Indigence a cause of the increase of Crimes.—The System with respect to the Casual Poor erroneous.—The miserable condition of many who seek for an Asylum in the Metropolis.—The unhappy State of broken-down Families, who have seen better days.—The effect of Indigence on the Offspring of the Sufferers.—The discovery of the Children of unfortunate Families applying for Soup at the Establishments.—The unparalleled Philanthropy of the opulent Part of the Community.—Estimate of the Private and Public Benevolence amounting to 850,000l. a year.—The noble Munificence of the Merchants.—An Appeal to the exalted virtue of the Opulent, who have come forward in acts of Humanity.—The deplorable State of the Lower Ranks attributed to the present System of the Poor Laws.—An Institution to inquire into the Causes of Mendicity in the Metropolis explained.—The State of the Casual Poor resumed.—The abuses and inefficacy of the relief received.—A new System proposed with respect to them and Vagrants in the Metropolis.—Its advantages explained.—The distinction between Poverty and Indigence explained.—The Poor divided into five Classes, with suggestions applicable to each.—The evil Examples in Workhouses a great cause of the Corruption of Morals.—The Statute of 43 Elizabeth considered.—The defective System of Execution exposed—Confirmed by the opinion of Lord Hale.—A partial Remedy proposed in respect to Vagrant and Casual Poor.—A Public Institution recommended for the care of this class of Poor, under the direction of three Commissioners.—Their Functions explained.—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.—The assistance of Sir Frederick Eden, and other Gentlemen of talents, who have turned their thoughts to the Poor, attainable.—The advantages which would result to the Community, from the united Efforts of men of investigation and judgment, previous to any final Legislative Regulation.—Conclusion.
INDIGENCE, in the present state of Society, may be considered as a principal cause of the increase of Crimes.
The System which prevails in the Metropolis, with respect to these unfortunate individuals who are denominated the Casual Poor, will be found on minute inquiry to be none of the least considerable of the causes, which lead to the corruption of morals, and to the multiplication of minor offences in particular.
The number of persons, who with their families, find their way to the Metropolis, from the most remote quarters of Great Britain and Ireland, is inconceivable. In hopes of finding employment they incur an immediate and constant expence, for lodging and subsistence, until at length their little all is in the Pawnbrokers' shops, or sold to raise money for the necessaries of life. If they have been virtuously brought up in the country, despondency seizes upon their minds, in consequence of the disappointments and hardships, their adventurous or incautious conduct has doomed them to suffer; which as it applies to the most deserving of this class, who will not steal, and are ashamed to beg, often exceeds any thing that the human mind can conceive.
Their Parochial Settlements are either at a great distance, or perhaps as natives of Scotland or Ireland, they are without even this resource. The expence of removing, as the Law directs, is too serious a charge to be incurred by the parish where accident has fixed them. They are treated with neglect and contumely by the parochial Officers; and even occasionally driven to despair. Willing to labour, but bereft of any channel or medium through which the means of subsistence might be procured. It is assigned to no person to hear their mournful tale, who might be able to place them in a situation, where they might gain a subsistence; and under such circumstances it is much to be feared, that not a few of them either actually perish for want, or contract diseases which ultimately terminate in premature death.
Such is frequently the situation of the more decent and virtuous class of the labouring people, who come to seek employment in the Metropolis. The more profligate who pursue the same course have generally other resources. Where honest labour is not to be procured, they connect themselves with those who live by petty or more atrocious offences, and contribute in no small degree to the increase of the general phalanx of delinquents. The young female part of such families too often become prostitutes, while the males pursue acts of depredation upon the Public, by availing themselves of the various resources, which the defects in the Police System allow.
In addition to the families who thus resort to the Capital, young men frequently wander up who have become liable to the penalties of the laws, in consequence of being unable to find security for the support of a natural Child in their own parish; or who perhaps have incurred the punishment due to some other offence.—Without money, without recommendations, and bereft of friends, and perhaps afraid of being known, they resort to low public houses, where they meet with thieves and rogues, who not unfrequently in this way recruit their gangs, as often as the arm of Justice diminishes their numbers.
But it is to be lamented, that in contemplating the mass of indigence, which, in its various ramifications, produces distresses more extensive and more poignant than perhaps in any other spot in the world, (Paris excepted) its origin is to be traced in almost every rank of Society; and though sometimes the result of unavoidable misfortune, is perhaps more frequently generated by idleness, inattention to business, and indiscretion. But at all events, the tear of pity is due to the helpless and forlorn offspring of the criminal or indolent, who become objects of compassion, not only as it relates to their immediate subsistence; but much more with respect to their future situations in life. It is in the progress to the adult state, that the infants of parents, broken down by misfortunes, almost unavoidably learn, from the pressure of extreme poverty, to resort to devices which early corrupt their morals, and mar their future success and utility in life. Under the influence of these sad examples, and their necessary consequences, do many females become Prostitutes, who in other circumstances, might have been an ornament to their sex, while the males, by contracting early in life habits that are pernicious, become, in many instances, no less noxious to Society. Familiarized in infancy to the Pawnbroker's shop, and to other even less reputable means of obtaining temporary subsistence, they too soon become adepts in falsehood and deceit. Imperious necessity has given an early spring to their ingenuity. They are generally full of resource, which in good pursuits might render them useful and valuable members of the Community: but unhappily their minds have acquired a wrong bias, and they are reared insensibly in the walks of vice, without knowing, in many instances, that they are at all engaged in evil pursuits.
In all these points of view, from indigence is to be traced the great Origin and the Progress of Crimes.
In attending the different Soup Establishments (where 50,000 indigent families, at the expence of one halfpenny per head, have a meal furnished every day during the winter)[93] the Author has observed, with a mixture of pain and satisfaction, particularly at one of them, the children of unfortunate and reduced families, who, from their appearance, have moved in a higher sphere, the humble suitors for this frugal and nourishing aliment.
