By s. 2, any person under sixteen years of age, convicted of offence by indictment or summary conviction, may, by the court or magistrates, be sent, at the expiration of his term of punishment, to a reformatory school, and be there detained for not less than two, nor longer than five, years; but no offender to be so dealt with unless his punishment has been one of imprisonment for fourteen days at the least; and the home secretary may at any time direct an offender to be discharged from such school. Offenders absconding from the school, or refractory in conduct, are liable to be punished by imprisonment, with or without hard labour, not exceeding three calendar months, s. 4.

By 18 & 19 V. c. 87, when any juvenile offender is detained in a reformatory school, the parent or step-parent, if of sufficient ability, is liable to contribute to his support and maintenance a sum not exceeding 5s. a week; and any two justices in England, or two magistrates in Scotland, may make such order for payment as they may deem reasonable, during the whole or any part of the detention of such offender in such reformatory school; in case of default of payment for fourteen days, the amount may be levied on the goods and chattels of the defaulter, or, if no sufficient levy can be found, he may be committed to the house of correction or common gaol for any term not exceeding ten days.

By 19 & 20 V. c. 109, the court or magistrate proceeding under 18 V. need not name, in passing sentence, the particular school certified under the act to which a youthful offender shall be sent, but the school may be designated by the chairman of the court or the magistrate before the expiration of the term of imprisonment. Young persons not to be sent to schools to which the parents, guardians, or surviving relative object. By s. 2, any person wilfully inducing a young person to abscond from a reformatory school is liable to a penalty of £5, or sixty days' imprisonment failing payment.

The 20 & 21 V. c. 55, empowers the justices of a county or council of a borough to grant money in aid of reformatory schools; but money not to be granted to schools already established, unless certified. Contribution by parents to the maintenance of offenders in a school to be enforced by summons and inquiry into their ability. Inspector to report annually, and if Privy Council Committee be dissatisfied with the state of the school, certificate may be withdrawn. Book to be kept in which religious denomination of children is described, and certain hours to be fixed for visits of clergymen. No child to be detained beyond fifteen years of age.

The 20 & 21 V. c. 58, makes better provision for the care and education of vagrant, destitute, and disorderly children by the extension of industrial schools. A "child" is defined as being any boy or girl who, in the opinion of the justices, is above seven and under fourteen years of age; and "parent" is any person legally liable to maintain a child. By s. 3, the Committee of Privy Council

on Education (power transferred to the secretary of state by 23 & 24 V. c. 108) are empowered to certify any industrial school under this act, but not both under this act and the 17 & 18 V. c. 86; an inspector is to examine and report annually, and the certificate may be withdrawn if not properly conducted. Children taken into custody for vagrancy may be sent by the justice, in case the parents cannot be immediately found, to any certified industrial school willing to receive them, for any period not exceeding a week, while inquiries are made; and after due inquiry may either discharge the child altogether, or, if the parents be found, deliver it up to them on receiving an assurance in writing that they will be responsible for the good behaviour of the child for any period not exceeding twelve months; and in default of such assurance, he may order the child to be sent to any certified industrial school willing to receive it, selecting a school conducted on the principles of the religious persuasion to which the parents of the child, in the opinion of the judge, shall belong, if any such school exists in the county or any adjoining county. If, after such assurance as has been mentioned, the child is again convicted, the person giving such assurance may be fined in any sum not exceeding 40s. if the vagrancy has been occasioned by their neglect. By s. 9, if any parent or guardian, on religious or other grounds, wishes to select a school, he may do so by paying the expenses incurred thereby. No child is to be detained in any industrial school against its own consent beyond the age of fifteen years. On application of the manager of any industrial school, the parent may be summoned before the justices, and examined as to his circumstances, who at their discretion may order a weekly payment of not more than 38. until the child attain the age of fifteen years, and in default of payment for fourteen days, the same to be recovered by legal process; but on application of either parent or manager, the sum payable may be increased or diminished, or the parent may be wholly released. The manager may allow a child to sleep out of the house in the dwelling of its parent, or of any respectable person, and may revoke such permission, s. 17. Children absconding may be sent back by an order of the justices; and persons harbouring any child that has absconded, or inducing it to abscond, are subjected to a penalty not exceeding 40s., to be recovered by summary proceeding, s. 19. Guardians of unions may contract with the managers of industrial schools for the maintenance and education of pauper children. When the certificate of a school is withdrawn, notice is to be given in the Gazette, s. 23. The act is limited to England and Wales.

