 
to  borrow,  then  it  should  get  power. 

Mr.  FowLRK  (Borough  Burrcyor  of  Leeds) :  Since  Mr.  Rawlinson  had  mads 
inspection  of  the  Borough  the  sewers  had  been  Tcntiloted  to  a  rery  gtttX  ate 
In  fact,  the  north-east  district  of  the  town,  where  the  death-rate  is  the  higbeit, 
now  rentilated  by  means  of  direct  openings,  and  charcoal  trays  are  used  to  i 
infect.  Ventilation  is  also  effected  by  communication  with  the  chimneys  of  nn 
factories.  In  the  north  and  north-east  wards  the  fire  miles  of  sewers  there  li 
down  hare  hod  nearly  100  ventilators  put  in.  Leeds  is  paved  as  well  as  any  tot 
in  England. 

Mr.  W.  H.  MicfiAVL  (London)  stated  t!iit  there  were  800  cellar  dwellingi 
Leeds  at  the  present  time. 

Mr.  William  Bk5nett  (Liverpool)  stated  that  Dr.  Amott's  rentilator  wis  i 
effective  only  when  it  was  used  without  Dr.  Amott*s  stove,  which  had  a  remarfcil 
small  throat. 

Mr.  Councillor  Moslet  said  if  the  medical  officers  would  explain  the  subject 
the  people  they  would  do  more  good  than  the  Legislature  could  do  by  compuln 
laws. 

Mr.  IIopB  (Liverpool)  reported  a  complaint  made  by  some  working  men  wl 
were  provided  with  only  one  water-closet  to  every  five  houses. 

Mr.  KiciiARDsoN  repeated  a  recommendation  made  by  him  last  rear,  ihait' 
ashes  should  be  riddled  and  mixed  with  the  night  soil  in  every  housebold:  theo 
would  disinfect  the  other,  and  one  organization  would  suffice  for  the  remofsl 
both. 

Dr.  Stewart  (London):  A  great  improvement  would  be  produced  bvuc 
tension  of  Torrens's  Artisans  and  Labourers  Dwellings  Improvement  Aet. 
gives  very  large  powers,  but  it  is  of  little  practical  use,  because  those  pon 
are  not  taken  advantage  of,  and  because  it  gives  no  power  of  entry.  J 
obstructive  person  could  therefore  prevent  the  officer  from  entering  in  and  i 
amining  the  dwelling  so  as  to  obtain  evidence  for  its  condemnation.  Qlasgowk 
a  specitl  Act  authorizing  the  town  to  spend  1,200,000/.  in  pulling  down  boas 
not  with  a  view  to  re-building  as  a  public  speculation,  but  to  re-let  the  ground 
private  persons  to  build  under  strict  building  regulations.  This,  when  dfl 
cautiously,  produces  a  luogniflcent  improvement.  It  is  all  very  well  to  1 
the  blame  on  the  shamefully  underpaid  medical  officers.  Already  they  were  on 
worked,  and  numbers  of  them  lost  their  lives  in  work  for  which  they  foti 
thanks  and  very  little  money,  yet  now  they  were  to  be  saddled  with  the  job 
going  among  the  poor  and  explaining  sanitary  laws.  This  was  the  duty  of  the  who 
community.  We  should  not  see  tlio  great  problem  of  the  reform  of  the  workii 
clafses  becoming  more  and  more  difficidt  day  by  day,  but  wo  should  see  a  kind 
feeling  generated  between  the  various  classes,  accompanied  by  those  pood  fni 
which  never  fail  to  result  from  the  manifestation  of  an  honest  personal  intereiti 
the  part  of  the  superior  classes  in  the  concerns  of  the  inferior.  I  speak  from  la 
experience  ns  a  visitor  in  the  houses  of  the  poor,  not  only  for  purposes  of  medio 
relief,  but  for  the  moral  amelioration  of  the  poor,  when  I  say  tbat  it  is  a  Isboi 
which  brings  it«  own  reward.  Every  day  and  nour  that  vou  are  engaged  in  th 
work  you  feel  tlmt  you  are  doing  that  which  will  be  of  great  advantage  to  ti 
morals  and  habits  of  the  community.  We  must  not  forget  tliat  the  poor  kn 
the  filthy  and  unhealthy  rather  than  that  which  is  clean  and  wholesome,  h 
visitor  you  must  inculcate  the  duty  of  keeping  their  windows  open,  but  in  w. 
cases  you  may  do  it  every  da;^  for  a  twelvemonth,  and  all  through  the  jetrjQ 
will  find  every  chink  and  crevice  filled  up  so  as  to  prevent  the  access  of  a  angi 
breath  of  air  to  a  dwelling  so  stifiing  as  almost  to  be  noifK>me.  Until  we  hsi 
changed  the  morals  and  tastes  of  the  people  wo  shall  not  secure  for  them  besitli, 
habitations. 

Dr.  AcLA5D,  F.B.S.  (Oxford):  We  shall  all  agree  and  sympathise  with  the repn 


tHscuBBiotu  48l 

i  of  this  toim  who  liare  spoken,  that  it  is  impossible  to  do  eyerjthing  at 
I  join  absolute  issue  with  Mr.  Hastings.  The  principle  upon  Which  the 
ioner*s  report  was  based  was  this.  The  sanitary  wants  of  our  people  are 
rery  comer  of  the  kingdom,  and  wo  And  in  erery  comer  of  the  kingdom 
nttttire  few  people  who  elect  their  own  guardians  and  their  own  officers, 
vkj  to  them,  conduct  your  owci  administration  and  work  this  thing  out 
elTCS.  Mr.  Hastings  appeared  entirt'ly  to  forget  that  beside  the  advice 
le  Commissioners  gare  to  the  Gtoremment,  that  all  tliese  guardians  and 
iffioerfl,  and  all  the  ratepayers,  should  be  engaged  in  this  personal  work ; 
amended  also  that  the  GoTernment  should  appoint  us  many  skilled  in- 
18  the  case  may  require.  We  did  not  mention  any  particular  number,  not 
to  increase  the  burdens  of  the  already  ^xcessiyely  taxed  country  beyond 
1  requirements  of  the  case,  and  these  we  left  the  Government  to  decide 
f  lUO  more  skilled  analysts  are  required  to  initiate  the  guardians  and 
cials  in  the  country  into  their  duty,  by  all  means  let  the  Government  provide 
will  refer  to  only  one  otlier  matter  which  has  happily  passed  beyond  the 
a  discussion.  It  is  now  the  duty  of  a  chief  Minister  of  State  to  bring  the 
rce  of  the  Government  to  settle  this  question.  The  Local  Government 
ists.  It  has  at  its  head  a  north  country  man,  Mr.  Stansfeld.  He  has 
1  with  him,  as  secretary,  Mr.  Lambert^  and  as  engineer,  Mr  Bawlinson. 
thers  at  his  command  to  help  him  to  frame  his  Bill,  and  I  think  this  is 
le  wrong  time  to  throw  any  doubt  upon  the  wisdom  of  what  is  likely  to 
tted  to  Parliament  as  a  remedy  for  tne  evils  we  all  wish  to  put  an  end  to. 
OLLAND :  Nothing  has  been  said  in  the  course  of  this  discussion  in  opposi- 
hat  I  laid  down  in  my  paper,  namely,  that  there  are  houses  standing  in 
ople  should  not  be  allowed  to  live,  and  which,  therefore,  should  be  piQled 
)f  course  it  would  be  unjust  to  require  the  owner  to  spend  the  whole  of 
ij  required  to  renew  them  at  once,  but  the  cost  might  be  spread  over  a 
>f  years,  as  was  done  in  the  case  of  the  improvement  of  tovms. 
lADWicK,  C.B.  (London) :  Sanitary  science  has  become  so  much  a  matter 
ity  now  that  a  man  might  contract  for  a  fixed  sum  to  reduce  the  death- 
eeds  to  a  third  of  what  it  is  at  present.  With  respect  to  the  lower  class 
tions  there  is  no  doubt  that  some  of  them  cannot  be  improved,  and  when 
e  case  they  ought  to  be  taken  down. 

JCHAVL  summing  up  the  discussion  said  : — We  seem  to  be  all  agreed  that 
al  pressure  by  Government  or  otlierwise  can  accomplish  the  object  we 
iew  imless  the  people  are  so  improfed  morally  as  to  make  them  willing 
•their  own  improvement,  and  tliat  you  cannot  act  entirely  from  without  but 
re  assistance  from  within.  It  has  been  stated  here  how  much  we  are 
to  local  legislation  and  local  legislators ;  but  in  my  experience  the  great 
s  of  all  healthy  legislation  have  been  the  owners  of  cottage  property.  The 
these  men  whose  interest  it  has  been  to  procure  influence  in  the  local 
has  been  such  as  to  disgust  intelligent  men  and  prevent  them  from  taking 
he  local  management.  Consequently  local  management  has  fallen  into 
s  of  those  who  are  indifferent  to  sanitary  laws,  of  those  in  fact  who  are 
f  cottage  property  and  who  refuse  to  incur  expense  for  the  improvement 
iwn  property.  What  we  want  is  something  more  than  an  authority  to 
)  laws,  and  it  should  become  our  duty  to  impress  upon  our  representatives 
ment  that  in  any  sanitary  Act  there  shall  not  be  merely  the  loose  powers 
making  bye  laws,  but  that  you  should  have  the  power  of  dealing  with 
abitations  under  the  law  itself.  The  second  point  touched  upon  is  Uie 
>n  of  property  for  public  purposes ;  and  it  is  a  serious  question  to  decide 
extent  and  under  what  circumstances  we  shoidd  be  allowed  to  deal  with 
ill  properties  to  the  injury  of  private  persons  for  the  public  good.  I 
•commend  that,  without  requiring  any  cumbrous  formalities  to  be  gone 
there  shall  be  a  simple  mode  by  provisional  order  after  proper  inquiry, 
licb  for  great  public  advantage  private  interests  must  go  to  the  wall. 


4ii  ffeaUfi  of  Operativa. 

HEALTH   OP   0PEBXTIVE8.* 

What  are  the  best  means  of  Promoting  the  Health  of  Oj 
in  Factories  and  Workshops  ?    By  T.  H.  St  ALL  A  BD, 

fpHE  question  is  narrowed  by  the  terms  to  the  consideratioi 
X  causes  affecting  the  health  of  the  operatives  within  theii 
shops.  The  workman  neither  eats,  drinks,  nor  sleeps  the 
only  essential  of  life  of  which  he  partook  was  air,  and  the( 
first  of  all  was — Are  the  arrangements  for  the  'sufficient  sc 
pure  air  as  satif^factory  as  they  should  be  ? 

In  order  to  answer  this  it  was  desirable  to  inquire  whet 
operatives  in  factories  presented  any  evidence  of  deteriorated 
Ix>oking  at  the  death-rate  of  Leeds,  a  town  in  wliicii  the 
tion  of  operatives  in  factories  is  ver .  Inrge,  and  excluding  the 
under  fifteen  years  of  age,  it  would  be  found  that  there 
1870,  3218  deaths,  of  whom  619  died  of  tubercular  d 
chiefiy  consumption,  and  628  of  diseases  of  the  respiratory  oi 
making  a  total  of  1247  deaths,  or  38*7  per  cent,  of  the  deat 
fifteen  years  of  age.  Public  attention  had  not  been  drawn 
preventibility  of  this  class  of  diseases,  but  in  the  army  the 
had  attracted  great  attention,  and  it  was  found  that  the 
caused,  not  by  exposure  to  the  weather,  not  to  the  vnriai 
climate,  not  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  a  soldier's  life,  but  sii 
the  fact  that  he  had  been  compelled  to  live  and  sleep  in  hi 
which  were  his  workrooms,  not  supplied  with  a  sufficiency  < 
air.  And  the  moment  openings  were  made  in  those  bari*ack 
sort  of  supply  of  air  given,  the  mortality  from  these  coa 
diminished.  The  highest  authorities  in  the  army  are  not  yc 
fied  that  the  an*angements  for  ventilation  are  anywhere  su 
and  they  are  of  opinion  that  the  mortality  from  consinnpti 
diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  is  susceptible  of  further  dim 
No  one  can  examine  the  physical  condition  of  factory  hands 
trast  with  agricultural  labourers  without  being  struck  wi 
great  physical  difference  in  the  individual,  and  the  cxtrac 
change  which  takes  place  in  the  history  of  the  race — uor  will 
to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  this  difference  is  almost  entirely 
the  fact  that  the  agricultural  labourer  works  in  the  open  air. 
houses  are  alike  ill-constructed  and  overcrowded.  Tiicre  is  the 
at  the  door  ofone,  and  the  muck -heap  at  the  door  of  the  oiher  ; 
are  remarkable  for  their  cleanly  habits,  their  morals,  or  their  sc 
But  from  the  moment  they  leave  home  their  circumstances  < 
One  goes  to  work  in  the  huge  brick  box,  with  its  long  rows  o 
windows,  not  half  of  which  can  be  opened,  and  the  supply 
depends  on  the  caprice  of  the  occupiers,  or,  at  best,  upon  0| 
which  admit  a  niggardly  supply  of  fresh  air  at  the  floor,  and  f 
to  escape  through  a  cowl  at  top,  so  constructed  as  to  mali 
escape  as  difficult  as  possible.      Whereas  the  other  goes  f< 


•  See  Transaciiotts,  18G5,  p.  i^77. 


^y  X  li.  Staltardy  M.  U.  4^3 

to  the  invigorating  air  of  Heaven — supplied  to  him 
n  perfect  purity.  It  penetrates  his. lungs,  it  bathes 
les  off  all  impurities  of  the  blood,  and  it  brings  health 
)oth  mind  and  body. 

;otton  famine  Mr.  Rawlinson  bore  testimony  to  the 
ge  which  took  place  in  the  habits  and  appearance  of 
ds  when  they  were  transferred  to  the  open  air.  At 
became  weaned  and  their  hands  sore.  But  in  a  few 
tite  improved,  became  less  fickle,  and  the  craving  for 
lased,  and  gradually  the  power  of  the  muscles  grew, 
le  '*  set ''  and  the  cheeks  fresh  and  ruddy.  Many  men 
SB  of  this  change  so  much  that  they  never  returned 

tuted  to  live  and  labour  in  the  open  air  and  not  in  a 
be  contended — 

operative,  cateris  paribu9^  will  enjoy  better  health-* 
id  period  of  ability  to  work — and  greater  energy  both 
ly  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  hours  he  spends  in 

hough  he  may  consume  more  food,  there  is  less  ne- 
,  stimulants,  and  other  expensive  forms  of  food.    In 
ends  far  less  upon  the  quality  of  the  food  than  upon 
ut-door  life." 
refore,  more  economical  to  employ  operatives  in  the 

*  labour,  especially  if  it  be  combined  with  good  food 
tends  to  the  improvement  of  the  race,  whilst  no 
or  education  will  prevent  the  degeneration  of  people 
itories  as  they  are  now  constructed, 
erefore,  necessary  that  all  factories  and  workshops 
istructed  as  to  assimilate  their  conditions  as  near  as 
3  of  the  open  air,  with  provision  only  for  protection 
irect  sunshine,  and  violent  draughts.  Unless  we 
rinciple  in  the  arrangement  of  our  houses,  workshops, 
;  buildings — in  fact,  unless  we  make  the  principle  of 
en  air  that  of  our  hourly  life,  we  must  degenerate. 
le  only  point  at  which  we  recognise  the  principle  is 
t  of  the  sick,  and  there  are  only  a  very  few  of  us  do 
good  for  the  sick,  must  be  good  for  the  maintenance 
le  best  hospital  in  the  world  is  an  umbrella  tent, 
he  body  is  properly  protected  by  sufficient  coverings, 
g  but  good  in  exposure  to  the  air.  Of  course  there 
ktions,  as  in  cases  of  inflammation  of  the  air  passages, 
be  no  question  that  the  problem  under  consideration 
'ide  buildings,  the  interiors  of  which  are  absolutely 
r,  with  provision  only  for  protection  against  rain, 
,  and  violent  draughts. 

e  has,  unfortunately,  been  ignored  by  architects,  and 
»t  distinguished  sanitarians.    It  is  only  necessary  to 


434  Health  of  Operatives. 

visit  tho  best  constructed  factories  to  see  the  differeDce  between  tbi 
air  in  the  workrooms  and  that  outside,  and  in  saying  this  I  pul 
aside  altogether  the  presence  of  dust  and  other  deleterious  emanatioiii 
from  the  work,  machinery,  &c. ;  whilst  scientific  sanitarians  hafie^ 
unfortunately,  occupied  themselves  with  determining  the  least  pos- 
sible quantity  of  air  which  is  required  for  respiration  and  the  Isist 
possible  openings  in  a  room  or  workshop  through  which  it  may  bs 
supplied.    This  is  not  the  problem.    Man  at  work  in  the  open  air  ii 
not  so  restricted.     The  change  is  constant,  the  supply  inexhaustibly 
unlimited.  You  will  perceive  that  starting  with  this  principle  I  at  onea 
exclude  all  ventilating  arrangemeilts,  as  they  now  exist.     Openingi 
whether  at  the  top  or  bottom  of  the  room  are  partial  in  their  opsn- 
tions,  and  without  any  exception  they  create  draughts  wbicb  in 
forcible  according  to  the  pressure  exerted,  and  are  local  in  thdr 
action.     If  you  were  to  attempt  to  fill  a  room  with  water  throng 
openings  described  as  ventilators  the  process  would  in  many  CMI 
occupy  many  hours,  and  if  the  pressure  is  increased  as  to  msls 
tho  operation  quicker  in  the  case  of  air,  there  must  of  necessify  li 
draught.     If,  therefore,  we  want  to  place  our  workroom  in  im 
contact  with  the  open  air,  we  shall  be  compelled  to  adopt  tlie 
principle  of  numerous  small  openings;  and  we  must  rely  upon  tlie 
laws  of  difiusion  and  convection  for  a  sufficient  and  complete  inter- 
change, that  is,  wo  must  protect  our  apartment  from  the  dinet 
pressure  of  the  wind,  and  yet  provide  a  large  surface  in  which  tin 
communication  with  the  outer  air  shall  be  free.     The  laws  of  &» 
fusion  and  convection  are  sufficient  to  ensure  interchange  even  in  the 
stillest  atmosphere,  if  only  we  give  them  sufiicient  opportunity  fa 
acting,  and  the  problem  is  thus  reduced  to  the  question  as  to  laigot 
surface  of  our  room  sides,  which  may  be  perforated  by  innnmen^ 
small  openings,  so  placed  as  to  be  free  from  any  outside  pressure  of 
tho  wind.     Of  course  we  cannot  perforate  any  of  the  sides,  and  m 
have  only  the  top  and  bottom.     It  would  be  expensive,  diffiealt,  nl 
useless,  to  perforate  the  fioor,  and  thus  we  are  driven  to  the  aher*' 
native  of  perforating  the  ceiling,  and  if  we  protect  the  perfontfed 
ceiling  from  rain,  and  expose  it  nowhere  to  the  direct  pressors  of . 
the  wind,  we  have  succeeded  in  placing  the  workroofm  in  fne^. 
complete,  and  Immediate  contact  with  the  outside  air,  and  we  have 
given  tho  principle  of  slow  difibsion  full  play.     No  great  vohms 
of  cold   air  can   possibly   be   driven   down   on   any    side  of  tbi 
apartment,  whilst  tho  freest  exit  is  provided  for  the  warm  and  > 
vitiated  exhalations  from  the  lungs  and  body,  and  for  any  vnwbobi  ^ 
some  products  of  the  manufacture  carried  on.      There  is  no  dis- 
turbance in   the  atmosphere   of  the  room  sufficient  to  interfsn 
with  the  natural  rising  of  tho  vitiated  products  to  the  ceiling;  and 
in  the  plan  I  have  proposed  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  esei^  of 
those  products  into  the  air  chamber,  firom  which  they  are  at  enos 
carried  away  by  the  horizontal  current  passing  through.    The  sr» 
rangement  is  simple.    Every  room  should  be  provided  with  a  donblft 
ceiling,  tho  spaco  between  being  in  free  communication  with  the 


jbiscusa^ioru  435 

air  on  all  sides.  The  top  ceiliDg  is  either  the  floor  of  the  room 
I  or  the  roof-— the  lower  ceiling  is  mode  of  finely-perforated  zinc 
ed  paper.  The  air-chamber  should  bo  largo  enough  to  admit 
ing  swept  out  from  time  to  time,  and  the  sides  may  be  made  of 
rated  bricks,  which  may  be  made  of  various  colours  and  shapes. 
plan  does  not  interfere  with  the  employment  of  opposite  win- 
and  ordinary  means  of  warming  rooms ;  the  sole  object  is  to 
Min  the  principle  of  living  in  the  open  air — under  all  conditions, 
ler  in  winter  or  summer,  day  or  night.  It  is  beyond  the 
A  of  any  one  to  cut  off  that  wholesome  and  necessary  connec- 
-It  is  a  principle  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  as  necessary  in  a 
oom  as  in  a  drawing-room,  and  as  necessary  in  a  factory  as  in 
«pital.  It  is  a  principle  which  has  been  ignored  by  architects 
the  Roman  era,  but  I  would  observe  that  the  courts  of  the 
leiian  House  are  but  a  more  open  arrangement  than  the  one 
tsed.  I  believe  that  the  best  means  of  improving  the  health  of 
tives  in  factories  and  workshops  would  be  to  place  them  in 
t  communication  with  the  open  air  by  the  plan  proposed. 


DISCUSSION. 

CflAKLss  Lamport  (London)  said  that  Br.  Stallard's  theory  wa0  admirable, 
praotiee  it  was  calculated  to  produce  evils  which  would  militate  quite  as 
sgatQst  the  conditions  of  health,  as  did  the  very  evils  the  theory  professed  to 
B.  If  he  understood  the  object  of  that  theory  it  was  to  import  the  advan- 
if  open  air  into  what  Dr.  Stallard  called  "  boxes  "  or  workshops,  It  did  not, 
or,  appear  to  take  into  consideration  the  advantages  or  the  disadvantages 
naturally  attached  to  so  variable  a  climate  as  that  of  England.  Dr.  Stallard 
mA  i^ore  the  results  of  admitting  night  air  into  hospitals.  Night  air  was 
sd  with  the  chance  of  variations  taking  place,  and  these  were  often  very 
so  much  BO  in  Switzerland  that  during  the  autumn  a  celebrated  physician 
Tdtj  prohibited  the  admission  of  night  air,  remarking  that  one  could  never 
[  upon  the  climate,  but  that  Eneland  was  worse  in  that  respect  than 
rlaod.  In  the  course  of  the  night  there  might  be  a  fall  in  the  temperature 
a  than  ten  degrees,  and  if  that  ^tered  temperature  were  conveyed  by  draughts 
h  a  window  on  to  tiie  bed  of  a  sleeping  patient,  in  many  cases  the  result 
mrly  fatal.  With  regard  to  workshops,  he  was  for  many  years  connected 
f  factory  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Manchester.  His  partner,  desirous  to 
to  the  workpeople,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  conditions  indicated  by  Dr. 
d,  introduced  fans,  and  had  a  system  of  ventilation  put  in,  under  thesuperin- 
ee  of  Sir  William  Fairbairn,  whose  name  would  be  a  sufficient  guarantee 
le  work  was  well  done.  But  the  operatives  would  not  have  the  system  at 
ley  nid,  "  If  we  are  to  live  in  these  conditions  you  must  raise  our  wages.*' 
.  not  think  that  the  proposed  arrangement  would  be  acceptable  to  tailors  and 
,  for  instance,  who  might  be  content  with  the  variations  of  temperature,  as 
I  the  summer  lasted,  but  who  would  not  care  in  winter  to  feol  a  tempera- 
low  freezing  point.  Then,  as  a  matter  of  practice,  the  arrangement  would 
Id  good  in  machine  shops,  where  you  must  have  travelling  cranes,  or  some- 
i  that  sort.  There  were  one  or  two  essential  principles  vrnich  ought  not  to 
dooked  :  whatever  system  might  be  adopted  it  should,  at  least,  be  one  that 
f  could  rebel  asainst.  In  order  to  have  a  thorough  ventilation  there  must 
easential  condition,  namely,  draughts.  If  the  air  were  changed,  that  must 
e  by  current,  and  that  current  changed  would  become  a  draught.  What* 
•nuDlMd  to  be  done  was  to  secure  that  draught  and  make  a  friend  of  it,  by 
icess  of  warming.     With  that  qualification  the  system  would  be  l^TafiX\cn^\^ 


43G  Itealth  of  Opemtives. 

perfect,  except  in  the  matter  of  expense,  for  he  feared  tliat  owners  of  buildiui 
would  rebel  oeainiit  the  expenditure  necossarj  to  keep  up  an  efficient  and  thoroon 
Tentilation.  If  they  would  not  incur  that  expense,  but  admitted  the  colddnunt 
from  the  outer  atmosphere,  howcrcr  beneficial  the  breathing  of  oxyicen  might  m, 
in  all  probability  the  workpeople  would  at  once  ask  for  an  increase  of  waipM. 

Mr.  P.  n.  Holland  (London)  said  his  chief  objection  to  the  sjstan  under  diiounoi 
was  the  great  sacrifices  it  inyolyed.  This  he  might  at  once  illustrate  bj  ibowigg 
tliat  the  advantages  of  the  system  might  be  seeuNd  without  its  SBcrifieef.  Ikb  s 
building  sixteen  feet  high,  and  cut  off  say  four  feet.  Gkt  a  large  oomioe  perfo- 
rated, so  tlmt  a  sheet  of  air  might  come  through  slowly.  If  a  com  ice  were  plaeiil 
on  each  side  of  the  room,  and  the  perforations  were'  made  so  as  to  allow  a  dwt 
of  air  to  creep  under  the  ceiling  from  side  to  side,  all  the  objects  proposed  by  Br. 
Stallard  would  be  accomplished  without  the  sacrifices  his  srstem  involfed.  Wi 
generally  burnt  a  quantity  of  fuel  in  a  grate,  and  sent  the  &eat  up  the  chiiaiief. 
Surely  it  was  not  m  accordance  with  common  sense  to  bum  a  ton  of  coal,  and  fct 
the  lieat  of  19  cwt.  escape  in  that  way.  Thirty  years  ago  he  witnensd  m 
experiment  which  was  effectual,  to  some  extent,  in  preyenting  the  waste  of  ho^ 
without  cost  An  air-pipe  was  carried  up  the  chimney,  so  that  the  airou^i 
proportion  of  the  escaping  heat,  and,  by  moans  of  a  simple  contriyanoe,  that  hMtoi 
air  was  brought  into  the  room  constantly.  Tliis  current  of  warm  air  wai^oC 
course,  much  plcasanter  tlum  a  current  of  cold  air,  to  which  moet  persons  nttim 
in  a  room  naturally  objected.  That,  ho  bolieycd,  was  one  of  the  best  and  chcspH 
methfxiH  of  yontilating  witli  warm  air. 

Mr.  AxPRKw  LsmMTOif  (Liyerpool)  said  the  simplest  and  moat  effectiye  fjitn 
of  heating  and  ventilation  he  Iiad  ever  seen  was  in  a  schoolroom  at  Glasgow.  Hi 
schoolroom  was  on  a  second  floor.  In  a  lower  floor  was  an  ordinary  kind  of  grails 
and  the  only  supply  that  grate  could  gel  was  the  exhausted  air  of  the  scIkk>1ioob« 
carried  by  a  tube  in  the  ceiling.  The  necessity  of  the  fire  creating  a  draught  took 
away  the  whole  of  the  exhausted  air  from  the  schoolroom.  The  supfdy  of  htk 
air  was  by  means  of  a  perforated  pipe  which  convoyed  the  air  to  a  Doiler  beitel 
by  tlio  fire ;  and  after  tne  air  had  been  warmed  by  passing  through  that  boik^  it 
was  conveyed  by  a  tube  to  the  schoolroom,  where  the  atmosphere  was  thus  ksptii 
constant  purity,  without  any  of  those  draughts  which  gave  people  colds,  or,  St 
least,  rendered  sitting  in  a  room  uncomfortable. 

Mr.  Alfred  Bbnnktt  (Liverpool)  had  just  visited  the  Council-Chaiober  of  tb 
Town  Hall,  in  which  one  of  tlie  Departments  was  then  assembled,  and  'had  theiv 
seen  how  necessary  it  was  that  some  such  system  as  that  recommcmded  bj  Dti 
Stallard  should  be  adopted.  The  chamber  was  crowded  and  the  atmoipkm 
almost  unbearable.  The  method  described  by  Mr.  LeighUm  might  perhaps  siwnr 
well  enough  in  ordinary  circles,  but  he  feared  that  it  would  be  quite  insuffieMit  ti 
create  tJial  rapid  change  of  air  in  a  crowded  room  which  was  essential,  in  oidff  li 
maintain  a  pure  atmosphere. 

Dr.  Stewart  (London)  said  it  seemed  to  be  generally  admitted  thatanrhoiplii 
where  the  system  of  ventilation  did  not  provitSs  an  ample  supply  of  frssh  sir  VM 
faulty  in  its  arrangements.  In  tliat  respect,  therefore,  Dr.  8tallard*s  pn^nul  m 
a  good  one.  In  most  of  the  London  hospitals  there  was  a  plan  in  openktumikl 
supplied  an  ample  amount  of  fresh  air  without  discomfort  to  the  '"■nr*^  Us 
best  plan  he  had  seen  was  one  used  by  a  friend  of  his  at  Cluchester.  Tbsib.ii 
that  instance,  was  admitted  by  an  arrangement  of  perfomted  platen  so  thsl  it 
might  enter  the  room  as  imperceptibly  as  possible.  His  friend  said  bs  sodi 
ventilate  houses  by  the  same  method,  even  in  the  coldest  weather,  without  vBd^f 
lowering  the  temperature.  Warming  more  particularly  eame  within  the  aidatton 
province,  but,  unfortunately  in  too  many  cases,  architects  did  not  apply  thsirmiBdi 
to  that  stud^.  Some  engineers  had,  however,  proposed  many  adnuraUe  pIsDS  lor 
warming  buildings.  As  regarded  the  introduction  of  air,  wherever  y«|iT  mA 
perforated  plates  were  used  to  diffuse  the  air  imperceptibly,  those  platen  lusthai 
arranged  by  his  friend  at  Chichester,  should  be  capable  of  being  removed  cthj 
few  (utvs,  lest  they  might  bte  choked  up,  for  it  was  remarkmUe  how  rapidly  ictai 
accumulated.  With  reference  to  the  safe  ailmission  of  air  into  sleeping-roos»i  hi 
thought  that  was  provided  for  by  the  plan  he  prqwsed,  then  ia  opsntioftSt  thi 
Midttlcaex.  Hos^WA, 


ticMiLi.U'  MUi^  the  introduDtJoi)  of  pure  air  into  workshops  during  tlie 
l^undoubUdljnTerj  diffcrenl  queitioD  froai  tliatof  admittiDg  freeh  lur, 
Hie  night,  tntu  slMping-roonu.  where  jxttieata  vera  pl&ced  at  a  certain 
ifroin  ouch  other ;  uul,  bearing  this  diitioBLion  in  mind,  he  could  not  help 
}  that  the  best  arrangement  would  be  to  adapt  the  remunihls  pl&t«i, 
Ml  b;  Dr.  glen-ort,  to  the  s^ateai  proposed  }>y  Dr.  Slallurd,  and  tluit  tlie 
nr«  of  the  boepilol-word  might  be  teiglitened  or  IcMencd  bj  the  iaierliun 
buwol  of  one  of  the  pcrfaraUd  plates. 

LtwuKBQN,  C.B.  (Chairmiin)  said  no  artiSoiol  remedy,  no  Snelj-drawn 
If  fluee  ortolve*,  or  indeed  snjlhing  of  that  kind,  would  proride  that  abiin- 
ifMib  air  wlucli  appeared  to  be  neoeeiary  for  lieallih.  Earing  given  nn  ao- 
jtiia  Tisit  lo  the  Arm;  in  the  Crimen,  as  a  souitsir  commiauoner,  anil  the 

■  invhioh  he  found  Uie  troope  and  the  caus?iof  the  great  morljUitj  among 
brooeadMl  lit  point  out  nith  regard  to  dayond  night  temperature  that  people 
litntr]'  were  lees  afraid  of  Tentilation  tbau  contineiilal  nationt  were.     In 

rr.  and  Qernuuif,  there  wo*  noth  tug  that  people  dreaded  so  luuch  ae  open 
He  would  Tenlure  to  eaj,  iu  the  heiLriog  of  medical  men,  that  it  win 
tlim  bagh«ar  with  regard  to  the  difference  of  temperature  between  night 
IvBi  got  rid  of.  This  he  thought  might  be  done  brpntting  patients  out 
ht  diwight,  and  keeping  them  pretl;  well  coiered.  With  regnrd  ro  Dight 
ller*  in  the  Sast  were  noU  aware  that  although  at  mid-da;  a  tropical 
ned  the  sandj  plainH  of  Arabia,  at  midnight  riren  were  froxen  over. 
|uid  nerer  heara  that  anj  traveller  eiil^rorl  from  the  TariaCion  ol 
^re  in  that  part  of  thp  world.  He  himself  had  been  in  a  country  where 
kiMiire  was  about  1^  degrees  in  the  sun.  He  recollected  tJiat  he  hod  to 
■th  bis  coat  off,  and  that  he  perspired  from  every  pore.  Tet  at  night 
|io«  on  inch  thick.  For  hie  pert  be  could  ■ofelj  snj  that  he  did  not 
in  that  change  of  temperature.  He  did  not  mean  to  say  that  patienta 
Mnt^eoWd  lo  such  a  mrialion  of  temperature,  but  he  simply  referred  to 
Kperience  <o  show  what  the  human  CL,nftitution  would  sustsin,  so  lone  a* 
|»  benefit  of  fresh  air.    What  was  called  fliie-and-Sue  rentilatioii  bod 

tiled  within  his  own  obeerration.  and  his  whole  eiperienoe  pointed  to 
»  neotHtty  of  obtaining  plenty  of  fresh  and  pure  air  if  the  object  was  • 

|be  health  of  workpeople,  and  to  facilitate  the  cure  of  patients.  I 

tJtr.l-AKDi  in  reply,  obaerred  that  at  the  hospital  with   which  he  was  con-  ^^^H 

bd  where  a  large  number  of  small-poi  patienta  hod  been  Ireoted,  windows  ^^^H 
k  during  the  whole  of  February  and  March  last.  One  of  the  most  re-  ^^^^| 
t' wooToriei  that  had  taken  place  tliero  was  accomplished  in  a  tent,  from         ^^^^| 

■  sdee  were  removed,  in  (act  a  sort  of  umbrella,  under  which  the  patient  ^^^H 
■,  wtlb  thenmple  protecUon  of  a  large  thick  blanket,  It  was  one  of  the  I 
fens  phenomena  discovered  in  recent  times,  that  nearly  all  diseases,  ' 
Itfaon  terminating  in  death,  were  accompanied  with  an  extraordinary  | 

■  temperature  of  the  body,  and  that  in  almost  oU  cases  preceding  death, 

ntare  roM  to  104-11-8,  in  the  place  of  98.    That  reducing  of  the  body's  | 

fcined  with  an  abundance  of  frcab  air,  formed  one  of  the  most  important  ' 

tot  treating  disease.     Mr.  liimport  had  spoken  of  the  ventilating  fttns.  I 

put,  he  olwBjs  had  nn  objection  to  these  engines,  on  account  of  their 

e     If  we  ooiUd  not  settle  thia  question  upon  natural  principles  We  must  I 

tw  inaalnble.    If  it  was  desirable  to  introduce  warm  sir,  let  tlutt  be  done,  j 

|ual  nroteot  against  cutting  off  the  outer  air  simply  to  economise  fuel. 

luu  should  tlie  connection  of  the  outer  air  bo  destroyed  for  the  sake  of  I 

I  In  the  Sanitary  Exhibition  be  had  obaerved  a  rentilating  chamber. 

vndentood  was  intended  tor  the  wards  of  tlie  new  hospICBl  in  that  t^wn.  I 

tmal  wards  were  \o  be  ventilated  by  Dimni  of  flues— old  tbinei  that  liad  i 

tiym  and  over  agaiu.  and  dtsoarded  as  often  as  they  hod  lieen  tried.  \ 

C  aware  that  the  mnotiou  of  the  Poor  Low  Uonrd  had  been  receired  for  \ 

Xion  of  that  ayateui  of  rentilation,  but  the  other  day  he  vi»it«d  the  | 

K  and  there  saw  a  room  veulilated  under  the  direction  of  on  inspector  ^^^H 

iMrd.    There  were  four  little  openings  in  the  room,  two  at  the  bottom  ^^^1 

1^,  am)  two  at  the  top  o[  each  end.    After  that  ho  was  not  astonished  ^^^H 

E build  a  new  hoepilol.    The  sf  stem  he  proposed  did  not  ^^^H 

■ : fl 


438  Health  of  Operatives. 

interfere  \ritli  the  odmiBsion  of  fresh  air  through  open  windows  in  wann  weaker, 
when  wp  could  pcareoly  have  too  much  ventilation  of  that  kind ;  but  in  old 
weather  the  prevention  of  draughts  was  the  desideratum.  His  plan  was  the  muH 
of  a  long  studj  of  the  question,  and  although  it  liad  not  been  actaallT  put  int^ 
practice  yet  it  was  under  the  consideration  of  the  local  authorities  of  lialifai,  win 
were  about  to  build  a  now  hospital,  and  also  of  the  authorities  of  Leioerter,  wbo 
had  in  each  case  promised  to  look  into  the  matter  carefully.  Then,  some  of  the 
most  eminent  inspectors  connected  with  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Pmj 
Coimcil  had  expressed  opinions  in  favour  of  the  plan  being  tried.  PmcUod 
experiment  would  have  to  determine  several  details  incidental  to  the  scbcw. 
With  regard  to  night  air,  he  maintained  that  there  was  no  danger  wIiateTer  to  be 
apprehended  from  \\a  admission  into  a  house,  provided  the  latter  was  not  built  in 
an  unfavourable  sitiuition.  If  a  house  were  erected  in  a  swamp,  there  would  be 
enmnations  from  the  swamp  capable  of  producing  difpoase,  but  so  long  as  the  lilt 
of  the  building  was  of  the  ordinary  and  proper  kind,  no  danger  would  arise  ettbtf 
from  the  humidity  of  the  air  or  from  changes  in  the  temperature,  provided,  in  the 
case  of  a  ho8))i(al,  the  patients  were  well  covered  up.  This  hacT  been  teited  bj 
medioal  men  in  the  treatment  of  fever  oases,  and  most  assuring  evidence  on^ed 
OS  to  the  safety  of  the  experiment. 

Mr.  G.  H.  L.  RiCKARDS,  Sub-Inspector  of  Factories,  then  r«d 
the  following  paper  "  On  the  Factory  Acts."  • 

IN  England  alone  there  are  97,074  works  under  the  supervision  of 
the  factory  inspectors,  employing  2,006,978  hands,  and  of  these 
98,731  are  children  at  school  as  half-time  workers.  When  we  con- 
sider the  important  position  which  Leeds  occupies  in  the  industrial 
condition  of  the  country,  I  trust  the  members  will  accord  me  tlieir 
indulgence  while  I  briefly  place  before  them  some  of  the  more* im- 
portant facts  connected  with  the  working  of  the  Factory  Acts,  and  I 
do  this  with  less  hesitation  when  we  remember  that  on  a  cardiil 
ndministrntion  of  the  various  Acts  by  the  factory  inspectors,  the 
social,  moral,  and  intellectual  well-being  of  more  than  2,000,000  of 
our  industrial  classes  materially  depends,  and  for  whose  specbl 
benefit  these  Acts  were  passed. 

For  a  considerable  time  previous  to  the  year  1 832  great  dissatis- 
faction was  expressed  at  the  long  hours  during  which  the  children  ud 
young  persons  were  compelled  to  work  in  the  various  factories  of  tex- 
tile fabrics,  ranging  from  6  a.m.  to  8  and  9  p.m.  The  banefol 
effect  of  these  long  hours  in  hot,  ill-ventilated  rooms  was  seen  in  tbe 
stunted  growth  and  enfeebled  physical  condition  as  shown  in  the 
mal-formed  lower  limbs,  and  notably  in  a  peculiar  disease  which 
entirely  destroyed  the  arch  of  the  foot,  the  result  of  which  was  thit 
the  person  could  never  walk  with  ease  and  comfort  As  a  student 
at  the  Leeds  Infirmary  from  1836  to  1840  I  saw  many  cases  of  thb 
kind,  but  I  am  told  that  for  many  years  such  cases  have  never  been 
seen.  Not  only  were  these  evils  acting  prejudicially  on  the  bone 
and  sinew  of  our  population,  but  our  children  were  growing  up  in 
total  ignorance  except  for  the  slight  education  which  they  obtained 
.  at  the  Sunday  schools  of  that  day,  as  supplementing  the  old  dune 
schools  of  the  country  Tillages. 

Though  I  would  not  for  a  moment  say  a  word  in  disparagement 

*  See  TtanaactUmi,  1865^  p.  2U1. 


^Rf  the  great  beneiits  wtiicii  have  been  effected  by  tlie  Sunday  soliools, 
Iretpectfully  suliinit  that  iheir  chief  importance  sliould  be  in  teacli- 
tng  r«ligion,  and  not  iu  leaching  the  factory  children  writing  to 
(be  older  ones,  and  the  alphabet  to  the  younger,  aa  was  the  nue 
llirty-five  and  forty  years  ago.  These  matters  were  so  persistently 
prewed  on  the  attention  of  Parliomeut  by  a  noble  band  of  zealoiia 
pbibnthropic  men,  among  whom  I  need  only  name  Shnf^eabury, 
then  Lord  Ashley,  Fielden,  Oastler,  Micliael  Thomas  Sadler,  Wood, 
and  a  host  of  others,  equally  determined  to  rescue  the  poor  factory 
child  from  a  thraldom  equal  to  any  slavery.  The  result  of  all  this 
«u  that  in  August,  1S33,  the  glorious  Factory  Act  was  passed,  in 
ipil«  of  the  interested  opposition  which  it  met  with  on  all  sides 
from  the  factory  masters.  That  eome  of  tliis  opposition  was  honest, 
legitimate,  and  conscientious,  I  readily  admit,  having  had  the  account 
from  several  of  the  masters  ibemselvei^,  while,  at  the  same  time,  they 
hive  generously  nckoowledged  that  they  were  mistaken. 

la  speaking  of  the  Factory  Act  of  133^  as  a  glorious  Act,  I  do 
to  advisedly,  for  assuredly  vro  may  assert,  without  fear  of  contra- 
dicUyn,  that  the  material  welfare,  the  improved  moral  aud  social 
condiuou  of  the  working  classGA,  may  date  from  the  passtug  of  that 
Aa:  and  when  we  consider  that  in  this  Act  Farliament  had 
uiuQCiHlcd  a  principle  which  it  had  never  recognised  before,  namely, 
tkt  (he  State  authority  should  over-rulu  parental  authority,  and 
tiutt  the  labour  of  cbitdreu  should  be  supplemented  by  education, 
lliis  was  a  great  point  to  accomplish,  and  has  been  bearing  fruit 
fiDn  that  day  to  this,  as  you  wilt  easily  perceive  when  I  tell  you 
lliAt  there  are  now,  aa  shown  by  a  blue-book,  recently  published  by 
tttder  of  Farltaio«]iI,  no  less  than  107,900  children  under  the  edu- 
oliunal  supervision  of  the  factory  inspectors.  I  osa  this  form  of 
expression  advisedly,  because  we  are  empowered  to  euter  any  suhoot 
wlu:i'e  factory  children  attend,  aud  ascertniu  that  the  standard  of 
idprntion  is  sntiafoetory.  It  is  also  our  duty  to  see  by  the  school 
certiflcate  book  that  the  ciiildreu  are  regular  in  their  attendance; 
ud  on  this  point  I  regret  to  have  to  say  that  the  parents  of  iha 
eliildrcQ  appear  by  no  means  to  appreciate  the  educational  advan- 
ttgcs  provided  for  them  hy  the  Factory  Acts,  as  the  children  are 
Inpt  at  home  for  the  most  trivial  causes,  and  oflen  for  no  cause  at  all. 

Tbemiiin  features  of  the  Factory  Act  were — (I.)  Limiting  the  ages 

Uwhieb  children  aud  youug  persouii  should  work  in  textile  racioriesj 

(S.)  Limiting  the  hours  of  labour  of  children  aud  youug  persons  ; 

(Ij  Preventing  the  employment  of  any  person  under  eighteen  years 

I'Mnigllti  (4.)  Providing  for  not  less  than  one  and  a  half  hours  for 

til  daring  the  day;  (5.)  Providing  that  a  fixed  number  of  holi- 

jt  shall  be  given  during  the  year ;  (6.)  That  no  child  should  be 

1  without  a  surgeon's  certificate  of  its  satisfactory  physical 

I  ;    (7.)  The  appointment  of  Inspectore  to  carry  out  the 

raa  requirements  of  the  Act  ;    (8.)  Compulsory  attendance  of 

Iren  at  school  j  (9.)  Providing  for  sanitary  condition  of  factories 

Bliaviag  tbem  limewasliod  every  year. 


/  G.  H.  L.  Rkhanh.  439 


440  Health  of  Operativei. 

These  items  embraced  the  main  features  of  the  Factory  Act,  but 
after  trying  it  for  several  years  it  was  fonnd  necessary  to  enlarge  iti 
powers,  and  to  remedy  its  weak  points. — (1.)  By  a  more  careiol 
attention  to  the  registration  of  all  under  eighteen  years  of  age; 
(2.)  By  a  stricter  surgical  supervision  of  all  under  sixteen  years  of 
age ;  (3.)  By  enforcing  protection  to  workers  in  wet  spinning  flu 
mills  ;  (4.)  By  insisting  upon  a  more  complete  guarding  of  lU 
dangerous  shafting  or  machinery,  and  a  carefhl  investigation  of  ill 
accidents ;  (5.)  By  securing  greater  regularity  by  insibting  that  aU 
factories  should  be  guided  by  some  public  dock  ;  (6.)  By  not  allot- 
ing  a  child  to  be  employed  at  more  than  one  mill  daring  the  sane 
day,  thus  doing  away  with  the  relay  system  which  had  been  in 
practice  by  some  masters ;  (7.)  By  a  much  greater  strictness  in  the 
various  educational  requirements  of  the  Act,  enforcing  a  mete 
punctual  attendance  at  school ;  (8.)  By  limiting  the  hours  of  laboor 
of  all  women  ;  (9.)  By  additional  regulations  as  to  meal  times  ud 
holidays;  (10.)  By  fixing  penalties  for  various  offences  against  the 
Act;  (11.)  Careful  definition  of  the  Act  by  means  of  the  interiffotft- 
tion  clause. 

It  will  readily  be  seen  on  comparing  this  Act  with  the  former tbat 
many  improvements  had  been  made,  all  which  tended  to  promote  the 
comfort  of  the  classes  for  whom  these  Acts  had  been  passed. 

The  success  which  attended  the  working  of  these  Acts  was  loch 
that  in  June,  1845,  a  similar  Act  was  passed  to  afford  the  samepnh 
tection  to  the  children,  young  persons,  and  women  employed  in 
print-works ;  the  clauses  of  wUch  Act  were  assimilated  as  nearij  is 
possible  to  those  of  the  Factory  Acts  with  a  due  regard  to  the  peeuliir 
exigencies  of  the  trade.  In  the  year  1850  it  was  found  neeeeniy 
still  further  to  provide  for  a  more  precise  arrangement  of  the  kw, 
and  a  short  Act  was  then  passed,  which  enacted — (1.)  That  no 
young  person,  and  no  female,  should  be  employed  before  6  a.m.,  lor 
after  6  p.m.,  except  to  recover  lost  time,  nor  after  2  p.m.,  on  Satur- 
days ;  (2.)  That  the  meal- times  should  be  taken  between  7*30  ajn. 
and  6  p.m. ;  (3.)  For  the  recovery  of  time  lost  by  flood  or  drought; 
(4.)  For  working  from  7  a.m.  to  7  p.m.,  in  place  of  6  a,m.  to  6  pjn. 
between  1st  October  and  31st  March,  in  the  following  year;  (6.) 
Not  allowing  any  female  or  young  person  to  be  in  any  room  where 
any  manufacturing  process  was  being  carried  on  during  the  honr 
and  half  set  apart  for  meals. 

These  changes  had  all  been  found  necessary  to  provide  for  the 
various  irregularities  which  were  practised  by  some  of  the  mill- 
owners.  The  last  Act  provided  that  young  persons  and  femalei 
should  be  employed  only  between  6  a.m.  and  6  p.m.,  save  for  the 
recovery  of  lost  time — as  during  the  winter  mon^s  from  7  a.ii.  to 
7  p.m.  It  was  in  1 853  found  necessary  to  pass  a  short  Act,  limiting 
the  hours  of  labour  of  children  in  a  similar  way.  Again,  in  thejcar 
1856,  it  was  found  necessary  to  pass  a  short  Act  to  provide  additional 
security  against  accidents  by  more  clearly  defining  parts  which  re< 
quired  lo  be  fenced. 


J5y  (?.  H.  L.  Richanh.  441 

In  the  year  I860)  an  Act  was  passed  to  place  the  employment  of 
fomeny  young  persons,  and  children,  in  bleaching  and  dyeing  works, 
iDder  the  regulations  of  the  Factories  Acts — due  regard  being  had 
» the  peculiar  exigencies  of  the  trades. 

The  beneficial  effects  of  the  Factories  Acts  were  so  apparent  that 
twas  deemed  advisable  to  place  other  trades  under  their  beneficent 
nle,  so  that  in  1864  an  Act  was  passed,  extending  its  provisions  to 
be  manufacture  of  earthenware,  lucifer  matches,  percussion-caps, 
urtridges,  the  employment  of  paper-staining,  &o.,  the  employment 
if  fustian  cutting.  This  was  a  great  step  in  advance,  as  it  recog- 
lised  the  necessity  of  extending  the  protection  afforded  by  those 
letf  to  trades  which  by  no  means  were  understood  by  the  ordinary 
lefioition  of  the  word  factory  ;  but  the  necessity  for  this  extension 
us  considered  so  urgent,  and  the  general  confidence  in  the  admiuis- 
rition  of  the  Factory  Acts  was  such  that  the  operatives  in  some  of 
lie  earthenware  districts,  I  was  told,  had  petitioned  to  have  the  Acts 
ipplied  to  their  trade,  and  the  result  has  been  eminently  successful. 
fhe  terrible  oppression  which  the  very  young  children  had  to  endure 
torn  the  idle,  drinking  men  for  whom  they  worked,  imperatively 
iemanded  that  they  should  have  that  protection  from  the  law  which 
Kad  so  advantageously  been  granted  to  children,  young  persons,  and 
females  in  other  trades— and  this  no  doubt  paved  the  way  for  a  still 
tfger  extension  of  the  Acts  to  the  various  other  trades  in  the  year 
1867,  as  well  as  to  placing  all  the  workshops  in  the  United  Kingdom 
mder  the  supervision  of  the  local  authorities.  This  last  Act  being 
permissive,  and  not  compulsory,  has  been  observed  with  such  absence 
)f  regularity  that  in  August  of  tlii^  year  an  Act  was  passed  placing 
dl  the  workshops  under  the  supervision  of  the  Factory  Inspectors, 
irhose  duties  will  thus  be  very  largely  increased. 

When  we  remember  the  violent  opposition  which  was .  shown  by 
Ihe  mill-owners  to  the  Acts  of  1833  and  1844,  and  also  to  the  adminis  • 
irttion  of  those  Acts  by  the  Factory  Inspectors,  it  is  very  encourag- 
ing to  see  the  change  which  has  talc  en  place  of  late  years  in  the 
pablic  opinion,  as  evinced  by  the  readiness  with  which  the  extension 
)f  the  Factory  Acts  to  other  trades  has  been  accepted  and  welcomed 
by  those  trades.  Mill-owners  now  see  that  the  restriction  of  the 
lOurs  of  labour  is  as  great  a  boon  to  them  as  it  is  to  the  operatives  ; 
in  proof  of  this  I  may  state  that  some  have  voluntarily  reduced  the 
lours  of  labour  still  further  by  closing  their  factories  at  1  p.m.  on 
Saturdays  in  place  of  2. 

I  may  here  be  permitted  to  remind  my  hearers  who  live  at  a 
listance  from  the  factory  districts,  that  this  limitation  of  the  hours 
>f  labour  tends  to  equalize  the  production  of  the  manufactures,  for  in 
I  busy  time  the  hard  master  would  endeavour  to  out-strip  his  neigh- 
sour  by  increasing  the  number  of  working  hours,  but  as  these  hours 
ire  now  limited  from  6  a.m.  to  6  p.m.,  all  are  placed  on  an  equal 
footing.  I  have  often  been  told  by  the  operatives  how  glad  they 
irould  be  if  the  mill-owners  had  been  compelled  to  stop  the  moving 


443  Health  of  Operatives. 

power  at  6  p.m.,  this  would  have  effectually  put  an  end  to  oror* 
time  on  the  part  of  the  men. 

One  objection  taken  to  the  Factory  Act  of  1833  was  the  effect 
to  promote  the  sauitaiy  condition  of  the  mills,  by  requiring  them  to 
be  limewashed  every  year.  A  strong  opponent  to  this  partofihe 
Act  once  told  me  that  he  had  lived  to  change  his  opinion,  for  he  now 
thought  it  was  one  of  the  best  parts  of  the  Act.  Great  surprise  iiu 
often  been  expressed  at  the  number  and  severity  of  the  accidents  al 
the  various  factories.  This  should  not  excite  surprise  when  we 
remember  the  numbers  of  men,  women,  and  children  who  are 
employed,  and  the  dangerous  nature  of  some  of  the  machines  in  tke 
immediate  contiguity  to  which  they  are  employed.  I  can,  however, 
with  confidence  say  that  I  always  find  the  utmost  readiness  on  the 
part  of  the  mill-owners  to  carry  ouc  any  suggeslions  I  may  find 
necessary  to  promote  the  comfort  and  safety  of  the  operatives.  I 
am  quite  aware  that  this  object  can  be  most  easily  obtained  hj 
preferring  my  recfuests  to  the  mill-owners  with  that  courtesy  whieli 
is  certainly  due  to  them.  I  therefore  make  a  point  of  never  ordering 
anytliing  to  bo  done,  but  I  ask  for  it.  The  readiness  vdih  which  tke 
suggestion  is  carried  out  when  presented  to  the  mind  of  the  mill- 
owner  in  the  above  form  I  feel  sure  will  be  appreciated  by  those 
present,  at  any  rate  I  know  it  has  answered  with  the  men  I  have 
had  to  deal  with.  I  claim  no  merit  to  myself  in  thus  administering 
the  law,  for  I  am  sure  the  same  course  is  pursued  by  my  colieagoei 
with  equal  success,  and  I  think  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  the  readioese 
with  which  the  whole  country  has  accepted  the  extent^ion  of  the 
Factory  Acts  may  in  some  measure  be  due  to  the  confidence  in  tk 
equitable  administration  of  tlie  law. 

There  is  one  point  I  must  bring  under  your  notice,  which  is  this; 
that  the  more  effectually  the  working  classes  are  impressed  with  the 
advantages  of  sanitary  imj)rovements,  the  sooner  we  shall  see  the 
fruits  of  such  information  in  the  improved  condition  of  the  factories 
I  would  here  especially  allude  to  the  opposition  which  is  contiQUiQjr 
shown  to  improve  the  ventilation  of  the  factories. 

If  it  were  asked  what  have  been  the  benefits  of  the  Factory  Acts 
to  the  working  classes,  I  would  reply — (1.)  Improved  physical  con- 
dition; (2.)  Entire  freedom  from  Home  forms  of  disease;  (3.)  In- 
creased protection  from  accidents;  (4.)  Protection  from  excessiTe 
work;  (5.)  Improved  sanitary  condition  of  factories;  (6.)  TTie 
education  of  all  children  under  thirteen  years  of  age. 

By  an  Act  passed  two  months  ago,  the  whole  workshops  of  the 
country  were  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  factory  inspecton; 
a  few  words,  therefore,  on  the  subject  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1867,  when  it  was  necessary  to  odd 
a  large  number  of  various  trades  to  those  already  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Factory  Acts,  an  Act  was  also  passed  placing  all  the 
workshops  under  the  supervision  of  the  factory  inspectors.  Oar 
chief  duties  will  bo  to  prevent  over-work,  see  to  the  sanitary  con- 
dition of  the  workpeople,  and  attend  to  the  education  of  all  children 


Discussion,  443 

rteen  years  of  age,  In  this  way  the  whole  industrial 
tain  the  advantage  of  the  supervision  provided  by  the 
e  through  the  exertions  of  the  factory  inspectors, 


DISCUBSIOX. 

X  Ghadwick,  C.B.,said,  the  opinion  of  hit  oollaaguat,  as  well  as  ^lat  of 
i  that  factory  inspection  should  mainly  be  of  a  sanitary  cbaracter ;  and 
aye  desired  to  see  a  provision  inserted  in  the  Act,  which  might  baye 
le  yiew ;  but  although  the  report  which  be  drew  up  for  his  colleagues 
basis  of  the  present  factory  law,  in  the  hurry  with  which  the  Act  was 
luaUfication  of  that  kind  could  be  specified.  The  defect,  however, 
be  supplied  as  well  by  a  medical  man  as  by  a  lawyer ;  and  if  proof 
1  he  nad  but  to  instance  the  work  done  by  Mr.  Baker,  surgeon  of 
hose  exertions  the  completion  of  factory  legislation  was  largely  due. 
had  been  raised  respecting  the  ten  hours*  Bill,  and  no  little  credit  was 
igitators  on  that  question.  He  thought  it  only  rieht  to  state  that  what 
ure  granted  was  not  really  what  was  asked.  Application  was  made  for 

Bill,  pure  and  simple,  for  all  factory  operatives.  The  reply  was,  that  for 
1  hours  was  too  much ;  and  in  their  case  the  time  was  restricted  to  six 
refore,  what  was  actually  obtained  could  not  be  properly  called  a  "  ten 
'  Nor  was  there  any  application  for  inspection  or  authoritative  superin- 
The  agitators  of  the  question  expected  that  the  measure  would  be  a 
)ne ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  held  that,  what  with  'magistrate 
QTB  and  other  influence,  It  would  be  impossible  to  make  the  measure 

so  thoroughly  competent  and  responsible  Qovomment  inspectors 
nted,  on  the  principle  already  vindicated  in  the  appointment  of  Poor 
OTfL  With  respect  to  the  particular  qualifications  of  the  officers,  tliat 
not  yet  been  determined,  nor  vindicated  by  precedent  Although  there 
lany  appointments  of  non-medical  men,  who  did  as  much  perhaps  as 
.  men  could  have  done,  yet  not  a  few  were  political  appointments. 
ART  (London)  said  one  important  question  was,  what  powers  had  the 
ledical  officer  in  regard  to  the  workers  actually  employed  in  factories  f 
inderstood,  the  officer  had  nothing  farther  to  do  with  operatives 
I  once  admitted  them  into  the  factory,  the  health  of  many  might  fail 
e  of  a  few  months,  and  in  that  conaition  they  could,  if  tney  chose  to 
nue  to  work  in  the  same  factory  without  let  or  hindrance  from  the 
cer.  This  probability  at  once  argued  the  desirableneie,  if  not  the 
:  establishing  a  constant  system  of  medical  supervision,  in  order  that 
at  be  discovered  in  its  early  manifestation  and  checked  before  it  as- 
irmanent,  if  not  fatal,  character.  He,  therefore,  maintained  that  the 
lie  certifying  surgeon  ought  to  be  extended  so  that  he  might  exercise  a 
camination  as  to  the  fitness  of  workers  in  factories.  In  his  evidence 
loyal  Sanitary  CommiBsioii,  Mr.  Baker,  himself  a  medical  man,  depre- 
Mition  given  to  the  surgeon  who  had  these  certifying  duties  to  discharge. 
1  part  he  failed  to  gather  from  Mr.  Baker's  evidence  any  reason  u>r 
n,  an  opinion  which  appeared  contrary  to  what  most  persons  would 
le  only  practical  arrangement  that  could  be  made  in  such  a  case.  He 
t  a  medical  man  was  the  only  competent  judge  of  an  operative's  health, 
ly  system  which  did  not  make  provision  for  the  frequent  inspection  of 
■8  was  very  defective.  He  would  frankly  admit  that  a  certain  number 
men  were  sub- inspectors,  and  that  their  services  had  been  extremely 

what  he  mostl;^  regretted  was  that  their  number  was  so  Umited,  and 
mid  only  make  intennittent  visits,  whereas  a  certifying  surgeon  was  on 
id  might  devise  some  agency  whose  object  should  be  to  determine 
5  health  of  the  workers  continued  good  or  became  deteriorated  by  con- 


444  Outbreaks  cf  Fever. 

'Hit,  Edwin  Chadwick  wished  to  supplement  what  he  had  already  eoid  br  re* 
inindinff  Dr.  Stewart  that  the  regulations  provided  bj  the  General  Board  of  Health 
for  the  local  officer  of  health,  whose  whole  time  it  was  intended  should  be  deroted 
to  tlie  public  serricf ,  stipulated  that  he  should  regularly  visit  the  factories,  as  well 
OS  schools,  because  it  was  clear  that  a  central  visitation  must  entail  an  enonnom 
establishment,  if  the  work  was  to  be  done  with  any  degreo  of  efficiencj.    What 
they  now  required  was  to  consolidate  the  local  duties  of  the  oiflcor  of  beslth  in 
orcter  that  he  might  get  enough  work  to  warrant  the  payment  of  a  medical  offiorr 
for  the  devotion  of  his  whole  time.    Faetorj  and  school  inspection,  and  mstten 
of  that  kind,  might  all  be  comprehended  within  the  duties  of  such  an  officer,  ud 
he  mi^ht  do  the  work  well,  provided  the  remuneration  would  enable  him  to  be 
quite  independent  of  private  practice. 

Mr.  RiCKARDs  saia  he  ought  to  know  something  of  the  practical  duties  of 
n  factory  surgeon,  since  he  mled  that  position  for  several  years.  80  folly  wm 
ho  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  medical  supervision  that  he  offered  to  perfona 
voluntarily  the  duty  indicated  by  Dr.  Stewart.  He  had  obtained  the  sanotion  of 
the  mill-owners  in  his  district  to,  vi^it  their  works  every  eighteen  months ;  payneot 
for  each  visit  was  tendered  by  each  mill-owner,  but  the  duties  of  simply  pewn^ 
the  children  presented  to  his  examination  were  so  slight  that  he  did  not  feel  com* 
fortable  in  receiving  the  fees.  He  then  suggested  that  he  should  merely  tab  t 
walk  through  the  mill,  and  note  anything  which  might  require  the  owner's  eanfol 
supervision.  He  found  that  the  owners  had  quite  enough  to  do  with  oonuneni 
without  trouUing  their  minds  about  a  certifying  surgeon.  In  some  instonceihe 
had  to  suggest  or  forbid  certain  matters,  in  the  course  of  his  in^ipection.  That  mi 
regarded  as  somewhat  to  the  detriment  of  the  owners.  On  one  occasion,  wbenhudi 
were  greatly  needed,  he  luul  toTeject  several  as  incompetent  cm  the  score  of  beshh. 
The  owner  in  each  case  took  his  supervisipn  in  sucli  good  part  that  since  hii 
appointment  as  sub-inspector  of  factories,  in  1858,  he  had  frequently  urged  the 
meilical  officers  to  follow  up  a  similar  practice.  In  order  to  ensure  Uie  sanitsij 
condition  of  his  factory,  an  owner  in  Newcastle  increased  the  payment  of  the  medi* 
oal  man  he  eniph>yed  to  inspect  the  place,  from  bl.  to  ''3)1.  In  fact,  the  whole  of 
his  experience  showed  that  miU-osmers  would  gladly  accept  sanitary  inspectioD. 

Mr.  E.  FiLLiTXB,  C.E.  (in  the  choir),  remarking  tliat  tne  paper  might  properlj 
have  been  referred  to  the  Jurisprudence  Department  of  the  Congress,  said  tlien 
could  be  no  doubt  that  medical  inspection  of  a  continuous  kind  was  more  than  mr 
required  for  factories,  though  it  was  probable  some  other  aid  would  be  reqm'rai, 
such  as  scientific  men  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  details  of  construction  touU 
be  able  to  give. 


Oil  the  Modes  of  dealwg  voxth  Outbreaks  of  Pesttlent  Fevers^ 
sanctioned  Im  the  Health  Authorities  of  Mertlnjr  Tydfil^  Bji 
Thomas  Jones  Dike,  Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  Tt/djil, 

I  WOULD  first  briefly  doscribo  the  district,  and  will  borrow  the 
TTords  of  a  recent  writer,  who  says,  of  the  pleasant  land  of 
Glamorgan,  that  **  it  is  a  broad  tract  of  fertile  soil  stretched  out  at 
the  foot  of  lofty  mountains,  through  whose  rifts  the  torrent  mm 
como  down  irom  the  bare  inland  valleys.  Passing  up  from  the 
plain,  the  mountains  grow  sterner,  hemming  in  the  river  and  the 
narrow  strip  of  green  sward  along  its  course,  clothed  up  to  their 
summits  with  dark  woods,  or  rugged  with  jgrey  limestone  cpopping 
out  through  the  scanty  grass ;  sterner  still,  until  the  valley  becomes 
a  dark  ravine,  through  which  the  river  leaps  over  the  limestone 
rocks,  the  mountain  sides  brown  with  heath^  and  far  inland,  the 


*  See  Tramactkmt  18G9,  p.  986. 


^y  f.  J.  Dyke.  445 

Dontral  chain  rising  up  in  vast  cliffs  of  the  red^sandstone  of  the 
ages  gone  long  ago." 

In  a  green  oasis  in  one  of  these  valleys,  through  which  the  Taff 
finds  its  way  from  the  Beacons  of  Brecon  to  me  estuary  of  the 
Serem  at  Cardiff,  at  an  elevation  of  500  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
is  situated  the  town  of  Merthyr  Tyd£l.  A  century  ago,  it  was  a 
mere  upland  village.  At  that  time,  strata,  rich  in  ironstone,  in 
eoal,  and  in  mountain  limestone,  were  discovered.  Thereupon 
quic^y  followed  the  erection  of  furnaces  for  smelting  the  stone, 
Bad  forges  and  mills  for  the  further  purification  or  the  metal 
obtained.  The  village  gradually  became  a  town ;  in  time  the  few 
houses  near  the  pit's  mouth,  and  the  blast  furnace,  became  each  a 
Tillage,  and  now  the  whole  forms  a  large  town  of  10,000  houses, 
occupied  by  52,000  people. 

During  the  gradual  growth  of  the  place,  the  requisites  for 
healthy  habitations  were  unUiought  of.  As  an  Arab  of  the  street 
news  untended  and  uneducated,  so  ^did  this  town  become  large  and 
mickly  peopled,  and  yet  no  water  was  supplied ;  no  care  was  taken 
to  remove  refuse ;  no  heed  was  taken  of  the  causes  which  diffiised 
pestilent  diseases.  They  came, — and  aroused  fear  and  trembling 
while  prevailing ;  they  passed,— •  and  their  teaohingfs  were  forgotten. 

In  words,  alas  too  truthful,  the  Medical  OflBLcer  of  the  Privy 
Council  in  1866  wrote  of  Merthyr : — "  This  place  used  to  be 
abominable,  it  had  almost  the  imwholesomencss,  with  but  a  fraction 
of  the  apology,  of  Liverpool.  In  our  statistics  for  1851-61,  it 
showed  every  x)ossible  evidence  of  sanitary  neglect;  in  fever,  in 
diarrhoea,  in  cholera,  in  smaU-pox,  in  phthisis,  and  other  lung 
diseases,  in  mortality  of  children,  test  it  how  one  would,  it  always 
was  conspicuously  bad." 

That  a  town,  whose  inhabitants  derived  their  water  supply, 
which  was  *^  cruelly  scant  and  disgustingly  foul,"  from  wells  and 
springs ;  whose  excreta  accumulated  in  cesspools,  placed  in  danger- 
ous nearness  to  the  wells ;  whose  streets  were  heaped  with  mounds 
of  decomposing  house-refiise ;  the  cottages  of  whose  working  men 
were  built  against  banks  of  earth,  or  bade  to  back,  and  thus  were 
deprived  of  the  means  of  thoroueh  ventilation — that  such  a  town 
would  be  the  frequent  seat  of  desolating  pestilences,  will  be  obvious 
to  those  who  have  studied  the  question  of  public  health. 

I-will  ask  your  attention  to  three  only  of  the  diseases  which  have 
spread,  epidemically,  during  the  last  six  year»— cholera,  typhus 
fever,  and  relapsing  fever. 

Cholera  made  long  sojourns  in  1832,  1849,  and  1854.  In  1849 
one  out.  of  seventeen  of  the  people  were  attacked,  one  out  of  thirty 
of  the  inhabitants  died.  In  1864  the  proportion  of  deaths  was 
reduced  to  one  out  of  112  of  the  people.  The  outbreak  of  cholera 
in  August,  1866,  was  clearly  traced  to  four  primary  cases.  All 
these  occurred  within  thirty-six  hours,  at  places  miles  apart  from 
each  other.  In  throe  out  of  the  four  cases  no  communication  with 
any  infected  place  or  person  could  be  traced ;  in  the  fourth  case 
there  was  a  probability  that  the  sufferer  (a  rag  gatherer)  might 


446  Outbreaks  of  Fever, 

have  handled  the  soiled  clothing  of  the  sick  in  a  town  five  miles 
west  of  Merthyr.  All  the  subsequent  cases  of  cholera,  278,  were 
traced  to  communication  with  some  one  or  other  of  the  four  persoiu 
first  affected. 

Of  tjphus,  large  numbers  of  the  inhabitants  have,  throughont 
my  own  medical  recollection,  extending  over  forty  years,  been  the 
almost  annual  subjects.  Why?  I  do  not  hesitate  to  attribute  the 
proclivity  to  this  form  of  pestilence  to  the  residence  of  too  many 
persons  in  tlio  same  house,  the  rooms  of  which  were  not  thorougUj 
ventilated.  It  was  in  houses  of  this  faulty-construction  that  tjphni 
always  first  appeared ;  in  these  it  continued  to  spread.  Here  also 
cholera  foimd  its  earliest  subjects,  and  its  most  frequent  victinu; 
and  in  these,  in  far  larger  proportions  than  in  thoroughly  ventilated 
houses,  scarlet  fever,  measles,  and  whooping  cough,  in  each  of  their 
fre([uent  visitations,  slew  their  hundreds  of  infant  lives. 

Cases  of  tj'phus  were  comparatively  rare  in  1867,  and  in  the  ■ 
spring  and  summer  of  1868,  but  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  certain 
2)ersoiis  wore  infected  by  having  nursed  a  stranger,  who  came  into 
the  toTNTL  sick  of  the  disease.  By  communication  with  these  eaeei 
otliers  were  affected,  and  the  disease  continued  to  spread  all 
through  18G9,  and  until  the  spring  of  1870.  In  all,  402  personii 
were  affected.  Tlie  "contagium"  was  clearly  traced  firom  one  to 
the  other  throughout  the  whole  number  of  cases. 

While,  in  Manili,  1870,  we  were  congratulating  ourselves  in 
having  scotched  the  snake  ty|)hus,  another  of  this  hydra-headed 
tribe  was  settling  down  amongst  us.  Cases  of  what  was  called 
**  low  fever,"  but  which  proved  to  be  relapsing  fever,  occurred  in 
February  and  March,  but  of  these,  and  of  those  which  followed 
from  contact  with  them,  I  did  not  hear  until  July ;  then  inquiiy 
elicited  these  facts  : — That  relapsing  fever  had  prevfdled  in  Trede- 
gar, a  town  only  seven  miles  east  of  Merthyr,  m  1868,  1869,  and 
1870,  and  yet  no  public  information  had  been  given  to  the  health 
autliorities  in  the  neighbouring  towns  of  its  existence — ^that  a  man 
and  his  children,  on  tramp,  had  come  from  this  infected  town  in 
February  to  Merthyr;  that  he  and  his  children,  in  a  few  days  afte^ 
wards,  were  ill  of  fever ;  the  persons  who  attended  the  family  were 
affected ;  then  others  took  tlie  contagion  from  these.  Some  persons 
then  resident  in  the  locality,  and  who  had  visited  the  sick,  remored 
to  another  part  of  the  town;  they  there  became  ill,  their  neighbenn 
nursed  them,  and  these,  in  their  turn,  were  laid  down  by  the 
disease.  In  all,  by  direct  descent  of  the  contagion  from  the  strong 
who  came  from  the  infected  town,  272  persons  were,  during  a  period 
of  thirteen  montlia,  afflicted  by  relapsing  fever.  In  ano&er  series 
of  cases,  a  man  who  came  to  Merthyr  from  Maesteg,  a  town  fortr 
miles  south-west,  in  which  this  fever  prevailed,  was  ill  at  the  ena 
of  the  first  week  of  liis  stay.  The  family  with  whom  he  lodged 
wore  in  a  fortnight  all  afflicted.  Two  women  who  came  to  nurse 
tliuni  took  the  disease.  The  nurses  were  rem6ved  to  the  feTe^ 
ward,  the  family  to  another  house,  and  their  house  fumigated  and 
cleansed.    No  other  case  occurred  in  that  vicinityt    A  ihki  series 


by  T.  J.  t)yhe.  Hi 

"tramps."  These  are  they  who  wander  &om  town  to 
ire  the  well-recognized  means  of  spreading  contagious 
renty-three  of  these  persons,  who  came  into  the  town 
3r,  1870,  to  January,  1871,  were  ill  of  this  fever.  They 
ed  from  the  common  lodging-houses  to  the  fever-wards ; 
a  which  they  had  stayed  were  fumigated,  and  the  clothes 
by  dry  heat.     In  no  single  instance  did  the  disease 

;hus  briefly  stated  the  chief  points  relating  to  the  out- 
le  three  forms  of  pestilent  fevers,  with  which  I  have  had 
(fleer  of  health,  I  would  recall  to  your  minds  an  acknow- 
im,  that  **  contagious  fevers  spring  from  single  oases." 
fires  in  separate  houses  are  either  easily  extinguished 
)read  by  reason  of  their  isolation,  and  thus  seneral  con- 
are  avoided,  so  I  hold  that,  if  persons  sick  of  contagious 
)  early  separated  from  the  uninfected,  and  treated  in 
Idings,  the  spread  of  the  diseases  as  epidemics  would  be 

:t  now  is  to  show,  that  the  attempts  made  to  cany  this 
practice  have  been  to  a  great  extent  successful  at 

rdfil. 

)aratory  to  battling  with  pestilences,  works  of  great 
i  cost  had  to  be  done. 

er  supply. — In  Merthyr  up  to  1860,  the  water  supply 
language  of  Mr.  Simon,  "  cruelly  scant  and  disgustingly 
varied  from  flfteen  to  twenty-four  degrees  of  hardness, 
dght  and  sparkling,  and  containing,  as  it  did,  a  large 

carbonic  acid  gas,  whence  derived  you  all  well  know, 
iry  powers   were  obtained  to  construct  water-works. 

were  completed  in  1864,  at  a  cost  of  82,000/.  An 
upply  of  pure  water  of  only  three  degrees  of  hardness 
hm  reach  of  nearly  all  the  inhabitants, 
lis  unlimited  supply  of  pure  water  that  I  would  primarily 
T  comparative  immunity  from  pejitilent  diseases,  and  the 
js  which  they  have  assumed  during  the  last  five  years. 
>rs. — The  draining  of  our  cesspooled  town  was  commenced 
i  the  sewers  were  completed  in  1868.  Thirty  miles  of 
drains  were  made  at  a  cost  of  28,000/.  By  the  middle 
)ut  2000  houses  were  connected  with  the  sewers ;  at  this 
junction  from  the  Court  of  Chancery  prevented  the 
gross  of  this  muoh-needed  work.  The  removal  of  ex- 
m  houses  was  not  the  only  good  result  of  the  formation 
jr  the  deep  cuttings,  in  which  they  were  placed,  drained 
and  ground  floors  of  houses,  and  by  thus  diminishing 
also  diminished  those  maladies  to  which  *women  and 
fren,  who  spend  so  much  of  their  time  within  doors, 
rkedly  prone.  As  a  consequence  of  the  Chancery  suit, 
of  the  Legislature  was  sought  for  and  obtained  to  a 
disposing  of  the  sewage  by  the  irrigation  of  nearly  400 
id.    This  scheme  is  being  carried  out  at  an  estimated 


448  Outbreaks  of  Fever, 

exponno  of   21,000/.      The  total  expenditure  for  water  supply, 
BOwerH,  and  sewage  irrigation,  will  amount  to  131,000/. 

(3.)  Immediately  after  the  formation  of  the  Local  Boaid  in  1850, 
a  well -organized  system  of  street  cleansing,  Ac,  was  establielied, 
and  has  been  efficiently  carried  out  ever  since. 

(4.)  The  powers  conferred  by  the  Sanitary  Act  for  the  regolaiion 
of  houses  lot  in  lodgings,  and  tiiose  given  by  the  Conunon  Lodging* 
House  Act,  have  been  fully  used. 

(5.)  The  thorough  ventilation  of  all  dwelling-houses  was  eamestlj 
desired  by  the  health  authority,  but  unhappuy,  in  this  respect,  tibe 
laws  are  in  such  a  confused  state  that  the  worlung  of  them  is  almoit 
impracticable.  Under  the  Artizans  and  Labourers'  Dwellings  Ad, 
progress  is  a  word  not  to  be  understood  in  its  ordinary  sense,  fiv 
when  a  local  authority  meets  twice  a  month,  seven  weeks  iniut 
elapse  before  the  first  step  in  the  matter  can  be  taken ;  while,  if  tiu 
meetings  are  monthly,  tnirteen  weeks  must  be  wasted.  If  that 
first  step  should  be  appealed  against,  three  or  six  months  more  maj 
pass  before  the  case  can  be  heard  by  the  appointed  court.  Mudi, 
iiowover,  has  been  done  by  cautiously  using  the  powers  which  thii 
Act,  and  the  Nuisances  Bemoval  Act,  give ;  nevertheless,  it  u 
greatly  to  be  desired  that  some  simple,  speedy,  yet  just,  modi 
should  bo  foimd  to  effect  this  necessary  improvement  to  miveiti* 
latod  dwellings. 

(6.)  The  provision  of  hospitals  for  the  sick,  and  of  cottages  to 
which  occupants  of  infected  nouses  might  be  removed,  early  occuped 
the  attention  of  the  authorities.  L^gal  difiB^culties  arose,  aiuang 
from  tlio  different  interpretations  put  upon  the  words  of  the  Acts  i 
rurliamont  relating  to  the  subject ;  after  a  time  these  were  cleared 
away,  and  it  appears  that  this  is  the  law : — As  to  the  pauper  clao^ 
tlio  Poor  Law  authorities  have  all  the  powers  necessary  for  thor 
provision  and  treatment.  As  to  the  non-pauper  class  (the  artiiaiu^ 
small  tradesmen,  &c.),  for  these  the  sewer  authiority,  or,  in  tb 
metropolis,  the  nuisance  authority,  may  provide  hospitals  &r  tlie 
reception  of  the  sick,  and  temporarily  supply  them  with  mediciiiei 
and  medical  attendance  at  their  homes.  All  expenses  incurred  hf 
the  several  authorities  are  to  bo  paid  out  of  the  general  district 
rates. 

The  powers  given  luider  the  several  Acts  were  used;  amail 
hospitals  built  or  taken  to,  fitted  and  furnished.  The  neceoaiy 
staffs  engaged,  cottages  (as  temporary  places  of  refuge)  takeoi 
fitted  and  furnished. 

(7.)  A  store  for  disinfecting  articles  of  clothing  by  exposing  ilifli 
to  a  dry  heat  of  230  degrees,  and  a  carriage  for  the  oonveyaooe  d 
the  sick,  were  provided. 

The  fore^in^  wore  the  preparatory  means ;  when  the  pestileim 
came  the  followmg  was  the  mode  of  procedure :— 'The  medical  nn 
in  (^large  of  cases  gave  early  information  to  the  health  officer,  tiie 
lioiiscs  were  quickly  thereafter  visited  by  inspectors  speaallf 
charged  with  the  duties ;  these  were--^to  supply,  and  to  see  to  tiu 
use  of  disinfectants  in  the  house,  to  urge  the  removal  of  the  sick  to 


iital,  and  to  superiotend  tli9  removal. — To  disiufect  the  house) 

r  tho  romoTsJ  of  the  mhabitants,  by  buruiog  sulphur  tharein, 

Laft«r  thu  expiration  of  twenty-four  hours  to  eoe  to  the  removal 

1  (Nothing  to  the  disinfecting  stove. — To  see  to  tho  washing  of 

alts  of  the  house,  so  as  to  rumove  all  paper  hangings,  &c.,  down 

t  original  plastering ;  to  see  to  tlio  washing  of  aii  articles  of 

niture  with  carbolic  acid  soap  j  and  especially  to  the  deatruotioa 

of  all  rags  by  fire.      Printed  directions  were  given  to  the  occupnnta 

of  aU  infected  houses ;  in  these  tho  means  of  disinfection  to  be  used 

bj  themselvoa,   the  admiasiou  of  freah  ab,  the  copious  use  of  dis- 

ufectantfi   (supplied    by  the   authorities),  the   soaking    of  soiled 

olothing  iu  water  containing  those  disinf octants,  and  the  addition 

M>t  to  all  excretions,  was  briefly  explained. 

icinctly  stated  were  the  means  adopted  in  the  cholera 
1866,  that  of  typhus  in  1868^9— and    of  relapsing 
■  In  1870-71.    What  were  the  results  ! 

Brtality.— Cholera,  which  in  1849  had  destroyed  1  ont  of  30  of 
Dhabitante,  in  1866  claimed  but  1  victim  out  of  391. 
ihos,  which,  before  sanitary  measures  were  put  in  force,  de- 
l  annually   twenty-three   out.  of    10,000  of   the    people,  was 
Bed  in  virulence  after  tho  supply  of  water,  and  while  tUs  msin 

s  being  done,  to  8  per  10,000. 
slapsing   fever  was  new  to  the    profession  in  Merlliyr.      Tha 
e  morlality  of  the  cases  was  2^^^  per  cent. 

a, — The  duration  of  the  cholora  epidemic,  after  the  hos- 
I  and  places  of  refuge  weio  fairly  in  operation,  was  but  six 
U.  The  cases  of  typhui<  entirely  ceased  to  be  reported  in  two 
its  after  the  first  removals  had  taken  place.  Relapsing  fever 
yielded  in  the  same  space  of  time,  and  disappeared  from  the 

y  of  diseases. 
I  thns  dealing  with  these  several  forms  of  pestilence,  the  diseases 
t  fairly  scotched  during  the  first  month,  and  by  the   end  of  the 
id  not  a  case  was  to  be  found. 

will  bo  well  here  to  mention  tliat  these  various  sanitary  tnea* 
I  have  produc«d  good  fruit,  not  alone  in  diminishing  the  mortalilj' 
i  pestilent  fevers,  but  in  lessening  the  death-rate  from  all  ailings, 
bos  in  the  years  before  1850  the  death-ralo  was  36  ia  1000.  | 
,mean  of  the  lust  five  years  was  24.  The  proportional  number 
Hths  of  children  under  five  years  was  527  ;  it  has  been  reduced 
SO  per  1000,  The  mortality  from  pulmonary  consumption  baa 
D  from  38  to  20  for  1000,  while  tho  moan  average  age  at  death 

dfrom  17i  to  27^  years.  ' 

te  laws,  even  as  ibey  now  ataud,  .m'm  the  health  authoriliea 
,  ample  powers  to  prepare  for  the  coming  of  pestilent  fevers,  to 
t  the  sick  when  they  suffer  from  them,  and  to  use  all  known 
iods  for  tho  prevention  of  their  diSugioa.  The  passage  of  the 
lure,  which  the  President  of  the  Royal  Sanitary  Commissiou  has 
gilt  ID)  will  doubtless  remove  many  doubts,  and  make  the  cnact- 
its  more  easily  workable  i  but  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  tha 

29 


450  ExcremefUal  Pollutiofu 

laws  now  exist,  and  that  it  merely  reqaires  the  hearty  good  w 
the  authorities  to  put  them  la  operatiooi  and  thus  both  to  pn 
for  the  advent,  and  to  treat  pestilence  when  it  comeii. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  strongly  urge  the  inauguration  of  aaj 
of  registration  of  sickness.  The  fact  that  pestilent  disease  previ 
in  the  town  of  Tredegar  for  more  than  two  years,  and  yet  ths 
official  information  of  its  existence  was  published  during  the  n 
period,  goes  far  to  prove  the  great  need  of  such  a  system. 

I  would  more  especially  urge  the  compulsory  registration  of  c 
of  small-poz,  of  typhus  fever,  and  its  congeners,  and  of  cholera ; 
this  because  their  spread  can  be  limited  by  isolating  the  first  ci 
A  well  considered  system  of  recording   sicknesses  would  be 
means  of   warning   all  authorities  of  the   nearness  of  danger, 
enable  them  to  furbish  and  sharpen  their  sanitary  armour. 


Excremental  Pollution  a  Cause  of  Disease^  with  hints  as  to  Ri 
dial  Measures.    By  Andrew  Fergus,  M.D. 

SANITARY  science  should  never  rest  content  till  our  towns  I 
become  as  healthy  as  our  rural  districts ;  this  at  least  sIm 
ever  be  the  result  aimed  at.  The  question  as  to  the  causes  of 
unhealthiness  of  our  towns  is  a  very  large  one,  and  I  intend  me 
to  touch  upon  one  of  them,  namely,  how  much  of  this  unhealtbii 
is  due  to  the  way  in  which  the  excreta  of  the  inhabitants  are  dispt 
of,  also  whether  there  can  be  any  sanitary  improvement  in  our  m< 
of  dealing  with  them. 

We  all  know  that  some  of  our  excretions  are  at  our  own  dispc 
aud  that  some  are  not.  If  we  trace  the  latter  we  shall  find  that  1 
are  at  once  utilized,  and  that  thus  the  balance  of  nature  is  kept 
The  carbouic  acid  continually  given  off  by  living  beings  is  retoi 
to  the  vegetable  world  whence  it  was  originally  derived,  and  in 
way  the  correct  rotation  of  nature  is  kept  up.  Certain  of  our  ol 
excretions  are  left  to  our  own  control,  it  is  in  the  disposal  of  tl 
we  act  contrary  to  nature,  and  have  the  most  dire  results.  I  beli 
that  had  the  rotation  of  nature  been  followed  in  regard  to  theB^ 
had  these  excretions  been  returned  to  the  earth  in  a  fresh  state 
had  they  been  prevented  from  decomposing,  we  should  have  ha 
very  marked  diminution  in  the  mortality  of  our  cities,  and  even 
improved  state  of  health  in  our  villages  and  private  houses. 