To have contributed in any degree to the relief of distress rendered painful in the extreme from the recollection of better days, is an ample reward to those benevolent individuals, who have joined in the support and conduct of an undertaking, of all others the most beneficial that perhaps was ever devised, for the purpose of assisting and relieving suffering humanity.
While the wretchedness, misery and crimes, which have been developed, and detailed in this work, cannot be sufficiently deplored, it is a matter of no little exultation, that in no country or nation in the world, and certainly in no other Metropolis, does there exist among the higher and middle ranks of Society, an equal portion of Philanthropy and Benevolence.—Here are to be discovered the extremes of vice and virtue, strongly marked by the existing turpitude on one hand, and the noble instances of charitable munificence, displayed by the opulent part of the Community, on the other.
Nothing can place this in a stronger point of view, and perhaps nothing will astonish strangers more than the following summary Estimate of the various Institutions, supported chiefly by Voluntary Contributions, in addition to the legal Assessments, all tending to ameliorate and better the condition of human life, under the afflicting circumstances of indigence and disease.[94]
In addition to this, it is highly proper to mention the noble benevolence, which has been displayed by the Opulent of all ranks, but particularly the Merchants, in the very large sums which have been, at various times, subscribed for the relief of the brave men, who have been maimed and wounded, and for the support of the widows, orphans, and relations of those who have meritoriously lost their lives in fighting the battles of their country.
Such exalted examples of unbounded munificence the history of no other nation records.
It is to this source of elevated virtue, and nobleness of mind, that an appeal is made, on the present occasion, in behalf of those unhappy fellow-mortals; who, in spite of the unexampled liberality which has been displayed, still require the fostering hand of Philanthropy.
The cause of these distresses has been explained; and also the evils which such a condition in human life entails upon Society. It is not pecuniary aid that will heal this gangrene: this Corruption of Morals. There must be the application of a correct System of Police, calculated to reach the root and origin of the evil.—Without System, Intelligence, Talents, and Industry, united in all that relates to the affairs of the Poor, millions may be wasted as millions have already been wasted, without bettering their condition. In all the branches of the Science of Political Œconomy, there is none which requires so much skill and knowledge of men and manners, as that which relates to this particular object: and yet, important as it is to the best interests of the Community, the management of a concern, in which the very foundation of the national prosperity is involved, is suffered to remain, as in the rude ages, when Society had not assumed the bold features of the present period,—in the hands of changeable, and in many instances, unlettered agents; wholly incompetent to a task at all times nice and difficult in the execution, and often irksome and inconvenient.
One great feature of this evil, on which it is deplorable to reflect, is, that nearly one million of the inhabitants of a country, the utmost population of which is supposed to be short of nine millions, should be supported in part or in whole by the remaining eight.
In spite of all the ingenious arguments which have been used in favour of a System admitted to be wisely conceived in its origin, the effects it has produced incontestably prove, that with respect to the mass of the Poor, there is something radically wrong in the execution.
If it were not so, it is impossible that there could exist in the Metropolis such an inconceivable portion of human misery, amidst examples of munificence and benevolence unparalleled in any age or country in the world.
Impressed with these sentiments, so far as they apply to the state of indigence in the Metropolis, a design has been sanctioned by the Benevolent Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor, the object of which is to establish a department for inquiring into the history, life, and the causes of the distress of every person who asks relief in any part of the Metropolis: not with a view to support these unfortunate persons in idleness and vice; but to use those means which talents, attention, and humanity can accomplish—(means which are beyond the reach of parochial officers), for the purpose of enabling them to assist themselves.[95]
In the Metropolis the Magistrates interfere very little in parochial relief, except when appeals are made to them in particular cases, or when called upon to sign orders of removal, which is generally done as a matter of course. Hence it is that the poor are left almost entirely to the management of the Parochial Officers for the time being, who frequently act under the influence of ignorance or caprice, or are irritated by the impudent importunity of the profligate Gin-drinking poor. These Officers also, it is to be remembered, have private affairs which necessarily engage the chief part of their attention, and are frequently no less incapable than unwilling to enter on those investigations which might enable them to make the proper discriminations: the modest and shame-faced poor are thus frequently shut out from relief, while the vociferous and idle succeed in obtaining pecuniary assistance, which is soon improvidently dissipated.
The distress which is thus shewn to prevail, by no means arises from the want of competent funds:—the misfortune is, that from the nature of the present mode of management it is not possible to apply these funds beneficially for the proper relief of those for whom they were intended. A much more moderate assessment, under a regular and proper management, would remove great part of the evil.
The expence of the class of persons denominated Casual Poor, who have no settlement in any parish in the Metropolis, amounts to a large sum annually.—In the united parishes of St. Giles in the Fields, and St. George, Bloomsbury, this expence amounted to 2000l. in the year 1796. It arose from the support of about 1200 poor natives of Ireland, who but for this aid must have become vagrants. The shocking abuse of the vagrant passes previous to the year 1792, produced the Act of the 32 Geo. III. cap. 45. which requires that Rogues and Vagabonds should be first publicly whipt, or confined seven days in the House of Correction, (females to be imprisoned only, and in no case whipped) before they are passed, as directed by the Act of the 17 Geo. II. c. 5. Hence it is that so many who are either on the brink of vagrancy or have actually received alms, are permitted to remain a burden on the parishes; the Magistrates being loth to incur the charge of inhumanity, by strictly following the letter of the Act, in whipping or imprisoning poor miserable wretches, whose indigence have rendered relief necessary.
In all the 146 parishes within and without the walls, including the Bills of Mortality, &c. it is not improbable that the casual charity given in this way may amount to 10,000l. a year.
