JUDICIAL WORK.
I was placed on the Liverpool Borough Bench of Magistrates in 1873; on
the Lancashire County Bench in 1882; on the Cheshire County Bench in
1900; and was made a Deputy-Lieutenant for Lancashire in 1902.
In 1900 Mr. Aspinall Tobin, on behalf of the Lancashire County Bench,
invited me to be nominated as the deputy-chairman of Quarter Sessions.
Lord Derby had retired from the chair, and Mr. Hugh Perkins had taken
his place, therefore a deputy-chairman was wanted.
In accepting this invitation, I decided if elected to this important
position to devote myself to the study of the criminal law, and to
qualify myself as a magistrate, as far as a layman could do so. My spare
time for several years was spent in reading the law of evidence and
criminal law, and I also learnt a great deal from my chairman, who was a
very painstaking magistrate, and who very kindly gave me much good
advice. Mr. Perkins retired in 1894 and I was appointed chairman, and
became the only lay chairman in Lancashire, the other three chairmen
being all Queen's counsel. I was also elected chairman of the County
Bench and of the Licensing Justices.
We had eight sessions in our court in each year, and this with the
licensing work kept us very busy on several occasions. The sessions in
those days lasted seven and eight days, and once even ten days.
The appeals from the decisions of the City Justices on licensing
questions were very numerous; at one sessions we heard thirty-eight
appeals, and as in most cases they involved the loss of the license
these appeals were fought with great vigour, and Queen's counsel were
generally engaged in their conduct.
Lord Mersey and the Honourable Justices Walton, Pickford, and Horridge,
practised at our Quarter Sessions. I was gratified to receive a letter
from one of these learned judges saying that what he knew of the rules
of evidence had been mainly acquired in our court. Quarter sessions may
be termed the nursery of the Bar. Young men get their first briefs,
called "soups," at quarter sessions, and are naturally anxious to air
their knowledge of the law, but many have to learn that the theory and
the practice of the law are not quite the same, and that the application
of the theory can only be obtained by practical experience in court, and
this more particularly applies to the rules of evidence.
In addition to the judges named many eminent King's counsel have made
their first start at our Quarter Sessions. I can recall the names of
Messrs. McConnell, K.C., Steel, K.C., Collingwood Hope, K.C., W. F.
Taylor, K.C., Alfred Tobin, K.C., and F. E. Smith, K.C., M.P.
For fifteen years we had no deputy-chairman of Quarter Sessions, which
made my position somewhat arduous, as I could not absent myself from my
post. In the end my old friend, Mr. W. Scott Barrett, the chairman of
the County Council, was appointed my deputy, and a better selection
could not have been made.
No part of my judicial work gave me more anxiety than the licensing
appeals. One naturally felt great sympathy with the City Justices in
their desire to reduce the drinking facilities which had been the cause
of so much misery and wretchedness in Liverpool, but at the same time
the scales of justice had to be held evenly. Whatever our decisions
were, we felt they would meet with severe criticism; but this did not
deter us from doing what we considered to be our duty, though we knew
that our decisions might involve in many cases serious pecuniary loss
and hardship. I am happy to think that our conduct of this very
difficult business gave satisfaction, both to the public and to the
licensees.
My experience on the bench has not been fruitful in incidents, although
one day when sitting at Petty Sessions in the city a lame woman was
charged with breaking a window by throwing her crutch through it. The
police evidently apprehended that she might use her crutch as a weapon
while standing for her trial in the dock, for she had a bad character,
and they carefully surrounded her; but she was too clever for them, and
managed to hurl her crutch with great force at the Bench. Fortunately,
it fell short and dropped harmlessly upon the clerk's chair, which was
happily vacant.
