Punishments useful in the greatest possible degree to the Community,
and that they may operate, in the fullest extent, as an example,
tending to the prevention of crimes, it would seem that the following
general principles should be adopted.
1st. That examples of punishment by death, (except, perhaps,
in cases of Murder), should only take place twice a year:
and that the impression upon the Public mind may be stronger
from the less frequency of such painful exhibitions, they
ought on all occasions to be conducted with a degree of
solemnity suited to the object in the view of the
Legislature, when the life of a fellow-creature is
sacrificed, that it may really prove useful in deterring
others; and not be contemplated with indifference, as is too
often the case at present, without making the least
impression, or being in any degree beneficial to the great
ends of Public justice.
2d. That the System of the Hulks should be at once wholly
abandoned, as a source of great expence, producing in the
result infinitely more evil than good, and thereby
exhausting the Finances of the Country without any one
beneficial consequence.
3d. That Transportation to New South Wales and Norfolk
Island, should be limited to a few of the most depraved,
incorrigible, and irreclaimable Convicts, whose vicious and
ungovernable conduct, while under the discipline of a
Penitentiary House, rendered their reform hopeless.--That
shipments should only take place once in three years, and
that the Civil and Military Establishment of the Colony
should be gradually reduced, so as to bring the National
Expenditure on this branch of Police within moderate bounds.
4th. That every thing should be done to accelerate the
erection of National Penitentiary Houses.--That their
capacity, including appendages, should be equal to the
accommodation of 3,500 Convicts of all descriptions, so as
to admit of different degrees of treatment and labour,
according to the _age, sex, and state of health of the
Convicts_.
5th. That the local Penitentiary Houses in the different
Counties, destined for the Punishment of persons convicted
of Larcenies, and other minor offences, should be conducted,
as nearly as possible, upon the plan of the National
Establishments; and also by contract, under circumstances
where the labour of the Convicts may, by the resources of
the Contractor, be rendered (without hardship) equal, or
nearly equal, to the expence; a measure conceived to be
almost, in every instance, practicable, where knowledge of
business, stimulated by interest, shall form an ingredient
in the executive management.
6th. That there should be attached to each County
Penitentiary House, a Subsidiary Establishment, into which
all discharged prisoners should be admitted who choose it,
and where they might be continued in the exercise of the
trades in which they were employed during their confinement,
and for which they should receive wages in proportion to
their earnings, until they could otherwise find a settled
employment through an honest medium: thus giving those who
are desirous of reforming an opportunity of sheltering
themselves from the dangers of relapse, which arise from
being afloat upon the Public--idle, and without the means of
subsistence.
In carrying the Penitentiary System into effect, it ought not to
escape notice, that the hardship imposed on Convicts, with respect to
manual labour, would be no more than every honest artisan who works
industriously for his family, must, during the whole course of his
life, impose upon himself. The condition of a Convict would, even in
some respects, be superior, inasmuch as he would enjoy medical
assistance, and other advantages tending to the preservation of
health, which do not attach to the lower classes of the people, whose
irregularities not being restrained, while their pursuits and labours
are seldom directed by good judgment and intelligence, often produce
bad health, and extreme indigence and distress.
The difficulty which has heretofore been experienced with respect to
productive labour in the Provincial Houses of Correction will vanish,
when the System shall be exemplified in the National Penitentiary
Establishment. To conduct a Plan of this nature with advantage to the
Public and to the individual, an assemblage of _qualities_,
_dispositions_, and _endowments_, which rarely meet in one man, will
be necessary--namely, _education, habits of business, a knowledge of
the common affairs of life--an active and discriminating
mind--indefatigable industry--the purest morals, and a philanthropic
disposition, totally divested of those hurtful propensities which lead
to idle amusements_.
