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[Transcriber's Note: This book was published in 1800 and contains some
inconsistent spelling, capitalization, hyphenation, and punctuation
typical of that era. These have been retained as they appear in the
original, including the inconsistent use of a period after the pound
symbol (e.g., L.100 and L100). Inconsistent italicizing of _l._, _s._,
and _d._ has been normalized to italics. Long-s has been normalized to
s. The pointing hand symbol has been rendered as [-->]. Printer errors
have been resolved with reference to a later and apparently corrected
printing of the same edition, available at the Internet Archive,
http://www.archive.org/details/atreatiseonpoli03colqgoog. Unresolved
printer errors have been noted with a [Transcriber's Note].]
A
TREATISE
ON THE
POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS;
CONTAINING A DETAIL OF THE
VARIOUS CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
_By which Public and Private Property and Security are, at present,
injured and endangered:_
AND
SUGGESTING REMEDIES
FOR THEIR
PREVENTION.
THE SIXTH EDITION, CORRECTED AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED.
BY P. COLQUHOUN, LL.D.
_Acting as a Magistrate for the Counties of Middlesex, Surry, Kent,
and Essex.--For the City and Liberty of Westminster, and for the
Liberty of the Tower of London._
Meminerint legum conditores, illas ad proximum hunc finem
accommodare; Scelera videlicet arcenda, refraenandaque vitia
ac morum pravitatem.
Judices pariter leges illas cum vigore, aequitate,
integritate, publicaeque utilitatis amore curent exequi; ut
justitia etvirtus omnes societatis ordines pervadant.
Industriaque simul et Temperantia inertiae locum assumant et
prodigalitatis.
_LONDON:_
PRINTED BY H. BALDWIN AND SON, NEW BRIDGE-STREET, BLACKFRIARS;
FOR JOSEPH MAWMAN, IN THE POULTRY,
SUCCESSOR TO MR. DILLY.
M.DCCC.
TO THE SOVEREIGN,
_Who has graciously condescended to approve of the Author's
Efforts "To establish a System of Morality and good Order in
The Metropolis:"_
AND TO HIS PEOPLE;
_In every Part of the British Dominions; whose favourable
Reception of these Labours, for the Good of their Country,
has contributed, in a considerable degree, to the Progress
which has been already made, towards the Adoption of the
Remedies proposed for the Prevention of Crimes, the Comfort
of Society, and the Security of the Peaceful Subject:_
This Improved and Enlarged Edition of
THE TREATISE ON THE POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS,
_is humbly_
_and respectfully_
DEDICATED.
LONDON,
Jan. 1, 1800.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Occupied in a variety of laborious pursuits, which afford little time
either for study or recreation, the Author once more presents this
Work to the Public with an unfeigned Diffidence, arising from his
consciousness, that under such circumstances it must require their
indulgence. This, he trusts, will be granted when it is considered,
that his employments are of a nature unfriendly to that critical
accuracy and precision, the necessity of which is impressed on his
mind, not less by a sense of his own personal character, than of his
obligations to the long-experienced candour and liberality of his
readers.
In the present Edition much new matter has been brought forward, and
considerable improvements have been attempted by the introduction of
official facts, and authentic details calculated to elucidate and
explain the general system first placed by the Author under the review
of the Public. Their extensive approbation (although his only reward)
is of a nature which can never be too highly estimated. That
approbation has not only been confirmed by many of the first and most
respectable characters in these kingdoms, not less conspicuous for
talents and abilities than for that genuine patriotism which
distinguishes the good subject, and the valuable member of Society;
but also by several Foreigners eminent for learning and virtue.
While we deplore the miserable condition of those numerous delinquents
who have unfortunately multiplied with the same rapidity that the
great wealth of the Metropolis has increased: while their errors and
their crimes are exposed only for the purpose of amendment: while the
tear of pity is due to their forlorn state, a prospect happily opens
through the medium of _the Report of the_ SELECT COMMITTEE _of the_
HOUSE _of_ COMMONS, for the adoption of those remedies which will
unquestionably give a seasonable check to immorality and delinquency;
so as by their prevention not only to protect the rights of innocence,
but also increase the number of the useful members of the community,
and render punishments less frequent and necessary.
To witness the ultimate completion of legislative arrangements,
operating so favourably to the immediate advantage and security of the
Metropolis, and extending also similar benefits to the country at
large, will prove to the Author of this Work a very great and genuine
source of happiness.
To the Public, therefore, in general, and to the Legislature in
particular, does he look forward with confidence for that singular
gratification which, by giving effect to his well-meant endeavours for
the prevention of Crimes, will ultimately crown with success the
exertions he has used in the course of a very intricate and laborious
investigation, in which his only object has been the good of his
country.
LONDON,
_1st January_, 1800.
PREFACE.
Police in this Country may be considered as a _new Science_; the
properties of which consist not in the Judicial Powers which lead to
_Punishment_, and which belong to Magistrates alone; but in the
PREVENTION and DETECTION OF CRIMES, and in those other Functions which
relate to INTERNAL REGULATIONS for the well ordering and comfort of
Civil Society.
THE POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS, in every point of view, is a subject of
great importance to be known and understood; since every innocent and
useful Member of the Community has a particular interest in the
correct administration of whatever relates to the Morals of the
People, and to the protection of the Public against Fraud and
Depredation.
