c. 8; and 6 to conviction, every robber, on the
Geo. I. c. 23. highway, including the streets of the Metropolis, and all other towns, a reward of 40_l._ 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 10_l._ to be paid by the Hundred indemnified by such taking.
6 & 7 Will. and 2. For apprehending, and prosecuting Mary, c. 17; to conviction every person who and 15 & 16 shall have counterfeited, clipped, washed,[112] Geo. II. c. 28. 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. 4. For apprehending, and prosecuting III. c. 23. to conviction, every person privately stealing to the value of 5_s._ from any _shop_, _warehouse_, or _stable_, a Tyburn ticket,[113] average value, about 20
10 & 11 Will. 5. For apprehending, and prosecuting III. c. 23. to conviction, every person charged 5 Ann. c. 32. with a burglary, a reward of 40_l._ (to the apprehender, or if killed, to his executors) in money, and a Tyburn ticket, 20_l._ 60
6. For apprehending, and prosecuting to conviction, every person charged with house-breaking in the day-time, 40_l._ 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. 8. For apprehending, and prosecuting c. 23. 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. 9. For apprehending, and prosecuting c. 6. with effect, a person charged with 15 Geo. II. stealing, or killing to steal, any sheep, c. 34. lamb, bull, cow, ox, steer, bullock, heifer, or calf 10
16 Geo. II. 10. For apprehending, and prosecuting c. 15. with effect, persons returning from 8 Geo. III. transportation 20 c. 15.
[Footnote 112: In consequence of some doubts which have been started relative to washed money, the reward in this case is not paid; it is confined entirely to the conviction of _Coiners_.]
[Footnote 113: This is a Certificate which may be assigned _once_, exempting the person who receives it, or his immediate assignee, from all offices within the parish or ward where the felony was committed. In some parishes it will sell from 25_l._ to 30_l._ In others it is not worth above 15_l._ to 18_l._ according to local situation.]
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 40_l._
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.
[Footnote 114: The expence to the Public for rewards paid by the Sheriffs of the different Counties for 12 years, from 1786 to 1797 inclusive, appears from the Appendix of the 28th Report of the Select Committee on Finance, page 104, to stand thus:
1786 L.10,840 1787 15,060 1788 6,590 1789 7,340 1790 8,970 1791 6,050 -------- L.54,850
1792 L.7,330 1793 8,160 1794 7,140 1795 3,290 1796 4,010 1797 9,650 -------- L.39,580 -------- Total in 12 years, L.94,430.]
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!
6 For Treason in making false money L. _A reward in money on conviction amounting for each to_ 40
81 Highway Robberies _A reward (besides the highwayman's property) for each_ 40
41 Burglaries _A reward 40l. besides a Tyburn ticket worth 20l._ 60
10 House Breaking in the day time _A reward 40l. besides a Tyburn ticket worth 20l._ 60
23 Stealing goods to the value of 5_s._ from a shop, &c. _A Tyburn ticket value as above, average_ 20
3 Coining Copper Money _A reward in money_ 10
17 Horse stealing _A reward in a Tyburn ticket, average value_ 20
10 For Stealing Cattle and Sheep _A reward in money_ 10
2 Returning from Transportation _A reward in money_ 20 --- 193 Prisoners tried for offences entitling the apprehenders to --- rewards on conviction; and 895 also tried, for which no rewards are allowed, _viz._
10 for Murders 4 Arson 10 Forgeries 2 Piracies 4 Rapes 642 Grand Larcenies[115] 32 Stealing privately from persons 13 Shop-lifting under 5_s._ 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
[Footnote 115: Grand Larceny is defined to be a felonious and fraudulent taking away by any person, of the mere personal goods of another, above the value of _twelve pence_.--1 _Hawk. P.C._ _c._ 33. Sec. 1.]
_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.
_London, 1st._ { The City of London in } City Marshals 2 { 25 Wards, exclusive of } Marshals' Men 6 { Bridge Without. } Beadles 36
{ Principals 98 Parochial Constables { Substitutes 145 { --- 243 { Extra Officers 32 --- 319
_Westminster, { The City and Liberty } High Constable 1 2d._ { of Westminster, 9 } { parishes and 2 } Parochial { precincts } Constables 70 --- 71
_Middlesex, { The Division of } High Constable 1 3d._ { Holborn, in Middlesex, } Parochial { joining the Metropolis, } Constables & { in 13 parishes, } Headboroughs 78 { liberties, and manors } -- 79 { { The Division of } High Constable 1 { Finsbury, in Middlesex, } Parochial { joining the Metropolis } Constables & { 4 parishes and } Headboroughs 68 { 1 liberty } -- 69 { { The Division called } High Constable 1 { the Tower Hamlets, } Parochial { including the eastern } Constables & { part of the Metropolis, } Headboroughs 217 { and comprehending 10 } --- 218 { parishes, 4 hamlets, 1 } { liberty, and } { 2 precincts }
_Tower Liberty, { The liberty of the } High Constable 1 4th._ { Tower of London, } Constables & { being a separate } Headboroughs 16 { jurisdiction } -- 17
The Division of } High Constable Kensington, Chelsea, &c. } Parochial comprehending 2 parishes } Constables & and 3 hamlets } Headboroughs --- 22
_Surry, 5th._ { The Borough of } High Constable 1 { Southwark, &c. } Constables 87 { comprehending 9 } -- 88 { Parishes. } --- Total Parochial Officers 883
To which are to be added the stated Officers of Police, specially appointed for the purpose of preventing crimes, and of detecting and apprehending offenders.
1. The establishment at Bow-Street, under the direction of the three Magistrates presiding at that Office, viz. Constables 6
and (under the direction of Sir W. ADDINGTON, Knt.) Patroles for the Road 68 -- 74
2. The establishment of seven Public Offices by the Act of the 32d of his present Majesty, cap. 53, under the direction of three Magistrates at each Office, viz.
Constables at the Public Office, Queen-Square 6 Marlborough-St. 6 Hatton Garden 6 -- 18
Constables at the Public Office, Worship-Street 6 Whitechapel 6 Shadwell 6 Union Hall, Southw. 6 -- 42 --- Total Civil Force in the Metropolis 999
To which add the Civil Force of the Thames Police Establishment;[116] established in July 1798, under the sanction of Government 41 ---- Total 1040
[Footnote 116: The Thames Police Establishment fluctuates according to the Season of the year, and the number of West India ships on the River.--
The permanent force in House Constables, Boat Surveyors, and Water Officers, &c. is 41
The fluctuating Civil Force in { Ship Constables 150 { Quay Guards 30 --- Total Civil Force of the Marine Police Establishment when the West-India Fleets are in port 221]
Of these 1040 Officers the Reader will observe, that only 89 (exclusive of the thirty-two extra officers in the City of London; and the sixty-eight patroles at Bow-street; making in the whole no more than 189,) _are Stipendiary Officers_, particularly pledged to devote their whole time to the service of the Public:--and hence a question arises, Whether so small a number are sufficient for the purpose of watching and detecting the hordes of villains who infest the Metropolis, and who must be considerably increased on the return of peace?
