in Society, is to be attributed in no small degree to the want of
proper _solemnity_ and previous explanation on the administration of
oaths.--Nothing can exceed the unimpressive and careless manner which
is in practice in calling upon witnesses to make _this solemn appeal
to the Supreme Being_.--It would seem highly necessary that all oaths
should be administered in the most impressive manner by the Judge, and
that a form should be devised, calculated in the greatest possible
degree, to impress upon the mind of the party a high sense of the
obligation he or she has come under to speak the truth.
On the whole, it may be asserted that nothing could tend to improve
the Police of the Country and the Metropolis more than a general
revision of the Laws respecting Misdemeanors, and particularly the Act
of the 17 Geo. II. cap. 5. and subsequent Acts respecting vagrants,
and rogues and vagabonds; so as to assimilate them in a greater degree
to the present state of Society, and to render their execution more
certain and beneficial to the Community.
PREVENTION OF THE COINAGE OF BASE MONEY.
In the 7th Chapter of this Work, the various modes in practice, by
which the Public is defrauded by the coining, fabricating, and
colouring of Base Money are fully developed, and specific Remedies
proposed from page 195 to 210, to which the Reader is referred.
A confident hope is entertained, that those Remedies will speedily be
brought under the consideration of Parliament, in the form of a
Bill.--If this should be passed into a Law, and accompanied by a new
Coinage of Silver, and aided by the energy of an appropriate Police,
little doubt can be entertained of the measure being effectual in
securing the Public against the enormous evil of Counterfeit Coin.
PREVENTION OF PILLAGE AND PLUNDER ON THE RIVER THAMES.
The 8th Chapter of this Treatise displays not only the immense
importance of controlling the evil habits of aquatic labourers and
others on the River Thames and in the Warehouses adjacent; but also
the advantages to be expected _from a general Police System_;
reasoning on the extensive success which has attended the partial
experiment on the same principle _of vigilance_ applied to this
object.
The extensive benefits which are known and acknowledged to have been
derived from the _Marine Police_ (even under all the disadvantages of
a _Crippled System_ and _Deficient Powers_) joined to a review of the
state of the River _before_ and _since_ this important measure was
adopted, afford the best proof that can be adduced of its utility; and
also of the indispensable necessity, not only of immediately
perfecting a System, by which the Commerce and Revenue of the Port of
London have been in so great a degree secured; but also of extending
the same beneficial designs, wherever the state of things require a
similar antidote.
It remains only for the Legislature to pass a Bill which has been
prepared, grounded on more than a year's experience of the powers and
regulations requisite for the purpose of giving full effect and
permanency to this important Establishment, in order to secure to the
Commerce and Revenue of the River Thames, those advantages which will
arise from the Preservation of Property against the numerous and
unexampled Depredations to which it was exposed; and the Revenue of
the Crown from many frauds which arose not only from the loss of the
Duties of Customs and Excise on goods plundered, but also from an
extensive illicit trade, which has been controlled and prevented by
the known vigilance of the River Guards, particularly during the
night.
If to those advantages shall be added an increase of Salaries to the
inferior Officers of the Customs and Excise employed on the River, the
renovated morals and improved habits of multitudes heretofore deeply
implicated in a species of turpitude, hurtful in the extreme to the
Public interest, will become no less a matter of triumph than
advantage to the Government of the Country. Every individual
concerned in the Commerce of the Port, will rejoice to see so useful
an Institution supported and rendered permanent by that Legislative
Aid, upon which its ultimate success must in a great measure depend.
An evil of unexampled magnitude existed, for which an effectual remedy
has been found:--not in _Speculation_, but proved in _Practice_ to
answer the purposes of _future security_.
Let the Legislature, therefore, avail itself of the measures which are
proposed, by which incalculable benefits will be extended both to the
_Commerce_, _Revenue_, and _Police_ of the Port of London, especially
when strengthened and invigorated by a Central Board.
PREVENTION OF PLUNDER OF PUBLIC STORES: IN SHIPS OF WAR, DOCK-YARDS,
&C.
