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Leader (1850-1860), 19th December 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1215

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      Untitled Article

      STRONG GOVERNMENT IN WHITECROSS STREET . There is a theory , which we mil not undertake to defend , that debtors generally are injured men , creditors harpies / and slaves that pay , simpletons . But—the law of parallax operating on the earth as in the skies—there is another order of persons who regard undischarged debts as unrepented crimes , and who would arm every creditor with Shylock ' s knife ,, allowing no "benignant justice to intervene and prohibit the mingling of blood with the sacrifice of insolvency . Now , it is a principle of the law to interpose between the frozen and torrid belts

      a temperate zone , represented by Portugal-street , where it is the office of sundry Commissioners to discriminate between those who cannot and those who will not pay—the . unfortunate and the reckless . In the case of bankrupts they are so often criminal that Parliament provides a set of appropriate regulations , distinguishing eight years 5 penal servitude from two years' imprisonment . Insolvents , however ; , are of several classes—people who will not apply to the courts , people without the means of going- through , and people who are sentenced to detention for debts improperly contracted . Swindling , disaster , end conviction are thus mixed up in

      large proportions ; but hitherto -the prisoners have been huddled together in the most melancholy dens of London . It was time that reform should reach Whitecross-street—it may afterwards proceed to the Queen ' s Bench , and possibly give a call in Cursitor -street , where unhappy respectability in difficulties is privileged to air itself in a vile iron Cage at an exorbitant cost . However as we have said , the spirit of the age has been at work in Whitecross-street , and last Saturday the male initiates were convened to hear certain decrees

      sanctioned by Sir George Grey , but originating with the Civic Gaol Committee . Mr . Charles Pearson , the City Solicitor , is very probably at the bottom of the innovation which it will be his duty to / put in practice , Mr . Botrdon , "the late governor , having retired , and Mr . Brown , his deputy , having been ' relieved . ' Mr . Pearson , as administrator of the interregnum , promises the prisoners ' public dinner of roast-beef and plum-pudding . ' No doubt the debtors are obliged to Mr . Pearson . They may enjoy , through ¦ Iris beneficence , the ordinary Christmas treat of the workhouse and the

      Penitentiary . We wonder how ni any of them will eat the beef and pudding of the City Solicitor . We wonder , also , whether the charitable plateful would be offered to the younger brother of any alderman , who , being suddenly arrested , might find , himself in the debtors' ward when Mr . Pearson ' s tickets are distributed . t As to thencw rules , they are not altogether vexations . It is fair to separate debtors on remand from those who ( ire only waiting for relief in the ordinary course of law . We sympathize with the Court of Aldermen in the feeling evinced- by their regulation that no prisoner is to be disrespectful to the Lord Mayor , though it reminds us of the

      Chinese edict against sneezing when the emperor is asleep ; also , it is quite proper that persons confined for debt should not be permitted to intoxicate themselves , to swear , quarrel , play cards , or even smg songs , to the annoyance of others . It is notorious that these regulations , under the old regime , were continually neglected ; no spirituous liquors were allowed to- pass thrdttgh the gates , even when gently hidden -under crinoline , yet the gin trade throve to extortion within the precincts . Probably , the custom of cooking in the day-rooms was a nuisance ; certainly the separation of dormitories

      is a positive and excellent reform . But the debtors have a right to protest against an endeavour to degrade them , indiscriminately , to the level of criminals . In actions of , false imprisonment , when the charge has been one of felony , the greatest emplmsis is always laid on the fact that the accused person was searched at the police-station . In future , all prisoners admitted to Wlutecross-strcel ; arc to be immediately searched , to discover whether they have any weapons , instruments of escape , or spirituous liquors concealed on their persons . This is mere wantonness and barbarity . The inmates