Under the present circumstances of insecurity, with respect to
property and even life itself, this is a subject which cannot fail to
force itself upon the attention of all:--All are equally concerned in
the Information which this Work conveys; the chief part of the
details in which are entirely novel, not to be found in books, and
never laid before the Public through the medium of the Press, previous
to the first Publication of this Treatise.
It may naturally be imagined, that such an accumulation of delinquency
systematically detailed, and placed in so prominent a point of view,
must excite a considerable degree of astonishment in the minds of
those Readers who have not been familiar with subjects of this nature;
and hence a desire may be excited to investigate how far the amazing
extent of the Depredations upon the Public here related, can be
reconciled to reason and possibility.
Four years have, however, elapsed, since these details have been
before the Public, and they still stand on their original ground,
without any attempt which has come to the Author's knowledge, to
question the magnitude or the extent of the evil.--On the contrary,
new sources of Fraud and Depredation have been brought forward,
tending greatly to increase the general mass of Delinquency.[1]
[Footnote 1: See Mr. Middleton's interesting Report on the County of
Middlesex, and the extracts from thence in Chapter III. of this
Work.]
In revising the present Edition, the Author felt a strong impulse to
reduce his estimates; but after an attentive review of the whole,
excepting in the instances of the Depredations on Commercial Property,
(which have been greatly diminished by the establishment of a _Marine
Police_, applicable to that particular object,) he was unable to
perceive any ground for materially altering his original
calculations.--If some classes of Theft, Robbery, and Depredation,
have been reduced, others have been augmented; still leaving the
aggregate nearly as before.
The causes of these extensive and accumulated wrongs being fully
explained, and accounted for, in various parts of the Work; a very
short recapitulation of them is, therefore, all that is necessary in
this Preface.
The enlarged state of Society, the vast extent of moving property, and
the unexampled wealth of the Metropolis, joined to the depraved habits
and loose conduct of a great proportion of the lower classes of the
people; and above all, the want of an appropriate Police applicable to
the object of prevention, will, after a careful perusal of this work,
reconcile the attentive mind to a belief of the actual existence of
evils which could not otherwise have been credited.--Let it be
remembered also, that this Metropolis is unquestionably not only the
greatest Manufacturing and Commercial City in the world, but also the
general receptacle for the idle and depraved of almost every country;
particularly from every quarter of the dominions of the Crown--Where
the temptations and resources for criminal pleasures--Gambling, Fraud
and Depredation almost exceed imagination; since besides being the
seat of Government it is the centre of _fashion, amusements,
dissipation and folly_.
Under such peculiar circumstances, while immorality, licentiousness
and crimes are known to advance in proportion to the excessive
accumulation of wealth, it cannot fail to be a matter of deep regret,
that in the progressive increase of the latter the means of checking
the rapid strides of the former have not been sooner discovered and
effectually applied.
It is, however, earnestly to be hoped that it is not yet too
late.--Patriots and Philanthropists who love their country, and glory
in its prosperity, will rejoice with the Author in the prospect, that
the great leading features of improvement suggested and matured in the
present Edition of this Work will ultimately receive the sanction of
the Legislature.
May the Author be allowed to express his conviction that the former
Editions of this book tended in no small degree, to remove various
misconceptions on the subject of Police: and at the same time
evidently excited in the public mind a desire to see such remedies
applied as should contribute to the improvement of the Morals of the
People, and to the removal of the danger and insecurity which were
universally felt to exist?
An impression it is to be hoped is generally felt from the example of
the Roman Government, when enveloped in riches and luxury, that
National prosperity must be of short duration when public Morals are
too long neglected, and no effectual measures adopted for the purpose
either of checking the alarming growth of depravity, or of guarding
the rising generation against evil examples.
It is by the general influence of good Laws, aided by the regulations
of an energetic Police, that the blessings of true Liberty, and the
undisturbed enjoyment of Property are secured.
The sole object of the Author in pointing out the accumulated wrongs
which have tended in so great a degree to abridge this Liberty, is to
pave the way for the adoption of those practical remedies which he
has suggested, in conformity with the spirit of the Laws, and the
Constitution of the Country, for the purpose of bettering the state of
Society, and improving the condition of human life.
If in the accomplishment of this object the Morals of the People shall
undergo a favourable change, and that species of comfort and security
be extended to the inhabitants of this great Metropolis, which has not
heretofore been experienced, while many evils are prevented, which in
their consequences threaten to be productive of the most serious
mischief, the Author of this Work will feel himself amply rewarded in
the benefits which the System he has proposed shall be found to confer
upon the Capital of the British Dominions, and on the Nation at
large.
_Preparing for the Press, by the Author of this Work._
A TREATISE
ON
_THE COMMERCE AND POLICE_
OF
THE RIVER THAMES:
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL VIEW OF
_THE TRADE OF THE PORT OF LONDON;_
THE DEPREDATIONS COMMITTED ON ALL PROPERTY IMPORTED AND EXPORTED
THERE; THE REMEDIES HITHERTO APPLIED; AND THE MEANS OF FUTURE
PREVENTION, BY A COMPLETE SYSTEM OF
_RIVER-POLICE;_
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
_THE FUNCTIONS OF THE VARIOUS MAGISTRATES AND OTHERS_
EXERCISING OR CLAIMING JURISDICTION ON THE RIVER;
AND OF THE
_PENAL STATUTES AGAINST MARITIME OFFENCES_
OF EVERY DESCRIPTION.