The collateral Influence of the Marine Police System, in checking in
an eminent degree, the Embezzlements and Pillage of his Majesty's
Stores in Ships and Public Arsenals, within the limits of its
Jurisdiction, is the strongest proof which can be adduced of what may
be expected by applying a similar System to all the Dock-yards in the
Kingdom. In the 9th Chapter of this Treatise, the _Evils_ and the
_Remedies_ are so minutely detailed as to render a reference only
necessary to pages 264 to 287.--If the measures there suggested shall
be adopted by the Legislature and the Lords of the Admiralty, little
doubt can be entertained of complete success in securing the Public
Property (_unparalleled in point of extent in any nation in the
world_)[204] against those Frauds and Depredations to which it has
heretofore been exposed to a very large amount annually.
[Footnote 204: The floating Public Property is estimated, including
Ships of War, Naval, Victualing, Ordnance and Military Stores, in time
of War at upwards of Forty Millions sterling.]
PREVENTION OF CRIMES IN GENERAL.
It has been demonstrated in the course of this Work, that the more
atrocious offences of Highway and Footpad Robberies, Burglaries, and
other acts of Felony[205] may be greatly diminished, if not nearly
annihilated by improved Laws and a responsible Agency, through the
medium of a well-regulated Board of Police to carry those Laws into
effect.
[Footnote 205: See Chapters III. and IV.]
It must, however, be obvious to the Reader, from what has been
repeatedly stated, that it is not by any _single regulation_, nor by
any portion of civil strength, however well it may be systematized,
that this desirable object is to be effected.
Success in any material degree is only to be expected from a
_combination of the various controlling regulations which have been
proposed, with a vigorous and energetic civil force_, and a correct
and pointed execution of the Laws and Regulations, upon which the
Preventive System is founded.--These _Regulations_ may be summed up
under the following heads:
1st. The adoption of eight propositions contained in the
10th Chapter, pages 303 to 307, relative to _the Receivers
of Stolen Goods, &c._
2d. An improved mode of granting rewards to Officers of
Justice and others, for meritorious services, in the
detection and conviction of Offenders--as elucidated and
explained in Chapter XIV. pages 390 to 396.
3d. An improved and modernized System, with respect to
Parochial Constables, so as to restore to the Community the
original efficacy of this useful Institution--as explained
in Chapter XIV. pages 401 to 410.
4th. An improved System also, with respect to Watchmen and
Patroles--with a view to render this branch of the Police
_efficient_, and to insure to the Public, that vigilance and
protection to which the expence they incur justly intitles
them.
5th. An extension of the Jurisdiction of the City
Magistrates, over the whole of the Metropolis and the four
adjoining Counties, and a power to Police Magistrates to
issue Search Warrants, and to follow and apprehend persons
charged with offences, who take shelter within the limits of
the City of London--as explained in Chapter XIV. pages 418
to 420.
6th. The appointment of a Prosecutor for the Crown to
obviate the difficulties which occur at present in bringing
Offenders to Justice; and which is elucidated and explained
in the 15th Chapter, particularly in pages 426 to 432.
7th. The Establishment of certain general Rules and
Conditions, according to which the Royal Mercy might be
extended to Offenders, on terms beneficial to themselves and
to the Community--as explained in the 16th Chapter, pages
450 to 452.
8th. An improved System with respect to the Punishment of
Convicts, by means of Penitentiary Establishments,
calculated to insure the reformation of Felons, and to
render this class useful afterwards to the Community--as
explained in the 16th Chapter, pages 481 to 494, and 497 to
500.
9th. General Rules laid down with respect to different modes
of Punishment, under six heads, page 495 to 497, with an
immediate view to render them more useful in the Prevention
of Crimes.
10th. An improved System of Police, aided by competent
Funds, and an extension of the Police Establishments, under
the 32 Geo. III. (1792) to the City of London--as explained
in Chap. XVII. pages 509 and 514 to 523.
11th. By the adoption of the General System of Police,
recommended by the Select Committee of the House of Commons,
and explained in Chapter XVIII.--By licensing and regulating
certain dangerous and suspicious Trades therein specified;
and by raising a Revenue for Police purposes, from persons
who shall be thus controlled.--See pages 536 to 546.