I  do  not  enter  into  minute  details,  but  shall  take  a  few  lead 
diseases  to  illustrate  the  mischief  that  arises  from  excremei 
pollution.  'Dr.  Benjamin  Richardson,  at  the  Sewage  Confereaoc 
Leamington,  gives  a  list  of  fifteen  diseases  that  may  be  conveyed 
sewage.*    When  we  look  back  to  the  epidemics  which  preva 

*  Di8EA8Bfl  FROM  THE  Oroanic  Poisoxfl. — The  disoRsee  which  may  be  prodt 
bj  the  organic  poisons  aro  as  follows : — Small-pox,  measles,  scarlet  ferer,  di 
theria,  typhus  foTer,  typhoid  feyer,  erysipelas,  nospital  ferer,  puerperal  fe 
cholera,  yellow  ferer,  a^gue,  glanders,  boil  and  carbuncle,  infectious  o^thah 
This  is  a  long  list  of  diseases,  amounting  to  fifteen  in  number,  mainly  trMcsU 
the  |)oi8ont  which,  as  I  hare  said,  may  pass  from  the  sewage. 


i  centuries  ^o,  we  readily  acknowledge  that  if  they  were  not 
!CUj  occaEioned  hf  the  habits  of  the  people  they  were  much  aggro- 
«ted  by  ihem.  If  siij-  of  these  rc-appear  there  is  no  reason  why  it 
ihould  not  b«  attributed  to  the  aamo  cause.  We  congratulate  ooi^ 
toWcs  on  baring,  by  our  improved  sanitary  arrangeraenle,  got  rid 
of  such  diseases  ab  the  plague,  the  sweating  sickneas,  &c.,  Iiut  in 
(be  event  of  any  loiig-lBtenl  epidemic  reappearing,  we  shall  do  well 
10  inquire  whether  our  own  habits  are  not  in  a  great  measure  the 
inponsible  cuu^e.  Air.  Simon  very  pertinently  asks  why  diphtheria, 
icb  scarcely  bad  any  place  in  hisiory  till  it  overrun  Europe  in  the 
b  century,  and  which,  since  that  time,  has  again  been  but  rarely 
tlioned,  should  for  the  last  ten  years  have  become  an  important 
a  in  Eogland.* 

B  answer  is  simply  this — we  have  been  careless  as  to  the  dis- 

of  our  excretions,  and  have  been  drinking  waler,  or  breathing 

.  coQtwninated  by  excrelal  matter,  often  in  a  state  of  decompo> 

n.     For  details  in  proof  of  this,  as  regards  diphtheria,  I  refer 

be  second  report  of  the  Medical  Officer  of  the  Privy  Couucii, 

B  167,  168,  171,  172  ;  also  to  the  eighth  report,  page  251. 

Aoid  fever,  killing  from  15,000  to  18,000  every  year,  is  anothoif 

i  resulting  from  excremeotal  pollution.     1  think  I  need  not 

le  authorities  to  prove  this,  but  I  may  refer  yon  to  the  reaearclies 

Jl  modern  investigatora  of  this  disease,  and  especially  to  the 

It*  of  Mr.  Simon,  yearly  prepared  for  the  Privy  Council.     The 

D  of  typhoid  fever,  from  excrementat  pollution,  is  clearly  proved 

most  every  volume  of  these  valuable  reports,  either  iu  the  reports 

iselves,  or  in  the  appendices  written  by  the  various  olficial  in- 

lors. 

the  last  report,  published  n  few  weeks  ogo,  I  find  that  these 
ECtora  hud  visited  sixty-six  places,  but  six  must  be  deducted  as 
it  entries.  In  fifty,  out  of  the  sixty  remaining  cases,  the  oc- 
in  of  the  increased  death-rate,  which  gave  rise  to  the  official 
Ktlon,  was  escrementul  pollution;  iu  forty-nine  of  these  the 
ll  was  typhoid,  and  in  sixteen  scarlet  fever,  in  the  affected  towns 
litricls.  In  moat  of  these  cases  the  water  was  befouled  by  ex- 
lenWl  pollution,  but  us  this  as  a  source  of  disease  is  so  well 
WB,  n»d  bos  over  and  over  again  been  so  amply  proved,  I  shall 
R  it  fta  granted,  and  dwell  somewhat  more  in  detail  on  another 
R  fruitful  source  of  typhoid  fever,  which  is  not  so  well  known, 
leanuot  be  so  easily  guarded  against. 

L  ntuuber  of  years  ago  1  was  able  Co  trace  «cveral  cnseaof  typhoid 
ftt  to  corroded  soil  pipes.  At  first  1  was  very  much  puzzled  as 
the  cause  of  this  corrosion,  but  continued  observation  solved  the 
kally. 

IfOQud  that  the  perforations  of  the  pipe  were  generally  on  ita 
p«r  aide,  and  therefore  they  could  not  be  caused  by  the  fluid 
Itiug  through  it,     I  also  observed  that  the  pipe  most  frequently 


452  Excremental  PoUutiofu 

afiected  was  that  leading  from  the  closet  to  the  main  i 
soil  pipe,  and  that,  wherever  there  was  a  bend  in  the 
upper  surface  became  perforated.     I  have  also  sometii 
these  perforations  in  the  sides  of  the  pipe  as  well. 

The  question  here  arises,  how  is  ^is  destruction  of  ( 
made  lead  pipes  effected?  If  we  consider  what  part  of  I 
is  that  is  destroyed,  and  also  consider  the  result  of 
analysis,*  as  well  as  the  increased  rapidity  with  which  tfa 
tive  action  takes  place  in  pipes  that  are  not  ventilated,  I 
are  justified  in  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  d 
element  is  sewer  gas. 

If  you  will  look  carefully  at  the  specimens,  you  will  obi 
the  destructive  action  is  from  the  inside.     You  will  pen 
in  some  places  the  pipes  are  more  or  less  eaten  into,  even 
action  has  not  gone  the  length  of  complete  perforation. 

Of  course,  the  discovery  of  these  pipes  in  houses  has  onl 
cases  where  I  have  been  called  professionally,  and  v 
diseases  were  of  such  a  type  as  we  know  can  be  produc 
inhalation  of  the  results  of  decomposing  excreta.  (I  ma^ 
that  as  soon  as  the  pipes  have  been  removed,  disease  hs 
notably  so  in  an  institution  where,  nearly  three  years  ap 
break  of  typhoid  fever  disappeared,  and  has  not  returned 
soil  pipes  were  removed.) 

The  diseases  I  have  observed,  resulting  from  this  co 
pipes,  are  typhoid  fever,  diphtheria,  &o.,  &c,  but  in  one  or 
I  have  had  to  remove  families,  all  of  whom  were  sufierini 
health  from  this  poison,  without  exhibiting  symptoms  of 
defined  disease. 

In  towns  where  w.c.'s  have  been  extensively  introdnoc 
generally  used  as  the  material  of  soil  pipes,  and  as  I  now 
that  these  are  liable  to  become  imperfect,  it  is  a  very 
sanitary  question  to  inquire  how  long  lead  will  last,  in  otl 
what  is  the  duration  of  a  good  lead  soil  pipe. 

I  have  been  attending  to  this  matter  for  several  years, 
now  more  than  four  since  I  first  publicly  exhibited  pipes  1 
still  I  would  not  wish  to  speak  dogmatically  on  the  sul 
think  it  requires  further  investigation.  If  I  am  correct  in 
that  the  destruction  of  the  pipes  is  the  result  of  gases, 
rapidity  of  the  process  will  vary  in  different  localities,  as  i 
may  be  stronger  or  weaker,  or  passing  more  or  less  quic 
state  of  decomposition.  •  My  researches,  so  far  as  they  hav 
ceeded,  indicate,  (1st)  that  where  there  is  no  ventilatio 


*  Analysis  of  whitish-brown  powder  from  the  interior  of  the  perfon 

Carbonate  of  lead 8000  ...  01*00  ...    1 

Carbonate  of  lime 2*50  ...  2*10  ... 

Water        1*20  ...  1-00  ... 

Lead  inaoluUe  OS  oxido S*50  ...  1*50  ... 

Diiioa        ...        ...        ...        ...  z'oU  ••.  i*uu  ... 

Organic  matter     i'OO  ...  3*40  ... 


By  Andmo  Ferg^ta^  M.D. 


45S 


%  soil  pipe  beiDg  closed  at  the  top,  not  allowing  the 
J  to  escape,  n  lead  pipe  may  in  t«n  years  becomo  a  source  of 
',  nnd  pnsaibly  even  onrlier,  if  the  sewers  are  faulty,  promoting 

I  decompoailion  of  the  excreta,  If  the  sewere  are  good,  well 
S  with  a  rapid  flow  of  sewage,  a  nou -ventilated  pipe  may  last 
n  years. 

1  there  ia  veutilation,  the  soil  pipe  being  open  at  the  top,  anil 
iog  as  the  raiu  water  pipe,  lead  will  last  for  twenty,  thirty, 
more  years.      The  practical  cooclusion  to  be  drawn  from 
B,  in  water-clofet  towns,  ia  that  where  there  is  no  vcntjlntion  you  are 
it  safe  unless  your  soil  pipes  and  connexions  are  renewed  every  ten 
BO  years,   or  every  twenty  to  twenty-five  where  ventilation 
Allow  me  to  remark  that  we  cannot  trust  the  plumber  to 
t  Ihiii  condition  of  the  pipes;  they  will  probably  only  look  for 
d  leakage,  and  if  ihey  do  not  fiud  it,  they  pronounce  the  pipes  to 

II  right,  and  say  that  the  smell  we  complain  of  must  be  caused 
Hgu,  dead  rats,  dkc,  &c. 

'a  the  most  recent  cases  of  disease  (typhoid)  fi'om  this  cause  which 

ucome  under  my  own  notice,  when  J  inquired  as  to  the  stat«  of 

IB  drains,  the  lady  of  the  house  assured  me  thnt  all  was  right  as  the 

;,  bad  been   I'eneived   two  months   ago.      Next    day,  however, 

iving  an  unpleasant  smell,  I  requested  that  the  plumber  should 

imiue  the  pipe   from   the  closet  (o  the  soil  pipe,  as  I  was  sure  it 

il  be  perforated.     I  now  exhibit  the  reauK.     A  year  ago  I   was 

d  tlist  this  state  of  pipes  must  be  peculiar  to  Glasgow,  and  was  in 

D  probability  occasioned  by  the  refuse  of  chemical  works  passed 

lo  the  sewers.    Since  then  I  have  inquired  into  the  state  of  several 

!.  towns,  and  find  in  them  all  the  same  ooudition  of  pipes.     I 

IT  you  a  specimen  from  Edinburgh  where  thero  are  no  chemical 

Should  the  cholera  contagium  got  into  the  drains,  we  should 

I  fearful   havoc,    wherever   this   defective   ataie   of    soil   pipes 

r  group  of  diseases  arising  from  oxcrameutal  pollution,  are 
is  diarrheal,  including  cholera,  I  need  not,  I  think,  insist  that  this 
It  disease  is  the  direct  consequence  of  taking  into  our  system  the 
nits  of  excremental  pollution.  Instead  of  going  inio  any  proof  of 
]  this,  I  shall  quote  from  the  admirable  and  vigorous 
Mr.  Simon.      In  the  eighth  report,    p.    39,    he   thus 

I  "  When  cholera  ii;  epidemic  in  any  place,  persons  who  are  suffering 

»om  the  epidemic  influence,  though,  perhaps,  with  only  the  slightest 

ie  of  diarrhcea,  may,  if  they  migrate,  be  the  means  of  conveying 

B  oUier  places  an  infection  of  indefinito  severity  \  that  the  quality 

*  il  ths  inTsstigstion  of  the  cauaatian  of  diieua  ii  curied  out,  I  belike  that 
h>lUslrvBd]r  given  of  those  (IiMiues  produced  or  convened  by  sewnge  vill  bo 
lomtd.  In  two  caees  of  pbtbiaiB,  in  people  long  put  middle  life,  I  could  not 
Unbule  the  ilietiMe  to  any  other  cnuar.  The  tttmily  liisWry  wm  good,  the  iiiodo 
jLCOrrecl,  nod  the  general  health  salisfacto^,  up  lo  the  tjtiio  of  the  soil 


eholflrft  contagtniD,  bj  leftkage  or  sonkBge  from  daUi 
or  otherwise,  geti  ueesa,  eren  in  Bmall  quantitj,  to  ' 
Murces  of  drinking  wiiter,  it  mTects  in  the  moat  dM] 
TOTj  l&rge  Tolumes  of  the  fluid  ;  that  in  the  ftbore-d 
even  «  single  pfttient  with  slight  choleraio  dUrrhoe 
powerful  infective  inflaonce  on  masBet  of  population 
perhaps,  his  presence  is  unflucpected  ;  that  things,  sn 
and  clothing,  which  have  been  imbued  with  choleraic  c 
not  afterwards  fully  disinfected,  may  long  retain  t 
properties,  and  be  the  means  of  exciting  choleraic  oui 
erer  they  are  sent  for  washing  or  other  purposes." 

Again,  in  ninlh  report,  pp.  83  and  84,  Mr.  Simon  t 
writes : — "  It  cannot  be  too  distinctly  nnderstood  tl 
who  contracts  cholera  in  thia  country  is  tpto  facto  den 
almost  absolute  certainly  to  have  been  exposed  to  exci 
tion ;  that  what  gave  him  cholera  was  (mediately  01 
cholera-coniagium  diecharged  from  another's  bowels  ; 
the  ditTusion  of  cholera  among  us  depends  entirely  ope 
less  filihy  facilities  which  are  let  exist,  and  specially 
towns,  for  the  fouling  of  earth,  and  air,  and  water,  ai 
durily  for  the  infection  of  man,  with  whatever  conti 
contained  in  the  miscellaiieoun  ouiflowinge  of  the  po] 
cremeot- sodden  earth,  excrement-reeking  air,  exc 
water ;  these  are,  for  us,  the  canies  of  cholera.  Th) 
tively  act  only  in  so  far  as  the  excrement  is  choleras 
that  cholero-excrement  again  only  acts  in  so  far  as  it  c 
microscopical  fungi,  may  bo  the  truest  of  all  propositic 
over  be  their  abstract  truth,  their  separata  applicador 
Nowhere  out  of  Laputa  could  there  be  serious  thou| 
tiating  excremental  performances  into  groups  of 
healthv.  or  of  usinir  the  hiirhest  rowers  of  the  microsc 


By  Asidrew  Fergus^  M.D.  455 

**It  is  to  be  hoped  that,  as  the  edacation  of  the  country  advances, 

this  sort  of  thing  will  come  to  an  end,  that  so  much  preventable 

dtath  will  not  be  always  accepted  as  a  fate ;  that  for  a  population  to 

bt  thus  poisoned  by  its  own  excrement  will  some  day  be  deemed 

ignominious  and  intolerable." 

As  regards  diarrhoea,  Dr.  Greenhow  reports,  and  Mr.  Simon  en- 
dorses his  opinion,  that  the  deaths  from  this  cause  vary  from  400  to 
6S3  in  every  100,000  of  the  population. 

He  calculates  that  if  the  diarrhooal  death-rate  could  be  restricted 
in  the  whole  of  England  to  ten  times  the  minimum  death-rate, 
(gamely,  four)  there  would  be  a  saving  of  20,000  lives  annually,  and 
there  would  be  a  great  reduction  in  the  deaths  from  typhoid  fever 
alsa  Both  Mr.  Simon  and  Dr.  Greenhow  are  of  opinion  that  the 
excess  of  mortality  from  these  diseases  has  in  all  places  been  coinci- 
dent with  one  or  other  of  two  definite  local  circumstances,  (a)  the 
tainting  of  the  atmosphere  with  the  products  of  organic  decomposi- 
tioD,  especially  of  human  excrement — or,  {b)  the  habitual  drinking  of 
impure  water. 

Before  turning  our  attention  to  remedial  measures,  allow  mo  to 
remark  that  water  carriage  was  adopted  in  ignoi*ance  of  the  results 
tkftt  would  flow  from  it.  It  was  known  that  water  oxidizes  excreta, 
and  it  was  supposed  that  we  had  nothing  more  to  do  than  merely  to 
pus  these  matters  into  streams  to  be  rid  of  them — the  result  has 
limply  proved  that  no  river  in  the  kingdom  can  oxidize  the  excreta 
d  the  towns  on  its  banks.  We  have  had  our  rivers  rendered  gigantic 
ceflspools,  and  though  many  schemes  have  beeu  proposed  for  the 
treatment  of  sewage,  most  of  them  have  failed  when  brought  to  the 
touchstone  of  scientific  research. 

It  is  singular  that  so  few  plans  have  been  devised  to  keep  excreta  out 
of  the  sewers,  i,€.  to  have  no  sewage  at  all. 

The  plan  of  sewage  irrigation  has  many  advocates,  and  therefore  I 
aball  offer  a  few  remarks  upon  it — for  though  it  would  in  some 
degree  utilize  the  sewage,  it  would  not  in  the  least  improve  the 
ttoitary  condition  of  w.c.  towns.  Its  advocates  assert  that  it  will 
carry  the  excreta  fresh  to  the  soil,  in  refutation  of  which  I  shall 
amply  advert  to  the  case  of  Croydon. 

Ido  so,  (1st.)  Because  it  is  a  very  perfect  specimen  of  sewage 
works  carefully  carried  out  under  the  most  favourable  circumstances. 
(2nd.)  Because  the  advocates  of  sewage  irrigation  iusist  that  the 
excreta  ought  to  be  carried  fresh  to  the  soil.  (3rd.)  Because  the 
engineer  tells  us  that  the  time  from  the  closet,  through  the  drains, 
through  the  draining  beds — out  again  into  the  river — varies  from  a 
minimum  of  four  to  a  maximum  of  six  hours.  If  this  is  correct,  it 
follows  that  at  Croydon  there  should  be  no  gas,  it  being  a  well-known 
&ct  that  excreta  takes  at  least  twenty-four  hours  to  decompose  and 
g^ve  off  gas.* 

*  I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  I  do  not  speak  as  to  the  present  state  of  Croy- 
don>-I  am  dealing  with  a  much  larger  subject — and  merely  quote  Croydon  as  an 
iUiutratioii  in  point    I  make  this  remark  because  when  {  uMd  it  on  a  former 


456  Exermmdal  PoUntian. 

At  Croydon,  then,  there  ahoold  be  no  need  of  ventilation  in  die 
■ewers,  jet  Dr.  Carpenter,  who  highly  approves  of  the  system  put* 
soed  there,  tells  us  that  from  some  mal-arrangement  of  the  pipes  is 
his  house,  sewage  gas  passed  into  his  house  with  a  force  resembfiif 
the  escape  of  steam,  and  produced  typhoid  fever. 

From  this  it  is  evident  (1st)  thia  the  excreta  are  not  passed  ca 
fresh  to  the  land ;  (2nd)  that  it  must  take  much  longer  than  tiie 
theoretical  time  to  pass  from  the  closet  through  the  pipes  and  over 
the  meadows.  I  suppose  the  mistake  may  have  in  part  originsted 
in  supposing  that  sewage  matter  will  flow  as  rapidly  through  pipes  m 
pure  water,  but  if  you  have  sewer  gases  at  Croydon,  with  its  re* 
cently  and  admirably  constructed  sewers,  and  their  favourable  &li, 
what  will  you  have  if  you  attempt  sewage  irrigation  in  towns,  kn 
favourably  situated,  where  the  drains  are  not  nearly  so  well  coa- 
structed,  far  more  numerous  and  complicated,  and  where  yon  mig|bt 
find  it  necessary  to  pump  the  sewage. 

The  most  favourable  circumstances  for  the  decompositicm  of  ezereU 
are  narrow  spaces,  with  a  limited  supply  of  air  and  water ;  and  if 
we  would  bring  to  the  surface  the  whole  network  of  the  sewen  of 
a  large  town  we  should  find  a  very  perfect  laboratory  for  the  pro* 
duction  of  sewer  gas.  These  sewers  often  include  old,  irregular 
water-courses  arched  over,  drains  of  larger  and  smaller  dimennoBi, 
some  round,  some  egg-shaped,  and  some  square,  I  have  no  doubt  idil 
exist.  At  the  bottom  of  most  of  these  is  a  bed  of  black,  thiek,  tens- 
cious  mud,  and  flowing  over  it  a  sluggish  stream  of  various  degreei 
of  impurity,  but  slowly,  silently,  and  continually  giving  off  desdly 
gases.  Sinking  the  sewers  to  their  native  and  unsightly  bed,  let  m 
look  at  the  manner  in  which  they  are  connected  with  our  hoosei,  by 
water-closets  more  or  less  perfect,  and  more  or  less  out  of  repair, 
some  of  them  being  merely  a  tube  passing  into  the  drains  withosk 
any  pretence  of  a  pan.  We  have  also  sinks  and  fixed  basins  in 
rooms,  sometimes  within  a  few  feet  of  the  bed.  We  are  told  to  trap 
and  ventilate  the  sewers,  but  by  doing  so  in  one  place  we  onlyletfe 
more  gas  to  escape  in  another,  indeed,  it  is  but  excluding  a  poisonon 
gas  from  our  own  house,  which  will  find  its  way  into  our  neighbonr'i^ 
who  may  possibly  not  be  so  well  protected  from  it.  Sewer  votiia- 
tion  is  not  easy,  and  is  very  costly.  Mr.  Bazelgette  estimates  that  to 
ventilate  the  sewers  of  London  will  cost  460,000/.,  and  for  fuel  per 
annum  201,480/.,  exclusive  of  labour.  Flushing  with  water  would 
cost  381,260/. 

Supposiug  that  you  have  trapped  your  sewers,  and  carried  a 
ventilating  pipe  to  the  roof,  you  have  not  destroyed  the  poison,  bnt 
merely  diluted  it,  and  the  contaminated  atmosphere  cannot  bat 
exercise  an  injurious  efiect  more  or  less  on  the  surrounding  in- 
habitants. To  show  how  slight  a  contamination  of  air  will  prodooe 
disease,  allow  me  to  mention  a  case  that  came  under  my  own  obaerra- 
tion  a  few  weeks  ago.     In  a  healthy  rural  district  a  youth  wai 

occasion  I  was  mihundcnitood,  and  told  that  beoauae  Croydon  is  healthjnovl 
bod  nu  right  to  refer  to  it. 


By  Andrew  Fergus,  M.D.  457 

tdiing  for  trout,  and  caught  two.   Exactly  fourteen  days  afterwards 

fperiod   of  incubation)  he  was  attacked  by   typhoid   fever.     His 

nllier,  a  highly  intelligent  and  obseryant  medical  man,  then  recol- 

keted  that  close  to  the  spot  where  his  son  had  been  fishing  a  sewer 

entered  the  stream,  therefore,  although  the  sewage  was  not  strong 

•KHigh  to  kill  the  trout,  the  air  was  so  tainted  that  its  inhalation 

prodoeed  typhoid  fever.  I  am  myself  a  believer  in  the  germ  theory  of 

diaeasey  but  without  asking  you  to  go  this  length  with  me,  I  ask  you 

it  I  have  not  proved  that  certain  diseases  are  produced  by  taking  into 

our  systems  the  result  of  the  decomposition  of  excreta,  and  that 

Nver^  diseases  may  be  produced  by  sewage.    In  these  circumstances 

irhat  ought  we  to  do  ?    If  we  had  an  epidemic  of  cholera,  I  have  no 

kmht  that  every  intelligent  officer  of  health  would  at  once  direct  that 

tte  stools  of  all  patients  should  be  disinfected,  but  probably  before 

tfcn  order  could  be  parried  out  the  mischief  would  have  been  done. 

Let  us  educate  the  people  to  this  beforehand,  and  we  shall  at  the 

■me  time  get  quit  of  the  ri9k  of  causing  or  conveying  other  diseases. 

I  hold  tibat  the  only  true  sanitary  solution  of  our  difficulty  is  to 
jfforide  that  there  shall  be  no  decomposition  of  excreta,  that  the 
lewers  shall  be  for  the  rains,  and  that  all  excreta  shall  be  disinfected, 
die  progress  of  our  knowledge  of  what  wo  call  antiseptic  chemistry 
nndering  this  less  and  less  difficult. 

We  may,  then,  sum  up  as  follows  : — 

(1.)  No  excreta  shall  be  allowed  to  get  into  our  sewers,  water- 
eomes,  or  rivers. 

(2.)  That  all  such  excreta  be  submitted  to  chemical  or  other  nc- 
tioD,  by  which  they  shall  be  rendered  non-putrescible. 

(3.)  That  all  refuse  from  manufactories  containing  organic  nitrogen 
and  carbon  (putrescible  matter)  shall  bo  kept  out  of  our  sewers, 
Wftler-eourses,  and  rivers. 

Ab  regards  this  last  particular  we  would  require  an  Act  of  Par- 
Hiinent  to  prevent  manufacturers  passing  organic  refuse  into  the 
aewers.  A  profitable  return  might  probably  bo  the  result.  Mr. 
South  tells  me,  that  from  one  work  500,000  gallons  a  week  are 
passed  into  the  sewers,  each  ton  of  which  is  worth  Ss,  6d,  As 
regards  the  1st  and  2nd  particulars  I  may  remark  that  my  own 
mdlfidual  opinion  inclines  in  favour  of  the  dry  system,  but  pro- 
vkion  must  be  made  for  those  towns  in  which  water-closets  are 
already  established,  and  where  the  inhabitants  would  be  unwilling 
to  part  with  them.  I  would  propose  that  they  should  adopt  the 
apparatus  of  Mr.  Hoey,  a  model  of  which  is  here  exhibited. 

The  principle  of  it  is  that  the  flush  pipe  shall  be  fed  from  a 
limited  cistern  containing  one-fifth  of  a  gallon,  and  that  when  the 
pen  is  discharged,  a  quantity  of  sulphuric  acid,  common  salt,  or  some 
other  antiseptic  shall  be  discharged  with  it 

The  whole  matter  must  be  passed  into  a  tank  or  reservoir  under 
ground,  from  which  it  will  be  removed  by  atmospheric  pressure. 

The  advantages  of  the  system  are  obvious  ;  (1st.)  It  leaves  the 
^.c's  as  they  are,  and  saves  an  enormous  amount  of  water.      (2nd.) 


458 


Excretnsntal  PoUutum. 


As  the  added  autiseptic  will  prevent  the  fecal  matter  from  pui 
iug,  there  need  be  no  fear  of  sewer  gas  getting  into  our  house 
fecal  percolation  through  the  soil  into  our  wells,  and  we  would  i 
to  suffer  from  the  diseases  produced  by  these  causes.  (3rd.) 
not  expensive,  and  can  be  as  easily  worked  as  the  ordinary  w 
closet.  (4th.)  The  collected  matter,  after  the  evaporation  of 
water,  would  be  a  valuable  manure. 

As  an  expeiiment  I  had  a  closet  of  this  description  fitted  q; 
my  own  house  about  two  years  ago — I  find  that  it  works  admin 
being  quite  as  clean  and  well  flushed  as  two  other  closets  where 
supply  of  water  is  unlimited. 

Of  the  dry  systems,  you  are  all  acquainted  with  Mr.  Moule's  ea 
closet.  A  grand  improvement  on  it  is  Mr.  Stanford's  carboa-di 
but  as  a  paper  is  to  be  read  on  it  I  shall  reserve  my  remarks,  mc 
observing  that  in  every  respect  it  meets  the  requirements  of  sani 
science. 

As  I  have  already  exceeded  the  time  allowed  for  voluntary  pa| 
I  must  not  enter  on  the  consideration  of  the  other  diseases  prodi 
or  conveyed  by  sewage.  I  merely  append  a  table  of  deaths  J 
zymotic  diseases,  most  of  which  may  pass  from  sewage. 

Table  showing  the  Number  of  Dkatiih  in  England  from  certain  Ztmotic  Dm 
in  each  year  for  whicli  the  record  has  been  made  from  1838  to  18C8. 


Yean. 


18:i8 
18;J9 
1H40 
1841 
1842 
1847 
1848 
1840 
18.50 
18.')1 
1852 
1853 
1854 
1855 

1^7(5 

1857 
1858 
1859 
I860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
mWi 
1867 
1868 


Scarlatina. 


Diph- 
theria. 


Meailcs. 


Xlooplnir 
Cough. 


5,802 
10,325 
19,816 
14,161 
12,807 
14,697 
20.502 
13,111 
13,370 
13,594 
18,813 
15,(i53 
18,325 
17,128 
13,931 
13,919 
25,481 
19,907 
9,(W1 
9,077 
14,834 
30.475 
29,700 
17,700 
11,685 
12,;J00 
21,912 


40 

74 

46 

203 

186 

2J9 

310 

4,83<i 

9.587 

5,212 

4,517 

4,903 

6,507 

5.464 

4,145 

3,000 

2,(KX) 

3,013 


6,514 
10,937 
9326 
6,894 
8,742 
8,690 
(5.867 
5.464 
7,080 
9.370 
5,846 
4.8a') 
9,277 
7,354 
7,124 
5,9tJ9 
9,271 
9.518 
9,557 
9,055 
9,800 
1 1,349 
8,32.3 
8,562 
10,940 
(),588 

II, aw 


Small-poz, 


Ferer. 


9,107 

8,165 

6,132 

8,099 

8,091 

9,260 

6,862 

9,615 

7,770 

7.9a5 

8,022 

11.200 

9,770 

10,185 

9,225 

10,138 

11.648 

8,976 

8,555 

12.;J0l> 

12,272 

11,275 

8.570 

8.(U7 

15,764 

11,873 

9,223 


16.268 
9.131 

10,4;J4 
6,368 
2,716 
4,227 
6,903 
4,645 
4,666 
6,997 
7,320 
3.151 
2,808 
2,525 
2.277 
3,936 
6,460 
3.848 
2,749 
1.320 
1,628 
5,964 
7,^)84 
6,411 
3.029 
2,513 
2,052 


18.775 

17,177 
14,846 
16,201 
30,994 
22,037 
18,;i47 
15.375 
17,930 
1S,(U1 
18,554 
18,8a3 
16,470 
16,182 
19,016 
17,883 
15,877 
13,012 
15,440 
1H,721 
18,017 
20,106 
23,a34 
2l,l(>4 
16,8*V2 
19.701 


DUrrboia,! 
Dj>entcr7 
<t  Cholera. 


3.440 

3.493 

4,799 

4,198 

7.622 

16,6:30 

15,604 

74,155 

14.400 

18,045 

21,754 

20,502 

42,002 

15,044 

15  912 

24,037 

16,004 

20,597 
11,185 
20,999 
12,667 
16,801 
18.36fJ 
25,894 
32,644 
21,735 
32,427 


Tc 


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0! 


Tlie  Sanitary  Laws.  45i) 


THE   8ANITABY  LAWS.* 

Dr.  a.  p.  Stewart  presented  the  '^  Eeport  of  the  Joint  Committee 
\  the  British  Medical  and  Social  Science  Associations  on  the  report  of 
be  Boyal  Sanitary  Commission/'f  Special  features  of  the  report  by  ihe 
)ommi88ion,  of  which  there  was  a  cordial  approval,  were  first  alluded 
0,  and  then  certain  primary  defects  in  the  method  and  scope  of 
jiquiiy,  and  certain  errors  of  conclusion,  were  commented  upon. 
ITarious  subjects  were  mentioned  on  which  local  inquiry  ought  to 
bve  been  made,  and  it  was  alleged  that  the  written  answers  to 
Nheduies  were  not  sufficient.  The  report  then  went  on  to  say  that 
irtiatever  may  be  the  nature  of  the  district,  or  the  extent  and  popu- 
laden  of  area,  which,  on  mature  deliberation,  shall  appear  to  be 
tike  most  desirable  for  purposes  of  local  sanitary  administration — and 
idmitting  that,  outside  of  the  larger  towns,  the  Poor  Law  union  or 
registration  district  may  possibly  offer  superior  advantages  for  this 
olgect, — there  appears  no  good  reason  why  all  the  districts  and 
asthorities  included  within  that  area  should  not  be  combined  under 
a  aingle  board  of  management  for  sanitary  administration.  It  is 
extremely  important  that  the  two  or  more  governing  bodies  within 
tiuU  larger  area  should  be  united  at  the  very  least  intermediately, 
\ij  representation,  for  the  purposes  of  the  proposed  Act.  Interme- 
£ate  authorities,  consisting  of  members  not  liable  to  be  swayed  by 
petty  interests  and  sordid  views,  would  be  essential  on  social,  sanitary, 
and  economical  grounds,  for  the  higher  purposes  of  sanitary  admiuis- 
tration.  This  required  either  that  the  powers  of  the  magistracy  (au 
eziating  authority)  should  be  extended  so  as  to  comprehend  the  care 
•f  the  public  health,  or  that  boards,  representing  the  magistracy  and 
ratepayers  in  due  proportion,  should  be  constituted  for  the  direction 
and  control  of  local  sanitary  administration.  The  magistrates  would, 
af  course,  continue  to  sit  as  ex  officio  members  of  the  board  in 
"rural  "  districts.  It  is  no  less  reasonable  and  desirable  that,  if  the 
divisions  of  '*  urban  "  and  **  rural "  are  to  be  maintained,  they  should 
take  the  same  position  on  the  future  boards  for  the  sanitary  man- 
agement of  urban  districts.  The  constitution,  mode  of  election, 
and  duties  of  local  boards,  whether  for  urban,  suburban,  or  rural 
fttricts,  should  be  uniform  throughout  the  provinces  of  England, 
lie  treatment  of  the  subject  of  the  compulsoiy  acquirement  of  land 
Ij  local  authorities  for  certain  purposes  essential  to  the  improvement 
of  the  public  health  by  the  Commission  appears  neither  complete 
nor  satisfactory.  No  general  principles  have  been  laid  down  as  to 
the  extent  to  which  these  powers  should  be  granted  ;  nor  has  the 
{neation  been  solved  as  to  the  mode  of  their  purchase,  in  order,  on 
the  one  hand,  to  protect  the  rights  of  owners  so  far  as  such  protection 
nay  be  consistent  with  the  public  safety  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
Jd  aave  ratepayers  from  the  great  uncertainty  and  expense  attending 

♦  8ee  Transactions,  1869,  p.  6G ;  1870,  p.  404. 

t  Ci>ptes  of  this  Beport  may  be  had  at  the  Offices  of  the  Associations, 


460  The  Sanitary  Lam. 

transactions  of  this  nature  under  the  present  law.  In  what  n 
and  on  what  conditions  local  authorities,  whether  those  of  large 
or  those  which  might  act  over  larger  areas,  should  be  empc 
to  provide  sites  for  dwellings  of  labourers  and  artisans  where  d 
populated  parts  of  towns  have  been  or  maj  be  demolishi 
purposes  of  public  health — ^whether  such  authorities  should  1 
powered  to  acquire  land  for  burial-grounds,  and  mortuarii 
hospitals  for  fevers  and  other  pestilences,  for  disinfecting  esti 
monts,  for  public  slaughter  houses,  for  recreation  grounds,  i 
as  for  water-supply  and  for  sewage  utilization, — ^these  and  oth 
questions  require  the  roost  careful  consideration,  and  are  as  y 
unanswered  by  the  Commission.  Not  only  should  local  impi 
of  interference  be  considered  and  obviated  by  constitutional  i 
but  a  suitable  authority,  intermediate  between  the  local  and  o 
should  be  constituted  in  every  county  or  sufficiently  large  ai 
likely  to  be  more  cognisant  of  the  wants  and  circumstances  of 
smaller  district,  and  better  able  to  judge  of  minute  details  insep 
from  the  daily  working  of  local  boards,  than  a  gover 
inspector.  The  last  important  reason  adduced  for  wider  ad 
trative  areas  is  that  they  would  supply  a  superior  msichinery  f 
appointment  of  scientific  officers,  whether  medical  or  engineer! 
high  and  special  qualifications.  Too  limited  a  view  is  taken 
Commission  of  the  duties  of  the  medical  officer  of  health,  and 
contended  that  the  number  of  district  Poor  Law  medical  offi 
overstated  by  the  Commission.  A  number  of  defects  in  the  delibc 
and  conclusions  of  the  Commission  on  this  subject  of  medical  c 
were  instanced.  The  report  of  the  Commission  omits  to  recon 
the  enactment  of  any  special  and  stringent  regulations  for  the  su 
sion  of  infectious  diseases.  If  this  destructive  class  of  dise 
to  be  effectively  encountered,  some  more  complete  and  d< 
enactments  are  required.  Unless  the  regulations  imposed  ar 
as  will  meet  epidemics  at  their  first  outbreak,  so  ns  to  crush  tl 
the  bud,  it  will  bo  found  as  it  has  been,  almost  impossible  1 
their  course  at  any  subsequent  period.  While  the  Committe 
ceived  with  satisfaction  that  the  Commission  recommends  the  re 
tion  of  sickness,  they  doubt  whether  the  method  thereof  should  be^ 
left,  as  proposed,  to  the  Registrar-General,  without  insisting 
the  necessity  of  considering  in  the  first  place  the  sanitary  needs 
localities  from  which  the  returns  are  collected,  and  in  whicli 
ought  to  be  promptly  applied  to  local  sanitary  action.  It  is  in  i 
to  this  function  that  a  skilled  and  comparatively  independent 
of  health  becomes  indispensable ;  and  the  question  yet  to  be  soh 
what  should  be  the  maximum  and  minimum  extent  of  area  and 
hition  over  which  a  chief  health  officer  could  most  efficient 
economically  act  The  proposal  to  make  the  medical  officer  • 
workhouse  the  official  medium  for  coliectinj^  and  transmitting  r 
of  sickness  is  unsupported  by  reason  or  argument.  A  ] 
machinery  for  the  local  revision  of  mortuary  and  sickness  re 
by  a  skilled  and  iudependeut  officer,  would  be  provided  by  v 


tteport  of  Committee-  461 

the  appointment  of  the  chief  health  officers  debarred  from  private 
practice,  in  intermediate  authorities  ;  and  to  county  justices,  it  may 
he  observed,  the  Legislature  has  committed  the  appointment  of  public 
iBalyats.    The  Committee  propose  that  the  right  of  separate  appoint* 
Bent  by  municipalities  of  chief  health  officers  should  be  limited  to  large 
ddea  and  towns,  the  authorities  of  which  might  be  willing  (as  in 
liverpool)  to  render  their  health  adviser  independent  of  private 
fnctice  by  a  salary,  which  shall,  in  the  judgment  of  the  central 
uthority,  suffice  to  secure  the  devotion  of  his  entire  time  and  thought 
to  his  public  duties.     All  other  towns  would  enjoy  the  advantage  of 
loperintendence  by  an  officer  of  the  same  high  class,  appointed  by  a 
eimnty  or  other  intermediate  autl^ority.     The  system  should  be 
vdibrm  throughout  the  country.     While  heartily  approving  of  the 
proposal  that  '^  medical  officers  of  health  should  be  appointed  subject 
totiie  veto,  and  should  not  be  removed  without  the  sanction  of  the 
central  authority,"  to  compel  all  local  boards  to  appoint  their  own 
sfioers,  even  subject  to  the  above  conditions,  would  be  to  force  into 
letion  motives  of  personal   interest  and   prejudice,  of  local  fav- 
ouritism, and  of  political  party  ascendancy.     In  the  absence  of  an 
officer  specialiy  appointed  for  the  purpose,  the  Poor  Law  medical 
officer  may  be  authorized  to  act,  and  be  suitably  remunerated  for 
letiiig  as  an  assistant    or  deputy  health  officer.      A   fundamental 
nform  in  the  administration  of  Poor  Law  medical  relief  would 
to  essential   to  the  well-working  of  medico-sanitary  organization, 
nd  to  a  proper  registration  of  sickness.     No  medical  officer  should 
be  appointed  under  the  age  of  twenty-three  years,   and  a  special 
elimination  in  certain  matters  of  preventive  and   legal   medicine 
be  required  after  a  future  date,  to  be  named  in  the  new  sanitary  law, 
of  ill  medical  candidates  for  office  of  that  age.     Without  a  body 
ol  snperior  health  officers,  either  many  necessary  duties  of  super- 
intendence  and   inspection  (hardly   noticed   in   the    report  of   the 
Commission)  must  remain  unperformed,  or  an  equally  numerous  body 
of  district  inspectors,  under  the  central  authority,  must  be  appointed 
to  execute  them,  at  a  great  national  cost.     What  seems  the  fatal 
objection  to  the  scheme  of  sanitary  administration  proposed  by  the 
Commission  is  that  it  presupposes  the  frequent  intervention  of  the 
eentral  authority  and  its  officials,  not  only  in  the  great  movements 
of  the  sanitary  system,  but  in  many  minute  local  details.    It  is  to  be 
worked— or  at  least  regulated — from  the  centre,  by  inspectors  who, 
lot  necessarily  residing  in  the  districts  which  they  superintend,  can- 
not know  more  of  local  circumstances  and  peculiarities  than  they  can 
E*  m  during  brief  and  hasty  visits.     This  mode  of  administration 
the  threefold  disadvantage  of  being  costly,  of  being  ipefficient^ 
and  of  keeping  the  country  in  a  state  of  perpetual  tutelage.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  inspectors^  or  rather  chief  officers  of  health,  highly 
trained  in  ail  the  departments  of  public  medicine,  were  resident  in 
their  districts,  each  one  of  them  would  be  a  centre  of  instruction 
irhence  sound  aud  enlightened  views  on  all  sanitary  matters  would 
onanatei  so  as  gradually  to  enlighten  the  public  mind|  stimulate 


4dS  TJie  Sanitary  Lawi. 

local  action,  and  redace  to  a  minimum  the  need  of  interference 
central  authority.  The  Commission,  howerer,  would  make  il 
exception  which  the  Committee  maintain  ought  to  be  the  rule,  a 
pear  to  be  so  scrupulous  of  permitting  any  competition  by  "men  of 
attainments  and  qualifications  "  as  actually  to  recommend  that 
exceptional  arrangements  should  be  made  under  the  direct  sane 
the  Public  Health  Minister.'  Should  these  views  unhappily  bead 
the  Committee  have  before  them  the  dreary  prospect  of  a  dead  h 
official  respectability  and  routine,  under  the  patronage  and  prof 
of  the  central  authority.  With  respect  to  the  proposed  c 
authority,  they  thoroughly  appreciate  the  importance  of  pro* 
that  every  existing  department,  including  several  under  the 
Office,  the  Privy  Council,  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  the  Poo 
Board,  besides  the  General  Registrar  Office,  the  Lunacy  Co 
sioners,  and  the  Gleneral  Medical  Council,  shoald  be  severall 
individually  represented  in  a  Supreme  Council  of  Health,  to  I 
sided  over  by  the  one  minister.  The  report  concludes  by  rep 
the  desire  for  a  careful  personal  inquiry  in  the  various  loc 
throughout  the  country,  before  legislating  permanently  on  the 
of  sanitary  administration. 
In  the  discussion  on  the  report  Mr.  Hastings  moved  : — 
*^  That  this  department  approves  generally  of  the  report  • 
joint  committee  on  the  report  of  the  Royal  Sanitary  Commissi 
which,  for  its  valuable  labours,  much  gratitude  is  due ;  reaffin 
principles  embodied  in  the  resolutions  adopted  at  the  Birmi 
Congress,  in  1868  ;  and  expresses  its  regret  that  several 
leading  recommendations  of  the  Royal  Commission  are  at  vi 
with  those  principles  by  which,  in  the  opinion  of  this  depar 
the  council  and  joint  committee  should  be  guided  in  any 
sentation  they  may  address  to  Her  Majesty's  Government  a 
Imperial  Parliament." 

Mr.  Chadwick,  C.B.,  seconded  the  resolution^  which  was  m 
unanimously. 


Mr.  John  Lascelles,  Barrister-at-La w,  read  a  paper  **  On  Si 
Law  Reform."  The  writer  said  it  is  certain  that  any  Bill  o 
subject  which  is  at  all  likely  to  be  passed  by  Parliament  and  ao 
by  the  countiy,  must  take  care  that  its  provisions  shall  be 
nistered  by  local  elective  bodies  acting  under  the  superintende 
a  central  authority.  Our  attention  should,  therefore,  be  diree 
the  means  by  which  the  faults  to  which  local  authorities  are  I 
to  be  liable  may  best  be  guarded  against,  and  by  which  the  k 
defects  of  such  administrative  machinery  may  best  be  counter 
The  supervising  authority  and  its  powers  are  cardinal  points  in 
tary  Law  Reform.  The  supervision  by  the  central  authority  o 
either  direct  or  indirect.  It  may  either  be  brought  into  imoK 
contact  with  all  the  local  sanitary  authorities  in  the  country, 
may  supervise  county  boards  which  are  themselves  the  super 


ioe&l  aulliorities.  Indirect  supervision  of  the  local  authorilieB 
Ut  many  objectioas.  It  would  be  bad  in  principle  to 
I  elective  authorities  with  the  supervision  of  other  elective 
ities  of  Eimilar  constilntion  to  themselves  ;  to  charge  amateur 
istrktors  nitb  tlie  supervision  of  other  amateur  udmiiiis- 
Moreover,  the  supeTviEion  of  count;  boards  would  be 
kitUnt,  for  they  wouhl  only  meet  about  eight  limes  ti  yanr. 
would  not  have  sufScient  infurmntion  and  experience  lo 
■m  lo  conimand  the  respect  of  the  anthorities  super- 
iby  them.  Their  members  would  not  siny  at  ihe  place  of 
Ig  long  enough,  or  work  hard  enough,  to  make  their  Biiper- 
ieS«ctive.     They  would   oot  be  able  lo  commaud  the  services 

I  highly  iraiued  men  by  whom  local  iiKjuiries  can  alone  bo 
lorily  conducted,  and  ibey  would  be  eonatanlly  liable  to  be 
i  by  their  roefflberB,  who  would  volunteer  to  give  them  infor- 

II  reepecling  the  localiiiea  whence  they  came.     If  the  work  of 
n  is  to  be  done  effectively,  the  central  authority  must  bo 

ht  inlD  direct  conioct  with  all  the  local  authorities.  Its  super- 
will  be  constant.  It  will  be  in  possession  of  reliahlo  infor- 
,  collected  by  its  skilled  inspectors,  and  it  will  be  able  to 
'Q  ibe  results  of  the  experience  of  all  the  local  authorities  in 
intry.  Vast  stores  of  informaiion  and  geuoraiized  knowledge 
ins  be  arcumulated,  which,  with  direct  central  supervision, 
t  Rvwlable  at  any  moment  for  ihe  $:uidance  of  any  local 
riliea  requiring  such  assistance.  The  local  authorities  cannot 
Wlively  supervised,  however,  from  one  central  olflce  in  London. 
Ihey  and  the  people  at  large  must  realize  ihe  presence  of  tlio 
riemg  authority.  Persons  having  reason  to  complain  of  the 
*«of  local  authorities  must  know  where  to  moke  their  com- 
,  and  the  supervising  authority  mnat  be  able  to  institute  local 
ieawith  promptitude  and  facility.  District  offices  of  the  central 
pity  should,  therefore,  be  established  in  different  parts  of  the 
ry,  and  each  should  be  presided  over  by  a  responsible  officer, 
khould  have  under  him  a  large  enough  staff  of  inspeciors,  clerks, 

0  enable  him  to  effectively  supervise  his  district.  An  office  of 
|[isd,  located  at  Leeds,  would  no  doubt  be  sufficient  for  the 
viekin  of  the  six  northern  counties,  and    the  whole  country 

^^  be  divided  into  districis  of  about  the  same  extent,   which 

1  be  supervised  in  a  similar  way.  In  addition  to  being  a^oes- 
to  the  people,  the  supervising  authority  must  have  sufficient 
r  lo  enable  it  to  oblige  ihe  local  authorities  to  discharge  their 
I  Botiefaclorily.  We  must  take  care  that  there  shall  be  some 
rtsity  of  action  on  the  part  of  our  local  authorities.  We  must 
Ae  Ihe  means  by  which  the  efficiency  aud  uniformity  of  action 
DmI  adniinistrulion  can  be,  to  some  exteut,  combined  with  the 
Itagea  of  local  self-government.  We  must  not  allow  it  to  ba 
ri«  for  our  sanitary  laws  to  bo  well  administered  in  one  district, 
i  tfaey  are  so  badly  administered  in  a  neighbouring  district,  that 
iniLurity  obarged  with  their  admin  is  trution  injures  the  peopls 


464  TJie  Sanitary  taws. 

within  its  jurisdiction,  and  sets  a  bad  example  to  alJ  the  loeil 
authorities  in  its  vicinity.  It  should,  therefore,  be  a  general  prineiple 
of  our  public  health  and  local  government  legislation  that  whtt> 
ever  local  authorities  have  power  to  do  thej  mnst  do,  if  ordersd 
by  the  central  authority  to  exercise  their  power.  The  centnl 
authority  should  also  bo  allowed  to  make  general  orders,  reqoiriBg 
certain  things,  required  to  be  done  by  local  authorities,  to  be  done 
subject  to  its  approval.  There  are  many  things  of  minor  io* 
portance  which  each  local  authority  might  be  allow^  to  do  in  itsowi 
way.  Hospitals  and  disinfecting  apparatus,  works  for  the  sopplj 
of  water,  extensive  drainage  works,  and  other  works  of  magni^ide^ 
should,  however,  be  required  to  be  executed  subject  to  the  appronl 
of  the  central  authority.  It  is  possible  that  some  local  anthoritiei 
would  stubbornly  refuse  to  discharge  their  duties,  and  wonld  treat  tiM 
orders  and  remonstrances  of  the  supervising  authority  with  contempt 
if  they  could  do  so  with  impunity.  The  Government  Public  Hetldi 
and  Local  Government  Bill  wiU  no  doubt  provide  that  if  soeh 
authorities  neglect  to  execute  works  which  they  ought  to  execotCi 
the  central  authority  shall  have  power  to  execute  them  itself  tod 
to  charge  the  cost  to  the  defaulters.  It  is  very  undesirable  thil 
the  central  authority  should  be  obliged  to  exercise  this  power  ofieo. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  sec,  however,  that  in  some  cases  it  might  pij 
local  authorities  to  wait  for  the  central  authority  to  do  their  wwk 
for  them,  if  the  only  penalty  for  doing  so  were  being  charged  with 
the  cost  of  it.  Moreover,  the  members  of  some  of  them  might  be 
tempted  to  hang  back  and  allow  the  central  authority  to  execute  ex- 
pensive  works  i'or  them  in  order  that  they  might  stand  well  with 
parsimonious  constituents.  In  order  to  prevent  this,  every  loed 
authority  which,  after  due  notice  to  execute  works  itself,  makei 
default  and  obliges  the  central  authority  to  execute  them  for  it 
should  be  liable  to  a  heavy  fine.  These  fines  should  be  payaUe  oat 
of  the  rates.  It  wonld  then  be  to  the  interest  both  of  the  memben 
of  local  authorities  and  their  constituents  in  order  that  definnlts  shoiiM 
be  avoided.  The  efibctive  working  of  the  Public  Health  and  Loeil 
Government  Act  which  will  shortly  be  passed  will  depend  very 
much  upon  the  powers  and  position  of  the  officers  of  health  who  will 
be  appointed  under  it.  Having  referred  to  the  qualifications,  datie% 
and  appointment  of  medical  officers  under  Sir  Charles  Adderley^iBill, 
and  stated  a  number  of  objections  to  the  58th  section  of  it,  the  antboi 
proceeded  to  say  that  some  very  comprehensive  provisions  shooldbe 
made  for  preventing  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases.  8udi  disetsei 
are  a  source  of  danger  to  all  persons  in  their  vicinity,  and  the  pnUie 
have  a  right  to  require  that  the  precautions  necessary  to  reduce  thii 
danger  to  a  minimum  shall  be  taken  by  the  persons  in  charge  of  thoee 
who  are  affected  with  them.  Moreover,  they  have  a  right  to  ttke 
means  to  satisfy  themselves  that  such  precautions  are  duly  taken 
in  nil  cases.  All  cases  of  fever  or  any  other  infections  disesse 
should  therefore  be  speedily  brought  under  the  notice  of  the 
local   sanitary   authorities   having  jurisdiction   over  the  areu  iQ 


By  John  Lascelles.  465 

lich  they  occur.  In  order  that  this  may  be  done,  medical  men 
ending  such  cases  should  be  bound  to  give  immediate  notice 
nneof  to  such  local  authorities.  They  should  also  be  obliged  to 
dare  their  infectious  character  to  the  persons  in  charge  of  the  houses 
which  they  occur,  in  order  that  some  precautions  may  be  taken 
once  to  prevent  them  from  spreading.  Where  no  medical  man  is 
attendance,  such  persons  in  charge  should  themselves  give  the 
inired  notice  to  the  local  authorities.  Every  local  authority  re- 
▼ing  such  a  notice  should  immediately  send  printed  directions  as 
the  disinfection  of  clothing,  &c.,  and  as  to  precautions  which 
yuld  be  taken  to  prevent  the  spread  of  infectious  diseases  to  the 
raon  in  charge  of  the  house  where  the  infectious  disease  is.  These 
"eetions  should  be  drawn  up  and  printed  by  the  central  authority, 
1  each  local  authority  should  keep  a  stock  of  them  ready  for 
mediate  use.  At  intervals  of  not  more  than  ten  days,  counting 
im  the  receipt  of  these  directions,  such  person  in  charge  should 
bound  to  send  to  such  local  authority  the  cortificato  of  a  medical 
in  that  they  had  been  duly  acted  upon.  And  he  should  bo  bound 
do  thb  until  he  send  the  certificate  of  a  medical  man  that  no 
reon  in  the  house  under  his  charge  is  ill  of  fever  or  any  other 
ectious  disease,  and  that  those  parts  of  it  requiring  disinfection, 
1  the  bedding  and  clothing  used  by  the  person  who  was  sick 
?e  been  thoroughly  cleansed  and  disinfected.  Medical  men 
gating  to  give  notice  and  declare,  as  mentioned  above,  or 
ring  false  certificates,  and  persons  in  charge  of  houses  having 
see  of  fever  or  other  infectious  diseases  in  them,  neglecting  to  give 
3  required  notice  when  no  medical  man  is  in  attendance,  or  wil- 
ly neglecting  to  act  upon  the  directions  sent  them,  should  be  liable 
be  fined.  Moreover,  all  persons  neglecting  to  do  so  should  bo 
ble  to  have  their  houses  entered  by  the  local  authorities,  who 
oidd  have  power  to  do  the  disinfectin<]C  themselves,  and  to  charge 
I  defaulters  with  the  cost  of  it.  The  periodical  sending  of  the 
rtifieates  mentioned  above  appears  to  be  the  only  way  in  which 
3  local  authorities  can  be  saved  the  expense,  and  persons  who  have 
ectious  diseases  in  their  houses,  the  annoyance  of  domiciliary 
dts.  These  certificates  will  generally  be  given  by  the  medical 
m  in  regular  attendance.  Persons  who  are  disposed  to  act  as 
ay  ought  to  act  will  therefore  be  put  to  very  little  trouble  or  ex- 
Dse  in  obtaining  and  forwarding  them  to  the  local  authorities. 
lose  who  are  careless  will  be  obliged  to  take  proper  precautions 
r  the  protection  of  others,  and  the  whole  country  will  be  benefited 
the  previsions  which  have  been  described  be  put  in  force.  The 
ople  will  be  protected  from  infectious  diseases,  and  medical  science 
U  be  advanc-ed  by  the  valuable  information  which  will  be  obtained 
making  use  of  the  facilities  which  will  be  afibrdcd  for  a  reliable 
^istration  of  infectious  diseases  in  private  practice  Local  officers 
health  should  have  nothing  to  hope  or  to  fear  from  the  local 
thorities,  and  should  be  appointed  by  the  central  authority,  and 
id  by  the  local  authorities,  according  to  a  fixed  scale,  determined 
'  calculations  based  upon  area  and  population. 

^0 


466  Physical  Degeneracy  of  Race, 


On  a  Proffressice  Physical  Degeneracy  of  Race  in  the  Town  Popn- 
latiofis  of  Great  Britain.     By  Henby  W.  Rumbbt,  M.D, 

IN  tho  Pall  Mall  Gazette^  about  two  months  ago,  appeared  tbe 
following  statement : — 

''As  a  matter  of  fact  there  can  be  no  question  that  fromsooe 
cause  or  other  the  physical  type  in  England  has  degenerated  of  late 
yearn.  Broad  chests  and  powerful  limbs  are  no  longer  the  rule 
among  labourers  and  artizans,  and  every  recruiting  sergeant  com- 
plains that  the  doctor  rejects  every  year  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
men  examined  by  him,  and  even  those  admitted  into  the  ranks  m 
very  inferior  in  bone  and  muscle  to  their  older  comrades." 

In  a  month  afterwards,  "  our  own  correspondent,"  in  one  of  the 
leading  London  journals,  when  reporting  the  assemblage  of  troops  for 
the  autumn  mana}uvrcs,  thus  describes  the  arrival  of  the  Militia  at 
the  Aldershot  camp  : — 

*'  To-day  there  was  a  better  opportunity  of  observing  the  general 
physique  of  the  men.  The  youthfulnoss  and  want  of  bone  ud 
muscle  was  greater  than  I  had  thought.  Many  of  them  looked  no 
more  than  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  were  conspictunu 
for  their  narrow  shoulders  and  shallow  chests;  their  arms  and 
knapsacks  seemed  quite  as  much  an  they  could  carry,  and  more  than 
was  good  for  them.  After  a  careful  examination  one  may  jattlj 
state  that  the  militia  hero  do  not  represent  the  crack  corps  of  oarr^ 
serve,  and  must  not  by  any  means  be  taken  as  more  than  an  average 
sample  of  the  whole.  How  they  will  bear  the  fatigues  before  them 
renuiius  to  be  seen  ;  but  though  they  will  undoubtedly  improre, 
their  stragglers  and  sick  list  will  be  painfully  apparent."* 

Now,  I  take  these  merely  as  specimens  of  numerous  statements 
which  have  appeared  of  late  years,  in  general  as  well  as  in  edei- 
tific  periodicals,  affirming  a  diminution  in  the  physical  strength  and 
soundness  of  the  men  who  enlist  into  the  army,  and  especially  into 
the  militia. 

It  is  diflicult  to  extract  any  positive  information  from  the  Araj 
Medical  Reports,  relative  to  the  increase  or  decrease  of  the  propor- 
tion of  recruits  who  are  rejected  by  the  examining  surgeons,  whether 
civil  or  military,  on  account  of  physical  incapacity  or  mfirmity.  Bat 
there  are  some  facts  which  lead  one  to  infer  that,  of  late  years,  thai 
proportion  has  increased. 

To  Dr.  Beddoe,  President  of  the  Anthropological  Society,  the 
country  is  much  indebted  for  original  researches  into  the  stature 
and  bulk  of  men  in  these  islands.  His  valuable  memoir  on  the 
subject,  and  his  recent  paper  read  at  the  British  Association, 
taken  in  connection  with  the  Army  Recruiting  returns,  seem  to 
establish  the  inference  that  our  countrymen  are  on  the  whole  de- 
generating, and  that  the  cause  thereof  is  to  be  found  chiefly  in  the 


*  Standard,  Sept.  7, 1871.  \ 


By  Henry  W.  Kumseyy  M.D.  467 

easing  concentration  of  the  working  classes  in  towns,  in  the  de- 

inng  circumstances  of  town  life,  and   in  the  larger  number  of 

e  engaged  in  indoor  employments. 

he  same  gentleman  has  lately  favoured  me  with  a  remm^,  by 

Gordon,  C.B.,  of  the  Statistics  of  Recruiting  for  several  periods. 

I  per-centage  of  rejections  during  three  periods  is  sud  to  be  as 

>W8: — 

For  the  first  period,  one  of  peace. 

1885-7,  in  England       82'7 

Scotland        ...         ..•         •••        35*9 
Ireland         25'd 

Por  the  second  period,  during  the  Crimean  and  Indian  Wars. 
1854-9;  in  the  whole  kingdom 24*2 

For  the  third,  another  period  of  peace. 
1864-6,  in  the  whole  kingdom 88*7* 

ow,  comparing  the  third  with  the  first  of  these  periods,  both 
m  of  peace,  there  appears  to  be  a  marked  increase  of  rejections. 
>t  course  the  per-centage  rejected  depends  very  much  on  the  ur- 
ij  of  the  demand  for  soldiers,  and  Dr.  Beddoe  asserts  from  his 
.  knowledge  that  many  men  were  enlisted  during  the  Crimean 
who  were  not  fit  for  a  day's  active  service. 
or  the  last  two  years,  according  to  the  Army  Blue  Books,  there 
again  been  a  slight  decrease  in  the  number  of  rejections,  but  not 
cient  to  affect  the  conclusion  that  in  thirty  years  the  rejections 
)  increased  at  least  6  per  cent. 

Ithougb  Dr.  Grordon  does  not  separate  the  Irish  and  Scotch  re- 
ions  from  the  English,  in  the  latter  periods,  it  appears  that  fewer 
!i  and  more  Scotch  are  rejected  than  English.  ''But  then  the 
tch  recruits  are  almost  all  townsmen  ;  the  peasantry  do  not 
Bt  as  they  do  in  England." 

^.  Morgan,  in  an  able  paper  on  the  Deterioration  of  Race  in 
at  Cities,  read  at  Sheffield  in  1865,  states  on  good  authority, 
at  in  some  of  the  mauufacturing  districts,  four  out  of  every  five, 
:  up  by  the  sergeants  for  medical  inspection,  are  rejected  on  the 
md  of  physical  disqualification." 

am  not  about  to  enter  upon  a  debated  question — ^namely,  the 
ree  of  security  to  the  army  service,  afforded  by  primary  inspec- 
9  made  by  civil  surgeons  as  compared  with  those  made  by  army 
;eons.  Mr.  Ikin,  of  this  town,  read  an  excellent  paper  on  the 
imination  of  Recruits  at  Oxford  in  1868  ;  and  he  may  be  able  to 
rm  us,  whether,  in  his  opinion,  the  proportion  of  the  population 
or  military  duty  increases  or  decreases.  On  the  whole  I  gather 
1  bis  paper  also,  that  rejections  are  on  the  increase.f 


Dr.  ParkM  gives  the  rejections  for  tlio  three  years  preceding  the  last-men- 
d  period cus  293,  401,  and  44*1. 

The  statistics  of  militia  recruiting,  if  they  could  bo  obtained,  would,  I  think, 
ly  a  more  reliable  test  of  the  bcKlily  rigour  of  the  lower  classes  in  different 
ities  than  those  of  the  line. 


468  Physical  Degeneracy  of  Race. 

To  myself,  as  to  Dr.  Beddoc,  this  seems  a  most  momeutoos  qaes- 
tioD,  involviug  the  gravest  consequences  to  our  national  safety. 

<*  The  late  Franco-Gkrman  war/'  he  says»  "  has  opened  the  miodi 
of  many  to  the  necessity  of  invesUgatiDg  and  confronting  the  facts  of 
the  alleged  degeneracy,  by  once  more  demonstrating  that  victoiy 
marches  with  the  armies  of  those  whose  physical  (as  well  as  moni) 
organisation  is  superior." 

Surrounded  as  the  British  Isles  are  by  powerful^  and  not  alwaji 
scrupulous,  military  nations,  our  very  existence,  as  a  great  and  free 
people,  may  depend  on  the  physical  excellence  of  those  who  are  to 
constitute  our  army  of  protection  and  defence. 

It  is  hardly  to  the  point  to  reply  that  the  volunteer  roovement,  and 
the  greater  encouragement  of  athletic  sports,  are  vastly  hnproviog 
the  physiqae  of  townspeople.  I  grant  this  as  regards  the  upper  ud 
middle  classes.  But  the  defence  of  the  country  ought  not  to  depend  on 
a  comparatively  select  body.  If  the  masses  of  our  labouring  popula- 
tion are  becoming,  as  I  fear  is  the  case,  thoroughly  debased  in  form, 
in  muscular  power,  and  in  habits,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  tha 
picked  men  of  the  country,  the  well-nurtured,  vigorous,  and  energetic 
thousands  of  the  well-to-do  classes,  should  risk  their  lives,  e?sn 
in  a  defensive  war,  imaided  by  the  millions  of  the  lowest  class. 

What  then  are  the  principal  influences  at  work  to  create  a  lowe 
type  of  Englishmen  T 

They  may,  I  think,  be  classed  mainly  under  three  heads— Food 
and  Drink ; — Labour  and  Employment; — ^Residence  and  Dwdlingi. 

I.  Food. — ^Whilst  the  rato  of  wages  has,  on  the  whole,  grottlj 
increased  during  the  last  thirty  years,  the  price  of  provisioosi  at 
least  in  the  south  of  England,  has  increased  as  largely.  Bread  is 
not  cheaper  than  it  was  thirty  years  ago.  The  cost  of  wholeBome 
meat  has  nearly  doubled,  and  more  diseased  meat  is  sold  to  the  poor. 
Vegetables  are  decidedly  dearer  and  scarcer,  and  the  proportion  of 
the  working  classes,  growing  their  own  vegetables,  is,  I  believe,  od 
the  decrease,  in  towns  certainly. 

Then,  as  to  the  use  and  prepai-ation  of  food,  the  gross  igaoranoe  of 
domestic  economy  and  of  cookery  among  tho  poor  is  deplorable.  As 
a  greater  number  of  women  are  employed  in  manufiictures,  tbeir 
incapacity  in  this  respect  becomes  more  absolute  and  hopeless.  This 
most  important  branch  of  female  education  is,  as  a  rule,  wholij 
neglected  in  elementary  schools,  nor  do  I  perceive  any  signs  d 
greater  attention  to  the  subject  under  the  new  school  boards.  That 
tho  masses,  especially  the  infantile  and  growing  population,  gnffer 
severely  from  this  ignorance,  cannot  be  doubted.* 

Perhaps  the  most  serious  and  destructive  change  in  the  natritioo 
of  tho  poor  id  their  almost  total  privation  of  milk.  Infantile  sicknes 
and  mortality  depend  largely  on  this  want.     Here,  again,  the  occa- 

*  Tho  principles  of  plain  cookery  might  be  practically  and  profftablr  tangbt  if 
public  kitchens  wore  opened  for  the  supply  of  notritioos,  cheap,  and  w«l-pRfBRd 
food  to  labourers  and  artixont. 


Bij  Henry  W.  RimsS'j,  M  D.  489 

piilioii  of  motlers  in  workshopa  deprirea  mauy  lliouBatidB  of  iDfants 
uflii<jir  natural  fooU,  breast  milk.  Cow's  milk,  ia  large  to wus,  even  di- 
ItiteJ  iind  ttduUaratei!  ns  it  is  so  largely,  is  hardly  taated  by  the  very 
poor.  Even  in  griutiiig  rariJ  dislpicts,  where  cheese  and  butter  arc 
wan nfac lured,  milk  is  not  to  bo  had  for  the  f'amiliea  of  l!ie  labourers. 
The  Ycry  buttermilk  ia  watiied  for  the  piga.  It  ia  not  too  much  lo 
s»y  that  hnlf  of  the  children  of  this  couiitiy  ate  now  reared  without 
milk,  fiud  this  fact  of  Iwolf  woald  be  oaougli  lo  account  for  a  deteri- 
(  Wktion  of  race.  No  one  who  lias  examiDeil  Dr.  Edward  Smitlt's 
Istary  reports  can  doubt  that  the  phyeicnl  auperiorily  of  tho 
Mnlry  of  Scotland,  and  of  Itirgo  tracts  of  our  own  uorthcru 
tanties,  ilepeiids  mainly  on  their  diet  of  milk  nnd  ontmenl.  For 
"l  ^rliolesanie  and  invigoratitig  food,  the  snbstitutea  throughout 
t  greater  part  of  England  arc  impure  sugar,  swarming  with  acnri  ; 
Moaves,  first  used  by  the  Chinese,  then  dried  with  gum  and  all 
'1b  of  abominations;  groEuy  and  acescent  slops ;  indigestible  cheese ; 
1  BQur,  aluminou!)  bread.  Debased  and  improper  food  is  not  only 
jpfamta  cause  of  general  debility,  but  it  may  account  cspeciully  for 
I  ilocay  of  leelh,  which  i.*,  doubtless,  advancing  with  our  boasted 
tfl'I  ligation. 

Yet  certain  political  leaders  and  pseudo-economists  would  persuade 

ns  that  the  freedom  of  trade  and  ndrenturo  must  not  be  interfered 

with,  and  tliat  the  unhappy  victims,  who  are  mostly  the  very  poor, 

■  -nnst  learn  to  protect  themselves  ngftinst  a  host  of  active  and  clever 

hftteifiare  of  food  < 

H^-iI  shall  say  but  little  about  intemperance  in  alcoholic  and  fermented 
^OOnors,  because  tho  prevalence  of  intoxication,  its  increase  with  that 
or  pauperism,  its  debasing  effects,  mental  and  bodily,  on  its  victims, 
are  notorious  facts. 

Every  physiologist  knows  that  the  effeels  of  alcoholism  on  tho 
nervous  nnd  circulatory  systems  nro  cumulative,  and   inlonsify  as 
C'lllbita  of  intemperance  are  continued  from  generation  to  goncraiion, 
I'Uie  progeny  of  tlie  drunken  beinfr  generally  more  feeble,  vicious,  and 
VVlible  to  disease  of  mind  and  body  tlian  their  parents. 
"'    Whilst  WB  ought  to  support  Mr.  Dalrymple's  laudable  efforts  to 
nrocure  some  preventive  legislation  against  habitual  drunkenness,  I 
believe  that  the  primary  cause  of  tho  evil  is  to  be  found  in  the  house 
Mcommodalion  of  the  poor  (of  which  I  am  about  to  say  more),  and 
^t  until  the  dwell  ing-placca  of  tho  working  classes  are  reformed, 
ilemperancc  cannot  be  eliociively  dealt  with. 
Ph.  Labour  and  Employment. — The  conditions  of  labour  in  the 
unufacturiug  di:ilricts  arc  doubtless  more  favourable  to  health  than 
MT  were  half  a  century  ago,     Tho  operation  of  the  Factory  Act^i, 
ftjch  at  first  were  denounced  with  tho  utmost  vehemonce  by  the 
boe  class  of  politicians  as  those  who  now  oppose  interference  with 
haudulent  traders  in  food,  has  been  moat  beneficial — especially  for 
women  and  children — in  diminishing  tho  Lours  of  labour,   iu  im- 
proving the  construction  and  ventilalion  of  mills  and  work-places,  in 
protecting   the   workers   against   the   injurious  effects   of  certMu 


470  Plufiical  Degeneracy  of  Raoe. 

processes,  iu  fencing  machineryi  and  in  the  half-time  sjstem  of 
education. 

But  while,  under  these  reforms,  a  generation  has  grown  up  Im 
injured  by  the  mighty  Moloch  of  steam  power,  with  fewer  deformities 
and  organic  lesions,  and  somewhat  longer  lived,  the  total  number  of 
persons  subject  to  the  debilitating  and  enervating  influence  of  indoor 
employment  has  enormously  increased,  and  still  increases  year  bj 
year.     W^hilc  large  numbers  of  the  best  of  our  population  emigrate  ur 
colonize,  the  great  town-populations  ai'e  continually  swelled  by  im- 
migrants from  the  rural  districts.     Hence  the  process  of  deterioratioa 
in  towns  has  been  somewhat  checked  ;  but  the  pale,  anasmic,  and 
slender  forms  of  the  mill  and  factory  workers  still  contrast  paiafally 
with  the  ruddy  and  sinewy,  though  ill-fed,  children  of  agricultund 
labourers. 

Dr.  Morgan,  of  Manchester,  iu  the  piqper  before  referred  to,  said 
that  he  had  been  much  struck  by  the  difference  in  physical  develop- 
ment between  the  indigenous  population  of  the  town,  and  those  wbo 
had  migrated  into  it  in  adult  life.  He  also  observed  that  the  deterio- 
ration was  to  some  extent  proportioned  to  tho  length  of  time  during 
which  his  patients  or  their  ancestors  had  been  exposed  to  tlie 
lowering  influence  of  a  city  life  and  indoor  occupations. 

Now  that  the  main  provisions  of  factory  law  are  extended  to  w(^- 
shops  and  nearly  every  kind  of  congregated  labour,  we  may  hope 
for  a  further  and  more  general  rescue  of  the  younger  and  weaker 
portion  of  the  working  population  from  tlio  depressing  effects  of  ill- 
regulated  employment. 

With  reference  to  the  half-time  system  of  education  under  tho 
Factory  Acts,  I  would  just  remark  that  it  is  incompletei  until 
military  drill  bo  made  a  condition  of  State  support  to  elementary 
boys'  schools. 

IIL  Tho  conditions  of  dwellings,  in  our  great  centres  of  commeroe 
and  manufacture,  are,  I  believe,  the  most  destructive  of  the  in- 
fluences now  at  work  in  producing  a  lower  type  of  Englishmen. 

I  will  not  detain  you  by  describing  these  conditions.  They  are 
well  known  to  most  of  tLose  who  concern  themselves  with  the 
subjects  of  this  department.  I  will  merely  call  attention  to  some 
important  and  reliable  evidence  as  to  the  fearful  change  which  thoae 
circumstances  are  effecting  in  our  town  populations. 

(1.)  Dr.  Druitt,  President  of  the  Association  of  Medical  Officer 
of  Health  in  London,  said  before  the  Boyal  Sanitary  Commissions— * 

*'  There  is  a  general  lowering  of  health,  a  degradation,  as  it  were^ 
of  tho  whole  system  and  character  from  overcrowding.'*    (8997.) 

'^  Where  many  human  beings  are  put  together  on  an  inadequate 
space  of  land,  they  can  never  get  out  of  the  odour  of  their  own 
breath  and  of  their  own  excretions."    (9001.) 

'*  There  is  a  general  deterioration  of  the  stock,  if  I  may  so  call  it, 
of  the  human  phint."    (9009.) 

*  Second  fieport,  VoL  m.,  pp.  a(H0. 


By  Hemy  W.  Rumsey^  M.D.  471 

I  go  into  any  crowded  part  of  our  parish,  I  meet  children 
^hose  bones  are  bent  and  whose  foreheads  are  promiaeut,  and 
ow  all  the  signs  of  what  is  called  rickets.''  (9010.) 
ej  may  have  mental  precocity  and  sexual  precocity.  I  havo 
stances  of  that  combined  with  the  worst  possible  physical  de- 
ent"    (9012.) 

ave  seen  a  healthy  father  and  mother,  whom  you  would  take 
^  living  in  a  confined  room  where  they  had  to  perform  all 
ces  of  nature,  living  and  sleeping,  and  so  on,  together,  and  1 
leen  them  produce  children  which  wero  born  apparently 
,  but  which  gradually  withered  and  became  ricketty  and 
>U8 ;  and,  therefore,  without  underrating  the  influence  of  vice 
3arents,  I  believe  that  overcrowding  by  itself  will  stunt  the 
race."    (9151.) 

In  Dr.  Morgan's  description   of  patients  among  the  lower 
of  Manchester,  he  mentions  the  singular  want  of  stamina 
characterises  them  as  a  clasa 

I — ^'Instances  in  which  the  muscular  system  is  fully  de- 
I  ot  well  strung  are  remarkably  rare.  Few  are  men  of  that 
from  which  we  might  expect  either  vigorous  and  healthy 
igy  or  arduous  and  sustained  labour.  Cases  of  deformity, 
lanied  by  actual  distortion,  are  not  uncommon,  while  minor 
i  defects,  denoting  constitutional  ailments,  are  deplorably  fre- 

r  weak,  excitable,  irregular,  and  rapid  circulations,  cold 
ities,  blanched  lips,  and  colourless  cheeks,  indicated  to  Dr. 
1  the  impoverished  state  of  their  blood.  Their  liability  to 
;ia  and  involuntary  convulsive  movements,  showed  an  en- 
,  nervous  system. 

others,  again,"  he  observes,  '^  the  teeth  arc  no  sooner  deve- 
lian  they  begin  to  decay,  enlarged  glands  protrude  from  the 
iie  skin  looks  dry  and  parched,  the  hair  scanty  and  withered." 
One  more  witness  shall  be  cited. 

dssor  Gairdner,  the  Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  Glasgow, 
d  the  Sanitary  Commission  that  overcrowding,  which  is  on 
rease  in  that  city,  from  the  want  of  space  for  building  (8202) 
»  special  diseases  and  demoralizes  the  population ;  and  in  the 
of  generations  it  completely  overthrows  the  physique  of  the 
ion.  It  is  impossible  to  walk  through  the  central  streets  of 
w  without  observing  that  you  are  in  contact  with  a  population 
degraded  both   in  its  moral  and  its  physical  attributes." 

ribing  the  demoralization  of  the  young  in  the  over-peopled 
g8  and  streets  of  Glasgow,  he  said  : — 

I  were  to  pitch  upon  one  thing  that  is  the  cause  of  the  epide- 
ease,  and  physical  and  moral  degradation  in  that  population^ 
d  say  it  was  the  system  of  house^construction,  such  as  we  have 
the  last  three  or  four  generations  in  Glasgow."    (8255.) 
lonclusion  from  all  this  evidence,  and  Arom  facts  observed  by  my- 


472  Diseases  prevalent  among  PoU^rs. 

self,  IS,  that  comprehenBive,  yet  cautions,  measnrefl  ore  necessary  for 
the  improved  houec-accommodatioQ  of  the  working  classes  of  our  gresi 
towns  oTcr  larger  areas  of  habitation ;  that,  as  for  the  overcrowdlBg 
of  persons  in  a  house,  so  also  for  the  overcrowding  of  houses  on  a 
given  area,  there  should  be  a  limit  to  density  of  population  fixed  bj 
law,  at  all  events,  in  the  building  of  dwelling-houses  on  fresh  grovnd, 
ns  well  as  in  rebuilding  them  on  ground  previously  occupied ;  and 
that,  for  the  biicccss  of  such  measures,  the  establishment  of  8a|)erior 
administrative  authorities,  with  adequate  powers,  is  as  essential  as  it 
is  for  the  execution  of  measures  intended  to  prevent  the  adulteration 
and  to  secure  the  good  quality  of  Food ;  or,  again,  for  those  which 
protect  labour  from  abuses  and  unhealthy  conditions  known  to  sap 
the  vigour  of  the  race. 


On  the  Diseases  jyrevalent  among  Potters.  By  J.  T.  Arlidge, 
F.ll.C.r.,  Loudon ;  Physician  to  the  North  Stafford- 
shire IniGnnary,  Stoke-on-Trent. 

AVERY  short  acqualutanco  with  the  state  of  health  of  the 
.  inhabitants  of  the  pottery  district  of  North  Staffordshire  will 
show  that,  as  in  the  case  also  of  other  seats  of  manufacture,  it  u 
far  from  satisfactory ;  and  further,  that  this  state  of  things  is  due 
pre-eminently  to  the  prevalence  of  pulmonary  diseases,  indading 
consumption.  These  facts  have  arrested  official  notice,  and  on 
two  occasions  a  physician  has  been  sent  into  the  locality  from  the 
medical  department  of  the  Privy  Council  to  investigate  them.  They 
were,  moreover,  influential  in  determining  the  inquiry  made  some 
years  since  in  the  district  by  the  Childrens'  Employment  Com- 
mission, which  ended  in  the  extension  of  the  Factory  Acts  to  the 
manufacture  of  earthenware  and  china. 

For  very  nearly  ten  years  I  have  boon  resident  within  the  district; 
and  as  physician  to  the  large  North  Staffordshire  infirmaiy,  as  well 
an  a  factory  medical  ofRcer  for  a  considerable  section  of  the  potteiy 
towns,  I  have  had  very  large  opportunities  of  observing  the  diseases 
most  rife  among  potters,  and  the  conditions  of  labour  and  mode  of 
life  common  among  them. 

Some  of  the  results  of  my  observation  I  now  propose  to  state, 
based  upon  written  records,  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
statistical  information  on  various  points  connected  with  the  medical 
history  of  the  population.  The  records  I  now  use  are  derived  from 
out-patient  medical  practice  at  the  infirmary ;  for  I  consider  that 
this  practice  best  exhibits  the  popular  maladies  of  a  district  Only 
cases  strictly  coming  within  the  scope  of  a  physician's  practice  are 
included ;  but  no  cases  of  fever — continued  or  eruptive,  and  very 
few  instances  of  acute  disease  are  among  the  number  catalogued. 
Further,  all  the  patients  were  above  ten  years  of  age,  and  of  the 
whole  number  of  800  only  40  were  under  fourteen.  Veiy  few  were 
above  fifty. 


By  J.  T.  Arlidffe,  F.E.C.P.  473 

he  whole  800  were  engaged  in  one  or  other  department  of  the 
ery  tnanufaeture.  Of  these  463  were  males  and  337  females. 
inst  not  be  gathered  from  these  figures  that  male  out-door  patients 
K>nderated  in  number.  On  the  contrary,  female  applicants  for 
ical  relief  constitute  from  two-thirds  to  three-fourths  of  the 
re  number  of  out-patients.  There  is  nothing  peculiar  in  this 
iimBtance,  for  the  experience  of  the  out-door  department  of 
)ital8  is  similar. 

Q  the  following  tables  1  have  arranged  the  diseases  most 
ralent,  and  stated  the  rate  per  cent,  of  each  of  them. 


TABTiE 

L 

FOTTISS — MALES. 

Bronchitis  ...         ... 

— 

36-57 

Phthisis 

20-  9 

Rheumatic  affections 

7-79 

Stomach  disorders  ... 

8-44 

Lead-poisoning 
Cerebro-spinal  diseases 
Cardiac  diseases 

1  D 

8-00 
4-32 
2-81 

Epilepsy 

— 

1-73 

TABLE  IT, 

FOTTEIUI— FXMALBS. 

Bronchitis  ... 

... 

•  •• 

... 

714 

Phthisis       

•*• 

••• 

»•• 

16-96 

Rheumatic  affections 

••• 

•  •  • 

... 

:=s 

4-46 

Stomach  disorders. . . 

..• 

••• 

••• 

19-64 

Lead-poisoning       ••• 
Cerebro-spinal  diseases 
Cardiac  diseases 

... 
... 
•  •  • 

••• 

... 
• .  ■ 

••• 
•  •• 

= 

5 -06 
2-97 
2-08 

Epilepsy      

Chorea        

•  •  • 
... 

... 

... 
... 

4-46 
2-08 

Hysteria 

Ansemioy  with  debility, 

Uterine  maladies    ... 

... 
&c. 

•  a. 

... 
... 

■•• 
••  • 
•  •* 

s= 

1-49. 
10-41 
1815 

[t  will  be  asked  to  what 

extent 

are   these  maladies  prevalent 

ODg  potters  compared  with  other 
owing  tables  in  elucidation  of  this 

artizans, 
inquiry:- 

.  I 

subjoin  the  two 

TABLE  in. 

VOlf-POTTBRS — MALES. 

Bronchitis 

sss: 

18'00 

Phthisis       

= 

13-00 

Rheumatic  affections 



21-00 

Stomach  disorders  ... 

=: 

19-00 

Lead-poisoning 
Cerebro-spinal  diseases 
Cardiac  diseases     ... 

== 

000 
5-00 
6-00 

Epilepsy      



5O0 

474  JUiaeasea  prevalent  among  PoUers. 


TABLE 

IV. 

Bronchitis   ...         ••• 

— 

16-00 

Phthisis      

.^_ 

11-00 

Rheumatic  affectioDs 

lOO 

Stomach  disorders  ... 

*      •  •  • 

— 

31-00 

Lead-poisoniDg 

= 

COO 

Cercbro-spinal  diseases 

— 

2O0 

Cardiac  diseases     ... 

ZI^S. 

3-00 

Epilepsy     

= 

700 

Hysteria 

5-00 

Anasmia,  with  debility, 

&c. 

lOOO 

Uterine  maladies    ••• 

18-00 

Chorea        

1-00 

I  must  here  observe  that  these  figures,  for  operatiyes  not  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  pottery,  are  derived  from  a  much  snudler 
number  of  cases,  namely,  from  a  total  of  100  males  and  of  100 
females  respectively ;  consequently  tho  per-oentages  calculated  for 
the  less  common  diseases  cannot  be  taken  as  exact  representationB  of 
tho  rate  of  prevalence,  although  sufficient  to  exhibit  relative  pro- 
portions. For  instance,  the  table  of  ^on-potters — females — shows  onAf 
1  per  cent,  of  cases  of  rheumatism ;  this  we  may  take,  as  in  sons 
measure,  only  accidental  in  the  100  cases  that  happen  to  have  been 
collected;  in  fact,  I  believe  tho  average  to  be  somewhat  higher, 
although  I  can,  at  the  same  time,  admit  the  resultant  figure  to  be 
accurately  indicative  of  tho  comparatively  less  frequency  of  rheu- 
matic affections  in  women  not  engaged  in  the  manunctoriei  of 
pottery  than  in  those  occupied  tliereiu. 

There  are  several  facts  deduciblo  from  the  foregoing  tables,  whose 
significance  cannot  be  doubted.  Foremost  among  these  is  the  ex- 
cessive prevalence  of  bronchitis  and  pulmonary  consumption.  TUs 
circumstance  also  appears  as  vividly  from  an  examinalion  of  the 
tables  of  mortality  in  the  district.  Thus,  I  have  shown  in  my  esstf 
'*0n  the  Mortality  of  Stoke- upon-Trcn^  and  its  Causes,**  that  the 
ratio  of  deaths  to  tho  entire  mortality  of  that  parish,  arising  froa 
diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs,  is  30*80  per  cent,  that  of  Enghod 
at  large  being  27*20  per  cent.,  and,  excluding  the  deaths  of  chiidm 
under  ten  years  old,  the  per-centage  reached  41-51. 

-  So  if  we  make  a  calculation  from  the  figures  in  the  tables  fve- 
sented  of  maladies  treated  among  out-patients,  we  arrive  at  a 
closely  similar  ratio  of  the  prevalence  of  diseases  of  the  respiratoij 
organs,  namely,  37*39  per  cent.  A  less  ratio  certainly  to  that  of  Ae 
mortality  from  the  maladies  in  question  among  adults ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  this  is  a  circumstance  easily  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
sufferers  were  out-patients,  required  to  attend  at  the  infirmary,  at  a 
more  or  less  considerable  distance  from  their  homee,  and  eonse- 
(juently  they  represented  a  class  still  possessing  a  moderate  share  of 
physical  power,  the  more  advanced  and  weaker  individuals  being 


By  J.  T.  Arlidgej  F.R.C.P.  475 

Btained  in  their  homes,  or  else  within  the  wards  as  in-patients.  In 
le  essay  referred  to  I  included  under  the  term  ^'  diseases  of  the 
38piratorj  organs  "  cases  of  death  arising  both  from  diseases  of  the 
mgs  and  from  phthisis,  on  account  of  the  difficulties  and  uncertain- 
ies  of  diagnosis.  It  will  be  convenient  gCDcrally  to  pursue  the  same 
ourse  in  this  paper.  The  so-called  potter's  bronchitis  or  potter's 
onsumption  is,  in  by  far  the  larger  number  of  caries,  a  true  con- 
umption,  partaking  of  a  tubercular  character. 

Whaty  it  may  be  now  inquired,  are  the  assignable  causes  of  this 
prevalence  of  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  within  the  pottery 
.btrict  T  Something  may  be  put  down  against  the  climate  and  soil 
f  the  locality.  These  are  not  congenial.  The  climate  is  damp,  and 
he  soil  generally  a  retentive  clay,  a  condition  which  has  been  shown 
obe  associated  with  the  production  of  phthisis.  These  unfavourable 
onditions  are  in  turn  aggravated  by  those  of  man's  making,  namely, 
ko6e  arising  from  the  processes  of  manufacture,  from  unhealthy 
hops  and  habitations,  from  defective  sewerage  and  drainage,  and 
rom  improper  diet  and  vicious  habits.  I  cannot,  on  the  present 
eeasioo,  enter  into  an  account  of  these  several  causes  operating 
vejadicially  on  the  health  of  the  inhabitants,  but  may  be  allowed  to 
tht  to  two  papers  I  have  written,  in  which  they  are  partially  dis- 
DQSed,  the  one  in  the  British  and  Foreign  Medico^Chirurgical 
tmew  for  July,  1864,  the  other  m  the  second  number  of  the  Food 
'aumal^  in  1870. 

To  return  to  the  lessons  deducible  from  the  tables  already  pre- 
dnted,  it  becomes  at  once  evident  how  much  more  rife  are  diseases 
f  the  respiratory  organs  among  male  potters  than  among  non- 
Otters.  The  rate  per  cent,  is  57  to  31  for  males.  In  the  case  of 
unales  no  such  disparity  is  evident ;  indeed,  as  far  as  bronchitis  itself 
I  concerned,  it  appears  considerably  rarer  among  women  employed 
X  the  pottery  manufacture  than  among  others,  although  pulmonary 
oneumption  is  comparatively  more  common  among  them. 