[_The above will be published in the course of the Spring, by_ JOS.
MAWMAN, _in the Poultry._]
_CONTENTS._
CHAP. I.
GENERAL VIEW OF EXISTING EVILS.
PAGE
_Ineffective System of Criminal Jurisprudence.--Facility
of eluding Justice.--Severity and inequality of
Punishments.--Necessity of revising our Penal
Code.--Certain dangerous Offences not punishable.--Receivers
of Stolen Property.--Extent of Plunder in the Metropolis,
&c.--Proposed Restrictions on Receivers.--Coiners and
Utterers of Base Money; the extent of their crimes.--Defects
in the mode of prosecuting Offenders.--Pardons.--Periodical
Discharges of Prisoners.--Summary of the causes of the
present inefficacy of the Police, under nine different heads._ 1
CHAP. II.
ON THE SYSTEM OF PUNISHMENTS: THEORETICALLY CONSIDERED.
_The mode of ascertaining the Degrees of Punishment.--The
object to be considered in inflicting Punishments--Amendment,
Example, and Retribution.--In order to render Criminal
Laws perfect, prevention ought to be the great object of
the Legislature.--General Rules suggested for attaining this
object.--Reflections on the Punishments authorised by the
English Laws, and their disproportion.--The necessity of
enforcing the observance of religious and moral Virtue.--The
leading Offences made Capital by the Laws of England
considered, with the Punishments allotted to each; compared
with, and illustrated by, the Custom of other Countries;
with Reflections.--The Code of the Emperor_ JOSEPH _the
Second, shortly detailed.--Reflections thereon._ 29
[Transcriber's Note: should be p. 28]
CHAP. III.
THE CAUSE AND PROGRESS OF SMALL THEFTS.
_The numerous Receivers of Stolen Goods, under the
denomination of Dealers in Rags, Old Iron, and other
Metals.--The great Increase of these Dealers of late
years.--Their evil tendency, and the absolute necessity
of restraining them by Law.--Petty Thefts in the Country
round the Metropolis.--Workhouses the causes of
Idleness.--Commons.--Cottagers.--Gypsies.--Labourers
and Servants.--Thefts in Fields and Gardens.--Frauds in
the Sale and Adulteration of Milk._ 74
CHAP. IV.
ON BURGLARIES AND HIGHWAY ROBBERIES.
_These Crimes more peculiar to England than to
Holland and Flanders, &c.--A General View
of the various classes of Criminals engaged in
these pursuits, and with those discharged from
Prisons and the Hulks, without the means of
support.--The necessity of some antidote previous
to the return of Peace.--Observations on
the stealing Cattle, Sheep, Corn, &c.--Receivers
of Stolen Goods, the nourishers of every
description of Thieves.--Remedies suggested, by
means of detection and prevention._ 93
CHAP. V.
ON CHEATS AND SWINDLERS.
_A considerable check already given to the higher
class of Forgeries, by shutting out all hopes of
Royal Mercy.--Petty Forgeries have, however,
encreased.--The qualifications of a Cheat,
Swindler and Gambler.--The Common and
Statute Law applicable to Offences of this
nature, explained.--Eighteen different classes
of Cheats and Swindlers, and the various tricks
and devices they pursue.--Remedies proposed._ 110
CHAP. VI.
ON GAMING AND THE LOTTERY.
_The great anxiety of the Legislature to suppress
these Evils, which are however encouraged by
high sounding names, whose houses are opened
for purposes odious and unlawful.--The civil
Magistrate called upon to suppress such mischiefs.--The
danger arising from such Seminaries.--The
evil tendency of such examples to
Servants and others.--A particular statement
of the proceedings of a confederacy of Persons
who have set up Gaming-Houses as regular
Partnership-Concerns, and of the Evils resulting
therefrom.--Of Lottery Insurers of the
higher class.--Of Lottery Offices opened for
Insurance.--Proposed Remedies.--Three Plans
for drawing the Lottery so as to prevent all
Insurance._ 133
CHAP. VII.
ON THE COINAGE OF COUNTERFEIT MONEY.
_The Causes of the enormous increase of this Evil
of late years.--The different kinds of false coin
detailed.--The process in fabricating each
Species.--The immense profits arising therefrom.--The
extensive Trade in sending base Coin to
the Country.--Its universal circulation in the
Metropolis.--The great grievance arising from
it to Brewers, Distillers, Grocers, and all Retail
Dealers, as well as to the Labouring Poor.--Counterfeit
Foreign Money extremely productive
to the Dealers.--A summary View of the Causes
of the Mischief.--The Defects in the present
Laws explained:--And a Detail of the Remedies
proposed to be provided by the Legislature._ 171
CHAP. VIII.
ON RIVER PLUNDER.
