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    No. 441, September 4, I858 1 | __ TEE LE...

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    RESPONSIBILITY OF DIRECTORS. The sense o...

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    PAINTING AND GLAZING. The proceedings at...

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    The Intermediate Prison System. Jebb Ver...

    daily employment for two years . And how is this nianWd ? By the unceasing exertions of Captain CJroftou , of Mr , Organy the chaplain , and of their coadjutors , to find employment , to keep . up the wen at their duty , to multiply employers , to multiply the examples of success in this direction , and in short to carry out that system which Colonel Jebb pronounces to be impossible . Everything is impossible to the unwilling ; possibility sometimes means nothing more than the will to do the thing . Colonel Jebb ' assumes that police superintendence is impracticable , because , he says , in the earlier part of his Observations , if the police know the convict his

    ¦¦ employer will know , and his fellow workmen will know , and he will be driven away from his engagement . This may have been true in some instances where , as in England , the police have no distinct indications to guide them , but in Dublin , under the ceaseless superintendence of Captain Crofton , the police I manage to maintain a watch over the discharged convicts ; they are the instruments to convey to the head-quarters a standing report upon -the behaviour of the men , a report marked by extraordinarily few instances of failure ; and as we Lave seen already the system continues to expand , instead of being prevented by the ¦ impracticability which so alarms the imagination of Colonel Jebb .

    that the chaplains have begged the discontinuance of the experiment . Colonel Jebb imagines that these eases amount to something like an experiment of the Irish system in England : we will not insult the understanding of the reader by showing how puerile is such a supposition . Evidently his idea of " some special information or instruction , " consists of a little schoolmaster tutoring—a sort of lay preaching—a writing-lesson style of treatment for the men some -months before they are finally discharged from prison ; and again we will not insult the reader by exposing the puerility of that notion . The Irish system has been barely three years in operation ; since

    January , IS 5 C , 1327 prisoners have been discharged from the intermediate prisons , 511 unconditionally , S 16 on licence . Of the 816 , 30 have been re-convicted . Colonel . Jebb assumes that 30 per cent , will relapse , but in Ireland we find on practical experience that only 4 per cent , do so . Of the same number , 45 have had their licences revoked—have been recalled to prison for relapsing into bad courses , drinking , keeping evil company , failing to report themselves , & c . The information on these subjects is positive and specific . Of the 511 discharged from the intermediate prisons unconditionally , 5 have been re-eonvicted—not one percent . It is needless to contrast this practical experience iu Ireland with Colonel Jebb's unfounded and unargumentativc assumptions .

    In the fourth of his conclusions , admitting the imprcssiveness of the experience gained in Ireland , Colonel Jebb insinuates , as lie has done more distinctly in an earlier portion of his Observations , that the intermediate system carried out in Ireland orif ina'ted hi England , and almost with his own epartment . He points to the Refuge at Fulhnm > established on the strength of an opinion by Lord Palnverston , that it would be very desirable to place women " in some intermediate condition between close imprisonment and discharge on licence " —not a very specific description , certainly not indicating anything like the system we have already described . But this treatment is applied to women exclusively ; Colonel Jebb contending that men

    should be dealt with ' in masses , women alone individually . He shows no grounds for this extraordinary anthropological dictuin . There can be no doubt that the value of mass treatment is very similar with regard to men and women both , and that the training of both sexes must principally depend upon the close a ]) plication of of a system to the individual character . In the case of women , however , there is rather a considerable difficulty . Their numbers arc not so . great amongst the convicted classes , and it generally proves that their characters are more irregular , while there is much greater difficulty in restoring them to regular life , partly on account of the severer retribution which attends the fall of woman . Thus an

    intermediate stage is applied by any ofhcial machinery with much greater difficulty , while there is not the same large demand for it . On the contrary , it lms been found in Ireland that a charitable apparatus , the agency of certain charitable associations , has been sufficient for the purpose and the most suitable ; and this is very intelligible when we remember how much women are governed by feeling , and how good a medium such associations arc for the application of feeling to the case . Tho system employed in Ireland , however , with regard" to men , whose numbers and condition demand the whole strength that the State can bring to bear upon , tho subject , began with Captain

