THE JUDGE'S CHARGE AT WELLINGTON.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 281, 29 June 1860, Page 3

THE JUDGE'S CHARGE AT WELLINGTON.

"The! day is not far distant'when prison-doors shall be barred on the outside no less heavily and carefully than they are now barred within."

r Tkis^\frak; thy hoj3efu(l prophecy of j Dickeh^ proclainied in his preface to the renownefl Picfacick- Papers. The full meaning of the oracle, like those of Delphi' of pldj cannot be grasped at once-. There is more in it than at first catches the eye.-» Prophets and poets do not talk in ordinary language. In their mystic teachings' of a miblime faitli they do, hbvvever, give currency to great and'unacknowledged truths. They with the future, as history with the past,: and their mission is to release us from the trammels of the present, and raise up from things of earthto communion with the skiea. , -

5 ' Legislators with the executors and administrators of the laws discard,1 however, the- visions of the poet; for they* have to deal with things not as they should, or may be, but as they are. Nor need we the teachings of poet or prophet to inform us what is : necessary to be known on. this important question.,/^ History demonstrates the inefficiency of, human" laws and contrivances for thepunisnent of the criminal, and the repression of crime) while philosophy clearly points, out that it iswHh the. hidden causes of existing and not with^their visible efTects, that legislation, in' its higher, and more comprehensive jbearings, ought pi'imarily to,deal. , ..Thismuch is certain, that.at least as much care should be taken to prevent the creation of the criminal, as to punish the crime. IntheJanguage of Diclcens we should render,.as far as prkcticlble, ihe ingress to the prison a. matter of as 'much difficulty as -the egress of the prisoner. . The punishment of crimes is necessary for the safety of society; Jmt, the adoption of those measures by, which their frequent occurrence may be prevented is equally as necessary. .If one is the peculiar and painful office of the Judge, the other is one of the highest and most .important duties <ol the Legislator; while the discussion of those measures .< which will secure the well-being of society, and by cotisequence prevent the commission of crime, is legitimately and evidently the great work of JRre3s.-; •'-- -;; •' ' : ■ •■■■'• ;•■■.■'•'".'' . ' ; '

< Whether the chief object of punishment be the reformation of the criminal, as held by some of the highest authorities in Europe.1 for the prevention of crime, as held by the late Chief Justice of this Colony, it will, Ye think, be conceded, that the results it*either; case have |iifcberto, been; "fix-]: tremely.-unsatisfSbtbry. .'...,.*'..," , J'*.yfte~ fear that Justice Johnston has top .much' faith in the efficiency of punishments. The ameliora-; tionof the. Criminal .Code'has been the life object of some of England's greatest statemen; and in(deed, the Criminal Code of a nation would consti--,tute' no imperfect measure .of the civilization of its inhabitants, and form no badcriterionby which to judge of the humanity" and enlightenment of its Governments If the prosecution and punishment of criminals be "the obvious and: easy means of preventing the growth of the ciirne, and the'es^ ■tabiishment of criminal classes,". it is astonishing that where tlie, machinery for securing both has been'carried tosuijh Estate of perfection as it lias beeft in England, that there should remain in that coup try, according to : Mr, Juptice, Johnston's own showing, 7sp many ■ jeays ' 35,000 professional Criminals at la)^ mentof^rimjnals were the obvious and easy means of preventing tliegroWtli; of crime, ; it is manifest that in those countries where those means have' been most extensively and efficiently employed, there'crimes would be comparatively rare. That* they are not so is convincingly shown by Mr. Justice Johnston himself, in his, recent charge to the GrancL Jury of this Province. He very justly observes that,:—v, '>; •■. :!v ;. - :*' Aslliere are m~a\l'j communities persons vvho,. are apt to give undue weight to the consideration: ofthecostof the different branches of "the public administration, and who may find in tlfat consideration excuses for -imperfect measures for; the prevention of crime, I niay allude to the following stfiking.statement, shoy/ihg the. extent. of the pecuniary loss to the. people of Great Britain from the regular criminal classes. From official returns it appears that, besides casual offenders, there are lin Great Britain at least 135,000 professional ctiimuajs miautely classified by the police, whose il :■; ; ... ....,,.,,. ... *.„•■..■!■,■.. :■ :.■:■'■■ .•'.■••■■-•■- ■■■■■•.■•■ '••■' ■■ ■•■\. :■?■:■

depJPedatfohSdeprivethelrae loWhers 'anntiatty of" certainly not. lesß than 13| millions of pounds I^% W >ope'ty<; while!, the /supervision of this; body, together, wjth preventive and penal, mea-,' i^^r-apa I* from large expeniaiture which cannot be calculated-i-.c6Bts';the natfon .annually no less than2^ millions sterling. ; The jdtter kind of expenditure, tooy is ; neces3arily cohducted much more .economically, jn. England, than it could be in a new country, with comparatively, small penal Establishments.''- . •: - :