Some  remarks  in  elucidation  of  these  numerical  results  are  desir* 
ble.  The  prevalence  of  lung  diseases  among  potters  is  doubtless 
rimarily  due  to  their  occupation,  which  involves  the  taking  into 
»e  lungs  more  or  less  dust  derived  from  the  clay  with  which  they 
rork.  This  so-called  clay  is  rather  a  silicious  compound  than  a  true 
lay.  In  the  various  processes  it  is  submitted  to,  it  becomes  more 
r  less  dried,  and  particles  of  it  get  diffused  through  the  air.  The 
avestigations  of  Dr.  Headlam  Greenhow  have  clearly  shown  how 
iie  inhaled  dust  is  productive  of  lung  disease,  and  from  my  own 
Kperience  and  examinations  I  can  confirm  his  conclusions.  Male 
otters  are  much  more  the  victims  of  this  dust  inhalation  than 
snudes  employed  in  the  pottery  manufacture ;  inasmuch  as  most  of 
le  proeesses  in  which  dust  is  liable  to  be  thrown  off  from  the  clay 
re  carried  on  by  men  and  lads.  A  certain  proportion  of  women  and 
iris  flira  engaged  in  the  clay-departmeutS|  in  turning  the  potter's 
rheelf  in  laU&e-treading,  in  cleaning  and  scouring  the  ware.  And 
le  last-named  process,  namely,  china-scouring,  is  particularly  de- 


476  Diseases  prevalent  amonff  Potters. 

slructivo  of  life,  by  tho  breathing  of  dust  and  the  setting  np  of  laog 
disease. 

But  tho  number  so  engaged  represents  but  a  small  section  of  the 
females,  who  arc  for  the  most  part  occupied  in  the  finishing  depart- 
ments of  tho  manufacture,  namely,  in  the  printing- shops,  in  ''trans- 
ferring "  and  in  ''  paper-cutting,*'  in  painting  and  enamelling  on 
the  glazed  ware,  in  gilding  and  burnishing  the  gold,  and  in  the  wai^ 
liousc^!.  Before  these  processes  are  undertaken,  tlio  chty  has  been 
converted  by  firo  into  chinii  or  earthenware,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
consequently  is  no  longer  in  a  condition  to  evolve  dust.  We  do  not, 
therefore,  meet  with  the  bronchitis  or  potters'  asthma  among  women 
as  in  the  case  of  the  men  engaged  in  pot- works.  Indeed,  the  smill 
ratio  presented  by  bronchitis  among  female  potters  is  remarkable, 
and  the  more  so,  when  contrasted  with  that  obtaining  among  women 
otherwise  occupied.  I  would  not  insist  much  on  the  greater  prera- 
lenco  among  tho  latter,  for  much  fewer  of  such  women  come  under 
observation,  and  the  hundred  cases  collected  would  extend  over  a 
longer  period  and  .probably  further  into  the  time  of  year  when 
bronchitis  is  more  common,  nevertheless,  the  figures  arc  so  decided 
in  their  teaching  that  wo  must  allow  them  their  due  weight  and 
seek  an  explanation.  This  is  not  a  difAcult  task  when  we  come  to 
consider  the  surrounding  circumstances  of  female  potters  as  con- 
trasted with  those  of  females  of  otheroccupations.  I  have  noted  the 
non-exposure  generally  of  the  former  to  the  special  causes  of  bronchitis 
among  the  male  potters ;  and  we  have  further  to  take  into  accoont 
conditions  of  labour  favourable  to  their  escape  fVom  the  ordinary 
causes  of  the  disease,  namely,  their  protection  from  cold,  their  com* 
paratively  small  expoBuro  to  weatlier  and  out-door  influences,  and 
their  generally  comfortable  state  of  living  and  clothing,  all  these 
particulars  contrasting  advantageously  for  them  in  comparison  with 
the  class  of  women  not  occupied  in  tho  pottery  manufacture,  ropr^ 
Hcnted  by  servants  of  an  inferior  class,  housewives  of  the  poor,  laun- 
dresses and  needy  needlewomen,  all  such  being  more  largdy  exposed 
to  the  ordinary  causes  of  bronchitis,  and,  at  the  same  time,  not  so 
well  prepared  to  resist  those  causes,  by  clothing  and  food,  as  their 
bettor  remunerated  sister-workers  in  tho  pottery  manufactories. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  greater  prevalence  of  phthisis  among 
female  potters  acquires,  from  the  considerations  detailed,  greater 
significance.  Tho  ratio  of  the  occurrence  of  this  disease  ranges 
within  4  per  cent,  of  that  observed  among  male  potters,  and  5  per. 
cent,  above  that  met  with  among  female  non-potters.  Making  due 
estimate  of  tho  conditions  of  labour  and  of  the  circumstances  of  life 
surrounding  them,  this  fact  therefore  shows  a  high  rate  of  the  di^ 
ease  among  them,  and  is  indicative  of  tho  existence  of  a  phthisical 
diathesis  in  larger  proportion,  and  the  connection  of  their  employment 
therewith. 

I  will  pass  on  now  to  make  some  observations  upon  the  prevalence 
of  rheumatic  affections.  Tho  cllmato  of  the  district  is  favoarable  to 
tho  production  of  such  affections  by  its  dampness  and  coldness ;  bat 


HJjrrnMiJfe,  FJI.<TP.  S7 

from  the  influeuco  of  thia  agont  there  oblain  special  coadiliona 
uiuf&cture  conducive  to  their  prevalence.  In  respect  to  theae 
ions  tho  potters  proaent  a  very  decided  advautage  over  uon- 
— that  ia  among  inale».  In  both  classes  of  labourers  rheu- 
is  a  prevalent  malady,  and  experience  pi'0VB9  tbat  those 
jBxposed  to  it  ore  the  workers  about  ovens  and  furnacea,  and 
iol-pila.  Such  operatives  suiTer  by  exposure  to  considerable 
nnii  to  cold  or  cold  cunenta  of  air  acting  simultaneously  or 
speedily  and  alsa  forcibly  upon  an  ovcr-hented  body. 
ttiia  district  tiie  proportion  of  raalc^,  non-potters,  eo  exposed  to 

Kof  rheumatism  ia  greater  than   that  of  the   pollers.     Tlie 
^^    39  of  the  polters'  art  in  which  the  workers  are  moat  prone  to 
Itematious  of  beat  and  cold,  are  those  connected  with  the  firing 
^■'■i  waPO  in  ovens  and  kilns.     The  non-potlera  snbjeot  to  rhou- 
n  are  the  colliers  end  tho  workera  about  iron   furnaces  and  in 
rfca. 

a  very  usual  connection  of  rheumatiam  with  heart-diseases 
as,  at  the  same  time,  the  greater  frequency  of  such  diseases 
J  non-pottovs  tban  among  potters. 
p  next  enumerated  maladies  in  tbe  tablea  are  those  of  tho 
vch  and  digestive  organs.  Under  tho  head  uf  stomach  dis- 
B  I  have  included  dyspepsia  in  all  its  forms  and  cases  of  chronic 
Itis.  Such  a  group  id  n  very  elastic  one  ;  and,  in  the  case  of 
fx  especially,  could  be  greatly  expanded  by  the  introduction  of 
,  cases  which  figure  as  examples  of  aiiicmia  and  hysteria,  and 
t  a  few  c urn prcb ended  nmoug  uterine  maladies  ;  for  in  all  such 
ifih  derangement  is  more  or  less  a  feature. 

iweror,  laking  the  figures  as  they  aland,  the  dedactioa  ia,  that 
males  and  females  not  engaged  in  the  potteiy  maniifacturo  are 
jtrone  to  stom^.ch  disorders  than  potters  themselves.  Tho  OX- 
tton  of  this  fact  with  reference  to  males  ia  not  ao  obvious  as  in 
t  lo  fcmalos.  But  I  may  aay  generally,  that  the  non-potlera 
opply  for  infirmaiy  relief  are  both  more  over-fed.  and,  again, 
under-fed  than  the  potters.  The  over-fed  are  represented  espo- 
'  by  the  workers  in  iron,  the  puddlers  and  others,  whoso  wages 
al  of  all  proportion  to  their  intelligence,  and  who  know  no 
r  way  of  expending  it  than  in  gluttony  and  debauchery.  These 
appear  before  the  doctor  to  be  relieved  from  the  gastric  results 
eir  own  evil  courses.  The  colliers  porlaUe  in  tbe  same  habits, 
beep  tbe  "  week-end  "  by  extra  indulgence  in  eating  and  drink- 
larticulai'Iy  in  the  latter;  but  their  means  for  so  doing  aro  not 
cge  as  those  of  iron- workers,  and  probably  the  produclion  of 
feh  disorders  among  them  is  not  greater  than  among  the  potters. 
pbably  tho  hirgcat  number  of  dyspeptic  moles  is  derived  from  tho 
r-fed  and  the  ill-fud,  represented  by  broken-down  artiaina,  by 
ated  tailors  and  ahocroakcrs,  by  ill-paid  town  and  country 
nra,  and  by  other  nnfortunates  whose  lot  is  want  of  work  or 
lity  for  work,  and,  as  u  result,  inadequate  and  unfit  food. 
^. more  stomach  disorders  arc  eucountered  among  women  not 


478  Diseases  preval^fii  among  Potters. 

employed  in  pottery  work,  is  explicable  from  the  fact  that  the  mt- 
jority  of  such  women  are  derived  from  the  ill  and  under-fed  class  of 
milliners,  seamstresses,  and  housewives  of  poor  or  dissipate^l  men, 
or  widows  in  great  poverty. 

The  next  variety  of  bodily  disorders  enumerated  in  the  tables  is 
lead-poisoning.  It  will  bo  seen  that  this  happens  only  among  ^tten^ 
and  the  inference — the  true  one — at  once  forces  itself  upon  the 
mind,  that  it  must  be  due  to  some  condition  connected  with  their 
labour.  This  condition  is  found  in  the  glaze  used  in  giving  the 
smooth,  lasting  surface  to  earthenware  and  china  ;  and,  to  a  smiU 
degree,  in  some  other  processes  in  which  lead  colours  are  used,  the 
chief  of  which  is  what  is  termed  "  ground-laying.**  The  men  who 
use  the  glaze  arc  called  *'  dippers,"  because  their  work  is  to  dip  the 
ware  in  the  fluid  glaze.  Their  hands  and  wrists  are,  during  their 
work,  constantly  wetted  with  the  lead  glaze,  and  their  clothes  and 
faces  become  more  or  less  bespattered  with  it.  The  extent  to  wluch 
they  suffer  is  largely  dependent  on  their  own  care  and  cleanlinesfl, 
but  to  a  certain  degree  also  upon  personal  proclivity  to  suffer;  for  it 
seems  certain  that  the  lead  enters  and  affects  the  system  much  more 
in  some  workers  than  in  others.  One  or  more  helpers,  women  or  lads, 
are  engaged  by  the  dipper  in  taking  the  ware  from  him,  and  io 
wiping  off  superfluous  glaze.  Those  likewise  into  whose  hands  the 
glazed  ware  comes, — the  "  glost  placers  "—are  also  frequently  poi- 
soned by  the  lead. 

The  poiiion  acts  variously  in  different  people  and  at  different  times. 
It  occasions  colic,  troublesome  dyspepsia,  cerebral  derangement,  and 
paralysis  iu  many  forms,  and  to  a  greater  or  leas  extent.  This  somte 
of  sickness  must  be  regarded  as,  both  absolutely  and  relatively,  a 
prevcntible  one.  It  is  for  chemists,  in  conjunction  with  practical 
potters,  to  discover  another  mode  of  glazing  pottery,  and  it  is  in  the 
power  of  the  workers  themselves  largely  to  obviate  the  peril  of  their 
labour. 

It  would  not  be  correct  to  represent  non-potters  as  entirely  exempt 
from  lead-poisoning,  for  such  among  them  as  use  the  metal  in  a  form 
capable  of  entering  the  system  by  absorption  must  necessarily  he 
liable  to  it;  as  are,  for  instance,  house-painters;  but  probably  no 
members  of  a  craft  suffer  in  so  large  a  proportion  from  it  as  do 
potters,  except  it  bo  the  men  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  white 
lead.  But  few  remarks  are  needed  to  bring  to  a  conclusion  this 
retrospect  of  the  diseases  included  in  the  tables. 

Both  epilepsy  and  chorea  are  unusually  prevalent  in  the  popoUi- 
tion  of  the  Staffordshire  potteries.  The  pathology  and  etiology  of 
epilepsy  are  obscure,  and  the  cause  of  its  frequent  occurrence  in  the 
district  in  question  cannot  be  satisfactorily  accounted  for.  It  is  met 
with  in  early  life,  and  often  is  consecutive  upon  infantile  convul- 
sions. Tlicsc  last  we  can  frequently  a*«aoeijite  with  the  ill-fccding  of 
infants,  and  with  faulty  constitution.  Both  bad  feeding  and  bad  con 
stitutions  are  common  among  the  inhabitants.  Struma,  in  varioos 
forms,  affects  a  considerable  proportion ;   retarded   and  imperfect 


By  J.  T.  Arlidffej  F.R.C.P.  479 

levelopment  prevails  extensively ;  and,  witih  physically  weak  bodies, 
liere  are  often  associated  ill-regulated,  irritable,  ill-furnished  minds, 
Braring  for  exhausting  and  unhealthy  stimuli,  too  largely  found  in 
Ix»wii8  and  in  town  life. 

To  habits  of  intoxication,  and  to  other  vicious  courses  on  the  part 
»f  parents,  may  often  be  referred  the  sickly,  dwarfed;  misshapen, 
Btmmous,  and  phthisical  children,  so  numerous  in  our  manufacturing 
towns,  and  from  whose  ranks  their  mortality  is  so  largely  swollen. 
To  auch  habits,  more,  indeed,  than  to  the  processes  of  manufacture, 
and  to  such  habits,  in  association  with  insufficiently  nutritive  food, 
paitieiilarly  on  the  part  of  women  of  the  operative  classes  (often  not 
m  consequence  of  inadequate  means,  but  of  the  want  of  common 
■enae  and  teaching  in  the  selection  and  preparation  of  food),  do  we 
owe  the  manifest  deterioration  of  the  race  in  large  centres  of  in- 
duBtry.  Such  degenerescence  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  counteracted 
by  the  constant  recruiting  of  the  town  popubtion  from  the  dwellers 
in  the  country.  How  considerable  need  be  this  immigration  into 
towns  from  the  country  around  is  indicated  by  the  prevalence  of  so 
much  disease  destructive  of  life,  as  shown  in  the  tables  above,  and 
perhaps  even  more  distinctly  by  the  examination  of  the  registers  of 
the  causes  of  death,  and  the  deductions  therefrom,  exhibiting  the 
heavy  death-rate,  and  the  early  period  of  life  at  which  operatives  are 
cut  off, — as  exemplified  in  the  statistics  of  the  mortality  of  the  chief 
pottery  towns,  published  by  me  in  the  essay  before  alluded  to. 

How  far  soever  the  influence  of  a  degraded  physical  frame  and 
of  constitutional  taint  be  effective  in  the  production  of  epilepsy,  there 
can  be  no  question  of  its  giving  origin  to  chorea.  Many  physicans, 
eqiecially  those  in  London,  have  represented  chorea  as  intimately 
connected  with  rheumatism  and  heart  disease  ;  and  no  doubt  these 
maladies  frequently  concur  as  cause  and  effect ;  but  my  experience 
proves  that  this  relation  is  not  nearly  so  frequent  as  supposed ;  and  I 
reckon  that  in  two-thirds  of  the  cases  no  rheumatism  acquired  or 
inherited  and  no  cardiac  disease  are  to  be  found.  The  subjects  of 
chorea  are  principally  ill-nourished,  weakly,  scrofulous  children,  with 
irritable,  ill-regulated,  and,  at  times,  over-wrought  brains,  and  the 
surest  cure  is  derived  from  in-door  treatment  in  the  infirmary,  which 
implies  good  food  and  air,  moral  control  and  discipline,  removal  from 
causes  of  excitement  and  irritation  in  scolding  or  petting  parents, 
and  in  annoying,  quarrelsome  brothers  and  sisters,  with  the  use  of 
baths,  but  very  little  physic.  In  other  words  the  treatment  shows 
that  chorea  is  a  result  of  debility,  abnormal  cerebral  activity,  and 
improper  or  unfit  diet. 

The  prevalence  of  uterine  disorders  among  weak  women  engaged 
in  sedentary  work,  and  to  a  great  extent  ill-fed,  is  a  phenomenon 
eommon  in  every  town,  and  not  peculiar  to  the  potteries. 

Whilst  on  the  head  of  stomuch  disorders  I  referred  to  their  pre- 
sence in  connection  with  uterine  derangements,  and  I  will  take  this 
opportunity  of  remarking  upon  the  lamentable  amount  of  sickness 
consequent  on  the  abuse  of  tea  by  women  of  the  working  classes. 


480  Prevention  of  Waste  of  Water. 

Instead  of  using  it  simply  as  an  occasional  boverage,  tliej  make  it  a 
principal  article  of  diet,  and  drink  it,  usually  without  milk  or  sugar, 
several  times  a  day.     At  most  meals  bread  and  butter  is  the  ovij 
solid  accompaniment.    In  many  cases,  doubtless,  poverty  imposes 
on  them  a  meagre  diet ;  but  even  in  sucb^  the  one  alluded  to  migbt 
be  advantageously  replaced  by  other  kinds  of  food  not  more  expen- 
sive.     But  in  many  instances  this  defecUve  diet  is  one  of  choioe, 
and  not  of  necessity,  and  the  choice  is  determined  often  by  ignorance 
and  indolence — by  ignorance  of  the  simplest  cooking  processei,  and 
by  indolence  suggesting  a  meal  that  gives  the  least  trouble. 

Bitter  and  strong  is  the  agitation,  at  the  present  period,  a^nst 
beer  and  other  intoxicating  liquors  as  the  root  of  all  evils  ;  but,  in  mj 
opinion,  there  is  room  for  agitation  against  tea*drinking  as  carried 
on  in  the  way  spoken  of;  for  I  am  convinced  that  a  deterioration  of 
health  among  the  working  classes,  and  a  lowered  vitality  in  the 
rising  generation,  nre  consequences  of  the  abuse  of  the  leverage  in 
question.  Entertaining  as  I  do  these  views,  based  on  %vide  observa- 
tion,  I  can  in  no  degree  sympathize  with  the  politico-social  partj, 
who  make  what  they  call  *'  a  free-breakfast  table  **  the  goal  of  their 
reforming  ambition.  The  surrender  of  revenue  consequent  on  their 
success  would  bo  balanced  by  no  increased  good,  either  to  t&e 
pockets  or  to  the  health  of  the  classes  for  whose  special  benefit  the 
scheme  is  urged. 


A  Clieap  Mode  of  Prevenihig  Waste  of  Water  wlien  Contimmhi 

Supplied.    By  P.  H.  Holland. 

PARLIAMENT  has  for  very  sufficient  reasons  decided  tliat  London 
shall  bo  supplied  with  water  continuously,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that  that  best,  simplest,  and  cheapest  mode  of  supplying  water 
will  become  general  notwithstanding  there  being  some  "eminent 
engineers  *'  who  still  hold,  as  most  of  them  did  thirty  years  ogo,  that 
continuous  water  supply  was  for  large  places  almost  impossible.  I 
remember  one  whom  I  heard  giving  evidence  in  favour  of  the  altera- 
tion  from  intermittent  to  continuous  service,  one  year,  who  had  toIJ 
me  the  preceding  year  it  was  quite  impracticable  ;  and  I  have  little 
doubt  that  many  changes  condemned  by  **•  practical  men  "  now  will 
soon  be  adopted  by  those  same  eminent  authorities,  and  not  impro- 
bably claimed  by  them  as  their  own  proposals. 

It  is  at  last  acknowledged,  when  it  can  no  longer  be  denied,  that 
continuous  water  supply  is  not  only  possible  but  easy.  It  has  nianr 
great  advantages  too  evident  and  too  well-known  to  need  mention- 
ing, but  the  economy  of  the  system  is  still  disputed,  while  it  is  greatly 
feared  that  the  change  from  the  old  to  the  now  system  will  involre 
eitlier  a  very  great  waste  of  water  from  imperfect  fittings  and  taps, 
or  a  very  large  expenditure  in  providing  good  ones.  I  expect  to  be 
able  to  show  that  neither  of  these  losses  need  be  incurred. 

It  is  evident  that  if,  as  is  common  now,  a  large  proportion  of  the 


\ 


By  P.  IL  Holland,  481 

stps  do  not  close  perfectly,  but  are  allowed  to  dribble,  tho 
:  many  tliousand  dribbles  must  be  far  greater  if  they  con- 
enty-four  hours  a  day  than  only  one  hour  or  less ;  but  on 
r  hand  there  is  a  saving  of  waste  which  occurs  on  the  old 
rom  bull-cocks  beiug  absent  or  out  of  order,  and  from  large 
being  frequently  emptied  to  prevent  the  water  getting  stag- 
1  oilen  the  waste  prevented  exceeds  that  caused  by  the 
>f  system  ;  but  under  either  system,  as  at  present  mis- 
,  the  quantity  of  water  wasted  very  f^r  exceeds  that  used. 

accurately  known  what  quantity  of  water  is  supplied  to 
the  total  quantity  supplied  to  a  whole  town  may  be  pretty 
y  determined,  as  also  the  number  of  houses  supplied,  and  the 

used  for  other  purposes  than  household  supply  may  be 
I  with  fair  approximation  to  correctness;  but  the  inference 
he  rest  is  distributed  among  the  houses  is  erroneous — often 
ously  cn*oneous.  There  is  always  some  waste,  sometimes 
it  waste,  from  imperfect  junctions  of  pipes,  especially  when 
9  been  laid  by  contract  at  a  price  insufficient  to  pay  for 
ork,  when  tho  contractor  can  only  make  his  contract  pay 
ng  either  his  employers  or  somebody  else.  Whether  those 
9  or  those  who  knowingly  accept  such  contracts  are  least 

a  question  I  cannot  decide.  Making,  however,  all  fair 
I  for  other  forms  of  waste,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a 
e  part  of  that  supplied  to  houses  is  wasted  if  the  estimates 
antity  supplied  be  anything  near  the  truth.  That  quantity 
itated  to  be  from  twenty  to  forty  gallons  a  head  per  diem;* 
est  of  these  quantities  is  more  than  twice  as  much  as  is  com- 
ed,  as  a  very  little  consideration  will  show.  Five  gallons 
is  twenty-five  gallons  per  family  of  five,  and  though  many 
labitually,  and  most  families  occasionally,  use  more  water, 
majority  habitually  use  very  much  less.  It  will  be  allowed 
olio  wing  is  a  very  liberal  allowance  of  water  for  the  daily 
ordinary  family. 


>r  drinking,  including  tea,  &c. 

...     24 

r  gallons 

>r  supplying  bedrooms  ... 

...     2| 

j> 

>r  cooking  and  washing  up 

...     5 

>r  washing  floors,  &c.   ... 

...     5 

»r  water-closet 

...  10 

f9 

For  total  ordinary  use     25 

For  washing-day  once  a  week    ...  25 
Maximum  consumption    ...  50 


II 


II 


» 


Bumell,  O.B.,  says  tho  coDsiunption  is  generally  forty  and  in  some 
\!j  to  100  gallons  a  day  per  individual. — ^'^  Budiments  of  Hydraulic 
^*'  p.  164.  I  consider  tnese  eetimatee  extravagant  unless  there  be 
Mte. 


482  A  Cheap  Mode  of  Preventhuf  Waste  of  Water. 

If,  tliercfore,  evory  house  has  a  possible  supply  of  fifty  gallons  lo  a 
day,  there  will  always  be  enough  for  the  largest  probable  demand, 
while  the  ordinary  consumption  will  not  much  exceed,  even  if  i( 
reach,  half  of  the  maximum  supply.     All  that  is  necessary  then  to 
keep  the  waste  within  moderate  limit,  without  at  all  diminishing  the 
supply  for  use,  is  to  provide  each  house  with  as  much  water  u  is 
needed  for  use,  but  not  much  more  than  is  enough  for  that  purpose.  If 
twenty-five  gallons  a  day  is  generally  enough,  and  fifty  gallons  enouj^h 
for  extraordinary  occasions,  it  will  bo  enough  if  each  be  supplied  at  the 
rate  of  two  gallons  an  hour,  t.  r.,  the  quantity  supplied  by  a  jet  one- 
twenty- fourth  of  an  inch  diameter  with  150  feet  pressure,    I  hare 
passed  water  through  the  stem  of  a  tobacco  pipe,  with  only  a  foot  of 
pressure,  in  excess  of  the  friction,  at  a  greater  rate  than  thia^  and 
through  a  tube  of  one-fiflh  of  an  inch  diameter,  at  a  rate  exceeding  400 
gallons  a  day,  or  enough  to  supply  sixteen  houses  with  twcney-five 
gallons  a  day  each,  running  at  the  rate  of  only  one-fifth  of  a  foot  per 
second,  and,  therefore,  with  very  little  friction.     If  water  were  eo 
supplied  the  effect  would  be  that  if  any  householder  leaves  bis  tip 
open,  or  allows  it  to  dribble,  he  will  himself  feel  the  inconvenience 
and  will  guard  against  it,  instead  of,  as  he  does  at  present,  allowing 
water  to  run  away  uselessly,  which  must  either  bo  needed  by  otliez% 
or  supplied  at  the  cost  of  the  community.     One  tap  led  careleuly 
running  may  waste  in  an  hour  as  much  water  as  would  supply  many 
houses  for  a  day,  while  it  is  common  for  places  supplied  on  the  inte^ 
mittent  system  to  run  off  through  the  sewers,  when  the  water  is  on, 
sometimes  three  to  four  times  as  much  as  when  it  is  off,  showing 
that  above  three-fourths  of  the  quantity  supplied  is  allowed  to  ru 
to  waste,  in  addition  to  what  dribbles  away. 

It  will  naturally  be  objected  that  if  water  be  supplied  at  the  rale 
of  two  gallons  an  hour  only,  it  would  be  tedious  to  wait  the  tine 
needed  for  obtaining  water  when  wanted.  There  need  not,  however, 
bo  any  more  waiting  than  at  present^  if  small  receptacles  for  water, 
containing  as  much  as  is  needed  at  once,  were  provided,  from  which 
it  would  bo  drawn  when  needed,  and  which  would  then  be  gn- 
dunlly  refilled  at  the  rate  of  two  gallons  an  hour.  As  these  litde 
receptacles  would  cost  very  little,  and  might  save  the  cost  of  water 
jugs  and  cans,  and  as,  moreover,  the  water  pipes  for  keeping  then 
full  would  bo  very  small  and  very  inexpensive,  it  would  be  easy  to 
have  several  in  every  house,  one  in  every  room  if  desired.  More 
than  the  requisite  (}uantity  of  water  would  run  through  a  commoa 
tobacco  pipe,  with  n  foot  of  pressure  in  excess  of  the  friction,  but  i 
somewhat  largor  pipe  would  be  desirable.  Messrs.  Walker,  Camp- 
boll  Sc  Company,  of  Liverpool,  say  they  can  supply  their  tia-lioeJ 
lead  pipe  one-tenth  inch  diameter  (which  is  ten  times  the  area  of  i 
tobacco  pipe)  at  about  a  penny  per  foot.,  or  a  one-sixteenth  at  i 
much  less  cost,  and  probably  glass  or  earthenwaro  pipes  would  be 
still  cheaper.  Such  pipes  might  be  so  easily  concealed,  that  water 
may  be  conveyed  in  them  throughout  any  house  without  disfigoriog 
any  room  in  it,  and  it  would  be  easy,  wherever  necessary,  to  proteet 
them  effectually  from  fh>st. 


By  P.  H.  Hdland.  483 

imitation  of  the  water  to  be  supplied  to  the  ((uantity  reallj 
9  very  easy.  All  that  is  necessary  is  to  admit  the  water 
a  tap  with  a  cop  'oal  hole,  the  point  being  a  mere  pin  hole, 
.  allow  of  the  requisite  flow  with  the  average  pressure.  Of 
le  flow  will  not  be  quite  regular,  but  that  is  of  no  conse- 
l  the  quantity  delivered  per  day  is  sufficient.  If  the  water 
rly  filtered  the  taps  will  be  very  rarely  obstructed,  and  when 
so  can  easily  be  cleared,  if  placed  where  accessible, 
h  the  plan  proposed  will   greatly  diminish  the  cost,  and 

the  convenience  of  water  fittings,  and  reduce  the  waste  of 
thin  very  narrow  limits,  it  is  by  no  means  desirable  to  di- 
be  quantity  of  water  to  be  supplied  to  a  town.     On  the 

there  are  very  few  towns  where  the  quantity  now  supplied 
tj  with  great  advantage,  be  largely  increased.  That,  how- 
.0  reason  for  permitting  waste,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  an 
1  reason  for  preventing  it.  If  it  were  prevented,  water 
ithout  any  additional  cost,  be  allowed  for  washing,  instead  of 
etting  street  surfaces,  rendering  every  street  always  as  sweet 
ifter  a  thunder  shower.  The  surface  being  rendered  quite 
lid  very  quickly  dry,  and  our  roadways  might  be  kept  in 
I  beautiful  condition  as  those  of  Paris  are  chiefly  by  this 
Windows  and  house  fronts  might  also  be  economically 
and  one  of  the  effects  of  the  smoke  nuisance  abated.  Water 
;ed  would  be  amply  sufficient  to  supply  as  many  baths  as  a 
n  need,  and  if  used  previously  for  condensing  steam,  the 
r  baths  would  without  cost  be  warmed.    Plants  and  trees 

grown  in  towns  if  smoke  were  diminished,  and  their  leaves 
y  washed  by  gentle  jets  of  water.  Fountains  and  orna- 
)nds  might  be  supplied  by  the  water  now  wasted,  which  would 

be  turned  to  numberless  uses,  some  not  now  thought  of. 

as  such  advantages  would  in  all  cases  be,  there  are  some 
here,  by  the  adoption  of  this  plan,  difficulties,  now  almost 
>le,  might  be  overcome.  In  places,  for  instance,  which 
y  cannot  obtain  a  supply  of  water,  both  wholesome  and  safe, 

for  all  purposes,  within  any  reasonable  distance,  and  are 
endent  upon  supplies  deficient  in  quantity  or  defective  in 
and  generally  both  deficient  and  defective.      There    are, 

few  places  for  which  a  small  supply  of  good  drinking 
ight  not  be  obtained,  if  its  use  could  be  limited  to  that 
and  very  generally  a  large  enough  supply  for  other  purposes 
got  of  water,  not  too  hard  to  wash  with,  and  pure  enough 
purpose  except  drinking.  If,  however,  an  attempt  were 
supply  a  town  with  either  of  these  waters  on  the  common 
It  is  certain  that  that  intended  for  drinking  would  by  some 
for  other  purposes,  and  would  therefore  prove  insufficient 
ying  all  with  drinking  water ;  while,  if  the  water  intended 
ng  were  alone  supplied,  many  would  drink  it,  even  if  aware, 
light  not  be,  that  they  could  not  drink  it  with  safety.  The 
I  to  render  such  waters  safely  available  would  be  to  anpply 

31—^ 


484         A  Clieap  Mode  of  Preventing  Waste  of  Water. 

every  house  with  both,  and  to  limit  tlie  supply  to  each,  80  that  none 
could  take  much  more  than  the  needed  ;  thereby  depriving  others  of 
their  share.     Supposing  the  total  supply  of  good  drinking  water  ii 
only  equal  to  a  gallon  per  individual  per  day  (which  is  more  than  i 
very  Kmall  spring  would  supply  for  a  good  largo  viUago  or  small 
town),  it  is  evident  that  it  would  be  insuilicient  if  any  one  ooaU 
waste,  as  tlicy  now  can,  and  often  do,  as  much  as  would  sopplj 
hundreds  with  drinking  water,  while  it  would  be  amply  sufficient  for 
uU  if  none  could  draw  more  than  they  used  for  drinking.    If  the 
water  be  supplied  at  the  rate  of  six  gallons  per  day  (a  quart  an  hoor) 
for  every  family,  it  is  clear  that  no  family  can  waste  more,  while 
each  will  have  more  than  enough.    The  size  of  the  pipes  needed  to 
convey  so  small  a  quantity  will  be  so  small,  can  be  so  easily  laid,  and 
so  easily  protected  from  frost  or  injury,  that  their  cost,  in  addition  to 
that  of  larger  pipes  for  conveying  larger  quantities  of  water  for  other 
purposes,  would  often  be  quite  insignificant  as  compared  with  the 
cost  which  would  have  to  be  met  for  providing  and  conveying  water 
lit  for  all  purposes  for  a  great  distance.    In  many  places  water,  good 
enough  for  all  purposes,  except  drinking,  may  be  got  in  abundanoe 
from  canals,  or  rivers,  at  no  great  distance ;  or  water  gathered  at  a 
distance  might  bo  cheaply  conveyed  to  a  place  needing  it  throa^ 
such  channels,  or  through  water  courses  less  costly  than  pipes,  if  iti 
extreme  purity  need  not  be  preserved* 

Suppose,  for  instance,  it  should  be  decided,  as  I  do  not  thmk  ii 
will  be,  that  the  Thames  and  the  Lea  must  be  abandoned  as  souroei 
for  drinking  water  for  London,  it  would  by  no  means  follow  that 
the  present  sources  of  supply  must  be  given  up,  and  a  new  one  for 
all  purposes  obtained.  It  would  be  far  cheaper  to  lay  down  a  seoo&d 
set  of  pipes,  which  need  be  small  ones  only,  to  convey  to  eveij 
house,  say  five  or  six  gallons  a  day  of  drinking  water,  and  to  continiM 
the  present  supply  for  other  purposes,  than  to  construct  works  for 
obtaining  a  sufficient  supply  for  all  purposes  from  any  other  somGei 
It  is  true  that  better  water  for  washing  might  be  got,  and  then 
might  be  a  real  economy  in  using  it,  but  the  cost  of  the  chaiue 
would  bo  enormous,  and,  so  far  as  drinking  water  is  concerned,  easUjr 
avoided  by  this  very  simple  method.  There  are  very  many  placet 
where  this  mode  of  double  supply  would  bo  economical.  It  is  Tery 
common  for  detached  houses  to  have  separate  supplies  for  drinking 
and  washing,  and  the  only  reason  why  towns  have  not  is  the  great 
cost  of  a  double  set  of  pipes  of  the  sizes  generally  used,  but,  as  I  hanre 
shown,  such  cost  is  wholly  needless. 

A  supply  of  excellent  water,  more  than  sufficient  for  drinking  aal 
cooking  only,  might  be  got  for  Birmingham  from  the  lickey  ffiUi; 
while  the  existing  supply,  though  bad  for  drinking,  is  good  ettODfjh 
for  many  purposes.  Wakefield  is  now  supplied  from  the  Aire  after 
it  has  drained  Leeds,  Bradford,  and  several  other  great  towns ;  a 
good  supply  of  drinking  water  might  be  got  here  also  at  far  less  ooit 
than  a  sufficient  supply  for  all  purposes.  The  small  places  for  which 
the  plan  suggested  is  applicable  are  numberless. 


By  P.  H.  Holland.  485 

One  of  the  most  convenieDt  formB  of  receptacle  for  water  is  that  I 
'Bnted  and  pnblished  some  twenty  jears  ago,  but  which  has  never- 
iless  been  sinee  re-invented  by  at  least  two  patentees.  It  is  essen- 
Oy  the  same  as  that  called  the  water-waste  preventer.  It  consists  of 
atf-tight  vessel,  with  a  three-way-tap  or  other  contrivance  for  letting 
\  Tvater  either  in  or  out,  but  not  both  at  once.  When  it  is  let  in, 
snterp  slowly,  compressing  the  confined  air  until  it  is  so  condensed 
to  resist  the  entrance  of  any  more :  with  100  feet  pressure  the 
isel  would  be  three-fbnrths  filled,  and  a  gallon  bottle  would  there- 
B  hold  three  quarts  of  water  and  one  of  compressed  air,  which, 
its  expansion,  would  force  the  water  out  of  the  tap  when  opened 
ftst  as  if  it  came  direct  from  the  pipe  of  tlie  same  size.  This  tap 
tst  l>e  one  often  called  a  vent-peg  tap,  which  will  allow  air  to 
»r  as  the  water  flows  out,  as  part  of  the  air  will  be  absorbed  by 
I  water,  and  will  need  occasional  renewal. 

&.  gallon  stoneware  bottle,  which  may  be  made  of  any  shape  and 
ornamental  as  is  desired,  need  not  cost  more  than  u  water-jug, 
1  would,  being  kept  constantly  full  without  trouble,  be  far  more 
ivenient,  T^kile  the  cost  and  trouble  of  drinking-water  bottles  in  the 
l-room  would  be  saved.  The  water  receptaicles  for  the  kitchens, 
sh-houses,  and  water-closets,  would  render  cisterns  for  them 
lecessary,  those  existing  might  therefore  either  bo  sold  or  used 

holding  rain-water,  by  which  the  consumption  of  pipe- water 
;ht  be  still  further  diminished  and  good  washing  water  obtained, 
e  existing  lead  pipes  in  houses  would  be  superseded  by  the  small 
es  proposed,  and  the  value  of  the  lead  would  much  more  than 
mj  the  cost  of  the  alteration.  Though  it  would  be  inconvenient 
the  little  receptacles  for  water  to  hold  less  than  will  be  needed  at 
^  it  is  undesirable  for  them  to  hold  much  more,  as  the  more 
juently  water  is  changed  the  better;  perhaps  about  half  the 
lected  daily  consumption  may  be  the  best  quantity  ;  that  would  be 
►ut  100  gallons  for  every  eight  houses,  or  100,000  gallons  for  8000 
ises,  or  say  for  a  population  of  40,000  or  50,000.  Large  service 
ervoirs  are  needed  when  water  has  to  be  lifted  to  keep  up  constant 
iply  without  constant  pumping,  and  when  water  has  to  be 
.veyed  from  a  great  distance  to  avoid  the  cost  of  having  supply 
e8  large  enough  to  carry  the  maximum  consumption,  which  often 
everal  times  as  great  as  the  average — for  example,  early  in  the  day 
en  washing  and  cooking  is  most  actively  pursued.  An  amount  of 
rage  equal  to  about  twelve  gallons  per  house  would  serve  most  of 

purposes  of  a  service-reservoir,  and  render  a  general  one  of 
derate  size  quite  sufficient.  The  mains  also  might  be  smaller 
attse  the  flow  in  them  would  be  much  more  regular  and  the 
Bsure  in  them  would  therefore  be  more  regularly  sustained, 
dering  the  water  in  them  more  constantly  available  for  the  rapid 
inction  of  Are. 

n  every  respect  the  change  would  be  an  improvement,  more 
lomical,  more  convenient,  more  eflective. 


486  Tlie  Sanitary  Improvemeni  of  Leeds. 


The  Sanitary  Improvement  of  Leeds.*    By  M.  K.  RoBiKBOI, 
M.D.,  Medical  Officer  of  Health  for  Leeds.  • 

F  compliance  with  the  wish  of  others  I  will  briefly  refer  to  what 
has  been  done  in  Leeds,  bj  way  of  sanitarj  improyeiiMntii  b 
order  to  show  that  if  progress  is  not  made  quite 'so  rapidly  as  sooe 
would  desire,  sanitary  work  steadily  progresses,  and  real  improfs* 
mont  is  effected. 

The  borough  of  Leeds  comprises  ten  different  reg^tration  distneto, 
'  the  registrars  of  each  of  which  divisions  furnish  every  Monday 
morning,  to  the  OfFiccr  of  Health,  a  return  of  the  deaths  registsnd 
during  the  preceding  week.  These  returns  are  at  once  tabulatsd 
into  convenient  forms  for  reference,  so  as  to  show  in  one  view  the 
age,  sex,  disease,  and  locality  where  each  death  has  occurred. 
When  deaths  have  been  occasioned  by  preventible  diseases  amongil 
the  artisan  or  labouring  classes  the  localities  are  visited,  a  bistny 
of  the  cases  as  complete  as  practicable  obtained,  and  measures  takes 
for  rectifying  any  sanitary  defects  which  exist,  disinfecting  and 
cleansing  being  carried  out  in  contagious  cases,  according  to  the 
provision  of  the  Sanitary  Act  of  1866. 

The  Sanitary  Committee  of  the  Leeds  Town  Council  in  discharging 
its  duty  as  prescribed  by  the  Sanitary  and  Nuisances  Kemoval  Aeti 
has,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  systematic  inspection,  cottage  booafr- 
to-house  visitation,  and  the  adoption  of  general  hygienic  proceedings 
divided  the  borough  into  fifteen  divisions,  to  each  of  which  an 
inspector  is  assigned,  whose  duty  it  is  to  ascertain  and  report  dailj 
in  writing  whatever  nuisances  he  may  find  in  his  district  to  the  chief 
inspector  of  nuisances,  under  whose  contrdi  and  supervision  the 
several  inspectors  are  placed. 

These  men  also  report  particulars  of  zymotic  cases  on  prioied 
forms  to  tlie  officer  of  health,  and  carry  out  his  Instructions  respeet- 
ing  the  disinfecting  of  houses,  drains,  &c.,  personally  assisting  in 
removing  persons  suffering  from  infectious  diseases  to  the  house  of 
recovery.  Notices  are  also  served  by  this  staff  on  the  owners  cr 
agents  of  property  where  nuisances  exist,  and  the  men  are  held 
responsible  for  the  general  cleanliness  of  their  respective  districta 
They  are  advised,  directed,  and  supervised  by  a  most  able  inspector 
of  nuisances,  who  himself  inquires  into  complaints  of  the  inbabitanti, 
signs  notices,  and  appears  to  support  informations  before  the  magis- 
trates. All  the  men  are  members  of  the  police  force,  and  in  e^f 
out  of  the  fidteen  divisions  of  the  borough,  nearly  all  thdr  time  ii 


Seo  TranaaeiionB,  18C4,  p.  583« 


y  M.  K.  RobmtoH,  M.D.  4BT 

ted  to  sanitary  work.     In  llieae  eight  divisions  which  include 

V  Central  part  of  the  town,  the  area  traveraed  averages  1000  acrea 

^  man,  the  population  equal  to  •acli  bdng  about  20,000.     In  the 

Hven  remaining  suburban  diTisiona  of  the  borough,  the  men  devoto 

Mdy  one  day  per  week  to  8ani[ary  duty,  with  one  exception,  when 

dsys  are  set  apart  for  that  purpose.     The  area  of  each  laat  sub- 

rion  averages  about  1300  acres,  and   the   population    in    each 

tict   numbers  about  .3000.      It  would  be  impossible  to  give  a 

lied  description  of  all  the  work  accomplished  by  this  staff,  but  a 

nafy  of  what  has  been  done  from  January,  1867,  to  Scptembar 

of  the  current  year,  shows  that  51,131  notices  and  tettora  were 

out,  Sol  summonses  issued,  aud  penalties  for  sanitary  OS's  need 

Snting  in  the  aggregate  to  288f.   l^^a.  6d.  inflicted  (exclusive  of 

la  penalties), 

ircmgh  the  help  this  tleath-preTentive  staff  is  able  to  afford 
B  are  often  traced  to  their  causes,  and  timely  remedies  are 
I  to  stem  the  march  of  those  insidious  foes  that  prey  on 
I  life.  I  might  allude  to  scores  of  iastances  which  have 
'  *  1  this  wide  borough  where  typhoid  fever  has  been  traced 
r  defective  drains,  or  excrement -polluted  soil  and  water,  that 
I  their  embrace  the  virus  of  this  disease,  and  where  the 
Tat  of  the  discovered  evils  was  followed  by  suppression  of  the 
ae.  To  say  to  what  extent  infectious  diseases  have  been 
ted  in  their  spread  would  be  as  diiSculc  to  show,  as  it  would  be 
We  how  many  robberies  arc  preventeil  by  the  constitution  of  a 
i  police  force,  but  during  the  cholera  epidemic  of  186(5 
malady  never  extended  to  the  population  of  Leeds,  although 
tnced  into  one  of  our  courts  by  a  gang  of  railway  workmen  who 
I  direct  from  an  infected  house  in  Liverpool,  prompt  conjoint 
I  by  (he  Leeds  Town  Council  and  the  Board  of  Guardians 
DStiiig  in  perfect  isolation  of  the  sick  and  segregation  of  the 
led  from  the  rest  of  the  inhahilanta  of  the  town,  &c.)  being  at 
taken  on  the  outbreak  of  the  di.seosc  in  Leeds. 
len,  during  the  epidemic  of  relapsing  fever  last  year  that  disease 
t  became  so  widuly  diffused  in  Leeds  in  relation  lo  the  population 
maoy  other  towns,  although  introduced  seventeen  times  from 
'  places,  the  measures  adopted  being  early  removal  of  the  sick 
the  healthy,  accompanied  by  disinfection  and  cleansing  of 
I  housefi,  clothing,  &c. ;  and  up  to  the  present  period  of  this 
irith  small-pox  widely  diffused  through  the  country,  there 
been  only  nineteen  deaths  from  the  disease  in  Leeds,  although 
I  January  it  has  been  introduced  into  our  population  seventeen 
L  Beds  and  woollen  garments,  &c.f  which  are  not  destroyed 
iainfected  in  the  Corporation's  own  apparatus,  which  may  be 
by  any  members  of  the  Section  in  daily  operation. 
Irish  here  to  notice  that  the  merit  of  culling  public  attention 
e  value  of  dry  heat  as  a  disinfectant,  as  practised  years  ago  by 
Henry,  of  Manchester,  is  due  to  one  of  the  members  of  this  As- 
tion,  Dr,  Shaw,  of  York,  who  read  a  paper  on  tho  subject  in  the 


488  Tlie  Sanitary  Improvement  of  Leeds. 

year  1864^  and  there  may  be  now  seen  at  tbe  Sanitary  Exlubidon 
connected  with  the  present  Congress  a  model  of  a  disinfecting  spps* 
ratus  by  Fraser,  of  Londoo,  also  one  heated  on  an  entirely  origU 
principle  by  Nelson  &  Co.,  of  Leeds.  In  addition  to  the  iJiort 
sketch  of  work  just  described  as  being  done,  in  pursuance  of  the  [lo- 
visions  of  the  Sanitary  and  Nuisances  Removal  Acta  for  Englandithe 
Leeds  Town  Council  has  gone  further  and  obtained  powers  of  its  owq 
to  deal  with  faulty  property,  compensating  the  owners  thereof  for  aoy 
loss  they  may  sustain.  Beginning  in  the  heart  of  the  town  the  Cor^ 
poration  has  already  decided  to  destroy  one  whole  block  of  buildings 
consisting  of  sixty  houses  and  covering  a  space  of  2505  square  yirdi. 
On  Friday  next  the  Council  will  be  still  further  asked  by  the  Senitarj 
Committee  to  adopt  a  similar  scheme  for  clearing  away  two  blocks 
of  streets  and  courts,  where  in  one  instance  the  death-rate  for  tke 
locality  has  averaged  during  the  last  five  years  SOZ  per  1000  per 
annum,  and  in  the  other  during  the  same  period  68*2  per  1000  per 
unnum,  embracing  in  the  first  case  twelve  courts  and  involving  the 
destruction  of  163  houses,  which  cover  about  8640  square  yards,  and 
in  the  second  recommendation  the  demolition  of  28  houses. 

The  Sanitary  Committee  in  deciding  upon  this  wholesale  demoli- 
tion of  property  has  not  been  guided  by  the  death-rate  of  the  loetlitj 
alone,  but  has  been  iufiuenced  in  its  decision  by  other  reaBom, 
namely,  that  the  localities  in  question  have  been  the  principal  leiK 
of  every  epidemic  that  has  visited  the  town,  and  further  that  the 
faulty  arrangement  of  the  houses  as  to  construction,  ventiktbs, 
out-ofiice  accommodation,  and  surroundings,  &c,^  is  such  as  to  pr»> 
elude  any  other  remedy  than  total  demolition. 

The  rate  of  mortality  of  Leeds  is  so  often  mis-quoted  as  to  incresa> 
ing  in  intcnsity#year  by  year — an  error,  if  I  mistake  not,  I  hare 
heard  repeated  in  this  Section  during  our  present  meeting—that  it  it 
necessary  here  to  show  that  in  this  respect  also,  improvement  hu 
taken  place.  The  actual  death-rate  of  the  last  five  years,  conntiiig 
the  three-quarters  of  the  current  year  just  expired,  has  only  averaged 
27*1  per  1000  per  annum,  compared  with  31*8  as  the  average  of  the 
preceding  five  years.  The  death-rate  of  the  current  year  from 
January  1st  up  to  last  Saturday  night  was  a  rate  of  26*7  per  lOOO 
per  annum,  so  that  whether  we  take  the  last  year,  28*2,  or  the  series 
of  the  last  Hve  years  as  compared  with  the  previous  five,  Leeds  is 
its  diminished  mortality  compares  favourably  with  the  past  Leedi) 
therefore,  with  its  magnificent  water-works,  in  course  of  ooastme- 
tion  ;  the  improved  Becks  ;  undertakings  for  demolition  of  ncHSome 
courts,  and  pestilence-breeding  houses  ;  its  recent  decision  to  aboU 
barbarous  middens ;  its  sanitary  organization  and  persistent  adminii- 
tration  of  the  Sanitary  and  Nuisances  Removal  Acts,  aceompaBied 
with  a  diminished  death-ratCi  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  noUag 
material  progress  in  sanitary  improvement — and  this  in  the  &ce  it 
enormous  difficulties,  such  as  viciously-constructed  houses  handed 
down  to  the  present  generation  by  the  ignorance  or  selfishness  of  the 
past;  interested  associations  organized  for  the  purpose  of  stemBiny 


Stnooth  a 


Imptfm 


ble  Street  & 


Phtream  of  sanitary  rerorm  ;  and  a  Chancery  injunctioa  causing 
tge-Iogg^-houses,  and  Decessitatiug  cesspools  lor  all  new  buitd- 
laga.  Still  since  toy  oonnection  with  the  Leeds  Corporation,  no  i 
chief  magislrate  like  Ihe  present  has  taken  a  livelier  interest  in  the  ] 
sanitary  welfare  of  the  people,  and  the  Chairman  who  presides  Ov«  I 
the  Sanitary  Comtnilteo  devotes  nearly  all  his  time  and  abilities,  day  I 
after  day,  lo  the  amelioration  of  tho  evils  which  cull  for  removal;  and  J 
the  display  of  this  zeal  and  assiduity  on  the  part  of  those  placed 
positions  of  trust  and  responsibility  1  take  as  iudicacing  a  del«riiiin»  j 
uon  oil  the  part  of  her  rulers  that,  as  Leeds  was  one  of  the  first  towns  I 
in  the  kingdom  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  proparing  reports  upon  tW  I 
sanitary  condition  of  massed  populaiious,  so  now,  by  a  practicaL  ■ 
I  of  various  sanitary  problems,  she  will  again  take  front  rank.  | 
J'lcod  other  lotms  in  the  way  of  life. 


I'  the  Sanitary  and  Economical  Advantages  of  Smooth  nnd 
'impermeable  Sii-eet  Surfaces,  .fly  Edwin  ChadwioKjCB., 
Rjorrcsponding  Member  o£  the  Institut  of  France. 

rR  suhsoil  dminage  of  the  sites  of  lowiis  is  one  important  primaiy 
Banitary  work  for  tho  removal  of  damp,  which  lowers  strength. 
The  provision  of  sclf-clcansing  house  drains,  aud  self-cleansing  street 
■ew«rs,  is  the  next  and  most  important  work  for  the  health  of  urban 
populations,  by  the  removal  from  beneath  the  sites  of  houses  anil 
streets  of  all  human  and  animal  excreta  before  it  caa  enter  into 
noxious  decomposition.  Bui  the  menus  of  removing  filth  from  the 
surfaces  of  courts,  streets,  nnd  roadways,  the  prevention  of  Just  and 
dirt,  and  the  preservation  of  cleanliness,  the  avoidance  of  noiso, 
the  (bcilitntion  of  transit,  and  the  general  comfort  of  urbau  popula- 
tioiis,  is  a  topic  of  sanitary  science,  hitherto  disregarded,  which  I 
^lall  now  endeavour  to  expound.  It  will  be  seen  how  much  there 
!•  of  the  great  in  principle  and  in  result  immersed  in  tho  little  of 
detail,  treiiied  n»  ignoble  in  public  admiuiBtration. 

l^e  condition  of  the  anrfhces  of  the  streets,  courts,  and  alleys  of 
the  metropolis  formed  an  important  topic  of  examination  under  our 
Metropolitan  Sanitary  Commission.  The  state  of  the  uupaved  dis- 
tricts, the  noxious  emanntious  from  the  subsoils,  the  absorbent  sur- 
hce  mud,  the  stagnant  pools  containing  dung  and  other  decomposing 
animal  aud  vegetnblo  matter — tho  filth  collected  on  the  person  and 
OQ  clothes  derived  from  it,  and  taken  iuto  habitations,  powerfully 
iflccted  the  cleanly  habits  and  the  health  of  the  population,  especially 
of  the  children,  who  are  always  out  playing  upou  such  surfaces.  In 
places  where  self-cleansing  house  drains  nnd  sewera  have  boon 
brought  into  good  action,  and  whera  the  death-rates  have  been 
^nceJ,  but  where  some  amouut  of  typhoid  and  foul-mr  diae.tses  yet 
■k,  they  have  beeu  found  to  be  very  much  coofiaed  to  those  streets 
3  the  surface  is  unpaved  and  badly  cloansed,  and  the  subsoil 
a  vidi  foul  matter.     The  pGroicious  effects  of  these  conditions 


4ii0  Smooth  atul  Impermeable  Street  Surfaou. 

are,  as  might  be  expected,  most  severe  on  children,  from  their  bebg, 
bj  reason  of  their  lower  stature,  nearer  to  the  emanations,  and  from 
their  being  more  weakly,  and  thence  most  sasceptible  to  their  in- 
fluence. The  sanitary  condition  of  the  then  best  paved  streets  wu 
very  bad,  presenting  "  seas  of  mud  ^  in  winter,  and  in  sammer 
giving  off  *'  cloads  of  dust,**  which  settled  on  the  clothes,  the  skin, 
and  the  hair,  and  got  into  the  lungs.  The  worst  is,  that  this  dost 
is  chiefly  dang  dust.  The  experiments  of  Professor  Tyndal  go  to 
prove  that  the  whole  of  the  visible  particles  floating  in  London 
rooms  are  of  organic  origin  ;  and  Dr.  Letheby,  the  officer  of  health 
of  the  City  of  London,  who  analyzed  the  dried  mud  t«ken  from  the 
pavements  there,  says  that  he  found  the  proportion  of  horse  dung, 
abraded  stones  and  abraded  iron  to  be  about  as  follows  :— Hone 
dung  57  per  cent.,  abraded  stone  30,  abraded  iron  13  per  cent. 
Granite  dusts  with  the  journeyman  masons  and  iron  dusts  with  the 
Shefilcld  kuifc-grinders  are  proved  to  he  peculiarly  injurious  to  the 
lungs,  and  where  such  dusts  abound,  as  they  oflcn  do  in  Loadoa, 
persons  of  susceptible  lungs  do  well  to  use  respirators.  In  some  of 
the  leading  thoroughfares  as  much  as  a  cartload  of  dung  was  re- 
moved daily  from  every  mile  of  street  In  the  City  there  were,  I 
was  informed,  about  100  loads  of  surface  matter,  chiefly  dong,  re- 
moved  daily.  To  persons  coming  from  the  rural  districts  the  streets 
frequently  smelt  like  badly  cleansed  stable-yards. 

At  the  flrst  General  Board  of  Health,  in  times  of  severe  epidemic 
periods,  we  directed  that  the  affected  districts  should  be  carefafly 
and  thoroughly  surface-cleansed.  This  was  directed  to  be  done  bj 
jets  of  water  thrown  by  engine  power,  or  from  the  mains  where 
water  at  high  pressure  was  available  ;  but  in  many  districts  the  jeta, 
in  clearing  away  the  dung  deposits  from  the  interstices  of  the  pavings 
often  also  washed  away  or  tore  out  much  of  the  supports  of  the  huge 
stones,  and  even  where  they  were  flrmly  jointed,  left  much  objec- 
tionable surface  water,  which  lowers  temperature  and  creates  chilb 
by  its  evaporation.  Tho  only  remedy  available  in  some  excrement- 
sodden  districts  was  to  cover  the  street  surfaces  over,  for  the  time^ 
with  fresh  mould  or  soil,  which,  when  it  was  done,  made  the  people 
feel,  as  they  said,  as  if  they  were  living  in  another  atmosphere. 

It  resulted  from  our  examination  that,  by  some  better  mode  of 
paving,  which  we  hoped  might  be  obtained — than  that  of  large  sloMi 
put  down  to  resist  the  shock  of  heavy  carriages,  which  again  enttib 
the  construction  of  heavy  carriages  to  withstand  the  ahock  of  tb 
large  stones — by  lowering  the  gradients,  and  by  the  introdoetion 
of  tramways  at  some  points,  half  the  usual  horse  power  might  be 
saved — a  saving  of  great  importance  in  itself  in  the  economy  of 
traction,  and  of  intercommunication,  but  in  our  view,  of  peeoKir 
sanitary  importance,  as  a  diminution  of  half  the  horse  dung,  with  in 
noxious  evaporation  and  the  injury  of  the  other  dust  and  dirt,  aodi 
reduction  of  expense  of  the  surface-cleansing  of  the  streets ; — Or  in 
equivalent  result — allowing  an  increase  to  be  made  of  horse  tnfie 
(sach  as  is  now  going  on  in  the  metropolis,  notwithstandiog  lbs 


By  Edwin  Chadwiei,  C.B.  491 

ray),  without  a  proportionate  increase  of  the  street  dung  and 

sertainlj  expect  that  the  saving  of  horse  power,  from  the  paving 
the  new  material,  of  peculiar  hardness,  as  yet  unsurpassed,  and, 
r  as  I  have  seen,  unequalled  by  anything  of  the  kind— 'the  Yal 
Pravers  asphalte — will  be  of  more  than  one-half  of  that  power, 
consequently  a  saving  of  more  than  half  the  dirt  and  dung  in 
itreets,  and  that  this  pavement  will  nearly  equal  the  tramways  in 
respect  for  public  vehicles,  whilst  it  will  exceed  tramways  in 
ral  convenience,  especially  for  all  sorts  of  private  carriages. 
Joseph  Whitworth,  •  who  has  studied  street  economy,  and  the 
18  of  street  cleansing,  and  who  is  much  struck  with  the  new 
rial,  tells  me  that  he  anticipates  that  when  extensively  adopted, 
ill  make  way  for  the  hot-air  engine,  with  india-rubber  tjrres. 
let  attending  as  a  juror  on  hygiene  at  the  International  £xpo« 
GL  at  Paris,  my  attention  was  requested  to  an  asphalte  pavement 
3  recently  laid  down,  which  was  promised  to  withstand  the 
iest  traffic.  I  confess  that,  from  what  I  had  seen  of  various 
altes,  and  from  the  failures  of  some  very  hard  materials  which  I 
myself  got  tried,  I  disregarded  the  promise  then  made  of  the 
de  Travers.  But  I  have  been  surprised  and  interested  by  the 
onstratiou  of  its  extraordinary  power  under  the  heaviest  traffic 
le  City  of  London,  that  of  Cheapside,  of  nearly  12,000  vehicles 
\  which  I  never  believed  that  any  such  material  could  have 
ly  as  it  certainly  does  stand,  with  less  wear  than  granite.  A 
ague  of  the  Institut,  who  has  been  riding  over  the  material  in 
B  for  more  than  ten  years,  testifies  to  its  very  great  comfort,  and 
horses,  when  they  become  accustomed  to  it,  certainly  do  not  slip 
),  and  he  believes,  when  they  do  slip,  they  injure 'themselves  less 
.  on  the  granite  pavements.  I  have  been  informed  that  since  the 
alte  pavement  has  been  laid  down  in  the  City  of  London,  fewer 
es  have  been  sent  to  the  horse  slaughterers  for  fatal  fractures. 
Tyness,  rapid  discharge  of  surface  wet,  is  a  quality  to  be  re* 
led,  as  it  gives  much  of  the  high  sanitary  quality  for  residence 
arai  districts  of  sites  on  gravel,  or  on  chalk  formations,  as  com* 
id  with  clayey  sites,  that  the  inhabitants  can  sooner  go  comfort- 
'about  after  rainfalls.  The  asphalte  roadway  surfaces  in  the 
r  present  a  strong  contrast,  in  speedy  drying  after  showers,  as 
jMred  with  the  granite  roadways.  It  is  also  observable  that  on 
moi  of  the  smoothness  and  cleanliness,  as  well  as  the  dryness  of 
asphalte  carriage-ways,  the  crowding  of  footways  is  relieved,  by 
\j  people  walking  on  the  asphalte  carriage-ways  who  do  not  go 
;he  granite  carriage-ways. 

^ne  peculiar  evil  attendant  on  the  old  systems  is  the  noise, 
rattle,  and  the  vibration  of  the  traffic  over  them,  to  which 
Dg  people  become  accustomed,  and  •  do  not  mind,  but  from 
(^  weakly  and  ailing  people  suffer  very  much,  being  sometimes 
igA  to  leave  town  to  avoid  it.  The  removal  of  the  sick  over 
e  paved  roads  is  often  attended  with  considerable  danger  from 


492  Smooth  and  Impermeable  Street  Surfaces. 

the  roUiDg  and  shakiDg.      At  our  General  Board  of  Health,  it  was 
strongly  represented  that  great  injury,  often   fatal,  was  inflicted  hj 
tlie  removed  of  some  large  classes  of  sick  in  common  cabs,  or  in 
other  common  conveyances  over  paved  roads.      Exhortations  were 
prepared  for  popular  circulation,  that  on  the  occurrence  of  accideofs 
in  the  strecti*,  attended  by  tho  fracture  of  limbs,  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  that  the  patients  shall  not  be  put  into  any  common  con- 
veyance for  their  removal,  but  should  bo  allowed  to  remain  where 
they  fall  until  a  surgeon  can  be  brought  to  direct  special  and  safe 
means  of  removal  by  stretchers.     The  cases  are  numerous  in  which 
invalids  are  confined  to  their  rooms  by  their  inability  to  stand  the 
vibration  of  vehicles  on  stone  pavements,  who  might  take  carriage 
airings  on  the  peculiarly  smooth  and  elastic  Yal  de  Travers  asphalte. 
In  relation  to  the  actions  of  granite  pavements  on  healthy  persons, 
a  professional  friend  declares  that  a  loss  of  what  he  calls  "brain 
force,"  from  the  vibration  and  disturbance  of  tho  nervous  system  in 
much  riding  over  tho  old  carriage  pavements,  is  far  greater  than 
would  bo  imagined.      We   know  that  for  ladies  of  the  W6ll4o^o 
class,  it  is  found  necessary  at  times  to  spread  straw  over  the  street, 
to  prevent  the  vibration  and  deaden  the  sound  of  carriages.    With 
u  pavement  of  this  very  remarkable  new  substance,  which  gives 
with  ^rcat  tenacity  a  sort  of  elastic  surface — hard  and  inodoroas 
alike  in  summer  and  winter — it  is  very  much  as  if  tan  were  always 
laid  down  before  all  the  houses  of  a  whole  line  of  street.    Trades- 
men in  Cheapside  testify,  as  one  characteristic  of  it,  that,  withoot 
shutting  their  shop  doors»   thoy  can  hear  their  customers,  and  can 
make  themselves  heard  by  them  now  without  shouting,  as  hereto- 
fore, to  overcome  the  noiso  of  the  carriages  over  the  granite  pare* 
ment.      Those 'living  in  such  streets  can  now  keep  their  windovs 
open  with  little  annoyance  either  from  noise  or  dust. 

Tlio  macadam  roads,  in  cities  of  great  traffic,  may  be  said  to  be 
huge  stone  mills  for  grinding  granite  dust.  Somo  notion  of  the 
extent  of  tho  work  done  in  this  way  in  the  metropolis  may  be  formed 
from  the  fact  that  there  are  annually  imported,  and  used  there, 
650,000  tons  of  granite,  of  which  it  is  estimated  that  about  100  tons 
are  used  in  cubes,  and  that  the  rest  is  used  as  macadam.  In  ad^tion 
to  this  material,  large  quantities  of  flint  and  of  other  stones  imported 
as  baUost  are  used.  In  Birmingham,  60,000  tons  of  granite  are  pa( 
on  the  roads  every  year.  Every  year,  therefore,  so  many  tons  of 
granite  is  ground,  in  dry  weather,  into  dust  with  dung,  which  the 
winds  carry  about,  and  in  wot  weather  into  mud.  The  wear  of  ibe 
macadam  roads  is  from  one  inch  to  four  inches  or  more  of  granite 
annually.  Westminster  Bridge,  it  is  stated,  requires  annually  a  coal- 
ing of  at  least  five  inches  and  a  half  of  the  very  best  granite  that  can 
be  got.  The  wear  of  any  smooth  road,  by  reason  of  the  very  smooth- 
ness, is  comparatively  inconsiderable,  an  example  of  which  I  am  in- 
formed may  be  given,  though  of  a  street  of  secondary  traffic  compared 
with  our  chief  thoroughfares,  in  that  of  the  Rue  Bergere,  in  Faiti, 
where  the  following  result  was  observed.    The  street  was  laid  wKh 


By  E^mi  Chadwic}:,  CB. 


493 


icLes  of  Val  do  Travers  asphaltc  in  18d4,  which  was  tiftcil  in 
wlien  it  VHX9  fouDd  to  be  reduco*!  to  one  incli  three -eight  lis, 
icfljr  by  compression,  for  it  had,  during  tho  fifteen  years,  lost 
i  per  cent,  in  TCeif,'Ut,  I  nm  informed  that  similar  roaults 
ticeii  obtained  in  ThreailDecdle  Street,  fur  tlio  time  the  new 
eot  Las  been  down  there. 

(bund  thut  these  granite  paTomentd  affect  the  working  of  the 
very  injuriously.  When  the  granite  dust  is  washed  by  rain 
lie  sewers,  it  often  forma  nn  indurated  surface,  only  to  bo 
ed  by  the  pick,  and  to  be  removed  nl  much  trouble  anil  cx- 
Thia  Bometiraes  occurs,  even  with  tubular  glazed  pipe  sewers, 
iviate  this  evil,  we  had  Imps  carefully  constructed  at  the 
of  the  gulley  shoots  to  aiTOst  the  granite  detritus,  for  whieb, 
IT,  in  limes  of  storm  or  heavy  rain,  they  proved  to  be  iii- 
iL 

a  the  new  granite  or  flint  mnlerial  for  maenilam  is  first  laid 

t  is  a  cruelty  to  horses,  and  a  barbarism  as  respects  carri&nes 

trts,  to  impose  upou  lliem  Ihe  labour  of  crut-bing  it.      The 

roller  is  a  relief  to  them,  and  nu  economy  in  getting  a  eome- 

l>etter  surface,  though  still  to  some  extent  a  permeable  one  for 

But  this  implement  it  is  now  found  aggravates  waste  and 

another  sort,  produced  by  tho  vibration  from  heavy  traflic. 

sat  inconvenience  in  our  streets  is    tho  frequent   breaking 

he  pavement  for  the  repair  of  gas  and  water  pipes.      I  found 

wn  inquiries  that  the  leakage  of  those  pipes  was  very 

(toporlioned  to  the  heaviness  of  traffic,  and  was  inconsiderable 

iiye  Blreels,  and  districts  of  little  traflic,  tho  vibration  of  tho 

traffic  perpetually  shaking  the  lines  of  pipes  and  loosening 

lints.     The  escape  of  gas,  besides  being  a  waste — which  in 

listricts  was  staled  to  amount  to  as  much  as  3(1  per  cent. — 

ttcnded  by  sanitary  evil  in  tbe  pollution  of  the  air,  and  even 

cases  of  the  drinking  water.     So  great  in  some  disiriota  was 

Uiratioii  of  the  subsoil  with  gas,  that  where  the  water  supply 

.the    iiilermittenl  system,   and  Iho  pipes    are  alternately  full 

mpty,  the  water-pipes  were  often  tilled  with  gas  sucked  in 

lio  substratum  through    tho  loosened  joints  when  tho  watci' 

iwn  out  of  the  pipes,     1  could  scarcely  credit  this.     But  Mr. 

tbe  engineer  of  the  New  River  Company,  to  demonatratu 

ludition  to  me,  and  show  that  to  tho  water  were  frcqueutly 

tS  impurities  which  did  not  belong  to  its  original  and  proper 

E,  took  mo  enrly  in  the  morniug  to  tho  New  Road  and  applied 
h  to  the  tops  of  water-plugs,  and  lighted  the  gas  that  escaped 
[hem.  Instances  were  stated  of  people,  on  going  with  candles 
laps  in  houses  to  draw  water,  being  surprised  by  a  bloae  of 
them.  The  operation  of  tbe  new  steam  rollers,  whilst  it 
liorses,  carriages,  and  ordinary  vehicles  from  the  labour 
Iphing  and  forcing  down  granite,  and  is  in  other  respects 
nical  for  the  macadam  roads,  is  prodactivo  of  injury  and  waste 
ret  more  powerful  vibratlog  action  than  tbe  ordinary  traflic, 


494  Smooth  and  Impermeahle  Street  Surfaces. 

and  greater  disturbance  and  rupture  of  the  system  of  pipes  beneath 
the  surface.     Some  of  these  rollers  weigh  as  much  as  thirty  tcm 
each.     I  am  informed  that  the  gas  and  water  companies  in  London 
and  in  the  provincial  cities  have  had  serious  cause  to  complain  of 
the  use  of  these  rollers,  which  bring  to  bear  the  weight  of  somo 
twenty  or  thirty  one-horse  loads  upon  one  fulcrum,  and  have  f^a^ 
tured  large  pipes  deeply  laid,  and  have  also  injured  the  house  con- 
nections. 

In  proposing  the  system  of  combined  back  drainage,  that  is,  of  cany- 
ing  water-pipes  as  well  as  drains  and  branch  sewers  at  the  backs  of  lines 
of  houses,  instead  of  in  the  streets  along  the  fronts,  I  calculated  thit, 
besides  saving  the  expense  and  inconvenience  of  carrying  di*ains  and 
pipes  under  the  lower  floors  of  houses,  the  measure  would  reduce  the 
evil  of  the  loosening  and  breaking  of  house  service-pipes,  as  well  as 
the  mains,  by  removing  a  largo  proportion  of  them  from  the  direct 
action  of  the  heavy  traific  over  the  granite  pavements  in  the  streets. 

There  can,  I  think,  be  no  doubt  that  the  indirect  economies  will 
bo  greater  than  the  direct  economics  from  the  new  principle  of  C0Te^ 
ing  the  streets  with  smooth  and  yet  hard  surfaces.  One  indirect 
economy  will  be  the  reduction  of  the  weight  of  the  vehicles  neces- 
sary for  the  paved  roads,  and  thence  a  reduction  of  the  wear  of  the 
roads. 

Amidst  these  economies  are  to  be  regarded  the  reduction  of  pain 
as  well  as  the  economy  of  horse-power.  I  have  received  from  my 
esteemed  correspondent,  Dr.  Edward  Jervis,  of  Massachusetts,  i 
paper  entitled  '*  Our  Dumb  Animals,"  published  by  a  new  soeletj 
started  there,  on  the  principle  of  our  Society  for  the  Prevention  i 
Cruelty  to  Animals.  They  say,  **  We  want  to  show  the  people  of 
this  country  the  abuses  to  which  animals  are  now  subjected,  and 
that  those  abuses  affect  not  only  the  well-being  of  the  animals  and 
of  the  public  health,  hut  also  the  tone  of  public  morals,  inasmuch  as 
cruelty  to  dumb  creatures  begets  cruelty  to  creatures  that  are  not 
dumb.  Our  aim  is  to  educate  all,  and  particularly  children,  to  a 
higher  humanity,  and  to  inspire  a  reverence  for  the  Great  Creator  of 
all  these  wonderful  forms  of  animal  life,  and  a  more  profound  con- 
sciousness of  our  duty  in  regard  to  them.*'  In  this  elevated  sfiirit 
they  advert  to  the  Nicholson  pavement  as  against  cobble  stones.  I 
have  seen  no  account  of  the  construction  of  this  Nicholson  pavement 
I  am  assured,  however,  that  on  a  comparison  with  other  means,  the 
Val  de  Travers  pavement  is  now  being  actively  taken  up  in  New 
York.  But  I  cite  the  account  as  corroborative  of  the  principle  of  i 
smooth  ns  compared  with  a  rough  pavement-,  and  for  the  discrimi' 
nation  of  the  elements  of  humanity  with  those  of  economy  invoWed 
in  the  application  of  the  principle  by  the  best  means.  They  state 
that,  by  the  new  smooth  pavement,  "  Streets  which  once  had  bnl 
little  else  but  light  pleasure  carriages  coursing  through  them,  are 
now  filled  from  morning  to  evening  with  heavily-loaded  drays  and 
carts  and  carriages  of  all  kinds.  The  explanation  is  that  the  team- 
sters and  cabmen  have  found  out  that  they  can  drag  heavy  lomk 


By  Edwin  Cliadwich^  C.B.  495 

^er  tbo  smooth  Nicholson  pavement  with  half  the  wear  and  tear  of 
am  and  cart  that  is  expended  on  the  cobhle-stoue  pavement,  and 
»,  very  naturally  and  reasonably,  select  those  streets  which  have  the 
onoothest  wheel-ways. 

'^  And  why  should  they  not  ?  The  life  of  a  first-class  coach  in 
kston  streets,  for  example,  is  diminished  nearly  60  per  cent,  by 
;he  rough  cobble  over  which  it  is  banged  from  day  to  day.  And 
[he  life  of  all  sorts  of  carriages,  carts,  and  waggons,  is  probably  di- 
miDished  proportionately.  The  wear  of  horses,  too,  is,  no  doubt, 
in  the  same  proportion.  The  sprung  knees  and  unsound  hoofs  of 
our  city  horses  are  a  continual  protest  against  cobble-stones.  How 
cia  a  poor  horse  be  expected  to  do  half  his  appropriate  work,  or 
Uto  out  half  his  appointed  days,  who  is  rarely  allowed  a  chance  to 
|mt  bid  foot  down  flat  on  the  road  ho  is  travelling,  but  must  step 
and  pull  over  a  series  of  round  stones,  which  afford  no  firm  footing, 
ud  which  jerk  and  wrench  the  carriage  in  every  direction,  every 
motion  of  which  is  an  unnatural  and  unreasonable  and  injuring  strain 
OQ  the  faithful  animal  who  is  tugging  along  his  heavy  load  ? 

"  A  first-class  livery  coacb,  which  costs  the  stable-keeper  sixteen 
or  eighteen  hundred  dollars,  will  last  as  such  about  half-a-dozeu 
years  only  in  Boston  streets.  It  is  then  sold  for  about  wliat  has 
been  expended  on  it  in  repairs  during  the  time  it  has  been  in  service  ; 
aod  80  the  coach  is  in  fact  sunk  and  lost  in  the  course  of  about  five 
or  six  years.  And  it  is  very  much  so  with  every  sort  of  carriage 
which  is  used  in  our  city.  Not  that  they  wear  out  equally  quick, 
bnt  that  their  life,  if  we  may  so  speak,  is  proportionately  shortened, 
and  80  it  is,  too,  with  the  poor  horses. 

"  Now  let  those  who  have  the  making  and  paving  of  our  streets 
bear  these  facts  in  mind,  and  they  will  see  that  true  economy,  as 
well  as  comfort,  demand  that  our  streets  should  be  made  just  na 
smooth  as  is  compatible  with  durability,  and  that  cobble-stone  pave- 
ments should  be  banished  as  fast  as  possible  from  our  city  limits." 

It  is  confidently  anticipated  that  the  improvement  of  the  road 
surfaces  will  lead  to  a  very  great  improvement  in  the  shoeing  of 
horses. 

The  Corporation  of  the  City  of  London  havo  rendered  a  public 

service  by  the  trial  of  the  new  material  in  streets  of  such  tremendous 

traffic  as  those  whore  they  havo  had  it  laid  down,  but  they  would 

render  the  example  more  complete,  and  do  justice  to  the  subject  and 

to  the  citizens,  by  having  the  surface  washed,  in  certain  weathers, 

by  the  jet     The  municipal  authorities  of  the  cities  where  they  have 

command  of  a  constant  supply  of  water  at  high-pressure  who  did  this 

woul4  have  the  most  complete  sanitary  street  surface  yet  known. 

From  some  trials  I  got  made  at  the  first  consolidated  Commission  of 

Sewers,  it  appeared  the  cost  of  cleansing  the  roadway  of  the  Strand 

by  the  jet  daily  would  be  less  than  threepence  per  house  per  week. 

Chieof  the  methods  then  brought  forward,  of  a  hose  with  a  moveable 

Carrier,  for  cleansing  the  streets  by  jet,  has  been  adopted  in  Paris, 

^th  great  success,  on  the  asphalte  pavement.    If  a  suitable  pave- 


406  Smooth  and  Impermeable  Street  Surfaces. 

ment  were  provided,  wo  estimated  that  tlio  streets  of  the  whole  of 
the  metropolis  might  be  kept  as  clean  as  a  gentleman's  court-yard  at 
a  rute  of  a  halfpenny  per  week  per  head  of  tho  population — a  rate 
tliat  would  eifect  a  great  economy  of  clothes,  and  of  washing,  and 
of  nierchandisc. 

The  estimated  quantity  of  water  required  daily  for  the  purpose  was 
about  11,()00,0(X)  gallons.     From  some  gau^ings  I  got  made  of  the 
run  of  water  in  the  eewcrs  on  days  of  the  intermittent  supplies  in 
the  metropolis,  it  was  demonstrated  that,  from  tho  imperfection  of 
the  house  distributory  apparatus,  full  three-fiflhs  of  the  water  then 
pumped  in,  or  about   30,000,000  gallons,  was  pumped  to  waste. 
Since  then  the  quantity  of  water  pumped  into  the  metropolis  has 
more  than  doubled,  and  it  is  stated  to  me,  by  a  leading  engineer  of 
one  of  the  largest  water  works,  that  tho  waste  has  increased  in  larger 
))roportions.     Under  a  public  system  a  part,  probably  not  much 
more  than  a  third,  of  the  prevontible  waste  would  amply  suffice  for 
tho  existing  purpose  of  surface  cleanliness.     Mr.  Heywood,  the  dtj 
engineer,  has  lately  renewed  some  trials  of  this  mode  of  cleansing  for 
the  carriage  ways,  and  he  made  out  that  for  about  14,66U  per 
annum  the  whole  of  the  390,000  yards  of  carriage  way  could  be 
washed  daily.     The  estimate  I  got  made  included  the  footways.   I 
have  a  confident  belief  that  if  the  measure  had  come  before  us  ods 
could  have  provided  for  the  work  being  done  much  cheaper  tins 
that,  but  as  it  is,  it  would  bo  a  means  to  enormous  economy.    Tbe 
New  lliver  Company  charged  to  him  Gd,  per  1000  gallons  for  tbe 
water  supplied.     The  expense  of  extra  pumping  for  the  water  it 
under  one  halfpenny  for  that  quantity,  and  the  public  would  hive  to 
pay  no  more  if  tho  water  supply  was  taken  up  as  a  public  service,  u 
the  last  Koyai  Commission  concurred  with  us  in  recommending  thit 
it  should  be.     It  is  to  he  borne  in  mind  in  respect  to  the  commoi 
mode  of  cleansing,  that  the  broom,  and  even  Sir  Joseph  Whitworth'i 
admirable  street-sweeping  machine,  whilst  it  takes  away  the  greit 
bulk  of  the  mud,  smears  the  dung,  especially  fresh  dung,  and  laim 
the  surface  daubed  and  greasy ;  and  that  it  is  only  by  the  stroog 
water  jet  that  completo  cleanliness  is  effected.     Shop-keepers  in  tJM 
streets  newly  paved  with  the  Val  de  Travers  nsphidte,  have  stated 
to  me  that  there  is  no  slipping  by  the  horses  noted  on  dry  days,  or 
on  very  wet  days,  but  tliat  such  slipping  as  there  is  occurs  on  dajs 
of  moist,  "  muggy  *'  weather,  when  the  roadway  is  *'  greasy,"  tod 
that  much  of  it  is  from  the  mud  carried  on  from  adjacent  granits 
roads.     On  such  days  cleansing  by  jet  should  be  insisted  on  for  the 
prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals.     Sanding  the  roails  has  been  sag^ 
gested  for  such  occasions,  but  sanding  adds  to  the  dust  carried  aboat 
by  tlie  winds,  and  some  of  it  deposits  in  the  sewers,  an  evil  whidi 
we  wish  to  prevent.    It  besides  serves  to  diminish  constant  habitnd 
and  complete  cleanliness,  by  which  all  mendicant  crossing  sweepin 
should   be  cleared  away,  as  it  is  a  mere  barbarism  that   then 
should  be  any  part  of  a  street   to  be  kept  exceptionally  eliM 
at   a    crossing.      Every  part,  everj  shop-front   shoold  be  kspC 


A/  Edwhi  Chadwielkj  CD.  497 

B  a  cixissing.  It  is  ia  the  common  conoeptioa  to  confide 
cleansing  to  paupers  and  cripples  under  inferior  euper- 
noe;  but  when  the  sanitarj  importance  of  the  work,  and 
)d  of  regard  to  times  and  seasons  is  duly  appreciated, 
rk  will  be  confided  to  skilful  hands,  under  superior  and 
ientific  superintendence,  with  a  special  interest  to  maintain 
St  scrupulous  civil  cleanliness  to  the  eye,  and  the  utmost 
I  sweetness  of  the  air  to  the  nose.     Under  existing  circum- 

and  the  difficulty  of  finding  proper  persons  for  the  new  work, 
uthorities  may  be  advised  that  instead  of  undertaking  it 
ives  they  should  require  a  contra  ctingpaving  company  to 
n  the  carriage  roads  and  footways  and  passages  in  good 
uid  repair  for  the  longest  term  of  years,  and  also  that  they 
undertake  the  work  of  regulai*  and  complete  cleansing,  for 
purpose  they  should  have  the  control  of  proper  supplies  of 
nd  the  requisite  appliances.  The  local  authority  would  de- 
ts  responsibility  on  the  company,  which  would  have,  the 
I  experience,  and  in  its  owu  interest  would  take  care  to  have 
rk  done  in  the  best  manner. 

e  is  one  collateral  service  for  which  we  are  anxious  there 
everywhere  in  cities  be  habitual  and  complete  street  cleansing 

constant  use  of  the  jet  for  which  the  asphalte  surface  is  so 
rly  adapted,  namely,  the  prevention  of  fires.  One  bucket  of 
the  first  minute  of  a  fire  may  be  worth  ten  for  the  second, 
for  the  third  minute,  and  so  on.  We  found  that  in  Liondon, 
average,  it  took  twenty  minutes  to  send  for  a  fire  engine  and  to 
D  the  fire  and  in  action  upon  it,  and  that  as  a  rule,  such  engines 
save  the  interior  of  houses,  but  only  prevent  the  fire  spreading 
or  houses.  But  where  the  hose  and  jet  was  in  regular  use  for 
tleansing  the  hose  was  buckled  on,  fires  in  four  or  five  minutes 
iommonly  prevented  spreading  within  the  houses,  and  fire 
'ere  considerably  reduced.  Apparatus  for  extraordiuary  use, 
Uy  fire  apparatus,  is  rarely  in  order  when  it  is  wanted.  The 
It  use  of  the  jet  is  a  security  for  constant  preparation  for  the 
rdinary  need  of  it. 

lourse  there  are  some  days  when  the  jet  cannot  be  used ;  days 
r  and  of  intense  frost,  and  when  other  appliances  must  be  had. 
Inaiy  weather,  the  smooth  surface,  clear  from  retentive  wet 
nd  dry,  serves  to  prevent  evaporation  and  to  elevate  tempe- 
But  there  are  days  of  intense  and  dangerous  heat,  where  a 
mi  with  a  material  such  as  the  Yal  de  Travers,  which  I  am 
I  stauds  the  heat  of  Bombay,  will  serve  as  a  means  of  lowering 
ature.  On  occasions  of  very  severe  epidemic  visitations  in 
id  districts,  when  the  heat  was  intense  and  fatally  depressing, 
jets  were  used,  as  I  have  mentioned,  the  relief  was  great, 

it  would  have  been  greater  had  the  surface  of  the  courts  or 
been  impermeable,  smooth  and  cleanly.  Dr.  de  Renzy,  our 
y  commissioner  in  the  Punjab,  writes  to  me,  urging  that  the 
the  jet  is  capable  of  being  applied  with  most  beneficial  effect 

32 


498  Smooth  and  hnpermeable  Street  Surfaces. 

for  cooling  barracks  and  houses  in  India.  **  ExcesBire  heat,^ 
says,  '*  kills  a  large  number  of  men  there,  just  as  excessive  cold  do 
in  this  country.  And,  strange  to  say,  the  deaths  from  heat  apoplce 
do  not  as  a  rule  occur  at  the  period  of  maximum  diurnal  temperati] 
but  between  sunset  and  midnight.  At  that  time  the  wind  is  una] 
slack,  and  the  barracks  are  as  hot  as  ovens.  I  have  propased  the; 
for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  barracks  a  good  washing  just  abc 
sunset.  This  would  cool  them  immensely,  evaporation  in  tl 
climate  is  so  rapid,  there  bein<^  often  a  difference  of  as  much 
43*7  degrees  between  the  dry  and  the  wet  bulbs  of  the  hygi 
meter,  nud  the  temperature  at  night  for  two  or  three  moal 
ranges  from  90  to  107  degrees  Falirenheit  Officers  and  weU- 
do  natives  usually  have  the  ground  about  their  houses  sprioU 
with  water  about  sunset  by  a  water  carrier,  and  you  can  bare 
believe  how  much  it  refreshes  the  air.  With  a  supply  of  wH 
under  pressure,  the  use  of  the  jet  would  become  universal,  ii 
the  house  itself,  as  well  as  the  precincts,  would  become  cooled.' 

For  such  occasions  in  London  and  elsewhere,  what  is  ctlli 
'^  sanitary  street- watering,"  by  solutions  of  various  chemicals  in  sol 
tion  in  water,  as  carbolic  acid,  Condy's  fluid,  and  various  deodoriaei 
are  insisted  upon  for  distribution  by  water-carts,  over  the  oomou 
roads  and  passages,  that  is,  over  mud,  dung,  and  excremcnt-sodd( 
surfaces.  But  with  such  pavement  as  that  in  question,  such  8odd( 
surfaces  would  no  lon^rer  exist,  and  the  best  and  cheapest  "  sanitai 
street-watering"  is  that  with  the  jet  of  pure  water. 

For  the  highest  degree  of  cleanliness,  even  in  the  front  streets, 
may  be  observed  in  the  city  that  they  ought  to  be  protected  fromti 
dirt  brought  upon  them  from  the  ill-cleansed  side  streets.  Soiim< 
our  urban  districts  havo  a  good  character  from  the  unexceptiooib 
cleanliness  of  the  front  streets,  whilst  in  the  back  streets,  occopii 
by  the  wage-classes,  all  is  commonly  neglect  and  filth« 

The  districts  occupied  by  the  many — the  wage-classes — reqain 
special  attention  and  consideration  which  they  have  not  yet  receiiai 
In  some  of  these  districts,  in  the  manufacturing  towns,  a  missionsi 
visitor  may  observe  in  a  dirty  lane  or  un{)aved  alley  the  steps  of  oi 
house  nicely  cleaned  and  pipeclayed.  That  is  a  house  occupied  I 
new  comers,  a  young  married  couple,  who  havo  been  brought  the 
from  the  rural  districts  by  the  inducement  of  high  wages  at  ll 
manufactory,  and  they  could  get  no  other  house  near  the  work,  ( 
repeating  his  visit  some  time  after,  the  visitor  will  find  Uiat  tl 
distinction  of  the  clean  steps,  and  also  of  the  clean  floor,  has  din; 
peared.  The  housewife  has  given  up  the  contest  with  the  surromi 
ing  fillh  from  the  muddy,  unpaved  place,  and  the  children,  in  thi 
rural  home  once  cleanly,  have  become  almost  as  dirty  as  the  boa 
iioon  She  bewails  the  fact  that  the  labour  of  trying  to  keep  the 
clean  is  in  vain  ;  they  will  go  out  to  play,  and  roll  themselves 
the  mud.  Then,  being  always  so  dirty,  she  is  ashamed  to  send  tfai 
to  school.  To  withstand  the  depressing  influence  of  the  damp  i 
the  filth  of  the  place  drink  comes  in,  and  so  all  are  lowered  to  t 


By  Edwin  Chadmchj  C.B.  499 

Bam>ufiding  filthy  and^  with  higher  wages,  they  sink  into  a  lower 
phjsield  and  moral  condition. 