Such men are to be found, and would come forward, as Contractors, with
ample security as often as opportunities offered, after the System
became matured. It is only by the uncontrolled energy of talents,
where duty and interest go hand in hand, that labour is to be obtained
from Convicts.--No fluctuating management, nor any superintendance
whatsoever, where a spring is not given to exertion by motives of
interest, can perfect any Penitentiary design; or, indeed, any design
where profit is to be derived from labour. Hence the ill success of
almost all the well meant establishments with respect to the Poor,
and to most of the local Penitentiary Houses. In some instances a few
establishments at first hold out prospects of success; but at length
they dwindle and decay, and in the result they have mostly all been
unprofitable. The death or removal of an active or philanthropic
Magistrate produces a languor, which terminates often in the ruin or
the abandonment of the design.
The National Penitentiary System is guarded against this contingency;
and until the local Establishments can enjoy equal advantages, success
in any degree is scarcely to be expected, and _permanent success_ is
altogether hopeless.
The object to be attained is of great magnitude.--Let an appeal be,
therefore, made to the good sense of the country, and to the feelings
of humanity in behalf of an unfortunate and noxious class of
individuals. Let the effects of the present System be candidly
examined, in opposition to the benefits which may result from that
which is proposed, and let the decision be speedy, that Society may no
longer be tormented by the evils which arise from this branch of the
Police of the country.
The suggestions which are thus hazarded on the subject of punishments,
are by no means the refinements of speculation doubtful and uncertain
in their issue.
The System accords either with what has been already enacted by the
Legislature or recommended by the Finance Committee. And the whole
has been admitted to be practicable under an able and permanent
superintendence. A hope may, therefore, be indulged, that where the
interest of Society and the cause of Humanity is so deeply concerned,
a design which holds out so many advantages, will experience that
general support which it unquestionably merits; since its object is
not only to reclaim the Out-casts of the present generation, but also
to rescue thousands yet unborn from misery and destruction.
CHAP. XVII.
_The Police of the Metropolis examined--Its organization
explained, with regard to that branch which relates to the
prevention and suppression of Crimes.--The utility of the
new System, established in 1792, examined and
explained.--Reasons assigned why this System has not tended,
in a greater degree, to the suppression and prevention of
atrocious Crimes--Its great deficiency from the want of
funds, by which Magistrates are crippled in their exertions,
with regard to the detection and punishment of
Offenders.--Reasons in favour of a New System.--The Police
of the City of London (as now constituted) explained and
examined.--Suggestions relative to established Justices, and
the benefits likely to result from their exertions in
assisting the City Magistrates: from whose other engagements
and pursuits, that close and laborious attention cannot be
expected which the Public interest requires.--The
Magistrates of London the most respectable, perhaps, in the
world.--The vast labour and weight of duty attached to the
chief Magistrate.--The Aldermen have certain duties assigned
them, which ought not, in justice to be augmented, as they
act gratuitously.--The benefits which result to the
Community from established Police Magistrates, considered in
different points of view; and exemplified in the advantages
which have arisen from the System under the Act of
1792.--General Reflections on the advantages which would
arise from the various remedies which have been proposed in
the course of this Work.--These benefits, however, only of a
partial nature, inadequate to the object of complete
protection, for want of a centre-point and superintending
Establishment, under the controul of the first Minister of
Police.--Reasons assigned in favour of such a System.--The
advantages that would result from its adoption.--The ideas
of enlightened Foreigners on the Police of the Metropolis
explained.--Reflections suggested by those
ideas.--Observations on the Police of Paris previous to the
Revolution in France: elucidated by Anecdotes of the Emperor
Joseph the Second and Mons. de Sartine.--The danger of an
inundation of Foreign Sharpers and Villains on the return of
Peace.--The situation of Europe requires, and the necessity
of a well-regulated Police points out the utility of, a
Central Board of Commissioners for Managing the
Police.--This measure recommended by the Select Committee of
Finance, since the publication of the last Edition of this
Work._
Having in the preceding Chapters endeavoured to bring under the review
of the Reader, not only those prominent causes which have occasioned
that great increase of Public Wrongs, which every good man must
deplore, but also the _various classes of delinquents_ which compose
the melancholy catalogue of human depravity; having also stated such
observations and facts, relative to _detection_, _trials_, and
_punishments_, as seemed to be necessary for the purpose of
elucidating a subject of great importance to be understood; it remains
now to explain and develope the _System_ hitherto established for the
purpose of protecting the Public against those enormities; and from
which is to be expected that energy, and those exertions, which have
been shewn to be so indispensably necessary, for the suppression and
prevention of crimes.