      Of the debtors' nrisr » ll VJIVflw c \ v nmrnn nilnmMlot tJie debtors' prison rarely or never attempt to escape , and if they did , it is the duty ot the authorities to prevent them . Again , the debtor is to sec no friends except at the rate of one oaoh day for two hours , or two each day for one hour , unless , indeed ,, they bo professional visitors , or sight-seers provided with tickets from 1 he visiting justices . AH these interviews arc to take pluce iu a particular room ,

      and are to be watched by the warders . Lastly , no smoking is to be permitted ,. however inclement the season , except in the airing-yard . . Thiss again , is a cruel and offensive innovation , entirely unnecessary , and likely to produce the most bitter discontent . The Debtors' Memorial , indeed , sets forth that many of the new rules are calculated to humiliate them , and interfere with their comfort , without answering any intelligible purpose whatever . We trust the civic Gaol Committee will reconsider this

      question ; we wish for no special indulgence to imprisoned debtors , least of all to those who , having robbed a little way outside the pale of the criminal law , are punished by Temands / or those who , with the Insolvent Court open to them , refuse to take advantage of it , and seek , to wear out the pertinacity of their creditors . The heir to a peerage , we helieve , is waiting for his coronet to exonerate him from immense personal debts ; but to treat cases of this kind it is not necessary to insult and persecute a number of them , many of whom have nothing but their misfortunes to regret .

      Untitled Article

      HOW TO KILL A GOVERNESS . The death of the poor young governess at Boulogne is a _ glimpse into the private life of England ; and it is no satisfaction to learn that similar crimes are perpetrated in Trance . A woman ,, scarcely more than a girl , was brought from France to teach languages , music , manners , and perhaps Christian charity , to children . Her patron was a lady— 'let none her name ; ' we will suppose the teacher fulfilled her duty —Heaven knows some one failed in human duty to her . ' : She fell ill ; how she suffered is not to be guessed ; the lady of the house bethought herself of-transmitting ' the sick burden to its friends ; out she knew- —the ticket on the young girl ' s bosom , and the money sewu in her garments prove it—that the educator of her children was incapable of speech or action . Accordingly , labelled like a basket of game , the governess was sent by railway and steam-boat to Boulogne ., where the mercy of strangers took her dying to an hotel . She never spoke again . Typhoid fever , and effusion , on the brain , had done their work , and . the ' young nerson * had no further need of the sum of salary iastened to her stays . A kind employer , foreseeing : that she would be speechless , and thinking she might be dead on the road , had written a ' direction' placed it -where , upon preparing the governess for the coffin , it would certainly be found . That was considerate . The lady evidently did not wish the young girl to be buried without identification .

      O men . wit a sisters dear ! O men with mothers and -wives ! . This was manslaughter , and ought to be followed by a cropped head , a yellow uniform , and penal labour . The case is one which appeals , in rigorous justice , to the imagination . Picture the scene at the genteel house wlien they were ' getting rid' of the governess . They lifted her out of ted , probably ; they dressed her ; they fastened a card on her bosom ; she was insensible , and could not receive her salary ; therefore- —just people—they sewed it inside her stays ; then they despatched her , as she lay in silent , mortal sickness , to the railway , and lastly they commended lier to the guard —perhaps to Heaven !

      We do not admire personal battery ; but if three rural viragos—with more milk of human kindness than the white-handed English lady—were to select nine thongs , and milict mercilessly upon , the tender Mrs . ——¦ the discipline anciently applied to vestals , medievally to nuns , modernly to maidens in Siam , and generally to vicious children , very few juries would care to find any other verdict than ' Richly Deserved . ' Seriously , the hideous cruelty shown to this desolate young girl is one of the few offences on account of which , we regret the abolition of the Bridewell whipping-posts . No gentleman "would send a horse or a dog upon a long journey in a condition so terrible ; man or woman , the perpetrator of such an action is more than brutal , and deserves to be expelled from society .

      Untitled Article

      A CASE IN COURT . An action wixs tried a short time since , in the Exchequer Court , to which we would cull attention : — Tho history of the case is in many respects peculiar . A certain ^ Witxtam Geoug'e Dennett Waxtjs , by misrepresentations , ' induced tho defendant , tho drawer of n bill of exchange ^ to entrust ; him with it , for the purpose of getting it discounted . ' The man Walus deposited it with an attorney

      named Apps , and faQed to pay over the amount , or any part of it , to the drawer , to return the bill to him , or to inform , him into what channel the security had passed . The defendant having reason to believe that the holders were well acquainted with the real character of the manWALLis—and if such were the fact they could hardly be ignorant of the circumstances under which he became possessed of the bill—refused payment when it arrived at maturity . Last February the defendant was served