_The magnitude of the Plunder of Merchandize
and Naval Stores on the River Thames.--The
wonderful extent and value of the Floating Property,
laden and unladen, in the Port of London
in the course of a year.--The modes heretofore
pursued in committing depredations through
the medium of various classes of Criminals, denominated
River Pirates:--Night Plunderers:--Light
Horsemen:--Heavy Horsemen:--Game Watermen:--Game
Lightermen:--Mudlarks:--Game Officers of the
Revenue:--And Copemen, or Receivers of Stolen
Property.--The effects of the Marine Police
Institution in checking these Depredations.--The
advantages which have already resulted to Trade and
the Revenue from this system partially tried.--The
further benefits to be expected from Legislative
Regulations, extending the System to the whole
Trade of the River._ 213
CHAP. IX.
ON PLUNDER IN THE DOCK-YARDS, &C.
_Reflections on the causes of this Evil.--Summary
view of the means employed in its perpetration.--Estimate
of the Public Property exposed to Hazard.--A Statement of
the Laws at present in force for its protection:--Proofs
adduced of their deficiency.--Remedies proposed and
detailed, viz:--1st. A Central Board of Police.--2d.
A Local Police for the Dock-yards.--3d. Legislative
Regulations in aid thereof.--4th. Regulations respecting
the sale of Old Stores.--5th. The Abolition of the
Perquisite of Chips.--6th. The Abolition of Fees and
Perquisites, and liberal Salaries in lieu thereof.--7th.
An improved Mode of keeping Accounts.--8th. An annual
Inventory of Stores in hand.--Concluding Observations._ 249
CHAP. X.
ON THE RECEIVERS OF STOLEN GOODS.
_Receivers more mischievous than Thieves.--The
increase of their number to be attributed to the
imperfection of the Laws, and to the disjointed
state of the Police of the Metropolis.--Thieves
in many instances, settle with Receivers before
they commit Robberies--Receivers always benefit
more than Thieves:--Their profit immense:--They
are divided into two Classes:--The immediate
Receivers connected with Thieves, and those who
keep shops and purchase from Pilferers in the way
of Trade:--The latter are extremely numerous.--The
Laws are insufficient effectually to reach either
class.--The existing statutes against Receivers
examined and briefly detailed, with Observations
thereon.--Amendments and Improvements suggested
with means to ensure their due execution._ 288
CHAP. XI.
ON THE ORIGIN OF CRIMINAL OFFENCES.
_The increase of Crimes imputed to deficient
Laws and an ill-regulated Police:--To the
habits of the Lower Orders in feeding their
families in Alehouses:--To the bad Education
of Apprentices:--To the want of Industry:--To
idle and profligate menial Servants out of
Place:--To the Lower Orders of the Jews, of the
Dutch and German Synagogues; To the depraved
Morals of aquatic Labourers:--To the Dealers in
Old Metals, Furniture, Clothes, &c.--To
disreputable Pawnbrokers:--And finally, to
ill-regulated Public Houses.--Concluding
Reflections._ 310
CHAP. XII.
THE ORIGIN OF CRIMES CONTINUED: FEMALE PROSTITUTION.
_The pitiable condition of the unhappy Females, who
support themselves by Prostitution:--The progress
from Innocence to Profligacy.--The morals of Youth
corrupted by the multitude of Prostitutes in the
streets.--The impossibility of preventing the existence
of Prostitution in a great Metropolis.--The Propriety
of lessening the Evil, by stripping it of its Indecency
and much of its immoral tendency.--The advantages of
the measure in reducing the mass of Turpitude.--Reasons
offered why the interests of Morality and Religion
will thus be promoted.--The example of Holland, Italy,
and the East-Indies quoted.--Strictures on the offensive
manners of the Company who frequent Public Tea
Gardens:--These places under a proper Police might be
rendered beneficial to the State.--Ballad-Singers--Immoral
Books and Songs--Necessity of Responsibility for the
execution of the Laws attaching somewhere._ 334
[Transcriber's Note: should be p. 333]
CHAP. XIII.
THE ORIGIN OF CRIMES CONTINUED: STATE OF THE POOR.
_The System with respect to the Casual Poor
erroneous.--The effect of Indigence on the
Offspring of the Sufferers.--Estimate of the
private and public Benevolence amounting to
850,000l. a year.--The deplorable state of
the Lower Ranks, attributed to the present
System of the Poor Laws.--An Institution to
inquire into the cause of Mendicity in the
Metropolis explained.--A new System of Relief
proposed with respect to Casual Poor, and
Vagrants in the Metropolis.--The distinction
between Poverty and Indigence.--The Poor
divided into five classes, with suggestions applicable
to each.--The evil Examples in Work-Houses.--The
stat. of 43 Eliz. considered.--The defective system
of Execution exposed.--A Public Institution
recommended in the nature of a Pauper Police,
under the direction of three Commissioners:--Their
Functions.--A proposition for raising a fund of
5230l. from the Parishes for the support of the
Institution, and to relieve them from the Casual
Poor.--Reasons why the experiment should be
tried.--Assistance which might be obtained from
Gentlemen who have considered this subject fully._ 351
CHAP. XIV.
ON THE DETECTION OF OFFENDERS.