Now,  it  is  to  be  maintained,  as  a  duty  of  the  local  authorities  to 

provide  aach  paving  and  cleanly  surface  conditions  in  the  poorer 

distriets,  that  there  will  be  no  mud  for  the  children  to  roll  in,  or  to 

make  "mud  pies  "  of,  if  they  would.     It  is  for  the  local  authorities, 

and  in  their  default — the  default,  commonly,  of  low  laudiordB — it  is 

for  the  central  authority  so  far  to  make  the  population  clean — as 

may  be  done  by  cleanly  surrounding  surface  pavement.     Of  course, 

aapecial  economy  is  to  bo  consulted  for  such  work,  and  is  available 

for  those  districts  where  there  is  little  quick  carriage  or  horse  traffic, 

and  where  the  same  peculiarly  hard  road-surfaco  is  therefore  not 

needed.     It  is  to   be   hoped   that    a  smooth,    nou-absorbent,   and 

washable  surface,  may  be  got  at  cheap  rates  by  the  use  of  General 

8oott*s  "  celenite,"  or  some  of  tlie  concretes,  at  least  for  foot-paths 

and  for  court-yards.      I  myself  have  a  faucy  for  one  form  of  tile 

inth  a  rabetted  joint  for  foot  pavements,  which  I  wish  to  see  tried. 

The  cheaper  gas- tar  asphaltes  have  some  merits,  but  unless  they  are 

mrj  well  made  they  soften  and  smell  oifeusively   under  summer 

lieats.    I  am  informed  of  examples  in  Germany  of  the  use  of  a  good 

imooth  Portland  concrete  for  paving  of  play-grounds  of  children's 

institutions.     Indeed,  I  know  of  one  institution  in  the  metropolis 

where  a  saving  of  one«half  the  shoe-leather  was  experienced  after  an 

improvement  of  the  surface,  and  the  cost  of  shoes  is  a  very  largo 

proportion  of  the  cost  of  clothing  to  the  working  classes.     A  general 

economy  of  shoe-leather  to  the  bulk  of  the  population  is  to  be  taken 

into  aecoant  as  attendant  upon  an  improved  surface  pavemeut.     The 

mnitary  economy  in  childhood  from  the  prevention  of  noxious  subsoil 

emanations,  as  well  as  surface  emanations  from  dump,  aud  llith,  and 

dast,  will  bo  of  itself  very  considerable. 

For  these  reasons  chiefly,  I  have  taken  a  personal  interest  in  this 
Tal  de  Trarers  pavement,  as  realising  more  than  we  expected  in  the 
amendment  of  town  pavement.  It  were  to  be  wished  that  the 
■aterial  were  more  abundant,  that  it  might  be  obtained  cheaper.  As 
it  is,  however,  although  there  appears  to  be  no  economy  in  the  first 
eonstniction,  as  compared  with  granite,  there  are  evidently  very 
large  economies  in  its  use — economies  in  cleanliness  aud  hoallh,  in 
the  preservation  of  clothes  and  furniture,  in  goods  as  well  as  in 
horse-power,  and  in  can*iages. 

The  examples   of  the  economics  specified   arc,  however,   much 

frutrated  by  carrying  out  the  Val  do  Travers  pavement  in  isolated 

patches  ;  nor  is  justice  done  to  the  material  in  respect  to  cleanliness, 

while  it  is  subjected  to  the  dirt  of  side  streets  and  old  pavements ; 

nor  indeed  are  the  horses  fairly  dealt  with  in  being  suddenly  pulled 

up  and  made  to  change  their  action  for  short  distances.    It  ib  obvious 

that  if  the  concert  of  different  jurisdictions  be  impracticable,  unity 

of  idminiatration  will  have  to  be  sought  for  the  attainment  of  the 

benefits  available  to  the  public  from  the  improvements. 

Unfortunately  for  the  population  of  the  metropolis,  and  of  some 

3i— ^i 


500  Smooth  and  Ifhpermeahh  SirUt  Surfacei. 

others  of  our  cities,  the  local  admiDistration  itself  is  yet  retained  ^etj 

much  in  patches.     £veQ  for  one  line  through  the  metropofii,  tlM 

action  of  eleven  local  authorities  would  be  needed.     In  some  pkeei 

we  found  that  streets  were  divided  longitudinallj— -one  longitodiDil 

half  being  paved  and  repaired  by  one  parish  at  one  lime,  and  the 

other  half  by  another  parish  at  another  time.     The  longitadioal 

halves,  too,  were  cleansed  by  halves,  often  by  the  scavengers  sweep* 

ing  the  dirt  from  one  parish  into  the  other.     We  proposed  to  remedy 

this  state  of  things,  by  a  provision  that  the  paving  should  go  witk  tike 

general  superior  drainage  jurisdiction,  and  should  comprehend  the 

entire  metropolitan  area,  including  the  suburbs.     It  is  only  on  tlie 

complete  scale  of  a  cily  and  suburbs  that  the  recited  economy  of 

horse-power  can  be  achieved.     The  horse-traction  may  be  redueed 

by  more  than  one-half  on  a  particular  line,  but  beyond  it  and  for  the 

unimproved  suburbs,  the  double  horse- power  will  still  be  needed. 

As  it  is,  however,  the  shopkeepers  of  Cheapside  and  other  streets 

declare  that  they  are  satisfied  even  with  the  partial  improvement  asd 

better  cleansing  surface  for  themselves.     It  is  stated  that  some  of 

the   vestries  amongst  whom   the   main   thoroughfares  are  divided, 

whilst  admitting  the  demonstrations  of  improvement  which  are  not 

to  be  withstood,  state  they  will  wait  until  their  pi*e8ent  granite  pare- 

ments  are  worn  out,  or  until  their  contracts  for  the  maintenance  omI 

renewals  of  the  objectionable  conditions  are  expired.     Meanwhile,  by 

this  apparent  saving  real  waste  is  maintained,  excessive  iiltb  is  beiO| 

maintained,  shop  goods  arc  being  spoiled,  discomforts  inflicted,  tod 

health  det^iorated. 

With  the  new  available  materials,  the  professors  of  sanitapyseieiKe 
and  economical  science  may  put  these  questions  to  tnrban  popnli- 
tions : — 

Will  you  obey  the  command,  "  Wash  and  be  clean  ?  " 

Will  you  pave  so  as  to  enable  you  to  do  sof 

Will  you  pay  for  good  paving  and  cleansing,  to  save  the  direct 
expense  of  filth  in  clothes  and  extra  costs  of  washing? 

Will  you  pay  for  good  paving,  to  savo  more  than  half  the  expesiefl 
of  horses  and  carriages  and  the  costs  of  transit  f 

Will  you  pay,  in  good  paving  and  cleansing,  to  reduce  the  greater 
expense  of  the  tilth  diseases? 

I  will  only  add  that,  in  the  investigations  to  which  I  have  rcferrei 
one  large  sanitary  policy  was  kept  in  view,  that  by  the  measures  we 
proposed  for  facilitating  and  cheapening  intercommunication,  ifUch 
we  were  prepared  to  recommend  should  be  done  to  the  extremities  of 
the  sutuirban  relations,  the  evils  of  internal  overcrowding  would  be 
reduced.  For  the  removal  of  the  well-to-do  classes  to  enhmta 
residences  extends  and  cheapens  house  accommodation  to  the  miwi 
population.  If  it  were  possible  to  drive  back  the  suburban  popolt- 
tion  upon  the  city,  where  they  have  to  transact  their  daily  burines8,or 
upon  the  interior  of  the  metropolis,  and  pile  story  upon  story  for  their 
reception,  the  effect  would  probably  be,  in  the  existing  conditioiU)  i 
double  death-rate.    In  the  interests  of  the  interior  popolatioii,  we 


prepareJ  to  racommeail  the  radiation  of  public  tramway.^  lo  the 
no  of  the  civic  exterual  daily  relatiooa.  But  tramwayB  provide 
r  for  DUO  class  of  eociety,  not  for  anoiher.  Tliey  do  not 
as  for  tho  higher  class  of  villa  residenta,  including  medical 
I  la  ■whom  it  were  desirable  to  pmvide  means  of  doiog  with 
^orse  what  they  must  now  do  with  two,  as  also  for  much 
f  traffic  and  retail  distribution.  When  we  were  pi'opared 
nommend  tho  use  of  tramways,  fiom  the  out-skirts  to  the 
of  the  suburban  districts,  it  was  of  the  open  slone  tram- 
luch  OS  had  then  long  been  in  use  in  connection  with  the 
ircial  Docks.  But  Ilie  existing  iron  tramways  I  have  had 
uca  of,  are  auuoying  and  injurious  to  private  cftrriagea. 
iooper,  the  carnage  builder,  informs  me  that  he  has  hud  much 
Ma  repairing  injuries  done  to  carriages  in  going  over  the  new 
^mways.  The  tenitency  of  carriage  improvement  has  been  to 
wheels  lighter,  and  the  tyres  smaller,  but  he  has  been  obliged 
kfl  them  hirger  to  avoid  getting  into  tho  tramway  ruts,  and 
{  jolts  and  severe  wrenches,  I  believe  that  an  impartial  antho- 
iring  due  consideration  to  the  needs  of  gigs,  tradosmon's  carts 
ranka,  and  the  owners  of  vehicles  of  low  as  well  as  of  high 
k  wuald  prefer  the  smooth  asphulle  surface,  open  to  all,  to  the 
ams  as  at  present  constructed  and  used,  certainly  to  any  ex- 
it of  them,  into  the  streets  of  heavy  miscellaaeous  trnffic. 
r  some  special  powers  for  dealing  with  lines  of  etreet,  extend- 
iroQgh  small  fragmentary  jurisdictions,  to  he  exercised  by  a 
Bsible  public  authority,  may  be  conceded  for  the  achievement  of 
ttiilary  and  other  economies  in  ijuesiiou,  with  the  consent  of  the 
iters  of  linos  of  way,  without  wailing  for  the  slow  advance  of 
legislative  and  administrative  principle,  for  the  general  govern- 
bf  the  melropolis.  Time  will,  however,  vindicate  the  principles 
a  expounded. 

time  will  come  when  a  local  adminislratioa  will  be  tested, 
lolly  in  the  lower  districts,  by  the  small  of  a  place,  and  by  the 
of  the  people  inhabiting  it. 

UieCELLJlNEOUS. 
;  Ct>wui  Chadwick,  C.B.,  also  road  a  paper  on  "  Tho  Ssiiilary 
'"UCtioD  of  Schools."*  He  said  that  schools  as  at  prescnl  con- 
jd  were  the  centres  of  children's  epidemics.  An  excess  of 
^  deaths  annually  in  England  and  Wales  in  the  school  singes 
h  medical  otlicerd  had  agreed  with  him  w^  largely  due  to  the 
.  Condi tione ;  the  mossing  of  unwashed  children  togotfaer  in  ill- 
td  and  ill- ventilated  schools,  and  to  keeping  them  during  long 
i  togellier  under  those  conditions.  The  increase  of  these 
M,  without  regard  to  those  conditions,  vr&e  an  augmentation  of 
iDlible  disease  and  premature  mottality.     The  chief  eanitary 


•  See  ^Kuig  i>/  Art'  Joifuat,  voU  lix..  p.  80fi. 


L 


502  Health  Sunwiary* 

liofeoU  of  schools  aro  : — (I.)  Defective  ventilation  ;  (2.)  Defeeti?« 
warming ;  (3.)  Bad  drainage  and  foul  latrines ;  (4.)  Want  o£  meais 
of  maintaining  personal  cleanliness ;  (6.)  Bad  lighting  ;  (6.)  Bad 
arrangements  of  desks  and  seats;  (7.)  Want  of  proper  mesns  of 
gymnastic  exercises :  (8.)  Insuiiicient  and  (ill-paved  play-grouodi, 
In  reference  to  these  the  author  submitted  that  it  is  important  thst 
school  boards  RhouKl  require,  in  the  competition  for  plans,  that  theie 
evils  should  be  firBt  specially  considered  and  provided  against,  and  that 
the  architectural  <lesigns  and  elevations  should  be  made  of  secondary 
consideration.  He  advocated,  in  preference  to  other  methods,  a  retoii 
to  the  lioman  plan  of  warming  rooms  by  hypocaust  floors;  or  as 
adoption  of  the  Chinese  method  of  floor  warming,  which  travelien 
declared  the  most  comfortable  of  any  they  had  ever  experiencei 
It  was  also  the  most  economical.  As  one  mode  of  effecting  the 
object,  he  had  proposed  a  form  of  tile  with  rabetted  or  loek-joints 
(with  a  species  of  supports),  to  be  made  of  celenite,  or  PortlaDd 
concrete,  or  pottery.  By  these  appliances  he  was  assured  hollow 
floors  migiit  bo  constructed  at  an  expense  no  greater  than  that  of 
common  floors.  Experience  showed  that  when  the  children's  feet 
could  bo  kc'pc  warm  deors  and  windows  might  be  more  freely 
opened.  Every  school  should  have  the  means  of  washing  with 
tepid  water  children  who  came  dirty. 

The  school,  properly  considered  as  an  efficient  implement  ibr 
training  the  young,  is  one  which  must  be  carefully  fashioned  bj 
the  best  practical  sanitary  science.  Enough  has  been  stated  to 
show  the  deplorable  state  of  the  central  administration — whieb, 
having  received  warning  from  school  inspector  after  school  ii- 
spcctor,  and  also  from  tlie  medical  officers  of  health  in  the  metro- 
polis— which,  having  the  aid  of  a  very  expensive  medical  councilt 
passes  over  these  evil  conditions  unheeded  and  unprovided  for  in 
the  school  plans  issued  as  models  for  local  boards,  and  sends  addi- 
tional  masses  of  children  into  these  insanitary  conditions,  in  tioli* 
tion  of  clear  laws  of  psychology  as  well  as  of  physiology.  Some 
action  ought  to  be  taken  for  the  public  protection  in  reipect  to 
such  an  administration. 

Mr.  W.  G.  IIabersiion  read  a  paper  on  "Cottage  Homes,** 
illustrative  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Central  Cottage  Impro?e- 
meut  Society  has  laboured  in  providing  improved  dwellings  for 
tho  working  classes.  The  object  of  the  S^iety  has  been  toaasimilate 
the  cottages  as  nearly  as  postiible  to  a  cubical  form,  and  to  take  out 
everything  unnecessary,  so  aa  in  reducing  the  size,  as  much  as 
possible  to  reduce  the  cost  also:  The  various  plana  and  modals 
exhibited  showed  the  diilerent  developments  of  the  leading  idea.  A 
pair  of  cottages  wit!)  three  bed-rooms  cost  200/.  to  2252.^  a  siogle 
cottage,  100/.  A  triple  cottage,  which  contains  separate  dwelliogf, 
respectively  of  three,  two,  and  one  bed-room,  under  one  roof,  may  be 
justly  deemed  a  success.  It  costs  300/.  under  ordinary  ciitoa- 
stance.o,  and  is  convertible  to  village  school,  cottages,  hospital,  or 


Miscellaneous.  503 

igle  superior  dwelling.  Cottages  suitable  to  miners,  or  for  towns, 
groups  of  three  or  more,  have  been  suggested  bj  the  Society,  to 
St  less  than  100/.  each  cottage.  The  general  principles  to  be 
•served  in  building  good  cottages  were  enumerated  as  follows  ;— - 
.)  Due  and  right  position  and  relation  of  the  openings  of  doors, 
Indows,  and  fire-places,  so  as  to  secure  warmth  and  comfort ;  (2.) 
limneys  being  brought  together  in  centre  of  roof,  and  fire-places  in 
ch  room,  if  possible  ;  (3.)  Care  in  window  openings  to  bring  in  air 
Lthoot  draught,  and  to  secure  their  easy  regulation,  and  entire  ex- 
Dsion  of  wet;  (4.)  Boarding  of  upper  floor  forming  ceiling  of 
wer  rooms,  with  due  provision,  giving  greater  height,  better  ventila- 
m,  and  facilities  for  cleansing  and  renewal ;  (5.)  External  offices, 
id  water-closets,  good  drainage — and  cesspools,  when  unavoidable, 
far  OS  possible  from  the  cottage — earth-closets  greatly  preferred  : 
.)  Gutters,  hips,  valleys,  and  ail  projections,  to  be  avoided  as  much 
practicable;  (7)  Ventilation  by  hollow  walls,  cavities,  tubes,  air 
icks,  and  perforated  zinc,  so  arranged  that  the  tenant  cannot  stop 
em  up.     Of  material,  preference  was  given  to  concrete,  iu«block8 

fixed  size,  forming  a  nine-inch  wall,  with  three-inch  hollow 
aces.     The  advantages  of  this  mode  of  construction  were  stated  to 

many,  and  the  economy  great  Drainage,  check-dump  stoves,  the 
le  and  height  of  rooms,  provisions  of  dressers,  closets,  &c.,  were 
K>  commented  on  in  regard  to  domestic  comfort. 

A  paper  by  James  D.  Morbison  was  read  '*  On  the  Bealiza- 
m  at  Home  of  any  British  or  Foreign  Climate  required  for  the 
^covery  of  Invalids,"  by  a  process  which  was  described  as 
Hows : — ^Tlie  system  consists  in  so  circulating  pure  fresh  air 
irough  a  warming  chamber)  into  the  room,  and  foul  air 
hrough  the  fire)  into  the  chimney,  that  all  local  currents  aro 
solved  into  one,  which,  describing  an  unbroken  circuit,  forms  an 
)per  warmer  current  from  the  fire  to  the  opposite  wall,  and  an 
ider  colder  current  (under  the  fioor)  from  the  wail  back  again  to 
o  fire,  when,  after  supporting  combustion,  the  products  escape  up 
e  chimney.  The  vacuum  thus  produced  by  the  warmer  current 
trough  the  chimney  creates  the  now  colder  current  from  the  atmo- 
ihere,  which,  passing  through  the  heating  chamber,  supports  the 
ispiratiou  of  any  number  of  invalids  undergoing  climatic  treatment, 
will  thus  be  seen  that  the  system,  syphon-like,  is  an  endless 
(▼olving  bell  of  air  capable  of  carrying  any  amount  of  moisture, 
id  consequently  of  giving  effect  to  any  required  electrical  condition. 
aing  a  current,  any  use  can  be  made  of  it  to  carry,  as  cases  may 
quire,  the  perfumes  from  the  flowers  of  this  or  other  countries, 
BO  .all  such  medicines  as  by  solution  can  be  finely  divided  by  spirit 
•  water. 

Dr.  Joseph  Sbaton  read  a  paper  on  the  <*  Ventilation  of  Ships  and 
swers,*'  by  which  he  proposed  to  connect  the  sewer  with  an  ordi- 
ury  faroaee,  which  might  be  placed  at  the  outside  of  the  house. 


504  Health  Summaty. 

Those  f urnacea  he  would  so  oonatruot  as  to  reoeive  the  air  m 
to  sustain  theia  entirely  from  the  sewers,  and  bj  this  me 
noxious  gases  would  be  destroyed.  The  writer  proposed  i 
the  same  principle  to  ships. 

A  paper  was  contributed  *'0n  the  Purification  of  Wi 
Sewage  by  Spongy  Iron,"  by  Justar  Bischof,  Profe 
Technical  Chemistry,  Andersonlan  University,  Glasgow, 
paper  stated  that  water  which  is  not  actually  bad,  but  of  a  < 
character,  may  bo  perfectly  purified  by  filtering  through  a 
spongy  iron,  one  foot  thick,  at  such  a  rate  that  one  cubic 
water  passes  through  a  cubic  foot  of  spoRfry  iron  every  five  i 
Water  which  contains  a  greater  amount  of  impurities — for  ii 
sewage — must  bo  allowed  a  proportionately  longer  period  of 
with  spongy  iron.  Some  practical  trials,  the  author  said,  wei 
made,  with  a  view  of  testing  the  method,  the  results  of  w 
hoped  to  lay  before  the  Association  on  a  future  occasion. 

A  ](Japcr  wfts  contributed  **  On  Sulphate  of  Iron  as  : 
fectant,"  by  Dr.  T.  Mofpatt.  The  writer  stated  thot  by  c 
analysis  ho  had  found  that  a  bushel  of  wheat,  grown  upon 
sandstone,'  contains  J  of  an  ounce  of  oxide  of  iron,  and  7f  oi 
])hosphoric  acid,  and  that  the  same  quantity  of  wheat  grov 
the  carboniferous  nystom  contains  ^^  of  an  ounce  of  oxide 
o^  ounces  of  phosphoric  acid.  From  these  results,  then,  i 
appear  that  the  dwellers  upon  the  new-red  sandstone,  who  < 
the  wheat  grown  upon  that  system,  take  in  much  more  oxid< 
and  phosphates,  or  nutritive  salts,  than  those  who  dwell  U] 
consume  the  wheat  grown  upon  the  carboniferous  pystem.  1 
this  deficiency  of  the  oxide  of  iron  in  the  wheat  grown  u 
latter  formation,  ho  suggested  that  the  sulphate  of  iron  be  \x\ 
disinfectant. 

The  following  is  an  abstract  of  a  paper  on  ''  Atmosphe 
soning  of  Houses  by  Arsenical  Wall-coverings."  The  pape 
that  there  is  one  question  closely  connected  with  the  saniti 
dition  of  dwelling-houses,  which  has  hitherto  been  unaccc 
neglected  by  those  in  chargo  of  the  public  health,  and  that 
are  our  walls  covered  t  With  paper,  paint,  and  distempt 
containing  the  deadly  and  volatile  poison  of  arsenic,  whid 
tinually  giving  ofi^  poison  in  the  form  of  an  impalpable  di 
also  of  arsenuretted  hydrogen,  which  is  gaseous  at  the  usu 
perature  of  the  air.  The  fact  that  nearly  all  the  green  o 
now  in  use  is  arsenical  has  been  indispuUbly  proved  by 
analysts.  Specimens  can  be  produced  of  pale  green  papers 
ing  six,  nine,  and  even  fourteen  grains  of  arsenic  to  the  squ 
and  papers  containing  only  a  leaf  or  line  of  green  in  the  pat 
arsenical  and  injurious.  Yet  such  papers  are  to  bo  seen  ever 
in  royal  palaces,  in  the  mansions  of  our  nobles  and  gentry,  in 
houses,  and  in  the  homes  of  the  middle  and  industrial  el 


MUcellaneous.  505 

country.  Medical  men  have  these  poisonous  papers  on 
Is,   and  suffer  from  them  unawares.      Arsenic  was  first 

in  the  manufacture  of  wall  papers  about  the  beginning 
intury,  and  its  use  has  been  on  the  increase  year  afVer 
to  the  present  time.  If  we  cover  our  walls  with  a 
lich  is  not  only  deadly  but  rolatile,  can  we  wonder 
ration  of  health  and  of  race?  My  own  experience  of 
jr  of  arsenical  wall  papers  extends  over  a  period  of 
years,  during  which  my  entire  household,  numbering 
)er8ons,  suffered  severely.  Many  physicians  were  con- 
t  the  symptoms  baiHed  them  all.  My  eyes  were  at  last 
'  reading  **  The  Green  of  the  Period  "  (Routledge),  and 
roved  that  every  paper  in  the  house  which  contained  a 
jreen  was  arsenical :  those  were  at  once  removed,  and  a 
ath  put  up  in  the  house,  by  using  which  dully,  symptoms 
g  fatal  results  were  quickly  relieved.  But  now  follows 
ant  point,  proving  that  arsenic  is  not  confined  to  green 

as  supposed,  but  is  used  in  papers  of  all  colours,  and 
hite.  Our  papers  containing  green  were  replaced  with 
illy  devoid  of  green,  but  in  a  few  months'  time  many  alarm- 
oms  reappeared.  Suspecting  arsenic  again,  I  had  all  those 
ilyzed,  and  arsenic  was  found  in  the  paper  of  every  bedroom 
[se,  though  not  one  contained  eveu  a  speck  of  green.  On 
these  papers,  and  colouring  the  walls  with  whiting  and 
id  with  safe  colours,  relief  soon  followed,  and  health  has 
dily  improved.^  It  often  happens  that  dangerous  arsenic 
e    concealed    underneath   harmless   ones,    owing    to   the 

custom  of  putting  one  paper  over  another.  A  very  severe 
isouing  by  this  means  has  recently  come  under  my  notice, 
he  pigments  now  in  use  appear  to  contain  arsenic,  there- 
bstitutiug  paint  or  wash  for  paper,  it  is  important  to  know 
le  colours  are  composed.  There  is,  I  am  told,  a  *'  new 
1  for  colouring  walls,  which  contains  arsenic,  and  the  green 
wash  so  often  used  instead  of  paint  is  almost  invariably 

being  totally  unglazed  it  is  all  the  more  rapidly  injurious, 
iseous  exhalations   of  arsenic  have  been  found  dangerous, 

glazed  papers  and  oil  paint,  as  was  proved  at  Munich  in 
be  Prussian  Government,  recognizing  the  danger,  **  forbad 
f  arsenic  in  any  colours,  whether  distemper  or  oil,  for 
rk."  Yet  in  this  country  arsenic  paint  is  freely  used  on 
of  our  rooms,  and  on  Venetiun  blinds  ;  the  green  paint  used 
atter  articles  containing  about  75  per  cent,  of  arsenic.     Of 

comparatively  speaking  are  restrictions  on  the  sale  of 

druggists,  when  painters  and  paper-makers  -can  purchase 
lited  quantities,  using  it  by  tons  weekly  for  wall-papers, 
poisoning  the  population  wholesale?     Legislation  in  this 

r  details  on  the  whole  subject  are  given  in  two  articles  contributed  to 
Midioai  Journal  of  July  22  and  September  30,  1871. 


506  Health  DepartimnL 

matter  is  urgently  called  for,  to  make  penal  the  use  of  arsenic  in  any 
form  in  the  interiors  of  houses,  and  to  provide  legal  protection  and 
compensation  for  the  victims  of  this  iniquitous  mode  of  poisomng, 
the  existence  of  which,  unchecked,  is  a  disgrace  to  our  Government, 
There  is  also  another  question  to  be  dealt  with — How  to  get  rid  oi 
all  the  arsenic  now  on  our  walls,  which  without  doubt  is  penoa 
nently  injuring  the  health  of  the  present  and  rising  generatiou,  and 
through  them,  future  generations?  How  can  anything  but  deterio* 
ration  of  race  result  from  living,  and  bringing  up  children,  in 
atmospheres  where  every  breath  that  is  drawn  conveys  a  deadlj 
poison  into  the  blood?  The  cerebral  symptoms  produced  by  arsenic 
are  peculiarly  deserving  of  attention,  and  offer  a  wide  field  foi 
investigation  to  physicians  who  devote  themselves  to  the  stndj 
of  diseases  of  the  brain  and  nervous  system.  Fevers  and  eruptiTc 
diseases  appear  to  result  not  unfrequently  from  this  modaol 
blood-poisoning,  and  who  can  say  how  much  of  epidemic  diseaff 
and  mortality  therefrom,  may  not  be  in  a  great  measure  due  U 
this  cause  by  predisposing  the  system  for  its  reception  and  bj 
the  prostration  of  strength  which  would  tend  to  induce  faU 
results  in  attacks  not  of  themselves  dangerous.  I  would  coDclodi 
by  drawing  special  attention  to  the  bearing  of  the  whole  sobjeG 
on  the  expected  visitation  of  cholera ;  one  marked  effect  of  anenk 
being  to  produce  choleraic  diarrhoea  and  other  symptoms  akin  t( 
that  disease. 

Mr.  Charles  Slagg,  C.E.,  of  Kingston*on-Thames,  contributed  i 
paper  on  ''Filtered  Water  Shower  and  Swimming  Baths  to  be  placed 
on  Kivcrs."  The  proposition  was  to  place  floating  baths  in  thi 
current  of  a  river,  and  by  means  of  tide  wheels,  or  current  wheeh, 
to  utilize  the  motive  power  of  the  current  to  pump  water  into  the 
bath  from  the  river,  entering  the  well  through  a  filter  in  the  bottoB 
of  the  vessel. 

A  paper,  by  Professor  F.  Cr^vcb  Calveht,  F.R.S.y  "On  the  Ac 
tion  of  Ileut  on  Protoplasmic  Life  dried  on  in  Cotton  Fabrieii 
was  read. 


507 


ECONOMY  AND  TRADE. 


THE    LICENSING    LiLWS.* 

imendinenta  are  meded  in  tJie  Existing  Laws  for   the 
nsing  of  Houses  for  tlie  Sale  of  Intoxicating  Liquors  f 

rst  paper  on  the  question  was  by  Mr.  Alderman  Tatham,  of 
ds,  on  "  The  Regulation  of  the  Drink  Traffic,  and  Amend- 
eeded  in  the  Existing  Licensing  Laws."  The  writer  said 
ting  laws  had  failed,  because  thej  were  not  administered 
Y  and  efficiently.  Drunkenness  and  disorder  were  allowed 
ed  houses,  and  many  of  them  were  the  resort  of  thieves  and 
es.  Licenses  were  renewed  very  much  as  a  matter  of  course, 
regard  to  the  character  of  the  house  licensed.  By  a  legal 
he  law  was  interpreted  to  mean  "to  meet  together  for  an 
I  purpose,"  and  thus  it  was  that  many  houses  retained  their 
though  disorderly  conduct  was  proved  against  them.  Even 
where  the  law  had  b(*en  directly  contravened  the  licensee 
d  his  license  renewed  by  the  magistrates  of  Brewster  Sessions, 
aded  having  their  decisions  set  aside  on  appeal  to  tlie  mngis- 
f  Quarter  Sessions,  who  did  not  so  well  know  the  merits  of 
.  As  regarded  drunkards,  no  penalties  were  attached,  unless 
re  found  to  be  **  drunk  and  disorderly,"  or  "  druuk  and  in- 
"  In  this  way  the  drink  interest  was  petted  and  pampered 
expense  of  morality.  Having  adverted  to  the  beneficial 
3  experienced  at  Saltaire,  a  town  owned  by  one  firm,  and 
ng  a  population  of  5000,  where  beer  was  not  allowed  to  be 
t  where  afterwards  licenses  were  obtained,  he  said  that  in  six 
men  and  women  were  drinking  to  excess,  disorder  and  dis- 
arose,  and  the  firm  found  they  had  committed  a  grievous 
The  licenses  were  not  renewed,  and  in  six  mondhs  after- 
he  place  was  restored  to  its  fornler  satisfactory  state.  Bess- 
near  Newry,  was  a  similar  instance  of  the  benefits  accruing 
0  drink  was  sold.  Mr.  Bruce^s  Licensing  Bill  having  been 
wn,  the  question  was  what  should  now  be  done?  His  reply 
t),  make  the  best  possible  use  of  the  present  laws  as  they 
[2nd)  interpret  them  in  the  light  of  the  preamble  of  1552, 
poke  of  the  "  intolerable  hurts ''  arising  from  tippling  houses ; 
iminister  them,  not  as  now  in  the  spirit  of  indulgence  and 

*  Seo  IVaruactkms,  1866,  pp.  xli,  600, 725. 


508  The  Licensing  Laws. 

encouragement,  bnt  in  that  of  restriction  and  repression ;  (4th)  let 
the  prcBcnce  of  drunken  and  disorderly  persons  be  taken  as  efidenee 
of   allowing  drunkenness  and  disorderly  conduct  in  the  house  or 
premises,  and  the  presence  of  thieves  and  abandoned  women  as  proof 
of  allowing  persons  of  notoriously  bad  character  to  assemble  and  ioeet 
together  therein;  (5th)  the  police  should  be  instructed  to  watefa 
all  licensed  houses,  and  to  report  all  cases  of  infraction  of  the  law  u 
above ;  (6th)  let  magistrates  inflict,  upon  conviction,  the  penalties  pro- 
vided in  such  cases,  and  at  Brewster  Sessions  refuse  to  renew  or  traoi* 
fer  licenses  to  persons  who  have  been  convicted  of  offences,  or  whose 
houses  are  reported  by  the  authorities  as  the  resort  of  persons  of 
notoriously  bad  character;  (7th)  abolish  the  appeal  from  Brewster  to 
Quarter  Sessions ;  (8th)  repeal  the  Beer  Act  of  1830,  and  suppresi 
all  beerhouses;    (9th)  repeal  the  Wine   Licensing   Act   of  1860; 
(iOth)  pass  a  Sunday  Closing  Act  (permissive  if  preferred),  exoept 
for  bona  fide  travellers;  (llth)  require  earlier  cloBing  and  shortir 
hours  on  other  days;  (12th)  reduce  the  number  of  public  hoiuei; 
(13th)  allow  no  music,  dancing,  or  billiard  license,  in  cofijanetioQ 
with  the  license  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  ;  (I4tl0  prohibit 
the  opening  of  public-houses  during  contested  elections,  or  foreleedoi 
purposes  at  any  time  ;  (16th)  above  nil  this,  insert  in  any  license  Bill 
the  veto  clause,  giving  the  ratepayers  power  to  prohibit  the  tn9c 
in  their  own  localities,  whenever  a  vote  of  two-thirds  jdkj  so  det^* 
mine. 

Mr.  IT.  C.  Grkenwood,  barrister-at-law,  and  honorary  secrctaiy 
to  the  National  Association  for  Promoting  Amendment  iu  the  Laws 
relating  to  the  Liquor  Traffic,  also  read  a  paper  oo  the  lab- 
joct.  The  author,  sketched  historically  the  more  recent  attempts  to 
amend  the  law,  deducing  the  inference  that  it  was  in  an  anomaloas 
and  most  unsatisfactory  condition.  In  dealing  with  excisable  liqaon, 
the  legislation  has  two  objects  in  view— a  police  object,  i.t^  tbe 
maintenance  of  public  order ;  and  a  fiscal  object,  to  increase  tii< 
revenue.  He  then  stated  the  immediate  objects  of  the  Associttioa 
which  he  represented.  It  proposed  to  take  away  the  power  of 
licensing  from  the  magistrates  and  to  give  it  to  a  licensing  bond, 
composed  of  ratepayers  elected  periodically.  Secondly,  that  then 
should  be  but  one  uniform  license,  which  should  include  the  right  to 
sell  all  descriptions  of  liquors,  and  for  which  an  adequate  paymeot 
should  be  made,  according  to  the  value  at  which  the  house  mi 
rated  to  the  poor.  Thirdly,  it  proposed  to  separate  mnsie  ind 
dancing  saloons,  and  houses  of  similar  entertainment,  fh)m  pohllo- 
houses,  and^  iu  fact,  from  all  places  for  which  a  licence  had  beeo 
granted  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  In  the  present  state  of 
public  feeling  it  did  not  propose  to  do  away  with  them,  bntitnid 
that  only  non-intoxicants  should  be  dispensed  at  such  places.  It 
further  proposed  that  no  election  committee  or  meeting  of  benefit 
society  or  club  should  be  held  in  a  public-house ;  that  peoilties 
should  be  enforced  on  dmpkards  and  on  penona  vilfolly  supfdjlog 


M9 

pr  any  ^oaa^  cliildron,  pevmiuing  gKinlliog,  aud  ailulteraling 
I,  testiug  officeia  being  appoinle<l  ;  and,  lastly,  it  would  r«joicu 
jibe  public-house  close  wholly  on  ihe  Sunday- — a  matter,  how- 
iphich  it  woulJ  leave  the  public  to  dedje.  At  present  it  pro- 
ithat  ihey  ebould  be  closed,  with  ibe  exception  of  two  lioura 
middle:  of  the  day  aad  two  houra  in  the  evening, 


DISCUSSION. 

r,  A.  noKHinE  (Uuncli eater).  C)iiiirmwi  o{  LLu  Katianol  Union  fur  elw  8up- 
b  «f  Intauipcrvioe,  mid :  Chi  thia  •ubJMl  we  unit  be  guided  by  rciuon  Bud 

Efcliiia.     Of  ttio  propoBiliani  before  the  Section,  one  spnuiv  from  tbe  pl*(- 
ilie  Alliance— the  penniiiiTB  proliibition  of  tbe  tale  of  ^ruliolio  drinks  ; 
otiler  ffom  the  London  organ iiation,  which  said  that  the  licensing  powrr 

^•^  formed  by  the  rotes  of  tbe  rat*pu,j-iirs.  The  ineniber*  of  tbs  Airuuics, 
vu  one  of  thnt  bod;  kitntelf,  tbould  for  a  moraont  lUmoet  shut  their  ejea 
jpfobluB  of  UiIaI  jtrohibitioD.  B;  uLreuie  doctrinea  thajr  frigbteoed  nwitjr 
lodenite  tuen  who  would  belp  gti  moderate  iBgialalion.  For  tlie  preavnt 
t  aimpI^Him  at  an  ainviKlment  of  tbeliceniuDglBWB.  and  tbe  bingo  on  which 
)1«  qiMKliod  turned  wub  tbe  lio«nsing  authority.  Though  ne  might  not 
s  tue  dolaili,  there  were  certain  grand  principles  upon  which  iJl  could 
lMtd  tbe  main  and  great  principle,  wbicli  bU  were  beginning  la  recognize, 
B  right  at  popular  interference  and  popular  oontrol.  tor  jean  the  people 
iffsred  under  a  Mate  of  things  which  they  had  not  tbeniHlTei  brought  oa. 
t  fcigh  time,  therefore,  that  tbe  people  abould  have  given  tn  Ibem  some 
of  »elf-prolection  ogdinat  tiie  perpetuolion  of  a  system  so  di«astf(iu».  Ho, 
•to,  mOil  dirdiolly  adopted  tbe  principle  of  popular  control.  But  wlioti  we 
!f  analyM  tbe  juiuhinery  by  which  that  popular  control  was  to  be  a|^iiid 
iBrhapo,  all  might  not  agree.  Tbo  secuiid  paper  suggested  tbot  a  tiocniing 
rtniuld  be  formed  by  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the  ratepayers,  therefore  a 
^g  board  might  be  of  any  character  according  to  the  will  or  aouLdent  of  ibe 
B'lOf  tba  Totea.  There  laight  be  broiigbt  to  toe  board  laen  who  would  go  in 
|labol>tioa  of  tbe  liquor  trillic,  and  on  the  olUer  hanil,  men  pledged  almost 
-'e  the  interests  of  the  troHio.  It  would  be  dangerous  to  iutroiluce  snob 
lit  piece  of  machinei^.    Mucb  as  he  adtuired  the  working  claMr!,  their 

KBOtl  the  manner  in  which  they  bad  borne  unmerited  evili,  he  would  be 
nw  tba  riik  of  increBain|i  tbuao  evils  by  giving  iheni  the  alwobtlc  control 
|ad.  .  Wt»t  waa  tbe  coudiUon  of  tbe  miuaea  of  the  ratepayers  who  were  to 
Itb  this  question  ?  Too  nmny  of  thrm  were  (unk  in  intemperance.  Ought 
I  Iw  the  men  tn  give  their  votes  for  the  licensing  board  ?  Many  would  bail 
flrilght  any  amended  legislation,  but  the  vait  majority  were  I'ond  of  tlirir 
'  bier,  and  man;  of  theaa  respeotnble  arCii&n*  would  not— tuid  il  would  be 
^Jc  U>etpc<^t  tbcm— OS  a  body  immolate  tbenuelvea  us  it  were  on  tbe  altar  of 
buntry'a  good  by  sacrificiag  their  moderate  appoUten.  Therefore,  we  were 
i  poiitiOD  that  we  were  going  to  entrust  the  formation  of  a  moat  important 
"tollio  majority  of  ratepayers,  the  condition  of  whom  Was  not  satiafaotory. 
WH  tbe  Muonional  condition  of  tbe  eountiy  ?  Tbe  people  were  only  just 
ng  from  a  atate  of  ignorance,  Further,  wbol  was  the  domiciliary  coodiLion 
'BbepayerH  ?  He  did  nut  know  whether  tbe  temperance  quextion  or  that  of 
niilgn  of  ibe  poor  was  the  more  iiuportant.  His  conclusion  wa»  that  the 
'''       'j)  biiT*  tbisqueation  entruited  11  their 


nolet 
OatiM 


itCiiig* 

srtiii 


lUst  not  Bive  t}ie  rein*  li>  the  horses  witliout  reserving  so 
d  ho  bail  the  day  when  Bi—'-  — --'■  ■--  ■'--      -  -      'n,  .   . 


Gladly  would  he  bail  the  day  when  such  might  be  the  ate.  Th*  only 
mse  he  bod  with  tbo  writer  of  the  paper  and  with  the  Alliance  was  Ihut 
rare  a  little  before  their  timiX  Let  the  edumlion  car  go  on,  ami  the  day  no 
would  arnia  when  the  people  might  be  enlruated  with  tbo  licensing  power. 
tthmi  could  be  donai'    He  hod  confeoed  ibat  ibe  people  bad  a  ngbt  to 


510  The  Ltc^nBitiff  Laics. 

control.    He,  therufore,  ptiggestecl  that  a  plaii  should  be  deriwd  br  which  thf 
number  of  drinking  houses  in  Uiecountrj  could  be  reduced  to  a  certain  maxiuiiun,  lo 
tluit  boyund  that  number  as  a  maximum  the  magistrates,  who  should  be  the  licens- 
ing uutbority,  i«ii<ml(l  not  ^rant  a  liccnuc  to  a  single  house.     Power  to  increase  the 
lKvnm.>8  U'Tond  that  limit  should  be  entirely  at  the  will  of  the  ratepayers.    Br  suefa 
a  ])lan  we  Hhoiild  rocogniie,  as  fiir  an  we  were  justified  in  doing  so,  the  right  of 
j)0])ulur  contnil,  and  we  nbouUl  thuft  liaro  done  all  that  we  could  to  reduce  thi 
present  drinking  fiu^ilitiefl.     By  Hurh  a  Himplo  plnn  we  should  do  moretofrttle 
thirt  quoAtion  timn  by  any  othor  thai  could  bt*  devimid.     By  settling  the  point  as  to 
tlie  licensning  aiitiif)rity  wc  settled  the  whole  queiition. 

Bdr.  S.  Fi)TiiKiu.ii.rj  (Koswiok)  ri^minded  the  meeting  of  a  remark  in  the  id* 
miruble  luhlrt'itH  by  Mr.  lluHtin^s  upon  the  verj  great  importance  of  being  scientific, 
and  trusting  mtlivr  to  principli-H  than  to  fXiNfiiftits  in  thew  questions.    It  would 
be  found,  if  we  examined  the  expedients  of  this  countrj  and  of  America,  that  the 
total  prf))iibitiiin  of  tiie  liquor  traflic  was  inc«ini])arably  easier  than  anTefltrint 
Hystuni  of  lijonff.    Tiiis  hu<l  been  pnired  in  America  orer  and  orer  anin,  and  b^ 
the  ex]K»riment  uf  Bcwbrooke  in  Ireland.  But  the  question  now  for  consideration  vm 
in  wliut  way  Hh«>uld  the  licensing  laws  be  amended  ?    Who  should  be  the  liceniiD| 
bo<ly  ?    lie  hiffl  a  dt.>c>ided  objection  to  giving  the  licensing  power  to  the  people io 
any'manner  whatever.    There  was  a  vast  section  of  the  communitj,  compmiRidiBg 
those  most  interested  in  that  question,  namely,  the  temperance  reformers,  who, 
on  principle,  wouhl  object  to  have  any  part  whatever,  in  granting  a  single  licene*; 
and,  tiierefore,  ftippoMng  tiiu  rnteiwyers  were  to  hare  the  power  of  Meeting  the 
lid^nsinc  boanl.  the  tom]H>ranco  reformers  would  be  out  of  court  altogether.    W« 
knew  very  well  that  in  tiie  municipal  and  other  local  elections,  terj  injuriov 
influence:*  o))(>nLt(>d.     It  wan  known,  too,  that  the  magistrates  had  been  influenced, 
or  that  ]H*r{innH  unxinuH  to  obtain  licenses  had  infiuenced  them  in  the  discharge  of 
tiicir  duty  luider  the  present  syeteni.    The  transfer  of  the  licensing  power  totb 
raU'iNivers  would  not  mend  tjje  matter;  on  the  rontrarr,  it  would  render  it,  if 
jKJSrtibie.  a  great  deal  worre.     If  there  was  to  be  a  liconsinc  power  at  all,  it  ought 
to  l)o  veiite<l — on  tiie  ])rinciplo  they  had  ht*ard  so  ably  advocated  that  mommt, 
with  rek^ml  to  medical  ofilcors — in  a  magistrate  or  commissioner  appointed  by  the 
Crown,  aiid  reH])onHible  to  the  l-rown  only,  who  should  go  his  rounds  and  be 
known  in  the  nrighlKMirhtMKl  only  a.n  the  licensing  magistrnto.     It  should  be  hii 
duty  to  iu>ar  evidenetMUi  Nithsideisand  tiien  to  decide,  and  from  his  decision  then 
should  1)0  no  app<Bl  whatever.     In  regard  to  8undsT  closing,   he  thought  thit 
qucHtion  could  tut  b*  left  untouched.     One  of  the  papers  had  suggested  that  the 
])ii))lic-iiousc8  Hliould  tx^  o|H>nod  forfourhfmrson  thoistunday,  buthisimpressioDwu 
tluit.  no  Bill  which  (*on  I  cm  plated  anything  short  of  a  total  closing  of  fuchhoui^eoD 
the  Sunday  would  either  meet  (ho  requirements  of  the  case,  or  sati«fy  the  pufalic. 
Mr.  J.  T.  JIosKiNs  (rx)ndon')  proposed  that  the  power  of  complete  control  orer 
(he  litpior  tniilic  sliould   Im>  ves(ed  not  in  parish  iKNirds,  but  as  Mr.  Ilaftingi  bad 
HUffgt^ted  in  n'gard  to  sanitary  regulations  and  Utnl  finance,  in  county  boanis. 
"Why  shoidd  we  not  Imve  coun(y  iKuirds  to  control  the  liquor  trafRc,  riected  by  the 
r.itep:iyer^  ?     Tlie  maximum  limit  of  public-houses  and  beer  houses  might  he  oae 
to  every  .*i(K)  of  tlio  population  ;  and  the  limit  on  the  other  side  not  lees  than  one 
to  every  ri<.>(IO  of  the  population.     Of  course,  if  there  were  not  a  currespondiiig 
amount  of  ai)plications  for  licenses  there  wotdd  not  be  so  manj  as  one  for  everf 
r>0().     The  prcMiMit  ]iroporti(m  was  one  to  every  180,  or  one  to  every  204  of  the 
I>optilatic»n.     It  was  th<>  greatest  mistake  to  sumxwe  that  we  could  be'intempente 
only  in  drinking  intoxicating  litpiors.     Though  he  res]H*cted  the  total  abstineoer 
])arty,  he  held  that  they  nhould  thn>w  their  whole  strength  into  the  question  of 
lici'using  reform.     Let  tlirm  consider  wluit  strength  the  (^remnient  would  have 
if  they  thus  lu^ted.     Permiraive  prohibition  might  conro  afterwards  if  therhled. 
In  dealiu!^  with  this  question  thev  must  not  ignore  the  necessitr  of  adopting  the 
sug8^»!«tionH  of  the  Committee  of  tlu»  Province  of  Canterburj,  which  he  coniidered 
of  more  impt.>rtance  than  any  numl>er  of  licensmg  laws,  namely,  the  anggestion  fur 
the  erection  of  training  or  domestic    institutes  for  teaching  women  domertie 
e<*onomv.     A  man  would  go  to  the  beer  shop  and  indulge  if  he  went  home  and 
found  tlie  meat  badly  coukinl,  and  tough  and  stringy. 
Mr.  Waltku  MoRRi!K>y,  M.P.,  said  the  fat«  which  befd  Mr.  Bmee'o  Bill  of  hit 


DUemmfu  ]  511 

^ht  into  olear  protniaduce  the  immense  pover  possessed  by  Uie  organi- 
I  licensed  TictuoUers.  That  was  a  lesson  which  he  thought  would  not  be 
eir  opponents,  who  would  doubtless  work  in  harmonv  for  the  future ; 
usting  the  licensing  question  he  beliered  it  would  Le  found  that  all 
of  temperance,  many  of  whom  were  brewers  and  other  persons  con- 

the  trade^  would  eadeayour  to  work  together  in  order  to  produce  a 
result,  instead  of  flying  at  each  others*  throats.  Representative  men 
Kibt  appear  among  those  interested  in  the  traffic  who  would  be  willinz 
ir  opponents  half  way.  Free  trade  in  the  sale  of  drink  had  been  tried 
tnt  scale  to  decide  it  at  LiTerpool,  and  it  had  been  unanimously  pro- 
failure.  Only  one  possible  alternatire  presented  itself,  and  it  was 
I  to  regulate  the  monopoly.  If  we  were  to  hare  a  regulated  monopoly 
sure  that  we  could  carry  that  principle  too  far.  As  a  mere  question  of 
inciplo,  he  would  prefer  to  see  the  dealings  in   intoxicating  liquors 

some  public  authority.  He  would  distrust  any  local  board  or  town 
%  licensing  body,  for  he  believed  persons  would  endearour  to  get  on 
!•  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  sale  of  their  own  goods.  It 
lim  that  the  first  thing  we  ought  to  do  was  to  secure  the  continuance 
pensory  Bill,  until  we  got  the  GK>7emment  fairly  to  face  the  question, 
itself  would  restrict  the  number  of  public  •houses,  but  that  was  not 
r  some  further  system  of  reducing  them  would  be  necessary.  He  held 
snsation  should  be  given  out  of  what  might  be  called  a  license  rental, 
ion  as  the  number  of  houses  in  any  given  locality  was  diminished  the 
lach  of  those  left  would  be  increased.  He  thought  we  ought  to  com- 
s  publicans  who  should  be  suppressed.    By  ascertaining  the  amount  of 

went  into  each  public  house,  we  should  be  able  to  ascertain  approzi- 
additional  amount  of  profit  which  accrued  to  the  houses  left  owing  to 
ision  of  certain  others.  One  of  the  evils  of  the  present  system  was  that 
I  beer  houses  were  so  numerous,  and  each  of  them  did  comparatively  so 
anees,  and  made  so  small  an  amount  of  profit,  that  it  was  no  very  great 
t  to  a  man  to  lose  his  license  if  he  was  convicted  by  the  magistrates.  But 
bouses  hiffhly  rated,  and  which  had  been  fitted  up  at  considerable  ex- 
loss  of  a  license  might  mean  practically  ruin,  and  the  publican  would 
reful  not  to  keep  a  disorderly  house.  He  thought  that  it  would  be  well 
rial  to  the  system  of  licensing  boards.  The  objection  to  them  was  that 
tions  they -would  have  all  the  power  of  the  licensed  victuallers  exerted 
nen  of  their  own  wav  of  thinking.  But  oven  now  there  was  no  very 
nbling  as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  law  was  administered  by  tlie 
B,  and  very  often  that  grumbUng  was  not  at  all  deserved,  for  the  fault 
'  in  the  law  itself  than  in  those  who  administered  it  Still  it  would  be 
thing  that  those  in  the  midst  of  whom  the  evil  existed,  should  have 
heir  hands  the  power  and  the  responsibility  of  diminishing  it.  One 
•rtant  thing  to  be^r  in  mind  would  be  to  keep  the  boards  solely  to  their 
18  the  licensing  authority.  It  would  bo  also  highly  important  that  what 
called  the  poBce  clauses  in  the  Act  should  be  enforced  by  on  entirely 
nt  authority,  and  he  did  not  see  any  better  hands  than  those  of  the 
«.  There  were  many  grave  faults  in  Mr.  Bruce's  Bill,  but  at  the  same 
itained  a  great  deal  of  very  valuable  matter.  If  the  Gk>vcmment  took 
oestion  again  next  session,  he  earnestly  hoped  that  the  advocates  of 
»  would  not  make  the  mistake  they  made  last  time,  of  giving  their  sup- 
I  it  was  too  late. 

AUUiAN  (Mr.  Newmarch)  said  the  object  of  their  discussion  was  to  draw 
ith  and  ascertain  foots.  He  had  been  somewhat  surprised  that  as  far 
ate  had  gone,  no  reference  had  been  made  to  the  very  important  article 
peared  in  the  Fortnightly  Review^  bearing  the  name  of  Mr.  Justin 
,  and  giving  an  account  of  a  visit  he  made  on  two  occasions  in  the 
)  and  1870  to  the  United  States,  when  ho  discovered  the  entire  failure 
be  of  Maine  of  the  prohibitory  law.    He  had  no  doubt  the  advocates 

law  had  an  answer  to  that  article,  and  if  so  he  thought  it  should 

ST.  J.  CoKnKm  (Leeds)  diaeented  from  the  injunction  to  suppress  all 


512  T)ie  Licensing  Laidi. 

feeling  in  tliis  maLlor ;  for  no  great  reforms  could  be  efiPected  in  this  country  in 
the  face  of  the  rested  interests  and  the  strone  organizations  to  uphold  tbem, 
without  mighty  feeling.  He  hoped  that  instead  of  discouraging  feeling  upon  s 
matter  so  anecting  the  interests  of  the  country,  we  should  trj  to  evoke  feeling 
sufficient  to  enable  the  Government  to  carry  a  good  licensing  Bill,  in  which  thsre 
would  be  a  clause  giving  the  people,  where  they  wore  so  minded,  power  to  rid 
themselves  altogether  of  the  traffic. 

Mr.  Gkorois  roTTiR  (London) :  There  were  three  rery  influential  and  powerful 
parties  in  the  field — the  United  Kingdom  Alliance,  the  National  Association,  and 
the  licensed  victuallers.  It  was  evident  that  the  power  and  influence  posseaMd 
by  the  licensed  victuallers  throughout  the  country  were  very  sreat ;  and  if  it  wu 
wished  to  get  a  reform  of  the  licensing  laws  next  session  there  must  be  united 
action  for  that  purpose  on  the  part  of  all  those  who  wished  to  suppreis  intern* 
perunce.  He  was  there  speaking  on  behalf  of  the  intelligent  artisans,  and  he  afirmed 
that  the  artizans  were  as  temperate  and  as  desirous  of  reform  in  the  licensoc 
laws  OS  any  other  cla<«s  of  society.  There  was  a  laree  number  of  people  who  did 
not  belon|^  to  cither  of  the  three  parties,  and  surely  it  would  be  wise  to  endeavour 
to  get  their  concurrence  and  assistance.  It  would  be  better  to  imite  and  get  the 
befet  r/pform  we  could,  than  to  wait  some  years  and  get  none.  Believini;  hi 
manhood  suffrage  he  liod  been  content  to  advocate  household  suffrage.  We 
ought  to  be  able  to  agree  upon  the  minor  question  whether  the  licensing  bosrd 
should  consist  of  magistrates  or  of  men  elected  by  the  people.  No  Bill  woold 
pass  whicli  did  not  respect  the  rights  of  the  licensed  victuallers  and  deal  with 
them  in  a  liberal  spirit.  With  these  points  settled,  the  way  would  be  cleared  for 
legiKlutivc  enactments. 

The  Kev.  Uraii  Smtth  (Luton)  said  the  magistrates  were  not  responriUe  for 
the  evils  of  the  present  licensing  system,  and  he  protested  against  the  attidu 
which  had  been  made  upon  them  on  account  of  the  existence  of  those  evili. 
They  liucl  been  told  that  the  multiplication  of  public- houses  throughout  the 
country  was  owing  to  the  action  of  the  magistrates  and  t-u  the  placing  of  unlimiud 
power  in  their  hands.  lie  gave  an  emphatic  denial  to  that  assertion.  Tliree 
years  ago  their  hands  were  completely  tied.  It  was  true  that  they  bad  the  powvr 
to  prevent  the  further  increaHc  of  licensed  victuallers,  and  again  and  again  Uoeniei 
were  refused.  The  result  was  that  the  brewer  defied  them,  laughed  at  thein,  and 
at  once  opened  beer-houses  over  which  the  magistrates  Imd  no  control.  But  as 
soon  as  adequate  power  was  given  them,  and  they  were  able  to  deal  oqiudlv  with 
becr-houbcs  and  public-housc^i,  wherever  tliere  were  magistrates  worthy  of  the 
name,  they  commenced  to  execute  that  power.  It  had  been  said  that  the  mafl^ 
trates  were  under  the  influence  of  the  brewers.  Was  it  possible  to  suppose  uat 
the  brewers  would  dare  to  make  propositions  to  them  in  regard  to  the  hoensingof 
houses?  He  believed  tluit  they  discharged  their  duties  as  independently  u  anj 
elected  board  would  disclmrgo  them.  He  was  not  opposed  to  placing  the  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  ratepayers ;  but  would  a  board  elected  by  them  not  be  wbjcet 
to  influence?  He  held  that  we  nmst  not  take  simply  the  }}rinciples  of  repmnoa 
and  restraint,  but  repression  and  restraint  foimdcd  upon  justice,  and  beyond  that  wt 
could  not  and  must  pot  go.  The  magistrates  would  be  the  most  fitting  dispeneen 
of  licenses  because  they  were  constantly  observing  the  cliaracter  of  the  houses  withia 
their  district.  No  bo<fy  of  men  knew  the  actual  state  of  the  houses  so  intimately  ai 
they  did.  They  also  knew  that  three-fourths  of  the  crime  committed  was  the  ranlt 
of  drink ;  and  they  were  able  to  single  out  those  houses  from  which  it  principaQj 
sprung  and  deal  with  them  accordingly,  and  in  a  way  in  which  no  board  oonla 
deal  with  them.  The  establishment  of  licensing  boardii  would  inrolve  what  to 
hi.4  mind,  would  be  one  of  the  most  deadly  evils  m  a  district — a  contest  in  ffhidi 
the  whole  of  the  public-house  interest  would  bo  ranged  on  the  opposite  lide. 
Shortly  after  he  took  the  last  license  away  he  found  himself  in  a  railway  carria^ 
vLs-d-vis  io  a  brewer  who  owned  the  house  from  which  the  licMiseliad  ten 
removed.  He  was  good-humoured  enough,  but  he  said,  "  We  shall  have  licensng 
boards  soon,  and  then  we  shall  beat  you.**  There  was  no  doubt  that  in  manr 
districts  he  was  right,  and  tliat  in  suca  districts,  which  would  be  entirely  in  toe 
hands  of  the  public-house  interest,  we  should  have,  so  far  as  it  could  be  rem^ 
seated  hell  upon  earth.    He  could  conceive  no  calamity  lo  great  a«  that  woulcf  be. 


I 


Discusswn.  513 


t«  wDulil  aiigg«t  tW  one  or  tivo  more  of  tluj  membcrB  of  represontaliTo  bodi™ 
ilraulj  in  existcDCo  sUouliI  sit  on  the  lioiicb  on  lioeotnogdafB.  uot  in  Duioben 
tbat  would  oTorpower  tbem  but  Lubuicu  them.  In  that  waj  contell^  would  be 
iToidecl. 

Mr.  CiiABLEa  LkUFOKT  (london)  regurdod  tha  rtatoment  Ibat  tlie  iDajority  of 
the  ratepayers  vould  not  be  able  to  bring  a  utisfnctury  condition  to  bear  upon  the 
Itooising  elwtioiie  aa  a  reflectiun  upon  the  ratepayers.  It  amounted  to  tbis — that 
Ibe  inajoritj  of  tbe  ratflpajera  of  tbia  country  were  so  immewed  in  the  erili  of 
drunkeiineu  Ibnt  tiicj  were  incapable  of  exerciiing  the  priTilege*  and  duties  uf 
citiien«hip.  Xbe  proportion  of  drunbordA  was  not  lo  bisb  as  it  itbi  tbouabt  Ui 
be,  and  it  vaa  but  justice  to  the  warldnB  cbuaca  Stir  it  to  be  known  tlint  bucIl  wm 
tbe  caw.  He  bad  been  an  obBcrreF  of  the  drinking  habitc  of  people  in  other 
oounlriei.  Mid  tbe  opinion  he  hod  come  to  wos^  that  eiteiuive  aa  was  llie  amount  of 
drunkeuDcsa  inthii  countn,  itvoa  not  ereater  tbau  eiisteil  in  either  PraTice,  Svil- 
1,  or  Oeriuuny.  He  suggested  tbat  a  board  should  be  eleoted  b;  the  raU- 
toUinit  tbe  number  of  houKa  to  be  licelmd  iu  a  particular  diglrict,  but  that 
ction  of  tbe  bouses  ahoutd  rest  with  tbe  mogiBtralM,  tUe)'  being,  froui  their 
>1«dgeof  tbe  CTiine  and  drunkenness  occurring  in  tLoiie  hoiura,  the  boat  judges 
**«  individual  character  ol'  tbe  persona  who  oonducted  them.  We  ibould 
It  lose  fight  of  tbe  fact  that  not  onlj  would  drunkomiue  bu  decnmsu<I  b; 
ting  the  number  of  the  houaes,  but  that  those  remainine  would  derivu  a 
~  ~it  of  profit  from  tbe  iuoreoie  of  businesa  which  would  take  place  in 
bis  suggation  woa^  that  Che;  ahould  contiibute  in  propurlion  to  the 
»  o[  their  business  to  the  rccenue  of  the  eountr}', 

'"Aft*  (Mancheater)  in  repb  to  an  obscrrotion  that  bad  been  mode  b;  the 

A,  nid  the;  were  prepared  to  meet  Mr.  Juitiu  U'Cartbj'  with  poaitiro 

t  wbererer  prohibition  had  been  onforcud  it  had  been  suoccasful  lo  tbe 

''n  of  ererj  well-wisher  of  the  oouimnnit;.    In  Enilaiid  tlio  licoitsing 

ni^  reated  in  the  hsnda  of  the  luagistratoe,  cicopling  the  wlioletale  liquor 

Bolne  of  the  nmeLatrates  hod  oomestl;  set  to  worK  lo  dimiiiish  tlio  number 

jlio-bouses.  but  theri)  were  tliousands  who  had  no  desire  to  do  no.    The 

J  WW  diasatisSfd  with  the  magistracj  as  a  licensiog  aulliority.      For  thirty 

.  _ie  had  protested  a«ainst  licenses  being  granted  in  his  parish,  and  it  was  tbe 

■t  thing  in  Die  world  to  get  a  lioenae  withdrawn,  and  a  resort  for  tbierea  tbiui 

■' The  inagistmtes  leaned  towards  those  l«  wboro  thej  bad  granted 

[e  held  hy  the  reaolutiou  agreed  to  in  1S6G,  in  a  large  sestion  preaided 


IT  hy  Sir  James  Eav  Shuttleworth,  with  the  able  assistance  of  a  greol  number  of 

'  '     '      -"  That  the  circumstances  of  the  countrj  coll  loudlj  on  the  Legiala- 

1  general  measure  toamond  the  law;  andtbsbUus&eetion  r«spectfull; 

Qenewl  Council  of  the  Aaeociation    to  conwder  the  proprietv  of 

S^e  QOTcmment  to  amend  the  Liceaaiug  laws,  and  to  insert  a  uUuse 

'proltibitjag  tbe  granting  or  renewal  of  licenses  wherever  a  largo  majoritr 

inhabitants  to  £«re."    Vp  to  18^1  all  tite  States  in  America  had  smaU 

trds  elected,  and  so  manv  districts  did  those  boarJs  clear  of  publio- 

thej  went  in  for  a  State  law.    That  was  the  origin  of  the  Maine  law. 

id  regretted  to  hear  Mr.  Potter,  u  representatJFB  man,  fall  into  an  eiaggera- 

ja  to  tbo  power  of  the  publicans.    Tbe<  selfUbneas  which  characterised  the 

«  traffic  in  this  country  was  not  a  powerful  thing ;  and  he  was  thankful  to  be 

to  say  that  now  it  did  nut  eiercite  the  inOuenco  on  the  Houee  of  Commons  to 

^«Qt  Mr.  Uorrigon  would  lead  the  Section  to  suppose.    He  was  averse  from 

J  of  oentraliiation  in  (his  matter.    CenUaliiation  hod  failed,  and  we  could 

bj-  wrong  in  letting  the  people  take  tbe  granting  of  licenses  into  their  own 

Where  a  community  did  not  want  a  beer  or  spirit  house,  in  the  name  of 

t  WM  good  let  it  not  be  forced  upon  them ;  and  the  Bill  that  would  force 

_oo»ea  into  their  midst  would  be  an  unjust  EUl. 

.  John  Jowitt  (Leeds)  thought  the  proposition  to  place  the  licensing 
~'ty  in  the  hands  of  stipendiaries  tbe  worst  of  three  proposiliona  tbat  had 
[errd,  On  the  whole,  with  an  amended  Loenaing  system,  we  could  bord^ 
w  than  leave  tlie  aiiboritr  to  grant  licenses  in  tbe  bands  of  the  mogiatrateB, 
a  they,  as  it  Ijail  been  suid,  knew  more  about  public-housei^,  and  bail  better 
-milies  of  judging  of  iLe  wbj  in  whiuh  the)' were  conducted  than  other 
U'boae  wtio  bod  to  rsdrees  evils  would  be  Ihu  Ijtst  vwtBOua  to  out  off  Ihet 

14 


514  The  Licensing  Laics, 

which  ^ve  rise  to  them.  Temperance  men  of  eTery  ehade  ought  to  unite  in 
supporting  the  GoTemment  in  a  more  heartj  manner  than  they  did  lart  jmr. 
He  most  heartily  concurred  in  Mr.  Morrison's  suggestion  to  insist  upon  the  con- 
tinuanco  of  the  Suspension  Bill  until  a  good  licensme  Bill  was  passed. 

Mr.   MuNDELLA,  M.P. :    While  acknowledging  the  great  work  done  bj  the 
United  Kinedom  Alliance,  he  thought  they  hiul  made  a  mistake  in  not  supporting 
those  who  did  not  go  quite  so  far  as  themseWes.    He  did  not  ask  them  to  cease 
their  work,  for  they  had  done  more  than  all  the  other  temperance  societies  com* 
bined  to  diminish  the  eril  of  intemperance.    If  licensing  boards  were  adopted  tbe 
Alliance  would  support  ooe  party  and  the  other  temperance  societies  others,  and 
thoy  would  have  the  publicans  comine  forward  on  a  united  footing  en  hkct  lod 
they  would  certainly  be  successful.    W  hat  he  said  was,  giro  the  ratepayers  a  Toiee 
in  limiting  public-houses  and  prohibiting  them ;  but  he  warned  them  that  if  tb^ 
did  not  sink  their  differences  and  unite  they  would  be  false  to  their  own  caoe. 
He  adTocatod  the  keeping  of  the  licensinff  power  in  the  hands  of  the  magistntn. 
It  was  public  opinion  tliat  eoTemed  the  magistrates,  as  it  goyemed  erer^rbody 
else.    It  hod  been  said  that  they  had  been  exceedingly  indifferent  and  lax  m  the 
administration  of  the  law,  but  tney  had  not  been  encouraged  to  take  any  Tigorooi 
measures.    When  wo  did  not  impress  the  country  with  the  erils  of  intcnnpeFsnoe, 
we  need  not  be  surprised  if  the  magistrates  hod  not  taken  the  thine  to  heart;  but 
wo  had  done  so  now,  and  we  were  doin^  so  more  and  more,  and  if  we  Ind  a 
proper  licensing  Bill,  laying  down  certain  restrictions  beyond  which  they  oookl 
not  go,  and  bringing  to  bear  upon  them  some  influence,  and  letting  the  ratepajm 
have  some  control  as  to  tho  number  of  public  houses,  he  beliered  we  woaM  m 
a  different  state  of  tilings.    We  must  not  treat  lightly  the  influence  of  the  pobli* 
cans ;  and  we  might  depend  upon  it  that  now  this  question Jwas  before  the  oonitito- 
encies,  the  publicans  would  use  their  influence  in  such  a  way  as  to  prerent  noe 
of  the  best  friends  of  temperance  from  again  entering  the  House  of  OomnMai, 
and,  therefore,  it  behorod  them  all  to  give  the  Gtyvemment  every  support  in  their 
power  to  promote  a  good  practical  measure.    We  must  remember  that  during 
the  last  two  years  more  than  5000  public-houses  had  been  closed  through  Sir 
Selwin  Ibbetson's  measure,  according  to  the  official  returns ;  and  he  had  been  tdd 
by  Sir  Selwin  himself,  at  tho  close  of  the  session,  that  he  beliered  more  than  9000 
public-houses  had  been  closed  under  its  provisions.     Practically,  those  9000  hooM 
were  of  the  very  worst  class.    He  asked  the  friends  of  temperance  if  they  did  sot 
rejoice  at  such  facts  ?     If  the  Suspensory  Licensing  Bill  were  continued,  and 
proper  use  made  of  the  laws  which  existed,  and  the  proper  administration  of 
those  laws  forced  upon  the  magistrates,  we  should  have  a  very  different  state  of 
things,  even  if  we  never  got  a  Licensing  Bill.    He  stated  frankly  that  he  shodd 
bo  very  sorry  to  sec  the  want  of  respect  for  law  which  he  saw  in  the  New  Sngluid 
States,  and  Massachusetts  especially ;  and  if  he  were  asked  whether  the  prohibi* 
tory  law  was  doing  good  or  not  ho  would  answer,  "  Yes,  a  great  deal  of  good,  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  less  drinking  than  in  any  other  district  of  the  same  extent 
and  the  same  population."    But  if  they  asked  him  if  the  law  was  kent,  be  mi 
sorry  to  have  to  reply  that  it  was  systematically  broken  by  senators  ana  the  other 
leaders  of  public  opinion.     It  was  not  only  m  towns  that  they  found  the  law 
broken,  but  in  nearly  every  village  drink  could  be  got.     One  of  the  greateil 
posi^ible  blessings  was  to  be  attained  by  reducing  the  temptations  to  the  drink; 
nnd  in  thnt  direction  he  believed  thoy  were  going.    There  were  manywayiof 
dealing  with  these  demoralizing  influences,  and  he  asked  them  to  deal  with  tiien, 
and  not  have  their  efforts  frustrated  by  refusing  to  take  what  would  reasooablr 
work  out  the  object  thoy  all  had  in  view.      If  we  introduced  licensing  boaru 
there  would  bo  a  great  deal  of  demoraliaation  and  bribery  at  the  deettons;  aad 
many  would  be  returned  in  the  interest  of  the  liquor  trafQo.    Let  us  do  wbatowr 
we  could  to  diminish  tho  evil  of  drinking  if  we  could  not  exterminate  it  totally. 

Dr.  Lees  (Leeds) :  There  was  no  measure  in  advance  upon  the  licensins;  qoestioa 
that  the  Alliance  had  not  practically,  and  to  the  full  extent  of  the  merits  of  the 
measure,  sustained ;  and  thej  were  prepared  to  go  with  every  legitimate  measan 
in  the  direction  of  restriction.  As  to  the  licensing  authority,  what  thsr  wanted 
was,  that  so  long  as  it  existed,  it  should  be  pUced  in  efficient  hands.  11  tW  w«s 
asked  to  consent  to  rote  as  oiUxens  in  a  matter  which  they  thought  hnmoraf,  tky, 


DiseusaiofL  616 

leir  princi^es,  not  against  tbo  will  of  societv,  but  hj  conyincing  society  of  its 
ttfect  legitimacy.    He  was  inclined  to  think,  all  things  considered,  the  magisterial 
nIj  was  the  best  body  we  could  obtain  in  England  for  the  purpose  of  adminis- 
ring  the  system  of  licenses.    The  magistrates  were,  more  than  other  persons, 
dependent  of  the  ^rticular  traders  whose  business  they  sought  to  limit.      The 
-stem  had  been  partuiUr  tried  in  Scotland,  and  for  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years 
.  the  United  States  of  America.    Haying  been  for  more  than  an  entire  year 
atmining  this  question  in  the  United  States,  he  claimed  for  the  Now  England 
ates  the  greatest  amount  of  general  education,  social  freedom,  and  rehgious 
aching  of  any  community  known  to  him  in  the  world,  and  stated  that  the  system 
'  the  magisterial  working  of  the  license  system  was  declared  in  those  States  to  bo  a 
retched  failure.    They  were  not  satisfied  with  it,  and  the  law  of  prohibition 
perseded  it.    He  advocated  the  continuance  of  the  suspensory  measure.    What 
e  Americans  sought  to  do  was  to  remove  temptation  from  the  public  streets,  and 
at  was  the  great  object  of  the  Alliance.     Three  ^ears  ago  in  the  State  of  Massa- 
utetta  there  was  a  modified  prohibitory  law  which  permitted  the  sale  of  beer ; 
it  it  was  a  beer  of  much  less  strength  than  that  commonly  sold  in  the  pubUc- 
loaea  of  England.    In  six  months  the  State  constabulary  reported  that  there  was 
Bioft  unprecedented  increase  of  drunkenness  and  crime ;  and  that  was  the  result 
a  slight  relaxation  of  the  prohibitory  law.    The  public  sense,   upon  that, 
manded  a  return  to  the  former  state  of  things.    He  then  gave  his  experiences  of 
riait  to  the  United  States  where  he  had  remained  a  twelvemonth,  and  contradicted 
e  statements  made  in  the  Fortnightly  Review  by  Mr.  Justin  McCarthy  as  to  the 
ate  of  Massachusetts  in  respect  to  temperance,  law,  and  order,  saying  that  Mr. 
'Gkrthy  had  said  nothing  whatever  concerning  violation  of  the  law  which  he 
>r.  Lees)  could  not  say  of  Edinburgh,  and  concerning  the  laws  of  this  country. 
Dr.  MiJiTiv,  Secretary  of  the  License  Amendment  league,  Manchester,  said  that 
sateyer  reforms  might  be  desirable  in  the  licensing  system,  and  however  impor* 
it  those  reforms  might  be  said  to  be,  we  ought  to  sink  our  own  indiviaual 
anions  in  order  to  obtain  imanimity.    The  great  point  to  consider  was  how  far 
)  oould  agree  upon  a  practical  schemo  of  license  reform,  and  how  far  we  could 
luce  our  points  of  difference.    In  proportion  to  the  division  amongst  temper- 
oe  men  was  the  confidence  of  their  opponents,  and  whilst  the  division  continued 
9  Gabinet  would  refuse  to  accept  any  such  measure  as  that  brought  forward  last 
Mion.    He  was  sorry  that  those  evils  were  not  recognised  as  they  ought  to  have 
Bn  by  the  temperance  community.    We  must  determine  to  support  any  good 
satore  that  the  Government  bring  forward  next  session.    We  haa  to  deal  with 

1  customs^  and  where  it  was  so  difficult  to  change  a  system  the  only  practical 
90988  was  to  try  how  far  we  could  modify  the  present  system — how  far  we 
lid  best  effect  practical  reform  with  the  least  possible  disturbance  of  the  present 
to  of  things.  The  magistrates  of  this  country  had  a  terrible  amount  of  respon- 
ility  in  regard  to  licensing ;  they  had  had  more  opportunity  than  any  other  class 
men  in  the  community  of  seeing  what  were  the  frightful  results  of  the  present 
snsing  system,  and  they  had  eone  on  with  an  amount  of  apathy  which,  to  his 
nd,  had  been  revolting.  But  before  we  blamed  the  magistrates  we  must  blame 
raelves.  The  magistrates  had  had  the  utmost  discouragement  in  the  discharge  of 
)ir  duty.  If  they  refused  a  license  they  said  that  the  applicant  was  sure  to  get 
it  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  on  appeal ;  and  if  they  defended  their  decision 
^ore  that  Court,  they  must  do  so  at  their  own  expense.  If  the  question  of 
^oiiDg  boards  came  before  the  public,  we  must  encounter  a  body  of  men  with  an 
ding  interest  in  the  liquor  trafiic;  those  men  could  turn  their  houses  into 
nmittee  rooms,  would  get  up  an  organization  more  perfect  than  the  temperance 
rtj  could  obtain ;  they  would  have  a  power  to  control  the  lower  masses  of  the 
>ple  Buch  as  the  other  side  would  not  possess.    SocieU^  would  be  separated  into- 

2  great  hostile  camps,  and  most  bitter  and  determined  contests  would  be  always 
hand.  He  thought  there  would  be  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a- 
>ncing  bo^l,  especially  if  it  was  to  have  the  power  of  saying,  *'  Not  only  will 

have  the  present  number  of  public-houses,  but  an  increased  number,  thus 
king  the  evu  greater  than  under  the  present  system.  There  must  be  a  diminu- 
1  in  the  present  nimiber  of  houses.  In  some  places  the  population  would  very 
iij  be  prepsured  to  sweep  them  away,  but  in  places  where  the  evil  was  the 
ateit^  and  where  the  remedy  was  the  moet  wanted,  of  oourfle  the  Permiaaiye 


516  Hie  Licensmg  Laws* 

Bill  would  be  simply  useless.  Something,  therefore,  was  wanted  that  would  act 
in  an  effect  iro  manner  in  those  places.  There  was  a  larso  ntiinber  of  bouiei 
which  were  not  only  of  no  use  to  the  community — little,  dirty,  raieeraUe  bwr- 
houses — but  which  were  siniply  curses  and  pests  in  the  neighbourhoods  in  whidi 
they  were  placed.  Would  it  not  be  posftiblo  to  get  rid  of  these  places  it  t  wry 
small  codt '{  The  License  Amendment  League  proposed  that  each  year  the  nting 
quulification  which  made  a  house  eligible  for  a  license  should  be  raised,  beliering 
that  such  a  procedure  would  hare  a  great  cfifcct  in  a  few  years  in  diminishing  tbe 
number  of  houses. 

Mr.  \V.  R.  Selway  (London)  contended  that  the  licensing  authority  ought  to 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  ratepayers.  He  objected  to  the  magistrates  beoute 
tlu'V  were  an  irrej"i)<)n8iblo  body,  and  could  not  be  called  to  account  The  people 
were  allowed  to  manage  their  own  affairs  in  other  rery  important  mattery  and 
why  should  not  they  fa«  entrusted  with  the  control  of  the  granting  of  liceoMi? 
It  had  been  said  that  there  would  be,  at  tlie  elections  of  members  of  the  boudp, 
horriblr  ntrife  and  bribery,  as  if  such  things  had  never  been  known  in  tbeanub 
of  elections  iu  this  country.  His  desire  was  that  the  people  should  be  trusted  in 
this  matter,  and  have  the  power  to  restrict  the  present  system.  There  bad  bwn 
conjured  up  notions  that  a  board  of  this  kind  mi^ht  possibly  go  in  for  free  tnde, 
and  flood  the  whole  country  with  public-houses,  but  nothing  was  more  faUscioui 
than  anything  of  the  sort.  If  a  aWl  were  passed  it  would  be  sure  to  contJuQ  a 
restrictive  provision  in  accordance  with  the  number  of  the  population. 

Mr.  WiiiTwoRTii  observed  that  the  more  the  licensing  of  public-hooM 
was  understood  the  more  he  was  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  it  ooald 
not  be  carried  on  for  tlie  welfare  of  toe  community.  It  was  analogous  to  tbe 
slave  trade,  of  which  Charles  James  Fox  said,  in  a  debate  in  1792,  that  itwai 
a  trade  that  could  not  be  regulated,  and  which  could  only  be  proidbited.  He 
objected  to  licensing  boards,  and  preferred  to  leave  the  granting  of  licenses  in  the 
hamU  of  the  magistrates. 

Mr.  W.  HoYLE  (Bury)  Miid  that  what  was  wanted  was  to  make  such  aprovi* 
pion  as  would  enable  anybody  to  get  a  glass  of  beer,  but  prevent  his  getting  dranL 
There  ought  not  to  bo  so  many  houses  m  any  locality  as  would  render  it  imposnble 
to  take  drink  in  moderation,  and  their  number  ought  to  be  reduced  aocordinglj to 
something  like  one  to  l^X)  of  the  population.  If  that  were  done  everybody  might 
get  a  ghu*;}  of  beer,  and  it  would  not  be  necessary  for  the  publican  to  encourage 
drunkenness  to  get  a  living. 

The  Chairman  (Mr.  Newmarch,  F.B.S.),  in  summing  up  the  discussion,  said  the 

f>oint  to  be  decided,  as  far  as  they  could  decide  it  by  discussion  and  by  something 
ike  agreement  of  opinion,  wa**  not  an  abstract  point  at  all,  but  a  practical  pdnt. 
Four  thories  had  been  put  forth.  First  of  all  there  was  that  of  free  trade.  That 
was  tried  at  Liverpool  some  years  ago,  when,  by  general  admission,  it  broke  down. 
Then  there  was  the  suggestion  of  total  prohibition,  which  was  hardly  before  tbe 
section  that  day.  The  third  plan  was  that  of  the  establishment  of  lo<»l  boarda,  to 
be  elected  by  tlie  ratepayers,  subjected  to  a  smaller  or  greater  number  of  ^e^t^i^ 
tions.  The  fourth  suggestion  was  that  of  revised  conditions  to  be  appliefl  to  the 
existing  licensing  authorities,  as  now  vested  in  the  hands  of  the  magistratei.  He 
was  a  magistrate  in  a  southern  county,  and  he  had  seen  the  operation  of  tbe 
licensing  system.  He  could  bear  out  many  of  the  remarks  that  nad  been  made 
by  Mr.  fcsmyth  as  to  the  amount  of  care  which,  at  all  events  during  recent  yean, 
had  been  taken  by  several  magistrates  at  the  licensing  period  of  the  year.  He 
knew  one  case,  wliere  the  chairman  of  the  licensing  board  at  the  beginning  of 
last  year  visited  himself  every  house  upon  tlie  list,  which  occupied  him  nearly  «x 
weeks,  and  he  knew  another  case  where  a  small  committee  of  magistrates  were 
occupied  a  month  in  similar  business.  At  the  present  time,  whatever  the  facta 
were  at  some  distant  time,  the  magistrates  were  not  so  entirely  lax  an  authority  &» 
they  were  sometimes  assumed  to  be.  At  Manchester  the  magistrates  had  done  a 
great  deal  more,  luiving  entered  upon  a  very  detailed  investigation  of  the  homes  on 
the  list,  and  elTected  a  considerable  diminution  in  tbe  number.  When  itwai 
objected  that  under  the  present  licensing  authority  there  had  been  a  very  large  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  public-houses,  it  must  in'  fairness  be  borne  in  mind  that 
it  was  only  within  a  short  time  that  public  opinion  had  been  Tery  strongly  ex- 
preeaed  upon  the  lub^oct.    Whilst  tho  Eioiie  had  the  power  of  gianting  beer 


By  Samuel  FotliergilL  617 

loeiusM  or«r  the  heads  of  the  magistrates,  the  power  of  control  on  the  part  of  the 
Bench  was  exceedingly  limited ;  but  he  was  very  much  mistaken  if,  during  the  last 
wo  or  three  years  a  great  improrement  had  not  taken  place  in  the  way  the  law 
ras  administered.  He  inclined  to  think  that  the  general  result  of  the  discussion 
hat  day  pointed  to  an  improFement  of  the  existing  licensing  authority  in  the  hands 
I  the  magistrates  at  the  present  time,  rather  Umn  to  the  setting  up  of  any  new 
icence  authority. 

The  diacussion  ww  then  adjourned  to  the  following  day. 


Previous  to  the  discussion  being  resumed.  Papers  were  read  on  the 
abject,  of  which  the  following  are  abstracts : — 

Mr.  Samuel  Fothergiil's  was  on  "  What  Claim  have  the  Dealers 
a  Intoxicating  Liquors  to  Compensation  in  the  Event  of  Legislative 
/banges  Affecting  the  Profits  of  their  Trade?"  It  denied  that  the  liquor 
filers  had  any  title  whatever  to  compensation.    No  part  of  their  pro- 
erty  was  taken  from  them ;  they  were  deprived  of  no  right  ;  they 
rcre  simply  deprived  of  a  privilege  granted  conditionally  for  the  public 
enefit,  and  liable  at  any  time  to  be  withheld  from  them,  as  it  now 
ras  from  all  the  rest  of  the  community.     The  tenure  of  the  license 
ad  been  made  to  hold  only  from  year  to  year,  for  the  express  pur- 
086  of  enabling  the  Government  of  the  country  to  keep  a  very 
:ght  rein  upon  a  trade.      The  liquor  trade  was  an  acknowledged 
nisance,  only  tolerated  because  of  its  supposed  necessity  ;  and  it 
'ould  be  contrary  to  all  precedent  and  justice  to  offer  compensation 
)  the  perpetrator  of  a  nuisance.      The  conditions  on  which  licenses 
'ere  granted  and  the  liquor  traffic  tolerated  were  notoriously  not 
ilfilled.     But  the  trade  would  not  suffer  to  the  extent   that  was 
enerally  supposed.     Even  if  the  sale  of  strong  liquors  were  totally 
rohibited,  the  legitimate  trade  of  the  publican  and  the  hotel-keeper 
ould  remain  unimpaired.     Entertainment  and  refreshment  for  man 
id  beast  would  be  as  much  needed  as  ever,  nay,  more,  for  trade 
ould  be  immensely  improved,  travelling  for  pleasure  as  well  as  for 
isiness  would  increase  with  the  growing  prospenty,  the  hotels  and 
iblic-houses  would  flourish,    property  in  tliem  would  be  little  if 
lything  impaired  in    value,  and  a   disagreeable  and  demoralising 
isiness  would  be  transformed  into  one  that  was  thoroughly  respect- 
>le  and  eminently  useful  to  the  community.     But  further,  no  class 
'  the  community  would  be  so  much  benefited  by  the  proposed  change 
\  the  liquor-sellers  themselves. 

A  paper  was  then  read  by  Mr.  E.  K.  Fordham  (a  brewer),  on 
The  Amendment  of  the  Laws  relating  to  the  Sale  of  Intoxicating 
iquors."  He  gave  a  short  history  of  legislation  on  the  liquor 
affiCy  and  proceeded  to  point  out  remedies  for  existing  evils.  It 
Ml  generally  considered  that  public-houses  were  much  too  nume- 
m%  ;  but  he  was  not  certain  that  this  was  the  case.  It  was  a  very 
'eat  evil  to  have  a  number  of  persons  congregated  in  one  house  ;  it 
d  to  qaarrelling,  general  disorder,  and  inconvenience.    But  in  order 

test  whether  there  were  too  many  houses  or  not,  he  would  raise 
le  amount  of  license  to  a  minimum  of  ten  pounds.  This  would 
ose  Buch  houses  as  were  doing  a  very  small  trade  \  aad  UiQlr  be\a^ 


518  The  Licensing  Laws* 

closed  from  this  caase  would  prove  their  comparative  inutility,  and 
would  increase  the  business  of  those  that  remained,  and  in  this 
way  enable,  them  to  pay  the  higher  license  with  little  or  no  loss  to 
themselves  or  to  the  public.  This  plan  would  be  entirely  free  from 
any  suspicion  of  partiality  on  the  part  of  the  licensing  power.  In 
forming  a  new  licensing  board  he  would  constitute  the  Cbsinnan 
and  Vice-Chairman  of  the  Poor  Law  Board  members  in  addition  to 
the  magistrates  already  exercising  that  authority.  The  laws  with 
respect  to  public-houses  and  beershops  should  be  assimilated,  such 
unfair  distinctions  as  existed  at  present  reasonably  fostering  jealousy 
and  discontent.  He  would  close  all  country  houses  at  10  p.m.  for 
the  winter  six  months,  and  at  11  p.m.  for  the  summer  season,  and 
allow  them  to  open  at  4  a.m.,  with  certain  exceptions ;  but  these 
rules  wero  not  to  apply  to  lodgers  or  travellers.  The  hours  open  on 
Sunday  might  be  considerably  shortened  with  advantage.  Beferring 
to  the  malt  tax,  he  characterised  it  as  a  great  fiscal  absurditj, 
which  taxed  the  poorer  classes  Is,  per  quarter  more  for  the  malt  they 
consumed  than  those  wealthy  people  who  preferred  to  brew  their 
own  beer.  His  remedy  for  this  was  to  tax  the  malt  at  a  fixed  som 
of  25s.  or  30s,  per  quarter.  Tiie  latter  amount  would  yield  a  con- 
siderable revenue,  probably  20,000/.  over  the  amount  now  collected, 
and  beer  would  be  less  intoxicating.  This  was  what  was  done 
during  the  Crimean  war,  without  producing  any  inconvenience. 
This  sum,  and  the  increased  amount  of  larger  sums  paid  for  licenses, 
might  be  satisfactorily  applied  to  the  mitigation  of  local  taxation. 
With  respect  to  the  adulteration  of  beer,  he  thought  it  was  an  offence 
that  ought  to  be  punished  by  imprisonment,  such  pecuniary  punish- 
ments as  were  ordinarily  inflicted  being  quite  inadequate  to  deter 
those  who  might  make  a  large  profit  on  such  an  adulteration.  A  fine 
was  a  very  insufficient  punishment  to  those  who  administered  dele- 
terious and  noxious,  perhaps  absolutely  poisonous  drugs,  to  the  public. 
He  would  entirely  prohibit  licenses  being  granted  for  mu»c  and 
dancing,  such  places  being  the  very  hotbeds  of  every  kind  of  vice. 
Good  dramatic  entertainments  in  orderly  houses  would  promote 
virtue  and  morality,  if  they  were  produced  with  that  object  in  viev. 
With  respect  to  the  powers  of  granting  licenses  it  would  be  a  very 
ill-advised  step  to  intrust  such  powers  to  the  ratepayers  of  the  parish. 
It  was  impossible  to  conceive  a  more  fruitful  source  of  parochial 
animosity  than  a  local  tribunal  of  ignorant  and  interested  people. 