At Petty Sessions in 1889 Mr. Scott Barrett sat with me to hear the
charge against Mrs. Maybrick for the murder of her husband by
administering arsenic. The enquiry lasted two days and we committed her
for trial on the capital charge, feeling no doubt as to our duty, though
of course we heard only the evidence for the Crown. It afterwards became
a _cause celèbre_. Mrs. Maybrick was condemned to death, but the
sentence was commuted to penal servitude. She had many influential
friends, and the agitation to obtain her release was continued with
great activity for many years.
WALTON JAIL.
In connection with my duties as chairman of the County Bench, I also
acted as chairman of the Visiting Justices of the Jail at Walton. We
visited every month, inspected the prison, heard any complaints which
the prisoners had to make, sanctioned any extraordinary punishments,
and distributed the funds subscribed to assist prisoners upon their
discharge. During the ten years of my chairmanship, great reforms were
introduced by the Prison Commissioners. The "treadmill" was abolished;
the "cat o' nine tails," which originally was composed of nine strings
of hard whipcord, each string having nine knots, was robbed of its
terror, each string now being made of soft string without any knots,
until, as a warder said to me, "I cannot even warm them up with it."
Although these changes are all in the right direction, I cannot but
think they have gone too far, as among the 1,200 prisoners at Walton
there are many very rough characters, very difficult of control. Walton
is now a great industrial reformatory, with prison discipline and prison
diet. The governor told me he never saw the prisoners work with so much
energy as when engaged breaking up the "treadmill"; every prisoner on
entrance had to do a month on the "treadmill," whatever his sentence
might be, and there is no doubt it was a severe punishment. The only
severe punishment now left is solitary confinement, which is a terrible
ordeal, and its abolition is now under the consideration of the prison
authorities.
I must tell one good story. Mr. Platt, the head of the great engineering
firm at Oldham, was the High Sheriff, and was inspecting the jail, and
saw on the "treadmill" one of his workmen; he exclaimed, "Thomas, I am
sorry to see you here." Thomas replied, wiping the beads of perspiration
off his brow, "Aye, Master Sam, if they had this 'ere machine in Holdham
they would work it by steam, wouldn't they?"
One day, when visiting the firewood factory, in which we gave temporary
employment to discharged prisoners, we directed that about a dozen men
should be sent away to seek work, as they had been too long in the
factory. The following week there was an outbreak of burglaries in
Bootle, and the whole crowd were back again in jail.
HIGH SHERIFF OF LANCASHIRE.
The shrievalty of the County Palatine has always been esteemed the blue
riband of shrievalties. Unlike his compeers elsewhere, the Lancashire
sheriff is specially nominated by the King, whilst the office has always
been maintained in circumstances of considerable splendour, and entails
upon the sheriff the arduous duty of attending eleven assizes in the
year, occupying on an average 130 days. The hospitalities attached to
the office are also considerable, for the sheriff has to give a dinner
to the grand jury and members of the bar at each assize.
Much deference has to be paid to the Judges of Assize, and many points
of old-world courtesy and etiquette have to be observed, which add to
the interest attaching to the office; and there can be little doubt
that the sheriff's turn-out--a coach-and-four, with trumpeters and
javelin men in their handsome liveries of dark blue and old gold--serves
to impart dignity to the administration of the law, and to impress the
multitude with its majesty and power.
The High Sheriff is the representative of the King, and takes precedence
of everyone in the county, except the Judges of Assize and the Lord
Lieutenant.
I was nominated to the office in 1893, and again in 1896, but, there
being no one to take my place at Quarter Sessions, I asked to be
excused. It was, however, a position which appealed to me--it seemed to
me to be the coping-stone to my long devotion to judicial work--and when
I was again nominated in 1908, I accepted, and was duly "pricked" by the
King.
I appointed the Rev. Canon Armour, D.D., as my chaplain, and my son
Miles as the under-sheriff.