_The present state of the Police on this subject
explained.--The necessity of having recourse to
known Receivers.--The great utility of Officers
of Justice.--The advantages of rendering them
respectable in the opinion of the Public.--Their
powers by the common and statute Law.--Rewards
granted to Officers in certain cases of
Conviction.--The Statutes quoted, applicable to
such rewards.--The utility of parochial Constables,
under a well-organized Police.--A Fund for this
purpose might arise from the reduction of the
expences of the Police, by the diminution of
Crimes.--The necessity of a competent Fund.--A new
System for prevention and detection of Crimes
proposed.--The functions of the different classes
of Officers.--Salaries necessary to all.--Improvements
in the system of Rewards suggested.--1040 Peace-Officers
in the Metropolis and its vicinity, of whom only
90 are stipendiary Constables.--Defects and abuses
in the system of the Watch explained.--A general
Plan of Superintendance suggested.--A view of the
Magistracy of the Metropolis.--The inconvenience
of the present System._ 381
CHAP. XV.
ON THE PROSECUTION OF OFFENDERS.
_The prevailing Practice when Offenders are brought
before Magistrates.--The duty of Magistrates in such
cases.--Professed Thieves seldom intimidated when put
upon their Trial, from the many chances they have of
escaping.--These Chances shortly detailed.--Reflections
on false Humanity towards Prisoners.--The delays and
expences of Prosecutions a great discouragement to
Prosecutors.--An account of the different Courts of
Justice, for the trial of Offences committed in the
Metropolis.--Five inferior and two superior Courts.--A
statement of Prisoners convicted and discharged in one
year.--Reflections thereon.--The advantage which would
arise from the appointment of a Public Prosecutor, in
remedying Abuses in the Trial of Offenders.--From 2500
to 3000 Persons committed for trial, by Magistrates,
in the course of a year.--The chief part afterwards
returned upon Society._ 422
[Transcriber's Note: should be p. 421]
CHAP. XVI.
ON THE SYSTEM OF PUNISHMENTS: CONSIDERED PRACTICALLY.
_The mode authorised by the Ancient Laws.--The period
when Transportation commenced.--The principal Crimes
enumerated which are punishable with Death.--Those
punishable by Transportation and Imprisonment.--Number
of Persons tried compared with those discharged.--The
system of Pardons examined; and Regulations suggested.--An
historical Account of the rise and progress of
Transportation.--The system of the Hulks; and the Laws
as to provincial and national Penitentiary Houses.--Number
of the Convicts confined in the Hulks for twenty-two
years.--The enormous expence of maintenance and inadequate
produce of their Labour.--The impolicy of the System.--The
system of Transportation to New South Wales examined, and
Improvements suggested.--Erection of National Penitentiary
Houses recommended.--The National Penitentiary House
(according to the Proposal of_ Jeremy Bentham, _Esq.)
considered:--Its peculiar advantages with respect to
Health, productive Labour, and Reformation of
Convicts.--General Reflections on the means of rendering
Imprisonment useful._ 435
[Transcriber's Note: should be p. 434]
CHAP. XVII.
CRIMINAL POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS.
_The Police of the Metropolis examined, and its
Organization explained.--The utility of the
system, established in 1792 examined and explained.--Its
great deficiency from the want of Funds to reward
Officers for the detection and punishment of
Offenders.--Suggestions relative to stipendiary
Justices, and the benefits likely to result from
their exertions in assisting the City Magistrates.--The
vast labour and weight of duty attached to the chief
Magistrate and Aldermen in London.--The benefits to
result from Established Police Magistrates exemplified
by the System already adopted under the Act of 1792.--The
advantages which would arise from the various remedies
proposed in the course of this Work, only of a partial
nature, for want of a centre-point and superintending
Establishment.--The ideas of Foreigners on the Police
of the Metropolis.--Observations on the Old Police of
Paris, elucidated by Anecdotes of the Emperor_ JOSEPH II.
_and Mons. de_ Sartine.--_A Central Board of Commissioners
for managing the Police, peculiarly necessary on the
return of Peace.--This measure recommended by the
Finance Committee._ 501
CHAP. XVIII.
PROPOSED SYSTEM OF CRIMINAL POLICE.
_A Proposition to consolidate the two Boards of
Hawkers and Pedlars, and Hackney Coaches,
into a Board of Police Revenue.--The whole
Revenue of Police from Fees, Penalties, and
Licence Duties, to make a common Fund.--Accounts
to be audited.--Magistrates to distribute
small Rewards.--A power to the Board
to make Bye Laws.--A concurrent Jurisdiction
recommended.--The Penitentiary House for
reforming Convicts.--Measures proposed after
the Board is established--namely, A Public
Prosecutor for the Crown:--A Register of
Lodging Houses--The Establishment of a
Police Gazette--Two leading Objects: the
prevention of Crimes; and raising a Revenue
for Police purposes.--The enumeration of the
Dealers, who are proposed to be licenced.--A
general View of the annual Expence of the
present and proposed Police System.--Suggestions
respecting a chain of connections with
Magistrates in the Country.--The Functions of
the proposed Central Board of Police.--Specification
of the Trades to be regulated and
licenced.--The advantages likely to result from
the adoption of the Plan._ 536
[Transcriber's Note: should be p. 535]
CHAP. XIX.
MUNICIPAL POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS.