The loose manner in which it is given, and the impossibility either of a proper discrimination, or of finding in the distributing these resources, that time for investigation which might lead to the solid benefit of the Pauper, by restoring him to a capacity of earning his own livelihood, makes it highly probable that instead of being useful, this large sum is perhaps hurtful, to the major part of the poor who receive it. The trifle they receive, from being injudiciously given, and frequently to get rid of the clamour and importunity of the most profligate, is too often spent immediately in the Gin-shop.—No inquiry is made into the circumstances of the family—No measures are pursued to redeem the apparel locked up in the Pawnbrokers' shop, although a small sum would frequently recover the habiliments of a naked and starving family—no questions are asked respecting the means they employ to subsist themselves by labour; and no efforts are used to procure employment for those who are willing to labour, but have not the means of obtaining work.
Hence it is that poverty, under such circumstances, contributes in no small degree to the multiplication of crimes. The profligate thus partly supported, too often resorts to pilfering pursuits to fill up the chasm, and habits of idleness being once obtained, labour soon becomes irksome.
Why should not the whole nation, but particularly the Metropolis, be considered, so far at least as regards the vagrant and casual Poor, as one family, and be placed under the review of certain persons who might be considered as worthy of the trust, and might devote their time sedulously to that object?—Were such an establishment, instituted, and supported in the first instance by a sum from each parish, equal to the casual relief they have each given on an average of the five preceding years, with power to employ this fund in establishing Houses of Industry, or Work-rooms, in various parts of the Metropolis, where the Poor should receive the whole of their earnings and a comfortable meal besides:—it is highly probable that while the expence to the parishes would gradually diminish, beggary would be annihilated in the Metropolis—the modest and deserving Poor would be discovered and relieved, while the idle and profligate, who resorted to begging as a trade, would be compelled to apply to honest labour for their subsistence.
This is a point in the political œconomy of the Nation highly important, whether it relates to the cause of humanity or to the morals of the people, upon which all good Governments are founded.—That such an institution is practicable is already proved from the partial experiments that have been made. That the advantages resulting from it would be great beyond all calculation, is too obvious to require elucidation.
While it operated beneficially to the lower classes of the people and to the State, it would relieve Parochial Officers of a very irksome and laborious task, perhaps the most disagreeable that is attached to the office of an Overseer in the Metropolis.
To give this branch of Police vigor and effect, the aid of the Legislature would be necessary; which would be easily obtained when the measure itself was once thoroughly understood, and it could not then fail to be as popular as it would unquestionably be useful.
They who from their habits of life have few opportunities of considering the state of the Poor, are apt to form very erroneous opinions on the subject.
By the Poor we are not to understand the whole mass of the people who support themselves by labour; for those whose necessity compels them to exercise their industry, become by their poverty the actual pillars of the State.
Labour is absolutely requisite to the existence of all Governments; and as it is from the Poor only that labour can be expected, so far from being an evil they become, under proper regulations, an advantage to every Country, and highly deserve the fostering care of every Government. It is not Poverty therefore, that is in itself an evil, while health, strength, and inclination, afford the means of subsistence, and while work is to be had by all who seek it.—The evil is to be found only in Indigence, where the strength fails, where disease, age, or infancy, deprives the individual of the means of subsistence, or where he knows not how to find employment when willing and able to work.
In this view the Poor may be divided into five Classes:—
The first Class comprehends what may be denominated the useful Poor, who are able and willing to work—who have already been represented as the pillars of the State, and who merit the utmost attention of all Governments, with a direct and immediate view of preventing their poverty from descending unnecessarily into indigence. As often as this evil is permitted to happen, the State not only loses an useful subject, but the expence of his maintenance must be borne by the Public.—The great art, therefore, in managing the affairs of the Poor, is to establish Systems whereby the poor man, verging upon indigence, may be propped up and kept in his station. Whenever this can be effected, it is done upon an average at one-tenth of the expence at most that must be incurred by permitting a family to retrograde into a state of indigence, where they must be wholly maintained by the Public, and where their own exertions cease in a great measure to be useful to the Country.
The second Class comprehends the vagrant Poor, who are able but not willing to work, or who cannot obtain employment in consequence of their bad character. This class may be said to have descended from poverty into beggary, in which state they become objects of peculiar attention, since the State suffers not only the loss of their labour, but also of the money which they obtain by the present ill-judged mode of giving charity. Many of them, however, having become mendicants, more from necessity than choice, deserve commiseration and attention, and nothing can promote in a greater degree the cause of humanity, and the real interest of the Metropolis, than an establishment for the employment of this class of indigent Poor, who may be said at present to be in a very deplorable state, those only excepted who make begging a profession. It is only by a plan, such as has been recommended, that the real indigent can be discovered from the vagrant, and in no other way is it possible to have that distinct and collected view of the whole class of beggars in the Metropolis, or to provide the means of rendering their labour (where they are able to labour) productive to themselves and the State.—And it may be further added with great truth, that in no other way is it possible to prevent the offspring of such mendicants from becoming Prostitutes and Thieves.
If, therefore, it is of importance to diminish crimes, and to obstruct the progress of immorality, this part of the Community ought to be the peculiar objects of a branch of the National Police, where responsibility would secure an accurate execution of the System. This measure ought to begin in the Metropolis as an experiment, and when fully matured might be extended with every advantage to the Country.
The third Class may be considered under the denomination of the Indigent Poor, who from want of employment, sickness, losses, insanity or disease, are unable to maintain themselves.
In attending to this description of Poor, the first consideration ought to be to select those who are in a state to re-occupy their former station among the labouring Poor; and to restore them to the first class as soon as possible, by such relief as should enable them to resume their former employments, and to help themselves and families.
