JB/150/699/001

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§ 9. [ 1 ] [ The greatest pecuniary forfeiture or penalty ] p. 15
I know not of any precedent for making the amount a provision to
of the effect of that in the text whereby matters are so ordered that
the penalty shall in every case instance rise
above the profit advantage that may be made by
the offence: — but it is high time there should be
one: since in whatever instance this necess indispensable preponderance
fails of taking place, the law, it is evident, can not be otherwise
than nugatory. If I committ an offence
for which the penalty is £20, and the penalty
for refusing to give evidence in an information
agains a prosecution for that offence is limited
to £10, in that case and there is one person and
but one in whose power it is to give evidence against
me in respect of that offence, in such case, if either
that other person is either already disposed or can
be brought to favour me, then, by on payment
of the £10 penalty which he incurrs by the refusing
to give evidence against me, I have a thus
have it then in my power, by means perfectly secure
and legal, of saving to save myself from the penalty of
£20 penalty, whereby and thus making make a clear
saving to the amount of £10: and if the offence
by for which in respect of which my the penalty
incurred by me is reduced to £10, be an offence
by which I make a profit to a greater amount,
I may thus go in with profit and safety in the practice of profitable
iniquity, under the protection of the very law
which was made to stop me. Should the magnitude
of the penalty which it may thus be in the
power of a single Magistrate to lay upon a contumacious
witness become an object of apprehension
it may serve as a warning to not to make set the penalty for the original offence
too high.

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Identifier: | JB/150/699/001"JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 150.
Date_1		Marginal Summary Numbering
Box	150	Main Headings	police bill
Folio number	699	Info in main headings field	police revenue bill
Image	001	Titles
Category	text sheet	Number of Pages	1
Recto/Verso	recto	Page Numbering	d8 / f93
Penner	jeremy bentham	Watermarks
Marginals		Paper Producer
Corrections		Paper Produced in Year
Notes public	[[notes_public::"not used" [note in bentham's hand]]]	ID Number	50920
Box Contents