The Shire-reve, or high sheriff, was in the old Saxon days a position of
great authority and power. He not only was the criminal judge of his
shire, but also collected the King's exchequer, and the office was one
which brought considerable profit to the holder. All this has been
changed, the judicial functions and the collection of the King's revenue
have long since been transferred to others; but theoretically the
sheriff has considerable powers left in his hands--the power of arrest
and the charge of the jails in the county, while the empanelling of
juries and all legal processes of every kind are made in his name. He is
also the returning officer at all elections; this in Lancashire involves
considerable work, as the sheriff is responsible for parliamentary
elections in twenty-three divisions, but fortunately for him, the detail
work is discharged by the under-sheriff or acting under-sheriff, of whom
in Lancashire there are three.
At the Lancaster Assizes in June, 1909, we had an interesting and
picturesque ceremony. We drove up in the State carriage to the castle,
and were received there by the Constable of the Castle, Mr. Dawson,
supported by his two retainers, who were dressed in their costume of the
fourteenth century. We proceeded into the Shire Hall, and the Constable
requested me to hang my coat-of-arms on the walls with those of my
predecessors since 1188. Having done so the trumpeters sounded a
fanfare, and afterwards played "A fine old English gentleman." I then
made a short speech, and the Constable, with similar ceremony, proceeded
to place on the walls the shields of six of his predecessors as
Constables. The Constables go back to the time of John of Gaunt. The
shields of the Sheriffs and Constables are grouped under the shields of
the various monarchs under whom they served, and make a very brave and
interesting show. The Shire Hall was filled with spectators, and the
function was quite mediæval and interesting in character.
In July, 1909, His Majesty King Edward visited Lancashire to present
the colours to the newly-created Territorial Army. This was a special
compliment to Lancashire, which had very nobly responded to the call
made upon her and had raised a force of 36,000 men. The King and Queen
stayed at Knowsley. In the park 15,000 Territorials were reviewed; and
on the day following their Majesties proceeded to Worsley Park, where a
further 12,000 were reviewed. The high sheriff being a civil officer, I
had nothing to do with these functions as they were military, but we
were invited to lunch at Knowsley and were then presented to the King
and Queen, and afterwards at lunch we had the seats of honour, as it
appears that when the King is present the high sheriff takes precedence
even of the lord lieutenant. It was an interesting function, and in
spite of indifferent weather passed off well.
One of the pleasantest incidents of the shrievalty is the number of
distinguished and interesting people one meets. Upon the grand jury we
altogether summoned 250 of the leading men of the county, and at our
banquets we entertained, in addition to the grand jury, all the official
world of the county and many others. During my year I had not only the
honour of meeting our late King Edward, but King George, who, as Prince
of Wales, was on a visit to Knowsley. I had some years ago the honour of
escorting King George and the Queen over the Overhead Railway, when I
was surprised and gratified with his interest in commerce, and the
knowledge he displayed of the trade of the port; and in the somewhat
lengthy conversation his Majesty honoured me with last year at Knowsley,
I was still further impressed with his knowledge of Liverpool and his
interest in the construction and movements of our great Atlantic liners.
His Majesty struck me as being very "human" in his thoughts and
sympathies, and ardent in his wish to be in touch with the activities
which make for the advance and progress of the country; and I therefore
look forward to a reign that will not only be distinguished and
brilliant, but in which our King will be found to recognise and
encourage by his interest the efforts of his subjects in all that makes
for the advancement of the country and the well-being of his subjects.
[Illustration: "RAMLEH," EAST FRONT.]
The judges at our Spring Assizes this year were Lord Coleridge and Mr.
Justice Hamilton. They spent the week-end with us at Bromborough. At the
Winter Assizes in November we had Mr. Justice Ridley and Mr. Justice
Bray. These Assizes will be memorable as having introduced what will be
practically continuous sittings in Liverpool and Manchester of the civil
judge.
I have been much interested in sitting on the bench during the progress
of trials at Assizes. It is an education, and one cannot but be
impressed with the great care the judges exercise, and with their
patience and solicitude for the prisoner.