Where insanity, or temporary disease, or infirmity actually exist, such a course must then be pursued as will enable such weak and indigent persons, while they are supported at the expence of the Public, to perform such species of labour, as may be suited to their peculiar situations, without operating as a hardship, but rather as an amusement. In this manner it is wonderful how productive the exertions of even the most infirm might be rendered.—But it must be accomplished under a management very different, indeed, from any thing which prevails at present.
The fourth Class comprehends the aged and infirm, who are entirely past labour, and have no means of support.—Where an honest industrious man has wasted his strength in labour and endeavours to rear a family, he is well entitled to an asylum to render the evening of his life comfortable. For this class the gratitude and the humanity of the Community ought to provide a retreat separate from the profligate and vagrant Poor. But, alas! the present System admits of no such blessing.—The most deserving most submit to an indiscriminate intercourse in Workhouses with the most worthless: whose polluted language and irregular conduct, render not a few of those asylums as great a punishment to the decent part of the indigent and infirm as a common prison.
The fifth Class comprises the Infant Poor, who from extreme indigence, or the death of parents, are cast upon the public for nurture. One fifth part of the gross number in a London Workhouse is generally composed of this class. Their moral and religious education is of the last importance to the Community. They are the children of the Public, and if not introduced into life, under circumstances favourable to the interest of the State, the error in the System becomes flagrant.—Profligate or distressed parents may educate their children ill; but when those under the charge of Public Institutions are suffered to become depraved in their progress to maturity, it is a dreadful reproach on the Police of the Country.—And yet what is to be expected from children reared in Workhouses, with the evil examples before them of the multitudes of depraved characters who are constantly admitted into those receptacles? Young minds are generally more susceptible of evil than of good impressions; and hence it is that the rising generation enter upon life with those wicked and dangerous propensities, which are visible to the attentive observer in all the walks of vulgar life in this great Metropolis.
The limits of this Treatise will not permit the Author to attempt more than a mere outline on the general subject of the Poor; a System of all others the most difficult to manage and arrange with advantage to the Community; but which is at present unhappily entrusted to the care of those least competent to the task.
The principle of the Statute of the 43d of Elizabeth is certainly unobjectionable; but the execution, it must be repeated, is defective. In short, no part of it has been effectually executed, but that which relates to raising the assessments. It is easy to make Statutes; but omnipotent as Parliament is said to be, it cannot give knowledge, education, public spirit, integrity and time, to those Changeable Agents whom it has charged with the execution of the Poor Laws.
In the management of the affairs of the State, the Sovereign wisely selects men eminent for their talents and integrity:—Were the choice to be made on the principle established by the Poor Laws, the Nation could not exist even a single year.
In the private affairs of life, the success of every difficult undertaking depends on the degree of abilities employed in the management. In the affairs of the Poor, the most arduous and intricate that it is possible to conceive, and where the greatest talents and knowledge is required, the least portion of either is supplied. How then can we expect success?—The error is not in the original design, which is wise and judicious. The 43d of Elizabeth authorizes an assessment to be made for three purposes.
1st. To purchase Raw Materials to set the Poor to work, who could not otherwise dispose of their labour.
2d. To usher into the world, advantageously, the Children of poor people, by binding them apprentices to some useful employment.
3d. To provide for the lame, impotent and blind, and others, being poor and not able to work.
Nothing can be better imagined than the measures in the view of the very able framers of this act: but they did not discover that to execute such a design required powers diametrically opposite to those which the law provided. The last two centuries have afforded a series of proof of the total inefficacy of the application of these powers, not only by the effects which this erroneous superintendence has produced; but also from the testimony of the most enlightened men who have written on the subject, from the venerable Lord Hale to the patriotic and indefatigable Sir Frederick Eden. But the strongest evidence of the mischiefs arising from this defective execution of a valuable System, is to be found in the Statute Books themselves.[96]
"The want of a due provision," says Lord Hale, "for the relief and education of the Poor in the way of industry, is what fills the gaols with Malefactors, the Country with idle and unprofitable persons, that consume the stock of the Kingdom without improving it; and that will daily increase even to a desolation in time—and this error, in the first concoction, is never remediable but by gibbets and whipping."
That this will continue to be the case under any species of changeable management, however apparently correct in theory the System may be, must appear self-evident to every man of business and observation, whose attention has been practically directed to the general operation of the present mode in various parishes, and who has reflected deeply on the subject.
But to return to the immediate object of inquiry, namely, the means of more effectually preventing the numerous evils which arise from indigence and mendicity in the Metropolis, whether excited by idleness or extreme and unforeseen pressures: Under every circumstance it would seem impracticable without any burthen upon the Public, to provide for all such at least as are denominated Casual Poor (from whom the greatest part of this calamity springs) by adopting the following or some similar plan, under the sanction of Government, and the authority of the Legislature.
That a Public Institution shall be established in the Metropolis, with three Chief Officers, who shall be charged with the execution of that branch of the Police, which relates to Street Beggars, and those classes of Poor who have no legal settlements in the Metropolis, and who now receive casual relief from the different Parishes, where they have fixed their residence for the time;—and that these principal Officers, (who may be stiled Commissioners for inquiring into the Cases and Causes of the Distress of the Poor in the Metropolis) should exercise the following
FUNCTIONS:—
1st. To charge themselves with the relief and management of the whole of the Casual Poor, who at present receive temporary aid from the different Parishes, or who ask alms in any part of the Metropolis or its Suburbs.
2d. To provide Work-rooms in various central and convenient situations in the Metropolis, where persons destitute of employment may receive a temporary subsistence for labour. To superintend these work-houses, and become responsible for the proper management.
3d. To be empowered to give temporary relief to prop up sinking families, and to prevent their descending from poverty to indigence, by arresting the influence of despondency, and keeping the spirit of industry alive.