Little assistance can be expected under the present System from parochial officers; who, depending on their daily labour principally for their support, can afford to devote no more time than is absolutely necessary for their indispensable duties, during the 12 months they are in office: and more especially since Magistrates have no power, or funds, to remunerate such parochial officers for extraordinary exertions in the Public service, however meritorious they may be;--hence it is, that their zeal and activity are checked in many instances; when under proper regulations (such as are hereafter suggested) and subject to a certain degree of control and discipline, and properly remunerated for their services they might be rendered extremely useful. These facts, joined to the further elucidation of this particular branch of the subject, it is earnestly to be hoped, may produce an arrangement of more _energy_ and _effect_ than exists under the present system.
Officers of Justice, who are subjected not only to considerable risks, but also to want of rest, and to the inconvenience of being exposed much in the night-time, ought certainly to be liberally paid; so as to make it an object to _good_ and _able men_ even to look up to such situations.
It having been thus shewn that the Stipendiary Constables are so inconsiderable in point of numbers, and their duty confined to particular objects, it follows that on the parochial officers the Public ought, in a considerable degree, to depend for the general prevention of offences, and particularly for defeating the crafty and iniquitous devices which are resorted to for the purpose of evading the operation of justice.--These men also from their local knowledge are, or ought to be, best qualified to procure accurate information, and to supply what may be necessary to enable Magistrates to discharge their duty with advantage to the Community, and by this means they might be rendered useful auxiliaries to the existing Police.
It would seem, therefore, of the highest importance that arrangements should be formed, calculated to give to these constitutional safe-guards of the peaceful subject, that utility, energy, and effect, which originally resulted from the exercise of their functions,--which the present state of Society imperiously calls for, and without which the preventive System of Police can never be effectual.
On looking accurately into the nature and effect of the institution of Constables, it will be found that the vigor and efficacy of the Civil Power, the security of innocence,--the preservation of good order, and the attainment of justice, depend in a great measure on the accuracy of the System, with respect to these Officers assigned to keep the peace in the respective parishes of the Metropolis; and it is because the original spirit of the design has been, in so many instances, abandoned that crimes have multiplied, and that the public are so insecure.
The evil, however, admits of practicable remedies, which the Superintending Board of Police, recommended by the Select Committee of the House of Commons, might considerably facilitate, by methodizing the general design, and giving strength, intelligence, and uniformity to the whole.
Preparatory to this object, however, the System in the respective parishes must be greatly improved, before a co-operation can be expected that will prove extensively beneficial to the Public.
The first step to be pursued, is to establish a fund for the remuneration of Constables of every description. It will not be difficult to demonstrate that a resource may be found for this purpose, which will not impose any new burden on the Country, provided these Officers do their duty.
The enormous expence at present incurred, and which is either defrayed from the County Rates, or the general Revenue of the Country, arises chiefly after offenders are detected and punished. Out of 234,153_l._ a year stated by the Committee on Finance, to be the annual amount of the Police expences, only 26,183_l._ is incurred previous to detection.--By diminishing crimes, therefore, the chief part of the burden upon the Country will be taken away; and hence in this saving will be established a resource for the remuneration of those who may contribute to so important an object.
The present expenditure of the County Rates for criminal offences, is estimated to amount to 50,000_l._ a year. In proportion as offences diminish, through the medium of a well-organized and energetic Police, will this burden upon the Poor Rates also be diminished.
Independent, therefore, of the policy of improving the system with respect to parochial Constables, by attaching a greater degree of responsibility to their situation, and introducing that discipline and systematic activity, which can alone render their services effectual--the plan may even be recommended as a proper arrangement in point of oeconomy.
It is in vain to expect energy or attention in the execution of any Public duty, unless there be that personal responsibility which is not to be obtained without emolument. To render Officers of Justice, therefore, useful to the Public, they must be stimulated by interest:--they must, in fact, be paid for devoting a portion of their time to the comfort and security of others. The Law may inflict, and, indeed, has inflicted, penalties for the neglect of specific duties; but this will not establish that sort of Police which the present state of Society requires.--This is strongly exemplified in what may not be improperly called the _Mockery of Police_, which is exhibited in the periodical presentments by Constables, of public grievances and nuisances, before the Grand Inquest, four times a year at Westminster-hall, and twice before the Magistrates of the Sessions held at Guildhall in the City of Westminster. These presentments, although in themselves of the highest importance, have degenerated into what may now be considered as an useless and burdensome formality; at best it is a tedious, expensive, and circuitous, mode of removing nuisances and inconveniences, and so ill-suited to the present state of Society, that several modern parochial Acts have given relief in a summary way before Magistrates.
The fact is, that in a great majority of instances where presentments are made, the evils they describe, though often highly prejudicial, are suffered to accumulate with increasing malignity, at the same time frequently generating other mischiefs and pressures of a tendency equally pernicious to the Community.
It is admitted, that the proper Officer of the Crown notifies to the parties implicated in the presentment, the determination of the Inquest; but a prosecution seldom ensues. The Constable has neither money nor time to follow it up; and the matter is discharged when the customary term expires, on the payment of a Fee of 16_s._ 9_d._ or more, according to the length of the presentment; and thus the business terminates in the emolument of an individual, and in the continuance of the abuse.
The same system prevails at the Sessions at Westminster. When Juries make presentments of nuisances or evils in their respective districts, the Constables have general orders to prosecute, which is not done; and, indeed, to compel an Officer serving gratuitously, to incur an expence for the Public interest which he cannot afford, would be an act of manifest injustice; and unless a fund be provided in numerous cases, he must be under the necessity of declining such prosecutions.
But would it not be far better to bring such minor offences at once under the cognizance of Magistrates, with the power of appeal to the Quarter Sessions?--This is already the case in Spitalfields, under a parochial Act, where nuisances and annoyances are in consequence instantly removed. Matters of much greater importance are submitted to the same authority. The advantage in this case would be, that justice would be promptly administered at a small expence, and the evil would be put an end to, instead of remaining as at present a reproach to the Police, arming at the same time every noxious and bad member of Society, with a kind of licence to do offensive acts to the neighbourhood, and the Public at large, with impunity.
To render parochial Constables useful, rules must be established to compel every qualified person to serve in his turn, or pay a fine. No person should be empowered to offer a Substitute.--It is of the highest importance that an Office invested with so much power should be executed by reputable men, if possible of pure morals, and not with hands open to receive bribes.--This important office in the Metropolis at least, has too long been degraded by the introduction, in many instances, of men of loose principles, undeserving of public confidence. The reason is obvious:--A man in the more reputable classes on whom the lot may fall, surrenders his functions to a Substitute who probably makes the office a trade;--performs the service of the year for four or five Guineas, trusting to other emoluments, many of which are obtained by corruption, to enable him to subsist.