The POLICE _of this great Metropolis_ is undoubtedly a System highly
interesting to be understood, although heretofore (as far as the
Author has had access to know) it has never been, at any period, fully
explained through the medium of the press;--and hence it is, that a
vast proportion of those who reside in the Capital, as well as the
multitude of strangers who resort to it, have no accurate idea of the
principles of organization, which move so complicated a machine.
It has been already stated in a preceding Chapter, that twenty-six
Magistrates, forming that respectable body, comprehending the
Lord-Mayor and Aldermen,[154] sit in rotation every forenoon, at the
Mansion-house, and at Guildhall, and take cognizance of all matters
of Police within the ancient jurisdiction of the City of London; while
twenty-six established Magistrates appointed for every other part of
the Metropolis,[155] including the River Police, having particular
offices or courts of justice assigned them at convenient distances in
Westminster, Middlesex, and Surry, sit every day (Sunday excepted)
both in the morning and evening, for the purpose of executing all the
multifarious duties, connected with the office of a Justice of the
Peace, which unavoidably occur in large societies.[156]
[Footnote 154: The following are the names of the Aldermen at present
in the Magistracy of the City; arranged according to their Seniority.
1761 Right Hon. Thos. Harley, Bridge Ward Without
72 Sir Watkin Lewis, Knt. Lime-street
72 Sir William Plomer, Knt. Bassishaw
74 Nathaniel Newnham, Esq. Vintry
82 John Boydell, Esq. Cheap
84 Paul Le Mesurier, Esq. Dowgate
84 Brock Watson, Esq. Cordwainers
85 Thomas Skinner, Esq. Queenhithe
85 William Curtis, Esq. Tower
86 William Newnham, Esq. Farringdon Within
86 G.M. Macauley, Esq. Coleman-street
89 J.W. Andersen, Esq. Aldersgate-street
90 Harvey C. Combe, Esq. Aldgate
90 Sir Richard Carr Glyn, Knt. Bishopsgate-street
93 William Staines, Esq. Cripplegate
95 Sir John Eamer, Knt. Langborne
96 Sir William Herne, Knt. Castle-Baynard
96 Robert Williams, Esq. Cornhill
97 Charles Hamerton, Esq. Bread-street
98 Charles Price, Esq. Farringdon Without
98 Peter Perchard, Esq. Candlewick
98 Thomas Cadell, Esq. Walbrook
98 George Hibbert, Esq. Bridge Within
98 James Shaw, Esq. Portsoken
98 John Perring, Esq. Broad-street
99 William Leighton, Esq. Billingsgate
Sir John William Rose, Knt. Recorder of London, a Magistrate, holding
rank above the Aldermen who have not served the office of Lord
Mayor.--He assists at the General and Quarter Sessions of the Peace,
and in the principal affairs of the City; but does not sit in
rotation.
Richard Clark, Esq. Chamberlain, acting judicially with respect to
Apprentices.
Mr. Newman, Clerk to the Lord-Mayor, or Sitting Alderman at the
Mansion-house.
Mr. Whittle, Clerk to the sitting Alderman at Guildhall.]
[Footnote 155: The following are the Public Offices in the Metropolis;
(exclusive of the City of London;) and the respective Magistrates who
_preside_, and the Clerks who _officiate_ at each.
Westminster.
Bow-street, Sir William Addington, Knt. }
Covent Garden. Nicholas Bond, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
Richard Ford, Esq. }
Mess. Lavender and Davies, _Clerks_.
The following seven Public Offices were established by the
Act 32 Geo. III. cap. 53. and continued for 5 years by 36
Geo. III. cap. 75.
Queen's Square, Cranley Thomas Kerby, Esq. }
St. Margaret's Henry James Pye, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
Westminster. Patrick Colquhoun, Esq. }
Mess. Arthur Gliddon and J. Jones, _Clerks_.