4th. To assist in binding out the Children of the Poor, or the Unfortunate, who have seen better days, and preventing the females from the danger of becoming Prostitutes, or the males from contracting loose and immoral habits, so as if possible to save them to their parents, and to the state.
5th. To open offices of inquiry in different parts of the Metropolis, where all classes of indigent persons, who are not entitled to parochial relief, will be invited to resort, for the purpose of being examined, and relieved according to the peculiar circumstances of the case.
6th. To exercise the legal powers, through the medium of Constables, for the purpose of compelling all Mendicants, and idle destitute Boys and Girls who appear in the streets, to come before the Commissioners for examination; that those whose industry cannot be made productive, or who cannot be put in a way to support themselves without alms, may be passed to their Parishes, while means are employed to bind out destitute Children to some useful occupation.
7th. To keep a distinct Register of the cases of all Mendicants or distressed individuals, who may seek advice and assistance, and to employ such means for alleviating misery, as the peculiar circumstances may suggest—never losing sight of indigence, until an asylum is provided for the helpless and infirm, and also until the indigent, who are able to labour, are placed in a situation to render it productive.
8th. That these Commissioners shall report their proceedings annually, to his Majesty in Council, and to Parliament; with abstracts, shewing the numbers who have been examined—How disposed of—The earning of the persons at the different Work-rooms—The annual expence of the Establishment; together with a general view of the advantages resulting from it; with the proofs of these advantages.
Towards defraying the whole expence of this Establishment it is proposed, that (in lieu of the Casual Charity, paid at present by all the Parishes in the Metropolis, which under this System will cease, together with the immense trouble attached to it,) each Parish in the Metropolis shall pay into the hands of the Receiver of the Funds of this Pauper Police Institution, a sum equal to what was formerly disbursed in casual relief, which for the purpose of elucidation, is estimated as follows:—
| £. | s. | d. | ||
| 97 | Parishes within the Walls, average 10l. each | 970 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Parishes without the Walls, in London and Southwark, average 60l. each | 960 | 0 | 0 |
| £.1,930 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Out-parishes in Middlesex and Surry, average 100l. each | 2,300 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Parishes in Westminster, average 100l. each | 1,000 | 0 | 0 |
| 146 | £.5,230 | 0 | 0 |
This sum (which is supposed to be not much above one half of the average Annual disbursements of the 146 Parishes above-mentioned; especially since it has been shewn, that the expence in St. Giles' and St. George Bloomsbury alone, has been 2000l. in one year) will probably, with œconomy and good management, be found sufficient for all the relief that is required; more especially as the object is not to maintain the indigent, but to put them in a way of supporting themselves by occasional pecuniary aids well and judiciously applied.
The experiment is certainly worth trying. In its execution some of the most respectable and intelligent individuals in the Metropolis, would gratuitously assist the Commissioners, who as taking responsibility upon them, in the direction of a most important branch of Police, ought undoubtedly to be remunerated by Government, especially as it is scarcely possible to conceive any mode in which the Public money could be applied, that would be productive of such benefit to the State.
If that utility resulted from the design, which may reasonably be expected, it would of course extend to other great towns, as the private Soup Establishments have done, and the condition of the poor would undergo a rapid change. The destitute and forlorn would then have some means of communicating their distress, while information and facts of the greatest importance, to the best interests of Society, would spring from this source.
With respect to the general affairs of the poor, much good would arise from consolidating the funds of all the parishes in the Metropolis.
The poor for instance, who are supported from the parochial funds of Bethnal Green, and other distressed parishes in the eastern parts of the Metropolis, are the labourers of the citizens and inhabitants of the 97 Parishes within the Walls, who, although opulent pay little or nothing to the Poor, since the city affords no cottages to lodge them.
Why, therefore, should not the inhabitants of the rich parishes contribute to the relief of the distresses of those who waste their strength in contributing to their ease, comfort, and profit? In several of the most populous Parishes and Hamlets in the eastern part of the Town, the Poor may actually be said to be assessed to support the indigent. In the very populous Hamlet of Mile-End New Town, where there is scarcely an inhabitant who does not derive his subsistence from some kind of labour, the rates are treble the assessments in Mary-le-bone, where opulence abounds. Nothing can exceed the inequality of the weight for the support of the Poor in the Metropolis; since where the demand is greatest, the means of supply are always most deficient and inadequate.
Certain it is that the whole system admits of much improvement, and perhaps at no period, since the Poor Laws have attracted attention, did there exist so many able and intelligent individuals as at present, who have been excited by motives of patriotism and philanthropy, to devote their time to the subject.
At the head of this most Respectable Group stands Sir Frederick Eden; a gentleman, whose entrance into life, has been marked by a display of the most useful talents, manifested by an extent of labour and perseverance, in his elaborate work on the Poor, which may be said to be unparalleled in point of information, while it unquestionably exhibits the respectable Author as a character in whose patriotism and abilities the State will find a considerable resource, in whatever tends to assist his Country, or to improve the condition of Human Life.
To the Lord Bishop of Durham, the Earl of Winchelsea, Count Rumford, Sir William Young, Thos. Ruggles, Esq. William Morton Pitt, Esq. Jeremy Bentham, Esq. Robert Saunders, Esq. Thomas Bernard, Esq. William Wilberforce, Esq. Rowland Burdon, Esq. the Rev. Dr. Glasse, the Rev. Thomas Gisburn, the Rev. Mr. Howlet, Mr. Davis, Mr. Townsend, Arthur Young, Esq. and William Sabatier, Esq. as well as several other respectable living characters, who have particularly turned their thoughts to the subject of the Poor, the Public are not only already much indebted, but from this prolific resource of judgment, talents, and knowledge, much good might be expected, if ever the period shall arrive when the revision of the Poor Laws shall engage the attention of the Legislature.