To render this branch of Police pure and efficient, an Act of Parliament should enforce the following or similar regulations:
1st. To assign a competent number of local Constables to each parish, in proportion to the number of inhabited houses; to be chosen by the whole number of qualified inhabitants paying parish Rates--to be presented to the Court Leet, or to the Magistrates of the Division, according to a prescribed rule, which shall preclude the possibility of exemptions or preferences; for which purposes the qualifications shall be clearly defined in the Act.--Thus might the abuses which at present prevail, in the selection and choice of Constables, cease to be felt and complained of: an equal distribution of the burden would take place, and the duty be confined to men sufficiently respectable, to establish in the Public mind a confidence that it would be executed with fidelity, and an attention to the Public interest.
2d. That with a view to that necessary discipline, and knowledge of the duty to be performed, without which Officers of Justice can be of little use, and may often be converted into instruments of oppression by an abuse of power; the High-Constable of the Division shall become _a responsible permanent Officer_, with a competent Salary; and shall have under his direction certain subordinate Officers, not exceeding _one for a large Parish_, and _one for every_ 25 _Constables in any number of smaller Parishes, Hamlets, Precincts, and Liberties_, who shall be stiled _the Parochial Chief Constable_, whose situation shall also _be permanent_, with a moderate Salary, and who shall each be _responsible_ for the execution of the regular duty which may be assigned to the petty Constables, either by the Act of Parliament, or by the Commissioners of Police, having powers for that purpose granted by law.--That a certain stipend or gratuity for trouble, shall also be paid to each of the petty Constables, in consideration of the ordinary duty they are bound to perform, besides 5_s._ a day for all extraordinary duty. That among other things it shall be the business of the parochial Chief Constable to instruct the petty Constables in their duty--to attend them in their perambulations, and to marshal them on receiving a precept from the High-Constable, or an order from two Magistrates, in case of any tumult or disorder requiring their interference--to impress upon their minds the necessity of purity, vigilance, and attention to orders--and of being humane, prudent and vigorous, in the execution of such duties as belong to their functions.--That they shall instantly assemble on any alarm of Fire.--That the Public-houses, in the parish or district, shall be visited regularly; and also the Watchmen while upon duty, and regular returns made to the Police Magistrates of the District, stating the occurrences of the night. That wherever suspicious characters reside in the parish, who have no visible means of supporting themselves, the utmost vigilance shall be exercised in watching their conduct, to prevent as much as possible the commission of crimes, and to preserve peace and good order in the parish; and wherever the execution of any specific law depends on Constables, the utmost attention to be manifested in giving it effect, and preventing it from remaining a dead Letter.--That care be taken to make regular, impartial, and accurate returns of Jurors; and of persons eligible to serve in the Militia;--and that immediate cognizance be also taken of all nuisances and annoyances, and timely notice given to Magistrates of all occurrences threatening to disturb the Public peace, or to overturn the established Government of the Country.
3d. That the different High Constables should return to the Commissioners of Police annually, after a change of Officers has taken place, a list of the number of persons who compose the Civil Force, under their direction in their respective divisions; and regularly, every quarter, a list of the Publicans, with such facts as have occurred, respecting their orderly or disorderly conduct in the management of their Houses.--The state of the Division with respect to Prostitutes--to the situation of the Poor for the preceding quarter, and their resource for employment.--The number and nature of the offences committed in the District during the preceding quarter, and the detections of the delinquents, shewing how many offenders have been discovered, and how many have escaped justice, and stating the means used and using to detect such as are at large, charged with specific offences within the division: so as to bring under the review of the Central Board a clear statement of the criminal Police in every part of the Metropolis on the first day of each quarter, with such other information as the Commissioners may require.
4th. It is humbly suggested, that the Salaries and allowances to be paid to the _High Constables_ and _parochial Chief Constables_ should be paid out of the General Police Fund, under the Management of the Board, and the gratuities and allowances to the petty Constables out of the County Rate.
It might be expedient that the Stipend of the petty Constables should be very moderate, and that their remunerations should, partly at least, arise from _premiums_ and _gratuities_, granted by the Judges and Magistrates, for meritorious services to the Public, _actually performed_; for which there would so many opportunities occur, that no fit man, acting as a Constable under such a system, and doing his duty conscientiously, need be under any apprehension of obtaining a very comfortable livelihood.
The invariable rule of rewarding, in every case where it can be made appear that any useful Public service has been performed, would have a most wonderful effect in preventing crimes: The expence, if judiciously and oeconomically managed, need not exceed, in any material degree, _the present aggregate_ of what is disbursed in different ways, in all the branches of the Police and Criminal Establishment; it might, in fact, be defrayed, as well as every other charge, _by the Police itself_, under the direction of the _Central Board_, hereafter more particularly alluded to, from the produce of the _Licences_ proposed to be granted for regulating particular classes of Dealers, by whose aid and assistance, in supporting Thieves and Pilferers, such a system is rendered necessary.
Nor should the rewards be wholly confined to Officers of Justice, either _parochial or stipendiary_. The Public Good requires, that they should extend also to Watchmen and Patroles, who should have every reasonable encouragement held out to them to be honest and vigilant, by small premiums paid down immediately, for every service they may render the Public; either in detecting or apprehending persons who are guilty of felonies, or other offences against the public peace.
At present, the watchmen destined to guard the lives and properties of the inhabitants residing in near _eight thousand_ streets, lanes, courts, and alleys, and about 160,000 houses, composing the whole of the Metropolis and its environs, are under the direction of no less than above seventy different Trusts; regulated by perhaps double the number of local acts of Parliament, (varying in many particulars from one another,) under which the _directors_, _guardians_, _governors_, _trustees_, or _vestries_, according to the title they assume, are authorised to act,--each attending only to their own particular _Ward_, _Parish_, _Hamlet_, _Liberty_, or _Precinct_; and varying the payment according to local circumstances, and the opulence of the particular district, from 8-1/2_d._ up to 2_s._ each night.[117]
[Footnote 117: There is, in some respect, an exception to this rule, with regard _to the City and Liberty of Westminster_, and the parishes of _St. Clement Danes_,--_St. Mary le Strand_,--_The Savoy_, The united parishes of _St. Giles_ and _St. George, Bloomsbury_,--The united parishes of _St. Andrew, Holborn above the Bars_, and _St. George the Martyr_, and the liberty of _Saffron Hill_, _Hatton Garden_, and _Ely Rents_.--The Act of the 14th George III. cap. 90, contains regulations applicable to the whole of these Parishes and Liberties, fixing the _minimum_ of watchmen at 523, and patroles at 56 men, for the _whole_; but leaving the management still to the inhabitants of each respective Parish or Liberty. The same act fixes the _minimum_ of wages at 1_s._ a night, and patroles 15_d._ In the City of London, the salaries given to watchmen vary in each Ward, from 13_l._ to 18_l._ 19_l._ 20_l._ 21_l._ 7_s._ 23_l._ 8_s._ up to 26_l._ and patroles are allowed from 13_l._ to 35_l._ and 40_l._ a year.]
