Discussion of the Report of the Beck Inquiry Committee, which
appears as we are going to press, must necessarily be held over till our next issue. We can only briefly summarise the findings and recommendations of the Commissioners. They hold that the Common Serjeant was wrong in applying a general rule of law as to evidence on collateral issues to this particular case, and to this they chiefly attribute the miscarriage of justice. They acquit the prosecution of any unfair conduct in refusing to proceed on the indictment charging a previous conviction. They find much carelessness and disorder in the registration of identification-marks by the prison authorities, and they also condemn the action of the Home Office in dealing with the case in 1898. They conclude by advocating a system by which the Court for Crown Cases Reserved should have power, on good primci- facie grounds, of calling upon the Crown to support any impugned decision ; and they add that it is time to abolish the anomaly of granting a pardon to a man who ought never to have been convicted. The Report of the Committee is, we are convinced, in accordance with the feelings of the country ; and we trust that their recommendations as to appeal in criminal cases will be given the serious considera- tion they deserve.
Bank Rate, 3 per cent.
Console (24 per cent.) were on Friday 884.
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