The measure is too complicated to be adjusted by men, who have not opportunities or leisure to contemplate its infinite ramifications.
It is a task which can only be executed with accuracy by those, who completely understand the subject as well in practice as in theory, and who can bestow the time requisite for those laborious investigations, which must be absolutely necessary to form a final opinion, and to report to Parliament what is most expedient, under all circumstances, to be done in this important National Concern.
Happy is it for the country, that a resource exists for the attainment of this object, than which nothing can contribute, in a greater degree, to the prevention of Crimes, and to the general improvement of Civil Society.
The state of the Police, with regard to the detection of different classes of offenders, explained.—The necessity, under the present circumstances, of having recourse to the known Receivers of stolen Goods, for the purpose of discovering Offenders, as well as the property stolen.—The great utility of Officers of Justice as safeguards of the Community.—The advantages to be derived from rendering them respectable in the opinion of the Public. Their powers, by the common and statute law, are extensive.—The great antiquity of the Office of Constable, exemplified by different Ancient Statutes.—The authority of Officers and others explained, in apprehending persons accused of felony.—Rewards granted in certain cases as encouragements to Officers to lie vigilant:—The statutes quoted, applicable to such rewards, shewing that they apply to ten different offences.—The utility of parochial Constables, under a well-organized Police, explained.—A fund for this purpose would arise from the reduction of the expences of the Police by the diminution of Crimes.—The necessity of a competent fund explained.—The deficiency of the present System exemplified in the effect of the presentments by Constables to the Grand Inquest.—A new System proposed.—The functions of the different classes of Officers, explained.—Salaries necessary to all.—The System of rewards, as now established, shewn to be radically deficient; exemplified by the circumstance, that in 1088 prisoners, charged at the Old Bailey in one year, with 36 different offences, only 9 offences entitled the apprehenders to any gratuity:—Improvements suggested for the greater encouragement of Officers of Justice.—1043 Peace Officers in the Metropolis and its vicinity, of whom only 90 are stipendiary Constables.—Little assistance to be expected from Parochial Officers, while there exists no fund for rewarding extraordinary services.—Great advantages likely to result from rewarding all Officers for useful services actually performed.—The utility of extending the same gratuities to Watchmen and Patroles.—Defects and abuses in the System of the Watch explained.—The number of Watchmen and Patroles in the Metropolis estimated at 2044:—A general System of superintendance suggested.—A view of the Magistracy of the Metropolis.—The efficient duty shewn to rest with the City and Police Magistrates.—The inconvenience of the present System.—Concluding Observations.
AS it must be admitted, that the evils arising from the multiplied crimes detailed in the preceding Chapters, render a correct and energetic System of Police with regard to the detection, discovery, and apprehension of offenders, indispensably necessary for the safety and well-being of Society; it follows of course, in the order of this Work, to explain how this branch of the public service is conducted at present, the defects which are apparent,—and the means of improving the System.
When robberies or burglaries have been committed in or near the Metropolis, where the property is of considerable value, the usual method at present, is to apply to the City Magistrates, if in London; or otherwise, to the Justices at one of the Public Offices,[97] and to publish an Advertisement offering a reward on the recovery of the articles stolen, and the conviction of the offenders.[98]
In many cases of importance, to the reproach of the Police, recourse is had to noted and known Receivers of stolen Goods for their assistance in discovering such offenders, and of pointing out the means by which the property may be recovered: this has on many occasions been productive of success to the parties who have been robbed; as well as to the ends of public justice; for however lamentable it is to think that Magistrates are compelled to have recourse to such expedients, yet while the present System continues, and while robberies and burglaries are so frequent, without the means of prevention, there is no alternative on many occasions but to employ a thief to catch a thief.
It is indeed so far fortunate, that when the influence of Magistrates is judiciously and zealously employed in this way, it is productive in many instances of considerable success, not only in the recovery of property stolen, but also in the detection and punishment of atrocious offenders.
Wherever activity and zeal are manifested on the part of the Magistrates, the Peace Officers, under their immediate direction, seldom fail to exhibit a similar desire to promote the ends of public justice. And when it is considered that these Officers, while they conduct themselves with purity, are truly the safeguards of the Community, destined to protect the Public against the outrages and lawless depredations of a set of miscreants, who are the declared enemies of the State, by making war upon all ranks of the body politic, who have property to lose;—they have a fair claim, while they act properly, to be esteemed as "the civil defenders of the lives and properties of the People."
Every thing that can heighten in any degree the respectability of the office of Constable, adds to the security of the State, and the safety of the life and property of every individual.
Under such circumstances, it cannot be sufficiently regretted that these useful constitutional officers, destined for the protection of the Public, have been (with a very few exceptions) so little regarded, so carelessly selected, and so ill supported and rewarded for the imminent risques which they run, and the services they perform in the execution of their duty.
The common Law, as well as the ancient Statutes of the kingdom, having placed extensive powers in the hands of Constables and Peace Officers;—they are, in this point of view, to be considered as respectable;—and it is the interest of the Community, that they should support that rank and character in society, which corresponds with the authority with which they are invested.—If this were attended to, men of credit and discretion would not be so averse to fill such situations; and those pernicious prejudices, which have prevailed in vulgar life, and in some degree among the higher ranks in Society, with regard to thief-takers, would no longer operate; for it is plain to demonstration, "that the best laws that ever were made can avail nothing, if the Public Mind is impressed with an idea, that it is a matter of infamy, to become the casual or professional agents to carry them into execution."
This absurd prejudice against the office of Constable, and the small encouragement which the major part receive, is one of the chief reasons why unworthy characters have filled such situations; and why the public interest has suffered by the increase of crimes.
