A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis Part 41

At the same time for the purpose of rendering the System of 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, s.e.x, 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 circ.u.mstances 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 a.s.sistance, and other advantages tending to the preservation of health, which do not attach to the lower cla.s.ses 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 a.s.semblage 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 amus.e.m.e.nts_.

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 cla.s.s 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 a.s.signed 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 const.i.tuted) explained and examined.--Suggestions relative to established Justices, and the benefits likely to result from their exertions in a.s.sisting 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 a.s.signed 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 a.s.signed 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 cla.s.ses 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 mult.i.tude 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 a.s.signed them at convenient distances in Westminster, Middles.e.x, 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. Ba.s.sishaw 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 a.s.sists at the General and Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and in the princ.i.p.al 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_.

Middles.e.x.

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 Inst.i.tution 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-const.i.tuted 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 a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sistance,) 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--p.a.w.n-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 p.a.w.ning 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 mult.i.tude 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 a.s.sistance, 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]