Great Marl- Nathaniel Conant, Esq. }
borough-street, John Scott, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
Oxford Road. Phillip Neave, Esq. }
Mess. H.P. Butler and J. Thornton, _Clerks_.
Middlesex.
Hatton Garden William Bleamire, Esq. }
Holborn. Aaron Graham, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
Robert Baker, Esq. }
Mess. A. Todd and W. Upton, _Clerks_.
Worship-street, John Floud, Esq. }
Finsbury-Squ. William Brodie, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
John Nares, Esq. }
Mess. Chas. Lush and J. Chalmers, _Clerks_.
Lambeth-street, Rice Davies, Esq. }
Whitechapel. Henry Reynett, D.D. } _Magistrates_.
Daniel Williams, Esq. }
Mess. John Smith and J. Bailey, _Clerks_.
High-street, George Storie, Esq. }
Shadwell. John Staples, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
Rupert Clarke, Esq. }
Mess. J. Rowswell and G. Skeen, _Clerks_.
Surrey.
Union-street, Gideon Fournier, Esq. }
Southwark. Benjamin Robinson, Esq. } _Magistrates_.
Richard Carpenter Smith, Esq. }
Mess. D. Campbell and J.A. Jallicoe, _Clerks_.
Marine Police, P. Colquhoun, Esq. superintending Magistrate,
Wapping New gratis
Stairs. John Harriot, Esq. Resident Magistrate
Henry Lang, Esq. Chief Clerk
William Brooke, Cashier
Three Junior Clerks, and Ten Surveyors, &c.
N.B. The whole Fees and Penalties taken and received at the seven
Offices, established by 32 Geo. III. cap. 53. are paid into the
_Receiver_ on account of the Public, and the whole expences of the
Establishments are defrayed from the funds placed in his hands for
that purpose.]
[Footnote 156: The Marine Police Magistrates, on account of the extent
of the Establishment, and the number of River Officers under their
Control, never leave the Office from the time that business commences
in the morning until a late hour in the evening.]
This Institution of established Justices (except with regard to the
three Magistrates at Bow-street, and the Justices at the Marine Police
Office,) was suggested to the Legislature, in consequence of the
pressure felt by the Public, from the want of some regular and
properly-constituted Tribunals for the distribution of justice; where
the System should be uniform; and where the purity of the Magistrates,
and their regular attendance, might insure to the People, the
adjustment of their differences, at the least possible expence; and
the assistance of gratuitous advice in every difficulty; as well as
official aid, in all cases within the sphere of the Magistrates in
their respective districts.
The duty of these established Magistrates, (in conjunction with
other Justices of the Peace, who find it convenient to give
their assistance,) extends also to several important judicial
proceedings; where, in a great variety of instances, they are
empowered and required to _hear_ and _determine_, in a summary way;
particularly in cases relative to the _customs, excise, and
stamps--the game laws--hawkers and pedlars--pawn-brokers--friendly
societies--highways--hackney coaches, carts, and other carriages--Quakers
and others refusing to pay tythes--appeals of defaulters in parochial
rates--misdemeanors committed by persons unlawfully pawning property
not their own--bakers for short weight, &c.--journeymen leaving their
services in different trades--labourers not complying with their
agreements--disorderly apprentices--alehouse keepers keeping
disorderly houses--nuisances by different Acts of Parliament--acts of
vagrancy by fraudulent lottery insurers--fortune-tellers; or persons
of evil fame found in avenues to public places, with an intent to
rob--As well as a multitude of other offences, in which Justices have
power to proceed to conviction and punishment, either by fine or
imprisonment_.
The duty of the Magistrates also extends to a vast number of other
objects, such as _licencing Public Houses_, and establishing Rules and
Orders for Publicans,[157] _watching over the conduct of
Publicans--swearing in, charging and instructing parochial constables
and headboroughs from year to year, with regard to their duty--issuing
warrants for privy searches; and in considering the cases of persons
charged with being disorderly persons, or rogues and vagabonds, liable
to be punished under the Act of the 17th of George II. cap. 5, and
subsequent acts of Parliament--in making orders to Parish Officers,
Beadles, and Constables, in a variety of cases--in Parish Removals--in
billeting soldiers--in considering the cases of poor persons applying
for assistance, or admission to workhouses--in granting certificates
and orders to the wives of persons serving in the Militia_, and also
_in attesting recruits, for the Army--in attending the General and
Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and in visiting the Workhouses,
Bride-wells, and Prisons_.[158]
[Footnote 157: See Tract on Public Houses, by the Author of this
Treatise.]
