§ MR. SPOONERsaid, he rose to ask the right hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Department a question which referred to a ticket-of-leave man who had recently committed a burglary at Ashover, in Derbyshire. He wished to know whether the right hon Gentleman had received information from the Recorder of Birmingham to the effect that that ticket-of-leave man was well known in Birmingham, that he had been dwelling there without any ostensible means of obtaining a livelihood, and lived among thieves and such associates? Was it the intention of the right hon. Gentleman to withdraw the ticket of leave in that particular case, and in others where men were known to be the associates of thieves?
§ SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, the facts of the case were these:—In February, 1856, the Recorder of Birmingham transmitted to him a Report from the police of that borough relative to eighteen persons who held tickets of leave there. From that Report it appeared that eight persons out of the eighteen had conducted themselves honestly and well. With regard to two others, their characters were doubtful, although nothing was known about them which called for the revocation of their tickets of leave. But as to the remaining eight the Report stated in general terms that their conduct was bad. He, therefore, desired inquiries to be made with regard to them, and it turned out that three of them had committed indictable offences. One of them had been convicted, and his ticket of leave was necessarily withdrawn according to the general rule, while two of them were sentenced to terms exceeding those to which they were originally sentenced, and their tickets of leave were of course revoked. That left five of the eight whose conduct was reported to be bad, and, with regard to those five, two of them had been cautioned by the police, and one 2212 of them had subsequently disappeared from Birmingham, but, as the other had since given up a disreputable house, which had been the resort of thieves, his ticket of leave was not withdrawn. With regard to the remaining three, he (Sir G. Grey) directed the police to warn them. The police thereupon informed them that if they did not discontinue their course of life their tickets of leave should be withdrawn. He had not received any further communication from the police with respect to those three. The Recorder of Birmingham suggested that, notwithstanding the suspicions against the eight out of the eighteen, it would be harsh to withdraw their tickets of leave without affording them an opportunity of showing that these suspicions were groundless, and he (Sir G. Grey) concurred in that suggestion. The Recorder suggested that it would be desirable to remove these persons from Birmingham. He (Sir G. Grey) desired the police to communicate with them, and inform them that they were being observed, and that in the event of their continuing a dishonest course of life measures would be taken for the withdrawal of their tickets of leave. He imagined that, with regard to the particular person inquired after by the hon. Member for North Warwickshire, the object which the Recorder had in view was attained, and he had left Birmingham because the place at which he had committed the crime was in another part of the country—at Ashover, in Derbyshire.