\We are afraid that the'ease with which legisla--tors could contriy-e means for the punishment of cranes, supplied the reasohswhy they never1 applied any more rational, humarie,and effectual measures for their prevention^ It was more easy to punish crime than to reform the criminal; less difficult to distiijg^js^ the effect than to discover the cause; shorter work to cut down the noxious plant: than Vuproot it from tlie soil. Before^ the Manchester; and Liverpool railroad was constructed an extensive district of country, in its vicinity, . was .overrun with rushes; all sorts of contrivances were ; adopted to rid the ' land ;of ■ them; they were cut down, they were grubbed up, they were burnt to ashes,' still; however, these rushes continued to grow in rank luxuriance; but in the construction of the. , railroad* 0 Hat moss was' drained, and the rushes, being thereby deprived of 'the food necessary for ;their existence, disappeared ; .the . cause removed ~ the effect ceased: ; .' ;','/' < ; '"'."' * " '■~

Arid may we1"not in like manner continue' to cut'down the criminal, and yet be as far off as ever from getting rid of crime? We do not believe in.the restraining,influence, of punishments, though :we ■ doubt riot that they are necessary. The pertainty of• the";puriishment is moreover of infinijelyVinore' consequence thaii its extent or ■■severity; Mr. Recorder Hill; a: ; ;high authority,: says—"l do not believe.in the great deterring effect of punishment; I think itj is overrated." . r : ■:• "' ■■

; We have evidence crowding upon us; to, prove that retributive pain is a positive hindrance.to corrective discipline; "" I believe," says the, chaplaia_ of Reading gaol, "that the .mere dread of punishment, as threatened by any law, either human or divine, very seldom prevents-crimes; these-.are not, restrained- by the punishment of criminals, but they are actually increased by the hardening character of that process." ■ .The term vengeance of the law has- become obsolete; the rack, the faggot, and the gibbet v are fortunately now numbered among the things that were; and retributive and vindictive punishments, bian new in the days pf Draco, and quite fashionable in a less barbarous age, are nothing now_ butthe rags and tatters of the past. Even our present treatment of criminals, and mode of suppressing crime, will be viewed by unborn generations with/ as much horror and surprise as'we now contemplate the. cruel and irrational means employed by our ancestors for a similar purpose. .'; "Until recently the gaol was the criminal college in,which the prisoners graduated in .crime, and competed with each other, for the gallows. Even noire.the English Judge hesitates before consigning a youth to such a school of vice; and reformatories have been established for their special recepition, with gratifying success, in various parts of the mother country, Germany, and France. Institutions of this kind are not necessary in this colony, but a case'occurred the other day in which the punishment of the crime, whatever might be its deterring influence on otliera,,would, it is to be feared, have anything 'but a" salutary effect iupon the criminal, himself. The Judge isj employed $where i\\e schoolmaster is wanted." ' '" -

We have but little faith in statistics generally ; least of all in criminal and educational statistics. It !is true that 60 per cent, of the criminal inmates of the English gaols cannot either read or write, or only very imperfectly; but as such facts as these show as much the poverty as the ignorance of their youth, they afford, taken alone; and without reference to .other considerations, no ,■ proof of the restraining influence of mere elementary instruction. ■ '" ' "'' ■■■; Nevertheless it cannot be doubted that education in the broad signification .of that-'term* affords the mightiest engine for the,prevention of crime, and the promotion of human happiness. It has been; proved, moreover, that only 10 in 100 of the criminal offenders committed for trial in England and Wales are able to read and write well, and of these only 4-in 1000 have received such an amount of instruction as niay be entitled to the name of education., These proportions are greatly below the average standard of .instruction among the generalpopulation. , . .