12th. By the Establishment of a Board of Police Revenue, who
shall exercise the specific Functions detailed and explained
in Chapter XVIII. pages 546 to 559: and finally, by an Act
of Parliament, authorising such a system, the heads of which
and the elucidating observations are also specified in pages
560 to 564.
Let these measures only be adopted by the Legislature, not by
_piece-meal_, but _in the gross_; and little doubt need be entertained
of the most beneficial effects being experienced by the innocent part
of the Community, whose privileges will be extended, in proportion as
the Licence which an imperfect Police afforded to Robberies,
Burglaries, and other acts of violence on the person and property of
the peaceful subject is abridged.
The General Police, and the powers of making it effectual, will then
be a charge committed to responsible Agents; whose duty it will be to
penetrate into all its mazes, and to accomplish its purposes by a
variety of Regulations, all tending to embarrass, and to render
difficult and hazardous, the pursuits and operations of
Criminals.--Experience will suggest modifications, which, aided by
competent funds, must in a short time attain that point which shall
establish _Security_.--But this is not all--Without taking large sums
(as at present) from the Revenue of the Country, the effect of the
System will unquestionably be, to add to its resources in the
diminution of the enormous expence now incurred in the punishment of
Convicts;[206] and which still must continue a burden on the Finances
of the Country, until the General Police System is fully (not
partially) in activity.
[Footnote 206: See Chapter VI. page 430, where it is stated, that in
25 years about 15,000 Convicts have cost the Nation no less than
1,663,974_l._]
It will collaterally extend to every thing that can improve the Morals
of the People, and better the condition of Human Life.--Its influence
will be felt by giving vigour to the Systems proposed for checking all
Misdemeanors, for securing Commercial Property, and also the Public
Stores, from embezzlement and depredation; while the offences against
the Mint Laws, under the new Regulations which are suggested, will
tend much to the prevention of that enormous evil.
AMENDMENT OF THE EXISTING LAWS.
When in addition to the adoption of the foregoing measures, further
improvements shall be made in the Laws now in force, or perhaps a
general consolidation of the whole Criminal Code be effected, so as to
render the System more simple, and in a greater degree applicable to
the attainment of the ends of Public Justice, great indeed will be the
blessings conferred on the Metropolis, and on the Nation at large.
The celebrated Lord Bacon denominated them almost two centuries ago,
when they were much less voluminous, and infinitely more simple than
at the present day--
"An heterogeneous mass, concocted too often on the spur of
the occasion, 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."
But voluminous as they certainly are, many omissions are apparent,
partly arising from the causes assigned by the able Lawyer whose
strictures have been just quoted, and more particularly from the rapid
changes, which Commerce and Property have made in the state of
Society.
Among these, the following have occurred to the Author as highly
deserving attention.--
1st. The Act of the 30 Geo. II. cap. 24. makes it a
transportable Misdemeanor, to obtain _Goods_ or _Chattels_
by false pretences.--But as _Horses_, _Cattle_, _Poultry_,
_Bank Notes_, _Bills of Exchange_, or _Notes of Hand_,
although equally objects of Fraud, are not deemed in Law to
be _Goods_ or _Chattels_, offences of equal, if not of
greater magnitude, are not within the meaning of the
Statute, and hence appears the necessity of an Amendment.
2d. The present Act relative to Pawnbrokers is extremely
deficient, and not only in several important points
ambiguous; but also inapplicable in a variety of instances
to the general views of the Legislature, as they regard the
security and interest of the Poor, while in others, perhaps
unnecessary and useless restrictions are imposed on the
Pawnbrokers themselves.
3d. As the Laws respecting Forgeries now stand--the act of
forging the Firm of a Commercial House, and obtaining goods
on the Credit of such Firm, is only punishable as a
Misdemeanor; although in this case this offence is of a
tendency _the most dangerous that can be conceived_, in a
Commercial Country, where (from the unbounded confidence
which prevails) it is so easy to obtain credit.
A case occurred and came under the cognizance of the Author
in 1796, where a Swindler assuming the Firm of a respectable
House in Bristol, ordered goods from Manchester to be sent
to Portsmouth, where the person (committing the Forgery)
stated, that one of the Partners meant to go to meet
them.--Two parcels of goods were obtained by this device,
and immediately sold at half the value by the Sharpers,
which led to a discovery, and enabled the Author to guard
the unsuspecting Manufacturers in York and Lancashire,
against the injuries they were likely to sustain, by the
operation of a very complicated and artful conspiracy to rob
them of their property to a great amount.