_Extent and Opulence of the City of London, its
Streets, Lanes, Allies, Courts and Squares
estimated at 8000.--Churches, &c. 400.--Seminaries
for Education 4000.--The various Institutions and
Societies for Learning, for the fine Arts, and for
charitable and humane Purposes.--The Courts of
Law.--The Prisons--Suggestions as to improving the
System of Imprisonment for Debt, particularly as
relates to Small Debts: and as to dividing the
judicial and ministerial Labours among more
Officers.--The internal or municipal Regulations
established in the Metropolis by several Statutes;
respecting Paving--Watching--Sewers--Hackney
Coaches--Carts--Watermen--and Buildings.--Necessity
of rendering these Laws uniform and coextensive, so as
to consolidate the System of Municipal Police.--Expence
calculated at 1,000,000l. a year.--Suggestions for
reducing it.--The present Epoch calls for Improvements._ 567
[Transcriber's Note: should be p. 565]
CHAP. XX.
CONCLUSION.
_A summary View of the Evils detailed in the
preceding Chapters.--Arguments in favour of
a more energetic Police as the only means of
remedying these Evils.--A general View of the
estimated Depredations annually in the Metropolis
and its Vicinity; amounting in all to Two
Millions sterling.--A View of the Remedies
proposed--1st. With respect to the Corruption
of Morals.--2d. The means of preventing
Crimes in general.--3d. Offences committed on
the River Thames.--4th. Offences in the Public
Arsenals and Ships of War.--5th. Counterfeiting
Money and fabricating Bank Notes.--6th.
Punishments.--7th. Further advantages
of an improved System of Police.--Concluding
Reflections._ 602
A
TREATISE, &c.
CHAPTER I.
_A general view of the Evils existing in the Metropolis, and
the causes from which they arise.--Necessity of a
well-regulated Police.--Ineffective system of Criminal
Jurisprudence.--Facility of eluding Justice. Severity and
inequality of Punishments.--Necessity of revising our Penal
Code.--Certain dangerous Offences not punishable.--Receivers
of stolen property.--Extent of plunder in the Metropolis,
&c.--Proposed restrictions on Receivers.--Coiners and
Utterers of Counterfeit Money; the extent of their
crimes.--Defects in the mode of prosecuting
Offenders.--Pardons.--Periodical discharges of
Prisoners.--Summary of the causes of the present inefficacy
of the Police, under nine different heads._
Next to the blessings which a Nation derives from an excellent
Constitution and System of general Laws, are those advantages which
result from a well-regulated and energetic plan of Police, conducted
and enforced with purity, activity, vigilance, and discretion.
Upon this depends, in so great a degree, the comfort, the happiness,
and the true liberty and security of the People, that too much labour
and attention cannot possibly be bestowed in rendering complete the
domestic administration of Justice in all cases of criminal
delinquency.
That much remains to be done in this respect no person will deny; all
ranks must bear testimony to the dangers which both life and property
are at present subjected to by the number of criminal people, who,
from various causes (which it is the object of the Writer of these
pages to explain), are suffered with impunity to repeat acts of
licentiousness and mischief, and to commit depredations upon
individuals and the Public.
In vain do we boast of those liberties which are our birthright, if
the vilest and most depraved part of the Community are suffered to
deprive us of the privilege of travelling upon the highways, or of
approaching the Capital in any direction after dark, without risk of
being assaulted, and robbed; and perhaps wounded or murdered.
In vain may we boast of the security which our Laws afford us, if we
cannot lie down to rest in our habitations, without the dread of a
burglary being committed, our property invaded, and our lives exposed
to imminent danger before the approach of morning.
Imperfect must be either the plan or the execution, or both, of our
Criminal Code, if crimes are found to increase; if the moral
principle ceases to be a check upon a vast proportion of the lower
ranks of the People; and if small thefts are known to prevail in such
a degree, as to affect almost all ranks of the Community who have any
property to lose, as often as opportunities occur, whereby pilfering
in a little way can be effected without detection.
If, in addition to this, the peace of Society can, on every specious
pretence, be disturbed by the licentious clamours or turbulent
effusions arising from the ill-regulated passions of vulgar life,
surely it becomes an interesting inquiry, worthy the attention of
every intelligent member of the Community, _from what source spring
these numerous inconveniences; and where is a remedy to be found for
so many accumulated evils_?
In developing the causes which have produced that want of security,
which it is believed prevails in no other civilised country in so
great a degree as in England, it will be necessary to examine how far
the System of Criminal Jurisprudence has been, hitherto, applicable to
the prevention of crimes.
If we look back to the measures pursued by our ancestors two centuries
ago, and before that period, we shall find that many wholesome laws
were made with a view to prevention, and to secure the good behaviour
of persons likely to commit offences. Since that aera in our history, a
different plan has been pursued. Few regulations have been established
to restrain vice, or to render difficult the commission of crimes;
while the Statute Books have been filled with numerous Laws, in many
instances doubtfully expressed, and whose leading feature has
generally been severe punishment. These circumstances, aided by the
false mercy of Juries in cases of slight offences, have tended to let
loose upon Society a body of criminal individuals, who under a better
Police--an improved system of Legislation, and milder punishments,--might,
after a correction in Penitentiary Houses, or employment in out-door
labour, under proper restraints, have been restored to Society as
useful members.