The encouragement being, in many instances, so small, few candidates appear for such situations, who are really, in point of character and age, fit for the duty which ought to be performed; the managers have therefore no alternative but to accept of such aged, and often superannuated, men, living in their respective districts, as may offer their services; this they are frequently induced to do from motives of humanity, to assist old inhabitants who are unable to labour at any mechanical employment, or perhaps with a view to keep them out of the workhouse, and to save the expence of maintaining them.
Thus circumstanced, and thus encouraged, what can be expected from such watchmen?--
Aged in general;--often feeble:--and almost, on every occasion, half starved, from the limited allowance they receive; without any claim upon the Public, or the least hope of reward held out, even if they perform any meritorious service, by the _detection of Thieves and Receivers of stolen Goods_, or idle and disorderly persons: and above all, _making so many separate parts of an immense system, without any general superintendance, disjointed from the nature of its organization_, it is only a matter of wonder, that the protection afforded is what _it really is_.[118]--Not only is there small encouragement offered for the purpose of insuring fidelity, but as has been already shewn innumerable temptations are held out to dishonesty, by Receivers of stolen Goods, to the watchmen and patroles in their vicinity; as well as by thieves and housebreakers in all situations where they contemplate the commission of a burglary.
[Footnote 118: This proves how highly meritorious the conduct of the _Managers_ and _Trustees_ of this branch of the Police of the Metropolis must, in many instances, be. There can indeed be no manner of doubt, but that great advantages arise from dividing the labour, where all the benefits of local knowledge enter into the system.--So far as this goes, it ought not to be disturbed. But it is also necessary to consider the Metropolis as a _great Whole_, and to combine the organs of Police which at present exist, in such a manner, by a general superintendance, as to give equal encouragement, and to instil one principle of universal energy into all its parts.]
Money is also received from disorderly persons in the night, to permit them to escape from the just punishment of the Laws; while on the other hand, unfortunate females are often cruelly oppressed and laid under contribution, for permission to infringe the very laws, which it is the duty of these nocturnal guardians of the Police to put in execution.
Excepting in the city of London, under the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, (where there are, in the 25 wards, 765 watchmen, and 38 patroles) and the parishes and liberties combined by the act of the 14th Geo. III. cap. 90, it will not be easy to ascertain the exact number of watchmen, &c. employed by the great variety of different Trusts, in every part of the Metropolis; more especially, as in several instances they vary in their numbers according to the season of the year, and other circumstances; but the following statement is believed to be very near truth:--
_Beadles, Watchmen, and Patroles._
25 Wards in the City of London 803
11 Parishes, &c. in the City and Liberty of Westminster 302
13 Parishes, &c. in the Division of Holborn 377
5 Parishes, &c. in that part of the Division of Finsbury which joins the Metropolis 135
7 Parishes, &c. in the Division of the Tower Hamlets 268
1 Liberty of the Tower of London 14
5 Parishes and Hamlets, being part of the Division of Kensington, near the Metropolis 66
9 Parishes in the Borough of Southwark 79 ---- Total Beadles, Watchmen, and Patroles 2044[119] ----
[Footnote 119: Watch-houses are now placed at convenient distances all over the Metropolis; where a parochial constable attends, in rotation, every night, to receive disorderly and criminal persons, and to carry them before a Magistrate next morning.--In each watch-house also (in case of fire) the names of the turn-cocks, and the places where engines are kept, are to be found. This circumstance is mentioned for the information of strangers unacquainted with the Police of the Metropolis; to whom it is recommended, in case of fire, or any accident or disturbance requiring the assistance of the Civil Power, to apply immediately to the Officer of the night, at the nearest watch-house, or to the watchmen on the beat.]
Nothing can certainly be better calculated for _complete protection_ against acts of violence in the streets, than _the System of a well-regulated Stationary Watch_; composed of fit and able-bodied men, properly controlled and superintended: and from the number of persons already employed, independent of private Watchmen, it would seem only to be necessary to lay down apposite legislative rules, with respect to _age or ability_, _character_, _wages_, _rewards for useful services_, and _general superintendance_, in order to establish that species of additional security, which would operate as a more effectual means of preventing crimes within the Metropolis.
Let the same system of moderate rewards also be extended to beadles,[120] for useful Public service _actually performed_, as is proposed with regard to officers of justice, watchmen, and patroles; and much good will arise to the community, without any great additional expence.
[Footnote 120: Beadles are, in many instances, employed at present as local superintendants of the watch, within their respective Parishes.]
It is in vain to expect that the Public can be well served, unless the emolument becomes an object to good and able men; but these extraordinary rewards (as has already been observed) should always depend upon the vigilance and exertion of the parties themselves, in detecting offenders of every description: and should be paid, on its appearing to the Magistrate, that no _impropriety_ or _indiscretion_ has marked their conduct. If, on the contrary, they should be proved to have acted oppressively or improperly, a power of immediate dismission and punishment should, in all instances, be lodged in Justices of the Peace, to be exercised according to the nature of the offence.
Having thus stated the civil force of the Metropolis, in peace-officers, watchmen and patroles, making an aggregate of 3084 men--it may be necessary and useful to give such information relative to the Magistracy, as may tend to shew the present state of the Police, and to illustrate what remains to be further suggested on the subject of its improvement; for the preservation of the Public peace, and the _detection_ and _apprehension_ of every class of offenders.