4th. The Receiving of _Cash or Specie, Bank Notes, Bills of
Exchange, or Notes of Hand, knowing the same to be stolen_,
is not at present a Criminal Offence: In a Commercial
Country where such offences may be productive of much evil
to Society, Why should not the Law extend to every species
of Property in the same manner as to Goods and Chattels?
5th. Although Arson is considered (and justly so) as a high
Criminal Offence, yet the offence of a person setting fire
to his own house, with a view to defraud the Insurers, is
considered only _a simple Misdemeanor_, and punished as
such; and where a house at a distance from others is set on
fire so as to occasion no danger to the neighbourhood, _it
is not an Offence known in the Criminal Code_, even although
it may appear to have been done for the purpose of
defrauding the Insurers.
With a view to the prevention of this very atrocious crime
(of which there have been but too many instances of late
years) it would seem right that it should be _clearly
defined_; and that it would not be too severe to punish
offenders by Transportation; since in all cases, where the
fire extends to a neighbouring house the offence of Arson is
committed, and the punishment is Death.
6th. Much inconvenience is at present experienced from the
circuitous and expensive process of Law, which must be
resorted to for the purpose of removing bad and profligate
_Lodgers_.--In cases of small concern, where the rent does
not exceed a few shillings a week, it would be an act of
great humanity to empower Magistrates to decide in a
summary way.--It would check that spirit of litigation,
which is the destruction of the Labouring People.
7th. As a means of controlling many offences, which are
generated by an assemblage of loose and immoral characters,
who are constantly afloat in the Metropolis, _a General
Register of Lodging-Houses_, would certainly be attended
with very beneficial effects: and to use the language of the
Select Committee of the House of Commons in their 28th
Report, page 31,--would also "be a Regulation, which, if
discreetly used, might probably afford the means of
materially assisting both the Police and the Revenue."[207]
[Footnote 207: See pages 105 and 539 in this Work.]
8th. The extensive Plunder committed on the Farmers round
the Metropolis, under the pretence of _Gleaning in Harvest_
is a very serious evil, and calls aloud for a remedy.--The
practice is pernicious and ruinous to the Morals of the
Families of the Labouring People in every part of the
Country, since through this medium children learn pilfering
habits, before they know that it is a crime.
A slight punishment on all who gleaned in any case previous
to a complete removal of the corn or vegetables, and on
every occasion, without first obtaining leave of the
Proprietor, would prove a very salutary Regulation--for it
appears that every Thief charged with stealing corn pretends
it was obtained by _Gleaning_.
9th. The existing Laws being found ineffectual in
controlling the habits, and in turning into a course of
useful industry the labour of the herds of Gypsies, who
surround the Metropolis, and commit depredations in every
part of the Country, it would be exceedingly desirable,[208]
both with respect to policy and humanity, to provide some
effectual Legislative Remedy, since the idle, vagrant, and
miserable life of this profligate community can be as little
desirable to themselves as it is hurtful to the
Public.--Compelling a residence which shall be _stationary_,
and obliging them to bind out their children apprentices at
a certain age, so as to incorporate them with the mass of
the people, would certainly prove a very salutary
Regulation.
[Footnote 208: See pages 84, 5.]
10th. The frauds and adulterations in the article of _Milk_
sold in the Metropolis, as detailed in the 3d Chapter of
this Work, pages 89 to 92, seem to justify the interference
of Parliament for the purpose of placing _Milk Dealers_
under the inspection and controul of the Police: Here the
injury is not merely confined to the frauds thus practised
on the Public, but the healths of the Consumers are in some
measure endangered from the infamous devices which are
practised.
11th. For the purpose of saving much unnecessary expence,
and also to remove the inconvenience arising from the length
of time, which frequently elapses before persons charged
with offences, in Southwark, Greenwich, and the villages
surrounding the Metropolis, make it lawful to try offences
committed in Surry, Kent, and Essex, within five miles of
the three Bridges, at the Justice Hall of the Old Bailey,
which may be done before a Jury of the Vicinage, with great
advantages to Public Justice, and without touching on the
rights of the Accused.[209]
[Footnote 209: See pages 428 and 429.]