As the Laws are at present administered, it is a melancholy truth not
to be contradicted, that the major part of the criminals who infest
this Metropolis, although committed by magistrates for trial on very
satisfactory proof, are returned upon the Public in vast numbers year
after year; encouraged to renew their former practices, by the
facility they experience in evading justice.
But this is not all:--The adroit Thief and Receiver, availing
themselves of their pecuniary resources, often escape, from their
knowledge of the tricks and devices which are practised, through the
medium of disreputable practitioners of the Law; while the novices in
delinquency generally suffer the punishment attached to conviction.
If, as is the case in some other countries, evidence were allowed to
be received of the general character of persons, put upon their trial
for offences, and the means by which they obtain their subsistence,
so as to distinguish the old reputed Thief and Receiver from the
novice in crimes, the minds of Jurymen would be often enlightened, to
the furtherance of substantial justice; and a humane and proper
distinction might be made between the young pupil of depravity, and
the finished villain; as well in the measure of punishment, as in the
distribution of mercy.
The severity of the punishment, which at present attaches to crimes
regarded by mankind as of an inferior nature, and which affect
property in a trivial manner, is also deserving the most serious
attention. It is only necessary to be acquainted with the modern
history of the _criminal prosecutions, trials, acquittals, and pardons
in this country_, in order to be completely convinced that the
progressive increase of delinquents, and the evils experienced by
Society from the multitude of petty crimes, result in a great measure
from this single circumstance.
It will scarcely be credited by those, whose habits of life do not
permit them to enter into discussions of this sort, that by the Laws
of England, there are above _one hundred and sixty_ different offences
which subject the parties who are found guilty, to death without
benefit of Clergy. This multiplicity of capital punishments must, in
the nature of things, defeat those ends, the attainment of which ought
to be the object of all Law, namely, _The Prevention of Crimes_.
In consequence of this severity, (to use the words of an admired
Writer,) "The injured, through compassion, will often forbear to
prosecute: Juries, through compassion, will sometimes forget their
oaths, and either acquit the guilty or mitigate the nature of the
offence: and Judges, through compassion, will respite one half the
convicts, and recommend them to Royal Mercy."[2]
[Footnote 2: Blackstone's Commentaries.]
The Roman Empire never flourished so much as during the aera of the
Portian Law, which abrogated the punishment of death for all offences
whatsoever. When severe punishments and an incorrect Police were
afterwards revived, the Empire fell.
It is not meant, however, to be insinuated that this would be,
altogether, a proper system of Criminal Jurisprudence to be adopted in
modern times.
In the present state of society it becomes indispensably necessary,
that offences, which in their nature are highly injurious to the
Public, and where no mode of prevention can be established, should be
punished by the forfeiture of life; but these dreadful examples should
be exhibited as seldom as possible: for while on the one hand, such
punishments often defeat the ends of Justice, by their not being
carried into execution; so on the other, by being often repeated, they
lose their effect upon the minds of the People.[3]
[Footnote 3: Can that be thought a correct System of Jurisprudence,
which inflicts the penalty of Death, for breaking down the mound of a
fish-pond, whereby the fish may escape; or cutting down a fruit-tree
in a garden or orchard; or stealing a handkerchief, or any trifle,
privately from a person's pocket, above the value of 12d;--while a
number of other crimes of much greater enormity, are only punished
with Transportation and Imprisonment; and while the punishment of
murder itself is, and can be, only Death; with a few circumstances of
additional ignominy?]
However much we glory (and we ought to glory) in the general
excellence of our Criminal Law, yet there is no truth more clear and
obvious than this:--"That this code exhibits too much the appearance
of a heterogeneous mass, concocted too often on the spur of the
occasion (as Lord Bacon expresses it):--and frequently without that
degree of accuracy which is the result of able and minute discussion,
or a due attention to the revision of the existing laws; or how far
their provisions bear upon new and accumulated statutes introduced
into Parliament; often without either consideration or knowledge, and
without those precautions which are always necessary, when laws are to
be made which may affect the property, the liberty, and perhaps even
the lives of thousands."
Some steps have indeed, been taken in Parliament, since this work
first appeared, towards a general revision of our Statute Law;[4] and
which, it is hoped, will ere long be adopted. Whenever the time shall
arrive that the existing laws, which form the present Criminal Code,
shall be referred to able and intelligent men effectually to revise,
consolidate, and adjust the whole, in a manner best suited to the
present state of Society and Manners, the investigation will
unquestionably excite no little wonder and astonishment.
[Footnote 4: See the "Report from the Committee of the House of
Commons on Temporary Laws;" May 13, 1796--and also the "Report from
the Committee for promulgation of the Statutes," December 5, 1796; and
the "Resolutions of a Committee of the whole House," March 20, 1797.]
Penal laws, which are either obsolete or absurd, or which have arisen
from an adherence to rules of Common Law when the reasons have ceased
upon which these rules are founded; and in short, all Laws which
appear not to be consonant to the dictates of truth and justice, the
feelings of Humanity, and the indelible rights of Mankind should be
abrogated and repealed.[5]
[Footnote 5: Blackstone.]
But the deficiency of the Criminal Code does not arise solely from an
erroneous and undigested scale of penalties and punishments. While on
the one hand, we have to lament the number of these applicable to
certain offences of a slight nature; we have equally to regret, that
there exist crimes of considerable enormity, for the punishment of
which the Law has made no provision.
