Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/274

Rh 262 ENGLAND [COURTS OF LAW. ties of Berks, Oxford, Worcester, Stafford, Shropshire, Hereford, Monmouth, and Gloucester, the assizes being held at Reading, Oxford, Worcester, Stafford, Shrewsbury, Hereford, Monmouth, and Gloucester; and the Western circuit, the counties of Hants, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Corn wall, and Somerset, with assizes at Winchester, Devizes, Dorchester, Exeter, Boclmin, and Taunton. The North Wales and Chester circuit extends over Montgomery, Merioneth, Carnarvon, Anglesey, Denbigh, Flint, and Cheshire, assizes being held at Welshpool, Dolgelly, Car narvon, Beaumaris, Ruthin, Mold, and Chester, the South Wales Circuit embraces Pembroke, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Glamorgan, Brecon, and Radnor, with assizes at Haverford- west, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Swansea, Brecon, and Fres- teign. Tn every circuit there are at least two assizes held every year, mostly in spring and summer; but in the more populous circuits there are also winter assizes. The appoint ments of the judges for the various assizes are made out in the Chancery division of the High Court of Justice, the custom being to let the selection take place by mutual agreement among the members of the judicial bench. Central Among the other local courts of jurisdiction deserving criminal notice are the Central Criminal Court of London, the Middlesex Sessions, and the Surrey Sessions. The Central ountv Criminal Court, sitting at the Old Bailey, tries, as indi- scssions. cated by its name, only criminal cases, the sessions, presided over by a judge, taking place once every month throughout the year Different in organization from the Central Criminal Court are the two metropolitan law courts, going by the names of the Middlesex Sessions and the Surrey Sessions. These courts, instituted, not only for the trial of prisoners, but for various administrative purposes, such as the licensing of public-houses, and the inspection of weights and measures, are composed of county justices, or, as they are commonly called, magistrates, presided over by a chair man and assistant j -idge. Similar in constitution to the Middlesex and Surrey Sessions are the general and quarter sessions of other counties. They are held in the first wei;k after March 31, June 24, October 11, and December 28, it being left to the decision of the county justices composing them to fix the exact date when they are to commence, with liberty to make such changes as shall not interfere with the holding of the assizes. The county justices, assembled in general and quarter sessions, have jurisdiction in civil and criminal actions, except, as regards the latter, cases of treason, perjury, and other heavy crimes. By the Municipal Corporation Act of 5 and 6 William IV. cap. 76, cities and boroughs in England and Wales may have a system of magisterial judicature similar to that of counties. The ordinary duties of county justices, out of sessions, are performed for most cities and boroughs by their mayors or other magistrates. By the same Act, courts of quarter sessions may also be granted to cities and boroughs. The sole judges of such courts are recorders, empowered to take cognizance of offences in the same man- mer as courts of quarter sessions in counties, but with a jurisdiction to levy county rates and to grant licences, or to exercise any of the other powers vested in town councils. The recorder, who must be a barrister of not less than five years standing, has to hold his court quarterly, or, if ne cessary, more frequently ; and should there be an unusually large number of cases to be tried, he may, with the sanc tion of the town council, form a second court, under the presidency of an &quot; assistant barrister,&quot; approved of by the Secretary of State for the Home Department It was long the opinion of writers on jurisprudence, foreign and English, as well as of the public in general, that one of the most manifest advantages of English law was in its general adoption of trial by jury. In recent times, however, a growing tendency has been manifested to trust, at least in civil cases, more to the administration of the law by judges than by juries. This tendency is strik ingly shown in the most important juridical statutes passed lately, the Judicature Acts already referred to. There can be no doubt that on this subject the legishiture expresses but public opinion, and that what is ordered by parliament in respect to changes in the administration of the English law is done by the will of the nation. (F. MA.) Tribu nals in cities and &amp;gt;o- rouglis. Substilu tion of judges IV.r jnrie Adults, education of, 250. Agricultural returns, 224. Agriculturists, numlier of, 225 Almshouses, 235. Area of counties, 220 Armour-clad ships, 246. . Army, cost of maintenance, 244; strength of, 245. Asylums. 