A  paper  by  the  Rev.  Dawson  Burns,  M.A.,  of  London,  was  read, 
''On  the  rights  of  Capital,  considered  in  respect  to  Legislation  on 
the  Liquor  Traffic."  It  stated  that  vested  interests  could  have  no 
legal  existence  under  a  system  which  rendered  the  right  of  sale 
conditional  upon  a  yearly  liceuae,  given  or  withheld  at  the  discre- 
tion of  a  majority  of  magistrates ;  and,  further,  that  no  equitable 
claim  for  continued  license  could  be  set  up,  unleas  it  be  previoaslj 
proved  that  the  commercial  interests  involved  were  in  unison  with 
those  great  public  interests  which  it  was  the  express  object  and  duty 
of  the  law  U)  \ii^\io\d«    Qt\Q  Vv.>i\xdt<^d  vadaeyeiitaeQ  milUoos  is  stat^ 


By  Rev.  Damon  Bums.  619 

3  the  capital  embarked  in  the  liquor  trades  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
'or  every  practical  purpose  nothing  could  bo  more  unwarranted  and 
lisleading  than  this  calculation  was.  Land  would  not  be  thrown 
at  of  cultivation,  nor  would  the  value  of  its  produce  be  lessened ; 
le  public  capability  of  bearing  taxation  would  not  be  impaired ; 
10  value  of  house  property  new  used  as  drinking  shops  would  not 
B  annihilated,  by  legislation  of  the  kind  so  alarmingly  deprecated  ; 
ad  as  these  effects  would  not  follow,  it  was  nothing  less  than  an 
ppeal  to  ignorance  and  credulity  to  represent  so  vast  an  amount  of 
ipital  as  dependent  for  its  existence  upon  the  liquor  traffic,  and  as 
Kposed  to  unjust  confiscation  by  legislation  of  a  restrictive  or 
ptionally  prohibitory  character.  Instead  of  a  loss  of  117,000,000/. 
f  capital,  the  probability  was  that  even  the  immediate  and  total 
onihilation  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  British  isles  would  not  carry 
dth  it  a  loss  of  capital  exceeding  the  value  of  37,000,000/. ;  and  as 

0  such  universal  and  instantaneous  annihilation  was  contemplated, 
le  hollow ness  of  the  objection  was  still  more  strikingly  evinced. 
»ut  the  greatest  blot  upon  all  such  estimates  was  the  assumption 
lat  capital  so  employed  constituted,  and  its  turning  produced,  a  sub- 
tantial  addition,  without  drawback,  to  the  wealth  of  the  community; 
n  assumption  which  would  be  true  only  if  the  capital  were  used 
ither  productively,  or  in  such  a  manner  as  to  aid  the  physical  and 
loral  well-being  of  the  country.  But  the  argument  in  support  of 
lis  claim  was  not  simply  insufficient ;  the  claim  itself  must  cease  to 
ave  any  force  in  reason  and  equity,  if  it  be  shown  that  the  use  of 
apital  in  the  liquor  traffic  inevitably  tended,  and  on  the  largest 
cale,  to  the  diminution  and  destruction  of  national  wealth.  No  use 
f  capital  could  be  justified,  or  should  be  tolerated,  which  in- 
olved  a  waste  of  capital  greater  than  itself,  or  which  perverted  and 
epraved  those  social  conditions  upon  whose  health  and  vigour  the 
ational  prosperity  depended.  How  is  it,  then,  with  the  capital 
ivested  in  the  liquor  traffic  ?  By  the  drinking  it  encouraged  it 
ras  the  direct  cause  of  losses  to  employers  and  to  workmen's  wages, 
le  destruction  of  property  on  sea  and  land,  by  crime  and  accident ; 

;  added  to  the  public  and  private  charges  of  pauperism,  sickness, 
isanity,  and  premature  death ;  and  it  increased  the  annual  cost  of 
rime.  These  annual  losses  amounted  to  73,000,000/.  sterling, 
>  which  must  be  added,  on  a  non-teetotal  estimate,  a  waste  of 
0,000,000/.  yearly  on  useless  and  dangerous  drinking,  likewise  the 
)S8  of  the  productive  labour  of  the  persons  engaged  in  the  traffic 
self,  or  so  much  of  it  as,  by  general  consent,  is  excessive  ;  so  that 
y  means  of  the  liquor  traffic  this  country  loses  every  year  five  or 
Ix  times  the  value  of  the  capital  which  that  traffic  represents. 

A  paper  was  next  read  '^  On  the  Extraordinary  Decrease  of  Crime 

1  Lnton,  Bedfordshire,  and  the  action  which  has  produced  it,*'  by  the 
tev.  Hugh  Smtth,  M.A.,  Vicar  of  Houghton  Kegis.  The  paper 
rst  described  the  decrease  of  crime  in  Luton,  a  town  containing 
1,000  inhabitants,  showing  that  in  the  last  two  years  serious  crime 
Ad  been  r?du^  to  one-fo\irtih  of  ite  fonner  amount,  and  the  whole 


520  Tlie  lAcenBing  Latcs. 

of  the  oiTcnces  rcdaced  to  one-half.  It  attribnted  this  to  the  enforce- 
ment  by  the  magistrates  and  poliee  of  powers  given  to  them  under 
the  Reformatory,  Juvenile  Offenders,  Habitual  Criroinala,  and 
Licensing  Amendment  Acts,  particularly  to  the  suppression  of  a 
large  number  of  badly  conducted  public-houses  to  the  extent  of  ons- 
fifth  of  the  whole  number  of  public-houses.  The  rev.  genUeman 
described  the  effect  produced  on  the  criminal  class  on  their  gradnil 
withdrawal  from  criminal  pursuits,  and  the]general!y  benefioiiU  eflfeol 
on  the  morality  of  the  town  of  Luton. 


PISCUSSIOK. 

Mr.  G.  W.  IlARTTiros  dwelt  upon  the  importaTioe  of  reducing  the  numbfr  of 
houses  at  which  liquor  was  sold.  He  wm  yery  much  Btruck,  some  jmn  ago,  vitk 
n  remark  mode  in  that  Congtem  by  Mr.  Baker,  who  said  that  in  the  rural  d»- 
tricts  eTorything  depended  upon  the  number ;  for  although  the  labouring  man  nii^fat 
be  able  Iotxim  two  or  three  public-houses,  he  never  paised  seTcn  or  eight.  Intbt 
lay  the  wnole  pith  of  the  question.  Those  who  liad  charge  of  the  liceonng 
authority  <»f  this  country  ought  not  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  in  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  temptation  was  the  amount  of  yice.  The  Bench  on  which  he  had 
the  honour  to  sit  had  kept  that  steadily  in  yiew,  and  within  the  last  year  or 
eighteen  months  they  had  aiminished  the  number  of  beer-houses  largely  and  ^ 
number  of  public-houses  plightly  in  the  district  oyer  which  they  had  anthonhr. 
There  wns  another  important,  point,  although,  perhaps,  oomparatiyely  it  migot 
seem  triflinfir — he  referred  to  the  granting  of  occasional  liceneev.  A  permanent 
license  could  only  he  granted  by  justices  in  special  sessions,  but  an  ooeaaooai 
license  might  be  granted  by  an  individual  magistrate,  sitting  even  in  his  own  rtndj 
with  no  one  present  but  tlie  applicant.  Of  the  eyil  reeulting  from  this  state  of 
the  law,  Mr.  Hosting  gave  an  instance  from  his  own  knowledge.  There  wai 
another  matter  to  which  ne,  as  a  magistrate,  might  allude.  A  grpot  daal  waiaid 
yesterday  in  this  section  about  the  admirable  way  in  which  justices  did  their  duty 
as  the  lieensine  authority.  He  said  plainly  thathe  did  not  think  they  alwaTudia 
their  duty,  and  that  a  great  deal  of  puUic  pressure  ought  to  be  brought  to  bnr 
upon  tJiem»  At  a  lat^  meeting  at  Worcester  on  the  licensing  question,  a  rtatement 
was  made  that  the  judicial  statistics  showed  there  were  40(K)  houses  in  thii*  ooantry 
which  were  the  habitual  resort  of  thieyes  and  bad  characters  of  both  ktr.  It 
was  said  that,  therefore,  fresh  legislation  with  more  stringent  police  powers  wm 
required.  He  renlied  that  no  law  was  required  in  the  matter,  for  there  was  notODS 
of  the  licenses  which  might  not  haye  been  withdrawn  by  the  magistrates.  If  the 
judicial  statistics  were  compiled  by  independent  and  trustworthy  authoriUai, 
without  bias,  it  was  a  oonclusiye  proof  that  a  great  many  benches  of  magittntii 
did  not  do  their  duty.  The  magistrates  in  muiy  cases  would  reiAj — m  to  a 
certain  extent  they  would  be  entitloi  to  reply — *'  We  do  not  know  all  these  thingi; 
they  are  not  brought  to  our  knowledge."  Why  was  that  f  Because  there  vai 
another  authority  that  did  not  always  do  its  duty  in  these  matters,  and  tinl 
was  the  police.  He  was  one  of  those  who  belieyed  tnat  the  police  throughout  the 
country  did  their  duty  upon  the  whole  remarkably  well.  He  bad  great  confidoiee 
in  them  in  most  matters,  but  he  had  yery  little  confidence  in  them  in  regard  to 
public-houses  and  beer-houses.  He  had  reason  to  belieye  from  facta  which  hid 
come  under  his  own  cognisance  that  there  was  a  reprehensible  amount  of  eon- 
niTance  on  the  part  of  the  police.  He  then  contended  that  it  was  the  duty  of  ths 
magistrates  to  look  after  the  police  with  more  care  and  yigour,  and  that  thoie 
conyictcd  of  oonniyance  with  the  publicans  should  be  disobarged  from  the  force. 
He  also  thought  that  some  check  should  be  placed  upon  the  s^in^  of  intozioatini 
liquors  of  any  kind  to  children  under  a  certain  age.  He  belieyed  there  wu 
nothing  more  lamentable  in  the  present  day  than  the  want  of  discipline  in  the 
bringing  up  of  children.  It  was  a  weakness  from  which  this  country  in  future 
generations  might  lamentably  suffer.  It  ought  to  be  made  a  criminal*'  offence  to 
supply  children  with  intozioaung  drinks.    The  hours,  too,  for  cloJ>ing  the  booNi 


ep©  0n9oeptrblo  of  miioli  amendment,  and  as  to  Sunday,  if  the  Bellinff  of  drink 
u  to  be  permitted  on  the  daj,  the  drinking  of  it  on  the  premises  should  be  pro- 
bited. 

Mr.  WnrrwELL  (Kendal)  said  that  the  subject,  which  appeared  of  greater  practical 
iportance  than  its  name  might  at  first  suggest-,  was  that  of  compensation.  The 
ftciillT  which  that  was  suppowd  to  produce,  owing  to  the  immense  amount  which 
Mild  be  required,  was  looked  upon  as  a  great  hindrance  to  the  reduction  of 
e  number  of  publio-houses  or  their  entire  abolition.  The  country,  and  the 
ouse  of  Commons  especially,  were  very  much  guided  by  what  had  been  done  by 
ir  forefathers.  There  was  one  question  which  was  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
[uor  traffic.  Eighty  years  ago  the  question  of  the  slave  trade  between  Africa  and 
ir  colonies  began  to  excit-e  great  attention,  and  very  soon  not  only  was  Wilber- 
rc©  deeply  interested  in  it,  but  he  got  Mr.  Pitt  to  examine  the  question,  and  he 
IS  at  once  convinced  that  the  trade  should  be  abolished.  Immediately  a  great  cry 
la  raised  throughout  the  country.  It  was  asserted  that  the  country  had  long 
itronised  the  slave  trade,  and  supported  it  in  various  ways,  and  that  it  was  a 
irvery  for  our  peamon,  and  a  grent  benoSt  to  the  country.  Above  all,  it  was  said 
lat  if  the  trade  were  abolished  compensation  mutit  be  granted.  Charles  James 
OK  denied  that  compensation  ought  to  be  granted,  contending  that  although 
arliament  might  encourage  a  particular  trade  as  a  matter  of  policy,  it  by  no 
leans  bound  i^f  either  to  carry  it  on,  or  to  compensate  those  who  would  lose 
f  its  abolition.  The  Government  had  done  every  tiling  it  possibly  could  to  pre- 
snt  the  publican  having  any  claim  on  the  public.  The  licenw  was  not  granted 
uriog  the  good  conduct  of  a  publican,  but  only  from  year  to  year ;  and,  therefore, 
t  the  end  of  each  year  all  claim  to  carry  on  his  business  vanished,  ^o  compensa- 
ioQ  was  granted  on  the  abolition  of  the  corn  laws  to  the  farmers,  who,  on  the 
«lief  that  com  would  maintain  it«  high  price,  had  ppent  thousands  of  pounds  in 
^claiming  land  for  the  purpof>o  of  growing  more  com.  In  Scotland  and  the  Isle 
)f  Man  the  pale  of  drink  on  Sunday  was  prohibited,  and  t)ie  law  was  successfully 
arried  out  there.  Such  a  law  was  in  op«>ration  in  Australia,  where  it  was  foun^ 
.hat  it  was  better  to  close  public-houses  entirelv  on  the  Sabbath-day.  It  might  be 
idnd  whether  we  were  prepared  for  such  a  cuango,  and  what  was  the  feeling  of 
irorking  men  in  regard  to  the  proposition.  There  was,  perhaps,  hardly  a  more 
representative  town  than  that  of  Crewe.  It  contained  2951  houses.  Lost  Easter 
itvBs  canvassed  to  ascertain  whether  the  inhabitants  were  in  favour  of  closing 
the  whole  day,  when  203<^  voted  in  favour  of  the  proposition,  357  against,  163 
irers  neutral,  and  395  refused  to  answer  or  were  not  at  home.  In  Goole  there 
iriB  a  similar  canvas  with  equally  satisfactory  results.  In  most  of  the  centres  of 
indnstry  there  was  the  pame  feeling,  that  Sunday  should  bo  free  from  temptation. 

Mr.  Bremxeb  (Manchester)  observed  that  it*  they  could  agree  at  the  end  of  the 
diieussion  upon  certain  important  or  salient  points,  which  should  be  inserted  in 
the  Bill  of  next  year,  they  would  do  a  great  work.  Could  thny  agree  upon  some 
plan  for  reducing  the  number  of  houses  ?  The  country  was  tu  blame  for  the 
prennt  state  of  things,  and  the  misfortunes  in  which  the  licensing  laws  had 
uuided  us.  You  could  not  compare  the  position  of  the  liquor  trade  with  coaches 
dnren  off  the  road,  because  no  law  was  passed  to  the  effect  that  coach  proprietors 
rifoold  not  continue  to  run  their  vehicles  as  before.  Now,  it  was  proposed  to  say 
to  the  publican,  "  You  shall  no  longer  continue  your  trade."  One  scheme  before 
the  country  was  that  the  public-houses  shoula  be  reduced  to  1  in  5CN)  of  the 
population,  and  that  an  additional  license  duty  should  be  imposed  upon  the  re- 
maining houses  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  funds  to  compensate  the  possessors 
of  those  houses  from  which  the  licenses  were  removed.  If  we  proclaimed  to 
the  country  that  we  intended  to  entirely  uproot  the  system,  we  should  arouse  a 
reiy  dangerous  opposition.  A  little  generalship  was  required,  and  we  must  not 
DnMaleuUte  the  strength  of  the  foe.  The  Wine  and  Beer-house  Act  of  1809  had 
been  carried  out  with  great  diligence  in  Manchester,  the  result  being  that  whereas 
then  were  about  2400  beer-houses  when  the  Act  came  into  operation,  within  the 
diort  rpaoe  of  two  years  that  number  was  reduced  by  20  per  cent.  If  that  rate  of 
radoction  were  to  go  on  the  number  would  be  very  largely  diminished  in  tho 
xione  of  time;  and  it  woidd  be  far  better  to  bo  content  with  doing  that  than 
:o  take  any  direct  method  of  reducing  the  houses,  for  in  that  way  tlie  houses 
irmld  be  reduced  without  anyoppositiqn  being  provoked,    It  was  n\oet  im^ttaxvt; 


522  Tlie  Licensing  Laws. 

that  there  should  bo  immediate  legislation.  He  desired  to  see  the  houMt  doNd 
fa\\  Sunday,  but  Le  did  not  think  tbs  House  of  Commons  would  agree  to  it  Thcj 
should  then  advocate  the  prohibition  of  consumption  of  liquor  on  the  prenuMiy 
and  the  opening  of  tlio  houses  at  such  times  as  would  enable  the  working  man  to  git 
beer  for  his  dinner  and  supper  on  Sundays.  In  re^;ard  to  adulteration,  he  bsd 
no  words  of  indignation  strong  enough  to  express  his  feeling  towards  the  asa 
who  poisoned  the  national  drink  of  the  working  men.  Ho  held  that  adultenUoQ 
should  bo  considered  as  a  felony.  The  justices  would  rer^  often  feel  dispossd  to 
punish  those  who  broke  the  law  if  there  were  some  modifloation  of  the  punirii- 
nicnt  which  they  coidd  inflict,  so  that  they  might  order  a  house,  where  dninkoi* 
ncss  was  encoura£;cd,  to  bo  closed  one  day  out  of  six.  This  procedure  would 
frighten  the  publican,  and  make  him  conduct  his  house  better. 

The  Key.  Hknky  Solly  (London)  commented  upon  tlie  influence  that  wm 
brought  to  bear  upim  the  magistrates  in  regard  to  the  granting  of  licenses.  Ai  to 
coni})cnsation,  ho  thought  the  argument  just  mentioned  in  regard  to  coach  pro- 

f)riet4)rs  and  inns  a  very  strong  one.  It  had  been  said  tluit  they  were  not  pio> 
lihitod  running  the  coaches,  but  the  result  was  the  same.  The  aboUtion  of  sUtctj 
and  the  coiupoiiMation  then  granted — which  ought  rather  to  haTe  gone  to  the  lUfM 
than  to  the  pianterH — constituted,  no  doubt,  a  precedent  Tery  much  in  favour  of 
tho  publicans.  Ho  did  not  think  sufficient  reference  had  been  made  in  the  dcbsb 
to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Whitbread  in  the  last  session  succeeded  in  getting  a  li^ 
body  of  t.ho  leading  brewers,  together  with  many  publicans,  to  agree  to  oompeoaitioii 
being  raised,  not  from  the  public,  but  from  the  holders  of  licenses. 

Mr.  Alderman  Tatham  (Li'cds)  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  ma^str&tes, both 
in  Brewster  and  Qiuirtor  Sessions  did  not  efiiciently  discharge  their  duty.  Ibi 
influence  of  tho  publicans  had  been  wonderfully  over-estimated,  and  as  to  thi 
charge  of  not  projwrly  supporting  the  Government  during  the  last  sesiioD,  «• 
could  not  arouso  enthusiiiHm  for  a  measure  which  the  people  felt  itisfied  would 
bo  a  failure.     He  coiicludod  bv  nioving : — 

*'Thnt  this  {Section  rcHpee'tfully  requests  tho  Council  of  the  National  Alio- 
elation  for  the  Promotion  of  Social  Science  to  continue  their  labours  to  lid 
in  stvuring  from  tho  Government  and  Parliament  s  comprehensive  mesiue 
dealing  with  the  bnlo  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  in  view  of  the  pauperiun  snd 
crimes  springing  fnim  intemperance  and  tho  consequent  taxation  affecting  the 
public  generuUy,  the  Section  trusts  that  in  any  Act  which  may  be  passed  a  pro* 
vinion  will  be  inserted  rendering  it  illegal  for  tlio  Excise,  or  any  uoensmg  autluttitj, 
to  force  liipior  shops  into  any  parish  or  district  against  the  will  of  the  inhabitinti" 

Mr.  Kai'Kk  seconded  tliu  resolution.  As  far  as  he  could  judge  of  tho  tons  d 
the  Section  it  ran  clearly  up  to  that  point,  whatever  else  it  might  cover.  He 
attached  considerable  im])ortanco  to  the  action  of  the  Councu,  for  be  bad 
known  in.stances  when  its  proceedings  had  exercised  considerable  infloenoe  oi 
Parliiiment.  Ho  did  not  winh,  therefore,  that  the  discussion  should  close  to^j 
without  Hpiriiic  reeommembtions  to  the  Council  in  regard  to  the  questions  befon 
tli<'  b'edion.  It  was  tho  general  opinion  that  whatever  measure  the  Govsmment 
might  introduce  it  should  c<)ntain  a  provision  against  forcing  public-houses  into 
neigiibourh(XKls  where  the  public  did  not  want  them.  He  conoluded  \fj  cdling 
attention  to  tho  eleven  recommendations  of  the  Lower  Houee  of  the  Conroestioo 
of  Canterbury,  which  ho  said  were  of  ^reat  value. 

Mr.  G.  Ward  said :  As  to  tho  question  of  compensation,  he  thought  there  were 
two  Hides.  Ho  wanted  to  know  why  Uie  persons  who  had  suffered  an  immenie 
amount  of  injury  through  the  depreciation  of  their  property,  either  in  letting  or 
selling,  on  account  of  the  proximity  of  public-houses  and  beer-houMii  should  not 
ask  f()r  compensation.  He  could  point  to  neighbourhoods  when  tlie  limple  in- 
troduction of  one  license  had  depreciated  tho  value  of  property  from  10  to  15  per 
cent. 

Mr.  HiBBERT,  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Mnnwobuietta,  aud  ha  had  slwip 
found  tliat  breweries,  distilleries,  and  liquor  shops  of  every  BorCi  woAed  only  rou 
to  tho  bei>t  interest^}  of  the  people.  The  lioenaing  system  had  been  tned  in 
Aniericn,  and  all  efforts  at  regulation  luid  been  misenble  failures.  Oliver  EunM^ 
ono  of  the  lirst  business  men  in  America,  in  his  sworn  testimony  before  tbe 
Legislature  Committee  in  18(57,  said,  *<  We  suffered  much  more  under  the  old 
lioeoie  Uw  thfta  undor  the  prohibitory  kW.    Wo  hmn  now  tmj  littUfoU  onde^ 


DxoallingifoT  the  Lower  Clae^.  523 

pnhibiiion,  and  no  open  eale  or  drunkenness  in  our  village.  Under  the  old 
Ifltnse  law  one  half  of  the  people  were  drunkards.  The  expenses  for  pauperism 
we  Terj  nearly  double  what  thej  were  now.^  This  was  only  a  specimen  page 
<d.  Uie  testimony  respecting  the  old  licensing  system  which  was  much  like  the 
lyitom  now  existing  in  England.  He  was  prepared  to  prore  from  official  docu- 
Mnts  that  prohibition  in  New  England  had  been  a  magnificent  success.  As  to 
•ompensation,  he  never  heard  of  such  a  thing  in  his  country.  The  British  home 
Hi  the  oldest  Tested  interest,  and  it  ought  to  be  protectea  whatever  became  of 
tiie  vested  interests  of  the  liquor  traffic. 

Dr.  Lebs,  in  r^aid  to  the  matter  of  compensation,  said  it  ought  to  be  referred 
to  the  lawyers,  li  was  not  a  subject  to  be  discussed  either  there  or  in  Parliament. 
Ihere  was  a  law  which  said  that  any  man  was  entitled  to  compensation  for  the 
nmoval  of  property  or  violation  of  contract.  What  contract  had  thoy  broken — 
lAat  property  hod  they  taken?  He  would  not  argue  the  moral  question. 
Irarybody  was  convincea  that  the  time  had  come  when  something  must  bo  done. 
Whatever  was  given  to  the  publicans,  who  might  be  destroyed  by  the  withdrawal 
cf  thair  licence,  should  be  raised  from  the  houses  which  remained. 

Xr.  SaLWAT  had  hoped  that  he  would  have  heard  suggestions  from  various 
Hntlemen  as  to  the  points  to  be  brought  before  Parliament.  He  wished  to  say 
iak  there  woald  be  laid  on  the  table  of  the  House  of  Commons  immediately  the 
SooM  resumed  a  Bill  for  amending  the  Taws  relating  to  the  liquor  traffic ;  and  that 
3S11,  he  ventured  to  say,  was  a  wide  and  comprehensive  Bill. 

The  Chairman  (Mr.  Jowitt)  said  he  thought  the  members  were  quite  agreed  on 
evieral  heads,  namely,  that  the  number  of  public-houses  should  be  diminished  to 
J  »i*^^m"»n  varying  from  1  to  500  or  ICKX)  of  the  population ;  that  the  hours 
Inring  which  the  houses  were  open  should  be  shortened,  especially  on  the  Sunday  ; 
be  prohibition  of  the  sole  of  dnnk  to  young  children  under  sixteen  years  of  age,  to 
otozxcated  people,  and  in  singing  and  dancing  saloons ;  and  he  thought  that  the 
Hvponderance  of  opinion  was  in  favour  of  no  compensation.  Last^,  he  hoped 
ha  importance  of  keeping  alive  the  Suspensory  Bill  until  a  comprehensive  measure 
ltd  heen  passed  would  be  put  prominently  forward. 

The  Bev.  S.  A.  Stkixtual  wished  to  suggest  one  or  two  additional  alterations 
n  the  resolution,  which  he  had  re-written  as  follows : — 

"This  Section  respectfully  requests  the  Council  of  the  Association  for  the 
Promotion  of  Social  Science  to  continue  their  labours  to  aid  in  securing  from 
he  Government  and  Parliament  a  comprehensive  measure,  dealing  with  the  sale 
sf  intoxicating  liauors ;  and  in  view  of  the  pauperism  and  crime  springing  from 
intemperance,  ana  the  consequent  taxation  affecting  the  public  generally,  the  Section 
mats  that  in  any  Act  that  may  be  passed,  provisions  shall  be  inserted  for  reducing 
ihe  number  of  nouses  and  snertening  the  hours  of  sale,  especially  on  Sunday, 
wparating  the  sale  of  drink  from  all  places  of  amusement,  and  rendering  it  illegal 
Tor  the  Excise  or  any  licensing  authority  to  force  liquor  shops  into  any  parish  or 
district  against  the  will  of  the  inhabitants." 

Hr.  Tatham  agreed  to  the  amended  resolution. 

Mr.  Baper,  objecting  to  the  alterations  in  the  resolution,  declined  to  second  it. 

The  Bev.  S.  A.  Steinthal  thereupon  seconded  the  resolution,  which  was  put 
andtgreed  to. 

DWELLINGS   FOB   THE   LOWEB  CLASSES.* 

Ja  ii  desirable  that  the  State  or  Municipality  should  assist  in  pro- 
vidinff  Improved  Dwellings  for  the  Loioer  Classes  ;  andy  if  so, 
to  what  extent  and  in  what  way  f    By  James  Hole. 

rE  problem  of  how  to  supply  increased  dwelling  accommodation  for 
the  working  classes,  and  to  improve  its  quality,  is  one  of  the  most 
important^  and  yet  the  most  difficult,  that  can  be  submitted  to  the  con- 

«  ISoe  2>tifiM0^ofM,  1656,  p.  583 ;  1660,  pp.  720, 766;  1866^  p.  731. 


524  Dtoellhiffs  for  the  Loicer  ClasBis* 

Bidcratlon  of  practical  philanthropiats.  Its  importance  arises  from 
the  fact  that  a  healthy  and  agreeable  homo  is  an  essential  part  of  all 
measures  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  labouring  classes  and  to 
elevate  them  socially.  Of  all  the  evils  to  which  the  working  man  is 
subjected,  that  from  which  he  suffers  most,  and  yet  which  is  least  under 
his  control,  is  the  want  of  proper  house  accommodation.  The  rapid 
growth  of  the  manufacturing  and  commercial  industry  of  the  countrj, 
aggregating  large  masses  of  population  faster  than  the  social  and 
sanitary  conditions  necessary  to  render  that  aggregation  desirtble 
can  arise ;  the  neglected  education  of  the  people  delayed  a  whole 
generation  at  a  most  critical  period,  in  defereuce  to  the  outcry  of 
sectarian  prejudice ;  the  immense  facilities  for  the  consumption  of 
intoxicating  liquors,  absorbing  a  large  part  of  the  wages  fund,  and 
diverting  from  legitimate  expenditure  vast  sums  into  channels  thit 
degraded  tlio  working  man,  and  rendered  him  regardless  of  the 
decencies  of  home  ;  those  causes  united  have  brought  about  a  state 
of  things  in  our  largo  towns  frightful  to  contemplate.  Whole 
districts  may  be  found  whore  healthy  existence  seems  simply 
impossible. 

The  ordinary  laws  of  supply  and  demand  utterly  fail  in  providing 
dwellings  that  would  satisfy  even  the  lowest  estimate  of  what  ii 
needed  for  housinjij  our  population.  On  the  other  hand,  so  great  ii 
the  magnitude  cf  the  evil  to  be  remedied,  as  to  be  far  beyond  the 
resources  of  or«linary  or  even  extraordinary  philauihropy.  All  thai 
has  been  done  by  all  the  philanthropic  associations,  and  by  the  nohle 
contributions  of  tho  Baroness  Burdett  Coutts  and  Mr.  Peabody, 
when  measured  by  the  necessities  uf  the  case,  are  like  drops  in  the 
ocean. 

The  difficulty  is  further  enhance<l  by  the  fact  that  all  theie 
philanthropic  interventions,  with  one  conspicuous  exception  to  which 
we  will  refer  dirccily,  fail  in  the  one  cardinal  condition  of  repaying 
a  fair  return  for  the  capital  invested,  that  consequently  on  ihe  one 
hand  there  is  no  temptation  to  repeat  them,  and  on  the  other,  by 
partaking  of  tho  charimble  character,  they  impair  the  feeling  oif 
indopendence  in  the  minds  of  those  benefited,  whereas  it  ought  to  be 
of  primary  importance  that  those  who  rent  improved  dwellingi 
should  know  that  they  are  paying  a  fair  return  for  what  they 
receive,  and  that  the  character  of  an  almshouse  in  no  respect 
pertains  to  their  dwellings. 

It  is  in  this  view  that  building  societies,  though  utterly  unable 
to  cope  with  the  emergencies  of  the  case,  are  so  desirable.  By  mbvoz 
Ihe  surplus  savings  of  those  who  do  not  want  to  build,  as  a  loan  fund 
to  those  who  do,  they  have  enabled  thousands  of  the  sap^or 
portion  of  the  artizan  class  to  become  house  owners.  They  have 
cultivated  their  ha  bits  of  economy,  raised  their  moral  tone,  and 
fostered  in  them  a  spiiit  of  independence.  As,  however,  such 
societies  could  not  advance  money  to  the  full  value  of  ihe  property, 
they  can  OQly  reach  that  unfortunately  very  limited  portion  of  the 
artizan  class  ^'ho  possess  the  margin  of  capital  necessary  to  secure 
the  ^yanpci.     It  ma^  ^Ipjv  h<^  added^  tk^t^  Ibe  societies  in  the 


By  James  itole.  b*2h 

ropolis,  while  nominally  charging  only  5  per  cent,  for  the  use  of 
iUd,  practically  raise  it  to  6  or  7  per  cent,  by  the  premiums 
rged  on  shares  to  borrowing  members, — a  rate  too  high  to  render 
iifficiently  advantageous  to  borrow. 

[lie  utter  inadequacy  of  all  existing  means  to  remedy  the  evils 
ing  from  deficient  and  inferior  dwellings  induced  the  Legislature 
pass  '*  An  Act  to  encourage  the  Establishment  of  Lodging 
uses  for  the  Labouring  Classes"  (14  <&  15  Vict.  c.  34)  in  1851.  This 
.  gave  powers  to  the  various  local  authorities  to  erect  lodgint; 
ises,  and  even  **  to  fit  up,  furnish,  and  supply  the  same  with  all 
uisite  furniture,  fittings,  and  conveniences."  Our  Legislature 
ing  passed  the  Act,  considered  they  had  done  with  the  matter. 
th  one  exception  (Huddersfield)  the  Act  has  remained  a  dead 
er.  Fifteen  years  laterthey  again  woke  up  ai^d  passed  an  additional 
^  '<The  Labouring  Classes  Dwelling  Houses  Act,  1866."  This 
t  gave  power  to  the  Public  Works  Loan  Commissioners  to  lend 
ital  for  this  purpose  at  4  per  cent.,  equal  in  extent  to  the  funds 
sloyed  by  the  borrower.  The  capital  is  repayable  in  forty  years, 
i  a  payment  of  5^  \s,  per  cent,  will  clear  off  the  liability  in  that 
e. 

!t  appears  to  us  that  the  temptation  thus  offered  is  not  sufficient 
induce  either  capitalists,  benevolent  societies,  or  municipalities  to 
e  up  the  matter.  For  a  purpose  so  important  4  per  cent,  is 
idlessly  high.  The  working  classes  themselves  lend  the  Govern  < 
Dt  a  vast  sum  at  2^  and  3  per  cent,  through  the  Post  Office  and 
inary  savings  banks.*  Is  it  unreasonable  to  ask  for  some  of  it 
ik  at  a  slightly  increased  rate  for  management,  backed  by  so  good 
:uarantee  as  the  dwellings  themselves?  5/.  per  year  would  repay 
ii  principal  and  interest  of  100/.  at  3^  per  cent,  in  less  than 
rty-five  years.  The  Grovernmeut  could  without  loss  to  the  State 
d  capital  at  that  rate. 

Dn  the  other  hand  it  seems  an  unreasonable  limitation  to  restrict 
)  advance  of  the  Government  loan  to  one-half  the  total  capital 
ployed.  An  ordinary  building  society  advances  three-fourths, 
ae  of  them  four-fifths,  and  some  even  the  whole  cost  of  tho 
elling- house  to  the  private  borrower,  and  they  are  tolerably  safe 
BO  doing,  because  as  the  loan  is  in  the  constant  process  of  being 
Mid  from  the  first  moment  of  the  advance,  the  risk  is  constantly 
dinishiug. 

[t  appears  to  us  that  if  capital  were  lent,  say  five-sixths  of  the 
onut,  and  at  3^  per  cent.,  through  the  municipal  bodies  of  each 
«e  where  the  iacts  showed  a  decided  deficiency  of  proper  dwelling 
K>mmodatiou,  the  worst  evils  would  speedily  be  remedied.  The 
al  municipal  authorities  are  the  best  acquainted  with  the  neccs- 
ies  of  their  own  district.     A  corporation  would  have  to  satisfy 

The  capital  invested  in  the  Savings  Banks  in  1870  was  as  follows : — 
Po«t  Office  Sayings  Banks  ...  ...      £15,099,104 

Savings  Banks  under  Triistees     ...  ...        37,917;^23 

Total       i;j3,016,427 


526  DtoeUtngs  far  the  Lower  Ctaesei. 

itoeir,  and  also  the  central  goyernment,  that  sach  a  neceeutj  eziBtad, 
and  ihe  plans  would  necessarily  have  to  reoeiTe  the  approTid  of  both 
authorities.  Such  assistance,  while  extended  to  monicipal  antbori- 
tie«,  should  not  be  restricted  to  them,  but  offered  to  all  public  bote 
able  to  show  that  thej  would  rightly  employ  the  fanda. 

If  the  capital  adranced  is  cheap,  there  is  the  best  possible  ehiBCi 
of  supplying  the  dwellings  erected  therewith  at  a  moderate  rental 
In  other  words,  if  cheap  capital  will  not  supply  cheap  houset,  no 
other  process  will.  Even  with  this  advantage,  when  it  is  tak« 
into  consideration  that  the  rent  charged  must  not  only  repsj 
the  interest  but  also  such  a  sum  as  will  ultimately  repay  the  capital 
advanced,  repairs,  collections,  &c,,  it  will  be  found  that  although 
houses  might  be  brought  within  the  reach  of  even  very  low-wa§^ 
artizans,  they  would  not  compete  unduly  with  ordinary  priTsti 
enterprize.  They  would  rather  make  good  its  deficiencies  than 
supersede  it. 

I  said  that  among  the  philanthropic  experiments  which  have  been 
devised  to  improve  the  dwellings  of  the  people,  there  was  one  oob* 
spicuous  by  its  deviation  from  the  ordinary  principles  on  which  lodi 
philanthropic  experiments  are  founded.  I  allude  to  the  '^  Improfed 
Industrial  Dwellings  Company,  Limited,"  founded  by  Sir  Sidoej  E 
Waterlow.  This  society  has  availed  itself  of  the  Act  of  1866,  and 
has  thereby  attained  a  degree  of  success  which  indicates  the  path 
which,  followed  and  expanded,  will  do  much  to  solve  the  difficultiei 
of  this  great  question. 

The  standard  of  the  dwelling  must  not  be  lowered.  Whether 
the  block  system  adopted  by  this  society  be  followed,  as  most  avail- 
able in  dense  populations,  or  the  cottage  system,  which  is  practicable 
wherever  railway  companies  will  give  the  needful  facilities  of  cheap 
trainH,  the  dwellings  should  be  good.  To  use  the  language  of  a 
report  issued  by  the  society  just  referred  to : — 

**  The  desideratum  is  to  provide,  if  possible,  a  home  which  in  every 
way  tends  to  increase  the  self-respect  of  its  occupants,  and  to  foster 
a  pride  in  the  appearance  of  Uie  place,  a  feeling  which  finds  ex- 
pression in  the  cleanly  appearance  of  the  home  itself,  and  adorns  it 
sometimes  with  flowers  and  shrubs.  The  next  thing  is,  that  every 
tenant  must  have  complete  and  exclusive  use  of  idl  the  essential 
acccHsories  to  a  home,  such  as  water  supply,  sink,  copper,  dust-shoot, 
coal  place,  and  water  closet.  It  is  certainly  preferable  to  provids 
these  appendages  to  every  dwelling,  even  though  it  may  add  to  the 
cost  of  the  building,  as  the  tenants  gladly  pay  higher  rents  for  (he 
l)etter  accommodation.  The  homes  of  workmen  cannot  be  rendered 
too  attractive,  complete,  and  comfortable,  while  experience  shows 
that  the  working  classes  gladly  welcome  and  warmly  appreciate  the 
efforts  made  to  obviate  the  evils,  and  improve  the  condition  of  their 
dwellings.  What  the  working  people  desire  is,  that  homes  shall  be 
provided  which  suit  the  means  and  meet  the  requirements  of  an 
English  workman's  family, — a  homo  which  shall  present  an  appear- 
ance not  unattractive,  and  the  occupation  of  which  shall  not  engender 
a  feeling  of  dependence^  but  shall  rather  stimulate  aelf-reliance,  by 


By  Jamei  Hole*  527 

die  consciovisness  that  a  fair  market  price  is  paid  for  the  additional 
MOiforts  which  are  enjoyed."* 

Aceording  to  the  last  report  of  the  Company  (11th  August,  1871) 
tta  total  expenditure  on  Capital  Account  was  195,779/.9  of  which 
62,000/.  had  been  lent  by  the  Public  Loan  Commissioners.  Tho 
inmber  of  completed  tenements  was  988  and  those  in  progress  228, 
ir  a  total  of  1216.  A  dividend  of  5  per  cent,  has  been  regularly 
lirided  among  the  shareholders  ;  but  the  actual  receipts  over  expen- 
litnre  has,  however,  been  about  7  per  ceut.,  the  difference  being 
partly  absorbed  in  repayment  of  the  loan  and  the  interest  on  unpro- 
KnetiTe  or  uncompleted  buildings. 

A  saying  of  about  20  per  cent,  has  been  made  in  the  cost  of  con- 
Ametion  owing  to  the  use  of  an  artificial  stone,  but  the  cheaper  cost 
if  ordinary  building  materials  in  the  provinces  might  possibly 
Mdance  this  advantage.  The  saving  of  most  moment  is  that  in  the 
!OSt  of  capital.  The  Public  Works  Loan  Commissioners  advance 
lie  loans  at  4  per  cent.,  a  rate  which,  as  we  have  before  stated,  might 
wrj  properly  be  reduced.  Another  loan  will  be  obtained,  and  the 
ispltal  account  of  the  Company  closed,  another  proof,  if  any  were 
leeded,  that  the  temptation  to  further  investments  of  capital  is  not 
mffioiently  great. 

The  buildings  though  not  intended  for  the  lowest  class  improve 
diose  of  the  lowest  class.  They  bring  a  gentle  but  resistless  pressure 
npon  those  owners  who  thrive  most  on  the  worst  property.  Their 
(Industrial  Dwellings  Company)  report  remarks  that  their  ''  opera- 
tions  during  the  last  seven  years  have  constantly  proved  that  an 
increased  supply  of  first-class  tenement  houses  in  a  given  locality  has 
invariably  reduced  the  price  of  the  same  kinds  of  tenements  of  all 
daases  in  that  locality,  the  reduction  acting  most  forcibly  on  the 
lowest  class,  and  in  some  cases  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  their 
further  occupation  under  the  stringent  requirements  of  recent  Acts 
of  Parliament  absolutely  profitless,  and  to  leave  them  for  early  de- 
molition.'* 

The  mode  of  supplying  deficient  accommodation  would  not  yield 
its  greatest  advantages  unless  it  permitted  arrangements  by  which 
the  tenants  of  the  houses  could  also  become  the  owners.  No 
greater  boon  could  be  conferred  upon  the  working  man,  and  no 
firmer  gaarantee  of  social  order  could  be  desired  than  one  which 
would  enable  a  large  proportion  of  the  weekly  wage  class  to  become 
proprietors  of  their  own  dwellings.  It  would  only  be  needful  to 
have  two  rates  of  rentals,  one  a  tenancy  rental  and  one  a  purchasing 
i^tal.  In  case  a  working  man  could  not  continue  the  higher  pay- 
ment from  want  of  work  or  having  to  leave  the  locality  or  other 
eanses,  he  would  have  the  difierence  between  the  higher  and  lower 
rental  returned  to  him  less  a  deduction  for  expenses,  and  thus  his 
hoase  would  become  his  savings  bank  and  an  increased  motive  for 
economy  and  self-denial. 


*  Improved  Indoitrial  Dwellings  Company,  Limited.    Opening  of  the  "  Coles- 
bfll''  nd  ••  BSmry*  Buildings,  on  Friday,  18th  November,  1870. 


528  Picellings  for  the  Lower  Classes. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  process  which  local  authoritie!)  as  well  as 
philanthropists  might  imitate  and  improve  upon,  I  will  briefly  refer 
to  an  experiment  made  a  few  years  since  in  this  town  of  Leeds.  Its 
promoters  purchased  small  plots  of  land  in  different  localities,  aad 
good  and  convenient  dwellings  were  erected  thereon.  The  workiog 
men  were  invited  to  purchase  them,  and  had  to  find  one-fifth  of  tlw 
cost,  the  remaining  four-fifths  being  advanced  by  the  Leeds  Pe^ 
mancnt  Benefit  Buildin<;  Society,  one  of  the  best  building  societies 
in  the  kingdom.  By  this  means  the  purchaser  was  enabled  to  beoomi 
absolute  owner  of  the  houses  in  about  thirteen  and  a-half  years,  by  a 
payment  not  exceeding  the  sum  he  would  ordinarily  have  patil  u 
rent.  About  ninety-three  houses  were  thus  built,  costing  from  14(M. 
to  about  220/.  each.  The  groat  majority  of  the  houses  were  sold  to 
working  men,  and  those  tliat  the  promoters  were  unable  to  sell  will 
most  probably  entail  no  ultimate  loss.  The  greatest  difficulty  in  tlie 
extension  of  any  such  plan,  is  that  only  a  very  small  portion  of  the 
working  classes  have  made  a  sufficient,  saving  to  find  the  one-fifth, 
which  in  this  case  was  necessary  to  secure  the  remaining  admoee. 
Were  this  difficulty  removed  by  advancing  the  whole  sum,  vist 
numbers  of  men  might  be  put  in  the  way  of  securing  a  home  for 
themselves  and  families. 

It  will,  of  course,  be  said  that  if  you  ask  Uie  Grovemment  to  do 
this,  why  should  you  not  ask  it  to  do  that,  &c.  ?  It  is  the  old  '^thin 
end  of  the  wedge''  argument,  which  is  always  used  on  this  occanoo, 
and  the  simple  answer  to  which  is,  that  every  case  of  interferenoe 
must  rest  upon  its  own  merits.  As  is  remarked  by  Professor  Thorold 
Rogers: — * 

^'  In  our  time  no  one  doubts  that  a  Government  may  wisely  and 
properly  undertake  such  public  works  as  confer  great  public  benefit, 
but  are  too  vast  for  private  or  corporate  enterprise,  or  are  not  n 
immediately  remunerative  as  to  attract  private  capital.  Such  are,  for 
exiunple,  the  formation  of  roads  and  harbours,  and  the  erection  of 
light-houses.  The  extent  to  which  a  Government  will  take  then 
works  on  itself  is  relevant  to  the  deflcieucy  of  enterprise  among  its 
subjects." 

It  may  be  objected  that  it  would  be  subjecting  cottage  owners  (o 
an  unfair  competition  by  the  aid  of  taxes  in  part  taken  from  tfieoi* 
selves.  The  Legislature,  in  passing  the  Acts  of  1851  and  ld66| 
admitted  that  such  an  argument  had  no  force.  The  same  arga- 
roent  has  been  brought  against  State-aided  schools  as  opposed  to 
])rivate  schools.  The  health  and  the  morality  of  the  poor  are  dearer 
interests  to  society  than  even  the  welfare  of  cottage  owners,  fint 
in  truth  these  persons  would  be  scarcely  affected.  No  interventioB 
need  take  place  by  authority  unless  in  cases  of  proved  necesaitj, 
and  then  it  must  necessarily  operate  very  gradually.  But  were  it 
otherwise,  the  evil  is  too  great  to  go  on  unchecked.  New  necessities 
demand  new  remedies,  and  unless  modern  society  can  adapt  itself 
to  the  urgencies  of  the  case,  our  boasted  civilization  is  a  failure,  and 
we  Hhnll  find  too  late  the  sad  consequences  of  neglect. 


Hy  T.  ]3.  Smkhies.  ,     S29 


On  the  Same.    By  T.  B.  Smithies. 

QvE  of  the  greatest  social  wants  of  London  is  that  of  hotter  homes 
fiir  the  teeming  masses  of  the  industrial  and  hnmbler  classes.     Some 
of  the  great  improvements  that  have  heen  made  during  the  last  few 
jeora  in  London,  such  as  the  ercciion  of  railway  stations,  and  the 
making  of  new  streets,  have  unhappily  added  most  fearfully  to  the 
previonsly  existing  lack  of  suitable  dwellings  for  the  poor.     As  one 
UiuitratiYe  fact  among  several,  it  may  be  stated  that,  when  the  con- 
brmetors  were  about  to  erect  the  Broad  Street  Railway  Station,  on 
me  morning  in  1868,  a  sad  morning  to  the  poor  of  Finsbury,  1800 
sf  them  were  turned  out  of  their  wretched  but  highly-rented  rooms, 
indy  on  the  following  morning,  200  more  were  added  to  this  exodus. 
When   Parliament  granted   legal  permission   to   pull    down   these 
IwellingB,  for  the  convenieuce  of  the  railway  companies  and   the 
pnhlic,  no  one  seems  to  have  given  a  thought  as  to  the  important 
inqairyy  Where  are  these  poor  things  to  go  ?     Some  few  of  them 
bad,  doubtless,  been  able  to  provide  suitAblo   dwellings  elsewhere, 
bot  the  mass  of  the  people  were  literally  driven  from  their  homes, 
and,  like  a  wave  of  the  sea,  passed  over  to  the  already  over-crowded 
districts  of  Spitalfields  and  Bethnal  Green ;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
that  practical  sympathy  w)iich  the  poor  so  often  exhibit  towards  the 
poor,  hundreds  of  these  unfortunate  creatures  would  have  been  left 
to  starve  in  the  streets.     Now,  in  many  streets  in  Spitalfields,  every 
house  with  ten  or  twelve  rooms  has  ten  or  twelve  families  crowded 
into  it ;  nay,  in  some  rooms,  you  will  Hnd  a  family  huddled  into  each 
comer  of  it.     What  must  be  the  social  condition  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  our  countrymen,  and  their  wives  and  children,  thus  huddled  to- 
gether?     All  efforts  to  promote  temperance  and  other  good  habits 
In  such  districts  are  absolutely  neutralized.      When  it  is  borne  in 
mind  that,  for  the  clearances  required  for  the  London,  Chatham,  and 
Dover,  and  St.  Pancras  Stations,  the  Law  Courts,  and  the  Holborn 
Viaduct,  over  200,000  persons — the  population  of  a  country  town — 
were  driven  to  seek  for  resting  places  in  the  unhealthy  courts  and 
slams  of  London,  the  increase  of  disease  and  mortality  necessarily 
indueed  thereby  may  be  imagined,  but  cannot  be  described. 

We  all  deplore  this  condition  of  things,  but  how  to  prevent  its 
repetition  is  a  question  which  calls  for  most  serious  consideration, 
iflbcting,  as  I  believe  it  does,  not  only  the  future  health  and  morality 
sf  the  people,  but  the  very  stability  of  our  nation. 

After  years  of  labour  amongst  the  industrial  classes,  it  has  been 
repeatedly  my  joy  to  find,  in  various  parts  of  the  provinces,  many 
RTorking  men  becoming  possessors  of  their  own  dwellings,  and  the 
[afluence  of  this,  not  only  on  the  men,  but  on  their  families,  has 
leen  most  remarkable.  The  moment  a  man  becomes  possessed  of  a 
wick,  or  a  yard  of  land  that  he  can  call  his  own,  he  seems  to  become 
mew  kind  of  man,  to  have  a  stake  in  the  welfare  of  the  nation. 
ifith  the  working  classes  of  London,  however,  this  strong  induce- 

34 


630  Dwellings  far  the  Lower  Classes. 

ment  to  frugality  is,  alas,  wanting.  With  the  exception  of  the 
dwellings  in  the  suburbs  of  London,  erected  by  the  National  IW 
hold  Land,  and  other  building  societies  (and  they  have  done  a  good 
work),  it  seems  an  utter  impossibility  for  working  men  to  proeoie 
their  own  dwellings  in  our  great  metropolis. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be,  as  I  believe,  the  first  to  suggest  at  &e 
Social  Science  Congress  at  Liverpool  the  principle  of  the  Post 
Office  Savings  Bank,  and  subsequently  at  Edinburgh,  that  of  the 
provi.sion  for  old  age  by  means  of  Government  Annuities,  and  I 
then  ventured  to  predict,  that  the  savings  of  the  industrial  claates 
would,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  astonish  even  the  most  sanguine 
friends  of  progress.  To  the  Council  of  this  Association,  and  the 
untiring  efforts  of  Mr.  Sykes,  of  HuddersBeld,  belong  the  honour  of 
having  induced  the  British  Parliament  to  confer  on  the  working 
classes  the  inestimable  boons  of  the  Post  Oiiice  Savings  Bank,  sad 
the  system  of  Annuities  for  old  age.  But  I  now  desire  to  press  apon 
the  Association  the  importance  of  taking  another  and  perhaps  a 
greater  Ftep  in  helping  the  working  classes. 

The  attention  of  the  world  has  recently  been  called  to  the  extra- 
ordinary  unity  and  power  of  the  Prussian  nation,  and  it  deserves  to 
be  known  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  country,  that 
the  Prussian  Government  has  long  taken  a  deep  and  practical  in- 
terest, not  only  in  the  education  of  the  masses,  but  in  the  encounge- 
ment  by  every  possible  means  of  working  men  purchasing  thdr 
own  plots  of  ground,  and  building  thereon  homes  which  they  ean 
call  **  their  own." 

Largo  numbers  of  working  men  who  have  now  got  respectahld 
deposits  in  our  Post  Office  Savings  Bank  are  needing  soma 
other  means  of  investing  their  hard-earned  savings  ;  and  every 
inducement  that  can  possibly  be  afforded  for  extending  this  laudable 
feeling  should  be  held  out  to  them. 

During  recent  years,  great  and  noble  improvements  have  been 
made  in  London,  but  I  believe  that  the  man  or  the  Government  who 
shall  inaugurate  a  scheme  whereby  the  metropolitan  indoatrial 
classes  may  have  the  opportunity  of  becoming  their  own  landlordi, 
will  confer  one  of  the  greatest  social  blessings  of  the  age.  In  this 
brief  pnpcr  I  do  not  profess  to  do  more  than  call  attention  to  what  I 
believe  to  bo  a  great  and  ever-growing  social  want.  I  am  aware 
that  many  will  regard  the  matter  as  Utopian,  but  I  venture  to  throw 
out  this  suggestion  :— Is  it  not  practicable  for  the  **  Waterlow" 
and  "  Peabody  "  system  of  buildings  to  be  extended  to  long  and 
healthful  streets  in  portions  of  Spitalfields  and  Bcthnal  Green,  now 
occupied  by  wretched  two-story  tenements  ?  If  we  cannot  get 
cottages  and  little  gardens,  may  not  the  Scotch  system  of*'  holdings" 
or'*  Hats"  bo  adopted?  One  thing  is  essential  to  the  success  of 
such  a  project,  the  law  as  to  title  and  power  of  sale  most  be  as  simple 
as  the  transfer  of  goods  and  chattels,  so  that  if  woriung  men  are 
suddenly  called  away  from  one  part  of  the  metropolia  to  another, 
or  from  the  metropolis  to  the  country,  there  will  be  no  bArria 


DUcusswfu  531 

S laced  in  their  way  of  a  speedj  sale  and  transfer  of  the  property. 
Ir.  H,  6.  Reid  has  proved  in  Edinburgh  that  working  men's 
bouses  can  be  erected  and  pay  the  owners  even  12  per  cent,  for- 
their  money.  The  experience  of  one  of  tho  Peabody  buildings  in 
Spitalfields  on  the  question  of  health  is  remarkable.  At  the  cud  of  the 
second  year  a  comparison  was  made  of  the  mortality  in  the  building 
with  its  200  inmates  and  the  rest  of  the  parish.  Tho  deaths  in  the 
Peabody  buildings  ought  to  have  been  seventeen  in  the  two  years. 
How  many  were  they?  Three!  "An  old  man  and  two  children. 
And  the  old  man  was  an  invalid  when  he  entered  the  building.*' 

Mr*  BcBHAM  Safford  also  read  a  paper  upon  tho  same  subject, 
in  which  he  said  that  if  intemperance  was  the  origin  of  vice,  idie- 
neaSy  and  crime,  so  also  were  hovels  devoid  of  sanitary  and  other 
comforts  the  origin  of  intemperance.  As  a  man's  dwelling,  so  his 
character.  Means  for  procuring  improved  dwellings  having  been 
provided  by  the  *' Labouring  Classes  Dwellings  Act,  1866,"  it  only 
remained  for  the  Legislature  to  prevent  that  good  measure  from 
becoming  virtually  a  dead  letter.  He  urged  the  necessity  of  sanitary 
inspectors  being  appointed  by  Government,  in  order  that  they  might 
be  free  from  local  influence,  this  officer  to  be  able  to  survey  and 
adyise  as  to  the  most  available  means  of  drainage  and  as  to  the  dis- 
posal of  sewage.  Upon  the  report  of  such  officer  that  the  habitations 
of  the  poor  were  unsatisfactory  in  number  and  character,  a  manda- 
mus should  be  issued  compelliDg  owners  and  authorities,  under  such 
powers  as  exist,  to  remedy  the  deficiency.  He  considered  that 
throughout  the  rural  districts  the  unequal  incidence  of  local  taxation 
had  been  detrimental  to  cottage  accommodation  or  inprovement 


DiscnsstON. 

Mr.  W.  S.  Baolish  (Newcostlo-on-Tyne)  said  bo  was  connected  with  tho  New- 
Castle  ImproYoment  of  Dwellings  Company,  which  he  was  glad  to  say  had  been  a 
luocets,  for  it  had  declared  a  diridend  of  5  per  cent.,  after  allowing  a  fund  equal 
to  10  per  cent,  upon  the  whole  capital  for  depreciation  in  value.  Ho  felt  certain 
8  per  cent,  coulu  be  realized  upon  workmen's  cottases,  and  while  that  could  be 
done  there  was  no  need  to  so  to  tho  State  for  aid.  If  proper  care  were  exercised 
workmen*8  dwellings  could  be  made  to  pay.  As  to  tho  quoation  of  tho  muni- 
cipalitv  assisting  the  erection  of  such  dwellings  he  thought  they  could  not  well  do 
■o,  as  m  many  eases  members  of  corporations  felt  they  were  coming  into  com- 
petitioQ  with  priyate  enterprise.  This  difllculty  had  been  experienced  in  New- 
castle, and  the  question  had  been  left  to  priyate  enterprise.  The  demand  for  tho 
cottages  of  the  company  was  so  great  tluit  there  were  never  less  thixn  fifteen  or 
twentj  applicants  on  the  books  of  the  company  for  accommodation  on  Ihe  oceur- 
renoe  of  any  vacancy. 

Mr.  Walter  Morrison,  M.P.,  spoke  against  the  construction  of  dwellings  being 
left  to  corporations,  because  schemes  of  that  kind  were  so  nuicli  open  to  jobbery, 
especially  the  building  part,  where  jobs  could  bo  so  easily  porpelratecl.  Tho 
question  was  one  that  affected  towns  more  than  tho  country,  ancf  ho  entered  his 
earnest  protest  against  the  public  authorities  int<'rferiTig  with  bui]>ling  in  tho 
country,  as  nothing  could  be  more  demoralizing  than  for  a  country  ])ari8h  to  bo 
inhabited  by  more  people  than  could  obtain  work  in  the  parish.  lie  did  not 
object  to  the  Ck)vemment  advancing  money,  for  they  could  borrow  money  at  3 J 
per  cent,  and  could  lend  it  at  4  per  cent.    This  wus  a  sufficient  profit,  and  loans 

34—2 


532  Pwellvigs /or  the  Lomr  Classed. 

would  be  A  frretit  conrenience.  There  was  need  for  some  improfement  m  \hi 
law  of  the  conreyance  of  property.  The  real  obftacle  to  this  wa»  the  oppofittoii 
of  the  \ef[ii\  interett.  So  long  as  we  had  the  present  complicated  system  of  con- 
reyance  it  was  rain  to  expect  working  men  to  inrest  in  property.  We  wanted 
somo  fnmple  and  general  plan  of  a  town  laid  at  the  Town  Clerk's  office^  tketdiing 
otit  tlic  mict  position  of  each  site,  where  a  man  could  go  and  see  it  at  once  if  be 
wished  to  purchase.  The  co-operative  societies  were  making  a  great  dcsl  of 
monoy,  and  some  of  thetn,  he  was  glad  to  say,  had  deroted  their  profits  to  tike 
building  of  houses  for  their  members. 

Dr.  (iAiiiDXER  (Glasgow)  said  his  experience  led  him  to  entirely  agree  withtbo 
la«<f  speaki^r.  There  were,  to  his  mind,  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  State  or 
the  municipality  building  houses  for  the  working  classes  in  the  room  of  tboie 
displaced  by  iniproTcments.  It  would  be  wrong  for  the  municipality  to  build  s 
Riinilar  class  of  houses  to  those  displaced.  In  the  city  of  Glasgow  there  were 
100,0(K)  hou^s,  2r>,000  of  wliieh  were  occupied  by  persons  at  a  tenancy  beloir 
what  it  Was  inipoftsible  to  construct  or  hold  an  ordinary  dwelling  The  majoritj 
them  were  bolow  5/.,  some  eren  4/.  10».,  4/.,  and  even  3/.  It  was  impossible  to 
get  liny  T)laoo  to  accommodate  a  family  with  anything  like  comfort — oren  if  it 
were  only  one  r(X)m — under  5/.  Supposing  some  great  commercial  opention 
should  dif*place  a  number  of  these  houses,  was  the  municipality  to  replace  them 
with  a  Riniilar  class  of  houses  ?  a  class  below  the  line  of  sanitary  comforts,  for  if 
they  wore  not  to  do  so,  they  could  not  replace  the  houses  thus  remored.  The 
working  clnss  of  Ghuigow  had  become  so  debased  by  the  evil  influenoe  of  mieerUiIe 
dwellings  that  they  could  not  rim  to  the  idea  of  proper  house  aocommodstioD. 
Th(^  remefly  for  removing  the  present  low  class  of  houses  was  to  let  the  worldog 
classes  understand  that  tboy  must  raise  their  notions  of  accommodation.  If  weh 
a  class  knew  that  the  municipality  would  provide  dwellings  for  them,  there  wodd 
be  no  end  to  it.  The  duty  of  the  municipality  was,  rather  than  assist  in  erection, 
t/)  destroy  these  dwellings  as  rapidly  as  possible,  but  he  would  recommend  s 
gradual  process.  Much  had  been  said  as  to  the  advantages  of  the  flat  sjitem. 
Ho  admitted  there  was  a  great  ctmvonience  in  it,  but  the  oanger  was — itaocoai* 
niodatetl  a  largo  population  upon  a  small  area,  and  this  led  to  the  generation  and 
increase  of  fever.     If  wo  adopted  this  system,  we  must  do  it  conditionally. 

Mr.  W.  T.  Nkwmaucii  (Newcastle-on-Tyne)  said  several  societies  for  the  erection 
of  workmen's  cottages  had  been  formed  at  Jarrow,  near  Newcastle,  the  rapid  ex- 
tension of  which  caused  a  demand  for  houses.  A  number  of  the  working  men 
formed  an  association,  the  object  of  which  was  to  erect  dwellings  for  themselTei 
Money  wa.s  borrowed  in  the  name  of  trustees,  and  used  in  building  cottageiw  The 
system  adopted  was  similar  to  tliat  of  building  societies,  but  dififered  from  the 
latter  in  this  respect-,  that  there  was  no  profit.  The  system  was  progreesiTs,  and 
the  money  was  turned  over  and  over  again.  Borrowers  paid  5  per  cent  for  the 
money,  and  5  per  cent,  for  amortiMcment,  and  the  dwelling  became  the  propertr 
of  the  tenant  in  thirteen  or  fourteen  years.  On  this  system  they  bad  erected 
between  400  and  TKX)  dwellings.  The  rents  varied  from  ia,  8d.  a  week  for  a  s^* 
contained  house  of  two  rooms,  to  is.  4</.,  49.  Ik^.,  and  5s.  for  a  three-roomed  hoiue, 
and  this  rent  included  the  amortigation.  Lately,  a  curious  difficulty  had  occurred, 
lesiteos  did  not  want  to  go  into  their  houses,  be(^use  they  could  let  them  at  a  profit 
of  \s.  and  1.t.  M.  a  week.  The  scheme,  therefore,  provided  dwellings  at  a  cheaper 
rate  than  was  necessary,  and  this  could  not  be  done  by  any  compaay  or  society 
who  desired  to  make  a  profit.  The  result  of  the  operation  of  the  scheme  wai,  not 
only  to  nrovide  improved  dwellings  for  the  better  class  of  artiauis,  bat  to  Leare 
the  dwellings  thev  vacated  available  to  the  class  immediately  below  them,  and  in 
this  way  the  beneAt  was  extended  to  a  large  number.  The  only  limit  to  theoaefol* 
ness  of  the  society  was  the  want  of  means.  The  funds  that  wer«  available  for 
loans  of  this  description  were  not  sufficient  to  provide  dwdlings  for  a  largs 
number  of  the  working  classes.  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Morrison  and  Dr.  Gardner 
in  deprecating  Government  action,  but  bethought  it  was  not  unreasonafale  that 
the  funds  of  the  working  classes  in  the  savings  banks  should  be  re-lent  to  them  at  a 
moderate  rate  of  interest-,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  provide  tbemaelvcs  with 
improved  dwellings,  such  loans  being  eq^  to  say  half  the  Wue  of  the  propeftv. 
The  cost  of  a  three-roomed  dwelling  was  about  iQOt,    Hhe  yardi  were  cemented, 


JJiscu68ion.  o6'6 

and  care  taken  that  the  ground  should  not  exude  odours,  and  the  effect  was  a  re- 
duced mortality,  with  collateral  benefits,  including  an  eleration  in  the  manners  of 
their  occupants.  The  men,  having  better  homes,  frequented  the  public  houses 
much  less;  the  wives  were  encouraged  to  greater  cleanliness  by  having  houses 
which  thcj  considered  worth  keeping  clean.  The  mortality  among  children  was 
materially  reduced,  on  account  of  the  larger  cubical  contents  of  the  rooms  they 
lived  in,  and  the  necessarily  purer  atmosphere  they  slept  in ;  and  it  was  found 
that  the  children  of  the  occupants,  almost  without  exception,  went  to  school.  The 
trustees  of  the  association  gave  their  names  merely  as  a  sort  of  interim  security, 
for  otherwise,  it  was  clear,  no  one  would  lend  money  to  an  association  of  working 
men.  Each  house  beinff  allotted  before  it  was  conimonced,  there  was  adequate 
inspection,  for  the  family  that  was  to  live  in  it  watched  every  brick  that  was  put 
in. 

Mr.  William  Pare  (London)  agreed  that  neither  Government  nor  municipality 
ought  to  interfere  in  providing  houses  for  working  people,  but  that  the  Govern- 
ment might  make  advances  for  this  purpose,  on  adequate  security,  and  at  interest. 
The  Government  might  render  aid  by  removing  difficulties,  and  the  Act  of  last 
jenr  did  reduce  the  difficulty  of  transferring  cottage  property,  and  would  give  an 
impetus  to  the  erection  of  cottage  property  by  co-operative  societies.  The  flat 
system  was  not  to  be  desired  for  large  towns ;  workmen  would  derive  more  benefit 
from  being  carried  cheaply  by  tlie  railways  to  newly  erected  places  out  of  town. 
The  matter  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  he  referred' to  the  Council  of  the  Aaeoci- 
fttion  for  consideration  and  report,  and  he  would  move  that  it  be  so  referred. 

Mr.  £.  W.  HoLLOND  (London)  concurred  in  the  principle  that  the  share  of  the 
Gkiremment  in  this  matter  was  to  remove  difficulties,  which  were  really  the  existing 
bouses  themselves,  and  until  they  were  removed  nothing  could  be  done.  With 
respect  to  companies,  it  was  important  to  know  how  far  the  charitable  element 
WAS  introduced,  and  therefore  he  asked  whether,  at  Newcastle,  the  directors  were 
remnnerated  at  the  ordinary  business  rates.  [Mr.  Dagltsii  said  the  directors 
were  shareholders,  who  looked  for  their  5  per  cent. ;  they  had  no  remuneration, 
with  the  exception  of  the  resident  director,  who  lived  on  the  spot,  collected  the 
rents  in  commission,  and  to  whoso  supervision  the  company  owed  its  success.] 
Mr.  HoLLOHD  continued  that  there  was  a  charitable  element,  in  consideration  of 
which  an  accountant  would  reduce  the  dividend.  With  reepect  to  the  Peabody 
tmildings  in  London,  he  never  went  past  them  without  feeling  tliat  the  money 
ipent  in  their  erection  had  been  perverted  from  the  proper  object  of  the  donor  to 
mother  object.  Around  the  buildings  in  Spitalfields  tuere  was  crowded  a  dense 
mass  of  the  low  class  of  the  population,  who,  instead  of  being  inside  the  buildings, 
were  huddled  together  in  its  vicinity.  The  persons  displaced  for  such  buildings 
were  driven  to  overcrowd  the  surrounding  dwellings.  As  an  owner,  he  knew  the 
lifBoulties  of  dealing  with  the  question.  He  had  improved  property,  making  pro- 
rision  for  the  tenants  while  the  improvements  were  in  progress,  and  ho  found  the 
lifficultyto  be,  not  the  want  of  house  accommodation,  but  the  supply  of  the 
looommodation  around,  so  that  tenants  left  him,  and  went  into  houses  that  were 
unfit  for  human  habitation.  There  was  the  greatest  difficulty  in  trotting  tlie  local 
ftuthorities  to  shut  up  such  houses,  or  to  pull  them  down.  He  know  property  in 
Rich  a  condition  that  no  rent  ever  was  collected  for  it,  for  the  vorv  reason  that  it 
wma  not  worth  rent,  and  no  one  dare  attempt  to  collect  it.  In  such  cases  the  real 
remedy  was  to  oust  the  owners  of  the  property.  Pressure  must  be  brought  to 
beur  on  the  local  authorities  to  enforce  the  law,  and,  if  it  were  insufficient,  on  the 
Gkyremment  to  amend  it.  The  results  would  be  disastrous  if  eit-her  Government 
Mr  municipality  interfered  by  erecting  new  buildings,  because  it  would  be  eijuiva- 
.ent  to  supplementing  wages  in  the  district,  so  that  employers  woidd  lower  wages, 
ind  the  benefit  would  be  gained,  not  by  labourers,  but  by  their  masters.  The 
mly  way  for  the  Government  to  interfere  was  to  carry  out  or  strengthen  the 
sxi&ng  law ;  negatively,  the  inaction  of  the  Gk)vemment  was  all  powerful  now, 
?6r  improvement  was  impossible  until  old  houses  were  pulled  down. 

ICr.  John  Holmes  (Leeds)  said  the  local  condition  of  different  plooes  affected 
;be  possible  solution  of  this  Question  in  each.  If  houses  could  bo  erected  at  a 
Hsrtain  cost  at  Newcastle,  it  aid  not  follow  that  that  was  practicable  elsewhere, 
uftd  the  varying  prices  of  land  must  affect  the  problem.    In  Leeds  moJel  cottages 


534  Dwellings  for  the  Lower  Classes. 

had  been  erected.  Certain  gentlemen  pare  a  guarantee,  on  wLich  money  was 
borrowed  from  a  building  eociety,  of  which  each  purchaser  became  a  roeniber, 
and,  liaving  ptiid  down  a  qunrfer  of  the  price,  he  paid  a  little  more  than  tb« 
aTcrago  rent  for  tliirtoen  vetirfl  and  six  months,  when  the  property  wai  hi«own. 
This  went  on  patisfnctorily  and  proHtably  for  a  long  time,  but  at  length  tome 
cottages  were  built  in  the  wn)ng  place,  and  through  the  indifference  of  t^ 
architect  and  the  contractor,  tlicy  ct^st  too  much;  the  result  was  no  one  would 
purchase,  and  the  society  came  to  n  ^tand^till.  For  the  industrious,  who  wen 
disposed  to  saro,  cottages  could  be  built  to  pay,  but  what  could  be  done  for  thoie 
who  had  not  wages  which  enabled  them  to  Hto decently  ?  In  them  remunentife 
investment  was  inip^iesible.  At  Liverpool  a  committee,  after  special  inquiry,  kid 
reported  to  this  effect ;  and  in  Lee<lj',  where  a  number  of  houses  were  pulled 
down,  a  largo  firm,  having  erected  u  building  for  their  own  workpeople,  found  it 
remain  unoccupied,  because  the  peo]>lo'B  wages  would  not  allow  toem  to  lire 
decently.  He  npproved  of  the  suggestion  that  the  Government  should  lend  money 
for  cottage  building,  but  he  would  not  let  cottages  below  a  paying  rent,  becaun 
that  would  stop  the  action  of  tliose  who  would  build  as  a  means  of  investment. 

Mr.  WiLHON  urged  that  landlords  were  crushing  the  life  out  of  the  people,  and 
tluit  the  only  principle  on  which  progress  could  be  made  was  that  of  the  munici- 
palities acquiring  land  and  building  houses  for  the  people. 

Mr.  J.  ^'rTTALii,  (Oldham)  as  a  working  man,  rather  approved  of  the  vrorking 
men  doing  this  work  for  themselves.  If  they  had  capital,  they  could  do  it;  tf 
thev  had  it  not,  they  must  be  enablwl  to  obtain  it.  Hitherto  the  working  cUscei 
had  lent  to  the  Government  and  not  borrowed  from  them :  they  invested  their 
ftmds  in  the  savings  Ixmkp,  and  so  lent  their  savings  to  the  Government,  beca(u« 
they  hiul  not  yet  seen  the  way  to  own  and  use  them  for  their  own  benefit;  but 
he  hopwl  they  would  soon  neo  their  way  to  use  them.  Hitherto  the  law  bd 
preventeil  co-oi)emtive  soineties  from  inveeting  in  the  building  of  cottages:  the 
registrar  said  it  was  illegal;  Ht)me  f-ocietie?,  having  more  capital  than  thev requiitd, 
nevertheless  invested  in  the  building  of  cottages  ;  now  they  were  permitted  to  do 
so,  but  they  wi'i-e  not  empowered  to  inveet  in  building  societies ;  tliey  could  only 
build  cttrages  for  their  own  members.  They  found  the  coat  of  transfer  Terr 
excessive;  and  they  woidd  be  glad  if  the  Association  could  do  anything  to  get 
transfer  cheapened.  The  societies  built  to  make  something  out  of  tbeir  own 
capital.  CapitaliHtfl  lent  their  funds  for  the  purpose  of  making  profit;  but  they 
objected  to  co-operators  doing  so.  The  working  man  ought  to  be  encouraged  to 
invent  hi:»  own  savings.  Within  the  last  two  or  three  years  tV.'),(KXK.  had  been 
nptnt  in  cottage  building  bv  the  co-operative  societies  of  Lancashire,  and  all  this 
hml  l)een  savwi  from  dividei^ds.  I  et  those  who  did  not  earn  wages  to  pay  rents 
for  decent  houFCs  join  a  co-operativo  store,  save  10  per  cent,  on  their  own  coo- 
sumption  whatever  it  was,  re-inve^t  their  savings,  as  the  co-opePAtors  of  Oldham 
had  done  until  they  had  ;iOO,00()/.  invested  in  cot  ton -spinning,  and  15,J.)0Uif.  in 
stores,  with  exceptional  immunity  amontr  thetn  from  dnmkennese  aud  crime ;  in 
no  better  way  could  the  i>ooret«t  help  tViemsclves  to  better  homes;  in  no  better 
way  could  we  help  them  than  by  encouraging  the  co-operative  movement,  whidi 
did  not  make  the  progress  it  ought  to  do,  although  there  were  300,000  mcmben, 
with  a  capital  of  3,000,000/.,  domg  a  tnulo  of  11,000,000^.  annimlly. 

Mr.  Gkorge  Pottbr  (I^mdon)  said:  The  real  question  was  how  to  raise  the 
working  class;  they  must  liav<^  help  from  some  source.  All  that  had  been  given 
by  Peabody  had  l>een  mono])olised  by  a  class  for  whom  it  was  never  intended.   A 

Eroject  had  l»i<n  mooted  for  eroctmg  a  block  of  buddings  m  the  suborbs  of 
ondon,  in  wliicli  should  be  placed  a  market,  and  a  part  of  the  echeme\r&s  to 
have  a  railway  running  from  ii  to  the  town. 

The  Chairman  (Mr.  Willi.iru  Xewmarch,  F.R.S.)  iaid  the  Section  might  ven 
well  pass  a  resolution  a^'liiu'r  the  Coimcil  of  the  Association  to  give  their  sneeial 
attention  to  the  subject,  and  to  make  a  report  at  a  future  convenient  time.  Whit 
\ia8  wanted  was  a  report,  or  a  series  of  reports,  embodying  the  experience  gained 
up  to  this  time  bv  co-('i)erativo  societies,  by  the  Glasgow,  Jarrow,  and  Newtastle 
societies',  and  by  tlie  Peabody  and  the  Waterlow  trustees,  for  there  must  belinng 
in  improved  dwellings,  provided  by  all  these  agencies,  a  population  of  not  lesethan 
11X1,000  persons.    The  movement  had  been  gomg  on  for  longer  or  shorter  periodi 


DtscussiotL  535 

me,  and  the  obecnration  had  been  on  a  scale  to  extensive  as  to  afford  every  sort 
cperience,  and  ho  should  like  to  see  it  worked  out  scientifically.  If  the  Section 
up  a  recommendation  to  the  Council  he  would  see  that  this  view  of  the  case 
put  before  them,  that  the  one  thing  to  be  done  was  to  collect  experience, 
iking  in  hie  own  name  (for  it  liad  been  erroneously  assumed  the  day  before 
he  spuke  in  the  name  of  tlio  Section),  nnd  taking  the  special  question  as  stated 
h  some  word  substilutod  for  lower,  which  never  ought  to  bo  used  in  this  sense), 
rould  pay  that  the  discussion  of  the  day  had  pretty  well  disponed  of  the  sugges- 
tbat  the  State  could  do  anything  directly.  Tliere  seemed  to  him  to  be  force  in 
3Eaggc?tion  that  the  money  of  the  working  classes  invested  in  the  savings  banks 
bt,  under  proper  regulations  as  regards  security,  be  advanced  by  way  of  loan, 
in  no  other  way,  on  the  principle  of  the  Dwellings  Act,  186(5,  to  societies  pro- 
y  coni*tituted,  and  able  to  give  adequate  security  for  the  re-payment  of  the 
ey.  Tcrsonally  he  put  aside  all  philanthropy,  it  was  a  hard,  economical 
tion  ;  capitalists  must  and  would  have  interest  for  their  money.  No  progress 
Ld  bo  made  unless  wo  put  the  matter  on  this  hard,  economical  footing — some- 
r  must  make  a  profit.  No  working  man  had  a  right  to  live  in  a  house  at  the 
nso  of  anybody  elpc.  The  i>oint  to  be  arrived  at  was  the  establishment  of  a 
I  of  things  in  which,  in  the  ordinary  rate  of  supply  and  demand,  it  should 
•or:h  the  while  of  builders  to  provide  the  kind  of  dwellings  wanted.  Two 
jful  f'ijms  were  that  the  improved  liousing  of  artizans  ameliorate  and  advanced 
■iondition  of  those  ludow  them,  and  'l.jit  there  was  no  difficulty  in  borrowing 
BT  in  the  open  market;  and  as  speculators  were  satisfied  with  their  profit  and 
account,  the  problem  was  solved  in  its  essence.  The  most  salutary  actioi\  of 
icipalitiea  was  not  to  Iriild  up  but  to  pull  down  habitations  in  which  decency 
cleanliness  were  impossible.  The  Act  of  Mr.  Torrens  was  an  important  prcce- 
f  and  it  ought  to  bi^  made  as  effective  a.H  possible.  The  difficulty  of  the  whole 
er  was  wc  had  to  deal  with  a  cla«s  of  people  who,  from  long  neglect  and  a 
fty  of  anises,  li;ul  hatl  the  sense  of  decency  and  re3ix>ctability  crushed  out  of 
'  minds.  In  Olv^ow  it  had  been  stated  they  would  not  go  into  the  improved 
lings,  and  in  MnrmiUan  Miss  C  ctavia  Hill  narrated  how  difficult  it  was  to  get 
ita,  living  ui  the  most  offensive  and  incommodious  part  of  a  court  in  Maryle- 
to  move  into  better  rooms  and  quarters,  because  all  st^nso  of  decency  and 
r  bad  been  obliterated.  It  did  nr>t  rest  with  the  State,  the  municipality,  or 
.nthropy,  to  say  by  a  stroke  (»f  tlio  )-en  that  this  stratum  of  the  population 
Id  occupy  better  dwellings ;  if  they  existed,  and  the  people  would  not  go  into 
,  we  could  only  approach  them  by  steps,  bv  improving  the  condition  of  the 
»s  above  them,  as  w:vs  lx?ing  done  in  a  small  way,  but  snccessfidly,  at  present, 
vnis  true  that  tlie  wholesome  function  of  the  municipality  was  to  pull  down 
:o  enf<)rce  regulations  against  nnisances,  we  were  beginning  to  make  way.  If 
'ere  right  in  paying  that  the  State  could  not  actively  interfere,  except  as  a 
r,  and.  as  any  other  lender  woidd,  by  advancing  money  on  proper  mterest 
eecurity,  po  we  niiglit.  make  the  same  observation  as  to  the  municipality, 
7&  with  tiie  qualiflcatiiju  that  this  was  a  reform  essentially  of  a  local  cba- 
r.  There  were  many  towns  whore  no  reform  was  wanted,  and  it  would  not 
•  take  money  from  one  to  improve  dwellings  in  another.  The  municipality 
d  do  mos^t  gornl  by  exercising  witli  great  vigour,  and  remorselessly,  the  func- 
of  the  police  ;  and,  if  it  interfrnxl  at  all,  it  could  interfere  only  as  a  lender 

?>ital  uptm  rigid  conditions.  The  question  was  being  solved,  and  he  took  a 
ul  view  of  its  progress.  It  was  important  that  there  were  cases  of  distinct 
aerci;d  success  ;  it  wan  Htill  more  important  that  the  savings  of  tlie  working 
89  were  being  invested  by  thenitelves  in  the  be^t  of  all  forms,  the  building  oi 
own  houses.  Tlio  reform  was  beginning  in  the  right  way,  the  commercial 
ve  of  pi'ofits  was  found,  aiid  in  the  au-io  of  co-operation  were  added  the  motives 
snonal  respect,  indei)endence,  and  comfort.  When  we  could  bring  strong 
an  motives  and  ]x>rsonal  interests  into  play,  we  had  set  at  work  economical 
itions  which  were  capable  of  accomplishing  much,  and  which  had  made  this  a 
perous  and  a  happy  country. 

r.  Jonx  Holmes  proposed,  and  the  Rev.  Henry  Solly  seconded : — 
That  the  Section  recommends  the  Council  to  take  into  its  consideration  what 
lation  can  be  taken  to  improve  and  render  more  effective  the  '  Publio  Healths 


536  Local  Taaatktu 

Act/  giving  power  to  close  or  remoTe  property  found  nnflt  for  hftbitaiioa;  tzid 
further,  by  what  means  etatisUoal  information  can  be  obtained  ai  to  the  experi. 
ence  of  the  various  companies,  Bocietiet,  and  other  organizationB  which  ore  enga^ 
in  proriding  dwellings  for  the  working  classes." 
The  resolution  was  canned  unanimously. 


LOCAL   TAXATION.* 

What  principles  ought  to  regulate  tlie  Assessment  and  AdinijiU' 

tration  of  Local  Taxation  ? 

A  PAPER  on  the  question  was  read  by  Mr.  E.  K.  Fordham. 
jlX  The  author  said,  local  taxation,  unlike  almost  every  other 
system  in  the  country,  remained  just  in  the  state  in  which  it  was 
originally  organized.  It  started  with  the  assumption  that  every 
one  in  the  country  should  contribute  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
State  in  proportion  to  his  ability  to  do  so.  This  was  fairly 
secured  in  the  then  state  of  things,  when  the  only  income  from 
property  was  that  derived  from  houses  and  land,  or  nearly 
80.  Now  the  income  from  land  and  houses  was  only  about 
one-third  of  the  people's  annual  income,  instead  of  constituting 
nearly  the  whole  as  formerly.  It  seemed  to  be  conceded  that  the 
onus  of  maintaining  the  pauper,  of  educating  him,  of  making  roads, 
and  supporting  a  police  force  for  the  security  of  the  population, 
ought  to  be  thrown  on  the  people  generally.  How  is  it,  then,  that 
nil  these  charges,  which  were  always  increasing,  should  still  remain 
almost  the  exclusive  burden  of  a  part  of  the  State,  the  owners  of 
real  property  ?  There  were  several  ways  of  accounting  for  this. 
One  was  that  property  in  land  enjoyed  a  protective  duty  on  com, 
which  probably  enhanced  its  price  by  6s.  per  quarter  on  all  the 
j)roduce  of  these  islands,  say  eight  million  quarters  of  wheat  and  two 
million  quarters  of  other  grain.  This  would  give  them  nearly 
3,000,000/.,  a  considerable  set-off  towards  the  charge  of  keeping  up 
these  institutions,  which  then  did  not  exceed  6,000,000/.,  but  now 
that  this  annual  grant  of  3,000,000/.  was  withdrawn  by  the  repeal  of 
the  Corn  Laws  and  also  on  the  importation  of  cattle,  there  seems  no 
reason  why  these  charges  should  not  be  again  equally  shared  by  the 
whole  wealth  of  the  country,  or  at  any  rate  why  a  much  nearer 
approximation  to  equality  should  not  prevail.  This  might  be  accom- 
plished in  two  ways.  The  area  of  taxation  might  be  much  extended 
— it  might  bo  extended  to  mines,  now  employing  a  large  popalation, 
but  paying  little  or  nothing  to  the  vast  mass  of  pauperism  created 
by  such  population.  Then  again,  see  the  enormous  number  of 
ships — floating  houses — their  lettable  value  immense,  tenanted  bj 
seamen  earning  millions  for  the  shipowner,  and  leaving  their 
pauper  population,  belonging  to  those  employed  in  such  vessels,  a 
burden  borne  by  real  property  only,  from  which  these  ships  are 
exempt.  Then  there  were  the  many  millions  of  property  in  rail- 
ways paying  a  very  small  proportion  of  income  of  the  shareholders 

•  Bee  IrmuaeHonst  1868,  p.  613. 


By  E.  K.  Fordliam.  587 

ivards  the  rates.  Why  should  not  railways  be  rated  as  land  was  f 
hy  should  not  a  rail  owner  contribute  the  same  proportion  of  his 
some  from  rent  or  estimated  rent  of  a  railway  as  a  landowner  did 
)m  the  rent  of  his  land  ?  The  vast  amount  of  wealth  still  untaxed 
:  these  purposes  would  bear  some  share  of  those  charges  which 
?re  paid  from  the  national  exchequer  by  arresting  the  diminution 
duties  on  such  articles  as  tea  and  sugar,  and  slightly  increasing 
ose  on  alcohol.  Let  the  Post  Office  charges  remain  as  they  were, 
d  there  would  be  a  constantly  increasing  surplus  from  this  source, 
le  property  and  income-tax  also  would  yield  a  rapidly  largely  in- 
dasiog  sum.  These  sources  would  almost  imperceptibly  rectify 
&  flagrant  injustice  of  the  present  plan,  now  obsolete.  With  respect 
the  incidence  of  rates  on  houses,  he  contended  that  it  was  much 
>re  unjust  than  on  land,  and  that  it  fell  almost  exclusively  on 
e  tenant.  This  state  of  things  has  an  important  lesult  ;  thu;) 
.  rental  would  be  rated  at  5/.»  and  a  poundage  rate  of  4s,  would 
us  deprive  the  tenant  of  1/.  per  annum.  In  the  case  of  a  labourer 
lo  earned  125.  per  week,  which  would  give  him  an  annual  income 
31/.  4s,f  it  would  represent  in  his  case  a  property  tax  of  8d.  in 
3  pound  as  his  contribution  towards  the  support  of  pauperism,  &c., 
occupier,  while  the  owner  of  the  house,  much  more  able  to  con- 
bute,  would  not,  in  respect  of  this  property,  pay  a  fraction.  If 
is  very  unequal  impost  were  removed,  the  labourer's  house  would 
St  him  only  61..  instead  of  7/.  as  it  did  now ;  and  he  would  have 
3  1/.  to  pay  for  a  house  with  a  second  or  third  bed-room,  so 
scntial  to  the  interests  of  morality.  With  regard  to  land,  exactly 
9  reverse  was  the  case.  Every  tax,  such  as  land-tax,  tithe,  rates, 
always  paid  by  the  owner,  and  its  amount  affects  the  value  of  the 
id  to  the  owner,  but  in  no  way  concerns  the  tenant. 