The previous acts on reformatory schools are, by 29 & 30 V. c. 117, consolidated and amended. By s. 4, on application to a secretary of state by the managers of a reformatory school an inspector of prisons may be appointed inspector of such schools to certify the fitness of a school, and report at least once a year on its

LESSENING THE DELAY OF JUSTICE IN SMALL THEFTS.

505

regulations and management. Managers of a certified school may decline to receive an offender, but if received they are bound to keep him the entire term of his detention.

The second part of the act, from s. 14 to 19, relates to the committal of offenders under sixteen years of age, and their status at a school of reform. Refusal to conform to the rules of a school, punishable with or without hard labour for any period not exceeding three months. Assisting or inducing an offender to escape from a school, or concealing him, punishable by a fine of £20, or imprisonment not above two months. Section 24 refers to contributions by the Treasury to the expenses of schools. Parent or other person legally liable, if able, to contribute weekly to the maintenance of a young offender in a school any sum not above five shillings. Prison authorities may contract with school managers for the maintenance of offenders. Subsequent sections chiefly refer to expenses of prison authorities and county boards and the recovery of penalties.

The condition and purpose of the industrial schools referred to (p. 503), do not appear to have been essentially changed by the consolidating and amending act of the 29 & 30 V. c. 118. A school of this class is defined by s. 5 to be one in which industrial training is provided, and in which children are maintained and instructed under the supervision of the inspectors of prisons appointed by the secretary of state. They are distinct from the reformatory school, and must be certified by him to be eligible to public grants and the auxiliary contributions of counties or boroughs.

By s. 14, any person may bring before two justices or a magistrate a child, apparently under the age of fourteen years, that is found begging or receiving alms, or is found wandering without a settled home or means of subsistence, or is found destitute, being an orphan, or the parent undergoing criminal punishment, or if in the company of reputed thieves. Two justices or a magistrate empowered to send any child apparently under twelve years of age, if charged with a crime, to a certified industrial school. See further, 32 & 33 V. c. 99, s. 16.

V. LESSENING THE DELAY OF JUSTICE IN SMALL THEFTS.

By 18 & 19 V. c. 126, power is given to justices at petty session, or to any metropolitan or stipendiary magistrate acting singly, to decide summarily in cases of theft, where the value of the thing stolen does not exceed 58., or in cases of attempt at theft, if the parties accused consent, but not otherwise. If consenting, the charge is then to be entered in writing, and if the person accused pleads guilty, he is to be summarily condemned to the punishment provided by law; but if he plead not guilty, the case is to be gone into, witnesses are to be examined, and the accused may have the assistance of an attorney or a counsel. Where a person is charged

with a theft exceeding 5s. in value, he may plead guilty, and be sentenced forthwith, but he must be warned that he is not obliged to plead. The magistrates before whom the case is heard (s. 5), have power to remand persons for a further examination; forfeited recognizances are to be transmitted to the clerk of the peace, and convictions and other proceedings are to be returned to the quarter sessions. The justices under this act (s. 8) may order the restitution of property stolen or obtained by false pretences; and they may also order the payment of expenses. Every petty session for the purposes of this act must be an open court, and due notice is to be given of the time and place of its holding. Convictions under this act to have the same effect as a conviction on indictment, except that it shall not be attended with any forfeiture. In cases of injury to property, the justices may award a sum of money to be forfeited, and paid as compensation to the parties aggrieved, although they may have been examined as witnesses, s. 22.

