THE SEAMY SIDE.

Bush Advocate, Volume XI, Issue 832, 16 September 1893, Page 5

THE SEAMY SIDE.

It has been weil and truly said that ono 'lialf of the world does not know how the other half lives. Ignorance very often is bliss, and though it is not exactly truo " "that if this be so it i 3 folly to be wise, yet •ifc is undoubtedly the fact that a knowledge of the " seamy side" of esistenco in -alaige city is not exactly calculated to ■•promote or permit that happy state ol znhid in which one can bo, as Carlyie 'said, " opaquely superior to the ills of life," or that other languid, luxurious, leisured, iapdog condition of being, 'iv which ono has the time and disposition *o cultivate " That repose Which stamps tha caste of Verede Vere." The modern newspaper is a great -equaliser and unifier — the greatest there sa in the world. The churches ought, to "be, and some of them profess to be, but aro not. But the newspaper takes a "whole view of life. In its columns ithe criminal and the courtier, *he dandy and the ragamuffin, the lady from the perfumed and upholstered «lrawingroom of the mansion aud the sin- ' Soiled, cursed and shame-sapped creature of the nocturnal pavements, jostle each other on the broad ground of their common humanity. Do the rich skirj the ■seamy side, as it ia reflected in tho news.papers 1 Aro they so cynical as to road vand laugh, or do they shrug their shoulders and pass it by ? One often wonders. " The cruellest man alive," ■«ays Mr Buskin, at the conclusion of one of his most beautiful passages, "could mot sit at his feast unless he sat blindfold." But many do who are neither •cruel nor blindfold. How it is that it •can be so, the ethical philosophers may "try to discover. Here and now we have -other things to do. We propose to take those of our readers •who like to accompany us, on a series of morning walks round to the various police courts of the metropolitan area. Those wha do not like to come can stay at •liome, blindfold. French novels, ennui, and caramels are to them, perhaps, more ■enjoyable than seeing life " before tho ZBeak." We do not blame thorn. But -some of those who know very little of what goes on at courts of Petty Sessions may care to come witb us on "these rounds, where we may see ■much, learn much, and reflect upon TOuch. that is worthy of our observation. Se sure of this : there is not any place •where character may be studied to better advantage than a Police Court. There you may see human character at ita worst, and sometimes at its best. Do not ihink it is only the depraved, tho "wretched, the wicked, the vicious and the ■violent who come "before the Beak." ■Magistrates listen to many tales of real heroism — to incidents that happen in "back streets that make one feel better for liaving heard them. Oh, yes, there i 3 sunshine on the seamy side. A goodly number of men whose names Slave become famous, have studied characters in police courts. Fioldiua, the novelist, waa a magistrate at Bow street Police 'Court, London, in the days when "trading justices" pursued their nefarious business •of plunder and blackmail. The " trading justice " used to fatten upon fees. He "was not above being "squared." Hedid -nothing unless he was paid for it. He -absorbed "tips" like a hotel waiter. He lived like a superior sort of parasite upon the wretched people.brought before him. ■The evidence given before the enquiry theld in the year 1816, showed that *he ■ magistrate at Bow street hold a •.really fat post of profit, which was contacted precisely asa grocer's business or •a butcher's business was conducted — so much magisterial consideration, so much .money ! There was no secret about it. "It was the regular thing. But tho.Legiglature .thought . it was just about time it stopped, and a stipendiary magistrate was appointed. The magistrate at Bow street , now ig the learned and courteous Sir John Bridge, who is very deservedly held in lugh esteem. Another great novelist who had police •court experience was Charles Dickens. As a reporter Dickens had to take his turn at the police courts as well as at other •work which fell to him. His faculty of observation waa abnormal. "I have -aaid to myself when I have been wich "him, ho Eees and observes nine facts for amy two that I see and observe," says Sir Arthur Helps. His faculty must have 3»en sharpened by tho opportunities he Aad as a reporter of studying .life and character in many phases, and ■particularly when engaged in the police -courts. Not to attempt a catalogue of the •eminent people who have been connected •with police courts, ono other name comes -to mmd — that of Georere Grossmith, " tbe Society Clown." "Gee-Gee," as his friends call him, was formerly the reporter at Bow street, and is fond of "telling tho story of some of his ■experiences in these early days. He had ■a great aspiration to do something really -clever. The London papers in those days •wero deadly dull, and Grossmith tried to tnake it his mission to brighten those he "supplied with manifold copies of his re--•ports, at the rate of a penny a line. lAt last an opportunity arrived, which -enabled him to distinguish himself. A poor woman was charged "with purloining a shirt which was hanging -outside a cheap hosier's in Clare Market. It was a windy day, and tho end of the :«hirt was apparently flapping round the ■corner of the shop ; so the prisoner, un.able to resist the temptation, filched it. Inspired by this subject, Grossmith paro--died the title of one of Thomas Hood's ;poems and headed his report, " The Tale of a Shirt." "The effort had a moßt •undesirable effect," says Grossmith. '"The serious papers wrote to com.plain of the flippancy of the title ; the xefined papers of its vulgarity ; while one •vulgar paper inserted the title and tm--phasised it by printing the word 'tale' in italics." Tbe penny-a-liner practically does no | -exist in Melbourne, but he ia a great person in tho London Press world, especially on police court work. And very -often his lot is not at all to bo despised. ■The writer knows one liner who is •making not far short of LIOOO a year, lie is the reporter for all the jpapers at one of the large police courts, and" manifolds" his copy by means of carbonised paper and " flimsies." A mere half column a day means l(h each irom, tay, a dozen papors ; and occasionally he will have a big case tluit 'brings him in Ll 10s or more from each paper ho supplies. Speak not clix•respectfully of the penny a Jiner, ■ye poets and literary persons who give yourselves aira. Envy hini, rather '. Some liners hive been leally distinguished in their profession. Old Ciyott, the reporter at the Old Bailey, was quito a celebrity, and when ho died, after being at the one court fifty years. Mr Justice Hawkins— the greatest of the criminal judges — referred to tho event from the Bench as a matter of public importance. If one may transgress a moment from the strict subject to tell an . anecdote, it may be mentioned that, old Clyett was very proud of being some >4hing higher, as he conceived, than a