Mr.  BuiinAM  Saffoud  also  read  a  paper  on  the  subject,  in  which 
said  that  the  system  of  national  maintenance  in  this  country 
d  destroyed  self-reliance,  forethought,  and  self-denial,  and  had 
itered  indulgence  and  sensual  excess,  and  had  become  a  pre- 
um  on  improvidence.  It  had  deadened  filial  piety,  having 
abled  children  and  parents  both  to  throw  their  natural  re- 
onsibilities  upon  the  country.  He  advocated  restraints  among 
e  poor  on  improvident  marriage,  such  as  existed  convcn- 
inally  among  all  other  classes  ;  but  he  deprecated  the  separa- 
•n,  and  the  deep  anguish  caused  by  it,  of  the  poor  old  married 
uples  in  their  declining  years,  as  detrimental  to  the  popular  regard 
r  the  sanctity  of  the  marriage  tie.  Those  burdens  of  local  taxation 
a  purely  local  character  should  be  separated  from  those  that 
ould  be  national.  The  spirit  of  the  basis  of  the  existing  Poor  Law, 
ssed  in  43  Eliz.,  contemplated  that  personal  as  well  as  real 
operty  should  support  their  mutual  ofiTspring — the  poor.  Since 
e  rise  of  trading  companies,  the  rising  influence  of  commerce  had, 
stead  of  relieving  the  land,  enabled  it  to  add  to  the  burden  of  the 
ad  the  mainteo^up^  o^  the  vast  nmnber  of  paupers  caused  by 


538  Local  Taxcdion. 

commercial  failures.  He  contended  that  many  of  the  grievaDces  of 
taxation  arose  from  the  existence  of  too  great  a  variety  of  fioancial 
machineiy ;  nnd  said  many  desirable  results  would  accnxe  by 
rendering  the  taxation  of  the  country  equitable  by  transferring  to  one 
muchinery  all  those  subjects  which  were  of  a  national  characler. 


DISCUSSION. 

• 

Mr.  \V.  BoTLr.v  (London)  denied  tliuL  land  bore  an  unfair  slmrc  of  taxation. 
Recently  one  of  liis  tenants  ofTorctl  an  inerease  of  one  third  of  hi**  rent  for  a  leaae 
of  fourteen,  sixteen,  or  twenty-one  years,  and  the  tenant  could  not  hare  done  thit 
if  the  land  had  been  unduly  burdened.  Tlie  agricultural  districts  were  continuAllj 
pending  children  into  the  towns  for  occupation,  so  that  it  was  the  towns  nthsr 
thun  the  land  which  h:ul  to  support  alien  children.  The  wear  and  tear  of  horaos  and 
harness  by  Ixwl  roads  luiule  tlio  maintenance  of  good  ones  profitable  to  the  farmer. 
As  to  inoomo  tax,  it  was  only  just  and  e<iuitablo  that  realized  property  should  paj 
(h)ublo  rate  as  compared  with  earnings.  The  increase  in  the  ralue  of  land  ms 
duo  in  imrt  to  the  lacl  that  it  could  not,  like  oUicr  capital,  be  rcniored  to  another 
country. 

^Ir.  E.  K.  FoKDHAM  (Dalclock)  said  it  was  a  remarkably  unsound  argument  tlmt 
land  could  not  he  bearing  an  undue  bharc  of  burdens  because  it  was  increasing  in 
value.  The  rise  in  ralue  was  an  accidental  circumstance  which  did  not  affect  tbs 
question.  There  wore  other  rwcie^  of  property  which  had  risen  in  value  mudiOK>re 
raj)idly ;  for  instance,  Great  !^orthern  Railway  sliares,  which  four  or  five  yearsago 
were  at  70,  and  were  now  Ki2 ;  and  yet  the  1:0,000,000/.  of  capital  invested  in  the  rail* 
way  paid  very  little  to  the  rates.  Tliat,  again,  was  an  acoidontal  circumstance,  and 
did  not  affoct  the  principles  of  li.-ibility.  The  fact  that  the  farmer  derived  pr«it 
n<lvnntu^e  1  rom  ^ood  road?  was  no  reaton  whv  he  should  contribute  more  largely  to 
tlie  co^t  th:in  othern.  In  hin  own  neighbourhood  the  roads  were  much  cut  up  by 
the  cart H  oi  c«>prolito  works  which  were  not  rated  ;  and  parishes  containing  rail* 
wny  st:itioiis  were  heavily  rated  for  the  equal  advantage  of  neighlK)ur8.  To  meet 
such  caf-cs  there  ought  to  be,  as  under  the  l:'(ior  I^w,  a  union  ohar£cability  Aet. 

Mr.  .Fi:ki>kki(  K  Wiu^oti  (Loudon)  said  rates  ought  to  be  paid  by  land  because  itJ 
value  was  enhanced  by  the  increase  of  populntion  without  effort  on  the  partof  ibe 
landowner.  Ijandlords  ought  not  to  bo  i)ermitted  U^  build  houses  unfit  for  occu- 
^xition  or  in  unhealthy  places,  and  ho  to  perpetuate  disease  and  increase  the  nrfc»; 
and  the  remedy  for  tiiis  was  to  be  fountt  in  municipalities  becoming  the  owners  oi 
the  land  within  their  jurisdiction. 

^fr.  Edwin  Cuadwkk,  C.IJ.,  said  it  was  impossible  to  discusfl  the  suhjed 
witliin  tlie  limits  laid  down  by  the  pai>ers,  and  indeed  tho  rules  of  discuseion 
would  compel  him  to  reserve  for  tho  present  much  that  he  desir«^l  to  say  on  the 
subject.  Many  of  our  present  difiiculties  were  due  to  tho  dereliction  of  early 
established  principles  of  Poor  Law  administration;  liad  they  been  adhered  to, 
administration  would  have  been  improvotl,  and  the  burdens  of  taxation  veiy 
lar^'cly  reduced.  When  ho  investigated  the  subject  in  1833,  he  found,  wherercr 
rates  pressed  heavily,  a  general  disposition  to  shift  the  burthen  of  them ;  whew 
manufacturers  were  uppermost  tho  wii»li  was  to  throw  it  upon  agriculturists,  and, 
where  agriculturists  were  uppermost,  they  wished  to  throw  the  burden  upon  tba 
luanufacturcrs ;  and,  even  now  the  same  Mate  of  things  prevailed,  and  throughout 
tho  country  there  was  a  genernl  contest  to  shift  the  burden  of  local  taxation. 
Mr.  Qoschen  had  followed  Miit  in  proposing  to  transfer  part  of  the  burden 
from  occupiers  to  owners,  and  there  seemed  to  do  little  or  no  conception  oo  tlM 
part  of  anybody  that  the  burden  was  to  be  reduced  by  any  improTciMnt  of 
administration.  It  was  assumed  tliat  nothing  could  be  better  than  pretest  admia- 
istration,  whereas  independent  inspection  would  show  that  nothing  could  be  worse. 
It  was  assumed  that  pauperism  was  a  necessity,  but  examination  would  show  it 
was  nothing  of  the  sort.  In  towns,  the  absorbing  occupations  of  perBOos  of  tbe 
highest  intelligence  apd  responsibility  oauaed  lowi  iidmuiiitiatuMi  to  be  kft  t9 


Discttsaion,  539 

)  who  were  prone  to  low  and  sinister  niotiyos,  and  the  result  was  tliat  em- 
)r8  of  labour  gave  out-door  relief  in  aid  of  wages.  It  had  been  intended  to 
i  stop  to  the  payment  of  rent  out  of  rates,  but  indirectly  that  payment  was 
Ej  on  rery  largely.  In  districts  wliere  it  was  assumed  that  tho'Poor  Law 
inistration  was  incapable  of  improvement,  out-door  relief  was  wrongly  given 
moll  landlords  in  money,  whien  was  notoriously  spent  in  the  payment  of 
to  their  own  claw,  and  in  tlio  same  way  small  shopkeepers  gave  out-door 
f  in  money  which  was  spent  in  tlieir  own  shops.  All  this  resulted  from  the 
liction  of  a  sound  principle  the  partial  application  of  which  did  keep  down 
rates,  and  the  general  application  of  which  would  save  from  three  to  four 
ons,  which  all  e3q)crienced  oflicer**  wotdd  agree  with  him  in  saying  was  relief 
I  in  abuse.  If  properly  administered,  all  local  taxation  was  beneficial  to 
id  property,  but  present  administration  involved  waste  and  damage  to  pro- 
r,  which  were  the  penalties  we  must  pay  for  the  neglect  of  first  principles, 
le  Prfsidk!*t  (Mr.  Newmarcb,  F.R.S.)  said  the  local  taxation  of  England  and 
»  amounted  to  17,<.KK.),fX)!V.,  made  up  in  these  proportions :— Poor  rates 
),(XK>^. ;  county,  hundred,  borough,  and  police  rates  .*J,OCK),(X)0/'. ;  highway 
1,500,000/. ;  the  rest  being  made  up  by  church  rates,  and  lighting,  watch, 
improvement  rates.  As  regarded  the  incidence  of  rates,  Mr.  John  Scott  gavo 
following  analysis  in  his  prize  essay  on  local  taxation  : — ^The  poor  rate  is,  in 
and,  paid  by  occupiers,  and  managed  by  magistrates  and  elected  guardians ; 
otland  it  is  paid  and  collected  half  from  owners,  half  from  occupiers,  and  it 
maged  by  o\^Tiers  and  elected  occupiers  ;  and  in  Ireland  it  is  collected  from 
jjers,  ami  paid  half  by  owners,  half  from  occupiers,  and  managed  by  magis- 
s  and  elected  guardians  from  owners  and  occupiers.  The  hiijliway  rate,  in 
amd,  is  paid  by  occupiers,  managed  by  boards,  like  the  boards  for  poor  rate, 
control  a  di-iitrict,  but  tlie  money  is  collected  and  expended  in  parishes,  and 
.n  whole  districts.  In  Scotland  the  system  varies  in  differont  counties. 
irs  generally  \r\y  all  for  construction  ;  tliey  share  repairs  with  occupiers,  and 
natter  is  managed  by  a  joint  board  of  owners  and  elected  occupiers.  In 
nd  it  is  paid  by  occupiers,  and  controlled  by  a  board  of  ratepayers  and 
Btrutes.  The  rate  must  be  passed  by  a  grand  jury.  Th.o  county  rate,  in 
ind,  is  paid  by  occupiers,  and  managed  by  magistnites ;  in  Scotland  it  is  paid 
ca]>iers  and  managed  by  owners;  and  in  Ireland  it  i.^  paid  by  occupiers  and 
;gcd  by  a  grand  jury,  which  includes  certain  elected  occupiers.  This  state- 
put  in  a  practical  shapo  the  question  which  was  now  before  the  public.  It 
Gisaumed  with  too  much  facility  that  there  was  no  means  of  reducing  rates 
I  it  was  certain  that  proper  administration  would  reduce  them  considerably. 
|uestion  was  whether  the  English  system  of  assessment  wholly  on  the  occupier 
right  or  wrong;  or  whether  it  was  bettor  to  collect  the  rates  partly  from 
rs  and  partly  from  occupiers.  So  far  as  discussion  had  gone  it  pointed 
ly  to  the  imperfection  of  the  English  plan.  As  between  the  owner  and  the 
ner,  on  all  principles  of  right,  expe<liency,  and  economical  justice,  the 
lier  was  fairly  liable  to  provide  out  of  his  own  resources  a  certain  part  of 
al  local  expenditure,  fciuch  as  that  for  lighting,  police,  and  poor  law  relief ; 
on  the  other  hand,  the  occupier,  whether  holding  by  the  year  or  under  a  lease, 
hardly  liable  for  expenditure  for  what  might  ho  called  permanent  purpose?, 
as  systems  of  drainage,  and  public  buildings  which  would  increa«>e  the  value  of 
poperty.  Such  expondittire  ought  to  be  met  by  the  owner,  and  now  a  consider- 
part  of  it  was  in  England,  and,  under  a  suggestion  for  which  we  were  indebted 
r.  Bdwin  Chadwick,  it  was  spread  over  a  series  of  years.  Of  late  years  nearly 
10  suggestions  made  relative  to  the  taxation  of  the  meLro]^)olis  had  pointed  to 
loh  more  extensive  division  of  these  local  burdens  between  tho  owner  and  the 
pi«r  than  prevailed  in  England  at  the  present  time,  and  to  the  adoption  in 
and  of  those  principles  which  had  been  wrought  out  with  far  more  success  in 
land,  and  to  a  certain  extent  in  Ireland,  than  perhaps  they  had  been  worked 
my  where  else.  The  much  larger  question  which  was  incidentally  raised  was 
her  in  regard  to  this  local  revenue  some  other  kind  of  property  besides  real 
«rty  should  be  brought  into  account.  We  knew  that  in  England,  and  also  in 
land  and  Ireland,  and  he  might  say  in  nearly  every  other  country  in  Europe, 
terer  tho  theory,  the  only  fact  was  that  those  local  burdens  were  assessed 


640  Pauperism  and  tlie  Poor  LaxoSm 

almost  entirely  upon  real  property.  The  poor  rat^  was  originally  desired  to  be 
levied  on  the  means  and  substance  of  the  contributor ;  bat  it  wot  found  impotiible 
to  nssees  Htock- in-trade;  end  the  system  in  England  now  was  to  os-Hs  oooni, 
lands,  and  minerals  to  a  certain  extent.  A  party  represented  by  Sir  Mossey  Lo^ 
said  it  waA  exceedingly  unfair  to  real  property  that  it  alone  should  be  n mewed  to 
local  burdens,  and  various  suggestions  had  been  mode  for  bringing  into  local 
hchedules  perponal  property  of  various  kinds,  such  as  stock-in  •trade  and  fumiturt. 
It  was  fortunate  we  were  able  to  refer  to  what  had  been  done  in  the  State  of  Net 
York.  The  result  of  inquiries  by  a  oommiasion  was  to  prove  that  the  attempt  in 
JSow  York  and  contiguous  States  to  raise  the  local  revenue  by  assessment  on  ml 
and  personal  and  all  kinds  of  property  had  been  an  entire  failure ;  and  it  had 
been  recomraondod  that  in  future  the  assessment  should  bo  confined  entirdjto 
real  property.  For  his  part,  he  entirely  agreed  in  that  recommendation.  The 
local  taxation  of  Bel^um,  which  might  bmr  compariscm  with  that  of  snj  otW 
country,  was  entirely  hosed  on  the  principle  of  taxing  only  the  visible,  tangible, 
real  estate  possessed,  by  a  nian.  When  we  went  beyond  that  we  found  oumlTn 
landed  in  a  moxe  of  difRculties,  cut  of  which  there  was  no  escape.  In  tiM 
United  State**  a  large  flock-master  on  the  borders  of  two  States  removed  bb  floeb 
from  one  to  the  other  in  anticipation  of  the  assessment.  In  England  attempts  to 
tax  stock-in-trnde  had  generally  been  failures.  Again,  in  this  country  for  the  lait 
two  or  throe  hundred  years,  real  property  had  changed  hands  subject  to  conditioni 
based  on  its  liability  to  local  rates,  and,  if  there  were  to  be  a  considerdWe  rrmfanon 
of  these,  that  would  bo  equivalent  to  civing  a  bonus  to  owners.  This  inwld 
involve  a  revision  of  contraots  such  as  in  this  country  we  ought  not  lightly  to 
undertake. 


mvUPERISM   AND   THE   POOR   LAWS.* 
On  Poor  Law  Out-Relief.    Uy  Sir  Baldwyn  LeightON,  Bart 

PERIIAPvS  tlio  most  satisfactory  way  of  describing  the  principleK 
th.it  sliould  i-e};julate  Poor  Law  Belief  will  be  to  explain  ibc 
admiiiislnition  of  out-reliofin  a  certain,  now  notorious.  Union;  for 
t!ie  niannprenient  of  ont-relief  has  always  been  the  crucial  difficulty 
of  the  system,  and  is  now  acknowledged  to  be  the  main  question. 

In  attempting  to  demonstrate  such  administration  as  exemplified 
in  the  Union  of  Atchain,  in  Siiropshire,  an  agricultural  district  of 
about  20,000  inhabitants — it  mnj  bo  instructive  to  state,  first,  two 
or  three  facts  or  princij^lcs  which  will  be  found  to  lie  at  the  root  of, 
and  to  be  the  k^^y  to,  the  whole  matter,  and  which  have  certaioly 
been  hero  the  main  cause  of  what  are  now  considered  successful 
results. 

(1.)  The  Bjstcmntic  adoption  of  strict  and  sound  principles  in 
giving  out-door  relief:  tho  chief  one  being  an  attempt  to  Bet  a 
premium  on  thrift  and  a  discount  on  improvidenoey  as  far  as  the 
piesent  Poor  Law  will  allow. 

(2.)  Personal  devotion  to  the  work — a  constant  unremiUing  eoergj 
on  the  part  of  one  or  two  guardians,  acting  and  re-acting  on  the 
officials.  It  is  unnecessary  to  remind  an  audience  of  practical  mea 
that  this  minute  individual  service  is  the  secret  and  the  soul  of  suc- 
cess in  carrying  out  any  such  intricate  matters  as  the  admimstration 
of  a  Poor  Law  ;  and  that  without  such  living  spirit  even  the  soundest 
principles  become  deadened  and  inoperative. 

■■ ■-  ■'■■■'■■■  '    '  III        ^— iT 

*  S^  Transaoiwns,  1868,  p.  ^93 ;  1870,  p.  527. 


By  Sir  Baldwyn  Leighion^  BaH.  M, 

(3.)  Sanitary  precautions  to  mitigate  as  far  as  may  be  that  fruitful 
unse  of  pauperism^  illness  from  bad  drainage,  and  bad  ventila- 
on. 

Pirst,  then,  with  regard  to  out-door  relief  : — When  an  applicant 
omes  to  the  Board,  and  before  he  appears  there,  a  minute  investi- 
ation  is  made  into  his  circumstances  and  antecedents,  his  home  is 
ifliled,  and  his  family  and  relations  scheduled.  Some  Fuch  course 
I  supposed  to  take  place  at  most  boards,  bjit  in  many,  su -h  ns  in 
xmdon,  where  the  applicants  are  many  and  the  relieving  oHiclts 
omparaUvely  few,  the  inquiry  is  not  very  thorough.  But  further, 
hero  is  required  here  the  earninjrs  of  applicant's  family,  children  or 
datives  able  and  bound  to  assist,  rent  paid,  and  quantity  of  land 
leld,  state  of  cottage  whether  tidy  or  the  contrary,  character  of 
applicant,  and  name  of  his  employer  ;  whether  he  ever  belonged  \o 
my  club  or  has  ever  made  any  efforts  to  provide  for  himself  or  his 
amily,  and  if  his  children  have  been  vaccinated. 

If  a  parent's  sons  or  daughters  are  earning  wages  this  would  bo 
aken  into  account,  and  the  guardians  would  consider  them  bound  to 
lontribute  to  the  support  of  their  parent  according  to  their  ability. 
!^o  relief  is  ever  given  to  non-residents  ;  and  no  out-relief  is  ever 
Jlowed  to  illegitimate  children,  nor  to  deserted  wives,  whom  expe- 
ience  shows  to  be  generally  in  collusion  with  their  husbands. 

If  the  rent  of  a  cottage  exceed  4/.,  relief  would  only  be  granted 
or  a  short  time,  in  order  to  allow  the  pauper  to  look  out  for  a 
heaper  dwelling.  Should  the  applicant  have  more  land  than  a 
;arden,  the  guardians  would  refuse  out-relief,  except  medical  or 
emporary,  on  account  of  the  bad  example  to  the  poorer  neighbours. 
Should  the  bedrooms  bo  over^srowded,  except  with  a  man's  own 
i&mily,  the  guardians  might  refuse  out-relief. 

If  a  man  or  a  woman's  character  is  indifferent,  out-relicf  is  gene- 
ally  refused,  but  in  the  instance  of  members  of  benefit  societies  the 
ase  is  always  favourably  considered.  In  determining  the  amount 
o  be  given  to  a  member  of  a  benefit  society  (not  sufficiently  provided 
or  thereby),  this  Board,  after  some  scruple,  in  which  the  desire  to 
promote  provident  habits  has  come  into  cx)llision  with  the  rule  of  the 
?oor  Law,  have  determined,  ceteris  paribus,  to  give  the  members 
>f  benefit  societies  one  half  they  would  give  to  applicants  in  the  same 
>osition  who  were  not  members.  This  cannot  be  considered  alto- 
^ther  satisfactory,  and  it  is  altogether  illegal,  but  of  this  more  here- 
ifter. 

When  widows  or  men  with  children  apply,  the  Board  offer  to  take 
rnrt  of  their  family  into  the  house,  and  though  this  plan  was  first 
ntrodaced  in  order  that  the  children  of  widows  should  receive 
m  education,  or  in  the  case  of  sick  men  that  the  ventilation  of  his 
lome  shonld  be  improved  by  lessening  the  numbers,  yet  it  has  proved, 
*athcr  to  the  surprise  of  the  guardians,  a  most  efficient  test  of  des- 
:itution.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  application  of  the  workhouse  test,  without 
jreaking  up  the  home  ;  but  the  children  so  admitted,  are  far  more 
carefully  seen  to  than  in  most  Union  scliools,  and  according  to  tho 


542  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Lowe. 

reports  of  the  Poor  Law  inspector,  it  is  ono  of  the  best  managed  In 
England. 

In  considering  the  question  of  out  or  in-relief  the  Board  have 
never  been  guided  by  motives  of  economy,  falsely  so  called,  but 
Avholly  and  solely  by  principle.  "  Money  is  no  object  to  us  "  has 
often  been  the  conclusive  answer  to  guardians  or  applicants  who 
argued  for  granting  some  wretched  dole  that  would  only  have  gone 
» to  pauperise,  or  to  supplement  wages.  In  the  return  of  expenditare 
lor  in-door  paupers,  it  may  be  perceived  that  the  individual  cost  ii 
higher  than  in  most  unions,  thus  proving,  that  as  far  as  money  goes, 
more  care  and  regard  are  shown  than  in  most  unions. 

(2.)  And  that  brings  us  to  the  personal  service  and  supervisioQ  b 
the  whole  administration.  Very  considerable  interest  has  beea 
taken  by  the  Chairman  and  some  of  the  other  guardians  in  the  con- 
dition generally  of  the  inmates,  and  especially  in  the  school.  The 
children  are  not  only  taught  reading  and  writing,  but  thej  are 
industrially  trained  and  so  fitted  for  service  that  there  is  never  the 
slightest  difficulty  in  obtaining  them  places ;  there  is,  in  fact,  a  local 
demand  for  them.  It  has  been  found  by  careful  inquiry  that  a  veij 
small  number  of  these  children  ever  return  to  the  workhouse,  and 
hardly  any  who  have  had  time  to  experience  the  effect  of  the  trainiog, 
so  carefully  bestowed.  With  this  practical  experience  before  his  eyes, 
and  with  a  lively  knowledge  of  certain  facts  existing  under  the  old 
Poor  Law,  when  relations,  and  often  mothers  themselves,  were  paid 
for  taking  care  of  their  own  children,  the  Chairman,  who  for  nearly 
forty  years  successfully  worked  this  Union,  had  formed  a  strong 
opinion  adverse  to  the  effect  of  such  an  experiment  in  this  country 
as  the  boardingout  system  which  has  lately  been  sanctioned  by  the 
Poor  Law  Board. 

Upon  the  same  grounds,  namely,  to  discourage  that  sort  of  com- 
munistic dependence  too  often  promoted  by  the  present  adminis- 
tration of  the  Poor  Law,  the  Chairman  was  strongly  opposed  to  the 
introducing  of  the  Compound  Householder  Act  into  his  Union, 
namely,  the  creation  of  a  class  of  persons  unconscious  of  rates. 
When  Tom  Smith  has  to  pay  for  his  neighbour,  Jack  Robinson,  he 
will  sec  that  he  does  not  too  easily  come  on  the  rates,  but  when 
Smith  has  nothing  to  pay,  he  is  not  so  careful ;  and  to  this  insidious 
cause  may  bo  often  traced  the  prevalence  of  actual  pauperism  j  in  the 
Union  above  quoted,  the  only  district  where  pauperism  appears  above 
the  average  being  where  the  Small  Tenements  Act  is  in  force.  Per- 
haps it  may  some  day  be  made  clear  that  those  who,  for  political  or 
other  reasons,  made  this  Act  universal  in  towns,  exhibited  culpable 
ignorance  of  a  fruitful  source  of  pauperism,  and  have  aggravated,  not 
a  little,  the  difhculties  of  those  engaged  in  dealing  with  the  matter. 

To  the  personal  energy  which  made  the  school  a  model  to  Poor 
Law  inspectors,  was  in  great  part  the  whole  success  of  this  adminis- 
tration  due.  A  chairman  of  a  union  who  will  find  opportunities  for 
constant  personnl  communication  with  the  master,  schoolmaster,  and 
other  oiTicials,  will  strengthen  both  his  own  and  their  hands,  and  a 


By  Sir  Baidwyn  LeifflUon^  BarL  S43 

guardian  who  will  inquire  minutely  of  the  inmates  of  a  workhouse 
how  they  came  there  (generally  flagrant  improvidence)  will  learn 
some  of  the  most  fertile  local  causes  of  pauperism.  An  inqniry  as  to 
how  those  are  living  who  have  left  the  workhouse,  and  who  have 
been  refused  outrrelief,  will  often  lead  to  still  further  disclosures ; 
but  UiiSy  it  should  be  observed,  is  impossible  in  any  very  large  area 
of  management,  and  difficult  in  any  but  a  very  moderate  one.  There- 
fore the  present  policy  of  the  Poor  Law  Board  in  enlarging  areas, 
some  already  unmanageable  by  their  bulk  and  thereby  destroying 
the  possibility  of  personal  supervision,  is  not  the  way  best  calculated 
to  reduce  pauperism. 

But  this  personal  supervision  and  care  were  still  more  shown  in 
the  district  where  the  Chairman  himself  resided.  Here  in  two  Poor 
Law  parishes,  comprising  a  population  of  about  2500  souls,  the 
panperism  amounted  to  only  ^  per  cent.,  almost  all  being  in-door 
relief.  While  in  one  of  those  parishes,  containing  300  souls,  entirely 
owned  by  the  Chairman,  the  pauperism  amounted  to  some  fraction — 
virtually  nil  Thus  by  no  spasmodic  or  accidental  process,  but  by 
distinct  gradation  and  care,  an  example  of  the  extermination  of 
pauperism  is  here  shown.  This  consummation  was  entirely  arrived 
ftt  by  setting  a  premium  on  thrift,  and  a  discount  and  discourage- 
ment on  improvidence,  as  a  landlord  can,  by  giving  away  little  or 
nothing  directly,  but  by  spending  considerable  sums  in  improvement 
3f  cottages,  drainage,  &c.,  and  by  always  declining,  under  any  cir- 
:»umstances,  to  supplement  the  Poor  Law  relief. 

These  principles  have  been  systematically  applied  for  nearly  forty 
jrears  with  the  following  results  as  regards  statistics : — 

1836.  1856.  1870, 

Population    17,855     ...     19,080     ...    J9,314 


Paupers   1,395  329  293 

or  8  p.  c.  or  1|  p.  c.    or  1 J  p.  c. 

The  reduction  in  expenditure  is  more  than  100  per  cent.,  namely, 
from  9800/.  in  1837,  to  4230/.  in  1868.  The  present  rate  is  6rf.  in 
the  pound  for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  But  these  reductions,  inaugu- 
rated by  the  new  Poor  Law,  were  going  on  in  many  places  during 
those  years,  and  are  in  no  way  exceptional.  What  is  exceptional 
and  unique  in  England  is  the  proportion  of  the  out-relief  to  the  in- 
door poor,  namely  : — 

1834.                        1856.  1870. 

In.         Out.             In.         Out.  In.        Out. 

196  ...   1199  176  ...   153  154  ...   139 

lowing  the  pauperism  proceeding  at  a  decreasing  ratio  to  the  in- 
crease of  population.  Out  of  600  unions  in  England  this  is  the  only 
one  that  exhibits  a  smaller  proportion  of  out-door  poor  to  in-door. 
For  anything  approaching  a  parallel  you  must  go  to  the  Irish  Poor 


544  Paupmsm  and  the  Poor  Lend. 

Law,  where  the  regalations  and  medical  relief  make  comparison 
difficult.  But  the  ablest  men  have  now  declared  their  convictioni 
that  it  is  not  the  in-door  but  the  out-door  pauperism  that  is  the  sub- 
ject that  most  demands  attention  and  reform. 

It  does  not  require  anything  like  forty  years  to  produce  these  it- 
suits ;  less  than  forty  months,  in  the  opinion  of  the  aforesaid  Cllai^ 
man,  might  suffice  to  make  a  serious  diminution  in  even  the  most 
pauperised  unions ;  but  what  makes  the  difficulties  so  great  is  the 
habits  of  the  people  promoted  by  the  present  fatuous  administration, 
and  the  absence  of  men  capable  and  willing  to  devote  themselTesto 
the  work.  And,  indeed,  it  is  hardly  wonderful  if  few  are  to  be 
found  to  give  themselves  up  to  the  laborious  and  gratuitous,  bnt  at 
the  same  time  thankless,  task  of  taking  in  hand  a  union  of  some 
80,000  or  10r),(KX)  souls,  of  whom  some  8  or  9  per  cent,  are  already 
hopeless  paupers. 

(3.)  Then,  with  regard  to  preventive  measures,  the  most  pre- 
ventible  and  yet  most  fertile  cause  of  ont-relief  is  sickness,  from 
neglect  of  the  most  obvious  sanitary  precautions.     Therefore,  in  any 
case  of  more  than  casual  sickness,  in  any  sudden  epidemic,  attention 
in  this  Union  is  immediately  directed  to  the  state  of  the  cottages  in 
question  ;  and  if  found,  as  is  usually  the  case,  in  a  state  of  pal[)RbIe 
unhealthiness,  the  notice  of  the  landlord  or  his  agent  is  at  once 
called  to  the  circumstance;    and  it  generally  happens  that  either 
through  the  local  guardians,  or  some  other  influence,  an  improvement 
is  made.     By  this  means  the  death  rate  in  the  Union  has  been  r^ 
duoed  to  fourteen  per  1000 — one  of  the  lowest  in  England.    And 
here  it  might  be  mentioned  that  the  duties  of  guardian  shotild  not 
altogether  cease  when  leaving  the  board.     If  landlords  and  clergy- 
men, guardians  and  others,  would  interest  themselves  a  little  in  these 
apparently  small  matters  of  the  economy  of  life;    if,   instead  of 
diffusing  direct  charity,  they  would  use  some  active  intelligence  and 
sympathy  in  their  own  immediate  neighbourhood  by  first  serving  on 
boards  of  guardians  and  getting  to  understand  the  relation  of  law, 
and  then  applying  practically  sound  principles  to  the  elevation  and 
improvement  of  the  poor,  they  would  be  the  greatest  allies  a  board 
of  guardians,  and  achnirman  in  particular,  could  hare  in  his  straggle 
with  pauperization,  and  make  the  Poor  Law  itself  a  means  of  raising 
instead  of  a  mode  of  degrading  a  population. 

In  many  unions  it  would  be  desirable  to  appoint  at  once  a  medical 
inspecting  officer  for  a  short  time,  to  examine  and  report  upon 
sanitary  deficiencies,  and  this  more  especially  in  towns  where  mudi 
»ickncss  is  produced  by  neglect  of  the  most  simple  precautions. 

Much  of  the  success  herein  recorded  was  considered  by  the  Chair- 
man to  be  duo  to  the  perfect  harmony  and  unanimity  that  reigned  at 
the  Bourd,  and  to  the  zeal  and  activity  of  the  officers.  The  changes 
for  the  last  thirty  years,  both  in  guardians  and  officers,  have  been  as 
slight  as  is  compatible  with  human  life. 

In  conclusion,,  to  recur  to  the  question  of  giving  relief  to  members 
of  benefit  societies  (in  which  must  be  induded  the  membors  of  some 


ft  have  bjr  a  wrong  basis  of  compulation  broken  up),  and  also  in 
ntg  relief  to  applicants  wlio  at  some  time  have  sttempieil  by 
_>03its  in  BRTings  banks  or  otherwise  to  make  some  provision  for 
illness  or  oM  age,  tho  issue  19  ratUer  an  important  one.  It  is  11 
difficult;  nliicb  has  occurred  to  most  practical  adininialralora  of 
modern  Poor  Law,  and  it  is  a  question  not  yet  solved  by  the  circular 
of  the  Poor  Law  Board  in  1840,  or  the  letter  of  January  5,  1870,  in 
answer  to  Mr.  Paget,  and  the  .Somersetshire  miners,  which  is  gircn 
al  p.  108  of  the  Poor  Law  Report  of  1869-70. 

This  much,  nevertheless,  may  bc>  said,  that,  however  correct  11 
law,  or  sound  in  theory,  a  system  may  be  which  encourages  improTU  ' 
denc«,  or  teaches  the  poor,  as  they  are  being  practically  taught  ia  ' 
nearly  every  union  in  England,  that  any  provision  they  make  will 
disqualify  them  for  relief— which  is  looked  upon  often  as  a  sort  of 
light — any  such  system  must,  eventually,  come  to  be  superseded  by  a 
more  elevating  one,  and  however  perfect,  even  in  principle,  it  may 
>p|»ear,  you  must  first  make  it  perfect  in  practice  before  it  can  ba 
idvantageously  adopted.  Furthermore,  as  a  matier  of  principle,  is 
the  essential  communism  incorporated  into  our  Poor  Law  ilselC 
altogether  sound  t  Is  not  the  system  itself  a  matter  of  expedieucj 
kod  compromiae,  and  therefore  to  be  applied  as  a  system  of  expediency 
uid  practical  eilectT  What  is  the  practical  effect  of  ihis,  not  what 
a  the  strict  theory,  must  bo  the  quoaiioa  answered  by  the  Poor  Law 
Bourd. 

There  is  an  association,  co-extensive  with  tho  Poor  Law  districts, 
low  rapidly  spreading  over  London,  and  known  as  the  "Society  for 
Srganixing  Charily  and  Repressing  Mendicity,"  some  of  the  members 
it  which  from  the  first  commencement  realized  this  difflculiy,  namely, 
when  John  Thrift  and  William  fjpenduU  appear  before  a  board  of 
guardians,  John  Thrift,  who  has  made  some  provision  for  himself 
ind  family,  la  sent  empty  away,  but  William  Spendall,  who  lios 
never  saved  a  farthing,  is  provided  and  cared  for  by  the  other  rate- 
payers, and  goes  homo  rtyuloing  to  pauperize  his  friends  and  neigh- 

This  Society,  through  some  of  its  committees,  has  attempted,  aa 
far  aa  might  be  in  ihe  two  or  three  years  of  its  existence,  to  reverse 
thia  principle.  Jolm  Thrift  is  to  them  a  subject  for  assistance  and 
sympathy,  but  William  Spendull  must  look  to  the  bare  subsistence  of 
tba  Poor  Law.  Is  it  impracticable  to  introduce  such  a  policy  into 
oar  present  Poor  Law?  Hero  is  a  sort  of  outline  for  consideration, 
quantum  valel: — 

(I.)  Administer  generally  your  relief  on  a  more  liberal  scale  to 
those  who  have  made  some  attempt  at  provision  for  themselves  than 
to  those  who  have  not,  and  so  set  a  premium  ou  thrJfL 

(2. J  As  a  rule  the  annuity  or  allowance  of  a  friendly  society  should 
not  be  directly  supplemented,  since  it  ought  to  be  adequate;  butgiva 
jnon-subscriberB,  ceteris  paribus,  two  thirds  only  of  what  members 

^receiving,  or  the  cffer  of  the  woikhousc. 

'?.)  As  a  mutter  of  principle  and  geiiernl  rule,  make  it  exteasively 

35 


546  Pauperism  and  the  Poor  Laws. 

known  that  those  who  when  able  make  no  provision  for  themaelTes 
will  get  less  favour,  if,  indeed,  any  out^relief  given  at  alL  This 
need  in  no  way  be  adopted  at  first  as  a  bard  and  fast  rule,  but  merelj 
declared  as  the  ulterior  practice  gradualij  to  be  taught  to  Ibe  poor, 
and  the  example  of  a  few  coses  will  soon  be  found  contagious. 

(4.)  A  Government  recognition  and  insurance  of  all  benefit  societies 
that  will  pass  a  liberal  scale  drawn  up  by  actuaries;  namely,  on  the 
principle  that  one  generation  should  support  another— the  young  the 
old. 

A  step  has  already  been  made  in  this  direction  by  Mr.  Gladstone's 
Post-office  Savings  Bank  and  annuities  —  but  information  is  at 
present  very  scantily  supplied  to  different  post-offices.  The  atten- 
tion of  the  Poor  Law  Board  might  be  called  to  this. 

And  now,  finally,  as  one  fact  is  worth  forty  arguments,  considw 
these  three — three  great  organized  facts  or  systems  working  within 
the  cognisance  of,  and  actually  in  connection  with,  the  Central  Poor 
Law  Board,  and  all  tending  to  some  better  effect  than  towardi 
improvidence  and  pauperism. 

First.-*The  administration  of  the  Union  herein  described,  wbero 
these  sort  of  principles  have  been  practically  applied  for  nearly  fortj 
years  with  this  sort  of  result : — That  if  pauperism  over  the  rest  oif 
England  could  be  brought  to  the  same  level,  the  country  and  the 
ratepayers  might  be  saved  some  2,000,000/.  or  3,000,000/.  a  jetr, 
and  according  to  this  experience  the  poor  proportionately  benefited, 
for  that  is  the  main  point  in  question. 

Secondly. — The  Irish  Poor  Law  where  out-relief,  except  medical, 
is  so  strictly  administered  that  the  number  represents  only  1*15  of 
the  proportion  so  treated  in  England.  These  statistics  somewhat 
tally  with  those  of  the  Union  above  described. 

Thirdly. — The  movement  known  as  the  Society  for  Organising 
Charity  and  Repressing  Mendicity,  which  has  now  laid  itself  alon^ 
side  the  Poor  Law  in  London,  and  is  gradually  extending  itself  OTsr 
the  whole  country,  which,  in  reversing  the  present  treatment  of  the 
poor,  and  substituting  personal  service  and  sympathy  for  mechanical 
cash-nexus,  is  seeking  to  raise  up  over  England  a  new  system  to 
correct  the  vices  of  the  old. 

For  side  by  side  with  a  strictly  administered  Poor  Law  we  should 
require  and  desire,  especially  in  towns,  a  thorough  co-extensive 
administration  of  localized  and  organised  charity;  not  that  thought- 
less, easy  giving,  miscalled  charity;  not  that  vicarious  system  ai 
paid  secretaries,  endowments,  subscriptions,  and  sympathy  by  depQty« 
that  is  twice  cursed — that  curses  him  that  takes  and  him  that  gives; 
no,  not  that,  but  hoarty  co-operation*  and  personal  service,  with 
money  spent  on  sound  economic  five-per-cent  princif^ee,  sach  as  the 
improvement  of  the  dwellings  of  the  poor  in  towns  has  bean  shown 
to  be,  and  with  it  all  an  associated  power  of  repression  towards 
vagrancy  and  imposture. 

To  sum  up,  then,  and  to  repeat  the  practiq^  eaasea  that  have 


By  E.  Herbert  Draper.  547 

eo  found  in  the  aforesaid  Union  to  reduce  pauperism  to  a  minimum, 

d  out-door  relief  to  the  smallest  in  England,  they  are  these : — 

(1.)  A  strict  administration  of  out-relief. 

(2.)  Personal  energy,  supervision,  and  sympathy. 

(3.)  Sanitary  precautions. 

(4.)  And  last,  but  not  least,  a  practical  reversal  of  the  present 

lor  Law  policy,  and  a  revolution  by .  administration  in  setting  a 

emium  on  thrift. 


Tlie  Mtgraiion  of  Paupers.     By  E.  Hebbebt  Dbapeb. 

r  may  seem  an  important  question  to  raise,  whether  or  not  the 
law  should  be  altered  which  prevents  Boards  of  Guardians— 
s  nominal  administrators  of  the  Poor  Laws — from  furnishing  a  poor 
rson  with  the  means,  I  will  not  say  of  going  to  another  parish  to 
>k  work,  but  of  going  to  another  parish  where  work  has  been 
ind  for  him. 

But  there  are  two  reasons  which  occur  to  me  as  good  reasons  for 
Btilating  the  question.  In  the  first  place  the  existing  prohibition 
es  operate  to  fetter  the  hands  of  not  only  philanthropic  but 
momic  guardians,  who  try  not  only  to  relieve  the  legitimate  wants 
the  poor,  but  to  keep  down  the  poor  rate  ;  and  as  a  Poor  Law 
Beer,  whose  work  lies  in  the  metropolis  where  guardians  of  the 
or  are  seldom  deserving  of  that  name,  but  ought  to  be  styled,  as 
fact  they  are  elected  to  be,  trustees  for  the  ratepayers  to  keep 
wn  the  rates,  I  am  exceedingly  anxious  to  see  every  obstacle 
noved  which  hinders  guardians  from  attending  to  the  legitimate 
ids  of  the  poor  in  a  wisely  philanthropic  manner. 
The  other  reason  for  calling  attention  to  the  matter  is  that,  as  a 
imber  of  the  Social  Science  Association  I  trust  that  pauperbm 
i  the  Poor  Laws  will  continue  to  receive  the  Association's  most 
*nest  attention,  and  this  is  an  item  which  deserves  to  be  attended 
when  the  larger  subject  is  approached. 

If  it  seems  to  affect  the  law  of  settlement,  I  shall  not  regret  the 
\ty  for  at  the  risk  of  throwing  down  a  gauntlet  which  will  be 
sediiy  picked  up,  I  unhesitatingly  say  that  the  sooner  the  laws  of 
dement  are  expunged  from  the  statutes  the  better.  The  waste 
money  alone  in  travelling  to  investigate,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
le  and  energy  and  money  lost  in  investigation  and  litigation,  far 
seeds  the  cost  required  to  send  occasional  male  or  female  servants 
plaees  of  work,  although  the  amount  so  wasted  is  happily  small 
npered  with  what  was  wasted  under  the  old  and  recent  systems. 
Fbe  law  on  the  subject  at  present  (12  and  13  Vict.,  c.  103)  [cf.. 
L.  A.  Act,  1834.]  enables  guardians  to  borrow  money  for  the  pur- 
le  of  emigration  out  of  the  country  to  an  amount  not  exceeding' 
)  half  of  the  average  yearly  poor-rate  of  the  parish,  but  they  may 
;  spend  one  penny  in  sending  a  person  from  the  parish  of  hi» 
idence  to  another  parish  in  the  kiogdont     Cases  where  it  would 

35—2 


• 


548  Pauperiitn  and  the  Poor  Laws. 

be  deairable  to  give  such  help  frequently  occur,  some  more  deaening 
than  others.    I  give  an  instance  of  a  young  girl  brought  up  in  the 
workhouse  school  in  one  of  the  metropolitan  parishes.     She  bid 
friends  in  Staffordshire  who  offered  to  support  her  if  the  guardiaos 
would  send  her.     Enquiries  were  made  by  letter,  and  it  was  prored 
to  be  in  every  way  a  good  thing  for  the  girl,  but  the  guardians  were 
unable  to  pay  for  her  journey  out  of  London,  although  the  amount 
required  was  less  than  two  weeks'  cost  of  maintenance  in  the  worlf- 
house.     Eventually  they  undeitook  to  help  her  privately,  but  eren 
this  was,  strictly,  illegal,  for  there  is  a  section  of  the  old  ststote 
(22  Geo.  in.,  c.  83,  s.  41)  known  as  Gilbert's  Act,  which  enacts 
that  when  any  guardian,  or  other  person  or  persons  shall  entice,  take, 
convey  or  remove,  or  cause  to  be  enticed,  taken,  etc.,  any  poor  child, 
etc.,  from  one  parish  to  another  without  an  order  of  removal,  he  or 
they  shall  forfeit  a  sum  not  exceeding  20L  nor  less  than  5L    Caaei 
occur  where  single  men  apply  for  means  to  go  and  seek  work  where 
there  is  a  demand  for  labour,  but  the  parish  can  only  support  them 
out  of  work,  it  cannot  help  them  to  get  work.     All  I  propose  is  that 
just,  as  the  Local  Government  Board  does  not  sanction  the  expendi- 
ture of  money  for  emigration,  unless  they  are  satisfied  that  there  ii 
work  for  the  emigrant  on  his  arrival  in  the  new  country,  so  tbej 
shall  be  empowered  to  sanction  expenditure  for  migration  with  the 
same  supervision  and  power  to  refuse  the  expenditure,  adding  the 
safe  and  easy  precaution  that  no  poor  person  should  be  sent  from  one 
pariah  to  another  without  corresponding  with  the  guardians  of  the 
parish  to  which  it  is  desired  to  send  the  labourer  or  servant,  and 
obtaining  their  consent*     I  can  see  no  likelihood  of  an  abuse  c^  this 
permission,  but  1  do  see  that  by  the  change  there  would  be  removed 
from  the  hands  of  well-meaning  guardians  one  of  those  many  fetters 
which  induce  them  often  to  neglect  the  needs  of  the  poor,  and  attend 
only  to  the  secondary  parts  of  their  duty. 

If  the  subject  appears  to  any  gentlemen  interested  in  the  proceed* 
ings  of  this  Department  to  merit  more  attention,  I  humbly  suggest 
that  the  further  question  should  be  considered,  I  mean  not  only  tbt 
guardians  should,  with  similar  precautions  in  both  cases,  aid  emigra- 
tion and  migration,  but — ^whether  it  is  not  desirable  that  Gk)vemmem 
should,  out  of  the  consolidated  fund,  aid  emig^ration  suid  migration 
with  a  view  to  relieving  those  districts  where  the  supply  of  lahoar 
is  in  excess. 


Mr.  Alsaoer  H.  Hill  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Influence  of  the 
Poor  Law  on  the  Deterioration  of  Labour."  He  said  that  he  had 
no  desire  to  call  in  question  the  expediency  of  a  Poor  Law  generally. 
Careful  investigation  and  experience  lead  him  to  believe  that  in  the 
present  state  of  society  some  public  provision  for  the  weaker  and 
more  helpless  classes  of  the  community  is  abeolutely  necessary. 
He  believed  he  was  justified  in  saying  that  very  large  numbers  of 
persons,  more  especially  in  the  winter  months,  are  wholly  or  par- 
tially supported  out  of  the  ratei,  without  being  called  upon  to  enter 


By  Alaaffgr  IF.  HUl.  549 

B  workhou?o  as  a  condition  of  Buch  aasistanCB.     A  glance  over  the 

yearly  statistics  of  tlie  Ponr  Law  Board  will  show  this  painful  ex- 
5>enence  not  to  be  confined  to  the  metropolis.  In  all  direciiona  the 
principle  of  extending  oiit-door  relief  has  made  itself,  year  by  year, 
more  conapicuous  in  the  administration  of  the  various  boards  of 
guardiaiia.  In  London,  certainly,  if  r.ot  universally  througliout  the 
great  cities  of  llie  country,  large  numbers  of  men,  able-bodied,  and 
according  to  official  atatetnents,  ready  and  willing  to  work,  are 
engaged  in  a  tone -breaking,  oak  um-pi  eking,  and  other  nuremunerative 
employmenta  in  the  workbouse  yards.  To  such  an  extent  is  this 
true  that  m  many  of  the  poorer  unions  of  the  metropolis  the  opening 
of  the  stone-yards  is  looked  upon  as  one  of  tlie  customary  phenomena 
of  the  early  winter  ;  and  large  numbers  of  men  are  generally  ready, 
at  a  moment's  notice,  to  nvail  themselves  of  its  adrantages.  Large 
bodies  of  the  poor  syslematically  prepare  themselves  to  enter  on  a 
winter  campaign  in  the  stone-yard ;  and  to  show  the  extent  t.o  which 
[his  has  beoome  a  purely  artillcinl  system  of  supply  and  demand,  it 
may  he  stated  that  in  more  than  one  instance  metropolitan  stone-yarda 
have  been  closed  with  little  or  no  notice,  and  Hinall  or  no  grievance 
or  injustice  has  been  found  to  follow.  The  consequences  are  that 
uble-bodied  men  are  generally  occupied  the  greater  part  of  the  day 
on  stone-yard  tests,  and  have  few  or  no  opportunities  for  looking 
for  work  outside  of  the  workhouse  limits  ;  and  the  resignation  with 
which  the  natural  support  of  the  labour  market  is  acquired,  is 
amongst  the  most  painful  symptoms  of  the  evils  wrought  under  the 
lyatem.  In  the  second  place,  largo  numbers  of  men,  nut  always  of 
the  best  character  or  of  the  most  contented  frame  of  mind,  are 
nrttflcially  brought  together  to  engage  in  work  which  they  are  well 
aware  is  given  them  as  a  test,  and  is  in  a  small  degree  only,  if  at 
oil,  remunerative  to  the  employing  parish.  The  necessary  stimulus 
and  pride  which  should  accompany  healthy  and  natural  labour  are 
almost  entirely  taken  away.  The  worst  consequence  is,tho  low-level 
contentment  witli  a  mere  pni-ish-yard  subsistence,  earned  at  little  or 
no  expense  of  mind  or  muscle,  which  it  is  found  almost  invariably 
FpriQija  up  after  a  short  acquaintance  with  the  stone-yard.  Upon 
this  contentedness  very  naturally  follows  a  reluctance  lo  remove  to 
other  fields  of  labour,  and  a  consequent  dying  out  of  that  spirit  of 
enterprize  and  adventure  which  should  secure  the  wholesome  and 
natural  circulation  of  labour.  The  author  then  proceeded  to  state  a 
few  results  of  his  own  experience,  during  the  last  six  months  in  en- 
deavouriug,  through  the  operations  of  a.  Labour  Agency  iu  the  heart  of 
London,  to  assist  the  distribution  of  labour,  A  strong  disinclination,  Ub 
said,  existed  lo  leave  London — habits  have  become  fixed  at  a  low  level, 
and  they  do  not  care  to  change  them  ;  secondly,  an  unwilHugueae 
to  change  a  paltry  certainty  of  parochial  wage  for  a  fair  and  sub- 
stantial remuneration  elsewhere.  Many  large  railway  and  other 
public  works  are  languishing  for  want  of  rough  labour;  but  our 
workhouse  doors  are  never  wanting  applicants  at  pay  time,  and 
(1)080  results  are  not  confined  to  the  male  portion  of  onr  working 


360  Paupemm  and  the  Poor  Laws, 

commnnity,  very  large  numbers  of  widows  and  children  are  kept 
in  a  state  of  low  and  hopeless  indolence  or  servitnde  bj  reason  of  the 
out-door  system  of  our  Poor  Law  administration.  There  seemed  do 
escape  from  these  evils  till  the  whole  system  of  out-door  relief  is 
thoroughly  amended,  or  if  needs  be  abolished.  The  law  of  settle- 
ment, in  addition  to  the  mere  guarantee  of  relief  in  the  evect  of 
distress,  is  no  doubt,  largely  rcsponsiblo  for  the  state  of  things ;  and 
till  this  law  is  materially  modified  or  abolished,  the  stagnation  and 
deterioration  of  labour  must,  he  feared,  continue.  He  concluded 
by  stating  that  in  the  absence  of  a  more  thorough  and  penetrating 
system  of  elementary  education  more  instruction  in  the  elements  of 
cheap  and  co-operative  thrift,  and  a  more  economical  organization  of 
the  means  of  locomotion,  ho  was  not  hopeful  of  any  great  changes 
in  the  industrial  condition  of  the  great  masses  of  our  poorer  popu- 
lation. But  as  a  primary  condition  of  any  real  change  he  was 
convinced  that  a  more  rigid  application  of  a  good  Poor  Law  based 
as  ours  is  on  the  principle,  that  without  work  a  man  shall  not  eat, 
is  absolutely  and  immediately  essential. 

A  paper  was  read  by  Mr.  George  Hurst,  F.S.S.,  containing  **Sug- 
fj^estions  for  the  Suppression  of  Vagrancy."     He  stated  that  though 
there  had  been  several  methods  tried  for  the  suppression  of  vagrancj 
there  wero  still  about  36,000  vaszrants  in  England,  who  obtaiaed  a 
precarious  existence  by  begging,  pilfering,  or  practising  various  kinds 
of  imposition  when  at  large,   but  at  times  alternated  between  the 
prison  and  the  casual  wards  of  the  country.  It  was  generally  thought 
that  a  vagrant  life  was  chosen  because  of  the  charm  of  a  roving  life ; 
but  he  contended  that  most  of  the  vagrants  were  made  so  from  preu 
of  circumstances,  and  once  vagrants  it  was  difficult  to  reclaim  them, 
as  vagrancy  then  became  a  habit.     The  real  vagrant — the  pest  of 
society— -continued  to  be  so  from  necessity.    Many  had  grown  up  to  it 
from  infancy,  while  others  became  so  from  some  crime  or  indiscretion. 
The  result  was  that  no  one  would  employ  the  regular  vagrant  e?en 
it  he  wished  for  honest  labour.     They  might  drive  tho  vagrant  from 
place  to  place  ;  they  might  woiTy  him  until  they  shortened  his  useleu 
existence,  but  tliis  would  never  enable  him  to  become  a  good  member 
of  society,  for  which  he  had  neither  the  chance  nor  the  capability. 
The  great  question  was  whether  something  might  not  be  done  to 
check  this  great  evil — not  by  punishing  and  crushing  the  vagiant, 
but  by  raising  such  as  were  able-bodied  to  an  improved  position.  As 
for  the  blind,  crippled,  and  infirm,  they  must  continue  to  be  ti  burden 
ypon  society,  but  it  was  not  necessary  that  they  should  be  permitted 
to  wander  about  the  country.     After  referring  to  the  various  modes 
adopted  in  different  ])lacos  for  the  suppression  of  mendicancy,  he 
said,  to  render  the  condition  of  the  vagrant  more  wretched  than  it 
has  been,  to  adopt  deterrent  methods,  was  not  the  way  to  suppress 
vagrancy.     Give  them  first  the  means  of  earning  an  honest  living, 
and,  if  they  neglected  to  avail  themselves  of  this  opportunity,  then 
punish  them  to  the  utmost.    Speaking  of  the  large  number  (^  foreiga 


By  George  Hunt,  F.&  S.  551 

▼agranta  who  come  to  this  country  under  the  guise  of  street 
musicians,  he  would  adopt  compulsory  measures  for  sending  them 
back  again.  With  respect  to  the  children  of  mendicants,  they 
should  be  subjected  to  some  regulation  similar  to  that  provided  by 
the  Prevention  of  Crime  Act,  which  enjoins  that  the  children  of 
women  convicted  of  crime,  and  who  have  no  visible  means  of  subslst- 
ence,  or  who  are  without  proper  guardianship,  shall  be  deemed 
to  be  children  to  whom  the  Industrial  Schools  Acts  apply,  and 
ordered  to  be  sent  to  a  certified  school.  Establishments  should 
be  erected  for  the  reception  of  the  able-bodied  vagrants,  where  they 
might  be  taught  some  industrial  occupation.  Unreclaimed  lands 
might  fairly  be  appropriated  by  the  State  for  this,  or  any  other 
purpose,  by  paying  to  the  owners  not  a  fancy  price,  but  their  actual 
value  in  their  unreclaimed  state.  By  the  land  being  brought  into 
cultivation  the  establishment,  if  not  wholly,  would  be  in  part,  self- 
lupporting,  and  whatever  was  earned  would  be  for  the  benefit  of 
the  public,  as  so  much  obtained  from  the  labour  of  persons  whose 
time  had  hitherto  been  passed  uu productively.  The  system  would 
scarcely  be  said  to  be  an  infringement  upon  the  liberty  of  the 
subject,  as  vagrants  and  persons  having  no  legitimate  means  of  sub- 
sistence have  always  been  liable  to  punishment.  By  the  plan 
suggested  they  would  be  merely  kept  under  restraint,  not  as  a 
punishment  but  for  their  own  advantage  and  that  of  the  community, 
and  the  term  of  their  confinement  would  be  limited  according  to  their 
own  docility,  exertions,  and  improvement.  From  such  an  establish- 
ment men  might  often  be  rendered  useful  to  carry  on  public  works. 
Women,  as  a  matter  of  course,  would  be  employed  in  washing  and 
other  domestic  work,  and  occasionally  in  the  fields,  which  would  well 
qualify  them  for  home  or  colonial  occupation. 

Mr.  F.  BouLT,  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  Liverpool  Finan- 
cial Association,  read  a  paper  on  "  Some  of  the  Principal  Causes  of 
Poverty  and  Pauperism  in  England,  and  their  Needful  Remedies." 
Assuming  that  the  people  of  a  civilised  and  advancing  nation,  having 
the  means  regularly  and  sufficiently,  would  feed,  lodge,  and  clothe 
themselves  in  reasonable  accordance  with  the  recognised  laws  of 
health— •and  referring  to  tlip  facts  that  in  England  and  Wales  there 
are  a  million  of  paupers,  besides  large  classes  on  the  verge  of  pauper* 
ism — the  writer  contended  that  the  chief  end  of  social  science  was 
to  discover  the  causes  of  thb  chronic  poverty,  and  to  suggest  the 
necessary  remedies.  The  remedy  is  to  give  absolute  freedom  to 
industry  and  tr^ide  in  every  department,  so  that  none  may  be 
hindered,  at  least  by  law,  from  earning  an  honest  living.  The  re- 
strictions imposed  on  the  four  great  branches  of  productive  industry 
in  these  kingdoms — ^agriculture,  trade,  manufactures,  and  credit  or 
banking — ^were  so  numerous  and  their  burden  so  great,  that  those 
who  had  been  deluded  into  the  belief  that  we  are  already  in  the 
ei^oyment  of  free  trade,  might  well  be  astonished,  whibit  the  only 
effectual  remedies  might  find  little  &vonr  with  certain  influential 


552  PaiipmBm  and  Hie  Poor  Latca. 

classes,  though  none  of  them  were  opposed  to  national  jasttce,  tht 
reasonable  rights  of  property,  or  an^  recognised  law  of  politictl 
economy.     As  to  agriculture,  the  condition  of  the  labourers  in  moit 
of  the  country  districts  was  simply  a  national  scandal ;  a  large  pto- 
portion  of  the  tenant  fanners  were  needy,  and  little  given  to  im- 
provement; notwithstanding  recent  applications  of  skill,  science, 
and  capital,  much  of  the  bmd  was  only  half  farmed  ;  and  they  hid 
it  on  the  high  authority  of  Lord  Derby  that  the  land  did  not  produce 
one  half  of  what  it  ought  to  be  made  to  yield,  whilst  Mr.  Mechi 
made  a  higher  estunate  of  the  deficit.     Ought  the  amusements,  the 
social  standing,  the  family  arrangements,  or  the  pecuniary  interest! 
of  any  class  to  weigh  a  leather  against  this  monstrous  fact?    The 
remedies  suggested  were,  1st — Equal  division  of  the  property  of 
intestates,  with  due  provision  for  widows.     2nd — ^Absolute  prohi- 
bition of  all  settlements  on  persons  unborn,  the  annulment  of  ill 
such  existing  settlements,  and  power  for  the  encumbered  landholder 
to  sell  if  he  pleases,  and  to  mortgagees  or  other  encumbrancers  power 
to  require  him  to  sell  as  much  of  the  estate  as  will  discharge  their 
claims.     3rd — A  Tenant-right  Bill  for  Great  Britain  as  well  ss  for 
Ireland.     4th — The  abolition  of  all  property  in  game,  giving  the 
tenant  full  right  to  kill  or  sell  without  license  or  other  interference, 
And«  lastly,  a  thorough  reform  of  the  existing  system  of  sale  md 
.  transfer  of  land,  with  proper  registry  of  titles,  with  the  same  fidi* 
itics  of  transfer  as  exist  in  France,  America,  Australia,  and  else- 
where.     If  such  measures  as  these  were  passed — leasee  substituted 
for  annual  tenancies,  and  decent  dwellings  provided  for  labouren, 
the  writer  predicted  that  the  peasant  would  cease  to  be  a  burden  od 
any  estate — poor-rate  no  longer  vary  from  2$,  6d,  to  43,  in  the  pound 
or  more — whilst  families  would  become  active,  enterprising,  and  im' 
proving,  and  the  land  yield  its  due  return,  with  large  increise  of 
rent  and  saleable  value.     Proceeding  to  trest  of  manufactures  md 
trade,  the  writer  contended  that  industry  and  exchange  were  legallj 
prohibited  to  an  incalculable  amount  by  customs  and  excise  dudei 
and  restrictions.    The  remedy  suggested  was  the  substitution  of 
direct  for  indirect  taxation,  by  means  of  the  re-imposition  of  the  land 
tax  of  1692,  according  to  its  original  intent  and  meaning,  namely, 
4«.  in  the  pound  upon  the  **  full  true  yearly  value,"  supplemented 
by  an  occupation  tax  on  houses  and  business  premises  payable  by 
tenants ;  or,  if  necessary,  though  unadvisable,  a  revised  income  tax 
on  other  classes  of  the  people.    The  burdens  and  restrictions  im- 
posed upon  trade  and  manufactures  by  trades  unions  with  respect  to 
apprentices,  equality  of  wages,  limitation  of  work  to.be  done  by  each 
workman,  Ace,  were  described  as  being  vidous  in  principle,  as  inju- 
rious in  their  effects,  as  tending  \o  establish  a  low  level  of  middling, 
unintelligent,  and  slovenly  workmen  and  workmanship-— obstacles  in 
the  way  of  invention  and  economy— and  tending  to  driye  the  pick 
and  Bower  of  our  mechanics  abrosd  to  teach  foreigners  to  nndmell 
us  in  the  world's  market  and  our  own.     The  trade  in  credit  or  bank- 
ing was  described  as  the  last  surviving  monopoly  in  £nglish  oon|meree| 


Contagions  Diseases  Acts.  553 

the  supporters  of  which  had  been  vainly  challenged  to  show  what 
benefit  the  public  derived  from  it.  The  remedy  suggested  was  an 
adoption  of  the  Scottish  system  of  banking,  with  the  addition  of 
ample  security  for  pajrment  of  notes  in  gold  on  demand,  in  the  shape 
of  a  deposit  at  the  Mint  of  100/.  in  Consols  for  every  90/.  of  notes 
issned  by  any  bank  or  individual. 


CONTAGIOUS   DISEASES   ACTS.* 

2%«  Contagions  TJiseases  Acts.     By  John  Armstrong, 

Barrister-at-Law, 

THE  question  how  to  deal  with  prostitution,  that  *'  very  complex 
result  of  a  multitude  of  evils,"  is  one  of  no  small  difficulty. 
From  the  nature  of  things  irrepressible  we  find  it  introducing,  if  left 
to   itself,  moral   tind   physical   evils   of  the  gravest  nature,  and    if 
brought  under  regulation  and  control,  borrowing  from  coercion  itself 
a  quasi  sanction,  so  that  we  can  with  difTiculty  determine  whether  it 
is  more  injurious  to  ignore  it  altogether  or  to  legislate  for  it     In 
considering  a  question  of  this  nature  any  dogmatic  expression  of 
opinion  is  no  less  out  of  place  than  indifference  to  the  evils  requiring 
to  be  remedied. 

It  will  therefore  be  my  aim  rather  to  collect  the  elements  which 
appear  to  mo  best  calculated  to  assist  the  judgment  than  to  present 
conclusions  on  whose  absolute  acceptance  I  desire  to  insist. 

Prostitution  may  be  defined  to  bo  the  mode  of  life  adopted  by 
women  who,  having  no  moans  of  living  derived  from  honest  employ- 
ment, obtain  them  by  habitual  and  indiscriminate  lewdness.  It  may 
be  fuither  described  as  a  mode  of  action,  of  danger  to  the  public 
health. 

A  common  prostitute  is  one  who  practises  prostitution  so  flagrantly 
and  notoriously,  by  the  commission  of  overt  acts  or  otherwise,  that  all 
reasonable  doubt  as  to  her  mode  of  life  is  excluded. 

Whether  we  look  to  the  extreme  wretchedness  and  degradation  to 
which  the  unfortunate  women  who  have  adopted  this  mode  of  life  are 
often  reduced,  or  to  the  frightful  diseases  which  they  scatter  broad- 
cast amongst  the  people  at  large,  it  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate 
the  evils  which  owe  their  origin  to  prostitution. 

The  physical  evils,  independently  of  disease  from  which  common 
prostitutes  suffer  when  left  to  themselves,  and  the  condition  of  utter 
degradation  to  which  they  may  sink,  do  in  fact  be^rgar  description 
and  almost  defy  belief. f 

The  diseases  incident  to  prostitution  appear  to  be  principally  of 
two  types,  one,  though  painful  and  inconvenient,  is  it  seems  com- 

»  See  TranMationa,  1870,  p.  220. 

t  As  a  Bpecimen  of  the  horrifying  details  brought  to  light  bj  inqiiirjTf  I  may 
refer  to  the  evidence  given  before  the  House  of  Commons  Committee,  in  186(5, 

SDr,  Barr,  the  visiting  surgeon  at  Aldershot,  as  to  the  stato  of  thinss  existing 
epre  bjifpre  \jfL9  introduction  of  the  4ctfl. 


554  Contagious  THhobbb  Acts* 

paratively  speaking  seldom  formidable,  the  other  is  destruetiye  in  the 
highest  degree.  The  pernicious  effects  of  the  severer  malady  are 
not  confined  to  the  indulger  in  vice,  but  may  be  communicated,  and 
even  generatively  transmitted,  by  him  to  innocent  persons.  This 
deadly  disorder  is  so  insidious  in  its  nature  that  a  woman  suffering 
from  it,  and  in  a  condition  to  impart  it,  may  yet  be  for  some  time 
ignorant  of  her  contagious  stat«,  and  even  when  she  discovers  it, 
may  continue  her  mode  of  life  for  some  time  longer  with  com- 
paratively little  pain  or  inconvenience  to  herself. 

Injured  themselves,  and  careless  of  the  injury  they  infliet  on 
others,  greedy  of  gain,  reckless  of  consequences,  impatient  of 
hospital  restraint,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  that  until  absolutely  com- 
pelled to  desist  and  to  seek  relief  from  suffering,  these  abandoned 
creatures  will  still  pursue  their  loathsome  trade,  despite  disease,  to  the 
incalculable  injury  of  the  community,  and  if  soldiers  and  sailors  be 
the  objects  of  their  commerce,  to  the  no  small  detriment  of  the 
forces. 

Into  the  medical  part  of  the  question,  however,  I  do  not  propose 
to  enter,  as,  for  my  present  purpose,  I  may  fairly  treat  it  as  cloeed, 
the  only  reason  for  discussing  such  a  question  at  such  a  meeting  as 
the  present  being,  that   the   profession   is  agreed   both  as  to  the 
existence  of  a  disease  of  the  highest  social  importance  and  the  most 
effectual  means  of  dealing  with  it,  and  consequently  that  the  question 
remains  for  discussion  ; — Will  social  and  political  considerations  lead 
us   to   accept   or   reject   the   medical   conclusion.     1  will  only  call 
attention  in  passing  to  a  recent  statement  of  Dr.  Farr's.     He  eajs, 
^*  In  seventeen  years  the  mortality  thus  designated  has  risen  in  the 
ratio  of  thirty-five  to  eighty-five.     Some  more  effective  steps  are 
required  to  stop  the  ravages  of  this  insidious  disease,  which  is  the 
primary  cause   of  many  deaths  returned  under  its  ultimate  trans- 
formations.    The  bones,  the  brain,  the  bowels  are  all  infected  bj  it. 
Innocent  children  are  the  chief,  but  not  the  sole  sufferers."    So  much 
for  the  medical  part  of  the  question,  which  is,  I  have  said,  outside 
the  range  of  the  present  discussion.     Moreover,  to  dwell  upon  the 
evils  entailed  by  prostitution,  whether  on  the  women  who  live  by  it, 
or  on   the  community    which  cannot   report,  is    absolutely  super- 
fluous.    No  one   competently  informed   can   doubt  their  intensity; 
among  such,  divergence  of  opinion  only  commences  when  we  turn 
from  the  contemplation  of  the  evils  to  the  consideration  of  how  to 
remedy  them.     This   consideration,  how  are  the  evils  incident  to 
prostitution  to  be  remedied  is,  in  fact,  the  great  difficulty  which  mnst 
be  fairly  faced  in  attempting  to  form  a  judgment  on  the  present  con- 
troversy.    And  here  we  may  ask  what  line  of  conduct  is  it  just  and 
right  to  adopt  towards  prostitutes?     To  repress  them  altogether  and 
extinguish   prostitution,  would  doubtless  be   the  most  satisftctory 
solution  of  the  difficulty,  and  is,  I  believe,  gravely  advocated  by  some. 
It  is  however  unhappily  impossible,  and  we  shidl,  I  think,  find  that 
from  the  practical  stand  point  these  courses  only  are  open  to  ua 

1st.  We  may  leave  them  to  themselves  on  tbe  principle  that  the 


By  John  Armstrong.  555 

inevitable  misery  in  that  case  in  store  for  them  is  not  only  the  fitting 
goal  of  their  abject  lives,  but  the  best  reformer,  and  the  best  deter- 
rent. 2ndly.  We  may  leave  to  private  effort  and  private  bene- 
volence the  work  of  healing  and  of  mercy.  3rdly.  The  State  may 
recognise  the  injury  done  to  the  social  system  and  the  suffering 
entailed  upon  individual  members,  and  endeavour  to  avert  the  ono 
and  relieve  the  other.  Much  doubtless  may  be  said  for  each  of 
these  different  methods,  a  satisfactory  conclusion  as  to  any  can  only 
be  arrived  at  after  a  patient  investigation  of  the  "  multitude  of  evils" 
of  which  it  is  "  the  complex  result."  Upon  an  inquiry  so  vast  I 
will  not  even  attempt  to  enter,  but  I  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to 
suggest  that  the  general  result  would  probably  be  that  no  inconsider- 
able proportion  of  these  unhappy  women  owe  their  condition  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  fault  of  our  social  system,  and  that  so  long  as  the 
causes  of  prostitution  remain  what  they  are,  wo  none  of  us  can  say 
that  we  are  wholly  guiltless  in  the  matter.  Such  a  result  would 
seem  sufficient  to  determine  us  against  the  first  proposition,  inde- 
pendently even  of  the  consideration,  not  altogether  unimportant,  that 
prostitution  is  too  injurious  both  to  its  victims  and  to  society  to  bo 
let  alone.  With  regard'  to  the  second  possible  course,  we  may,  I 
think,  not  unreasonably  infer  the  hope  of  the  future  from  the  per- 
formance of  the  past.  Whether  we  look  to  the  means  (independently 
of  these  acts)  of  relieving  disease  or  effecting  reformation,  how 
miserably  short  do  they  fall  of  what  is  required.  I  say  this  with 
great  reluctance,  for  I  am  well  assured  that  there  are  many  earnest 
workers  in  this  thankless  field,  and  not  to  their  shortcoming,  so  much 
as  to  the  magnitude,  of  the  work  to  be  done,  would  I  attribute  the 
manifest  failure.  Sure  I  am  that  wo  cannot  estimate  too  highly,  or 
respect  too  much,  the  work  of  those  who  strive  to  help  the  helpless, 
and  labour  for  the  outcast  and  despised.  Inasmuch  as  you  did  it 
unto  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me.  That  the  evils 
inflicted  by  human  indifference  or  guilt  may  be  healed  by  human 
charity  is  an  attractive  dream  but  must  bo  relinquished.  The  field  of 
labour  is  too  wide,  the  objects  of  charity  too  many.  However  ud- 
welcome  the  conclusion,  it  needs  but  short  reflection  to  convince  us 
that  while  indifference  is  unjust,  and  inclination  so  voluntary,  effort 
if  left  to  itself  is  inadequate,  and  that  in  the  contest  with  a  wide 
spread  system  of  evil,  we  must,  if  we  would  act  effectually,  have 
recourse  to  a  system  equally  extensive. 

But  here  a  difiliculty,  to  which  I  have  alluded,  meets  us.  This 
aystematic  dealing  with  prostitution  may  wear  the  appearance  of 
countenancing  vice,  and  wo  cannot  but  allow  that  much  as  we  may 
commiserate  the  sufferings  which  prostitutes  bring  on  themselves, 
such  a  consideration  would  scarcely  of  itself  suflice  to  justify  special 
legislation  for  their  relief,  if  otherwise  objectionable.  While 
admitting  this  much,  however,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  on  the 
other  hand,  that  much  as  we  may  condemn  those  who  have  dealings 
with  prostitutes  ;  the  fact  that  the  diseases  thereby  contracted  by 
them  are  due  to  their  own  vicious  indulgence  ought  not  to  deter  us 


556  Contagious  Dtseaas  Acts. 

from  Irgislating  for  them,  if  once  it  can  be  shown,  m  in  fact  it 
hns  been,  that  these  diseases  are  of  national  importance. 

From  this  hasty  survey  of  the  nature  of  prostitution,  and  of  the 
considerations  which  prove  the  necessity  of  in  some  way  controlling 
it,  I.  may  pass  on  to  the  general  principle  on  which  all  sanitary 
legislation  is  based.  This  has  been  well  laid  down  by  Ur.  Simon,  aa 
follows :  **  The  principles  now  affirmed  in  our  statute  book  are  snch 
as,  if  carried  into  full  effect  would  soon  reduce  to  quite  an  insignificant 
amount  our  present  very  large  proportion  of  preventihle  diseaae. 
It  is  the  almost  completely  expressed  intention  of  our  law  that  all 
such  states  of  property,  and  all  such  modes  of  personal  action  or 
inaction  as  may  be  of  danger  to  the  public  health  should  be  brought 
within  scope  of  summary  procedure  and  prevention."  And  he  goei 
on  to  show  that  **  in  the  interest  of  health  the  State  has  limited  the 
freedom  of  persons  and  property,  and  interfered  in  many  special 
relations.*'  Prostitution  then,  being,  as  we  have  seen,  a  mode  of 
personal  action,  that  not  only  may  bo,  but  is  of  danger  to  the  public 
health,  it  follonrs  that  these  laws  against  which  there  is  so  great  an 
outcry  on  the  score  of  their  novel  and  unconstitutional  character,  as 
to  their  principle,  are  strictly  in  accordance  with  established  rule  and 
jurisprudence,  and  that  consequently,  instead  of  asking  why  shonU 
these  laws  be  enacted,  the  real  question  is,  Why  should  the  evili 
agninst  which  they  are  directed,  be  exceptionally  treated,  by  being 
let  alone?  and  thus  it  appears  that  a  strong  prima  facie  case  exiau 
in  their  favour,  and  that  the  onus  of  proof  rests  not  on  those  who 
support,  but  on  those  who  oppose  them. 

These  Acts  then  being,  as  we  have  seen,  limited  in  their  application 
to  certain  localities,  and  although  falling  within  the  general  principle 
above  alluded  to,  presenting  the  first  attempt  at  applying  it  to  tLii 
particular  mischief,  may  be  regarded  as  an  experimenti  how  hi 
this  has  been  a  successful  one,  has  now  to  be  determined. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Commission  objections  are  enumerated  ai 
being  commonly  made  against  these  Acts,  and  worthy  of  more  or 
less  serious  notice.     They  are  as  follows  : — 

(I.)  That  the  Acts  are  designed  to  provide  sound  prostitutes  for 
soldiers  and  sailors,  and  that  this  is  implied  in  their  title. 

(2.)  That  such  legislation,  by  rendering  vicious  indulgence  len 
hazardous,  has  a  direct  tendency  to  promote  immorality. 

(3.)  That  the  protected  districts  are  in  fuct  resorted  to  by  libertines, 
and  that  married  men  and  youths  are  induced  to  visit  the  registered 
women  by  the  security  they  are  supposed  to  offer  of  freedom  from 
contagion. 

(4.)  That  the  practice  of  registering  prostitutes,  and  subjecdng 
them  to  a  periodical  examination  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
whether  they  are  in  a  fit  condition  to  follow  their  trade,  is  in  itself  an 
outrage  upon  public  decency  and  morality. 

(5.)  That  such  a  system  is  virtually  a  recognition  bj  the  State  of 
the  trade  of  prostitution. 

(6.)  That  the  compulsory  ;urgical  examination  of  the.  womep  at 


intervals  ia  calculated  to  remove  aoj  Itngeilng  Genae  of  shama 

pnbjecta  of  such  operatiou,  aud  to  UsrUen  tbeto. 

Tbat  the  iDcreaiie<l  gaica  of  prostitution  coiiBequent  upon  tbo 

td  condilioQ  of  tka  woinea  offur  a  temptaliou  to  girls  to  eater 

lis  vskj  of  life. 

Tbat  it  19  unfair  to  exempt  men  from  the  restraints  and  regu- 

to  which  women  ai-e  aubjected. 

That  the  Acts  are  oppoaed  to  the  priDciplea  of  conalituiionul 


□pinions  are  neither  accepted  n 
plated  that  every  ouc  can  furni  hi 
first  objection  contains,  to  my  m 
Jio  motives  of    the  introducers 

liisiou  of  I 


St/  John  Armsti-enff. 


557 


or  repeated  hy  the  report,  but 
is  own  opinion  of  their  value, 
iiid,  a  most  unfair  imputation 
of  these  Acts  ;  and  it  is  a 
as  identical  operations,  the 
ll  of  diseased,  and  the  providiug  of  sound,  prostitutes,  What- 
olour  there  may  have  been  fur  this  objection,  will,  however, 
loved,  if  the  suggestion  of  the  Commission  to  transfer  the 
itration  of  the  Acts  to  tbo  Home  Office  be  adopted ;  and,  if 
nciple  laid  down  by  them  bo  recognized,  that  not  ouly  garrison 
but  all  such  places  as  are  special  centres  of  disease,  should 
Ijected  to  this  legidlation.  The  second  and  third  objectioas 
too  that  this  would  be  equally  true  of  any  ofTeclual  means  ibat 
be  adopted,  whether  by  the  State,  or  by  voluutary  efFort,  lor 
the  diseases  of  tliis  class  of  womuu.  The  fourth  objection 
U  again  a  palpable  misstutemeut  of  the  object  of  the  Acts. 
Gil''  of  the  fifth  lies  in  tbo  meaning  attacbed  to  the  word 
ittion.  If  by  it  is  intended  licence,  express  or  implied,  then  no 
the  Acts  are  open  to  observation  ;  but,  to  affix  such  a  meuuiug 
term,  b  to  put  upou  it  a  forced  and  unnatural  coasti'octioi>. 
ixth  objection,  if  well  founded,  shoulil,  in  my  opiuion,  make  us 
It  is  a  serious  matter  to.  make  repentance  more  hard,  or  lo 
a  an  evil  life.  But  are  the  Acts  really  obnoxious  to  this 
T  1  must  profess  myself  unable  to  believe  that  women  who 
fwaya  ready  lo  yield  themselves  iu  the  course  of  nuy  day  or 
to  the  promiscuous  embraces  of  a  series  of  chance  comers 
Bt  repugnance,  or  who,  if  they  feel  repugnance,  are  able  to 
ime  it  for  the  miserable  wages  of  their  vileuess,  can  be  har- 
by  submission  to  this  medical  iuapection. 

I  answer  to  (he  eighth  objection  is  obvious.  There  is  no  clasa 
D  corresponding  with  this  class  of  women  ;  there  is  no  man  of 
it  can  be  predicted  that  be  must  have  illicit  intercourse  with 
lier  sex,  and  certainly  if  diseased,  ho  can,  aud  generally  is 
klled  to  abstain  from  such  commerce.  A  prostitute,  on  the 
hand,  whether  diseuiied  or  sound,  having  no  other  means  uf 
llence,  must  every  day  And  her  quota  of  men,  or  cease  to  live, 
itary  law  deals  not  nith  the  sin,  but  with  the  admitted  form 
health,  with  the  woman  whose  existence  depends  upon 
'OBtilution  of  herself,  and  whose  mode  of  life  is  a  matter  of 
10  repute. 


558  Contagioua  IXaeases  Ads. 

The  ninth  objection  forms  one  of  the  most  carious  contribntiotM  to 
legal  claims  with  which  I  am  acquainted ;  and  if  it  could  be  tup- 
ported,  no  summary  conviction  before  a  magistrate  could  be  sustained. 

Even  if  these  objections  were  sound  instead  of  fallacious,  there 
are  certain  advantages  attributed  to  the  Acts  which  maj  fairly 
be  set  in  the  balance  against  any  of  these  objections  that  may  be 
considered  sustainable.  Although  other  influences  may,  to  a  certain 
extent,  tend  in  the  same  direction,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  qnite 
independently  of  any  evidence  that  may  be  forthcoming  to  the 
point,  that  by  the  operation  of  these  Acts,  the  numbers  of  dissolute 
women  to  be  met  with  in  the  streets  of  the  subjected  towns,  have 
been  sensibly  diminished.  Any  woman  acting  as  a  proetitute,  must, 
sooner  or  later,  under  this  system,  be  registered  as  a  commoA 
prostitute,  and  treated  accordingly.  Now,  this  consideration  nnut 
operate  strongly  in  a  large  class  of  women.  Milliners,  servant 
girls,  and  the  wives  of  sailors  and  others,  whose  frequent  absence 
&om  home  gives  opportunity  for  licence,  who  might  be  willing  to 
indulge  in  acts  of  unchastity  if  they  led  to  no  ulterior  consequences, 
will  hesitate  before  they  act  in  a  manner  calculated  to  bring  them  on 
the  registry  as  common  prostitutes.  And  thus  not  only  aro  the 
numbers  of  prostitutes  much  less  than  they  otherwise  would  be,  but 
the  reduction  in  the  number  of  low  women  frequenting  the  streets 
lessens  the  opportunity  for,  and  the  temptation  to,  act^  of  vicious 
indulgence  on  the  pare  of  men.  If  then  we  may  believe  that 
by  these  Acts  the  number  of  loose  women  is  diminished,  and 
solicitation  sensibly  checked,  and  even  the  common  prostitute 
rendered  not  only  less  diseased,  but  lees  filthy  and  raggedy  lees 
hungry,  and  less  debased,  we  must  recognise  in  them  the  seeds  of 
good,  especially  when  we  remember  that  it  is  only  by  iudireot  meass 
that  we  can  repress  prostitution,  or  raise  the  prostitute. 

With  regard  to  the  charges  of  grave  misconduct  made  against  the 
police  and  medical  men  employed  in  carrying  out  these  Acts,  the 
Commissioners  have  unanimously  reported  that  these  charges  ire 
all  of  them,  either  absolutely  false  or  gross  exaggerations.     I  believe 
that  much  of  the  opposition  has  been  excited  and  fostered  by  the  too 
ready  credence  given  to  these  idle  tales,  and  it  cannot  be  too  widely 
known  that  the  notion  so  industriously  circulated,  that  the  law  and 
its  administrators  have  been  so  stupid  or  so  wicked  as  to  mistidke  iw 
common  prostitutes  the  respectable  wives  and  daughters  of  working 
men,  is  nothing  better  than  a  clumsy  calumny.    When  we  remember 
that  the  police  inspectors  charged  with  this  duty,  are  picked  mes, 
enjoying  in  no  small  degree  that  best  distinction,  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  their  superiors,  and  further,  that  the  flagitious  conduct 
imputed  to  them,  would  be  possible  only  on  the  supposition  of  conni- 
vance on  the  part  of  the  medical  men  who  are  gentlemen  of  standing 
and  known  integrity,  the  common  sense  of  the  nation  will  endorse 
the  verdict  of  the  Commission,  and  stamp  with  graye  disapproTsl 
these  wanton  attacks  upon  private  reputation  and  character. 
Now  the  report  distinctly  states  that  there  is  a  aerioius  tvil  that 


By  John  Armstranff*  559 

lemandfl  effective  treatmeat,  and  that  the  periodical  examination  of 
Bommon  women  presents  the  most  effectual  means  of  dealing  with  it, 
i>at  partly  on  the  ground  that  I  have  just  suggested,  and  partly 
t)6cau8e  they  are  not  satisfied  that  sufficient  good  cannot  he  achieved 
t>y  other  means,  the  Commission,  on  a  halauco  of  considerations, 
recommend  the  discontinuance  of  their  examinations.  Whether  this 
^union  is  really  conclusive  against  them,  may,  I  think,  he  fairly 
loubted.  Coupled  with  it  is  another  recommendation^  subject  to 
vrhose  adoption,  or  to  others  more  efficacious,  if  such  can  be  found 
bhe  discontinuing  recommendation  must  be  taken.  Moreover  the 
«mark  may  fairly  be  made,  tbat  as  yet  a  sufficient  trial  to  enable  us 
x>  judge  of  the  results  attainable  by  them  has  not  been  made. 

We  cannot  expect  to  find  at  once  the  best  means  of  controlling 
>ro8titution.  These  Acts  are  the  first  attempt  made  in  this  country 
.t  dealing  in  a  methodical  manner  with  an  admitted  source  of  sick- 
1688,  poverty,  and  misery,  aiid,  so  far  as  they  extend,  prostitution  has 
«en  confronted  by  a  system  which  at  least  in  intention  is  healing 
nd  beneficial.  This  view  is  strongly  put  forward  by  the  report, 
rhich  attaches  gr^t  importance  to  the  maintenance  of  a  system 
rhich  if  it  cannot  altogether  annul,  may  at  least  materially  mitigate 
.  pestilence  which  is  not  like  other  contagions  of  occasional  occur- 
ence but  one  of  perennial  growth.  *'  By  what  is  done  in  the  sub- 
ected  districts,  we  see  what  might  be  accomplished  throughout  the 
tountry,  and  here  I  intend  no  advocacy  of  indiscriminate  extension, 
lor  do  I  defend  the  system  merely  as  a  means  of  protecting  the 
lealth  of  soldiers  and  sailors,  though  much  may,  in  my  opinion,  be 
taid  for  this  view.  The  report  takes  wider  and  stronger  ground, 
P7ben  it  lays  down  the  general  principle  that  special  regulations  for 
the  treatment  and  control  of  a  class  of  persons  frequenting  certain 
districts  under  certain  conditions  calculated  to  promote  disease,  are 
alike  just  and  expedient."  This  affords  at  once  a  sufficient  reason  for 
retaining  and  a  sound  guide  in  extending.  The  committee  while  thus 
insisting  upon  the  necessity  for  this  system,  believe  that  it  can  be 
carried  out  by  machinery  less  obnoxious  to  criticism  than  the  periodial 
examinations,  but  this  is  after  all  a  minor  and  comparatively  ephe- 
meral opinion  dependent  upon  circumstance  which  future  experience 
may  either  justify  or  overturn.  The  real  principle  established  by 
the  report,  which  will  survive  when  the  means  suggested  for  carrying 
it  out  may  be  superseded  or  forgotten,  is  this,  that  State  interference 
for  the  purpose  of  detecting  and  sending  to  hospital  and  retaining 
them  till  cured — and  all  by  compulsion— diseased  prostitutes,  is  alike 
just  and  expedient  and  preferable  to  the  voluntary  system. 

**  If  shape  it  can  be  called  that  shape  has  none.'' 

For  what  after  all  is  this  voluntary  system  1  .  It  is  simply  leaving 
to  chance  the  detection  and  cure  of  disease,  and  the  offer  to  the  fallen 
of  the  opportunity  of  reformation.  It  is  either  struggling  against 
evil  with  inadequate  means,  or  making  of  ample  means  an  inadequate 
use.    When  the  prevention  of  disease,  the  relief  of  misery,  and  the 


560  Contagious  Diseases  Adis. 

restoration^of  the  fallen  are  the  oljects  of  pursuit,  we  canDOt  afford 
to  turn  aside  to  choose  chimeras.  We  must  indulge  no  vain  ideas 
that  prostitution  can  be  put  an  end  to. 