[Footnote 158: The Magistrates at the Marine Police confine their
attention almost wholly to the cognizance of offences, either
committed on the River, or connected with Maritime Affairs, and his
Majesty's Stores in the Public Arsenals.]
In addition to these various duties, many criminal cases occur in the
course of a year, which are examined for the purpose, if necessary, of
being sent to superior tribunals for trials:--such as charges of
_Treason, Murder, Coining, and uttering Base Money, Arson,
Manslaughter, Forgery, Burglary, Larceny, Sedition, Felonies of
various descriptions, Conspiracies, Frauds, Riots, Assaults, and
Misdemeanors of different kinds_:--all which unavoidably impose upon
every official Magistrate, a weight of business requiring great
exertion, and an unremitting attention to the Public Interest, in the
due execution of this very important Trust.
When the Police System was first established in the year 1792, the
public mind became impressed with an idea that the chief, if not the
only, object of the institution was to prevent _Robberies_,
_Burglaries_, and other _atrocious Offences_; and that the suppression
of those crimes, which bore hardest upon Society, and were most
dreaded by the Public at large, was to be the result. These
expectations shewed, that neither the powers nor authorities granted
by the Act of Parliament, nor the other duties imposed upon the
Magistracy of the Police, were understood. For this Statute (useful as
it certainly is in a very high degree in many other respects,) does
not contain even a single regulation applicable to the prevention of
crimes; except that which relates to the apprehension of suspected
characters, found in the avenues to public places, with intent to
commit felony; who are liable to be punished as rogues and
vagabonds,--and even this provision does not extend to the city of
London.
But this is not all--an establishment has been created, without the
most necessary of all engines to give vigour and effect to the
exertions of the Magistrates; namely, a pecuniary Fund to defray the
expences of detecting criminals, and of rewarding those who bring
informations useful to Public Justice. The expence of each Public
Office being restricted to _two thousand pounds_ a year, and the
establishment in _salaries_, _rents_, _taxes_, and other
_contingencies_ exhausting that sum, nothing remains for one of the
most necessary purposes of the Institution--the _Prevention_ and the
_Suppression of Crimes_.[159]
[Footnote 159: It is by no means to be understood, that this
deficiency arose from any want of real attention or public spirit on
the part of the respectable individuals who framed and promoted this
act. It was perhaps as much as could reasonably be expected at the
time, until the public mind could be more fully informed. It was by
the operation of this act, that a correct view of the improvements
necessary to complete the System, were to be obtained. This first step
was, therefore, of great importance; and it is but justice to state,
that to the Authors of this Act the Public will be indebted for every
subsequent arrangement, which may be adopted for perfecting the Police
of the Metropolis.]
It is in vain to expect that either vigour or energy can enter into
that part of the System, where a great deal of _both_ is necessary,
_without Funds_.
If criminals, at war with the Community, are to be detected--if risks
are to be run to effect this purpose--if it is to be done, (as it must
frequently be) at the hazard of the loss of health, and _even of
life_, by watching desperadoes in the night time--if accurate
informations are necessary, either to discover where stolen property
is deposited, or where the delinquents are to be found; a Fund must be
provided, or the Public cannot be protected. Those, whose province it
is to watch over the Police must not expect that men, capable of
giving them useful information, will return a second time, if they
have not some adequate reward bestowed upon them for their labour,
risk, and trouble. Without such power of granting small rewards, (so
far as that part of his duty which relates to the discovery of
property plundered, and the detection of the offenders is of
importance to the Public,) a Magistrate is placed in the situation of
a person pledged to work, _without tools or implements of labour_, by
which he can in any respect accomplish his purpose. And hence it is,
that among the numerous causes assigned in the course of this Work,
for the increase of Crimes,--this is none of the least.