Closely connected with the preceding is the act of 1865, the 28 & 29 V. c. 127, for the commutation of small penalties on summary conviction by imprisonment. By s. 4, when any offender is adjudged to pay a penalty not exceeding £5, such offender, in case of non-payment, may, without any warrant of distress, be committed to prison for any term not exceeding the period specified in the following scale, unless the penalty be sooner paid. For a penalty not exceeding 10s., the imprisonment is not to exceed seven days; for a penalty not exceeding £1, fourteen days; for a penalty not exceeding £2, one month; and exceeding £2 and not exceeding £5, the imprisonment is not to exceed two months. By s. 5, the power of imposing hard labour in addition to imprisonment, in cases where hard labour might on non-payment have been so imposed if the act had not been passed, is not to be affected; and it is to apply to penalties including costs recoverable in a summary manner under any act passed before or after the commencement of the same. The act is limited to England, and does not apply to penalties under the revenue laws.

VI. RESPONSIBILITY FOR CRIMES.

Certain persons from age, natural infirmity, or want of freedom of will, are deemed incapable of committing crimes, and are exempt by law from criminal responsibility.

An infant under the age of seven years cannot be guilty of felony; above the age of seven, if it appear that he has capacity to discern between good and evil, he is capable of guilt according to his discernment; but the presumption continues in favour of his innocence till he attain the age of fourteen, at which period he is, as to the commission of crimes, supposed to have attained discretion, and his actions are subject to the same responsibility as the rest of society.

If a woman commit theft, burglary, or robbery by the coercion of her husband, or even in his company, which presumes coercion, she is not guilty of these crimes; but such exceptions do not extend to treason, murder, or manslaughter. And in all misde

meanors, the wife may be found guilty with the husband.

Persons committing crimes by casualty or misfortune, by ignorance or mistake of fact, not of law, by compulsion or necessity, are not punishable; but each of these circumstances, ignorance, necessity, or infirmity, must be strictly and satisfactorily made out by the party who relies on them for justification.

Idiots and lunatics are not chargeable for their own acts, if committed when under these incapacities, not even for treason itself. But he who is guilty of a crime through voluntary drunkenness may be punished for it as much as if he were sober; and he who causes a madman to commit a crime is a principal offender, and as liable as if he had done it himself.

With respect to a lunatic, the 39 & 40 G. 3, c. 94, has provided for the different cases in which he may appear before a jury, both where it is in evidence that he was insane at the time of committing the act charged upon him, and where he shall appear so at the time of arraignment on trial. In the first case, the jury, instead of a general verdict of acquittal, are directed to find his insanity specially, and whether they acquit him on that ground. In the latter case, a jury shall be empanelled for the purpose of trying whether the prisoner be lunatic or otherwise at that time. If the verdict, in either case, established the insanity, the prisoner must be kept in strict custody till the Queen's pleasure be known for the future disposal of him. See also 3 & 4 V. c. 54; 32 & 33 V. c. 78.

The criminal responsibility of persons suffering from insanity or monomania will be further elucidated by the following queries, submitted to the judges by the House of Lords, and to which the judges delivered their answers June 19, 1843. The first question for their consideration was as follows:

"What is the law respecting alleged crimes committed by persons afflicted with insane delusion in respect of one or more particular subjects or persons, as, for instance, where at the time of the commission of the alleged crime the accused knew he was acting contrary to law, but did the act complained of with a view, under the influence of insane delusion, of redressing or revenging some supposed grievance or injury, or of producing some supposed public benefit?"

With respect to this question, the opinion of the judges was, that, notwithstanding the party committed a wrong act when labouring under the idea of redressing a supposed grievance or injury, or under the impression of obtaining some public or private benefit, he was liable to punishment.

Second question. "What are the proper questions to be sub