12th. To establish certain Legislative Regulations, for the
purpose of preserving the Morals of unfortunate unoffending
families, by restoring to them such parents whose
misfortunes and not their crimes, have doomed them to the
horrors of perpetual Imprisonment.--And to establish
arrangements for the improvement of what may be denominated
_Civil Police_, by adopting inferior Tribunals for
distributing Justice in all actions of Debt under 50_l._ for
the purpose of reducing the present enormous expence, and
extending relief to traders in general.[210]
[Footnote 210: See pages 584 to 590.]
* * * * *
Thus has the Author of this Work endeavoured to develope that infinite
variety of crimes and misfortunes, which have been long felt and
deplored as a pressure upon the innocent part of the Community.
In travelling over so extensive a field, where almost every step is
stained with turpitude and depravity, no little consolation is derived
from being able thus to place upon record _practicable Remedies_,
applicable to the chief part of the evils, which have been brought
under the review of the Reader.
Nor is it less a matter of gratification to the Writer of the
preceding pages, than it must be satisfactory to the Public at large,
to discover that the leading features of the whole improvements which
he suggested in the preceding editions of this Work, _have attracted
the notice, and received the sanction of the Select Committee of the
House of Commons_.
The conclusion which may naturally be drawn is, that the laborious
efforts of the Author in bringing a new and interesting subject under
the review of the Public have not been in vain; and that a confident
hope may now be entertained that his humble endeavours, for the good
of his Country, will ultimately produce arrangements _in the New
Science of Police_, calculated to secure and protect the peaceful
subject against injury, and to ameliorate the state and condition of
Civil Society, particularly in this great Metropolis, by the adoption
of such measures _as shall be conducive to the more effectual
Prevention of Crimes:--by lessening the demand for Punishments:--by
diminishing the expence and alleviating the burden of Prosecutions:--by
turning the hearts and arresting the hands of evil doers: by
forewarning the unwary, and preserving the untainted in purity_; thus
attaching to Police its genuine preventive character, unmixed with
those judicial powers which lead to Punishment, and properly belong to
Magistracy alone.
FINIS.
[_Printed by H. Baldwin and Son, New Bridge-Street, London._]
_INDEX._
[Transcriber's Note: The original index resembles a table of contents,
with page numbers at the right margin; and for sequential page
numbers, only the last digit or two is given, e.g., 504, 5. For
clarity in this e-book, the page numbers immediately follow the
entries, separated by a comma, and for sequential page numbers the
full number is given.]
A.
_Abstract_ of the annual Imports into, and Exports from the Port of
London (_table_), 215, 216
---- of Persons committed, and discharged from Prisons in one year,
an extraordinary document (_table_), 430
_Account_ of Pawnbrokers in the Metropolis, and the vast property in
their houses belonging to the poor, 110
---- of various descriptions of Cheats, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127
---- of the number of Streets, Lanes, Houses and Families in the
Metropolis, 568
---- of the previous Plans and Arrangements of Thieves when a Robbery
or Burglary is contemplated, 291
---- of the usual Mode of proceeding to recover stolen property, 383
---- of the Number of Persons engaged in fraudulent Lotteries, 156
---- of the Trials at the Old Bailey in 1790 and 1791, 394, 395
---- of ditto in 1793 and 1795, 446-448
---- of the Officers of Justice in the Metropolis, 397
---- of the Watchmen and Patroles there, 414
---- of the Magistrates there, 398, 399
---- of the Criminal Courts there, 428
---- of the specific Criminals punishable by Law, 437-444
---- of the Convicts in the Hulks, 455
---- of the Names of the City and Police Magistrates, 504, 505
---- of the Churches and other places of Worship in the Metropolis,
568
---- of the Seminaries of Education in the Metropolis, 569, 570
---- of the Societies for promoting Religion and Morality, 570, 571
---- of the Societies for promoting the Arts, 571
---- of the Asylums for the Indigent and Helpless, 572
---- of the Hospitals for the Sick and for Pregnant Women in the
Metropolis, 573