"  All  sects,  all  ages,  smack  of  this  Tioe." 

What  the  world  has  hitherto  been  and  is,  it  will  in  all  essential 
aprticulars  continue  to  be.  Prostitution  is  not  a  necessity,  God 
forbid  that  I  should  say  so ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  a  serious  fact,  with 
which  I  submit  that  we  are  bound  to  deal,  and  to  use  eyerj  meaus 
which  science  can  suggest  and  law  enforce,  unless  we  are  prepared 
to  go  back  instead  of  forward^  and  wilfully  to  perpetuate  to  tiie 
future  generation  an  infinite  amount  of  preyentable  disease  aDd 
suffering. 

On  tlie  Same.     By  H.  N.  MoZLET,  Barrister-at-Law. 

The  first  Contagious  Diseases  Act  was  passed  in  the  year  1864. 
ll  was  found  that  seamen  and  soldiers  suffered  greatly  from 
venereal  disease.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  military  and  aiTal 
authorities  not  unnaturally  looked  to  continental  countries,  and 
particularly  to  that  country  which  is  nearest  to  us,  to  see  how  the 
evil  was  dealt  with  there.  Accordingly,  they  caused  a  law  to  be 
paissed  on  the  principle  which  has  so  long  obtained  in  France,  appli* 
cable  however  to  naval  and  military  stations  only,  and  not  nominaiij 
recognizing  prostitution  as  an  institution  of  Government. 

It  would  be  unjust  to  attach  any  very  severe  censure  to  the 
promoters  of  this  legislation.  They  unquestionably  acted  to  the 
best  of  their  judgment'  for  the  promotion  of  the  interests  with  wbieh 
they  were  charged.  I'liey  wished  to  render  vice  safe,  not  indeed  for 
its  own  sake,  but  in  so  fur  as  this  safety  might  promote  the  efficieacj 
of  the  army.  True  it  is  that  they  seem  to  have  completely  iguor&i 
the  moral  aspect  of  the  question.  But  the  moral  aspect  of  the 
question  was  at  that  time  very  imperfectly  understood.  It  had  not 
then  received  the  exhaustive  discussion  which  it  has  since  received, 
nor  was  it  at  that  time  doubted  that  the  French  army  was  in  a  fair 
state  of  efficiency,  and  owtid  that  elliciency  in  a  great  measure  to 
legislation  founded  on  the  same  principle. 

I  have  said  thus  much,  because  nothing  is  more  common  than  to 
hear  supporters  of  the  Contagious  Diseases  Acts  appeal  to  their  own 
good  motives  as  a  reason  (apparently)  for  the  coutinuance  of  the 
•ystem.  In  last  month^s  Blackwood^  for  instance,  we  are  told  that 
there  was  no  thought  of  legalizing  vice  ;  all  that  was  desired  was  to 
check  disease,  >Ve  reply  that  the  promoters  of  the  system  have  in 
fact  legalized  vice,  whether  they  intended  it  or  not.  If  every  law  is 
to  be  judged  according  to  the  motives  of  its  promoters^  a  good  deal 
of  the  laborious  inquiries  which  are  from  time  to  time  inatitated  as 
to  the  operations  of  particular  laws  would  become  quite  unuecessaij, 

What  then  is  the  objection  to  this  kind  of  legislation  as  applicable 
to  soldiery  and  sailors?  First  of  all,  it  treats  thorn  not  as  moral H 


%  H.  Hf.  Moztey.  661 

I'esponsiblc  beings,  but  as  unreasoning  brutes  requiring  the  gratifica- 
tion of  their  lowest  and  most  sensual  appetites  provided  for.  It 
develops  to  the  utmost  their  animal  propensities,  and  does  its  best  to 
stifle  all  higher  aspirations.  A  great  deal  has  been  said,  and  that 
justly,  on  the  degrading  effect  this  system  must  have  upon  tho  unfor- 
tanate  Women  who  are  subjected  to  it.  I  submit,  however,  that  the 
degradation  inflicted  upon  our  soldiers  and  sailors  is  quite  as  great. 
Assuming,  then,  that  these  Acts  did  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  army 
and  navy,  we  should  submit  that  the  means  employed  were  not  such 
as  could  bo  rightfully  employed  for  the  purpose ;  but,  in  fact,  that 
which  is  immoral  can  never  be  really  expedient ;  and  especially 
might  we  infer  that  anything  which  tends  to  demoralize  the  soldier 
cannot  promote  his  efficiency.  Such  an  infurenco  is  fully  con- 
firmed by  the  history  of  the  late  continental  war.  And  if  it  be 
said  that  the  system  is  also  in  operation  in  Germany,  I  would  reply 
that  its  introduction  there  is  far  more  recent,  and  its  operation  more 
limited  than  in  France.  Tho  demoralization  produced  by  such 
legislation  would  necessarily  take  time  to  show  itself.  Again,  did 
not  the  British  army  gain  splendid  victories  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century  before  Contagious  Diseases  Acts  were  thought  of  for  the 
country  ?  Why  then  should  they  be  supposed  necessary  at  the 
present  day  ? 

Now  with  regard  to  the  medical  question.  It  is  sometimes 
tho  fashion  to  talk  as  if  the  medical  profession  were  unanimous  in 
favour  of  the  principle  of  the  Contagious  Diseases  Acts.  No  state- 
ment could  be  more  flagrantly  untrue. 

[The  writer  of  tho  paper  here  referred  to  the  opinions  held  by 
Mr  Simon,  Dr.  Chapman,  Mr.  Holmes  Coote,  Dr.  Drysdale,  Dr. 
Bell  Taylor,  and  others,  and  gave  quotations  from  the  three  first- 
named  authorities  on  the  subject.] 

We  now  proceed  to  consider  the  moral  question,  in  the  narrow 
sense  of  that  term — How  do  the  Acts  tend  to  promote  or  discourage 
unchaste  living  1  That  they  would,  in  any  direct  way,  encourage 
chastity  in  men  is  a  proposition  which  I  have  never  heard  contended 
for,  even  by  the  strongest  supporters  of  the  Acts.  So  far  as  the  Conta- 
gious Diseases  Acts  are  successful,  to  that  extent  they  must  encour- 
age dissoluteness  of  living  by  removing  the  fear  of  its  attendant 
dangers.  If  they  do  not  do  this,  it  can  only  be  because  they  fail  in 
their  object.  It  is  ridiculous  to  urgo  that  the  fear  of  evil  will  not 
operate  to  deter*  men  from  actions,  whether  of  an  innocent  or  guilty 
character.  All  penal  legislation  is  based  upon  an  opposite  principle. 
Of  course,  it  may  well  be  that  the  sanction  may  be  insufficient  in 
many  individual  cases  to  counteract  the  temptation  ;  but  to  say  that 
the  sanction  would  in  no  case  be  effectual  is  absurd.  But  then  it  is 
said  that  the  Contagious  Diseases  Acts  diminish  the  number  of 
prostitutes  in  the  stations  to  which  they  apply.  This  is  a  point  on 
which  there  is  a  good  deal  of  conflict  of  opinion,  into  which  I  do  not 
propose  to  enter. 

Now  that  I  have  touched  slightly  upon  the  particular  branches 

36 


562  CanJtagioua  Disecuea  Acts. 

of  the  question,  I  would  now  consider  it  with  Tefecence  to  the  meaoi 
employed.  These  are,  to  ioTade  the  personal  liberty  of  certaia 
women,  on  the  groupd  that  they  are  propagating  disease.  Now 
every  law  properly  so  called  interferes,  more  or  leas,  with  the  liWty 
of  those  affected  by  it  But  the  interference  with  liberty,  as  UiAt 
phrase  is  understood  in  connection  with  the  Contagious  Diseases 
Acts,  is  a  far  more  cruel  thing  than  that  interference  with  liberty 
which  is  implied  by  the  existence  of  law.  Again,  viewing  it  merely 
as  an  interference  with  liberty,  the  question  in  every  case  most  be, 
whether  the  restraint  in  the  individual  case  is  a  necessary  evil  or 
not.  And  in  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  it  is  exceediogly 
pertinent  to  inquire  whether  there  is  any  inequality  in  the  applica- 
tion of  the  law  which  is  not  warranted  by  the  circumstances  or 
necessities  of  the  case.  If,  for  instance,  a  law  having  a  certain 
object  be  applied  only  to  class  A,  when  there  is  no  apparent  reason 
why  the  object  of  the  law  would  not  be  equally  fulfilled  by  its  ex- 
tension to  class  B,  its  exclusive  application  to  class  A  is  prima  fade 
vicious.  If  sound  in  its  principles,  it  does  not  go  far  enough.  There 
is  nothing  more  common  in  British  legislation  than  this  kind  of 
inequality,  which  proceeds  generally  from  inadvertence.  The  Con- 
tagious Diseases  Acts  have  been  no  exception  to  this  rule.  While,  as  I 
have  said,  acting  with  the  utmost  severity  and  cruelty  towards  unchaste 
women,  they  let  unchaste  men  go  scot-free.  And  the  manner  in 
which  they  act  upon  unchaste  women  is  not  such  as  to  indace  the 
world  to  suppose  that  the  Legislature  regards  prostitution  as  in  any 
way  objectionable,  but  rather  that  it  is  a  legitimate  profession,  and 
that  the  State  has  nothing  to  do  but  to  see  that  those  who  exercise 
it  are  properly  qualified  to  do  so.  If  the  medical  evidence  showed 
that  the  medical  examination  of  profligate  men  could  not  serve  the 
object  of  the  promoters  of  the  Acts,  the  present  objection  as  regards 
inequality  could  not  apply  ;  but  no  such  evidence  has  been  given,  so 
far  as  I  am  aware  of.  The  argument  Is  not  at  all  grappled  with  by 
the  Commissioners  in  their  report.  They  attempt  to  justify  the 
distinction  made  between  the  sexes,  partly  by  a  supposed  difference 
in  the  moral  delinquency  of  unchastity  according  to  the  sex  of  the 
wrong-doer,  and  partly  by  the  question  of  the  medical  examination 
of  soldiers  and  sailors,  a  question  which  seems  to  have  been  suggested 
by  the  remarks  made  by  certain  witnesses  before  the  Commission, 
but  which  is  utterly  irrelevant  to  the  question  wo  are  now  discussing, 
which  is,  why,  if  unchaste  womcu  are  subjected  to  periodical  mediad 
examinations,  unchaste  men,  whether  soldiers  or  sailors  or  civilians, 
should  not  be  equally  so  subjected. 

To  revert  to  the  other  part  of  their  argument,  we  may  observe  that 
this  also  is  wholly  beside  the  present  question.  Be  it  remembered 
that  flupportcrs  of  Contagious  Diseases  Acts  are  nothing  if  not 
**  sanitary  reformers.''  Sanitary  i*eform,  in  fact,  is  the  watchword 
of  the  party.  In  order  to  justify  the  different  treatment  of  the  sexef, 
it  should  have  been  shown  that  the  examination  of  unchaste  men 
would  be  useless  as  a  measure  of  sanitary  reform.     Now  a  great 


By  H.  N.  MoxUy.  663 

deal  of  evidence  has  been  giren  by  supporters  of  the  Acts  as  to  the 
amount  of  disease  imported  by  soldiers  and  sailors  and  foreign 
traders. 

[The  writer  then  cited  from  Mr.  Berkeley  Hill's  evidence  before 
the  Lords'  Committee  in  1869,  and  referred  also  to  the  opinions  of 
Sir  Henry  Storks  and  Mr.  Romaine  on  the  propagation  of  disease 
by  men.  See  also  Reports  of  Commons'  Committee,  p.  49,  and  the 
opinions  of  Dr.  Barr,  of  Aldershot,  in  p.  33.  The  writer  then  at- 
tacked the  argnment  that  it  was  not  possible  ''  to  catch  the  men," 
and  proceeded : — ] 

Of  course,  while  we  prefer  to  take  the  supporters  of  the  Acts  on 
their  own  ground,  we  must  not  be  understood  as  admitting  for  a 
moment  the  supposed  difference  between  male  and  female  unchastity. 
Every  individual  case  which  it  is  necessary  to  consider  must  be  con- 
sidered upon  its  own  facts  :  but  what  we  are  contending  for  is,  that 
there  is  no  a  priori  palpable  difference  between  the  sexes  in  the 
matter.  If  the  Commissioners'  statement  of  this  question  be  the 
correct  one  (which  we  may  assume  for  the  sake  of  the  argument),  then 
we  say  the  case  of  the  unchaste  man  is  certainly  worse  than  that  of  the 
unchaste  woman.  What  they  say  is  that  unchastity  in  man  is  an 
irregular  indulgence.  But  what  crime  is  there  of  which  this  may 
not  be  said  ?  Man  is  naturally  corrupt,  and  he  is  bound  to  fight 
agunst  his  evil  inclinations ;  and  nothing  can  be  said  worse  of  him 
than  that  he  does  not  do  this.  While,  however,  we  claim  the  dis- 
tinction made  between  the  sexes  as  an  argument  against  the  Conta- 
gious Diseases  Acts,  and  all  legislation  based  upon  such  a  system,  it 
must  not  be  inferred  that  we  should  at  all  approve  of  a  system  of 
medical  examination  of  men.  Believing  the  whole  system  of  the  Con- 
tagious Diseases  Acts  to  be  founded  on  an  erroneous  principle,  we  are 
strongly  opposed  to  its  extension  in  any  direction. 

Now,  as  to  the  effect  of  the  Acts  upon  the  general  respect  in  which 
women  are  held  in  this  country.  However  good  may  be  the  motives 
of  those  who  support  tliis  legislation,  there  is  one  constraction  which 
in  minds  wholly  or  partially  depraved  is  sure  to  be  drawn,  namely, 
that  it  is  an  understood  and  recognised  doctrine  that  man  was  made 
for  self-indulgence,  and  that  women  (at  all  events  poor  women)  were 
made  to  satisfy  the  irregular  lust  of  man.  Can  it  be  supposed  that 
such  a  notion  will  not  tend  to  lower  the  respect  in  which  woman  is 
held?  I  would  on  this  point  refer  to  an  article  which  appeared 
some  months  ago  in  the  Saturday  Review ^  on  courtesy  to  women* 
The  writer  laughed  to  scorn  the  popular  notion  of  French  chivalry, 
and  gave  instances  from  his  own  experience  of  the  selfish  insolence 
with  which  women  are  treated,  in  railway  carriages  for  instance* 
Nor  was  he  less  severe  upon  Italians.  On  the  contrary,  he  paid  a 
high  tribute  in  this  respect  to  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.. 
Is  it  wholly  out  of  place  to  suppose  that  the  demoralizing  effecta 
of  licensed  (.restitution  had  ingiained  themselves  into  the  national 
character,  and  that  the  same  thing  will  happen  in  this  country  if  this 
legislation  be  persisted  in  f 

36—2 


564  Contagious  jDiseoiei  Ads. 

•Now  lot  us  consider  the  inequality  vrhicli  this   eystem  creates 
between  tlie  rich  and  the  poor. 

Taking  again  as  the  basis  of  our  argument  the  stateaient  of  the 
Commis8ionei*s,  that  female  incontinence  arises  from  love  of  g»in,  we 
ask,  Do  rich  women  sin  from  love  of  gain  ?      If  not,  here  is  at  once 
a  difference  made  between  the  rich  and  the  poor.     Of  course  J  do  not 
contend  that  this  inequality  is  in  itself  a  conclusive  objection  to  the 
system,  else  we  should  have   to  repeal  our  laws  against  theft  and 
fraud  in   money  mutters,  and  other  similar  offences  which,  by  the 
nature  of  the  case,  must  be  committed  chiefly  by  the  poor.    But  I 
do  mention  it  as  a  reason  for  narrowly  watching  the  operation  of 
the  system,  and  for  urging  upon  the  rich  the  question  whether  tbej 
would  acquiesce  so  tamely  in  legislation  of  this  kind  if  it  were  tJ^ 
wives  and  daughters,  and  not  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  poor, 
who  are  subjected  to  the  police  interference  of  the  kind  sanctioned 
by  the  Contagious  Diseases   Acts.     And  I  cannot  but  think  that 
these  considerations  acquire  additional  force  from  the  appeals  made 
from  time  to  time  to  the  selfish  indifierentism  of  the  upper  classes 
by  press  writers  in  the  interest  of  the  Acts — appeals  made  in  a  veiy 
difierent  spirit  from  that  of  the  poet — 

"Homo  Bum,  humoni  nil  a  me  alienum  puto." 

Wealthy  ladies  are  told  that  they  need  never  know  of  these  thiogs, 
and  ought  never  to  concern  themselves  about  them.  What  can  euch 
writers  mean  except  that  the  rich  are  specially  protected  by  the 
circumstances  of  their  position  from  the  evils  and  abuses  incident  to 
the  working  of  the  Acts,  and,  that  being  so,  they  need  not  tronble 
themselves  how  the  poor  may  be  affected  by  them  ? 

But  it  is  oflen  said,  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  case  has  been 
made  of  innocent  women  being  molested  under  the  Acts  ;  and  the 
statement  of  the  Royal  Commission  in  paragraph  twenty-three  of 
their  report  is  often  quoted  triumphantly  as  to  the  absence  of  sny 
such  case.    To  this  we  may  reply,  first,  that  if  there  be  no  such  case 
in  reality,  the  Acts  must  have  been  administered  with  a  conscien* 
tiousness  and  a  scrupulosity  which  is  almost  superhuman.    And  if 
there  are  such  cases  in  reality,  would  it  be  very  surprising  if  the 
victims,  modest  women  as  we  assume  them  to  be,  were  exceedinglj 
reluctant  to  come  forward  in  the  matter  at  the  risk  possibly  of  their 
reputation  and  of  their  livelihood  ?     You  cannot  prove  the  negative. 
But  this  is  not  all.     For  actual  cases  of  abuse,  I  may  refer  to  Mr. 
Applegartb,  one  of  the  Commissioners,  who  has  stated  that  ho  did 
find  coses  where  the  police  had  exceeded  their  duty;  cases  where 
respectable  women  had  been  stopped  by  the  police,  and  compelled  to 
undergo  the  examination.     There  is  also  a  pamphlet,  called  "  The 
Royal  Commission  as  a  Court  of  Justice,"  giving  detailed  cases  of 
the  abuse  by  the  police  of  the  powers  entrusted  to  them,  which  tht 
Commissioners  had  not  time  to  investigate. 

[The  writer  of  the  paper  here  referred  to  the  abuses  of  the  so- 


By  H.  N.  MozUy.  565 

oalled  '^  voluntary "  submission,  and  to  the  uoBatisfactorj  character 
of  the  Commissioners'  report,  and  continued  :— ] 

I  would  now  advert  to  a  popular  fallacy  by  which  it  is  often  at* 
tempted  to  defend  legislation  of  this  kind.  It  is  said  that  the  Acts 
are  not  intended  for  the  benefit  of  unchaste  men,  but  for  that  of  the 
inooceut  women  and  children  whom  they  infect.  The  obvious 
answer  to  this  is  that  any  serious  misconduct  on  the  part  of  a  father 
of  a  fkmily  will,  more  or  less,  affect  his  wife  and  children.  Suppose, 
for  instance,  a  clerk  is  tempted  to  embezzle  his  employers'  money, 
will  he  escape  punishment  because  if  he  were  sent  to  prison  his 
fiumily  would  be  ruined  9  We  punish  the  guilty,  though  we  know 
that  the  innocent  will  be  involved,  to  a  certain  extent,  in  the  punish- 
ment. Why  should  persons  suffering  from  venereal  disease  be  so 
specially  under  the  protection  of  the  law  f 

I  would  conclude  with  a  few  observations  with  regard  to  the 
principles  of  legislation  involved.  To  chock  disease  is  not  a  neceS' 
$ary  function  of  government ;  I  mean,  it  is  not  the  object,  or  even 
one  of  the  objects,  for  which  governments  are  constituted.  It  is 
outside  of  the  necessary  scope  of  governmental  functions.  I  do  not, 
of  course,  by  this  mean  that  it  is  not  within  the  possible  scope  of 
legislation.  Many  things  are  done,  and  properly  done,  by  Govern- 
ment, because  they  cannot  bo  so  well  doiio  by  any  other  ogeDcy. 
But,  judging  from  legislative  precedents,  the  suppreijsiou  of  vice  bos 
been  not  less  the  object  of  governmental  action  than  the  check  of 
disease.  And  if  this  is  as  it  should  be,  what  is  to  bo  said  for  a  law 
which  encourages  vice  to  the  extent  to  which  it  checks  disease  ? 
If  the  law  succeeds,  it  encourages  vice,  in  men  at  least ;  if  it  does 
not  do  so,  it  is  because  it  fails  in  its  effect.  What  would  be  thought 
of  a  law  which,  by  way  of  checking  pauperism,  should  provide  for 
giving  doles  to  beggars  ?  You  might  thus  in  the  individual  cases 
relieve  distress,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  a  law  would 
be  followed  by  a  great  increase  of  pauperism.  You  would  be  at- 
tempting to  get  rid  of  a  public  mischief  by  pampering  the  very  vice 
which  feeds  it  And  so  with  the  diseases  resulting  from  inconti- 
nence. The  law  attempts  to  check  these  diseases  by  granting  im- 
punity to  the  vices  which  foster  them. 

In  the  words  of  Mr.  Acton,  who  is  a  supporter  of  the  Acts,  the 
best  regulations  cannot  guarantee  freedom  irom  disease.  **  The 
brothels  are  crowded  on  inspection  days  from  the  presumed  extra 
secnri^;  the  hope  of  escaping  punishment  multiplies  vicious 
habits,  and  many  are  tempted  by  the  health  inspections,  who  otherwise 
would  not  incur  the  risk."  So  that  vice  is  encouraged  to  a  much 
greater  degree  than  disease  is  checked.  But,  independently  of  these 
considerations,  there  is  the  outrage  on  personal  liberty,  and  the 
abominable  cruelties  necessarily  incident  to  the  examination  ;  cruel- 
ties which  are  rather  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  those  upon  whom 
they  are  perpetrated  are  the  most  helpless  and  despised  of  human 
beings. 


566  Strikes  and  Loeh-mta. 


Are  Strikes  necessary  for  the  protectiofi  of  Workmen  j  or  Loch^uU 
for  that  of  Employers  f*  By  Fbedbbio  Hill,  Barrister- 
at-Law. 

WITH  returning  ooramorcial  activity  the  country  has  to  deplore  a 
fresh  and  extensive  resort  to  Strikes  ;  greatly  checking  that 
full  tide  of  prosperity  which  might  otherwise  flow,  and  preventing 
that  hearty  feeling  of  good-will  and  respect  between  class  and  class 
wliich  is  so  necessary  for  general  happiness  and  for  political  se- 
curity. 

That  these  violent  interruptions  to  labour,  with  their  counterpart 
Lock-outs,  are  great  evils,  that  they  cause  enormous  loss  and  waste, 
that  they  tend  to  destroy  habits  of  steady  industry  and  to  cripple 
and  drive  away  that  very  trade  on  which  both  workmen  and  em- 
ployers depend,  few  will  deny  ;  but,  unhappily,  to  many  penooi 
Strikes  and  Lock-outs  seem,  nevertheless,  under  certain  circumstances, 
unavoidable,  and  therefore  to  be  borne  as  best  they  may  ;  but,  for 
myself,  I  hold  a  very  different  opinion  ;  believing,  that  whatever 
transient  effects  they  may  produce  or  seem  to  produce,  they  are  no 
more  essential  to  tlie  admirable  system  established  by  the  bene- 
volent Creator  of  the  world  than  are  wars  and  pestilences.  For  what, 
by  a  law,  as  certain  as  tliat  of  gravitation,  must  result,  without  aoj 
joint  action  either  of  workmen  or  employers,  when  wages,  as  com- 
pared with  the  rate  of  profits,  are  too  low  or  too  high,  or  the  hours 
of  labour  too  long  or  too  short?  Assuredly,  where  wages  are  too 
low  or  the  hours  too  long,  all  employers  desirous  of  increasing  their 
business  (as  which  of  them  are  not  ?)  being  stimulated  by  a  state  of 
things  in  which  their  profits  are  unusually  great,  will  try  to  increase 
the  number  of  their  workmen  by  offering  higher  wages  or  a  redac- 
tion in  the  time  of  labour,  or  both  ;  while  any  employers  who  do  not 
at  first  recognize  the  necessity  for  a  change  will  soon  find,  by  the 
S^rndual  secession  of  their  workpeople,  the  absolute  need  of  conform- 
ing to  the  acts  of  their  neighbours.  And  what,  also,  must  quickly 
be  the  effect  of  wages  (again  as  compared  with  profits)  being  too 
high  or  the  hours  of  labour  too  short  ?  Men  from  other  places  or 
even  from  other  employments  will  flock  in  and  underbid  their  fellow- 
workmen  ;  or  the  employers  must  close  their  works  during  part  of 
the  week  ;  or  capital  will  gradually  be  withdrawn  from  that  branch 
of  trade. 

No  doubt  these  operations  require  some  time  to  come  into  fuU 
effect ;  and,  no  doubt,  a  rise  or  fall  in  wages  or  in  the  hours  of 
work  may  sometimes  be  accelerated  by  a  Strike  or  Lock-out  But  at 
what  a  cost,  both  in  money  and  feeling,  is  this  mere  anticipation 
brought  about  I  A  cost  generally,  if  not  always,  far  exceeding  the 
gain.     And  if,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  the  party  insisting  on  the 

*  See  jyansactions,  1865,  p.  518. 


By  Frederic  Uill  567 

chancre  makes  a  mistake,  and  the  tendency  in  the  labour  market  is 
in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  which  they  supposed,  or  is  not  to 
the  extent  which,  in  fixing  their  empiric  rate  of  wages,  they  assume, 
then  are  this  great  expense  and  embittered  feeling  utterly  in  vain, 
and  the  erring  party  is  doomed  to  defeat. 

Let  it  also  be  remembered  that  every  shilling  of  wages  or  profit 
which,  by  the  cessation  of  work  and  the  stoppage  of  machinery, 
is  thrown  away,  is  so  much  withdrawn  from  that  fund  on  which 
workmen  and  employers  alike  depend,  and,  as  far  as  it  goes,  must  be 
a  subtraction  from  the  general  rate  of  wages  and  profit. 

What  then,  if  this  reasoning  be  just,  should  be  its  practical 
application  ?  An  abandonment  of  all  attempts  artificially  to  regulate 
wages  and  hours  of  labour  and  a  willingness  to  leave  the  matter  to 
the  quiet  but  certain  operation  of  natural  law.  But,  it  may  be  asked, 
while  this  may  be  wise  if  both  parties  will  consent  what  is  to  bo 
done  if  one  party  refuses?  Must  not  combinations  of  workmen 
to  strike  be  met  by  combinations  of  employers  to  lock-out;  or  vice 
versa  ?  No,  I  venture  to  reply ;  any  more  than  it  is  wise  for  a 
country  to  close  its  ports  against  free  trade  until  other  countries  are 
willing  to  open  theirs.  I  hold  that  while  it  is  an  error,  even  in  a 
selfish  sense,  for  workmen  to  strike,  it  is  but  to  double  the  error  and 
greatly  to  delay  the  abandonment  of  Strikes  and  the  whole  system 
on  which  Strikes  are  based  for  employ  era  to  lock-out. 

To  state,  yet  more  specifically,  the  course  which  seems  to  me  politic, 
in  the  case,  say,  first,  of  a  Strike,  I  believe  that  the  wisest  action  on 
the  part  of  those  employers  to  whose  works  the  Strike  extends, 
would  be  at  once  to  yield  to  the  demand,  if  such  course  impose  a 
smaller  loss  on  them  than  would  a  temporary  stoppage  of  their  busi- 
ness; and  that  the  only  requirement  which  they  should  refuse  to 
accede  to  is  one  to  bind  them  to  continue  a  stated  rate  of  wages  or 
number  of  hours  of  labour  indefinitely  or  oven  for  any  long  period ; 
80  that  tliey  may  be  at  perfect  liberty  to  make  a  change  whenever 
men  come  forward  to  offer  better  terms. 

Should  a  case  arise  of  an  employer  being  evidently  selected  as  a 
victim  on  whom  it  is  attempted  to  impose  a  rate  of  wages  very 
different  from  that  in  general  use,  and  inconsistent,  therefore,  w^ith 
the  state  of  the  labour  market,  with  the  intention  apparently  of 
frightening  other  employers  into  the  adoption  of  a  similar  unreason* 
able  demand,  surely  it  would  be  wise,  on  the  part  of  the  employers 
generally,  to  uphold  the  intended  victim  by  financial  aid  and  thereby 
to  defeat  the  plot 

And  the  converse  of  the  course  I  have  suggested  in  the  case  of 
the  employers  I  would  advise  in  that  of  the  workmen,  when  there 
is  a  threatened  Lock-out.  I  would  say  to  the  workmen — *'  Yield  to 
the  employers'  demand  rather  than  throw  up  your  work  and  be  idle ; 
but  at  once  bestir  yourselves  to  learn  what  wages  other  employers 
in  the  same  trade  are  giving,  and  what  hours  of  labour  they  require; 
and  if  you  find  you  can  better  yourselves  by  engaging  at  some  other 
ftctorj  go  there ;  or  if,  for  i^  time,  there  be  no  vacancies  in  your  own 


568  Strikes  imd  Lock-outs. 

trade,  and  you  cau  get  better  wages  than  those  ofiuied  to  yoo  «t 
80ID0  other  employment,  make  a  temporary  change  (sach  at  a 
large  number  of  workmen  at  Newcastle  lately  made)  and  wait  ontil 
matters  have  righted  themselves  and  your  former  situations  are 
agaip  open  to  you  on  terms  in  tolerable  accordance  with  thoie 
generally  given  elsewhere. 

Ill  exceptional  cases  I  need  not  advise  workmen  to  adopt  the 
course  recommended  to  employers,  seeing  that  such  susteutation  ii 
their  ordinary  practice. 

Such  a  course  of  proceeding  is  in  unison  with  that  which  long 
experience  has  induced  our  country  to  adopt  in  relation  to  all  other 
commodities,  and  I  see  no  reason  whatever  for  an  exception  in 
respect  to  the  commodity  of  labour.  Hakers  do  not  combine  to  keep 
up  the  price  of  bread,  and  consumers  do  not  combine  to  keep  it 
down  ;  and  most  persons  must  now  agree  that  all  such  combiuatioDt 
would  be  both  futile  and  mischievous ;  and  tlius  the  law,  which  ii 
but  the  cxpreshion,  in  the  long  run,  of  public  opinion,  has  ceased  (o 
interfere  in  the  matter. 

If  workmen  and  employers  had  really  opposing  interests,  the  diffi- 
culty of  bringing  about  a  general  and  lasting  peace  between  the  two 
classes  would  indeed   bo   great;   perhaps   insurmountable;   but,  ai 
ma  in  tallied  in  a  lecture  on  the  subject  which  I  had  the  honour  oi 
delivering  about  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  the  opposition  of  interests  v^ 
only  apparent  ;  anJ,  on   careful  examination,   vanishes.     For  flup* 
posing,  as  I  then  did,  a  number  of  workmen  and  employers  to  meet 
together  to  agree  upon  a  scale  of  wages,  is  it  not  clear  that  one  and 
the  same  scale  would  best  serve  the  real  interest  of  both  parties 
namely,  that  most  in  accordance  witli  tho  actual  state  of  the  labour 
market?     For  suppose  that  either  party  succeeded   for  a  time  in 
obtaining  a  deviation  in  its  favour,  what  must  be  the  result!    If,  on 
the  one  hand,  tlie   scale  were  placed  too  high,  a  motive  would  be 
offered  to  men  to  come  in  from  other  works ;  while  the  employers 
would  have  an  inducement  to  transfer  part  of  tlieir  capital  to  other 
concerns  where  profits  were  not  unduly  depressed.     And  thus,  in  the 
end,  the    workmen,  instead  of  being  benefited  by  their  supposed 
success,  would  really  be  injured.     And  so,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the 
scale  were  placed  too  low,  the  men  would  straightway  have  a  motive 
for  seeking  employment  elsewhere;  the  obvious  effect  being  to  render 
part,  at  least,  of  the  invested  capital  unproductive ;  to  the  obviooi 
injury  of  the  employers.     If,  therefore,  it  be  demonstrably  true  that 
even  in  the  matter  of  wages  workmen  and  employers  have  the  sane 
interest,  in  other  words,  that  both  parties  must  be  injured  by  any 
deviation  from  the  market  rate,  tlien,  as  already  implied,  the  cost  of 
every  contest  proceeding  on  an  opposite  theory  must  be  utter  waste; 
and  great  becomes  the  responsibility  of  Qxery  one  who  throws  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  of  those  friendly  meetings  of  workmen  and  em* 
ployers,  in  which  facts  and  opinions  maybe  fairly  and  freely  difcosaed, 
with  a  good  prospect  of  just  views  being  ultimately  attained.    As 
evidence  of  what  sincere  desirci  seconded  by  tact  and  temper,  ca|i 


By  Freda^lc  Hill.  569 

aoLieve  in  this  way,  I  need  only  refer  to  Mr.  Mundella's  success  in 
•Btablishing  Boards  of  Conciliation  at  Nottingham  and  elsewhere, 
and  to  the  long  periods  of  peace  and  harmony  of  which  these  boards, 
where  formed,  have  proved  the  harbingers.  Had  such  a  meeting 
taken  place  at  Newcastle — an  expedient,  the  adoption  of  which  *  this 
Association's  Committee  ou  Labour  and  Capital  tried  in  vain  to 
procure — I  cannot  but  think  that  the  Strike  there  might  soon  have 
been  brought  to  an  end ;  indeed  Mr.  Burnett,  Chairman  of  the  Nine 
Hours  League,  in  his  lost  letter  to  the  Timcs^  expressly  declared  that 
had  there  been  such  a  meeting  the  late  unhappy  Strike  would  not 
have  taken  place. 

That  the  improvement  in  trade  warranted  an  increase  of  wages, 
and  that  the  employers  were  i-cady  to  make  such  increase,  is  evident 
by  Sir  Willium  Armstrong's  letters  in  the  Times ;  so  all  that  had  to 
be  done  was  to  commute  this  increase  in  money  ior  a  decrease  in  the 
hours  of  labour ;  a  decrease  which,  as  shown  by  the  experience  of 
Sunderland,  was  very  likely  to  prove,  by  the  act  of  the  workmen 
themselves,  merely  nominal. 

Sir  William  Armstrong  states  that  such  a  decrease,  if  real,  would 
diminish  profits  in  a  much  greater  degree  than  would  a  corresponding 
increase  in  wages.  If  this  statement  be  correct,  the  first  thing,  in  a 
friendly  conference,  would  have  been  to  point  out  to  the  men  that 
that  large  loss  would  not  be  confined  to  their  employers,  but  would 
inevitably  extend  to  themselves.  But  other  modes  of  meeting  the 
difficulty  miglit  have  been  considered ;  perhaps,  for  instance,  one 
which  has,  in  some  sort,  its  analogue  in  the  Post  Office,  viz.,  in- 
creasing the  number  of  workmen  by  one-ninth  ;  so  as,  without  any 
disturbance  of  established  hours,  to  admit  of  every  workman  having 
one  day  in  ten  holiday ;  an  an*angement  which  might.,  perchance, 
have  proved  quite  as  acceptable  to  them  as  an  hourly  decrease  in  the 
ordinary  day's  labour.  The  system  of  relays  might  also  have  been 
considered ;  and  both  the  terms  rccomincudcd  by  Mr,  Mundella  and 
those  which  were  ultimately  adopted. 

That  some  satisfactory  adjustment  might  have  been  effected  at 
Newcastle  by  a  friendly  conference  between  the  workmen  and  their 
employers  is  rendered  more  probable  by  the  result  of  the  proceedings 
at  Mr.  Stephenson's  great  works ;  where  resort  was  had  to  direct  and 
frank  communication  ;  by  which  considerate  and  wise  course  the 
disastrous  Strike  was,  as  we  know,  averted  from  an  important  and 
extensive  establishment 

Let  us,  however,  rejoice  that,  at  last,  the  Strike  has  come  to  an  end ; 
the  termination  having,  I  believe,  in  no  small  degree  been  brought 
about  by  the  exertions  of  throe  members  of  the  Committee  on  Labour 
and  Capital — ^Mr.  Mundella,  M.P.,  Mr.  Walter  Morrison,  M.P.,  and 
Mr.  Pears,  The  great  thing  was  to  enable  each  party  to  get  out  of 
the  false  position  in  which,  if  the  view  I  have  taken  be  correct,  it  had 
placed  itself.  The  precise  terms  of  agreement  are,  in  my  opinion, 
of  little  importance ;  for,  at  no  distant  time,  natural  law  will  make 
a^^  balance  right,  even  if,  for  a  time,  it  be  wrong.    To  this  law,  as 


570  Strikes  and  Loch^mts. 

one  to  which  hoth  worknien  and  employers  muBt  yield.  Sir  William 
Armstrong  refers  in  his  letters  to  the  Times ;  but  what  was  wanted 
was  not  a  mere  speculatiye  recognition,  but  a  faith,  of  which  the 
adherent  was  ready  to  give  practical  evidence. 

Before  quitting  the  case  of  Newcastle,  I  think  it  well  to  advert  to 
a  statement  in  one  of  Sir  William  Armstrong's  letters  implying  that, 
by  a  reduction  in  the  hours  of  labour,  workmen  may  command  pay- 
ment at  a  higher  rate ;  seeing  that  by  this  course  the  number  of 
workmen  is,  in  efPent,  diminished,  with  a  corresponding  diminution 
of  competition.     Such  a  view  I  hold  to  be  an  economic  error,  aod 
one  of  great  practical  importance,  both  in  the  groundless  fear  it 
creates  (as  in  the  present  instance)  in  the  minds  of  employers  and  in 
the  false  hopes  it  raises  among  workmen — hopes  to  which  may  be 
attributed  some  of  the  most  mischievous  regulations  of  certain  of  tlio 
Trades  Unions ;  such  as  restriction  in  the  number  of  apprenticea 
and  the  exclusion,  from  employment,  of  men  not  brought  up  to  th« 
particular  trade. 

That  an  immediate  result  of  n  reduction  in  the  time  of  work  might 
be  an  increase  in  the  rate  of  wages  I  do  not  deny  ;  but  I  maintain 
that  such  a  result  would  be  of  short  duration,  owing  to  its  tendency 
to  draw  workmen  from  other  places  and  from  other  occupations, 
and  to  the  check  it  would  give  to  consumption  and  to  the  employment 
of  CH))ital.  Even  supposing,  for  a  moment,  that  all  the  effect  could  be 
thrown  on  the  consumer  (which,  of  course,  is  impossible),  and  that 
the  workman  could  receive  higher  wages  than  the  market  rate  with- 
out diminishing  the  employer's  profit  or  driving  away  capital,  everj 
workman  should  remember  that  he  is  himself  a  connumer;  and  that 
if  a  reduction  in  hours  or  rather  in  the  quantity  of  work  performed 
could,  without  loss  to  the  workman,  be  adopted  in  one  employment  it 
could  be  adopted  in  all  others  ;  and  that  such  change  would  be  suc- 
ceeded by  a  general  enhancement  of  prices.  And  thus,  in  the  long 
run,  he  would  be  no  gainer. 

That  a  rising  or  falling  amount  of  profit,  and  the  state  of  the 
labour-market,  are  felt  to  be  the  ruling  facts  on  which  a  rise  or  fall 
of  wages  must  depend,  is  shown  by  the  constant  reference  to  this 
matter  in  the  discussions  to  which  Strikes  and  Lock-outs  give 
rise. 

'1  ho  idea  that  wages  are  fixed,  not  by  any  natural  law  but  by  the 
will  of  the  employer,  is,  I  hope,  for  the  most  part,  discarded  by 
intelligent  workmeu ;  though,  as  shown  by  experience,  such  want  of 
power,  on  the  part  of  the  employer,  is  no  obstacle  to  the  voluotaiy 
performance  of  those  acts  of  benevolence  which  personal  intercourse 
and  the  possession  of  superior  means,  always  suggest  to  a  kind  heart; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  such  acts  should,  in  ^irnesa,  be  taken  u 
free  gifts,  and  as  good  offices  of  man  to  man ;  and  should  not  be 
distorted,  ns  to  the  Parisian  workman's  vision,  into  a  mere  instalment 
towards  the  discharge  of  a  large  debt. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  School  which  maintains  that>  instead  of  capital 
being  labour's  mainHspringy  it  is  its  unMd^d  produce  %  some  seaioti 


By  Frederic  Hill.  571 

ing  even  so  far  as  to  denounce  capital  as  labour's  enemy.  But  I 
i  sure  you  will  agree  with  me  in  opinion  that  every  such  rhapsodist 
either  a  mere  class-flatterer,  or  else  grossly  ignorant  of  the  subject 

which  he  presumes  to  declaim ;  an  observation  strictly  applic- 
le  to  the  compounders  of  that  document,  so  replete  with  ignorance 
d  folly,  which  has  lately  been  addressed,  by  the  International 
ciety,  to  the  people  of  Switzerland;  but  to  which  I  trust  the  Swiss 
3  too  intelligent  to  give  ear. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  in  Paris,  where,  as  we  know,  these  false 
ctrines  are  rampant,  nothing  but  the  capital  thus  attacked  had 
pt  its  very  assailants  nlive;  since,  during  the  sie^e,  production  was 
tirely  suspended,  and  there  was  nothing  but  capital  to  live  upon. 
If,  then,  all  attempts  to  force  up  wages  are,  at  best,  but  labour  in 
iu,  are  there  no  ways  in  which,  without  force,  the  desired  end  may 

attained  ?  Many,  I  would  reply.  As  is  now  generally  admitted, 
erything  which,  by  adding  to  knowledge,  developing  intellect,  or 
proving  character,  renders  a  man  a  better  workman,  must,  sooner 

later,  enable  him  to  earn  more  money.  Again,  much  would  be 
ne  to  increase  the  potency  of  labour,  and,  therefore  its  marketable 
lue,  by  a  more  general  substitution  of  piece-work  for  time-work. 
It,  beyond  all  this,  the  amendment  in  the  law  of  partnership  (at 
bich  this  Association  so  long  laboured)  has  opened  new  resources 

great  value.  The  arrangement,  now  made  practicable,  under 
tiich  part  of  a  man*s  wages  shall  rise  or  fell  with  every  fluctuation 
profit,  instead  of  waiting  for  adjustments  by  fits  and  starts,  though, 
yet,  not  adopted,  I  fear,  to  any  great  extent,  is  one  which,,  for  the 
slfare  alike  of  workmen  and  employers,  we  may  hope  to  see 
ODght  into  general  use ;  since,  by  the  motive  which  it  creates  in 
►th  parties  to  promote,  by  diligence,  punctuality,  thrift,  and  in- 
intion,  the  success  of  their  joint  undertaking,  it  must  tell  powerfully 

causing  an  augmentation  of  that  fund  on  which,  at  all  times,  both 
irties  depend,  and  in  which,  under  such  arrangement,  workmen 
kVe  a  direct  share. 

Should  this  arrangement  become  at  all  general,  any  employers  not 
lopting  it  would  carry  on  their  trade  at  a  disadvantage ;  as  they 
9uld  not  be  able  to  ofler  wages  equal,  in  effect,  to  those  given  by 
hers  ;  and  their  workmen,  therefore,  would  gradually  leave  them. 
I  cannot  leave  this  point  without  indulging  the  melancholy  plea- 
ire  of  calling  to  mind  that  our  lamented  colleague,  Mr.  Edwin 
[eld,  who  lost  his  own  life  in  saving  that  of  a  friend,  was  one  of 
16  earliest  and  most  ardent  supporters  of  a  reform  in  the  law  of 
irtnership ;  and  gave  proof  of  his  conviction  on  the  subject,  by 
Imitting  every  person  in  his  large  legal  establishment,  down  to  the 
jry  porter,  to  a  direct  share  in  its  profits. 

A  yet  further  improvement,  made  practicable  by  the  new  law,  is 

i6  establishment  of  Industrial  Partnerships — a  subject  on  which 

rofessor  Jevons  has  given  us  so  much  information — and  which^  as 

e  know,  is,  however  slowly,  forcing  its  way  into  adoption. 

If,  instead  of  contests  tending  to  mutuiU  destmction,  workmen  and 


672  Tjandlords  and  Labcurera, 

employers  would  labour  for  the  attainment  of  these  good  and  prao- 
tioable  objects,  how  muoh  more  wisely  and  profitably  would  they  be 
engaged  !  It  would,  I  believe,  be  a  moderate  computation  to  eethnaCe 
the  joint  loss  caused  by  tlie  Ijito  f  trike  at  Newcastle,  at  15,000^  a 
week,  or,  for  the  whole  period  of  nineteen  weeks,  during  which  the 
strike  lasted,  at  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  sterling  ;  and  boir 
far  might  the  sum  thus  thrown  away  hare  gone  towards  enlightening 
the  whole  country  on  the  subject  under  review,  and  towards  bringing 
into  general  use,  the  first,  at  least,  of  the  two  great  improvements  I 
have  just  named  I 

This  task,  as  you  are  well  aware,  was  undertaken  by  a  Committee 
appointed  by  this  Association  ;  a  task  which  two  distinguished  men* 
bers  of  that  Committee,  Mr.  Mundella,  M.P.,  and  Mr.  Bmssey,  M.P., 
with  whom  has  been  associated  Mr.  Applegarth,  well  known  as  an 
able  advocate  of  the  rights  of  labour,  are,  at  this  very  time,  engaged 
at  a  generous  saciitice,  by  visits  at  Newcastle  and  elsewhere,  in 
actively  performing.  And  if  the  Committee's  exertions  have  been 
crowHcd  with  only  moderate  success,  I  venture,  as  a  member  of  that 
Committee,  to  assert  that  the  fault  has  not  been  theirs,  but  is  to 
be  found  in  a  want  of  that  financial  support  which  is  essential  to 
their  extended  action,  and  which,  indeed,  unless  quickly  yieldad, 
must  cause  a  cessation  of  their  labours.  While  even  millions  of 
money  have  been  thrown  away  in  useless  contests,  much  less  titan  % 
single  thousand  is  all  that  has  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Com* 
roittee  on  liAbour  and  Cupital  to  aid  it  in  its  exertions  for  preventing 
all  contests  whatever. 

In  conclueiion,  let  us  hope  that  a  practical  people,  like  the  Englisli, 
will  not  allow  matters  of  such  momentous  importance  to  drift  about 
as  chance  nuiy  direct ;  but  that  either  by  the  organisation  which  this 
Association  has  brought  into  action,  or  by  some  other,  they  will 
make  a  vigorous  effoit  to  weed  out  error  and  implant  truth ;  so  that 
gradually,  yet  surely,  for  waste  and  comparative  poverty,  may  be 
substituted  thrift  aud  increased  wealth ;  and  for  discord,  harmony. 


Landlords  and  Labonrei^s.  By  Sir  Baldwtn  LeightOK,  Bart. 

Much  has  been  written  and  said  on  the  condition  of  the  unskilled 
agricultural  labourer,  his  wants  aud  his  vacancies,  his  prospects  and 
his  drawbacks.  His  position  has  been  i^presented  on  the  one  hand 
as  hopeless  and  helpless,  on  tho  other  hand  it  has  been  praetically 
shown  that  his  lot  is  in  many  respects  more  eligible  than  that  of  the 
town  workman.  Meanwhile  though  governments  with  expensife 
commissions,  and  imlividuals  with  knowledge  more  or  less  imperfect, 
seem  to  have  exhausted  the  subject,  the  condition  of  the  rural 
labourer,  especially  in  parts  of  the  south  and  west  of  England,  is  yet 
an  unsolved  problem. 

Since  in  these  set  of  questions  we  are  nothing  unless  praetieiil,  it 
should  ^e  stated  that  the  suggestions  here  put  forward  are fouudedon 


6y  Sir  Bdldtoipi  LeiffJUon,  Jbart  &7^ 

what  has  been  practically  done  by  individual  and  especially  landlord 
infloeoce  in  a  certain  agricnlturai  district  where  wages  are  not  high, 
and  where  Pauperism,  audits  natural  concomitants  of  misery,  improri* 
dence,  and  degradation,  were  once  rampant.  Moreover  since,  under 
inititutlons  and  oustoms  generally  similar,  we  hare  now  two  totally 
different  states  of  things  existing  (as  in  Northumberland  and  Devon- 
shireX  it  would  appear  a  practical  undertaking  to  endeavour  to  raise 
up  the  standard  of  the  worst  by  the  standard  of  the  better. 

Some  fundamental  facts  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  considera- 
tion of  such  a  subject,  because  they  will  be  found,  after  all  that  can 
be  said  and  done,  to  hare  an  influence  for  good  and  evil  respectively. 
Such  are,  for  instance,  Race,  Soil,  and  the  presence  of  mines  and 
nmnufacturea. 

First,  as  to  Race  or  natural  constitution  of  people  which,  after  the 
lapee  of  centuries,  can  still  be  distinctly  perceived  in  different  coun- 
ties, and  that  without  any  very  great  ethnological  acumen.  There 
is  the  Saxon,  or  Anglo-Saxon  of  the  south,  and  the  Anglo-Celt  of 
the  west ;  there  is  the  Danish  nationality  of  the  northeim  counties, 
and  the  Gaelic  Celt  of  the  Highlands  and  of  Ireland,  differing  again 
distinctly  from  one  another.  And  this  distinction,  which  may  be 
traced  in  habits,  in  religion,  and  even  in  conversation,  has  a  bearing 
no  doubt  upon  eon<£tion  ;  the  Welsh  waggoner  will  sometimes  stop 
to  argue  about  religion,  and  the  Yorkshire  ploughboy  turn  to  a  dis- 
cussion of  horseflesh  ;  the  Irish  cottier  will  be  garruloos  about  his 
potatoes  and  his  family,  while  the  plodding  Anglo-Saxon  of  the 
south  will  be  eloquent  about  want  of  work  and  wages,  and  the  union 
workhoase.  It  is  with  this  Anglo-Saxon  of  the  south  that  we  are 
now  chiefly  concerned ;  and  on  this  point  one  rather  bold  observation 
has  been  made,  which  a  practical  diagnosis  of  the  country  seems 
partly  to  bear  out;  namely,  that  the  lino  of  the  Trent  nearly  divides 
the  prosperous  from  the  ill-conditioned  qua  agricultural  labourers, 
who  being,  as  it  were,  at  the  base  of  the  social  polity,  are  most  liable 
to  the  effects  of  what  may  be  called  natural  causes. 

Then  as  to  soil,  it  will  be  found  that  where  the  soil  is  rich,  the 
farms  large,  and  the  farmers  men  of  capital,  the  position  of  the  agri- 
cultural labourer  will  bo  better  on  tlie  whole  than  where  with  small 
farms  and  struggling  tenants,  as  in  the  south-west  of  England,  the 
labourer  is  only  employed  for  a  few  months  in  the  year,  and  cast 
adrift  to  his  own  resources  or  the  cold  comfort  of  the  Poor  Law  in 
winter.  It  is  affirmed  that  in  many  parts  of  Hampshire,  Berkshire, 
and  Devonshire,  agricultural  labourers  who  for  eight  months  in  the 
year  have  steadily  worked  for  the  surrounding  farmers,  are  during 
many  weeks  or  even  months  inmates  of  the  workhouse  ;  or  in  what 
will  be  found  an  almost  equally  degraded  condition,  regular  recipients 
of  out-door  relief  every  winter.  This  is  suppleroenlation  of  wages 
with  a  vengeance ;  this  is  a  state  of  things  that  cannot  but  call  for 
the  most  profound  sympathy,  and  if  it  were  not  for  practical  demon- 
stration <^  its  unnecessity,  for  the  most  profound  despair.  Then  as 
to  the  accidental  presence  of  mines  and  manufactures  in  a  county 


574  Landlords  and  iMbaurers. 

or  district,  it  will  generally  bo  found  that  by  supplying  work,  and 
so  absorbing  almost  on  the  spot  the  surplus  labour,  and  in  a  lesser 
degree  by  raising  the  wages  and  the  value  of  agricultural  prodoce 
thereby  in  the  neighbourhood,  the  condition  of  tho  labourer  is  im- 
proved.  The  presence  of  mines  and  manufactures  in  the  north  may 
be  contrasted  with  their  general  absence  in  the  south. 

But  in  addition  to  these  more  fundamental  and  less  alterable 
causes,  there  are  local  and  incidental  reasons  which  perhapn  in  ao 
equal  or  even  greater  degree  affect  the  condition  of  the  agncultaral 
labourer ;  and  seeing  that  there  is  no  insuperable  difficulty  to  their 
correction  in  any  and  every  district  in  England,  it  is  to  them  that 
more  especial  attention  should  be  directed — they  are  chiefly  these : 
A  badly-admiuiatered  Poor  Law,  aggravated  by  that  pest  of  the  poor 
man's  home,  a  superfluity  of  beer-shops ;  a  want  of  intelligent  and 
improving  landlords,  and  an  absence  of  all  means  of  investment  for 
the  labourers'  savings. 

The  question  of  a  better  administration  of  the  Poor  Law,  which,  ia 
some  districts,  seems  to  cause  the  very  evils  of  improvidence  and 
dependence  it  should  seek  to  cure,  would  take  too  long  adequately 
to  go  into  here,  more  especially  as  some  of  the  incidents  of  the 
southern  counties  of  England  seem  almost  beyond  the  power  of  Poor 
Law  to  deal  with.  It  would  seem  as  if  labour  were  in  excess,  and 
that  migration  is  the  only  cure.  If  the  farmers  habitually  turn  off 
their  men  in  the  winter,  and  there  is  no  work  for  them,  althoogh 
during  tbo  summer  months  they  are  required,  it  may  be  that  mi- 
gration must  naturally  correct  the  overplus,  and  machinery  supply 
its  place.  This  would  have  two  effects,  which  the  farmers,  landlords, 
and  others,  should  well  consider.  First,  wages  would  rise,  whieh 
would  possibly  be  no  loss  to  any  one,  as  it  has  been  often  shown  that 
the  lowest  paid  labour  is  not  always  the  cheapest ;  but  secondly,  the 
best  men  would  be  the  first  to  migrate.  This  would  soon  be  fedt  as 
a  serious  and  palpable  loss  in  a  district,  as  has  practically  been  found 
in  more  than  one  previously  overstocked  neighbourhood.  But  as  to 
the  administration  of  the  Poor  Law,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  the 
district  in  a  west  midland  county,  the  practical  treatment  of  which 
forms  the  basis  of  these  suggestions,  pauperism  once  extensive, 
amounting  to  6  or  7  per  cent.,  is  now,  by  a  judicious  administration, 
reduced  to  the  lowest  in  England,  namely,  ^  per  cent.,  while  some 
neighbouring  unionfi,  under  similar  conditions,  are  hardly  reduced  at 
all  from  their  normal  level  under  the  old  Poor  Law  of  6  per  oent 
The  chief  features  of  this  administration  have  been  great  individual 
supervision,  a  strict  system  of  out-door  reUef,  considerable  regard  to 
sanitary  conditions,  and  generally  an  attempt  to  encourage  provident 
habits,  and  to  correct  the  communistic  feeling  of  the  old  Poor  Law  bj 
tlirlH;.  As  regards  the  demoralizing  influence  of  the  beer-shop, 
legislation  will  no  doubt  shortly  give  to  the  magistrates,  or  some 
local  authority,  larger  powers  than  the  emasculated  measure  of  1869. 
.One  mode  of  legislation,  not  yet  much  considered,  would  be  to  raise 
the  rating  qualifications,  which  would  at  a  stroke  .do  away  with  maoj 


By  Sir  Balivsyn  Leighton,  Bart.  575 

lower  class  of  beer-shops.  Bui  in  towns,  in  neighbourhoods 
the  beer-shops  and  public-houses  amount  to  about  one  for 
twenty  or  thirty  grown-up  males — not  a  very  unusual  pro- 
1 — it  is  evident  that  either  the  beer-shop  keepers  or  some  of 
enty  or  thirty  men  must,  financially  or  morally,  be  ruined ; 
ery  inducement,  legitimate  or  other,  will  be  brought  into  play 
rent  the  financial  ruin  of  the  beer-shop,  especially  when  temp- 
is  60  easy,  and  resistance  so  hard.  This  beer-shop  and 
3g  difficulty  is  the  natural  result  of  the  Beer  Act,  an  instance 
dation  by  theory  :  what  was  then  called  free-trade  in  beer  has 
out  to  be  free- trade  in  vice,  and  vice,  too,  now  with  a  vested 
t  acquired  by  law.  But  when  actually  under  th6  guise  of 
ind  providence,  that  is,  for  the  monthly  or  weekly  meetings  of 
fit  club,  labouring  men  assemble  at  the  beer-shops,  the  land- 
'  which  is  the  manager  of  the  society,  it  is  difficult  for  the 
)rovidently  disposed  to  resist  the  inftidious  snare;  and  seeing 
be  friendly  society,  properly  constituted,  may  ultimately  be 
to  be  one  chief  correction  and  cure  for  the  low  condition  of 
bourer,  you  hereby  have  demoralization  and  improvidence 
iced  under  the  very  guise  of  thrift — ^the  fountain  poisoned  at 
'ing.  The  beer-shop  and  the  benefit  society,  their  antithesis 
eir  confusion,  arc  subjects  for  the  legislator,  as  difficult  as  they 
portant 

in  the  face  of  these  adverse  causes,  fundamental  and  incidental, 
3ee  what  individualism,  qita  landlords,  can  do  notwithstanding, 
every  way,  by  residence,  by  intelligent  sympathy,  and  practical 
»dge: — Thus  (1.)  Cottages  and  gardene;  (2.)  Land;  (3.)  Work; 
bstitute  clubs  for  beer-shops,  economic  outlay  for  charitable 
and  thrift  and  self-respect  for  improvidence  and  dependence. 
I  not  cost  much  in  money,  but  it  will  require  time  and 
>ersonal  sympathy  and  supervision.  None  other  can  do  what 
lord  can,  neither  clergyman  nor  constable,  schoolmaster  nor 
nment ;  and  it  is  gradually  being  discovered  that  among  some 
d  town  populations,  the  relation  of  landlord  and  tenant  (not  by 
exus  but  by  sympathy  and  kindly  interest)  is  the  greatest 
ge  and  renovation  for  some  of  the  poorer  classes. 
Cottages  and  gardens.  It  will  at  once  be  urged  that  cottages 
»ay — nor  do  they  merely  as  buildings,  but  what  if  a  large  garden 
ed  of  half  an  acre  with  fruit  trees,  which  may  be  worth  3L  or  AL 
the  dwelling?  If  a  new  cottage  can  be  built  for  about  100/., 
ith  using  materials  on  an  estate  (such  as  timber  and  stone)  a 
droom  cottage  can  generally  be  built  for  about  that  sum,  with 
en  of  half  an  acre,  it  might  fairly  be  let  for  5L  or  even  61, ; 
from  6L,  los,  per  annum  for  the  value  of  the  land,  and  5s,  per 
for  the  value  of  fruit  trees  planted,  and  you  have  a  return  of 
•  annum  for  the  outlay  of  100/,,  or  5  per  cent.  Where  two  or 
cottages  are  built  together,  they  might  be  put  up  for  less,  or 
:tra  bedroom  thrown  in  for  the  same  sum.  If  half  the  garden 
Qted  with  thirty  or  forty  fruit  trees  (apples  or  damsons)  it  will 


b76  Landhrde  and  Lahoureri, 

almost  pay  tho  rent  of  the  whole.  Good  A*uit  tree?,  after  %  few 
years,  may  be  worth  from  2s,  to  35.  per  annum.  Tho  labour  to  be 
expended  on  the  garden  obtained,  as  it  will  be  at  odd  hours  snatched, 
perhaps,  from  the  public-house,  need  not  be  reckoned  in  thii 
calculation. 

In  the  case  of  an  old  cottage  the  return  would  not  be  so  clear, 
since  tho  rent  of  the  cottage,  as  it  stands,  must  be  deducted  ;  but  in 
these  cases  it  will  generally  be  found  that  the  cottage  has  been  run 
up  by  some  former  tenant,  and  even  here  by  the  addition  of  a  garden 
or  allotment,  a  return  of  3  per  cent,  might  be*obtained  on  a  new 
cottage.  The  money  can  be  advanced  by  some  of  the  land  im- 
provement companies  at  about  G  per  cent,  repayable  in  twenty-five 
years ;  and  though  a  landlord  might  not  bo  able  suddenly  to 
rebuild  a  number  of  cottages  out  of  income,  he  will  not  fiod  the 
interest  on  the  money  in  excess  of  tho  return  of  rent  so  het?y 
as  to  debar  him  from  gradually  improving  all  on  Ills  estate;  and 
against  this  is  to  be  placed  the  elevation  of  the  labourer,  and  the 
economic  necessity  of  their  being  housed  for  the  cultivation  of  the  land. 
There  is  involved  here,  however,  a  slightly  complicated  cconoroie 
question.  Tho  landlord  of  farms  is  obliged  necessarily  to  provide 
cottages  for  tlie  labourers  on  the  farm  as  mucli  as  buildings  for  tiie 
farmer.  They  must  then  be  looked  on  practically  as  part  of  the 
landlord's  outlay  on  the  farm.  When  let,  as  they  generally  are, 
at  non-remunenitivo  prices,  they  are  actually  let  in  supplementation 
or  part  payment  of  wages  ;  but  in  such  an  arrangement  an  injustice 
is  done  to  the  other  owners  of  cottages,  and  yet  more  to  the  tenanti 
in  tho  neighbourhood,  namely,  those  built  independently  of  any 
farm  ownership.  This  ought  not,  strictly  speaking,  to  be  ;  a  cottage 
should  be  mn<]o  to  pay  a  fair  itsnt,  and  the  mode  in  which  the 
difficulty  U  hero  sought  to  be  solved  is,  by  the  garden  or  allotment 
system,  which  is  easier  to  tho  largo  landlord  than  to  the  smaller 
cottage  speculator. 

(2.)  Land. — A  great  deal  that  is  fallacious  and  absurd  has  been 
written  chiefly  by  theorists  and  closet  agriculturists,  about  peasant 
proprietorships,  and  "  la  petite  culture  ;'*  for  any  one  with  practi^ 
cal  knowledge  of  the  subject  is  awnro  that  the  cottier  or  petty  famer 
endeavouring  to  live  on  his  small  place  of  ton  or  twenty  acres  is  too 
often  a  warning  and  example  to  all  who  would  set  at  defiance  the 
practical  facts  of  rural  economy.  It  is  a  deplorable  sigbt  to  witness  a 
hard-working,  industrious  lubourcr,  who  has  saved  a  little  monej, 
endeavour  thus  to  carry  on  a  life  of  struggle  and  ra^s,  by  depending 
entirely  on  the  resources  of  la  petite  culture  ;  but  under  all  this  fallaey 
is  a  germ  of  truth,  thus  applicable  :  If  a  landlord  will  allot  to  a  (Smt 
of  his  cottages  at  first  (or  later  to  as  mauy  as  half  or  more)  a  fev 
acres  of  grass  land,  say  from  three  to  five,  enough  to  keep  a  cow  or 
two,  making  always  a  previous  condition  that  the  cottager  shall  hat 
saved  a  few  pounds^  he  will  find  that  the  incitement  to  obtain  then 
small  privileges  will  act  most  beneficially  as  an  inducement  to  saving 
money  upon  the  whole  population.    He  will  find,  if  careful  in  the 


B^  Sir  Batita^n  teiffftitm,  Sati. 


STT 


^B^ion  of  hiB  tenants,  that  uo  greiitor  naturttl  means  of  rniHing  tLe 
^Eicullurnl  labourer  is  U>  bo  round  than  the  granting  of  these  BinBll 
plots  oflanJ.  It  is  at  vnce  nn  investment  and  a  source  of  income 
to  the  cottager,  auil  that  at  uo  very  great  outUy  by  the  Inndlord  ; 
but  these  two  condiliona  muat  be  always  peremptorily  obserred. 
First,  the  cottnger  must  have  previously  saved  by  his  own  cserlinnB 
a  few  pounds,  say  \0L  or20f.,  eleeniin  and  failure  will  ensue  through 
the  accidental  loss  of  a  coiv,  iiud  the  abeonce  of  previously  formed 
habits  of  thrift.  Secondly,  the  land  must  be  let  to  agricultural  day 
labourers,  not  to  petty  farraoi's  who  design  to  live  or  inthor  starve 
on  the  place  ;  the  profits  are  then  mude  by  the  wife  without  inter- 
fering with  the  weekly  wages  of  the  labourer.  Aa  much  &a  10/. 
yearly  net  profit  may  b?  made  in  Ihia  way  from  the  poESesaioD  of 
one  cow,  aud  it  is  impossible  to  reckuu  the  umouut of  aelf-rcspect  nad-4 
aelf-reliance  thereby  superinduced.  '    i 

(3.)  Work. — Without  going  as  for  as  Hampshire  or  Berkshire  or 
Devonshire,  there  are  few  ngficuhural  districta  where  work  is  not 
sliick  in  winter  ascotaparcd  with  the  summer.  Some  day  machinery 
may  come  to  compensate  the  vacuum  ;  but  meanwhile  there  is  a  very 
simple  way  in  wliicli  landlords  may,  on  the  strictest  economic  prin- 
ciples, do  much  to  afford  relief.  There  is  hardly  a  parish  or  an 
estate  in  England  where  draining,  road-miiking.  and  other  perma- 
nent improvements  are  not,  more  or  less,  urgently  required,  and  it  is 
in  winter  that'such  works  may  bo  best  iinderlnkcn.  If  landlonla 
would  take  the  tiouble,  either  by  borrowing  money  or  more  cheaply 
out  of  income,  to  push  forward  auch'works  in  their  several  neighbour- 
hoods, very  timely  relief  might  bo  uSbrded  in  those  cases  where 
labourers  nro  employed  only  during  the  Bummer  months,  and  heort- 
leasly  thrown  on  the  ralea  in  the  winter.  If  it  would  be  an  argument' I 
or  inducement  in  the  case,  it  might  be  known  that  the  amount  of  mon^m 
spent  in  rate'' zould  be  saved  to  the  ratepayers,  but  that  is  a  narrow  ■ 
viev  of  the  whole  question,  that  ought  to  be  beneath  the  considera- 
tion of  meu  ill  the  position  of  English  landlords. 

The  great  Becrct. of  raising  the  poor  is  somehow  to  teach  them 
aelf-reliance  and  thrift.  If,  by  reducing  the  temptation  to  the  beer- 
shoit,  cncouragiug  sound  friendly  aocieiieg,  and  making  opportunities 
for  investment  of  savings  as  a  landlord  can,  llie  les^ou  and  example 
of  thrift  is  taught,  anil  a  premium  put  ou  providence  t  and  at  the  earns 
time,  by  a  striotly-admiuiatercd  Poor  Law  a  discount  aud  a  penalty 
MC  OU  improvidence,  the  agricultural  labourer,  aud  equally  the  town 
poor,  will  be  taught,  as  it  were  contagiously,  babit.s  of  self-reliance 
sud  self-respect.  We  must  give  men  some  outlook  and  hope,  some 
means  of  investment  and  natural  savings  bank  if  we  would  wean 
ihem  from  the  beer-shop,  and  make  ihem  independent  of  the  fatal 
communism  of  the  Poor  Law.  Ou  tlie  estate  in  question  no  cottier 
is  tAken  till  he  can  produue  evidence  of  money  saved,  if  it  be  only  a 
few  shillings,  as  a  test  of  providence  ;  and  if  he  then  continues  to 
88TQ  money,  he  has  the  knowledge  and  inducement  that  be  will  liQ 
eligible  for  a  cottage  with  land  on  the  first  vncancy.     In  additi'  n  to 


578  Law  of  WeiffkU  and  Meaturei. 

this  there  is  a  clothing  club  established,  and  in  sickoeas  or  sudden 
distress  such  assistance  as  medicines  or  strengthening  food,  or 
clothing  are  given,  but  only  to  the  members  of  the  olab,  thua  institu- 
ing  another  and  more  inclusive  provident  test. 

The  systematic  application  of  these  principles,  namely,  inculcating 
and  promoting  providence  and  self-reliance  among  the  poor,  has  been 
found  during  forty  years'  experience  to  be  attended  with  the  voy 
best  results  in  the  district  in  question.  Those  who  too  ignoiantlj 
assert  that  there  is  no  prospect  for  the  agricultural  labourer  but  the 
workhouse,  might  be  surprised  to  find  in  this  district  labonrers  at 
lis.  per  week  in  the  possession  of  50/.  or  100/.  in  the  savings  hank. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  such  families  are  quite  beyond  the 
reach  of  pauperism,  indeed  a  pauper  is  unknown  on  the  estate.  Nor  is 
there  any  prudential  check  such  as  is  insisted  on  by  Mr.  Stuart  Mill, 
nor  yet  any  natural  check  to  longevity — ^rather  the  contrary;  the 
death-rate  being  less  than  14  per  1000 ;  large  iamilies  and  old  age 
are  the  rule  not  the  exception,  and  the  one  supports  the  other. 

By  sympathy  and  supervision,  not  by  direct  gifts,  a  beneficial 
relation  has  been  promoted  between  rich  and  poor  not  ancommoa  to 
many  country  districts,  but  rarer  in  towns — and  pauperism  has  been 
virtually  exterminated.  There  are  no  demoralizing  charities  and 
few  beer-shops — five  beer-shops  on  the  estate  having  been  converted 
into  cottages.  Little  or  no  money  is  ever  given,  but  considerable 
sums  have  been  spent  in  building  cottages,  and  in  draining  and  other 
improvements  ;  and  some  such  work  is  continually  going  on  in  the 
neighbourhood  during  the  winter. 

Under  different  conditions,  in  some  respects  under  greater  diffi- 
culties, these  same  principles  may  be,  because  /uive  been,  applied  to 
town  populations ;  and  the  work  carried  out  so  successfully  by  Miss 
Octavia  Hill  in  the  relation  of  a  landlord  in  the  worst  and  poorest 
districts  of  Marylebone,  where  whole  courts  and  alleys  have  been 
converted  from  squalid  misery  into  decent  comfortable  houaos,  and 
the  money  invested  has  returned  a  steady  interest  of  5  per  cent, 
besides  a  large  surplus  for  repairs  and  improvements — shows  what 
results  ore  attainable  if  the  intelligence  and  active  sympathy  of  Indi- 
vidualism be  brought  to  bear  upon  this  otherwise  complicated  problem. 


On  the  Law  of  WeiglUs  and  Measures  in  its  Relation  to  the  hiro- 
duction  of  the  Metric  System.^  By  Professor  Leonb  Levi, 
F.S.A.,  F.S.S. 

QINCE  a  large  portion  of  the  ordinary  transactions  of  life  can  onlj 
IJ  be  expressed  in  terms  of  weights,  measures,  and  coini^  and  these 
form  a  language  whereby  we  think  upon  and  realise  to  ourselves  tlie 
simplest  as  well  as  the  most  abstruse  subject^  it  necessarily  followa 
that  we  are  all  deeply  interested  in  the  character  and  order  of  soch 
instruments,  and    that   whatever    complexity    and    confusioo  are 

*  See  IKhmoo^mw,  1870^  p.  6il. 


By  Pro/esior  Leone  Lem,  F.S,A,  F.S.S.  579 

3cted  with  them,  must  find  their  reflex  in  the  retard  of  the 
ess  of  knowledge,  the  waste  of  time,  and  the  complication  of 
lental  operations.  The  English  law  has  long  recognized  the 
aity  of  one  uniform  system  of  weights  and  measures,  and  from 
ime  of  Magna  Charta  downward  it  has  sought  to  enforce  it  by 
[ties.  But  alas  1  partly  from  unsaitableness  and  imperfections 
e  system  originally  adopted,  and  partly  from  the  force  of  habit 
irejudice,  which  constantly  defeat  the  best  measures,  such  uni- 
ity  has  never  yet  been  attained,  and  while  the  law  imposes 
sommon  system  of  weights  and  measures,  practice  recognizes 
r  a  hundred. 

it  this  is  an  evil  producing  great  inconvenience  which  we  should 
» to  remedy,  and  the  question  has  more  than  once  engaged  the 
ist  attention  of  the  liegislature.  Ajs  late  as  1862,  the  whole 
ion  was  gone  into  by  Mr.  Ewart's  Committee.  Since  then, 
Itandard  Commissioners  have  made  it  the  subject  of  five  heavy 
'ta,  and  now  a  Bill  has  been  prepared  by  the  Government,  to  be 
duced  next  Session,  intending  to  deal  with  the  wholo  question, 
moment,  therefore,  is  most  propitious  for  a  deliberate  discussion 
le  subject,  and  I  doubt  not  the  views  of  the  Association  may 
sise  considerable  influence  both  on  the  Legislature  and  on  the 
d  of  Trade. 

le  first  and  most  important  point  for  consideration  is  the  system 
'•  Are  we  satisfied  with  the  present  tables  of  weights  and 
ures,  with  their  units  and  their  subdivisions  ?  Is  there  such 
icurrence  in  the  use  of  such,  that  we  should  not  trouble  our- 
B  with  any  other?  If  so,  the  whole  question  resolves  itself 
the  best  means  of  enforcing  the  use  of  the  same.  I  f,  however, 
nation  has  given  undoubted  expression  of  dissatisfaction  with 
present  system ;  if  the  same  has  been  absolutely  condemned, 
16  Committee  of  the  House  of  Conunons  has  unanimously 
rted  against  it ;  if,  in  short,  a  better  system  is  needed  and  must 
sr  or  later  be  introduced ;  the  most  pressing  question  is  what 

that  other  system  be,  and  in  what  manner  can  it  best  be 
iduced  f 

>rtunately  the  whole  question  as  to  the  choice  of  the  new 
tm  has  been  set  at  rest  by  Mr.  Ewarl's  committee,  which  re- 
nended  the  adoption  of  the  Metric  without  any  hesitation 
Lever.  What  the  metric  system  is  the  members  of  this 
Ksiation  will  know.  It  is  founded  upon  a  natural  unit*-on 
dimensions  of  the  earth;  it  is  one  homogeneous  system,  the 
sure  of  length,  of  area,  of  capacity,  of  weight,  being  developed 
I  one  and  the  same  principle ;  it  has  a  decimal  division  through- 
and  it  is  a  universal  system  in  actual  use  by  at  least  a  third 
le   human   family.     It  is   a  system,   moreover,  easy   to  teach, 

to  learn,  and  most  easy  to  remember.  It  is  inde('d  the  most 
enient  as  well  as  the  most  scientific  system  ever  invented  and 
vn,  and  one  which  commends  itself  to  the  acceptance  of  every 
ligent  man.      The  use  of  the  system  has  already  been  made 

37—2 


580  Law  of  Weights  and  Meamrei. 

permissive  by  the  Act  of  1864,  but  by  a  measure  so  defective  and 
imperfect,  that  while  it  became  legal  to  contract  in  the  terms  of 
metric  weights  and  measures,  it  remained  illegal  to  have  material 
representations  of  the  same  in  the  shops  and  warehouses. 

Now,  however,  that  the  whole  law  is  to  be  reconsidered,  it  is  all 
important  to  decide  whether  the  time  has  not  arrived  for  prononncing 
decisively  on  the  substitution  of  such  metric  weight  and  measures 
for  the  existing  one.  The  Royal  Commissioners  in  their  last 
report  recommended  that  the  metric  system  be  rendered  absolutely 
legal  in  this  country,  and  be  placed  in  every  respect  upon  an  equality 
with  the  imperial.  But  is  such  a  method  likely  ever  to  conduce  to 
uniformity?  Are  the  people  to  be  encouraged  to  use  whatever 
system  they  please?  Is  it  not  incumbent  upon  the  Legislature, 
and  would  it  not  be  better  were  it  carefully  to  select  the  best 
system,  and  endeavour  to  enforce  the  use  of  the  same  by  every 
means  in  its  power  ?  The  legalization  of  the  two  systems  must 
either  prove  most  inconvenient,  or  remain  utterly  nugatory.  If 
the  metric  system  is  ever  to  become  general  in  this  country,  coo 
siderable  preparations  must  be  made  for  it.  It  mast  be  taugbt 
in  the  schools;  we  must  generalize  the  standards;  metric  weights 
and  measures  must  be  provided. 

But  how  can  these  steps  be  taken  so  long  as  the  existing  weights 
and  measures  are  the  only  ones  recognized  by  law  ?  A  period  of  grsce 
must  necessarily  be  accorded  before  the  change  shall  become  impen- 
tive — but  a  time  must  be  fixed  when  that  grace  shall  end  in  order 
to  compel  the  adoption  of  active  measures  for  such  a  change.  What 
has  been  the  experience  of  other  States  in  the  introduction  of  the 
metric  ayslem  ?  For  forty  and  more  years  the  metric  system  was 
permissive  in  France,  but  it  was  only  when  Louis  Philippe  fixed  a 
time  for  its  absolute  introduction,  that  the  use  of  the  same  became 
general.  And  every  other  country  has  pursued  the  sanse  plan. 
Three  or  four  years  have  been  allowed  for  preparation,  but  care  was 
taken  to  indicate  at  what  time  permission  should  end  and  compulsion 
begin. 

And  9uch  course  must  be  adopted,  if  we  intend  hondjfide  to  intro- 
duce the  metric  system  into  the  United  Kingdom.  The  Bill  in- 
troduced by  Mr.  J.  O.  Smith  last  Session  was  intended  to  carry  out 
such  a  course,  and  in  that  sense  it  put  the  question  before  the 
House  of  Commons  on  the  proper  issue.  Late  in  the  Session  when 
the  discussion  came  on,  and  many  friends  of  the  metric  system  being 
already  gone  out  of  town,  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill  was  lost  by 
a  very  small  majority  of  tvQy  but  that  did  not  indicate  the  sense  of 
the  House,  which  had  repeatedly  pronounced  itself  in  favour  of  the 
early  introduction  of  the  change. 

It  remains  now  for  Her  Majesty's  Government  to  consider  whether 
in  the  face  of  such  repeated  divisions  they  will  continue  to  make 
nseleas  efforts  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  present  uncouth  practice— 
for  system  it  cannot  be  called — or  whether  they  will  not  at  once 
liberally  accept  and  adopt  the  new  system,  and  provide  for  its  early 


By  Profe89cr  Leone  Leuiy  F.S^A.,  F.S.S.  581 

introduction.  If  the  change  is  inevitable,  then  the  sooner  it  is 
effected  the  better.  The  adoption  of  the  metric  system  will  save  a 
third  of  the  time  now  spent  in  the  teaching  of  arithmetic,*  will 
greatly  aid  the  diffusion  of  intelligence  throughout  the  country,  will 
introduce  more  precision  in  mechanics,  and  will  become  a  new  la- 
bour-saving machine  in  all  the  operations  of  commerce.  No  one 
ignores  or  denies  the  difficulty  of  introducing  a  new  system  of 
weights  and  measures,  but  other  countries  more  popular  than  the 
United  Kingdom  have  mastered  it,  and  if  they  have  succeeded  in 
overcoming  it,  surely  we  need  not  be  afraid  of  being  able  to  do 
likewise. 


Co-operation,    its    Prooreasj   and   Present  Position.^      By 

John  Holmes. 

IN  1857,  I  had  the  honour  of  introducing  the  subject  of  Co- 
operation before  this  Ajssociation  at  its  first  meeting  at 
Birmingham.  At  that  time  the  subject  was  little  known  to  the 
public,  yet  the  subject  attracted  considerable  attention,  and  at 
almost  every  meeting  since,  the  question  of  co-operation  has  been 
brought  before  the  Association  with  more  than  average  approbation : 
this  Association  has  thus  become  a  centre  of  co-operative  information  ; 
and  has  been  the  useful  means  of  spreading  a  knowledge  of  both  its 
principles  and  practice  at  home  and  abroad. 

In  1857, 1  had  but  a  knowledge  of  the  working  of  two  co-operative 
societies  :  the  one  at  Leeds,  with  which  I  was  identified,  and  the 
other  at  Rochdale— and  although  others  were  in  existence,  there 
was  then  no  means  of  spreading  to  the  public  information  as  to  their 
origin,  object,  or  working.  Since  that  time  this  society's  Tr^nsaC' 
tions,  a  little  periodical  called  the  **  Co-operator,"  and  more  espe- 
cially a  public  return  of  all  registered  societies,  commenced  by  John 
Tidd  Pratt,  Esq.,  the  Registrar  of  the  Friendly  Societies,  have  fur- 
nished information  as  to  their  growth,  and  progress — and  to  the 
last  return  issued  on  the  motion  of  Walter  Morrison,  Esq.,  M.P., 
we  are  indebted  for  the  facts  of  their  present  advanced  and  hopeful 
position. 

As  an  instance  of  the  difference  betwixt  co-operation,  as  found 
betwixt  1856 — the  date  my  returns  were  quoted  from,  ,and  1870,  date 
of  the  last  returns  we  have  before  us  ;  I  will  give  the  figures  of  the 
two  societies  of  Leeds  and  Rochdale  as  they  stood  then,  and  as  they 
stand  now.  In  1856  Leeds  had — members,  2000 ;  capital,  7842/. ; 
buiiness,  60,875/, ;  profit,  1800/. ;  average  over  five  years. 

1856,  Rochdale  had — members,  1600;  capital,  12,920/. ;  business, 
63,197/. ;  profiU,  3921/. 


^  Eor  a  oomplete  Burrey  of  the  advantage  of  the  metric  system  to  education, 
soienoev  oommeroe,  agriciilture,  mechanics  and  contractors,  oheraistrj  and  phar- 
macy,  and  the  postal  service,  see  the  "  Theory  and  Practice  of  the  Metric  SysteiQ 
of  Weights,"  1^  the  Author.    Griffith  &  Rurran,  St.  Paul's  Qhurohyard, 

t  See  al^Q  SnsiomU  Proeeidinffs,  1871-2,  p.  1^ 


582  CiHypevaiion. 

In  1870,  Leeds  returned— members,  8969;  capital,  20,6992.; 
business,  93,666/.  ;  profits,  4545/. 

In  1870,  Rochdale  returns — members,  6662;  capital,  81,S3U  ; 
business,  222,138/. ;  proflU,  20,224/. 

The  report  of  the  Leeds  Society,  ending  June,  1871,  shows — mem- 
bers, 4200  ;  capital,  25,823/. ;  business,  116,918/.  ;  and  profits, 
6502/.  And  this  advance,  however  remarkable,  may  be  accepted  as 
an  index  of  the  general  advance  of  co-operation  throughout  England, 
Scotland,  and  Wales.  In  1857,  there  were  not  fifty  societies  in 
existence,  and  in  1871,  there  are  969  registered  as  in  active  ope- 
ration. 

From  the  Parliamentary  return  previously  quoted,  we  learn  that 
the  oldest  society  now  in  existence  is  the  **  Hull  Anti-Mill  Flour 
Society,^'  founded  in  1795  ;  and  which  still  flourishes  in  the  "Land 
of  Green  Ginger."  In  1801  a  flour  mill  was  commenced  at  Whitbj. 
A  co-operative  grocery  store  was  founded  in  1816  at  Sheemees,  in 
Kent,*  and  in  1829  a  similar  one  at  Huddersfield.  In  1844,  Rochdale 
began  its  now  world-wide  celebrated  provision  stores ;  and  Leeds 
began  the  People's  Mill  in  1847.  There  were  but  six  co-operative 
societies  in  Lancashire,  and  but  seventeen  in  Torkshire,  up  to  1848; 
so  that  it  would  appear,  that  co-operation  advanced  very  slowly,  and 
then  all  at  once  developed  into  activity  and  success. 

We  are  however  aware  that  from  1820  to  1840  many  societies 
sprang  up— continued  for  a  time,  and  then  broke  down  suddenly,  or 
lingered  out  in  slow  decay.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at,  because 
the  law,  up  to  1852,  restricted  the  dealings  of  all  co-operative  asso- 
ciations to  the  members,  only.  This  waA  a  condition  imposed  on 
registry,  and  without  being  registered  they  had  no  status  in  law, 
and  could  neither  sue  nor  be  sued.  It  thus  followed — if  tbey  kept  the 
law,  that  they  could  not  work,  or  profit  by  the  ordinary  transactions 
of  trade  ;  and  so  they  lingered,  lost,  and  went  down.  And  if  diej 
broke  the  law  *,  they  were  liable  to  be,  and  often  were,  plundered  widi 
impunity ;  and  cheated,  without  means  of  redress.  In  the  working  of 
flour  mills,  several  of  which  were  in  operation,  the  restriction  of  the 
law  was  all  but  fatal  to  their  working.  Thus  at  Leeds,  where  the 
members  co-operate  together  to  provide  themselves  with  a  good  and 
pure  article  of  flour,  which  they  wanted,  more  bran  was  produced 
than  the  members  required  for  their  own  use.  And  this  bran  which 
the  public  wanted  and  would  gladly  have  purchased,  the  law  pro- 
hibited the  sale  of,  except  to  members.  And  the  result  was  an 
accumulation  of  over  600  bags  of  bran,  bending  down  the  floor  of  the 
warehouse,  and  heating,  to  the  danger  of  combustio;n ;  imeless  to 
them,  and  a  loss,  directly  negativing  the  advantages  of  their  other- 

*  Since  writing  the  above  we  find  that  a  oo-opemtiTB  aomtjy  nofe  yet  ngiitond, 
was  comiuenoed  at  Maltbam  MiUi,  near  HuddertfieLd,  in  1827;  and  which  hai 
divided  profits  to  consumers  from  that  time.  Iti  UtA  balance  ahowa— memben, 
99 ;  capital,  864/. ;  sales,  5,088/. ;  and  net  profits,  6701.  See  C^-cpmOive  AVkw, 
l^ovember  5  and  October  6,  1871. 


B)f  John  Holme*.  583 

iae  economic  working.    Efirly  in  1S52,  I  had  the  duty  of  repre- 

•enting  this  ia  a  deputation  to  the  Hod,  Mr.  Laboucliere,  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  introduced  to  him  by  the  then  leae-kaown 
hearty  good  friend  lo  co-operaiion,  Thomas  Hughes,  Eaq,  Mr.  La- 
bouchere  ia(]uired  closely  into  the  Ijoeds'  case,  unJ  saw  elearly  how 
ihe  law  placed  a  bar  in  the  way  of  succeaiful  co-operative  trading.  He 
further  udmilted  ihe  anomaly  of  having  recently  passed  a  law  for 
free  trade  in  corn,  and  yet  retaining  a.  restriction  to  the  free  sale  of 
flonr;  the  form  in  which  alone  the  people  could  use  it.  Ami  upon 
that  case  alone,  while  many  others  were  shown,  he  declared  ho 
would  use  his  influence  to  remove  all  legal  restrictions,  to  either 
co-operative  or  other  assodations,  so  that  free  trade  might  become  a 

»  great  fact  in  practice,  aa  well  as  theory.  The  law  was  thus  (and 
tm  able  article  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  affirmed  was  therefore) 
tllcT^d,  by  removing  restriction  to  public  trading,  in  1833.  The 
FeBolt  in  general  may  be  judged  of,  by  the  efiect  it  had  upon  the 
people's  flour  mill  at  Leeds — where  the  business  rose  from  26,789/. 
ia  1851,  to  58,3^2/.  in  1853.  And  whereas  rhey  could  not  make  a 
profit  out  of  ihemsclves  before.^with  the  addition  of  one-third 
purchased  by  the  public,  they  have  made  a.  profit  of  43B7/. — more 
thnn  all  the  capital  of  the  society  in  1S53. 