Among the most prominent of these crimes, may be ranked the receiving
_Cash or Specie, Bank-Notes_ or _Bills, knowing them to be stolen_.
To this very high offence, in its nature so productive of mischief in
a Commercial Country, no punishment at all attaches; inasmuch as
_Specie, Notes and Bills_, are not considered for this purpose to be
_Goods and Chattels_; and the law only makes it a crime to receive
property so described.
If therefore a notorious Receiver of stolen goods shall be convicted
of purchasing a glass bottle or a pewter pot, he is liable to be
punished severely; but if he receives ten or twenty thousand pounds in
_Cash_, _Bank Notes_, or _Bills_, he escapes with impunity![6]
[Footnote 6: It is said the same construction of the Law has been made
with respect to the Offence of buying or receiving Horses, knowing
them to be stolen.]
Innumerable almost are the other instances which could be collected
from Reporters of Criminal Cases, shewing the deficiency of the
Criminal Code; and in how many instances substantial justice is
defeated, and public wrongs are suffered to go unpunished, through the
objections and quibbles constantly raised in Courts of Justice; and
which are allowed to prevail, principally, for want of that revision
of our laws and those amendments which the present state of Society
and Commerce requires.
One of the chief nurseries of Crimes is to be traced to the Receivers
of Stolen Property.
Without that easy encouragement which these Receivers hold out, by
administering immediately to the wants of criminals, and concealing
what they purloin, a Thief, a Robber, or a Burglar, could not in fact,
carry on his trade.
And yet, conclusive and obvious, as this remark must be, it is a
sorrowful truth, that in the Metropolis alone there are at present
supposed to be upwards of Three Thousand Receivers of various kinds
of stolen Goods; and an equal proportion all over the Country, who
keep open shop for the purpose of purchasing at an under-price--often
for a mere trifle,--every kind of property brought to them; from a
nail, or a glass bottle, up to the most valuable article either new or
old; and this without asking a single question.
It is supposed that the property, purloined and pilfered in a little
way, from almost every family, and from every _house, stable, shop,
warehouse, workshop, foundery, and other repository_, in and about the
Metropolis, may amount to about L.700,000 in one year, exclusive of
depredations on ships in the River Thames, which, before the
establishment of the Marine Police System in June 1798, were estimated
at half a million more, including the stores and materials!--When to
this is also added the Pillage of his Majesty's stores, in ships of
war, Dock-yards, and other public repositories, the aggregate will be
found in point of extent, almost to exceed credibility!
It is a melancholy reflection to consider how many individuals, young
and old, who are not of the class or description of common or even
repeated thieves, are implicated in this system of depredation; who
would probably have remained honest and industrious, had it not been
for the easy mode of raising money, which these numerous Receivers of
stolen goods hold out in every bye-street and lane in the Metropolis:
In their houses, although a beggarly appearance of old iron, old rags,
or second-hand clothes, is only exhibited, the back apartments are
often filled with the most valuable articles of ship-stores,
copper-bolts and nails, brass and other valuable metals, West-India
produce, household goods and wearing apparel; purchased from
artificers, labourers in the docks, lumpers, and others employed on
the River Thames, menial servants, apprentices, journeymen, porters,
chimney-sweepers, itinerant Jews, and others; who, thus encouraged and
protected, go on with impunity, and without the least dread of
detection, from the easiness of access, which their various
employments give them, plundering every article not likely to be
missed, in the houses or stables of men of property; or in the shops,
ware-houses, founderies, or work-shops of manufacturers; or from new
buildings; from ships in the river; nay even from his Majesty's
stores, and other repositories, so that in some instances, the same
articles are said to be sold to the Public Boards three or four times
over.
Thus the moral principle is totally destroyed among a vast body of the
lower ranks of the People; for wherever prodigality, dissipation, or
gaming, whether in the Lottery or otherwise, occasions a want of
money, every opportunity is sought to purloin public or private
property; recourse is then had to all those tricks and devices, by
which even children are enticed to steal before they know that it is a
crime; and to raise money at the pawnbrokers, or the old iron or rag
shops, to supply the unlawful desires of profligate parents.
Hence also, Servants, Apprentices, Journeymen, and in short all
classes of labourers and domestics, are led astray by the temptations
to spend money, which occur in this Metropolis; and by the facility
afforded through the numerous Receivers of stolen Goods, who
administer to their pecuniary wants, on every occasion, when they can
furnish them with any article of their ill-gotten plunder.
The necessity of adopting some effectual regulations respecting the
numerous class of Dealers in old metal, stores, and wearing apparel,
is too obvious to require illustration; and the progressive
accumulation of these pests of Society is proved, by their having
increased, from about 300 to 3000, in the course of the last twenty
years, in the Metropolis alone!
Similar regulations should also be extended to all the more latent
Receivers, who do not keep open shop; but secretly support the
professed Robbers and Burglars, by purchasing their plunder the moment
it is acquired: of which latter class there are some who are said to
be extremely opulent.
It would by no means be difficult to form such a plan of Police as
should establish many useful restrictions, for the purpose of checking
and embarrassing these criminal people; so as to render it extremely
difficult, if not impracticable for them, in many instances, to carry
on their business without the greatest hazard of detection.