ON THE LOCAL TAXATION OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN. 135 " That the undersigned clerks of the peace of the city of Dublin, not yielding in Mr. the extent importance and responsibility of their duties to any of the official and Molesworth Greene. ministerial agents of distributive justice in this country, presume to express their v ^ J hope and expectation that such emolument cannot appear to the legislature an over- payment for a class of duties so extensive, and are only apprehensive that the very detail of their labours may tire that attention which it would otherwise convince. " That on the faith of these several Acts of Parliament, and relying on the emoluments of which they regarded these enactments as the guarantee, one of the undersigned clerks of the peace, John Allen devoted his life; and the other, Molesworth Greene, when enjoying a professional income of 1,000/. a year sacri- ficed this strong promise of professional success to the exclusive duties of this public employment as wholly incompatible ( as it is certainly inconsistent) with any other pursuit; and they now feel it unnecessary to appeal to any other sentiment than the justice of the legislature, to protect them at this period of their lives against an alteration of the law, which without conferring any sensible benefit on the public, would inflict a most sensible severity on two public officers, who have devoted, at some sacrifice, the best part of their lives to the public service, in a situation ardu- ous and responsible, with tried integrity and without reproach." Do you not find that the duties you are called upon to perform are amply suf- ficient to occupy the whole of your time ?— As an instance of that being the case, I would state, that I was in a profession in which I was making a considerable sum of money, at least 1,000 /. a year ; and I was obliged to relinquish that profession for the purpose of attending to my present duty, and I was obliged also lately to relinquish a most respectable agency which I held. Do you hold any other public office besides that of clerk of the peace ?— I am joint town clerk of Dublin, but that is an office connected with the clerk of the peace. Is it not amongst other duties imposed on you, to summon magistrates to attend the recorder ?— We have lately summoned the magistrates to preside at the sessions and to enter their attendances regularly in the crown book. Have you not sometimes found great inconvenience arising, in consequence of the non- attendance of the magistrates on those occasions; has not the recorder been delayed in the administration of justice?— Yes; a great number of the gentlemen magistrates have been absent, and a great number of them ill, but when they can attend I am confident it is their wish to do so. If the recorder were enabled to proceed at once to the administration of his judicial functions, would there not be a quicker dispatch of the criminal business ?— I think there would. And a consequent deduction in the expense of maintaining the prisoners ?— Most certainly. On the whole what may be the amount you are in the habit of receiving in virtue of your office?— At present I cannot inform the Committee; I have a return in my hand, made of the different prisoners that were tried in each of the years 1759, 1769, * 779> ^ 89 and 1799- Were those prisoners tried at sessions?— At sessions; and they amount to 1,955 in five years, and now in one year we have 1,901. Have you, in the same way, made a return of the amount of presentments for the clerk of the peace, during those years respectively ?— No, I have not; but they must have been proportionably small; it is worthy of remark, that the committals of Newgate in London, during the year 1822, only exceeded the committals to the gaol of Newgate in Dublin, in the same year by two. To what causes do you attribute the increase of crime in the city of Dublin?— I do not know, except it be from the very great increase of population. Have poverty and want of employment increased considerably ?— Indeed I should think it has. 549- Hi « I