Prom  1852  we  may  therefore  date  the  rise  and  progresa  of  the 
modern  and  present  form  of  co-operative  associations.  Their  origin 
in  all  early  instances  began  io  the  necessity  of  combiuation  to  protect 
the  public  from  the  frauds  or  aittortiun  of  the  private  dealers, 
to  which  latterly  -vas  added  ihe  de«ire  of  sharing  in  profits,  and  of 
prodtftbly  employing  the  frugal  savings  of  the  members  generally. 
Now  in  all  these  particulars  co-operation  has  proved  to  be  remarkably 
successful.  By  co-operation  flour  has  been  made  absolutely  pure 
and  wholesome.  Other  articles  of  food  have  been  provided,  rela- 
tively pure,  and  greatly  improved.  Profits  have  been  made  to 
members,  and  these  have  again  beeu  well  invested  as  the  savings  of 
economy,  prudence,  and  forethought  in  their  own  tradings.  To 
show  this  adequately  would  require  volumes  and  as  we  have  but 
the  limit  of  a  short  paper,  we  will  place  before  the  Association  a 
tabic  of  statistics  prepared  by  Mr.  William  Nntlall,  the  able  accoun- 
tant of  the  Manchester  Wholesale  Co-operative  IJociely,  for  the 
recently  established  Co-operative  A'etea ;  •  which  will  show,  con- 
densed fVom  both  parliamentary  and  society  returns,  the  numbers 
of  societies,  and  order  of  progress,  and  decline,  the  number  of  mem- 
bers in  counties,  over  certain  years  ;  the  growth  of  capital,  and 
application,  the  amount  of  transactions,  the  costs  of  business,  the 
net  profits,  and  the  amounts  actually  divided.  Many  other  speciali- 
tiea  are  given,  worthy  of  all  attention,  invaluable  to  the  student  of 
co-operation,  and  essential  to  the  philosopher  who  would  understand 
th«  characteristice  of  ibis  most  hopeful  of  modern  economic  associa- 
tions.   From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  of  the  969  societies  registered, 


■  See  Gi-of*raliiie  Xem,  of  Sept.  Otb,  1871. 


584  Co-operation, 

163  have  neglected  to  make  retarns,  and  67  are  under  the  year  of 
returning;  406  are  returned  as  dissolved.  Of  the  749  societies 
which  have  complied  with  returns  prepared  bj  Mr.  Udd  Pratt 
(after  considerable  consultation  with  leading  co-operators) — 721  are 
in  England,  and  28  in  Wales.  Of  these,  676  show  a  profit,  and 
78  make  no  returns  of  profit ;  hence  it  is  probable  that  they  have 
sufiered  loss,  the  facts  of  which  are  also  desirable  to  be  knowD. 
Scotland  and  Ireland  are  not  included  in  the  Parliamentary  Report, 
but  we  know  that  Scotland  has  a  slow  but  healthy  growth  of  co. 
operation,  and  Ireland,  alas!  shows  but  little  evidence  of  self-belpiu 
this  direction. 

Six  northern  counties  show  448,  ont  of  the  721  English  societies, 
as  follows: — ^Yorkshire  158,  Lancashire  156,  Durham  42,  North- 
amptonshire 37,  Derbyshire  28,  and  Northumberland  27.     Of  the 
whole  societies,  117  return  a  profit  of  1000/.  and  npwards,  of  which 
53  are  in  Lancashire,  21  in  Yorkshire,  and  15  in  Durham,  IcaviDi; 
but  28  of  all  else  put  together.     It  will  be  thus  seen  that  the  three 
counties  of  Lancashire,  Yorkshire,  and  Durham  stand  at  the  head 
of  all  profitable  co-operative  operations.     This  doubtless  indicates  the 
special  iiifiaenoes  which  congregate  numbers  of  people  in  close  com- 
luunion,  and  which  nffeot  them  for  evil,  and  improvement  in  their 
associations,  and  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  suggest  some  special  fitoeM 
iu  the  northern  mind,  giving  inclinations  and  power  to  adapt  them- 
selves to  business  and  its  conditions.     The  total  number  of  members 
returned  by  the  749  reporting  societies  are,  249,113  members,  who 
own  a  share  capital  of  2,034,261/.,  (9/.  Is.  lOr/.  per  member,)  and  a 
loan  capital  of  197,128/.  (or  10«,  3^.  per  member.)     Business  done 
amounts  to  8,202,466/.,  and  costs  of  business  335,827/.     The  nett 
profits  are   535,435/.,  and  the  dividends  declared  467,164/.    Nett 
profits  upon  returns  are  about  6}  per  cent,  and  upon  capital  24|. 
The    liabilities  are  set   down  at    2,403,902/.,   and   the  assets  at 
2,649,426/.    And  as  these  returns  may  be  accepted  as  thoroughly 
honest,  they  show  a  most  wholesome  and  promising  condition  of 
working  as  a  whole.    In  comparing  either  districts  or  societies  with 
each  other  we  should  know  the  peculiarities.    Thus,  the  Lanesshire 
returns  are  considerably  increased  over  Yorkshire  by  the  eiicom- 
stance  of  the  North  of  England  wholesale  operationa  being  centered 
in  Manchester,  and  which  returns  677,736/.,  with  a  profit  of  762S/. 
divided  among  209  societies  who  trade  with  them.     The  returns  of 
Sowerby  Bridge  is  also  special,  namely,  229,880/.     It  is  a  floor 
manufacturing  society,  and   doing  business  extensively  with  sor- 
rounding  stores  of  the  whole  district.     Middlesex  exhibits  especial 
features,   conditional  upon  some  of  the  incidents    before  named. 
Thus  of  only  the  twenty-six  societies,  six  return  no  profit  and  eleven 
make  no  dividends  the  profits  bmng  too  small.    Boehdale  shows 
co-operation  to  be  successful,  yet  it  also  shows  two  aocietiea,  having 
both  large  capitals  and  returns,  making  no  profits  at  alL     And  while 
London  shows  the  ditficulty  of  working  that  form  of  cooperation  so 
snccessf ul  in  th^  nprth,  it  gains  in  tke  Civil  Service  arrangement,  ^ 


■tohioi 


Bi/  John  Holmes.  589 

loila  of  nction  &ppftrcntJy  fitted  more  to  lia  requirenicnlB,  and  bence 
lu  euccass.  In  this  form  of  no-operation,  members  are  recognized  by 
II  very  small  subecriplion.  Articles  are  retailed  at  uenr  prime  coat. 
BusiDi-ss  is  eonducteil  cheaply,  and  hence  the  lower  prices  for  good 
article)  are  ibe  indiiccment  for  even  llic  aristocracy  to  join  them  aad 
trade  for  ready  money,  instead  of  paying  tin;  higher  prices  neceesary 
lo  the  ordioary  oud  more  costly  London  retailing.  Upon  their  returns 
ind  economic  working,  even  at  the  smallest  margin  of  pi'ofil  to 
lover  costs,  tbey  have  accumulated  a  capital  of  some  35,000^.  and 
■hloh  being  by  rule  not  divisible  creates  n  difficulty  likely  to 
Kcome  eeriousi,  if  not  fatal.  Many  prejudict^e,  ignorances,  and 
iabils  we  have  to  overcome  and  change  before  we  can  get  individnalB 
h>  work  together  for  their  own  economic  benefit.  Mr.  Gludslone, 
on  a  visit  to  Uoclidalc  and  other  co-operative  centres  in  Lancashire, 
said  "that  much  of  the  success  end  benefits  of  ihese  societiea 
depended  upon  ths  condition  of  the  people  themselvee."  Of  this 
there  ran  be  no  doubl,  while  it  will  be  clear  also  that  knowledge 
and  luibils  of  business  are  the  chief  conditions  of  success. 
A  large  proportion  of  all  co-operntive  societies  are  dealers  in  food, 
^^proviuons,  nod  articles  of  clothing,  consumed  chiefly  by  themselves 
^End  families.  Otiiere,  but  in  a  fmall  ratio,  are  manufacturers  of 
^Hhuc,  spinners  of  cotton,  or  wool,  and  manufacturers  of  shoes,  &c. 
^HBut  very  few  of  these  succeed,  and  the  failures  are  to  be  found 
^"^iefly  in  these  attempts  at  production.  It  requires  a  different  and 
iitgher  range  of  knowledge  ajid  discipline  to  produce  in  the  open 
morhet,  where  the  markets  have  to  he  found,  and  where  they  are 
■fleeted  by  change  of  demand,  prioe.  season,  and  fashion.  In  tliis 
~  range  co-operators,  as  n  class,  have  had  too  little  cultivation  aud 
^perience  to  succeed.  Capital,  judgment,  and  discipline  have  been 
acking,  and  hence  there  have  been  many  failures.  But  as  private 
iBtarpiise  has  had  to  pass  through  failure  tn  success,  so  some  of  the 
*  tncashire  manufaclunng  and  spiutiing  mills  are  beginning  to  show 
icieucy,  aud  to  yield  good  profits  to  co-operators.  As  experience 
Uifaea,  and  as  n  good  general  education  extends,  the  operative 
uses  are  likely  to  rise  rapidly  towards  that  position  cow  reached 
by  tlieir  more  esperienced  and  cultivated  employers  and  capilalists. 
And  thus,  witli  advancing  powers  aud  abilities,  we  may  L>spcct  to 
ace  changes  of  trade,  manufacture,  and  association,  equal  to,  aud 
oonunensurate  with,  the  advances  of  art  and  science.  And  as  the 
pedlar  and  the  pack-horse  gave  way  to  the  stage  waggon  and  the  shop, 
these  will  have  to  give  way  to  the  locomotive  and  the  co-operative* 
Btore  systems.  Already  there  are  signs  that  private  enterpnse 
and  free  competition  betwixt  labour  and  capital  is  becoming  too 
costly,  and  too  critical  in  their  cootentions,  to  work  economicnlly  or 
aatitfactorily  on  either  side.  The  pi-eseol  system,  or  rather  chance 
irorking  of  competition,  haa,  it  is  generally  admitted,  not  equally  or 
adequately  spread  to  society  the  benefit  and  blesaings  of  our  growing 
wealth  and  meaus  of  production.  As  a  result,  we  have  wealth 
iDcreaeiog  much  faster  than  population.    Of  this  iflcraoie  three- 


586  Co'Operatum* 

fourths  of  the  workers  have  neither  use  nor  benefit,  while  in  all  large 
centres  of  production,  their  mortality  is  steadily  increasing.  The 
Registrar-General's  return  gives  the  average  lives  of  the  working 
classes  at  twenty -two,  and  that  of  the  wealthy  at  forty-four.  And  it 
was  against  the  system,  and  the  modes  of  action  producing  these 
results,  that  the  present  form  of  co-operation  was  instituted.  The 
idea  was  strongly  fixed,  and  though  but  rudely  and  crudely  worked 
out,  it  has  proved  successful  in  a  degree,  marvellous  in  both  its 
economic  and  moral  results.  The  wealth  thus  developed  and  fairly 
divided*  by  good  habits  and  wholesome  trading  through  co-operatioD, 
has  advanced  the  physical,  and  elevated  the  sound  condition  of  all 
co-operative  dii$tricts  in  a  way  at  once  marked  and  cheering.  Better 
food,  clothing,  houses,  and  furniture,  have  been  followed  by  better 
manners  and  morals,  and  a  higher  practical  experience  in  the  buMness 
of  life  is  laying  the  foundation  for  a  higher  culture  for  the  men  of 
the  future.  In  all  ways  (even  in  failure)  the  working  of  co-operation 
has  proved  beneficial  for  it  has  extended  the  knowledge  of  both  the 
wrong  and  the  right  way  of  action.  Its  present  position  is  that  of 
slow,  sound,  and  hopeful  success.  Its  future  prospects  are  satisfactory 
to  the  economist,  who  perceives  security  in  the  extending  interest 
involved,  and  glorious  to  the  lover  of  humanity  because  he  sees  by 
co-operation  that  wealth  will  become  the  creature  and  benefactor  of 
man,  instead  of  being  as  now,  too  of\en  the  tyrant,  destroyer,  and 
the  curse.  Abroad  governments  oppose,  and  until  recently  ottr 
laws  crippled,  co-operative  working.  There  cannot  possibly  be  s 
more  fatal  impolicy  than  in  preventing  the  workers  from  acquiring 
wealth  by  combined  operations.  In  strict  justice,  gorernments 
ought  not  to  favour  any  class  or  mode  of  economic  working ;  but 
neither  should  they  place  any  bar  in  the  way  of  honest,  legitimate 
and  public  trading.  But  what  I  submit  governments  should  do, 
because  they  only  can  do  it,  is,  to  enforce  and  publish  a  well- 
arranged  annual  return  of  all  registered  companies,  calculated  to 
show  their  operations,  capital,  business,  expenses,  profits  and  loss; 
thi^,  honestly  done,  would  furnish'  security  both  to  the  raembtrs  and 
the  public ;  and  if  dishonestly,  or  improperly  done,  should  be  made 
subject  to  punishment,  at  once  deserved  and  adequate  to  deter. 
With  the  common  facility  for  wholesome  action  of  trade  and  com- 
merce ;  and  with  this  protection  from  falsehood  and  firaud,  I  can 
confidently  predict  a  glorious  future  to  co-operation,  and  a  most 
hopeful  means  of  securing  national  progress,  wealth,  health,  aod 
endurance. 


*  What  may  be  called  the  peculiar  diftinctioii  of  co-operatioa  in  the  diTiBoa 
of  product,  from  priyate  enterprise,  or  that  of  companiea  la,  that  a  fited  intereit  ii 
divided  upon  members*  capital — say  5  per  cent,  upon  the  shares  each  hold— and 
then,  that  all  nett  profits  ore  diriaed  to  the  traders  upon  the  business  each  mem- 
ber has  done.  And  as  it  is  the  trade  which  makes  profit,  so  each  g«t0  esadfy 
what  each  has  made.  Nothing  can  be  more  just,  and  both  prinoipb  and  mode  or 
working  out  hare,  as  a  rule,  prored  eminently  aatiafactory. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Benor  Don  AHnmo  de  M*bco.v»tit  (Deputy  to  the  Cortes),  read 
k  paper  on  "The  British  IrIph  and  Spain."     He  said  that  few 
f  countries  united  in  themselves  such  favourable  national  conditions 
\     n  for  the  production  of  waalth,  while  few  others,  holding  a 
I  loirer  position  in  civilized  Europe,   had  found  themaelves  more 
I  ol)Btructed  in  later  times  by  the  colonial  rule,  by  the  iiroteotionist 
I  mrstom,  and  by  the  intolerant  policy  of  the  Spanish  Gorernments. 
I  In  spite  of  such  economic  obstacles  as  the  export  trade  of  Spain 
had  to  contend  against,  it  traa  an  undeniable   fact  that  it  was 
acquiring  a  notable  development.     In  the  space  of  fifteen  years  it 
had  increased  more  than  300  per  cent.     In  these  later  times,  not- 
withstanding the  warfare  whiui  the  fallea  dynasty  waged  against 
the  spirit  of  philosophy,  and  against  all  manifestations  of  liberty, 
both  political,  religious,  and  commercial,  Spain  had  been  etrenu- 
oiisly  working  towards  regaining,  in  peaceful  civilization,  a  position 
worthy  of  that  which  she  held  in  the  ci^-iUzation  of  warfare.     The 
d^^ee,  in  quantity  and  in  quality,  in  which  it  is  feasible  to  furnish 

Iher  wheat,  her  winop,  her  oil,  nud  her  fruit,  bids  fair  to  maie  her 
tile  grand  centre  of  production  of  these  articles  for  the  United 
Kingdom.  Spain  was  one  of  the  European  nations  whoso  wealth 
in  aheep  was  the  most  considerable ;  its  wool  markets  were  well- 
fcnowu  in  England,  and  were  capable  of  much  enlargement  and 
improvement.  The  respective  situations  of  England  and  Spain, 
Ktt.a  the  diversity  of  the  products  especially,  in  each  of  these 
countries,  ought  to  place  their  inleraational  commerce  amongst  the 
most  important  of  tne  globe,  talcing  into  consideration  the  amount 
of  population,  whereas,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  one  of  the  most 
subordinate ;  and  it  was  a  remarkable  fact  that,  notwithstanding 
the  difference  of  climate  and  soil,  and  in  spite  of  the  contrast  pre- 
sented as  regards  aptitude  for  labour  in  the  two  countries,  and 
consequently  the  differential  power  of  productions  as  between 
Englajid  and  Spain,  there  should  be  over  a  population  of  forty- 
seven  millions  ao  scanty  an  interchange  of  coraraercial  relations. 
Nor  could  this  alienation  of  the  two  countries  be  explained  away 
by  the  diBBimilority  of  the  language,  inasmuch  aa  a  similar  cause 
of  divergence  exists  between  the  English  and  the  Portuguese, 
whose  international  traflic,  reckoned  by  the  number  of  the  popu- 
lation, IB  much  greater  than  that  between  England  and  the  Spanish 
territory  in  Europe.  Ho  contended  that  the  present  existing  causes 
of  the  commercial  ptagnation  of  the  English  and  Spanish  trade  was 
rather  artificial  than  natural,  and  said  that  when  they  came  to  con- 
sider, as  repirds  mutual  relations,  the  political,  economic,  and 
commercial  interests  of  England  and  of  Spain,  the  conclnsion  was 
arrived  at  that  great  advantages  would  be  derived  from  drawing 
together  the  two  peoples  as  nations,  and  as  producers  of  industry. 
If  governments  and  it  industrial  incapacity  did  not  do  violence  to 
tfa«  natural  laws  of  exchange,  Bpnin  could  furnish  wheat,  wool, 


b88  Econowy  and  Trade  Summary. 

meat,  textile  fiabries,  oil,  wine,  fruit,  lead,  silrer,  and  quidcsihvr, 
to  the  Euglieh,  receiving  from  tihe  latter  in  retam  ooal,  manufac- 
tured meMBf  chemical  prodnota,  and  tezile  fabrics.  At  the  present 
time,  when  both  in  England  and  in  Spain  liberty  had  become  the 
prevailing  thought  of  government,  it  would  become  more  easj  to 
bind  oloeer  the  friendahip  between  the  two  nations  than  it  wai 
aomeprears  back.  Toward  the  end  that  a  more  intimate  under- 
atandmg  should  characterise  the  national  intercouxBo  between  tb 
two  States,  he  submitted  to  the  meeting  the  following  condiisionB:— 
(1.)  In  order  to  point  out  more  clearly  the  harmony  whieb  for  some 
time  past  existed  between  England  and  Spain,  and  gave  evidence 
as  well  of  the  love  of  peace  mutually,  inaamucii  aa  England  and 
Spain  have  accepted  the  theory  and  adopted  the  practice  of  inter- 
national arbitration  in  regard  to  differences  arising  with  oUttt 
States,  they  ought  to  arrange  for  a  treaty  of  permanent  peace  a&d 
of  concord,  binding  themselves  to  submit  to  a  council  of  arbitiAtioB 
the  difforences  which  might  arise  between  the  two  States,  f  2.)  Ib 
order  to  draw  closer  together  the  social  relations  between  the  two 
peoples,  the  postage  tariffs  between  England  and  Spain  beiae 
neavier  than  those  charged  for  greater  mstances,  auch  aa  to  aad 
from  Oermany,  tlie  United  States,  and  other  countries,  it  is  advisable 
that  the  Postal  Treaty  of  1858  should  be  reformed.  (3.)  In  order  to 
augment  the  commerce  between  England  and  Spain,  and  inasmuch 
as  the  councils  of  j'ustice  and  the  international  trades  are  clearly  in 
its  favour,  the  British  Government  ought,  in  accordance  with  tike 
reiterated  wishes  of  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  to  suppress  those  special  duties  which  now  bear  go 
heavily  upon  the  importations  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  wines; 
the  Spanish  Government,  on  the  other  hand,  undertaking  to  in- 
troduce a  I  greater  liberality  ^into  the  scale  of  her  own  customs 
tariff. 

Colonel  Ou>FiELD  rend  a  paper  on  **  Taxation,   with  rofemiee 
to  the  National  Debt."      The   national  debt,  he  said,  had  been 
defined  as  a  mortgage  of  the  wealth  and  indnstry  of  a  nation;  bat 
that  was  not  his  way  of  thinking.    A  man  might  mortgage  hb 
property,  a  nation  might  do  the  like ;  but  neither  could  mortgage 
the  labour  of  their  children.     The  payment  of  the  national  dcU, 
both  principal  and  interest,  ought  in  all  fairness  to  be  a  charge  apon 
the  property  and  income  of  a  nation.    He  added  income  to  propertjr 
because  all  income  above  that  which  could  bo  raised  by  maniiid 
labour  was  obtained  by  the  investment  of  capital  in  the  most  profit- 
able manner  in  which  it  eould  be  employed,  ue,,  the  edncalioD  cf 
the  individual  by  his  parents.     Taxing  tiie  labourer  was  an  ecoao- 
mical  as  well  as  a  moral  error,  for  true  economy  would  tax  finished 
products  and  accumulated  wealth  rather  than  the  raw  material ;  and 
the  mere  labourer,  borne  down  in  the  struggle  for  existence,  instead 
of  rising  to  be  himself  a    capitalist,  and  taking  his  share  in  the 
national   burden,   had  to    be    maintained    by   parish   rates.       Of 
aU  the   funinfi   ^bich  taj^ation  of  tti^  labourer  ooiild   take,  tlM^t 


MiaeeUf(neOfi».  699 

_|^liich  dlscourngcJ  him  froin  housing  liimself  on  J  his  ramily  by 
the  best  means  was  tlie  moat  objectionuble.  It  was  either  very 
hypocritical  ov  very  incoasislcnt  U>  rwl  agaiast  tlio  wretched  way  id 
which  the  poor  were  housed,  and  at  tlie  same  timo  to  acquiesce 
in  their  being  burtliencd  with  heavy  rates  and  taxes  in  direct  pro- 
portion to  the  way  in  which  they  soiiglit  to  improve  their  habilu- 
tions.  But  the  heaviest  lax  on  Ilie  workeitt  in  our  towns  wus 
grouud-rcLit.  The  site  of  a  town  ought  to  be  the  common  properly 
.  of  ita  ciiizens,  and  some  feasible  project  for  the  commutsiion  of 
bVQund  reuts  in  cities  and  boroughs  was  much  needed.' 

Wf  Mf.  Tiio3f&3  Briqgs  read  a  paper  "On  tlie  Question  of  Free 
Trade  in  relation  to  Tnxes."  There  were,  ho  snid,  two  fallaciea  in 
the  proposal  for  internal  ion  al  arbitration.  First,  it  meant  conquer' 
iog  violence  by  violence,  in  the  event  of  a  strong  nation  refusing 
to  abide  by  the  decision  arrived  at.  Second,  it  meaat  settling  dis- 
putes between  nations,  whereas  there  was  a  more  excellent  mode 
open,  namely,  that  of  preventing  disputes  arising  between  civilized 
nations.  For  the  accomplishment  of  this  desirable  result  he  ait- 
TOCnted  the  adoption  of  free  Irnde  io  lis  entirety.  Free  trade,  he 
taStI,  was  a  question  but  little  understood.  He  quoted  from  a 
speech  dSlivei-ed  by  General  Schenclt,  of  Aniericii,  to  the  Liver- 
pool merchants,  iu  which  that  gentleman  said  the  vocation  of 
commerce  was  peculiarly  one  of  pence,  as  peace  threw  open 
the  channels  of  commurco  and  trade,  while  war  closed  ihcm. 
So  It  was  ihrough  peace  that  the  best  interests  of  natious  could 
be  maintuined  aud  restored.  In  the  system  of  free  trade,  tbe 
paper  observed,  the  taxes  would  be  paid  out  of  the  direct  prolils 
aod  realised  incomes  on  the  per-centoge  plan ;  so  as  to  make 
each  man  contribufe  in  proportion  to  his  income.  How  could  we 
he  aaid  to  be  living  in  a  free  country,  where  a  working  man  was 
corapelled,  through  liic  taxes  on  tea  and  malt,  to  wash  down  his 
breakfast,  his  dinner,  and  his  supper  with  compounds  which  were 
heavily  taxed,  and  yet  were  no  better  than  waterT  If  the  mall 
tax  were  abolished  good  beer  could  be  sold  at  a  half-penny  u  pint, 
•ad  yet  realise  a  profit  uf  100  per  cent.  Gould  they  be  eurprisetl 
at  ibe  disafitiction  of  Ireland,  when  they  found  her  beet  industry 
ilesiroyed  hy  the  muU  taxT  This  question  atTected  all  classes. 
FrQ«  trikde  would  benefit  the  rich,  inasmuch  ns  it  would  create  a 
contented  und  fully  employed  population  oroitnd  them;  it  would 
benefit  the  middle  class,  or  capitalists,  inasmuch  as  it  would  open 
the  Hoodgales  of  tin;  whole  world's  commcrco ;  it  would  benefit 
profeosionnl  men,  nnd  the  class  living  upon  small  fixed  incomes, 
innsmoch  its  it  would  cheapen  all  tbe  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
life  ;  and  fur  the  same  reason  it  would  henelit  the  working  clasS  ; 

^—ju  that  there  would  be  no  four  of  wages  deteriorating. 

^V  Mr.  J,   FiRTR  BoTTOULKY,  Bariater-at-Law,  read  a   paper   on 
^^P  Universal  Free  Trade,  an  essential  oondition  of  Universal  Peace." 


690  Economy  and  Trade  Summary. 

This  paper  was  the  successful  essaj  sent  in  for  the  prise  offered 
by  a  member  through  the  Social  Science  Association,  in  Maj  last. 
The  essayist  starts  with  the  proposition  that  as  soon  as  there  is  a 
larger  body  of  persons  in  any  nation,  whose  natural  interests  are  in- 
volved in  the  maintenance  of  peace  (and  who   are  conscious  of  the 
fact)  than  those  who  would  profit  by  war,  internecine  quarrels  wodM 
be  likely  to  be  seriously  lessened.     The  writer  proceeded  to  illustrate 
the  action  of  Free  Trade  in  briuging  about  such  a  result,  and  also 
showed  the  effect  of  protection  in  keeping  nations  asunder.    The 
necessity  of  the  fullest  freedom  of  international  intercourse  to  the 
development  of  the  greatest  productive  power  of  each  was  strooglj 
urged  and  illustrations  were   given  of  results  of  an  opposite  coone 
of  action. 

A  paper  was  read  by  Miss  March  Phillipps,  on  ''  Some  of  the 
Evils  arising  from  the   present  Training  and  Social  Position  of 
Women,  and  their  Remedies."    The  paper  set  forth  that  these  evils 
are — (1.)  Tiiat  whilst  half  our  women  support  themselves  by  their 
own  exertions,  no  proper  training  of  any  kind  is  provided  for  them; 
(2.)  That  whilst  children  of  twdve  and  upwards  have  to  leave  their 
parents'  homes  in  great  numbers  to  earn  their  bread,  the  laws  refiise 
them,  and  the  wide  separations  of  caste  prevent  their  having  anj 
moi*al   protection   beyond   their  own   discretion ;    (3.)  That  whilst 
marriage  is  held  to  be  the  only  creditable  destiny  for  women  aboTe 
the  poorest  class,  the  general  opinion  and  custom  of  society  prevent 
their  receiving  any  such  training,  as  might  fit  them  to  form  and 
manage  healtliy,  moral,  and  happy  homes  ;  and  places  before  them 
instead  a  life  of  iVivolity,  vulgar  display,  and  helplessness,  as  what 
they  ought  to  aim  at.    The  remedy  must  be  to  reform  public  opioioQ 
and  social  practice  in  these  respects,  and  to  create  a  truer  civilisation 
and  a  higher  standard  of  social  excellence,  to  promote  the  thorough 
training  of  women  of  all  ranks  in  domestic  and  household  skill;  to 
supply  skilled  industrial  training  to  those  who  may  have  to  support 
themselves ;  and  to  provide  such  information  and  womanly  protection 
for  the  young  as  may  put  them  into  a  fair  position  of  equality  with 
their  circumstances.  But  as  only  organized  efforts  can  now  affect  the 
course  of  society,  the  remedies  must  be  supplied  by  organization, 
te.  by  a  league  of  which  all  the  members  should  engage  to  resist  the 
tyranny  of  fashion  and  false  opinion,  and  to  act  uniformly  on  tiie 
principle  that  the  more  refined,  higher  placed,  and  better  educated 
any  one  is,  the  greater  is  the  disgrace  of  being  helpless,  useless,  and 
inefficient     The  younger  members  should  strive  to  fit  themselves  by 
a  real  training  for  some  skilled  and  useful  employment,  the  elder 
members,  above  twenty-five,  besides  assisting  each  other  in  carrying 
on  these,  should  be  ready  to  protect,  counsel,  and  befriend  all  mother- 
less girls,  or  those  working  away  from  home.     Each  local  branch  of 
the  league  would  I'ecommcnd  its  associates  to  the  like  good  offices  of 
members  in  other  districts,  where  these  may  go  in  search  of  employ- 
ment.   The  central  council  would  form  the  link  of  communication 


'cen  them,  anil  would  collect  and  distribute  information  aa  to  the 
practiciihle  means  of  obtaining  tndning,  of  carrying  on  obaritabla 
kfl,  or  fiading  skilled  eiuployment:  e«ery  member  being  entitled 
receive  Bueh  information  concerning  her  own  work. 

,  HiJin  Smith  lead  a  paper  on  "Britinh  Workman  Public- 
;  or,  Public-houaea  without  the  Drink."  The  writer  described 
I  mode  in  which  these  houses  were  conducted  in  LeL-da,  and  the 
itilfing  amount  of  Huccess  which  had  attended  the  eSbrts  of  their 
imoters,  there  being  now  many  men  of  previous  bud  chanictcr  wha  . 
s  living  an  honest,  sober,  and  in  muiy  cases  a  Christian  life.  The  I 
Jent  managers  were  practical  abstainei-s,  and  no  intoxicating  ' 
Bora  were  brought  on  llie  premiseg  on  auy  pretext  whatever.  All 
I  they  looked  for  in  connection  with  the  "  British  Workman " 
ilic-hooaes  was,  that  they  should  compete  euccesfully  with  the  pub- 
4iouse  and  beer-shop.  If  wealthy  men  would  only  awist  the  move- 
bt  with  greater  liberality,  then  more  could  be  done  in  the  way  of 
'amentlng  these  public-houses  without  the  driuk.  Besides  the 
sen  houses  already  opened  in  Leeda  there  are  now  British  Work- 
0  public-houses  in  the  following  places  : — Tliree  in  Bradford,  two 
Hull,  three  in  Birmingham,  two  in  IluddersIielJ,  and  one  at  least 
Wakefield,  Selby,  Jlorley,  Woodlesford,  Bentbam,  Otley,  Scarboro', 

Bburn,  Barnardcostle,  Cbcster-le- Street,  Lancaster,  Southport,  St. 
ens,  Liverpool,  Birkenhead,  Rugelcy,  Caidifl',  Bristol,  Stroud, 
hding,  Croydon,  and  Hastings.  From  these  places,  as  well  as  in 
ods,  unanimous  testimony  was  borne  to  the  usefulness  of  these  "  pub- 
■honses  without  drink,"  or,  as  some  of  the  frequeDters  persisted 
styling  them,  these  "come  and  wel-comes."  Men  unreached  by 
er  agencies  were  drawn  by  the  free  reception  proffered  and  given ; 
iking  habits  were  broken  ;  desires  for  self- improvement  were 
^ened ;  men  who  a  short  while  since  scarcely  knew  their  letters, 
how  to  hold  a  pen  were  now  reading  and  writing  ;  desolated  homes 
refurnished,  and  neglected  families  recloihed  ;  Sabbaths  were 
tter  spent ;  Sunday  and  day  schools  were  repleaisbcd  and  places 
worship  better  attended  ;  masters  were  better  worked  for  ;  pubiic- 
a  (with  the  drink)  were  losing  custom  and  shop'keepers  were 
loing  it;  the  general  character  of  the  neighbourhood  was  im- 
>Ted ;  bad  language  was  giveu  up  ;  domestic  comfort  waa  restored ; 
i  lives  were  reformed. 

Hiss  A.  B.  Le  Gbvt  read  a  paper  on  "Gin-palaces  v.  Coflee- 
The  writer  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  amount 
liquor  consumed  in  tireat  Britain  is  estimated  at  90,000,000/., 
three  pounds  per  head  of  the  entire  population,  while  the 
rrking  classes  are  said  to  spend  on  drink  not  less  than  one-sixth 
their  entire  earnings,  The  tirst  practical  step  to  be  takeu  to 
aefit  these  classes  is  to  reduce  the  temptations  to  drunkenness,  and 
lltiply  ad  'Jrijcmtum  those  to  sobriety.  We  must  not  condemn 
imlil  it  has  hod  a  lair  trial,  and  few  will  affirm  that  the 


592  jBconomy  ajid  Ttxide  Summary* 

ooSce-houees  have  had  a  fair  trial.  They  ought  to  compete  witli 
the  gin-palaces  in  a  bhizo  of  light,  warmth,  and  ornament,  and 
as  it  is  80  difficult  to  enter  into  competition  with  gin-palaces,  the 
coffee-houses  ought  to  be  made  doubly,  trebly  as  attractive.  The 
writer  protested  against  giving  these  houses  all  the  same  name. 
We  might  give  Uiem  any  sort  of  attractive  sign.  She  was 
glad  to  find  that  smoking-rooms  are  provided  for  smokers,  and 
protested  against  depriving  the  working  man  of  his  pipe.  He 
can  have  coffee,  the  best  of  all  beverages  for  the  purpose  if  lie 
wants  to  drink  with  his  smoking.  The  writer  then  proceeded  to 
point  out  that  much  might  be  done  to  enable  coffee-houses  to  offer 
attractions  of  such  a  character  to  working  men  as  to  enable  them 
to  compete  successfully  with  the  public-house.  She  believed  that 
intemperance  might  be  met  successfully  in  this  way,  and  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  those  who  had  the  means  to  assist  in  providing  for 
working  men  what  possibly  their  own  means  would  be  inadequate  to 
supply,  although  they  might  be  adequate  to  their  support  when 
once  established. 

The  Rev.  Henrt  Solly  read  a  paper  on  "The  growing  importance 
of  Working  Men's  Clubs  and  Institutes."  It  was  well  known  that 
the  working  men*s  club  movement  originated  in  a  desire  to  find  a 
remedy  for  the  public-house  system,  and  to  find  a  substitute  for  that 
truly  British  institution.  He  maintained  that  the  only  conditions, 
as  far  as  he  was  aware,  under  which  working  men  could  have 
friendly  intercourse  with  people  of  other  social  positions,  and  secure 
mutual  interchange  of  information  and  sympathy,  were  these  work- 
ing men's  clubs  and  institutes.  Such  a  plan  as  that  of  merely 
hiring  a  room  for  occasional  meetings  would  be  utterly  inadequate, 
in  fact,  even  worse  than  useless.  With  regard  to  the  general 
questions  of  allowing  the  sale  of  alcoholic  drinks  to  the  members  of 
clubs,  he  had  long  since  become  convinced  that  while  clubs  founded 
on  the  teetotal  basis  had  done,  and  would  continue  to  do,  good 
in  a  certain  direction,  and  among  a  certain  number,  the  great 
majority  of  the  working  classes,  especially  the  members  of  the  large 
trade  and  friendly  societies,  and  the  men  whom,  above  all,  they 
wanted  to  bring  over  to  better  ways,  namely,  the  moderate  drinkers 
and  comparatively  steady  men,  would  never  be  induced  to  join  these 
clubs  unless  they  could  obtain  there  the  refreshment  to  which 
they  were  accustomed,  but  would  bo  drawn  in  large  numbers  to 
well-managed  clubs  where  beer  could  be  obtained.  While  the 
leading  workmen  all  over  the  kingdom  were  thoroughly  convinced 
of  the  value  and  importance  of  moving  from  the  public  house  to 
social  clubs  and  institutes,  they  had  neither  the  time  nor  the  money, 
unaided,  to  establish  or  exclusively  manage  such  institutions.  Hence 
the  necessity,  still  as  great  as  ever,  of  the  earnest  and  liberal  support 
of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  of  society. 

Mr,  J.  Mtibs  Gabdnkb  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Leeds  Benevolent 


Miscellaneous*  593 

and    Strangers*  Friend    Society."     On  Christmas   Day,   1789,   the 
society  was  formed  for  the  relief  of  the  industrious  poor   of  all 
denominations  in  the  tovvu  of  Leeds  in  the  time  of  sickness  or  acci- 
dental distress.     A  committee  was  appointed  to  visit  all  applicants 
for  relief,  and  proportion  the  amount  subscribed  weekly  among  those 
found  deserving  ;  and  in  1802  both  inquiring  and  handing  visitors  were 
appointed — an   arrangement   highly   conducive   to   the   satisfactory 
administration  of  the  relief,  being  found  a  great  safeguard  against 
imposition,  each  case  having  thus  to  pass  the  scrutiny  of  two  visitors. 
For  about  fifty  years  the  Society  had  carried  on  its  work  of  mercy  the 
year  through  ;  but  in   1848  the  plan  of  husbanding  the  funds  in 
summer  for  the  greater  distress  the  winter  brings  was  adopted,  and 
has  been  continued   ever  since.     Relief  is   now  generally  given  in 
money  and  in  sheets  and  counterpanes,  and  is  confined  entirely  to 
those  in  distress  in  the  time  of  sickness.     The  records  of  the  Society 
show  many  large  efforts  in  conjunction  with  other  relief  committees 
to  relieve  special  distress — at  these  times  not,  of  course,  limiting  their 
work  to  the  sick.     Visiting  and  inquiry  at  the  homes  of  the  appli- 
cants was  always,  however,  a  sine  qua  non.     In  three  months  in 
1830,  22,833  personal  visits  were  made,  and  2557 L  was  dispensed 
amongst  2553  families.     The  visitors  recommend  attention  to  sani- 
tary matters,  and  frequently  insist  on  a  small  portion  of  the  grant 
made  being  used  for  cleaning  the  houses.     Besides  having  two  staffs 
of  visitors  the  queries  put  to  all  applicants,   the  records  kept  for 
comparison   with   their  answers,  and   the   intimate  knowledge  the 
visitors  gain  of  the  various  localities  tend  to  prevent  impostors  from 
troubling  the  Society  and  the  funds  from  being  needlessly  wasted. 
The*  amount  given  to  each  case  varies  from  bs.  to  2\s.<,  and  the  in- 
come of  a  family  must  not  exceed  2s.  6d.  per  head  per  week  to  en- 
title them  to  relief,  excepting  under  special  circumstances.     The 
many  visits  of  sympathy  thus  paid  to  the  homes  of  the  poor,  the 
feeling  that  they  have  friends  in  time  of  need,  and  the  fact  that  a 
staff  of  experienced  visitors  are  ever  ready,  in  case  of  urgent  need,  to 
visit  and  relieve  their  poorer  brethren,  and  are  over  watching,  in 
some  degree,  over  their  health,  tend  to  foster  that  cordial  understand- 
ing so  desirable  to  exist  between  class  and  class. 

A  paper  on  "The  objects  of  the  Leeds'  Social  Improvement 
Society  "  was  read  by  Mr.  James  Holroyd.  He  said  it  attempted 
by  organization  to  meet  some  of  the  social  difficulties  existing  in 
Leeds.  It  was  originated  as  the  result  of  an  inquiry  into  the  social 
condition  of  the  borough,  and  particularly  of  its  poorer  classes,  with 
reference,  first,  to  real  and  deserving  want,  and  the  means  existing 
for  relieving  it ;  secondly,  to  the  condition  and  number  of  mendi- 
cants ;  thirdly,  to  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  borough,  and  parti- 
cularly of  the  dwellings  of  the  very  poor  ;  fourthly,  to  the  special 
physical  causes  of  crime  and  destitution ;  fifthly,  to  the  best  means  to 
promote  the  social  and  moral  elevation  of  the  poor.  The  conclusions 
resulting  from  the  inquiry  were  embodied  in  n  report,  and  adopted 


594  Economy  and  Trade  Summary. 

as  the  basis  of  a  society  constituted  with  the  following  objects  :^ 
First,  to  secure  the  relief  of  deserving  distress,  and  repress  mere 
mendicity;  secondly,  to  aid  the  improvement  of  the  sanitary  con- 
dition of  the  borough  ;  thirdly,  to  promote  the  necessary  steps  to 
improve  the  dwellings  of  the  very  poor  j  fourthly,  to  give  atteutioo 
to  such  requirements  as  are  necessary  to  the  social  welfare  of  the 
various  classes  of  the  community,  and  to  promote  beneficial  inter- 
course between  them.  The  Society  found  employment  for  womeQ 
in  washing  and  similar  work ;  and  also  suitable  work  for  youths  and 
men.  One  great  object  of  the  Society  was  to  amalgamate  charitable 
effort. 


INDEX. 


Addresses — 

Opeaing    Address    by  Sir  JoTiri  S. 

Pakington,  Bart,  M.P.,  a.C.B.,  1 

JurisprudeQce  and   Amendment    of 

the  Lawr,  by  W.  Vernon  Harcourt, 

Q.C.,  M.P.,  22 

Education,  by  Edward  Baines,  M.P., 

76 
Public  Health,  by  Q-eorge  Q-odwin, 

F.R.S.,96 
Ecoaomy   and   Trade,    by    William 

Newmarch,  F.R.S.,  109 
By  George  Woodyatt  Hasting?,  Pre- 
sident of  the  Council,  134 
Repression  of  Crime,  by  Lord  Teign- 
mouth,  258 

Acland,  H.  W.  D.,  M.D.,  F.R.S.  On 
certain  important  points  in  the  sani- 
tary condition  of  villages,  418  ;  obser- 
vations on  the  sanitary  improvement 
of  dwellings,  430 

Administrative  staff  of  the  law,  62 

Appellate  Courts,  39 

Arlidge,  J.  T.,  F.R.C.P.  On  the  diseases 
prevalent  amon»  potters,  472 

Amos,  Professor  Sheldon,  observations 
on  legal  education,  167 

Amusement  and  recreation,  107 

Animals,  Protection  of,  amendment  of 
the  law  relating  to,  by  John  Colara, 
323 

Armstrong,  John.  The  Contagious 
Diseases  Acts,  553 

Arsenical  wall  coverings,  poison  in,  504 

Art  and  Science,  instruction  in,  89 

Arthington,  Robert,  observations  on  the 
laws  relating  to  land,  202 

Atmospheric  poisoning  of  houses  by 
arsenical  wall  coverings,  504 

Attenborough,  George.  Trading  in 
stolen  property,  301 ;  discussion,  309 

Baines,  Edward,  M.P.  Address  on 
education,  70;  observations  on  edu- 
cation generally.  70 ;  Elementary 
Education  Act,  78 ;  school  boards 
and  denominational  school  fees,  78; 
Extension  of  education,  83 ;  regula- 
tions of  the  London  School  Board, 
85 ;  Elementary  schools  of  Germany 
and  Switzerland,  87;  instruction  in 


art  and  science,  89 ;  mechanicV  insti* 
tutions,  91  ;  school  furniture  and 
apparatus,  93;  observations  on  the 
education  of  girls,  371 

Baker,  T.  B.  LI.  On  what  principles 
ought  the  amount  of  punishment  to 
be  regulated  ?  286 ;  observations  on 
the  cellular  system  of  imprisonment, 
278 

Banerjee,  Sasipada.  Education  of  the 
masses  in  India,  379 

Bar,  the,  and  the  solicitors,  29 

Baths.     See  Filtered  Water,  500 

Bay  lis  A.  O.,  M.D.,  observations  on  the 
removal  and  utilization  of  sewage, 
415 ;  sanitary  improvement  of  dweU-^ 
ings,  429 

Bennett,  Alfred,  observations  on  the 
health  of  operatives,  436 

Bennett,  William,  observations  on  sani- 
tary improvement  of  dwellings,  430 

Bischof,  Professor.  Purification  of 
water  and  sewage  by  spongy  iron, 
504 

Botley,  William,  observations  on  edu- 
cation of  neglected  children,  339; 
local  taxation,  533 

Bottomley,  J.  Firth.  Universal  free 
trade  an  essential  condition  of  uni- 
versal peace,  589 

Boult,  F.  Causes  of  pauperism  and 
poverty  and  their  remedies,  551 

Bremner,  J.  A.,  obsprrations  on  the 
licensing  laws.  509,  521 

Brierley,  J.,  C.E.,  observations  on  the 
sanitary  improvement  of  dwellings, 
429 

Briggs,  Thomas.  Free  trade  in  rela- 
tion to  taxes,  589 

British  Isles  and  Spain,  bv  Sonor  Don 
Arturo  de  Marcoartu,  587 

Medical  Association,  joint  report 

on  the  sanitary  laws,  459 

workman  public-houses  or  pub- 


lic-houses without  the  drink,  by  Mrs, 
Hind  Smith,  591 

Browne,  J.  H.  Balfour.  A  more  effi- 
cient system  of  punishment  with  a 
view  to  the  repression  of  crime,  316 

Bunting,  Percy,  observations  on  legal 

38^2 


596 


Index. 


education,  170;  laws  relAting  to  land, 
202 

Bum0,  Ber.  DawHon,  M.A.  On  tho 
right*  of  capital  considered  in  rela- 
tion to  legislation  on  tlie  liquor  trafllc, 
518 ;  discuBsion,  520 

BuaheU,  Mr.,  observations  on  education 
of  neglected  children,  340 

Calvert,  Professor  F.  Crace.  F.R.S.,  on 
the  action  of  heat  on  protoplasmic 
life,  dried  on  in  cotton  fabrics,  506 

Capital,  rights  of,  considered  in  respect 
to  legislation  on  the  liquor  trafUc,  by 
Key.  Dawson  Bums,  M.A.,  518 

Carpenter,  Miss  Mary.  Certified  in- 
dustrial schools  and  their  relation  to 
the  school  boards,  334  ;  Education  of 
neglected  children,  «i35;  discussion, 
33v,  353;  Female  education  in  India, 
384 

Cartwright,  Captain  Henry,  obsorra- 
tions  on  trading  in  stolen  property, 
312,  314 

Cellular  system  of  imprisonment,  by 
William  TaUack,  2G4 ;  by  Rev.  John 
Field,  273  ;  discussion,  277 

Certified  industrial  schools  and  their 
relation  to  tho  school  boards,  by  Miss 
Mary  Carpenter,  334 

Chepson,  F.  W.  Macao  slave  trade, 
253 

Circuits  of  the  judges,  51 

Chadwick,  Edwin,  C.B.  Sanitary  and 
economical  advantages  of  smooth  and 
impermeable  street  surfaces,  489; 
Sanitary  construction  of  schools,  501 ; 
observations  on  large  v.  small  schools, 
364;  removal  and  utilization  of  sew- 
ago,  414 ;  sanitary  improvement  of 
dwellings,  4^n  ;  health  of  operatives, 
443,  444  ;  local  taxation,  5:i8 

Children,  education  of  neglected,  'i35 

Clark,  E.  C,  observations  on  the  laws 
relating  to  land,  204 

Clarke,  T.  Cluitfield,  observations  on 
education  of  neglected  cliildron,  3,'J8 

Climate.     'S?f  invalids. 

ColYee  house;!  v.  gin  palaces,  by  Miss 
Le  Goyt,  591 

Compton,  Rev.  J.,  observations  on  tho 
licensing  laws,  511 

Compensation.    See  Licensing  laws. 

Constant  session  of  courts  of  law.  32 

Co-operation,  its  prof^reas  and  present 
position,  by  Johu  Holmes,  581 

Constitution  of  local  courts,  by  W.  T. 
S.  Daniel,  Q.C.,  208;  by  C.  W. 
Ryalls,  LL.D.,  222;  discussion,  232 

Contagious  Diseases  Acts,  by  John 
Armstrong,  553 ;  by  H.  N.  Mozley, 
5u0 


Costs  and  results  of  proposed  judicial 

system,  63 
Cottage  homos,  by  W.  O.  Ilaberslion, 

502. 
Courts  of  first  instance,  4(i 
Courts  of  Law  and  Equity,  Suggested 

reforms  in  tho  procedure  of,  oy  H. 

D.  Jencken,  245 

constant  session  of,  ."I'j 

— —  subordinate  staff  of  the, 

58 
County  Courts,  55 

Cox,  Serjeant,  observations  on  legal  edu- 
cation, 1G7;  secondary  punishment*, 

287;  trading  in  stolen  propertv,  309, 

314 
Craven,  R.    Observations  on  the  re- 
moval and  utilization  of  sewage,  414 
Crime,  Decrease  of,  in  Luton,  and  the 

causes  of  it,  by  Rov.  Hugh  Smjtb, 

519 ;  discussion,  520 

■  in   England   and  Wales,  some 

practical  suggestions  as  to  the  best 

means  of  preventing,  by  Rcr.  T.  R. 

W.  Pearson,  315 
Criminal  Classes,  147 
Crofton,  Right  Hon.  Sir  Walter,  C.B. 

Some  remarks  on  tho  international 

prison  congress  for  1872,  317 
Daglish,    W.   S.,   observations  on  the 

dwellings  of  tho  lower  classes,  531 
Dalby,  W.  B.     Tlio  education  of  the 

deaf  and  dumb  by  means  of  lip  read- 
ing and  articulation,  40(> 
Daniel,  W.  T.  S.,  Q.C.     Constitution 

of  local  courts,  208 ;  discussion,  232; 

observations  on  the  laws  relating  to 

land,  204 ;  le^al  education,  171 
Davies,  Miss  Emily,  observations  on  the 

education  of  girls,  369 
Deaf  and  dumb,  education  of.  by  means 

of   lip    reading,    by   W.   B.*  Dalbv, 

406 
Denominational  school  fees,  and  school 

boards,  78 
Do  Renzy,  Anneslcy,  CC,  observation! 

on    the  removal  and   iitilization  of 

sewage,  416;    panitary  improvement 

of  dwellings,  429 
Devolution  and  transfer  of  land,  law 

relating    to,   by    Arthur    Hobbouse, 

Q.C.,  173 ;  discussion,  196 
Diseases  prevalent  amone  potters,  on, 

\>j  J.  T.  Arlidgo,  F.R.C.P.,  472 
Dismfoctants.     See  Spongy  iron.    &il- 

phato  of  iron. 
Disease,  precautions  against,  100 
Draper,    S.    Herbert,      Migration  of 

paupers,  547 
Drink  traffic,  the  regulation  of  the,  flnd 

amendments  nemd  in  the  existing 


Index. 


597 


ng  law?,  by  Alderman  Tatham, 

Sec  British  workmen. 

I.  R.,  observations  on  the  laws 

ig  to  land,  IW 

Sre  Deaf  and  dumb. 
js  of  the  poor,  104 

—  unhealtbv,  105 

—  for  tbo  lower  classes,  by  .Tas. 
r»2:J ;  bj  T.  B.  Smithies.  529 ; 
Burham  SafTord,  531 ;  discus- 

lomas  Jones,  on  the  modes  of 
g  with   outbreaks  of   pestilent 
sanctioned  by  the  health  au« 
es  of  ^Merthyr  Tydfil,  444 

0  scionco  in  schools,  teaching 
i 

►n.  Address  by  Edward  Baines, 
70 

—  department  of  the  privy 
1,  4 ;  extension  of,  83  ;  national 
lementary,  78;  technical,  13; 
25.  151 

—  in  places  without  school 
',  by  Bev.  A.  W.  Worthington, 
Jiscussion,  353 

—  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  by 
of  lip  reading  and  articulation, 
B.  Dalby,  400 

—  of  girls,  by  Mrs.  M.  G. 
300 ;  Miss  Mary  Gumev,  367; 
sion,  309 

—  <;f  neglected  children,  by 
Brooke  Lambert,  242;  discuS' 
\S7 

—  of  the  masses  in  India,  by 
da  Banerjee,  379 

— ,  vocal  music,  a  necessary. 

1  of,  by  Dr.  Spark,  403 
mal  endowments,  (> 

—  work  in  Yorkshire,  a  sur- 
,  by  n.  H.  Sales,  400 

arv  economic  science  in 
s,  teaching  of,  114 

Schools,    teaching  terape- 

in,  by  W.  R.  Selway,  405 

—  Science  as  a  part  of  the 
\t  instruction  of  children,  on  the 
ng  of,  bv  Joseph  Payne,  393 

Education,  7,  78,  87 

in  Germany  and 

?rland,  87 


Act,  78 

Robert,   M.D.     Removal   and 
it  ion  of  sewage,  410;  discussion, 

lent 8,  educational,  0 
itionfor  Oxford  College  scholar- 
and  fellowships,  by  James  Hey- 
,F.R.S.,370 


Excrcmental  pollution  a  cause  of  disease, 
with  hints  as  to  remedial  measures, 
by  Andrew  Fergus,  M.D.,  450 

Factory  Acts,  on  the,  by  G.  H.  L. 
Rickards,  4138  ;  discussion,  443 

Factories  and  Workshops.     Sfe  Health 

Female  education  in  India,  by  Miss 
Mary  Carpenter,  383 

Fergus,  Andrew,  M.D.  Excremental 
pollutions  a  cause  of  disease,  with 
hints  as  to  remedial  measures,  450 ; 
observations  on  sanitary  improve- 
ment of  dwellings,  427 

Festival  of  nations.  See  International 
arbitration 

Fevers,  On  modes  of  dealing  with  pes- 
tilent, at  Merthyr  Tydfil,  by  T.  J. 
Dyke,  444 

Field,  Rev.  John.  Cellular  system  of 
imprisonment,  273 ;  discussion,  277 ; 
observations  on  secondary  punish- 
ments, 293 

Filtered  water,  shower  and  swimming 
baths  to  be  placed  on  rivers,  by 
Charles  Slagg,  C.E.,  506 

Ford,  C.  R.,  ofcwervations  on  education 
of  neglected  children,  337 

Fordham,  E.  K.  Amendment  of  the 
laws  relating  to  the  sale  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  517;  Local  taxation, 
530 ;  discussion,  538 

Fothergill,  Samuel.  Claim  of  dealers 
in  intoxicating  liquors  in  the  event  of 
legislative  changes,  517 ;  observations 
on  the  licensing  laws,  510 

Fowler,  William,  M.P.,  observations  on 
the  laws  relating  to  land,  196 

'   Mr.,  observations  on  the  sani- 
tary improvement  of  dwellings,  430 

Free  trade  in  relation  to  taxes,  by 
Thomas  Briggs,  589 

Fretwell,  Mr.,  observations  on  the 
education  of  girl8,*371 

Guirdner,  W.  T.,  M.D.,  obervations  on 
dwellings  of  lower  classes,  532 

Galls  worthy.  Councillor,  observations  <m 
sanitary  improvement  of  dwellings,  429 

Gtirdner,  J.  Myers.  Leeds  Benevolent 
and  Strangers'  Friend  Society,  592 

Germany  and  Switzerland,  elementary 
education  in,  87 

Godwin,  George,  F.R.S.  Address  on 
public  health,  96 ;  disposal  of  sewage, 
97;  sanitary  legislation,  98;  water 
supply,  99;  precautions  against 
disease,  100;  pollution  of  water, 
101 ;  sanitary  condition  of  Leeds, 
102;  dwellings  for  the  poor,  104; 
unhealthy  dwellings,  105;  recreation 
and  .  amusement,  107;  physical  de- 
terioration, 107 


1 


598 


IfidM* 


Gin  palaces  v.  Coifee-houMe,  bj  VLin 
A.  B.  Le  Geyt,  591 

Girls,  Education  of,  bj  Mrs.  M.  G. 
Grey,  'M\;  dipcuision,  369 

Grand  juries  and  the  Pleas  of  Criminals, 
by  JoLn  Lascelles,  250 

Great  Britain,  On  phyBical  degeneracy 
of  race  in,  by  H.  W.  RumEcy,  M.D., 
466 

Greece,  C.  J.,  observations  on  the  laws 
relating  to  land,  200;  constitution  of 
local  courts,  2;i3 

Greenwood,  H.  C,  On  the  licensing 
laws,  508 

Grey,  Mrs.  M.  G.  Education  of  girl?, 
:m ;  discussion,  tm 

Gumey,  Miss  Mary.  Education  of 
girls,  367 ;  discussion,  3(>9 

Habershon,  W.  G.    Cottage  homes,  502 

Half  (school)  time  system,  as  applicable 
to  the  early  education  of  all  classes, 
by  W.  H.  Herford,  395 

Uarcourt,  W.  Vernon,  Q.C.,  M.P.  Ad- 
dress on  Jurisprudence  and  Amend - 
Tnent  of  the  Law,  22;  iniluence  of 
law  on  society,  22 ;  written  and  un- 
written law,  25 ;  legal  educaticm  and 
the  Inns  of  Court,  25 ;  the  Bar  and 
the  solicitors,  29 ;  reform  of  Statute 
law,  30 ;  constant  session  of  courts  of 
law,  32;  judicial  organization,  34; 
new  Appellato  Court,  39:  office  of 
Lord  Chancellor,  44;  law  officers  of  the 
Crown,  45;  Courts  of  First  Instance, 
46 ;  official  referees,  49 ;  circuits,  51 ; 
local  administration,  54;  County 
Courts,  55 ;  subordinate  bUxR  of  the 
courts,  58 ;  administrative  staff  of  the 
law,  62 ;  cost  and  results  of  proj)08od 
plan,  63  :  land  laws.  ()5,  2()(J ;  obser- 
Tations  on  LtiCal  Courts,  235 

Hastings,  George  Woodyatt,  President 
of  Council,  address  by,  134:  official 
obstruction  to  the  ucticm  of  school 
boards,  135;  sanitary  organisation 
and  administration,  137;  adyantages 
of  large  areas.  139 ;  poor  law  rystem, 
144;  Uie  criminal  classes,  147;  science 
of  political  economy,  147 ;  obser- 
vations on  sanitary  improvement  of 
dwellings,  427 ;  the  licensing  laws, 
520 

Health.    See  Public  Houlth 

of  operatives  in  factories  and 

workshops,    by   Dr.   StaUard,   423 ; 
discussion,  435 

Heat  on  protoplasmic  life,  action  of, 
dried  on  in  cotton  fabrics,  by  Pro- 
fessor F.  Grace  Calvert,  f'.R.S., 
506 

Herford,  W.  H.,  On  the  half  (school) 


ti  me  system  m  applicable  to  the  earlj 

education  of  all  classes,  395 
Heywood,   James,    F.RJS.     Eiaminft. 

tlon  for  Oxford  college  scholanhipe 

and  fellowships,  376 
Hibbert,     Mr.,    obeervations    on   the 

licensing  laws,  522 
Hill,  Alsager  II.,  Influence  of  the  poor 

law  on  the  deterioration  of  labour, 

548 
Frederic.     Are  strikes  necessary 

for  the   protection   of  workmen,  or 

lock-outs  for  that  of  employers?  506 
Miss,  observation  on  trading  in 


stolen  property,  313 

Hobhouse,  Arthur,  Q.C  On  the  hw 
relating  to  the  devolution  and  traui- 
fer  of  land,  173 ;  discussion,  \% 

Holland,  P.  H.  On  the  sanitary  im- 
provement of  dwellings :  a  ebesp 
mode  of  preventing  waste  of  water 
when  continuously  supplied,  4^; 
observations  on  the  utilization  of 
sewage,  415;  health  of  operstim, 
436 

Hole,  James.  Provision  of  improTed 
dwellings  for  the  lower  classes,  523; 
discussion.  531 

Hollond,  E.  W.,  observations  on  the 
dwellin((B  of  the  lower  classes,  533 

IIolme^  John.  Co-operation,  its  pro- 
gress and  present  position,  581 ;  ob- 
servations on  dwellings  cf  the  lower 
classes,  533,  535 

Holroyd.  James.  Object  of  the  Leeds 
Social  Improvement  Society,  693 

Hope,  Mr.,  observations  on  sanitarj 
improvement  of  dwellings,  430 

William,  observatioiut  on  the  re- 
moval and  utilization  of  sewage,  416 

Hoskins,  J.  T.,  observations  on  the 
laws  relating  to  land,  199  ;  licensing 
laws,  510 

Howard,  James,  M.P.,  observatioiu  on 
the  laws  relating  to  land,  199;  re- 
moval and  utilization  of  sewage,  415 

Hoyle,  W.,  observations  on  (^  licensing 
laws,  516 

Hurst,  G^rge.  Suggestions  for  the 
supprestioQ  of  vaffrancy,  550;  ob- 
servations on  the  oelTular  system  of  im- 
prisonment, 278 :  secondary  punish- 
ments, 290 

Imprisonment,  Cellular  system  of,  by 
William  Tallack,  264;  discussion, 
277 

under  summary  jurisdic- 
tion for  minor  add  irst  OBeDoes,bj 
Bey.  W.  C.  Osborne,  332 

India.  Education  of  the  manes,  by 
Basipada  Banerjee,  379 


Index. 


599 


India.  Female  education  in,  bj  Miss 
Mary  Carpenter,  383 

Industrial  schools,  and  their  relation  to 
the  school  boards,  by  Miss  Mary 
Carpenter.  334 

efficiency.  Influence  of  school 

education   on,  by  Charles  Lamport, 
395 

International  Arbitration.  Washington 
treaty,  and  its  influence  on,  by  Pro- 
fessor Leone  Levi,  F.S.A.,  237 

' Beport    of 

Special  Committee,  239 

peace  organization,  to  be 


promoted  by  a  festival  of  nations, 
scheme  for  an,  by  G.  Christian  Mast, 
244 

prison  congress  for  1872, 


6ome  remarks  on  the  proposed,  by 
Right  Hon.  Sir  Walter  Crof  ton,  C.B., 
317 

Intoxicating  liquors.  Amendment  of  the 
law  relating  to  the  sale  of,  by  £.  K. 
Fordham,  517 ;  discussion,  520 

Claim  of  dealers  to 

compensation  in  the  event  of  legisla- 
tive changes,  by  Samuel  Fothergill, 
517 ;  discussion,  520 

Invalids,  realization  of  climate  for  in- 
valids, by  J.  D.  Morrison,  503 

Jencken,  H.  D.  Reforms  suggested  in 
the  procedure  of  our  Courts  of  Equity 
and  Law,  245 

Jenkins,  Edward,  observations  on  the 
laws  relating  to  land,  200 

Jevons,  W.  A.,  system  of  legal  educa- 
tion, 151  ;  discussion,  166 

Jowitt,  John,  observations  on  the  licens- 
ing kws,  513,  523 

Judicial  organization,  34 

• system,  costs  and  results  of  a 

proposed,  63 

Juries,  grand,  and  the  pleas  of  criminals, 
by  John  Lascelles,  250 

in  criminal  cases,  unanimity  of, 

by  Robert  Bulgin,  253 

Jurisprudence  and  Amendment  of  the 
Law,  address  by  W.  Vernon  Har- 
court,  Q.C.,  M.P.,  22 

Labour,  deterioration  of  influence  of 
the  Poor  Law  on,  by  Alsager  H.  Hill, 
548 

Labourers,  &c.     See  Landlord 

Lambert,  Rev.  Brooke.  Education  of 
neglected  children,  342;  discussion, 
'337,  353;  observations  on  large  t\ 
small  schools,  365 

Lamport,  Charles.  The  true  incidence 
of  school  education  on  industrial 
efficiency,  395;  observations  on  the 
sanitary  improvement  of  dwellings, 


427;   the  licensing  laws,  513;   the 

health  of  operatives,  435 
Landlords  and  labourers,  by  Sir ''Bald- 

wvn  Leighton,  Bart.,  572 
Land  laws,  65 

Largo  areas,  advantages  of,  139 
Lascelles,  John.    Grand  juries,  and  the 

pleas  of  criminals,  250 ;  On  sanitary 

law  reform,  462 
Law,  administrative  staff  of  the,  62 

officers  of  the  crown,  45 

relating    to  the    devolution  and 

transfer  of  land,  by  Arthur  Hob- 
house,  Q.C,  173;  by  Mr.  Serjeant 
Cox,  186;  W.  Sykeg  Ward,  195; 
Jacob  Waley,  196 ;  discussion,  196 

relating    to    tlio    protection    of 


animals,  amendment  of  the,  by  John 
Colam,  323 

—  sanitary  influence  of,  22 
written  and  unwritten,  25 


Leeds  benevolent  and  strangers  friend 
society,  by  J.  Myers  Gardner,  592 

sanitary  condition  of,  102 

improvement  of,  by  M.  K.  Robin- 
son, M.D.,  486 

Social  Improvement  Society,  ob- 


jects of  the,  by  James  Holroyd,  593 
Lees,  Dr.,  observations  on  tbe  licensing 

laws,  514,  523 
Legal  education,  system  of,  by  W.  A. 

Jevons,  151 ;  by  Edmund  Robertson, 

165 ;  discussion,  166 
Sketch  of   the  earlv 

ft 

history  of  legal  practitioners,  and  of 
the  inns  of  court  and  chancery,  by 
Thomas  Marshall,  162;  diecussion, 
166 

'-  and  the  Inns  of  Court, 


25 

Le  G^eyt,  Miss  A.  B.  Gin  palaces  v, 
coffee  houses,  591 

Leighton,  Andrew,  observations  on  the 
removal  and  utilization  of  sewage, 
416 ;  health  of  operatives,  436 

Leighton,  Sir  Baldwyn,  Bart.  Land- 
lords and  labourers,  572;  On  poor 
law  out  relief,  540 

Levi,  Professor  Leone,  F.S.A.,  F.S.S. 
Washington  Treaty,  and  its  influence 
on  international  arbitration,  237; 
Law  of  weights  and  measures  in  rela- 
tion to  the  introduction  of  the  metric 
system,  578 

Licensing  laws,  on  the,  by  Alderman 
Latham,  507;  H.  0.  Greenwood, 
508;  discussion,  509;  Samuel  Fother- 
gll,  517;  E.  K.  Fordham,  517;  Rev. 
Dawson  Bums,  M.A.,  518 ;  Rev. 
Hugh  Smyth,  M.A.,  £19;  diacassion, 
520 


coo 


Index, 


Liquor  t  raffle.     See  Capitnl 

Local  administration  of  the  law,  54 

oourU,  Constitution  of,  bv  W.  T. 

8.  Daniel,  Q.C„  208 ;  discussion,  22*J 
taxation,  Assessment  and  admin* 


i-tration  of,  by  E.  K.  Fordliam,  530  ; 
bv  J.  Burbam  SaffordjOoJ;  discussion, 

tm 

L(K'k-oiit3.     See  Strikes 

London  School  Board,  regulations  of 
Uie,  65 

Lord  Chancellor,  office  of,  44 

Lower  classes,  Dwellings  for  the,  bj 
James  Hole,  52.*{ ;  dit^ciission,  538 

Luton,  decrease  of  crime  in,  and  the 
causes  thereof,  by  Rev.  Hugh  Smyth, 
519 

McGowen,  W.  T.  Removal  and  utili- 
zation of  sewage,  410;  discussion, 
414 

Macao  slave  trade,  bv  F.  W.  Chesson, 

Mflcmillan   A,,  M.D.,  observations  on 

the  removal  and  utilization  of  sewage, 

414;  health  of  operatives,  437 
Marcoartu,  Senor  Don  Arturo  de.    Tho 

British  Jples  and  Spain,  587 
Marsden,   Councillor,  observations   on 

tlie  removal  and  utilization  of  sewage, 

415 
Martin,  Robert,  M.D.,  observations  on 

the  licensing  laws,  515 
Ma^t,    U.   Christian.     Scheme  for  an 

international    peace  organizaticm,  to 

})e  ])romoted  by  a  festival  of  nations, 

1.'44 ;  observations  on   large  v.  small 

schools,  365 
Mathers,    Councillor,   observations    on 

the  removal  and  utilization  of  sew- 

ape,  41() 
Mechanics  institutions,  01 
Merthyr  Tydfil,  /<ev  Outbreaks  of  fever 
Metric  system.  Weights  and  measures  in 

relaticm  to,  bv  Professor  Leone  Levi, 

F.S.A.,  .'>78  ' 
Michael,   W.  H.,  observations  on   the 

removal  and    utilization   of   sewage, 

413;  wmitarv  improvement  of  dwell- 
ings, 430,  4.31 
Migration  of  paupers,  by  E.  Herbert 

Draper,  547 
MolTatt,  T.,  M.D.,  On  sulphate  of  iron 

us  a  disinfectant,  504 
Morrell,  Conver,    observations  on   the 

removal  anu  utilization  of  sewage,  413 
Morrison.  J.  D.,  On   the  realization  at 

home  of  any  Briti!?h  or  foreign  climate 

for  invalids,  ^l{yi^ 
Morrison,  Walter,  M.P.,  observationo 

on  the  licensing  laws,  510 ;  dwellings 

of  the  lower  cla?se5»,  .')3l 


Mouat^   F.  J.,  M.D.,   observaUont  on 

the  removal  and  utilisation  of  tewt 
age,  412 

Mosley,  Coimcillor,  obBervationi  on 
sanitarv  improvement  of  dwellings, 
430 

Mozley,  H.  N.,  On  the  Contagious 
Diseases  Acts,  5()0 ;  obecrvations  oa 
legal  education,  171 

Mundella,  A.  J.,  M.P.,  obsservations  on 
the  licensing  laws,  514 

National  debt,     tkc  Taxation 

education,  3 

Neglected  children.  Education  of,  by 
Miss  Mary  Carpenter,  335;  Rei. 
Brooke  Lambert,  342;  diacutiion, 
337,  353 

Newmarch,  William,  F.R.S.  Address 
on  Economy  and  Trade,  109;  poli- 
tical economy,  UX) ;  teaching  of  de- 
men  tary  economic  science  in  schooL*, 
ir4;  trades*  uniona,  117;  capital, 
produce,  distribution,  and  waste,  118; 
ownership  of  land,  122 ;  dutiei  on 
tea  and  sugar,  127;  assessment  of 
property  in  America,  128 ;  French 
JVeaty,  131 ;  progress  of  economic 
science,  132;  observations  on  the 
licensing  laws,  511,  51G ;  dweUings 
of  tlie  lower  clacses,  534 ;  local  taxa* 
tion,  539 

W.  T.,  observations  on  the 

dwellings  for  the  lower  classes,  ()32 

Nuttall,  J.,  observations  outhe  dwellingi 
for  the  lower  classes,  534 

Office  of  Lord  Chancellor,  44 

Official  referees,  49 

Oldfield,  Colonel.  Taxation  with  re- 
ference to  the  National  Debt,  588; 
observations  on  the  cellular  system  of 
imprisonment,  280 

Opening  Addresis,  by  Sir  John  Paking- 
ton,  Bart.,  M.P.,  G.C.B.,  1 

Osborne,  Rev.  W.  C.  Secular  instruc- 
tion in  prisons  and  unions,  333 ;  Re- 
strictions upon  imprisonment  under 
Summary  Jurisdiction  Act  for  minor 
and  first  ofFences,  332;  observations 
on  the  cellular  system  of  imprison- 
ment, 277;  secondary  punishment, 
2'.)2 

Outbreaks  of  pestilent  fevers,  Mod^  of 
dealing  with,  sanctioned  by  the  health 
authorities  of  Merthyr  Tydfil,  by 
Thomas  Jones  Dyke,  A4 

Ovenden,  P.,  observations  on  the  re- 
moval and  utilization  of  sewage,  414 

Oxford  College  sc-holarships  and  fel- 
lowships, by  James  Hoy  wood,  F.B.S., 
37(i 

Pakington,  Sir  John  8.,   Bart.,  M.P., 


Itvieii. 


001 


G.C.B.  Opening  Address,  1 ;  pre- 
limioary  observations,  1 ;  national 
education,  3 ;  Education  Department 
of  the  Privy  Council,  4 ;  educational 
endowments,  6 ;  elementary  educa- 
tion, 7 ;  technical  education,  1;> ; 
workmen's  homes,  18;  observations 
on  the  cellular  system  of  imprison- 
ment, 280 

Pare,  William,  observations  on  trading 
in  stolen  property,  311  ;  dwellings 
for  the  lower  classes,  533 

Pauperism  and  poverty,  Causes  of,  and 
their  remedies,  by  F.  Boult,  651 

Paupers,  migration  of,  by  E.  Herbert 
Draper,  547 

Payne,  Joseph,  On  the  teaching  of  ele- 
mentary science  as  a  part  of  the 
earliest  instruction  of  children,  393 ; 
observations  on  large  v.  Bmall 
schools,  363 ;  education  of  girls,  370 

Pears,  Edwin,  observations  on  large  v. 
small  schools,  364 

Pearson,  Rev.  T.  R.  W.  Some  practical 
suggestions  as  to  the  best  means  of 
preventing  crime,  315 

Phillipps,  Miss  March.  Social  position 
of  women,  590 

Physical  deterioration,  107 

Pleas  of  criminals,  Grand  juries  and  the, 
by  John  Lascelles,  250 

Political  economy,  109 

science  of,  147 

Pollution  of  water,  101 

excremental,  a  cause  of  disease, 

by  Andrew  Fergus,  M.D.,  450 

Poor,  dwellings  of  the,  104 

Law  system,  144 

— out-relief,  by  Sir    Baldwyn 

Leigliton,  Bart.,  540 

influence  of  the,  on   the  de- 


terioration of  labour,  by  Alsager  H. 

Hill,  548 
Potter,    George,    observations    on  the 

•licensing  laws,    512;    dwellings  for 

the  lower  classes,  534 
Potters,  diseases  prevalent  among,  472 ; 

Poverty,  see  Pauperism 
Precautions  against  disease,  100 
Preventing  crime,  as  to  the  best  means 

of,  Rev.  T.  R.  W.  Pearson,  315 
waste  of  water  when  con- 
tinuously supplied,   cheap  mode  of, 

by  P.  H.  Holland,  480 
Principles    which    ought    to    regulate 

punishment,    by    Serjeant     Pulling, 

284 ;  discussion,  287 
Prisons  and  unions,  secular  instraction 

in,  by  Rev.  W.  C.  OBbome,  333 
Privy  Council,  Educational  Department 

of,  4 


Procedure  of  our  Courts  of  Equity  and 
Law,  Reforms  suggested  in  the,  by 
H.  D.  Jencken,  245 

Progress  and  present  position  of  co- 
operation, by  John  Holmes,  581 

Progressive  physical  degeneracy  of  raco 
in  the  town  populations  of  G-reat 
Britain,  by  Henry  W.  Rumsev,  M.D., 
466 

Protection  of  animals,  Amendment  of 
the  law  relating  to  the,  by  Jo!iii 
Colam,  32:3 

Public  Health.  Address  by  Gaorgo 
Godwin,  F.R.S.,  96 

Public  Houses.     &ee  British  Workmen. 

Pulling,  Mr.  Serjeant.  By  what  prin- 
ciple ought  the  amount  of  punish- 
ment to  be  regulated?  284;  discussion, 
287 

Punishments  with  a  view  to  the  repres- 
sion of  crime,  a  more  efficient  system 
of,  by  J.  H.  Balfour  Browne,  316 

Purification  of  water  and  sewage  by 
spongy  iron,  by  Professor  Bischof, 
504 

Raper,  J.  H.,  observations  on  the  li< 
censing  laws,  513,  522 

Ratcliff,  Colonel,  observations  on  the 
cellular  system  of  imprisonment,  270 

Rawlinson,  Robert,  C.B.,  C.E.,  obser- 
vations on  the  removal  and  utility  of 
sewage,  413,  414;  sanitary  improve- 
ment of  dwellings,  428,  429 ;  health 
of  operatives,  437 

Rawson,  Christopher.  Removal  and 
utilization  of  sewage,  408 ;  discussion, 
412 

Realization  at  Home  of  any  British  or 
foreign  climate  for  invalids,  by  J.  D. 
Morrison,  503 

Recreation  and  amusement,  107 

Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the 
British  Medical  and  Social  Science 
Associations  on  tbe  Report  of  the 
Royal  Sanitary  Commission,  459 

Repression  of  crime,  Address  on,  by 
Lord  Teignmouth,  258 

Restrictions  upon  imprisonment  for 
minor  and  first  offences,  by  Rev*  W. 
0.  Osborne,  332 

Rickards,  G.  H.  I/.,  On  the  Factory 
Acts,  438  ;  discussion,  435 ;  observa- 
tions on  the  health  of  operatives, 
444 

Richardson,  Mr.,  observations  on  the 
sanitary  improvement  of  dwellings, 
430. 

Rigg,  Rev.  J.  H.,  D.D.,  large  schoold 
V.  small  schools,  354 ;  discussion, 
363;  observations  on  education  of 
neglected  children,  339,  353 


1 


602 


Index. 


Bobiiison,  M.  K.,  MJ).  Sanitary  ini- 
proTement  of  Leeds,  486 

^  W.  L.,  obeerrations  on  the 

cellular  sygtem  of  imprisonment,  281 

Rumspy,  Henry  W..  M.D.,  on  a  pro- 
^ro5«ive  physical  degenor.Mjy  of  race 
in  tiio  town  populationi  of  Great 
Britain,  406 

Ryalls*,  C.  W.,  LL.D.  Constitution  of 
local  courts.  2*i^i;  diecussion,  232; 
obserrationdon  legal  education,  171 

Safford,  A.  II.,  observations  on  second- 
ary punishment,  280;  trading  in 
stolen  property,  313;  education  of 
neglected  cuildren,  338 

Sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  Amendment 
of  the  law  relating  to  the,  by  E.  K. 
Fordham,  517 ;  discussion,  520 

Sales  H.  11.,  A  survey  of  the  educa- 
tional work  in  Yorkshire,  400 

Safford,  Burham.  On  dwellings  for 
the  poorer  classes,  531 ;  discussion, 
531 ;  Assessment  and  administration 
of  local  taxation,  537 ;  discussion, 
538 

Sanitary  and  economical  advantages  of 
smooth  and  impermeable  street  sur- 
faces by  Edwin  Ohadwiok,  O.B.,  489 

condition  of  Leeds,  102 

vilUiges.      By    Dr.    Acland, 

F.B,S.,  418 

construction  of  schools,    by 


Edwin  Cliadwick,  C.B.,  001 

improvement  of  Leeds,   by 

M.  K.  Bobmson,  M.D.,  486 

•  law  reform,  by  John  Lascelles, 


462 

— — •  laws.  Report  of  the  Joint 
Committee  of  the  British  Medical 
and  the  Social  Science  Associations 
on  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Sanitary 
Commission,  4.59 

Iceislation.  98 

organization  and  administra- 


tion, 137 

Scholarships  and  Fellowships  at  Ox- 
ford, by  James  Heywood,  F.R.S.,  376 

School  boards,  education  in  places  with- 
out, by  Rev.  W.  A.  Worthington,  352 ; 
discussion,  .'l^ 

— — and    denominational 

school  fees,  78 

• oflicial  obstruction  to 

the  action  of,  135 

See  Certified  industrial 


schools 

education,  industrial  efficiency, 

the    true   incidence   of,    by  Charles 
Lamport,  395 

furniture  and  apparatus,  93 


J.  H.  Rigg,  D.D.,  354;  disensimi, 

:J63 
Science,  eiementanr  economic,  in  sefaooU, 

teaching  of,  144 
as  part  of  instruction 

of  children,  b^  Joseph  Payne,  393 
instruction  in,  and  art,  89 


Seaton,  Joseph.  M.D.  Ventilation  of 
ships  and  sewers,  503 

Secular  instruction  in  prisons  and 
unions,  by  Rev.  W.  C.  Osborne,  333 

Selway,  W.  R.  Teaohinij  temper»ii« 
in  elementary  schools.  405 ;  ohserTA- 
tions  on  the  Uconsing  laws,  5KI.  hiS 

Sewage,  disposal  of,  07 

removal  and  utilization  of,  by 

Christopher  Rawson,  408 ;  by  Robert 
BUiott,  M.D..410;  byW.T.  McGewen, 
410 ;  by  Robert  Symington,  41 1 ;  dis- 
cussion, 412 

Sewers.     See  Sewaee  and  ventilation 

Shigg  Charles,  C.E.  Filtered  water 
shower  and  swimming  baths  to  be 
placed  on  rivers,  508 

Shaen,  William,  observations  on  legal 
education,  1()9 

Shirley,  W.  E.,  observations  on  legal 
education,  170  ;  laws  relating  to  land, 
202 

Smith,  Mrs.  Hind.  British  workman 
public-houses,  or  public-houses  with- 
out the  drink,  591 

,  W.  R.,  observations  on  sanitary 

improvement  of  dwellings,  427 

Smithies,  T.  B.,  On  the  dwellings  of  the 
lower  classes,  529 ;  dtscuraion,  531 

Smooth  and  impermeable  street  sur* 
faces,  sanitary  and  economical  advan- 
tages of,  bv  Edwin  Chadwick,  C.B., 
489 

Smyth,  Rev.  Hugh,  Extraordinarv  de- 
crease of  crime  in  Luton,  and  the 
causes  of  it,  519;  discussion,  52U; 
observations  on  the  education  of  girU, 
3<^9 ;  on  the  licensing  laws,  512 

Social  Improvement  Society,  Leeds, 
objects  of  the,  by  James  Holrovd, 
594     • 

— position    of   women,  bv  Miw 

March  PhiUipps,  590 

Science  in  elementary  schools, 


Schools,  large  v.  small  schools,  by  Rev. 


teaching  of,  by  W.  Cooke  Taylor,  3^ 
Society,  influence  of  the  laws  on,  22 
Solicitors,  the  Bar  and  the,  29 
Solly,   Rev.  Henr^.     Growing  impor- 
tance   of  working-men's  clubs  and 
institutes,  592 ;  observations  on  the 
sanitar?  laws,  522 
Spain,     hee  British  Isles 
Spark,  Dr.,  Vocal  •music  a  neoessarr 
branch  of  education,  403 


Indeie. 


603 


Sperling,  Arthur,  obserrations  on  the 
cellulur  system  of  imprisonment,  281 

Spongy  iron,  Purification  of  water,  by 
Professor  Bischof,  504 

Stallartl,  Dr.,  On  the  best  means  of  pro- 
moting the  health  of  operatives  in 
factories  and  workshops,  432;  dis- 
cussion, 435;  obseryationB  on  sani- 
tary improvement  of  dwellings,  420 ; 
the  health  of  operatiyes,  437 

Statute  law  reform,  30 

Steinthal,  Rer.  S.  A.,  observations  on 
the  licensing  laws,  523 

Stewart,  A.  P.,  M.I).,  observations  on 
the  health  of  operatives,  436,  443; 
sanitary  improvement  of  dwellings, 
430 

Stolen  property,  On  trading  in,  by  Edwin 
Hill,  293 ;  by  G^eorge  Attenborough, 
.'501 ;  discussion,  300 

Strikes  and  lock-outs,  by  Frederic  Hill, 
566 

Stuart,  James,  M.A.  Work  of  univer- 
sities, 372 

Sulphate  of  iron  as  a  disinfectant,  by 
T.  Moffatt,  M.D.,  504 

Summary  Jurisdiction  Act,  restrictions 
upon  imprisonment  under,  by  Rev. 
W.  C.  Osborne,  332 

Suppression  of  vagrancy,  Suggestions  for 
the,  by  George  Hurst,  550 

Symington,  Robert.  Removal  and  uti- 
lization of  sewage,  411 ;  discussion, 
412 

System  of  legal  education,  by  W.  A. 
.Jevons,  151 ;  discussion,  166    " 

Tallack,  William.  Cellular  svstem  of 
imprisonment,  264  ;  discussion,  277 

Tatham,  Alderman.  The  regulation  of 
the  drink  traffic  and  amendments 
needed  in  the  existing  licensing  laws, 
507,  522  ;  discussion,  509 

Taxation,  Assessmentand  administration 
of  local,  by  E.  K.  Fordham,  536; 
by  J.  Burham  Safford,  537 ;  discus- 
sion, 538 

with  reference  to  the  National 

Debt,  by  Colonel  Oldfield,  588 

Taxes.     &«  Free  trade 

Taylor,  W.  Cooke,  On  the  teaching  of 
.social  science  in  elementary  schools, 
384 ;  observations  on  the  education 
of  girls,  369 

Teaching  temperance  in  elementary 
schools,  by  W.  R.  Selway,  405 

Technical  education,  13,  89 

Teignmouth,  Lord.  Address  on  Re- 
pression of  Crime,  258 ;  observations 
on  the  cellular  system  of  imprison- 
ment, 283 ;  on  secondary  punishment, 
294 


Telfer,  J.  A.,  obserfations  on  trading  in 
stolen  property,  312 

Todd,  MisB  Isabella,  observations  on 
the  education  of  girls,  370 

Trades  unions,  117 

Trading  in  stolen  property,  by  Edwin 
Hill,  295 ;  by  Q«orge  Attenborough, 
301 ;  discussion,  309 

Transfer  of  land,  Suggestions  for  faci- 
litating the,  by  W.  Sykes  Ward,  195 ; 
by  Professor  Jacob  Waley,  196 ;  dis- 
cussion, 196 

Law  relating  to  the 

devolution  and,  by  Arthur  Hobhouse, 
Q.C.,  173;  Mr.  Serjeant  Cox,  186; 
discussion,  195 

Unanimity  of  juries  in  criminal  cases, 
b^  Robert  Bulgin,  253 

Unions.     See  Prisons 

Universal  free  trade  an  essential  condi- 
tion of  universal  peace,  by  J.  Firth 
Bottomley,  590 

Universities,  Work  of,  by  James  Stuart, 
M.A.,  372 

Vagrancy,  Suggestions  for  the  suppres- 
sion of,  by  Cfeorge  Hurst,  550 

Ventilation  of  ships  and  sewers,  by 
Joseph  Seaton,  M.D.,  503 

Villages,  Sanitary  condition  of.  By 
Dr.Acland,  F.R.S.,  4ld 

Vocal  music,  a  necessary  branch  of 
education,  by  Dr.  Spark,  403 

Waddilove,  Alfred,  D.C.L.,  observa- 
tions on  legal  education,  170 

Waley,  Professor  Jacob,  Suggestions  for 
facilitating  the  transfer  and  disposi- 
tion of  land,  196 ;  discussion,  196* 

Ward,  G-.,  observations  on  the  licensing 
laws,  522 

,  W.  Sykes.  Suggestions  for  fa- 
cilitating the  transfer  of  land,  195; 
discussion,  196 

Washington  treaty  and  its  influence 
on  international  arbitration,  by  Pro- 
fessor  Leone   Levi,  F.S.A,,  F.S.S., 

237 

Water  supply,  99 

pollution  of,  101 

cheap  mode  of  preventing  waste, 

by  P.  H.  HoUand,  480 

Waterhouse,  Samuel,  M.P.,  observa- 
tions on  the  removal  and  utilization 
of  sewage,  416 

Webster,  Thomas,  Q.C.,  F.R.S.,  obser- 
vations on  legal  education,  116;  laws 
relating  to  land,  203 ;  constitution  of 
local  courts,  236 

Weights  and  measures,  the  law  of,  and 
its  relation  to  the  introduction  of  the 
metric  system,  by  Professor  Leone 
Levi,  F.S.A.,  678 


604 


Indent. 


Wetherell,  Mr.,  obferrations  on  sf cond- 
firj  punisbment,  294 

WheelhouBe,  W.  St.  John,  MP.,  obser- 
vations on  secondary  punishmont, 
liOl  ;  trading  in  stolon  property,  .*U3 

Whitworth,  Mr.,  obftcrrations  on  the 
licensing  laws,  51 G 

Whit  well,  Edward,  obserTations  on  the 
licensing  laws,  521 

Whitwill,  Mark,  obserrations  on  edu- 
cation of  neglected  children,  ^0, 
353 

Wilberforce,  Edward,  obserrations  on 
the  constitution  of  local  courts,  232 

Wilson,  Frederick,  observations  on 
taxation,  5^)8 

— GhK)rge.  observations  on  sanitary 

improvement  of  dwellings,  429 


Wilson,  James,  obfervations  on  brge 

V.  small  schools,  3(>5 
—  Mr.,  observations  on  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  lower  classes,  5<'{4 
Wines,  E.  C,  LL.D.,  observations  on 

the  cellular  system  of  imprisonment. 

282  ;  trading  in  stolen  proportv,  CM4 
Women,   Social  position   of,   bv  Mi^^ 

March  Phillipps,  r)93 
Working-men's    clubs    and     institute?, 

growing  importance  of,  bvRev.  Ilenrv 

SoUv,  593 
Workmen's  homes,  l.^^ 
Worthington,  Rev.  A.  W.     Education 

in  places  without  scliool  boards,  'Xyl\ 

discussion,  »'i53 
Yorkshire,  educational  work  in,  by  II. 

H,  Sales,  400 


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