§ Mr. John Smith,in rising to bring forward a motion relative to Bradford Gaol, paid the lord lieu- 420 tenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, a compliment on the readiness with which he had interfered the instant the matter was known to him. He was afraid there were many cases of such oppression exercised under the name of law and justice, in some of the smaller places of confinement in the country. They were a disgrace to the country and the age. The facts of the case which he had to lay before the House were these:—an individual who was arrested for a trifling debt, had soon afterwards escaped from confinement. Before he had been long at large he was retaken, and lodged in Bradford gaol. Here, under the directions of the bailiff, for it appears the keeper was a very old man, and quite incapable of attending to the duties of his office, the prisoner was loaded with irons, and never for one instant were the handcuffs removed from his hands for seven days. Owing to the humanity of his fellow-prisoners he then obtained some respite; but he was afterwards kept in irons seven weeks, and these irons were never removed, except for a few minutes once a week, to change his shirt. He admitted that part of the hardships the prisoners suffered were owing to the nature of the gaol, and were not to be imputed to the gaoler. One of the miscreants who had inflicted these cruelties was afterwards tried, convicted, and punished. He had an opportunity of seeing most of the county gaols, and he knew a much better system existed in them. This sort of petty tyranny did not exist in them, and he hoped, something would be done to regulate these minor gaols. He had heard of other oppressions, but he made it a rule not to bring any thing forward of that description, without the most convincing evidence. He might, however, mention, that a great degree of oppression was exercised on men who were shut up in these filthy places for four, five, or six weeks, when they were indebted some paltry sums; such inflictions, though of great consequence, escaped public notice, and the poor wretches were left without protection or means of redress. The hon. member concluded by moving, "That an humble address be presented to his majesty, praying that his majesty would be pleased to lay before the House copies of all the correspondence which had passed between the Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Lord-lieutenant of the West Riding of York- 421 shire, relative to the abuses and mismanagement of Bradford Gaol."
Mr. Secretary Peelcertainly did not mean to oppose the motion. If such abuses were committed, he would not take on himself the task of protecting the guilty parties. The papers would be found to reflect the highest credit on the lord lieutenant of the West Riding; for, as soon as he had heard of the matter, he had made it his business to inquire into it, and transmitted the whole account to him at the Home Office. He had thought it his duty to refer the matter to the Attorney-general, and one of the parties had been prosecuted and punished. He was aware of many of the evils arising from these local jurisdictions, and had himself brought in a bill last session. to enable the magistrates of such jurisdictions to send these prisoners to the county gaols. He believed that, when the matter should be inquired into, it would be found that most of them had taken advantage of the provisions of this bill. In Essex this had long been the practice. He wished, however, to go further than this bill, and should not be sorry if there were no local jurisdictions whatever. He should be well pleased to see all crimes tried by the regular judges and all the local jurisdictions abolished.
Mr. Abercrombycomplimented the right hon. gentleman for the sentiments he had just expressed, and hoped he would not stop short in his career. He entirely concurred with the right hon. gentleman as to local jurisdictions; and thought, if the right hon. gentleman referred to their origin and mode of administering justice, that he would not hesitate as to the course which he ought to pursue. At least, all crimes involving capital punishment, should be tried by the judges. The best mode of proceeding would be the appointment of a commission to visit the different places, and report concerning them.
The motion was agreed to.