      with a writ at the suit of one Hall , and shortly afterwards 651 . vras paid into court by him to abide the result of the action , but for some reason not explained by the evidence , the plaintiff delayed the trial of the cause until the 1 st of December , when it came on . for hearing before Chief Baron Pollock . The issue being upon the defendant , his counsel , Mr . Montagu Chambers , opened the case , and called the defendant , who proved that he had received no consideration from any one for his bill , and also the false statement winch Walus had made

      to induce him to part with it . A . strong doubt being established as to whether the holder was not aware at the time the bill reached him that Wallis had become improperly possessed of it , the plaintiff had to show his claim , and the first witness was the plaintiff ' s attorney , Aeps , who , to the surprise of every one in court , stated that the plaintiff , his client , was nothing more than a catspaw for the real plaintiff , who is a trunk-maker in the Strand , named Day ; that in a most circuitous manner the bill reached the hands of Day , -whose father is alleged to have had a great dislike for such

      documents ; and that Day , with this singular excuse for not suing in his own name , solicited & ( most obsequious person , named Hall ( who is an attorney ' s clerk , as well as brother-in-law of Apes the plaintiff ' s attorney ) , to figure as the plaintiff iu his stead . Then followed some extraordinary revelations of the payment of moneys by Apps to Wallis on account of the hill , and the return of such moneys by Day to Apps ; and lastly Hail appeared , who admitted he had no interest ri the bill , and was merely the pretended plaintiff ^ having lent his name to Day to sue upon ; and so complicated , if not suspicious , was the whole of this testimony , that only a jury could properly decide upon it with justice . "The Chief Baron , however , upon the plaintiff ' s counsel commencing to sum up

      the evidence , most unexpectedly came between the plaintiff and the jury , by stopping the case , on the ground that the plaintiff had ' nothing to answer . * Mr . Montagu Chambers still insisted nponhisright , under the statute , to address the jury , but was peremptorily interrupted by the Chief Baron , who refused him permission to proceed . In our columns of intelligence , the scene which then took place has already appeared . Now , we have a very strong objection to ' sham * anywhere , but more particularly in . a court of justice ; and , if ' sham plaintiffs , ' who may be paupers

      arc to be allowed with impunity to bring actions on hills , no matter how doubtfully obtained , against respectable and solvent persons , and , if t \ ici facts in such cases are not to be submitted to the common sense of a jury , courts of law will become little better than courts of intimidation and fraud , tending to ruin the honest , while bill-stcalers and their accomplices reap a rich harvest . The principle involved in this case ia an important one to every man in the country , and , if the law be as the Chief Baron lays it down , the Legislature should immediately interfere for the sake of the public , tho legal profession , and the judges themselves .

      Untitled Article

      Mo . 404 , 1 > bc ! EMBE ! E 19 , 1657 . ] THE LEABEE . 3 W

      Untitled Article

      The late Exposure of Dtcad Bodies . —A . lottei from tho City Solicitor waa read at a sitting on Tuesday of the City Commission of Sewers . It contained an intimation that the Committee of Aldermen have resolved that the charge against Messrs . Piper and Young in connexion with tho exposure of dead bodies in Jloorfielda burial-ground ia not a case which the City Solicitor should be directed to prosecute The Court of Sewers thereupon resolved to carry on the prosecution themselves . Dr . Letheby informer ! tho court that the nuisance had not censed , the bodica being- only very sviporfioiull-y covered .

      Tub Indian Mutiny 11 ei , ibk Fund—Our Ambassador at Vienna has transmitted to the Lord , Mayor the sum of 61 Al . 17 h . Cd ., boing the amount of subscriptions raiaed among Germans for tho Indian , Mutiny Kelief Fund . Sui ' oidk . —Mr- Thomas Marriott , of Lambcote-house , J £ nddifte-on-Tri ! ii l- , 1 magistrate of Nottingham , has dro \ yn <; d ' himself in a water-cistern , whijo on a visit t < h \ h son-in-law . He had been buffering for some time from indigestion , and low spirits .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 19, 1857, page 1215, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2222/page/15/