The office of Constable is as old as the Monarchy of England;—and certainly existed in the time of the Saxons.[99]—The law requires that he should be idoneus homo: or in other words, to have honesty to execute the office without malice, affection, or partiality; knowledge to understand what he ought to do; and ability, as well in substance or estate, as in body, to enable him to conduct himself with utility to the public.
The Statute of Winchester, made in the 13th year of Edward the First (anno 1285) appoints two Constables to be chosen in every Hundred; and such seems to have been the attention of the Legislature to the Police of the Country at that early period of our history, "that suspicious night-walkers are ordered to be arrested and detained by the watch."[100]
The Statute of 5 Edward III. cap. 14, (anno 1332) empowers Constables "to arrest persons suspected of man-slaughter, felonies, and robberies, and to deliver them to the Sheriff, to be kept in prison till the coming of the Justices:" and another Act of the 34th of the same reign, cap. 1, (made anno 1361,) empowers Justices, (inter alia) "to inquire after wanderers, to arrest and imprison suspicious persons, and to oblige persons of evil fame to give security for good behaviour; so that the People may not be troubled by rioters, nor the peace blemished; nor Merchants and others travelling on the highways be disturbed or put in peril by such offenders."
By the common law, every person committing a felony may be arrested by any person whomsoever present at the fact, who may secure the prisoner in gaol, or carry him before a Magistrate,[101]—and if a prisoner thus circumstanced, resists and refuses to yield, those who arrest will be justified in the beating him,[102] or, in case of absolute necessity, even killing him.[103]
In arresting persons on suspicion of a felony, actually committed, common fame has been adjudged to be a reasonable cause.[104]
There are four methods, known in law, by which Officers of Justice, as well as private individuals, may arrest persons charged with felony.—1. By the warrant of a Magistrate.—2. By an Officer without a warrant.—3. By a Private Person without a warrant.—And 4. By Hue-and-Cry.[105]
When a warrant is received by an Officer, he is bound to execute it, so far as the jurisdiction of the Magistrate and himself extends.—But the Constable having great original and inherent authority, may, without warrant, apprehend any person for a breach of the Peace: and in case of felony, actually committed, he may, on probable suspicion, arrest the felon: and for that purpose (as upon the warrant of a Magistrate,) he is authorised to break open doors, and even justified in killing the felon, if he cannot otherwise be taken.[106]
All persons present, when a felony is committed, are bound to arrest the felon, on pain of fine and imprisonment, if he escapes through negligence of the by-standers; who will (the same as a constable) in such case be justified in breaking open doors, to follow such felon, and even to kill him if he cannot be taken otherwise.[107]
The other species of arrest is called Hue-and-Cry, which is an alarm raised in the country upon any felony being committed. This was an ancient practice in use as far back as the reign of Edward the First, (1285) by which, in the then infant state of society, it became easy to discover criminal persons flying from justice.
However doubtful the utility of this ancient method of detecting offenders may be, in a great Metropolis, in the present extended state of Society, it is plain, that it has been considered as an important regulation of Police so late as the 8th George II. (1735;) since it was enacted in that year, (stat. 8, George II. cap. 16.) that the Constable who neglects making hue-and-cry, shall forfeit five pounds; and even the district is liable to be fined (according to the law of Alfred) if the felony be committed therein, and the felon escapes.[108] This, however, applies more particularly to the country, and where the practice cannot fail to be useful in a certain degree.
When a hue-and-cry is raised, every person, by command of the Constable, must pursue the felon, on pain of fine and imprisonment.
In this pursuit also, Constables may search suspected houses if the doors be open: but unless the felon is actually in the house, it will not be justifiable to use force; nor even then, except where admittance has been demanded and refused.
A Constable, even without any warrant, may break open a door for the purpose of apprehending a felon; but to justify this measure, he must not only shew that the felon was in the house, but also that access was denied after giving notice that he was a Constable, and demanding admittance in that capacity.[109] In the execution of the warrant of a Magistrate, the Officer is certainly authorized to break open the doors of the felon, or of the house of any person where he is concealed.—The first is lawful under all circumstances; but forcibly entering the house of a stranger may be considered as a trespass, if the felon should not be there.[110]
Such are the powers with which Constables are invested,—and which are, in many instances, enforced by penalties; that public justice may not be defeated.[111]
In addition to this, the wisdom of the Legislature, as an encouragement to officers and others to do their duty in apprehending and prosecuting offenders, has granted rewards in certain cases; Namely,
| £. | ||
| 4 Will. & Mary, c. 8; and 6 Geo. I. c. 23. | 1. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, every robber, on the highway, including the streets of the Metropolis, and all other towns, a reward of 40l. besides the horse, furniture, arms, and money, of the said robber, if not stolen property: to be paid to the person apprehending, or if killed in the endeavour, to his Executors. | 40 |
| And the Stat. 8 Geo. II. c. 16. superadds 10l. to be paid by the Hundred indemnified by such taking. | ||
| 6 & 7 Will. and Mary, c. 17; and 15 & 16 Geo. II. c. 28. | 2. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction every person who shall have counterfeited, clipped, washed,[112] filed, or diminished the current coin; or who shall gild silver to make it pass as gold, or copper, as silver,—or who shall utter false money, (being the third offence) or after being once convicted of being a common utterer, &c. a reward of | 40 |
| 3. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, every person counterfeiting copper money, a reward of | 10 | |
| 10 and 11 Will. III. c. 23. | 4. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, every person privately stealing to the value of 5s. from any shop, warehouse, or stable, a Tyburn ticket,[113] average value, about | 20 |
| 10 & 11 Will. III. c. 23. 5 Ann. c. 32. | 5. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, every person charged with a burglary, a reward of 40l. (to the apprehender, or if killed, to his executors) in money, and a Tyburn ticket, 20l. | 60 |
| 6. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, every person charged with house-breaking in the day-time, 40l. in money, and a Tyburn ticket | 60 | |
| 7. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, any person charged with horse-stealing, a Tyburn Ticket | 20 | |
| 6 Geo. I. c. 23. | 8. For apprehending, and prosecuting with effect, a person charged with the offence of compounding a felony, by taking money to help a person to stolen goods, without prosecuting and giving evidence against the felon | 40 |
| 14 Geo. II. c. 6. 15 Geo. II. c. 34. | 9. For apprehending, and prosecuting with effect, a person charged with stealing, or killing to steal, any sheep, lamb, bull, cow, ox, steer, bullock, heifer, or calf | 10 |
| 16 Geo. II. c. 15. 8 Geo. III. c. 15. | 10. For apprehending, and prosecuting with effect, persons returning from transportation | 20 |
These rewards apply to ten different offences, and ought, no doubt, to be a considerable spur to Officers to do their duty; but it may be doubted whether this measure has not, in some degree, tended to the increase of a multitude of smaller crimes which are pregnant with the greatest mischiefs to Society.—It is by deterring men from the commission of smaller crimes (says the Marquis Beccaria) that greater ones are prevented.