    Crofton and his associates iu the Irish deportment , iii 1855 or before , when they endeavoured to adept the ... process of individualising us tho basis of the reformatory system . Colonel Jebb ' s fourth conclusion is evidently calculated to create tho impression that , if ho docs adopt tho Irish example it is only because Ireland has adopted his example , but ho will not be suiTcred to carry oil' that impression long . I he fifth conclusion assumes that tho bast plan of onrrving out tho intermediate training for men would do , not by sopurato prisons , but by " somo

    speouu . intormation or instruction , " & o . —terms suineiontly vague . He assumes that tho Irish sysl uni would not suooeod in England , because a gang of } WGiU ) W . o-been * emp loyedTtr ^ ' ^^ lloatious , at somo distance from Portland Prison ; and ho thinks that if tho frisk system wore introduced amongst them , it might nmko thorn more t zealous at thoir work , but might givo occasion to somo cusordor . For within , tho Portland Prison assooiatod rooms luivo boon tried—rooms in which the prisoners aro allowod to meet for moala , fo . i reading togothor , and for conversation in tho evenings , with suck serious detriment to thoir morals

    No. 441, September 4, I858 1 | __ Tee Le...

    No . 441 , September 4 , I 858 | __ TEE LEa : DEB , 903

    Responsibility Of Directors. The Sense O...

    RESPONSIBILITY OF DIRECTORS . The sense of responsibility in directors of companies , which immunity ' . had lulled to sleep , has of late been rudely roused . Following at no long interval the ' punishment inflicted on the directors of the Royal British Bank * in consequence of a criminal indictment , a civil action has now decided that the directors of such institutions are responsible in their own fortunes for the losses to others , their misrepresentations . may cause . The action , too , of Smith against Dixori , decided at Liverpool ,, is understood to be onl y one of several actions already begun , while it is likely to encourage sufferers to bring such actions wherever they have a prospect of making wealthy directors pay for losses occasioned by their easy negligence or acquiescence in fraud . In all such cases , whether the common law or the statute law speak , it is , quite in conformity with ' the moral feelings of ihe public , outraged for a length of time by the impunity enjoyed by great offences , while trifling and boyish freaks bring . many , youths to gaol and ruin them- for life . Such decisions give almost universal satisfaction . They strengthen the sense of responsibility in all , and confirm the almost wavering morality of the public . For directors of joint-stock companies , including

    banks and railways , they establish a responsibility not hitherto felt : and must awaken in all the dormant senso of duty , encourage exertions to fulfil its dictates , increase Vigilance , and give confidence to honesty . They will bo extremely beneficial to mercantile men , who , looking more to the decisions of tribunals than the inevitable consequences of conduct , arc too apt to conclude that nothing is wrong which the former do not condemn ; and are supposed just , now , we believe without reason , to be move lax in their dealings than other classes . They belong t : o the new growth of society ; as they acquire wealth they share tho power of the older classes , and excitc ' at onco envy and

    misapprchen-They no more particularly need the Verdicts , of tribunals to form their morality than other classes ; but as they look much , to them , we rejoice that these are now expressed in strong and unmistakable language , and enforce a rigid responsibility . Could some other classes be made equall y responsible , the careless concocters of foolish political schemes which harass and plunder society , to no end but self-glorification , would not enjoy continual immunity , nor even be honoured as public benefactors . These decisions and the pending actions seem , likely to have a very important influence over the formation of ioint-stock companies . Gentlemen o £

    property and character will be very shy of lending themselves to new schemes which may deprive them of their fortunes or shut them up for a few months in the House of Correction . If the law will enforce the responsibility of the servants of such companies , it will no longer spare those who suffer their name and station to be used for purposes that may be fraudulent . Gentlemen will be obliged to be very watchful and very cautious whom they trust . We pointed out a short time ago that the success of our joint-stock banks was in a great measure due to each of them being placed under the control of one directing and skilful man . In France companies