* * * * *
There exist at present no less than _five_ separate jurisdictions within the limits of the Metropolis--namely,--
_Magistrates._
1. The City of London, where there are, including the Lord Mayor, 26 Aldermen, who have an exclusive jurisdiction within the ancient limits 26
2. The City and Liberty of Westminster--where there are upwards of 100 Justices of the Peace, who have jurisdiction only in that particular District; but where the Magistrates of the County of Middlesex have an equal jurisdiction.--The number resident, of those who are not Magistrates of Middlesex, is supposed to be about 50
3. That part of the Metropolis, which is situated in the county of Middlesex, where there are about 800 Justices, including the Princes of the Royal Family--many of the Nobility--Great Officers of State--Members of Parliament--and other Gentlemen of respectability;--of those in the commission about 200 have qualified; and of these who have taken out their _Dedimus Potestatum_, only about 150 reside in or near the Metropolis 150
4. That district of the Metropolis lying near, or particularly belonging anciently to the Tower of London, comprehending about 750 houses--where the Magistrates (52 in number) have an exclusive jurisdiction, and hold separate Sessions of the Peace.--The number who are not Magistrates in Middlesex, is 31
5. The Borough of Southwark, and that part of the Metropolis adjoining thereto, within the Bills of Mortality--where the City Magistrates have jurisdiction, besides the whole of the Magistrates of the County of Surry--namely--132, but of whom not more than 28 reside in Southwark, and 15 in London, &c. (in all) 43 --- Total about 300 ---
But, notwithstanding the great number of respectable names, which are in the different commissions in and near the Metropolis; and although all who have qualified have equal jurisdiction with the Police Justices, within their respective districts; yet the efficient duty for the whole of the Metropolis, so far as it relates to the detection of offenders, is principally limited to two classes of Magistrates--namely,--
1. The 26 Aldermen of London, whose jurisdiction is confined to the ancient limits of the City, comprehending 25 Wards, in which are 21,642 houses on the London side, and Bridge Ward without, in the Borough 26
2. The established Magistrates, three of whom preside at each of the seven Public Offices, appointed by the Act of the 32d of his present Majesty, cap. 53. viz.--
1. Public Office, Queen's-Square, Westminster 3 2. Public Office, Marlborough-Street 3 3. Public Office, Hatton-Garden 3 4. Public Office, Worship-Street, Shoreditch 3 5. Public Office, Whitechapel 3 6. Public Office, Shadwell 3 7. Public Office, Union-Street, Southwark 3 -- 21
8. Existing (previous to the Act) at the Public Office, Bow-Street 3 -- 24
9. The Thames Police Institution at Wapping, for the River only 2 -- 26
Total efficient Magistrates who sit in rotation, -- daily, in the Metropolis 52
The jurisdiction of the Magistrates presiding at the seven Public Offices, not only extends to Westminster and Middlesex; (and, in most instances, lately, to the liberty of the Tower:) but also to the counties of Surry, Kent, and Essex, from which considerable advantages in the prompt detection and apprehension of offenders have accrued to the Public: The only difficulty that now remains to be removed, with respect to the clashing of jurisdictions, is that which regards the city of London; where, from its contiguity, and immediate and close connection with every other part of the Metropolis, considerable inconveniences and injuries to the public are felt, not only from the circumstance of the jurisdiction of the City Magistrates not being extended over the _whole_ of the Metropolis, as well as the four adjoining counties; but also from the Police Magistrates having no authority quickly to follow up informations, by issuing warrants to search for property, and to apprehend persons charged with offences in the City. The whole difficulty resolves itself into a mere matter of _punctilio_, founded perhaps on ill-grounded jealousy, or misapprehension, which a little explanation would probably remove.
Where the object is to do good;--and where not even the shadow of harm can arise, no limits should be set to local jurisdictions; especially where privileges are proposed to be given; (as in this case, to the city of London;)--and where none are to be taken away.
For the purpose of establishing a complete and well-connected System of _detection_, some means ought certainly to be adopted, more closely to unite the City and Police Magistrates,[121] that they may, in a greater degree, go hand in hand in all matters regarding the general interest of the Metropolis and its environs; making the suppression of crimes one common cause, and permitting no punctilio, regarding jurisdiction, to prevent the operation of their united energy in the prompt detection of offenders; This, from the extended state of Commerce and Society, and the great increase of property, is now rendered a measure in which the inhabitants of the whole Metropolis, as well as the adjacent villages, have a common interest. It is an evil, which affects all ranks, and calls aloud for the speedy adoption of some effectual remedy.
[Footnote 121: The Select Committee of the House of Commons, in their 28th Report, 1798, on Finance, have strongly recommended a Concurrent Jurisdiction; and also, that two Police Offices should be established in London, upon the plan of the others, with Magistrates to be appointed by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen.]
CHAP. XV.
_The prevailing practice explained, when offenders are brought before Magistrates.--The necessary caution, as well as the duty of Magistrates in such cases explained.--Professed thieves seldom intimidated when put upon their trial, from the many chances they have of escaping.--These chances shortly detailed.--Reflections on the false humanity exercised by prosecutors towards prisoners.--Their rudeness and cruelty, when engaged in acts of criminality.--The delays and expences of prosecutions, a great discouragement, inducing sufferers to put up with their loss, in silence.--How the inconvenience may be remedied.--An account of the different Courts of Justice, appointed for the trial of offences committed in the Metropolis.--Five inferior and two superior Courts.--A statement, shewing the number of prisoners convicted and discharged during the last year.--Reflections on this sad catalogue of depravity.--A radical defect somewhere.--The great purity of the Judges of England.--The propriety of a co-operation with them, in whatever shall tend to promote the ends of Public Justice.--This object to be attained, in the greatest possible degree, by means of an authorised Public Prosecutor.--The advantages of such an institution, in remedying many abuses which prevail in the trial of offenders.--From 2500 to 3000 persons committed for trial, by Magistrates, in the Metropolis, in the course of a Year.--The chief part afterwards returned upon Society._
Arriving at that _point_ in the progress of this Work, where persons accused of offences are detected and brought before Magistrates for examination, ultimately to be committed for trial, if the evidence shall be sufficient:--It is proper to explain the prevailing practice under such circumstances.
The task, in this case imposed upon the Magistrate, is arduous and important; requiring not only great purity of conduct, a profound knowledge of mankind, and of the common affairs of life; but in a more peculiar manner those powers of discrimination which may enable him to discover how far criminality attaches to the party accused; and whether there are grounds sufficient to abridge for a time, or ultimately to deprive the prisoner of his liberty, until a Jury of his country shall decide upon his fate.
It frequently happens that persons accused of crimes are apprehended under circumstances where no doubt can rest on the mind of the Magistrates as to the guilt of the prisoner; but where the legal evidence is nevertheless insufficient to authorize an immediate commitment for trial.
In these instances, (while he commits _pro tempore_,) he is called upon in a particular manner to exert the whole powers of his mind, by adopting such judicious measures as shall be the means of detecting the offenders; by discovering the goods or property stolen, or by admitting such evidence for the Crown as may, with other corroborating testimony, prevent the ends of justice from being defeated.
Where a Magistrate proceeds with indefatigable zeal and attention, and at the same time exercises good judgment, he will seldom fail of success; for in this case a similar spirit will animate the officers under his controul, whose activity and industry are generally in proportion to that manifested by their superiors.
Much as every active Magistrate must regret that deficiency of pecuniary resource, which, under the present system, prevents him from rewarding those who must occasionally be employed to detect notorious offenders, this circumstance ought not to abate this zeal in any respect; since by perseverance it generally happens, that every good and proper arrangement for the immediate advantage of the Public, may be ultimately obtained.
The Magistrate having done his duty by committing an offender for trial, satisfied of his guilt and the sufficiency of the evidence to convict him: and having also bound over the prosecutor and the witnesses as the Law directs, to attend the Grand Jury, and (if a bill be found) to prosecute and give evidence upon the indictment; it might appear to the common observer, that the culprit's case becomes hopeless and forlorn.
This, however, is by no means a stage in the progress that intimidates a professed thief; he feels and knows that, although guilty of the crime laid to his charge, he has many chances of escaping; and these chances unquestionably operate as encouragements to the commission of crimes.
His first hope is, that he shall intimidate the Prosecutor and Witnesses, by the threatenings of the gang with whom he is connected;--his next that he may compound the matter; or bribe or frighten material witnesses, so as to keep back evidence; or induce them to speak doubtfully at the trial, though positive evidence was given before the Magistrate; or if all should fail, recourse is had to perjury, by bringing the Receiver, or some other associate, to swear an _alibi_.
