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seven.

Henry the Fourth Edward the Fourth

tial change in the present division of the labours of the judges. But it is contended, that an evil so great as the delay of justice, requires to be remedied at the expense of any sacrifice; and that the assize duties are as important as any duties that a judge can possibly be called on to perform elsewhere. Were such a measure deemed necessary, there appears to be no constitutional objection to the increase of the number of the judges. The number, twelve, is arbitrary. It has varied considerably in ancient times. In the reign of Edward the Sixth, the judges of the Court of Common Pleas were increased from three to six, and afterwards to Edward the Third raised the number to nine. Richard the Second appointed five. changed the number four times. reduced it to four. King James I. part of his reign, appointed four judges in the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, that the circuits might at all times be fully supplied with the judges of the superior courts. And in subsequent reigns, upon the permanent indisposition of a judge, a fifth has sometimes been appointed.* The number twelve was fixed upon when our population was comparatively small, our laws few, and our progress in civilization imperfect. Any serjeant at law, or King's counsel, may, in fact, now be legally associated with the judges in the commission. The courts of quarter session have the power of trying all felonies, though it is not exercised, capital offences being reserved for the assizes; but many corporate bodies number this privilege among their yested rights, and in the absence of the

during the greater

Blackstone, Book IV. c. 19.

recorder, the authority is frequently delegated to other members of the bar. The decision of such questions is undoubtedly the most responsible part of the duty of a judge, and would be better intrusted only to individuals publicly chosen for their known and acknowledged fitness, than left, as is sometimes the case, to the hazard of an injudicious selection.

*་

Several useful returns have been laid before Parliament respecting the tread-wheel. Of thirty-two communications from the several counties, about four-fifths are in favour of this description of labour; and the greater number state, that so far from having been injurious, it has decidedly contributed to the health of the prisoners. Accidents are, however, said to have occurred, but none appear to be of a serious nature, with the exception of those which are represented to have taken place at the House of Correction at Shepton Mallet. At this prison, the surgeon, some months since, reported eight cases of rupture, which he conceived to be occasioned by the labour of the tread-wheel. These circumstances induced the Secretary of State for the Home Department to appoint the President, and two members of the court of the College of Surgeons to proceed to Shepton Mallet, to investigate the circumstances; and, upon examination, they were of opinion that only two of these cases were attributable to the labour; and that, even in these instances, the surgeon of the prison had not ascertained whether the individuals in question were free from rupture before they were placed on the wheel. These gentlemen also unanimously declare, that it does not appear to them that the exercise,

at a velocity of forty-eight steps in a minute, can be prejudicial to the health of any person equal to common labour. Some few instances have occurred of prisoners having wilfully injured themselves by the machinery, for the sake of obtaining an exemption from the punishment; but it would be difficult to point out any kind of mechanical or even manual labour, by which such conduct could be prevented. In one of the few cases of self-injury which have taken place, it appears that the prisoner actually thrust one of his legs between the boards of the revolving wheel, the immediate consequence of which he must have foreseen. The stepping-wheel, indeed, is the only part of the machine from which personal injury of any kind can arise to the prisoners, as no other portion of the machinery is or ought to be accessible to them. To prevent a repetition of such occurrences, the Committee recommend that every tread-wheel should be boarded up in the interior between the intervals of each steppingboard; by which means the possibility of entangling the foot in the wheel would be effectually prevented.

The Committee are induced to enter into these details from an earnest desire to vindicate the tread-mill from the objections which have in this respect been made to it; and they are firmly persuaded that the introduction of this machinery into prisons has proved of eminent service in improving their economy and

In reference to this subject, it is scarcely necessary to add, that every tread-wheel should revolve entirely clear of any stage, step-ladder, or the floor in front. When the circumference of a tread-wheel is elevated one or two feet clear of the ground or floor, it seems impossible for any accident (wilful or otherwise) to happen, by which a prisoner's limb could be entangled between the revolving wheel and the floor.

discipline, wherever the labour of the wheel has been properly managed and carefully regulated. It is satisfactory to find that at several houses of correction the governors have taken an interest in the use of the dial register,* and in recording with accuracy the daily amount of the prisoners' labour. By the sliding-scale, which the Committee have on a former occasion recommended, the labour may be apportioned with precision, notwithstanding any alteration in the number of the prisoners, in the hours of work, and in the change of seasons. It is to be regretted, however, that, at most prisons, a proper degree of attention is not given to the regulation of the tread-wheel, although but little trouble is requisite. The Committee would, therefore, again respectfully invite the attention of the Magistrates to that part of the Fifth Report of the Society which relates to this subject, as well as to a pamphlet published by the Committee relative to the admeasurement and regulation of tread-wheel labour. By the tables of the amount of this description of labour, enforced in different counties, it will be seen that there is a remarkable inequality in the degree imposed at various prisons, and (what is still more striking) a heavy disproportion in the punishment, in summer and winter. For want of that attention by which alone the labour of the prisoners can be equal

* An instrument recommended to be attached to every tread-mill.

+ Description of the Tread-mill, with observations on its management, and plates of the machinery, &c.

The instruments referred to may be seen at Mr. Bate's, Philosophical Instrument Maker to the Board of Excise, Customs, &c. No. 17, Poultry.

The dial register, which denotes the revolutions of a tread-wheel for a period of many days together, may be purchased at the moderate price of £3. 10s.

ized, they are frequently forced to perform half as much more actual labour in one season than in another. The ordinary mode of apportioning its amount at most of our prisons, is not according to quantity, but by rules which have no reference whatever to its admeasurement. This circumstance is the more to be regretted, as the regulation of the labour is exceedingly simple, and may be observed with as much facility and accuracy as any other branch of prison economy. It is one of the many advantages resulting from the appointment of the inspectors of prisons in Ireland; that they have framed certain rules in respect to the regulation of the tread-wheel, for general observance in the prisons under their superintendence. These rules will be found in the Appendix.

There is, in this country, a separate class of prisons, distinguished no less by the peculiar description of their inmates, than by the defective nature of their discipline. The Committee refer to those gaols which are exclusively appropriated to the confinement of debtors. The difficulty of regulating these prisons is owing to the fact, that the unfortunate and the fraudulent are alike committed to them, whether their insolvency has arisen from unforeseen misfortune, or deliberate crime. To introduce, therefore, into these places a system of control, hard labour, and discipline, without which no prison can be properly conducted, would be to punish the innocent as well as the guilty, and to inflict oppression, which could never be tolerated in an enlightened community. The justice and expediency of confining the persons of debtors, have been questioned

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