police court reporter. .Notorious criminals are tried at tbe old Baiiey, and Clyett always attended tho executions of malefactors at Newgate prison, close by. He remembered the days ot publio executions, and could relate many cood Wood-curdling stories to those ho liked. Tbe writer once said to him, after listcnmsi to a round of icniiiiisconcoa, " Ab, Mr Clyett, your experiences of police courts and criminals would make an interesting book." " Police courts !" said the old man ; "what police courts 1 We deal witb a superior sort of crime at the Bailey, sir ! None of your pnlice court rubbish hero !" He wasreally hurt, antl stood on 'lis dignity. I apologised and said I recognised tbe " superiority " of the crime dealt with at the Old Bailey. Then iie was satisfied. Police Court reporters see many queer things and hear many things which do not appear in the papers. 1 hey are subject to many temptations also, and have to exercise a great deal of judgment. The cynical wit of Mr W. S. Gilbert had a dig nt tho imaginary kind of police reporter in his opera of The Mountebanks, where he spoke of " Blaad reporters in the courts Wlio suppress police reports ;" and bo left the inference that these, like other classes.could be squared by "putting a penny in the slot." But, when tackled upon the subject, MrGilbertnonfessed that he did not seriously mean it, and knew of no instance of such suppression. Melbourne reporters at the police courts avo frequently asked to " keep this out of the papers, old man," with the accompaniment of the offer of a sovereign. Tho ! replies they make, as a rule, had better notbementioned; but if the case referred to is worth reporting at all they usually respond by giving ltwith the biggest possible headings and at the greatest possible lensth. The office of justice of tho peace is a very ancient and ■ honorable ono ; and in thi^ colony tho powers and jirivileges attaching to it are very great indeed — greater ovon than some magistrates conceive. Tlie ofiice was instituted in the reign of Edward 111. in tho year 132 G. By a subsequent Act, tho 34th Edward IH., passed in the year 1300. | Justices are empowered, "to take and arrest all thoso thoy may find by indictment or susjiicion, and put tbem in prison." In the early days in this.conntry the police system was a kind of mongrel imitation of tho English system, crossed in the breed with tlie Irish Royal Constabulary system. From the report of a Committee on Police, dated 1835, we learn that tho expenditure had grown from less thanliGOOO in 1811 to more than L 36.000 in 1534. In 1818 thero were only twelve magistrates in the colony (New South Wales then included Victoria, be it remembered), of whom five wero i.i Sydney. In 1825, Sir Thomas Brisbane formed the mounted police from a regiment serving in tbe colony, nnd increased the number of magistrates to 09. Thero aro now in Victoria 19 stipendiaries and 2500 honorary justices. Iv Victoria two honorary justices or ■ one stipendiary magistrate constitute j a Court of Petty Sessions. A court.consulting of one magistrate alone has jurisdiction in five distinct classes of case. 1- It may enquire into and deal summarily with indictable offences when empowered. 2. It may entertain a complaint claiming damages for assault up to LSO. 3. It may inquire into cases of illegal detention of chattels not exceed ing LSO. 4. It may exerciso civil jurisdiction up to LSO in certain cases. 5. It may make orders to enforca tlte payment of all Ones, penalties, forfeitures, a sum of money, which by any Act of Parliament, now or hereafter to bein force, are. directed ba paid. and. which ar« by any Act directed to be recovered before ono or more justices, or tor the recovery of wbich no provision is made. A properly constituted Court may send an offender punishable by imprisonment to gaol for any term not exceeding two years. It is impossible in less than a volume to summarise the whole of the powers of magistrates ; but an idea of their scopo may be Bhown by tho fact that thoy actually send to prison a newspaper publisher who does not register his printing machinery, or who omits the printer's name frsm tho paper printed. There is power of appeal, but still the authority of the Justices remains.