    have generally succeeded by the great power which has been legally placed in the hands of the gerant ; but now even in France they excite mistrust from repeated failures . In general , companies cannot be made to succeed by any other means than by entrusting the ' management to some one skilful person . If , therefore , gentlemen should become shy in implicitly trusting any one , as it seems likely they will be as long as dishonesty continues prevalent , joint-stock companies will ; not be so readily formed as they have been . Some enterprises can only be carried on by means of such companies , and

    from necessity they . ' will be formed ; but they will be . modelled by the necessity which calls them into existence ; and we are not likely to have , in spite of t-lie expected influence of some modern enactments * companies formed hereafter by hundreds to carry on every species of industry . The elevation of the labouring multitude by becoming shareholders in such Companies , which is expected by some of our wisest philanthropists , who have , therefore , promoted them , is , we are afraid , not likely to be realised . It can only be the growth , of time , not of

    coutrrvan . ee .-. We now seem to have come practically , after thirty years' experience of the effects of the zealous legislation of 1 S 2 G in favour of joint-stock couir panies and against private bankers , to the conclusion that the principle of that legislation was erroneous . The individual responsibility the Legislature then pronounced to be insufficient we find ourselves now obliged to enforce as the best guarantee for correct action . Individuality in society is always preserved , and is natural and unavoidable . Individual responsibility to society is , consequently , the great law of moral life . On this alone we must rely for success iu trade as well as for honesty and honour

    in pro Cessions . For individuals , joiut-stock companies legally formed are bad substitutes ; they can only be intelligently conducted by individuals , and only bemndc responsible through them . We cannot get rid of individual responsibility , wh'ioh belongs to shareholders as well as directors , and would still inhcro in each one of the , labouring multitude , though they carried on industrial occupations by joint-stock ' companies . As these decisions may atfccl ; . the .. formation of joint-stock companies . hereafter , their influence will probably be very great , and it may reduce all the legislation on this , subject , which has pf late excited so much interest , to a minimum of importance .

    sion . No classes , however ,, are more dependent than they aro for success oh '( hoi r ' own conduct . They oiler their services in the open market ; they aro exposed to unlimited competition ; t . ho material commodities they deal iu arc always and generally speedily brought to the test , of use or consumption ; and frauds by them are , as the rule , sure to L > e detected . Thev can only succeed by well serving others . If they lost tlie Chinese market for calico , as is said , by supplying it with inferior articles , as they at one time lost the market for woollen cloths in the United States by the same negligence , tlvoy wcro the first and the greatest sufferers by their whnsn vicca

    own yroiiy ^ gjn g , AlUfrf am- . . Juuxl Tolorcuco io supernatural piinUhments or promises , cannot , if fraudulent , or erroneous , bo found out this side tho grave . Tho dealers , too , in logal niceties aro logal necessities , who dictate their own torjns -ami impose ' their own views on other men . Statesmen , too , settle at o ' neo what they shall do , and how they shall bo paid for it ; but tho mercantile classes bargain fairly for what they reocivo , and ob « tain only what others award thoin in tho open inarkut . For thorn deceit must end in discomfiture .

    Painting And Glazing. The Proceedings At...

    PAINTING AND GLAZING . The proceedings at Guildhall have not , as many conceive , exposed a new , but uncovered an pla , phase in tho mysteries of pieturc-denling . Tho brood of knowing picture-selling Barneses is ft numerous one , and has existed for centuries ; and jUuuiiwJ-ly ^ ilJMolju ^ ^ Peters is " by no moans confined to the metropolis , and boasts im equal antiquity . Flats mid sharps will always flourish sido by sido in a civilised community so long as Mammon is tho " ono thing needful , " » ml as long us ono portion of Immunity is bom with empty , auolhor with full pockets , so Jong will human ingenuity bo exorcised m devising ingenious modes of eilecling- ft change iu ho position of tho breeds , or , ns Lord Brougham might possibly phrase it , making- their relations somewhat

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 4, 1858, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_04091858/page/15/