2-55 Births, deaths, A marriages,221. Bishoprics, number and income of, 248. Boroughs. 218. Cabinet, constitution of, 2GO. Canals, 238. Capital, national, 258 Census, 220. Central Criminal Court, 2(52. Charitable institutions, 253 Charity commissioners, 253. Church of England, 247. Cinque ports, 218 Circuits of assize. 261. Civil divisions, 217 Clays, production of, 22&amp;lt;i. Cleigy number of, 2H&amp;gt;. Climate, 217 Coal, exports of, 227; produc tion of, 2M, 227. Coal measures, 215 Coast line, alterations of, 21G. Collieries, number of, 2_ i; Commerce, 233, Commons, House of, 2CO. Constitution, nature of, 259 Copper, production of, 220. Corn counties, 224. Cotton, imports & exports. 2-36; factories, number of, 231. Counties, 218; area and pop., 224; grazing and corn, 224. County sessions, 262. Court of Judicature, 261. Courts of assize, 261. Crime, statistics of, 250. Criminals, number A age, 251. Crops, acreage of different, 225. Customs, at principal ports, 235, revenue from, 242. Deaths, number of, 2 21. Debt, national, 243. Dissenters, number of. 246. Divisions of different kinds, 217-219, complexity of, 21 J Diainage of rivers, 21G. Ecclesiastical commissioners, 248. Ecclesiastical divisions, 219. Education, progress of, 248. Educational giants, 248. Emigration, 222. Endowed charities, 254. Excise, income from, 24 2. Expenditure, national. 241. Exports and imports, 234. Factory supervision, 233. Fisheries, 233 Flax factories, number of, 232. Furnaces, iron, number of. 228. Geological formations, 215. Gold, production of, 2 29 Government, form of, 259. Government, members of, 201. Grazing counties, 224. Hemp factories, 233. Horses, number of, 224 Hosiery factories, 233. Hospitals, revenues of, 254. INDEX. House of Commons, 260; of Lords, 259. Houses, number of, 220. Illegitimate births, 222. Immigrants, number of, 222. Imports and exports, 234. Income tax, revenue from, 257. Inhabited houses, 220. Insurance, post-office, 240. lion ore, production of, 227. Judicature Act of 1871, 2G1. Judicial divisions, 219, 2C1. Juries, trial by, 262. Jute factories, 233. Lace factories, 233. Lakes, 216. Landel property, division of, 223 Landowners, number of, 223 ; the sixteen largest, 224. Law courts, 261. Lead, production of, 228. Letters, number despatched, 239 Life assurance, Government, 240 Linen factories, 232 Liverpool, receipts from cus toms, 235 Live stock, 225. Local Government Board, 252 Local taxation, 244. Lords, House of, 259. London, population of, 221 ; charitable institutions, 254; customs receipts, 235. Machinery, exports of, 235. Manufactures, 230. Marriages, number of, 221 Militia, 245. Miners, number of, 230. Mines and minerals, 220. Money orders, 239. Mountains, 216. Municipal corporations, 218. National debt, 243. National wealth, growth of,258. Navy, cost of maintenance, 245: strength of, 246. Parliament, power of, 259. Parliamentary constituencies, 260, divisions, 218. Pauperism, statistics of, 251. Paupers.number and cost of,252 Peerages, number of, 259. Pig iron, production of, 228. Police, 251. Poor-lav. administration, 252. Population, former estimates of, 219. from 1801 to 1871, 220, density of, 221; in crease of, 221. Ports, principal eight, 235. Post-cards, number dispatched, 239. Post office, 239. Prehistoric ages, 215. Prime minister,selectionof,2GO. Prisoners, number of, 251. Railways, 236. Rainfall, 217 Recruits, army, 245. Religious denominations, 24T. Revenue, national, 241. Rivers, 216. Roads, 238. RomanCatholirs.number of, 247. Rural districts, pop. of, 221. Salt, production of, 22!). Savings banks, general, 256 ; post office, 240. Schools, statistics of, 249. Sea, encroachments of, 216. Sexes, numbers of, 220. Sheep, number of, 224 Shipbuilding, 23G. Shipping, 235. Shoddy factories, 233. Silk factories, 232. Silver, production of, 2-29. Soil, 215; fertility of, 217 Steam navigation, 236. Sugar, imports of, 234. Taxation, national, 242. Tea, imports of, 234. Teleg aphs, 240. Textile manufactures, 230 Tin, production of, 229. Tonnage of shipping. 236. Towns and rural districts, population of, 221. Towns, principal. ip. of, 221 Tiade and capital, 25S. Tramways, 238. Tribunals, constitution of, 262. Vital statistics, 219. Volunteers, 245. Wealth, national, 258 Wheat, acreage under, 224. Wool, imports and exports of, 231. Woollen factories, 231. Worsted factories, 231. Yeomanry, 245. Zinc, production of, 229.
 * Metals, production of, 226.
 * Roynl hospitals, 254.