.lit is- certain, therefore, that if instruction, be insufficient to restrain persons from crime, ignorance is,still mere, inefficient fdr that, purpose. The fact is that the causesof crime have a more intithemateconnectionthan isgenerally admitted with social condition of communities. Absolute want, it is true,' is hot; the usual instigator of crime; nor are poverty,. ignorance, and degradation, in this colony, as they too frequently are in the mother country, synonimous terms; but we venture to assert that the right education and social well-being, of a people, will be found much more effectual means, for preventing the growth of crime and the establishment :of criminal classes, than will the prosecution and punishment df 'criminals. If anything' like supineness, therefore; iii the latter case, deserves censure, how much, more does such a feeling "with reference to, the former, questions merit bur reprobation, and require ,to. be uprooted; from our hearts. .

We1 fully coincide witli his Honor aa to the importance and responsibility of the trust Yirliich the; Visiting Justices jhave accepted. His Honor, well observed that''it is to their care and ivigilance in examining the gaol, listening to complaints, obtaining, information of every kind relating to the establishment , itself and its inmates, ahdi Iri] reporting, thereon to thp proper authorities, that the public, and. -the court, must primarily look .for the' means of reform or amelioration of" system, or details." Of course the importance a"nd responsibility of their trust become if ;owing to a' penny wise, and[pound.foolish Economy, or to 'any other, cause, the ordinary -officersof the gaol possess riot'thehigh qualific'a,tioM which their;£ositioti de#aM^ ■ ' ■• '' The l^royincial Government was constituted for the ; purpose of securingthe ifeace; order, (and^godd. government.of they community; but the .memberf of it: have b'eeri too much engaged in consolidating their ovvh power; in vindictively'and unrelenting,by peisecu;tirigtheir opponentsjan transforming pur Ropresentative institutions into .a, machinery for their C;W ; n advance-., nientj anbUin making; laws, and contriyin^means to benefit "their, influential, friends; eiither; ; ouVof' the public estate, or that of, the public purse,' to-,permit, themsto.tum= their.[attention tp^those, important ques--, tioh'^hich aWect the-p'eace, security, ;.spcial progress, moral elevation, and educational improvement, of the community. ... ..-. :\_v ';...:-.. •,■ ■ v:;.: ■ ;•.; ;-.: X We are not .surprised that amongst the .matters' proper for the consideration of the.. Legislature.which have"; been brought under, his. Honor's, notice, .none should have struck him more than the necessity which 'exists;for general convict and lunatic establishments, conducted on a proper system, and capable of securing' •indispiensable classification of the inmates..- Both these. subjects have been frequently brought under the con-, sideration of the Geueral\Government and Legislature; but the manner, in which lunatics, more especially; have been treated in this.'Colony, was air ackhbwledged disgrace to a iGhristian community. S Though we differ in opinion from the learned Judgc' aito' the restraining and deterring influence, of punish- ; mentsj there can be>ho doubtiof the; hecessity and; justice of his remarks with reference-to tliij supihenaiss. ; which, has characterised ' the^ "/prosecution: "\ of; criminals, or rather with reference' 'to the'lextremely; <.lame manner in which those pi-oaecuti6ns 'have 'been' got up, and conducted. :It was^ to this pbiiit; mostprobably, tlut Mh'e-i remaHis' bf: his HbiVo^l were ?mbfe ft directed, There is scarcely 'a 'sitting of the Court in which a .prisoner, whp, well merited" .punishment, does not escape free owing either to. a ; flaw, in the indictment, or to the non-production of evidence, which might have been obtained for. the asking. ■.' ; -. . :'' ..' '.. '[■>'■■ S.'.. ,'. v.',. :,. -. v£\m places his Honor himself in an improper and_ unfavorable pgsition. To meet the ends of justice lie

'firids;hKhsblft!omp:eired t6 aWume the place of the counsel ibr tlie prosecution rather than thafc for the ■ prisoner,' which;conveys to the spectator: an'appear-1 , arice of harshness and severity which may be -wholly absent'from.liis bosom.. ' '•..'■-"'■'.'

i. In the state of torpid anarchy in which the province ia placed—in tlie face of a .usurpation by the • Executive of the powers of the Legislative branch of rthe Government—and in the neglect* fty, the ,prop'jr: authorities frf All ipfeventive'arid remedial measures ; for existing 'evil's— we cannot but congratulate the inhabitants of Wellington that they .-have a. Supreme Court in which justice is impartially administered; and that they hafe for their judge a gentleman pos-. sessing such high qualifications, intellectual attain- ' ments, legal acumen and learning, independence and decision of character, as those which so eminently distinguish Mr. Justice : Johnston.— Wellington Advertiser ■ • , '■'.:•. •■'-',