Various other considerations also operate in strengthening the hopes of acquittal; partly arising from the vast numbers who are discharged or acquitted at every Session of gaol-delivery; and partly from the carelessness and inattention of Prosecutors, who are either unable or unwilling to sustain the expence of Counsel to oppose the arguments and objections which will be offered in behalf of the prisoner: or are soured by loss of valuable time, experienced, perhaps in former prosecutions;[122]--or ultimately from a dread entertained by timid persons, who foolishly and weakly consider themselves as taking away the life of a fellow-creature, merely because they prosecute or give evidence; not reflecting that it is the _Law_ only that can punish offenders, and _not_ the individual prosecutor or witnesses.
[Footnote 122: It is true, that by the Acts of 25th Geo. II. cap. 36, and 18th Geo. III. cap. 13, the expences of the prosecutors and witnesses are to be paid; and also (if the parties shall appear to be in poor circumstances) a reasonable allowance made for trouble and loss of time; but this is connected with the regulations of the Justices, confirmed by one of the Judges of Assize, which vary according to local circumstances, and it is also necessary to plead poverty in order to be remunerated for loss of time: _but as the poor seldom suffer by thieves_, these Acts appear to have had little effect in encouraging prosecutors to come forward; and it is believed few applications are made excepting in cases of real poverty.--In the County of Middlesex there is an exception; where witnesses are directed to be paid by the Overseers of the Poor of the Parish, where the person was apprehended; but this mode of payment is seldom if ever adopted.--The fund, however, which the Legislature has thus provided, if oeconomically and judiciously applied by a Public Prosecutor, would remove many difficulties, without any material addition to the county rates.]
False Humanity, exercised in this manner, is always cruelty to the public, and not seldom to the prisoners themselves.--All depredations upon property are _public wrongs_, in the suppression and punishment of which it is the duty of every good man to lend his assistance; a duty more particularly incumbent upon those who are the immediate sufferers: through their means only can Public Justice operate in punishing those miscreants, by whom the innocent are _put in fear, alarmed and threatened with horrid imprecations--with loss of life by means of loaded pistols_; or bodily injury, from being hacked with cutlasses, or beaten with bludgeons--under circumstances where neither age nor sex is spared.--
Yet experience has shewn that these arguments, powerful as they are, are insufficient to awaken in the mind of men that species of Public spirit which shall induce sufferers in general, by robberies of different kinds, to become willing prosecutors, under the various trying delays of Courts of Justice; and frequently with the trouble of bringing a number of witnesses from the country, who are kept in attendance on the court perhaps several days together, at a very considerable expence.
Such a burden imposed upon the subject, in addition to the losses already sustained, in a case too where the offence is of a public nature, is certainly not easily reconcileable with that spirit of justice, and attention to the rights of individuals, which forms so strong a general feature in the Jurisprudence of the Country.
From all these circumstances it happens that innumerable felonies are concealed, and the loss is suffered in silence as the least of two evils; by which means thieves are allowed to reign with impunity, undisturbed, and encouraged to persevere in their evil practices.
Nothing, it is to be feared, can cure this evil, and establish a general system of protection, but a vigorous Police; strengthened and improved by the appointment of Deputy-Prosecutors for the Crown, acting under the Attorney-General for the time being. An establishment of this sort, even at a very small salary, would be considered as an honourable _entre_ to many young Counsel; who, in protecting the Public against the frauds, tricks, and devices of old and professed thieves, by which at present they escape punishment, might keep the stream of justice pure, and yet allow no advantage to be taken of the prisoner.[123]
[Footnote 123: The propriety of this suggestion is sanctioned by the recommendation of the Finance Committee of the House of Commons in their 27th and 28th Report; and forms part of that System of general controul and arrangement for the prevention of crimes, stated more at large in a subsequent Chapter.]
As it must be admitted on all hands, that it is the interest of the Public that no guilty offender should escape punishment;--it seems to be a position equally clear and incontrovertible, that wherever, from a defect in the system of prosecutions, or any other cause, a prisoner escapes the punishment due to his crimes, substantial justice is wounded, and public wrongs are increased.
It has been already stated in the preceding Chapter, that there are five separate Jurisdictions in the Metropolis, where Magistrates exercise limited authority.--Of course, there are five inferior Courts of Justice, where lesser offences, committed in London and its vicinity, are tried by Justices of the Peace.
1. The general and Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held eight times a year, by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, at Guildhall--_for the trial of small Offences committed in London_.
2. The Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held four times a year at Guildhall, Westminster, by the Justices acting for that City and Liberty--_for the trial of small Offences committed in Westminster only_.
3. The General and Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held eight times a year, at the New Sessions House on Clerkenwell-Green, (commonly called Hicks's Hall) by the Justices only of the County of Middlesex--_for the trial of small Offences committed in Middlesex and Westminster_.
4. The General Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held in the Sessions-House in Well-Close-Square, by the Justices for the Liberty of the Tower of London--_for the trial of small Offences committed within the Royalty_.
5. The Quarter Sessions of the Peace; held by the Justices for the County of Surry, at the New Sessions House at Newington, Surry, in January;--At Reigate, in April;--At Guildhall, in July;--and Kingston-upon-Thames, in October, each year;--_where small Offences committed in Southwark and the Neighbourhood are tried_.
These five inferior Courts of Justice take cognizance of _Petty Larcenies, Frauds, Assaults, Misdemeanors, and other offences punishable by fine, imprisonment, whipping, and the pillory_:--and in certain cases, the power of the Justices extends to transportation.
The higher and more atrocious offences committed in London and Middlesex, are tried at the Justice-Hall, in the Old Bailey; by a special commission of Oyer and Terminer to the Lord Mayor, and a certain number of the Judges, with the Recorder and Common Serjeant of the City of London.
Offences of this latter degree of atrocity, perpetrated in that part of the Metropolis which is situated in the Borough of Southwark and County of Surry, are tried at the assizes, held twice a year at _Kingston-upon-Thames_, _Croydon_, or _Guildford_.[124]
[Footnote 124: Considerable inconvenience arises (and, indeed, great hardship, where prisoners are innocent) from the length of time which must elapse, where offences have been committed in Southwark, before they can be brought to trial; either for inferior or more atrocious crimes. In the former case, prisoners must remain till the Quarter Sessions, (there being no intermediate General Sessions of the Peace) and in the latter case till the Assizes, held only twice a year; this occasions a confinement, previous to trial, lengthened out, in some instances, to three, four, five, and even nearly to six months.]
Thus it appears, that five inferior and two superior Tribunals of Justice are established for trying the different crimes committed in the Metropolis.
As it may be useful, for the purpose of elucidating the suggestions already offered upon this branch of the subject, that a connected view of the result of these _Trials_ should make a part of this Work;--the following Abstract, (including the discharges of Prisoners by Magistrates) has been made up for this immediate purpose: from authentic documents obtained from the keepers of the eight different prisons and houses of correction in the city of London, and in the counties of Middlesex and Surry.