If small rewards were given in cases of Grand Larceny, (now very numerous,) as well as of several other felonies, frauds, and misdemeanors, a species of activity would enter into the system of detection, which has not heretofore been experienced.
While rewards are limited to higher offences, and conviction is the indispensable condition upon which they are granted, it is much to be feared that lesser crimes are overlooked; and the Public subjected, in many instances, to the intermediate depredations of a rogue, from his first starting upon the town until he shall be worth 40l.
This system of giving high rewards only on conviction, also tends to weaken evidence: since it is obvious that the Counsel for all Prisoners, whose offences entitle the Prosecutors and Officers to a reward, generally endeavour to impress upon the minds of the Jury an idea, that witnesses, who have a pecuniary interest in the conviction of any offender standing upon trial, are not, on all occasions, deserving of full credit, unless strongly corroborated by other evidence; and thus many notorious offenders often escape justice.
By altering the system entirely, and leaving it in the breast of the Judge who tries the offence, to determine what reward shall be allowed, with a power to grant or withhold, or to limit and increase the same, according to circumstances connected with the trouble and risk of the parties, whether there is a conviction or not, a fairer measure of recompence would be dealt out;—the public money would be more beneficially distributed,[114] so as to excite general activity in checking every species of criminality;—and the objections, now urged against Officers and Prosecutors as interested witnesses, would, by this arrangement, be completely obviated.
For the purpose of elucidating these suggestions, it may be useful to examine the different offences which constitute the aggregate of the charges made against criminals arraigned at the Old Bailey, in the course of a year.
With this view the following statement is offered to the consideration of the Reader.—It refers to a period of profound peace (as most likely to exhibit a true average) and contains a register of the trials, published by authority, including eight sessions from September 1790 to 1791. From this it appears that 1088 prisoners were tried for different offences in that year, and that 711 were discharged! and yet, striking as this may appear, it may be asserted on good grounds, that the following melancholy Catalogue (extensive as it seems to be) does not probably contain even one-tenth part of the offences which are actually committed!
| 10 | for Murders | |
| 4 | Arson | |
| 10 | Forgeries | |
| 2 | Piracies | |
| 4 | Rapes | |
| 642 | Grand Larcenies[115] | |
| 32 | Stealing privately from persons | |
| 13 | Shop-lifting under 5s. | |
| 16 | Ripping and stealing Lead | |
| 12 | Stealing Pewter Pots | |
| 22 | Stealing from furnished Lodgings | |
| 1 | Stealing Letters | |
| 1 | Stealing a Child | |
| 22 | Receiving Stolen Goods | |
| 9 | for Dealing in and uttering base Money | |
| 1 | Sodomy | |
| 7 | Bigamy | |
| 6 | Perjuries | |
| 6 | Conspiracies | |
| 3 | Fraudulent Bankrupts | |
| 15 | Frauds | |
| 9 | Misdemeanors | |
| 1 | Assaulting, and cutting Clothes | |
| 1 | Smuggling | |
| 7 | Obstructing Revenue Officers | |
| 1 | Wounding a Horse maliciously | |
| 38 | Assaults | |
| 89, | Total. | |
| 193 | For which rewards were paid. | |
| 445 | Prisoners from the late Sheriffs. | |
| Aggregate number | 1533 |
Disposed of as follows, viz.
| Executed | 32 |
| Died | 25 |
| Sent to the Hulks | 2 |
| Transported | 517 |
| Removed to other Prisons | 95 |
| Transferred to the new Sheriffs | 151 |
| Discharged upon the town | 711 |
| 1533 |
Thus it appears that murders, as well as several other very atrocious crimes, are committed, where officers of justice are not entitled to any reward for their trouble and risque in apprehending the offenders.
Receivers of stolen Goods in particular, who, as has been repeatedly stated, are the nourishers and supporters of thieves, and who, of all other offenders, are of that class where the greatest benefit to the public is to arise from their discovery and apprehension, seem to be totally overlooked.
If it should be thought too loose a system to allow rewards not exceeding a certain sum in any one case, to be distributed according to the discretion of the Judges who try the offence; perhaps it might be possible to form a scale of premiums from one guinea up to fifty pounds, which, by holding out certain encouragement in all cases whatsoever, might not only excite a desire on the part of men of some property and respectability to become Officers of Justice: but would create that species of constant vigilance and attention to the means of apprehending every class of offenders, which cannot be expected at present, while the rewards are so limited.
The Officers of Justice, (parochial and stipendiary) who are appointed to watch over the Police of the Metropolis and its environs, in keeping the peace, and in detecting and apprehending offenders, amount at present (as near as possible) to 1040 individuals, under five separate jurisdictions, and are arranged as follows:
Officers, &c.