It applies to the period, from September, 1794, till September, 1795, which is chosen as a sort of medium between Peace and War.
It is impossible to contemplate this collected aggregate of the prisoners annually discharged upon the Public, without feeling a strong anxiety to remedy an evil rendered extremely alarming, from the number which composes the dismal catalogue of Human Depravity.
Every inquiry in the progress of this Work proves a radical defect somewhere.
While the public tribunals are filled with Judges, the purity of whose conduct adds lustre to their own and the national character, why should not every subordinate part of the Criminal Jurisprudence of the Country be so organized, as to co-operate, in the greatest possible degree, with the efforts of those higher orders of the Magistracy in accomplishing the purposes of substantial justice?
Nothing could tend more to promote this object, than the appointment already proposed of a Public Prosecutor for the Crown.
An institution of this kind would terrify the hordes of miscreants now at open war with the peaceable and useful part of the Community, in a greater degree than any one measure that could possibly be adopted.
It would be the means of destroying those hopes and chances which encourage criminal people to persevere in their depredations upon the Public.
A Summary View of the Prisoners _committed_, _tried_, _punished_, _disposed of_, and _discharged_ in the Metropolis, in _One Year_, ending in October, 1795.
_Number of prisoners, punished and disposed of._
+-----------+--------------------------------------------------- |Names of |Died |Prisons | |Capitally convicted[A] | | | |Sentenced to Transportation[B] | | | | |Imprisoned in Newgate | | | | | |Imprisoned in Bridewell Hospital | | | | | | |Imprisoned in the House of | | | | | | |Correction of Middlesex | | | | | | | |Imprisoned in Tothil-Fields | | | | | | | |Bridewell | | | | | | | | |Imprisoned in Surry Goals | | | | | | | | | |Sent to the Philanthropic | | | | | | | | | |and Marine Societies | | | | | | | | | | |Sent to serve his | | | | | | | | | | |Majesty in the Navy | | | | | | | | | | |and Army | | | | | | | | | | | |Passed to | | | | | | | | | | | |Parishes | | | | | | | | | | | | |Sent to | | | | | | | | | | | | |Hospitals | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Total +-----------+--+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+--+---+----+---+--------- +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Newgate | 7|51|153|85| |54| |20| | 39| | | 409 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | L|Poultry | | | | | | | | | | | | | O|Compter | | | | |334| | | |10| 44| 72| | 460 N| | | | | | | | | | | | | | D|Giltspur | | | | | | | | | | | | | O|Compter | | | | |249| | | | | 75| 125| 44| 493 N| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Bridewell | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Hospital | 4| | | | | | | | | | 835| 44| 883 +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |New Prison | | | | | | | | | | | | | M|Clerkenwell| 5| | 3| | | | | | | 58| | | 66 I| | | | | | | | | | | | | | D|House of | | | | | | | | | | | | | D|Correction | | | | | | | | | | | | | L|in Cold | | | | | | | | | | | | | E|Bath | | | | | | | | | | | | | S|Fields | 4| | | | | | | | | | 128| | 132 E| | | | | | | | | | | | | | X|Tothil- | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Fields | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Bridewell | 2| | 7| | | |37| | | | 122| 26| 194 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | S| | | | | | | | | | | | | | U| | | | | | | | | | | | | | R|New Goal, | | | | | | | | | | | | | R|Southwark | |10| 11| | | | |16| | | | 1| 38 Y| | | | | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +--+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+--+---+----+---+--------- | |22|61|174|85|583|54|37|36|10|216|1282|115|2675 | +--+--+---+--+---+--+--+--+--+---+----+---+---------
[Footnote A: 16 executed]
[Footnote B: 106 transported]
_Number of Prisoners discharged by the Magistrates, and from the Eight Gaols, in One Year._
+-----------+------------------------------------------------- |Names of |Discharged by Magistrates for want of Proof |Prisons | |Discharged by Proclamation and Gaol Delivery | | | |Discharged by Acquitals [Transcriber's Note: Acquittals] | | | | |Discharged after being whipt | | | | | |Discharged after being fined | | | | | | |Discharged after suffering | | | | | | |imprisonment | | | | | | | |Apprentices discharged | | | | | | | | |Offenders bailed out | | | | | | | | |of Prison | | | | | | | | | |Discharged | | | | | | | | | |by Pardon | | | | | | | | | | |Total | | | | | | | | | | |discharged +-----------+----+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+-------------- +-- | | | | | | | | | | |Newgate | |134|272|12|11| 20| | |129| 578 | | | | | | | | | | | L|Poultry | | | | | | | | | | O|Compter | 199| | | | | | | 27| | 226 N| | | | | | | | | | | D|Giltspur | | | | | | | | | | O|Compter | 287| 10| 10| |45| 11| |114| | 477 N| | | | | | | | | | | |Bridewell | | | | | | | | | | |Hospital | | | | | |249| 38| | | 287 +-- | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |New Prison | | | | | | | | | | M|Clerkenwell| 237|170| 35| 9| | | 9| |127| 587 I| | | | | | | | | | | D|House of | | | | | | | | | | D|Correction | | | | | | | | | | L|in Cold | | | | | | | | | | E|Bath | | | | | | | | | | S|Fields | 568|231| 60| | |353|111| | |1323 E| | | | | | | | | | | X|Tothil- | | | | | | | | | | |Fields | | | | | | | | | | |Bridewell | 253|274| 6| 1| | 27| |154| | 715 | | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | S| | | | | | | | | | | U| | | | | | | | | | | R|New Goal, | | | | | | | | | | R|Southwark | 130| 74| 35| 2| | 28| | | | 269 Y| | | | | | | | | | | +-- | | | | | | | | | | | +----+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+-------------- | |1674|893|418|24|56|697|149|422|129|4462 | +----+---+---+--+--+---+---+---+---+--------------
N.B. Although the Author has been at infinite pains to render this Summary as exact as possible, yet from the different modes adopted in keeping the accounts of Prisons, he is not thoroughly satisfied in his own mind that the View he has here given is accurate, to a point.--He is, however, convinced that it will be found sufficiently so for the purpose.
[To face page 430.]
It would not only remove that aversion which Prosecutors manifest on many occasions, to come forward, for the purpose of promoting the ends of public justice; but it would prevent, in a great measure, the possibility of compounding felonies, or of suborning witnesses.[125]
[Footnote 125: Notwithstanding the severity of the Law, the composition of felonies and misdemeanors is carried to a much greater height than it is almost possible to believe; and various artifices are resorted to, to elude the penalties.--An instance occurred in August 1792; where a Jew was ordered to take his trial for a rape, committed on a married woman.--The offence appeared, on examination, to be extremely aggravated.--The Grand Jury however did not find a bill; which was thought a very singular circumstance, as the proof had been so clear before the Magistrate. The reasons were afterwards sufficiently explained; which show, what corrupt practices, artifices, and frauds will be used to defeat the ends of justice:--In consequence of a previous undertaking between the Jew and the husband of the woman who had been so grossly abused, a sum of L.20 was left in the hands of a publican, which the prosecutor was to receive if the bill was not found. In this confidence the woman gave a different evidence from that which she had given before the Magistrate. The Jew, however, cheated both the husband and the wife; for he no sooner discovered that he was safe, than he demanded the money of the publican and laughed at the prosecutor.]
It would also be the means of counteracting the various tricks and devices of old thieves; and occasion an equal measure of Justice to be dealt out to them, as to the novices in crimes:--It would do more,--It would protect real innocence,--for in such cases the Public Prosecutor would never fail to act as the friend of the prisoner.
The prevailing practice in criminal trials, in the true spirit of mildness and humanity, induces the Judge to act in some degree as counsel for the prisoner.--Without a Prosecutor for the Crown, therefore, every trifling inaccuracy in the indictment is allowed to become a fatal obstacle to conviction;[126] circumstances which would frequently throw great light upon the charges, are not brought under the review of the jury, and thus public justice is defeated.
[Footnote 126: In criminal cases, a defective indictment is not aided by the verdict of a Jury, as defective pleadings are in civil cases. Indeed wherever life is concerned, great strictness has been at all times observed. That able and humane Judge, SIR MATTHEW HALE, complained above a century ago,[C] "_That this strictness has grown to be a blemish and inconvenience in the law and the administration thereof; for that more offenders escape by the over-easy ear given to exceptions in indictments, than by their own innocence: and many times gross murders, burglaries, robberies, and other heinous and crying offences remain unpunished, by those unseemly niceties; to the reproach of the Law, to the shame of the Government, to the encouragement of villainy, and to the dishonour of God_."[D]]
[Footnote C: He died 1676.]
[Footnote D: Hale, P.C. 193.]
Upon an average, the Magistrates of the Metropolis commit annually, (out of many times that number who are equally objects of punishment,) from about 2500 to 3000 persons, male and female, for trial, at the seven different Courts of Justice in and near the Metropolis; charged with a variety of felonies, misdemeanors, and other petty offences. But after fully convincing their own minds, from a careful, and in many instances, a most laborious investigation, that the parties are guilty, they are obliged, from experience, to prepare themselves for the mortification of seeing their labour and exertions in a great measure lost to the Community: the major part of these criminals being returned upon Society, without any effectual steps adopted for their reformation, or any means used for the prevention of a repetition of their crimes. A considerable proportion of this wretched number may have suffered perhaps a slight punishment for their demerits; but which produces no effect that is not ultimately mischievous to the Community; since it serves merely to initiate them, in a greater degree, in the knowledge and means of committing new acts of fraud and villainy.
To establish a System calculated to prevent criminals from returning to their evil practices after punishment is the very essence of good Police; but notwithstanding its importance to the Community, no measures have ever yet been adopted, calculated to attain so desirable an object.--It is however ardently to be hoped, that the period is fast approaching, when this great desideratum will be in a certain degree obtained; and that the suggestions offered in the subsequent Chapters, may tend to accelerate the renovation of this forlorn and miserable class of outcasts, by means of an appropriate _Penitentiary System_.
CHAP. XVI.
_On Punishments.--The mode authorized by the ancient laws.--The period when Transportation commenced.--The principal crimes enumerated which are punishable by Death.--Those punishable by Transportation and Imprisonment.--The courts appointed to try different degrees of crimes.--Capital punishments, extending to so many offences of an inferior nature, defeat the ends of justice.--The system of Pardons examined:--their evil tendency.--New regulations suggested with regard to Pardons and Executions.--An historical account of the rise and progress of Transportation.--The expedients resorted to, after the American War put a stop to that mode of punishment.--The System of the Hulks then adopted.--Salutary Laws also made for the erection of Provincial and National Penitentiary Houses.--The nature and principle of these Laws briefly explained.--An account of the Convicts confined in the Hulks for twenty-two years.--The enormous expence of maintenance and inadequate produce of their labour.--The impolicy of the system exposed by the Committee on Finance.--The system of Transportation to New South Wales examined.--Great expence of this mode of punishment.--Improvements suggested, calculated to reduce the expence in future.--Erection of one or more National Penitentiary Houses recommended.--A general view of the County Penitentiary Houses and Prisons:--their inefficacy in reforming Convicts.--The labour obtained uncertain, while the expence is enormous.--The National Penitentiary House (according to the proposal of Jeremy Bentham, Esq.) considered.--Its peculiar advantages over all others which have been suggested, with respect to health, productive labour, and reformation of Convicts.--General reflections on the means of rendering imprisonment useful in reforming Convicts.--Concluding observations._
Imperfect in many respects as the criminal Law appears, from what has been detailed and stated in the preceding Chapters, and much as the great increase of capital offences, created during the last and present Century, is to be lamented:--it cannot be denied that several changes have taken place in the progress of Society, favourable to the cause of humanity, and more consonant to reason and justice, in the appropriation and the mode of inflicting punishments.
The Benefit of Clergy, which for a long period exempted clerical people only, from the punishment of death in cases of felony, was by several statutes[127] extended to _peers_, _women_, and all persons _able to read_; who, pleading their Clergy, suffered only a corporal punishment, or a year's imprisonment; and those men who _could not read_, if under the degree of peerage, were hanged.[128]
[Footnote 127: 1 Edward VI. cap. 12: 21 Jac. I. cap. 6: 3 and 4 William and Mary, cap. 9: 4 and 5 William and Mary, cap. 24.]
[Footnote 128: Blackstone.]
This unaccountable distinction was actually not removed until the 5th of Queen Anne, cap. 6, which extended the benefit of clergy to all who were intitled to ask it, _whether they could read or not_.[129]
[Footnote 129: The benefit of Clergy originated in injustice and inhumanity, and can only be palliated by the rude state of society, when so disgraceful a privilege was legalized and interwoven in the criminal code.--It partakes of the nature of a compromise with villainy.--It perplexes the system of criminal jurisprudence; and since its sting is taken away it would be an improvement to discontinue it totally.]
In the course of the present century, several of the old sanguinary modes of punishment have been either, very properly, abolished by acts of parliament, or allowed, to the honour of humanity, to fall into disuse:--such as _burning alive (particularly women) cutting off hands or ears, slitting nostrils, or branding in the hand or face_; and among lesser punishments, fallen into disuse, may be mentioned _the ducking-stool_.
The punishment of death for felony (as has already been observed) has existed since the reign of Henry I. nearly 700 years.--Transportation is commonly understood to have been first introduced, anno 1718, by the act of the 4th George I. cap. 11; and afterwards enlarged by the Act 6th of George I. c. 23, which allowed the court a discretionary power to order felons who were by law entitled to their clergy, to be transported to the American plantations for seven or fourteen years, according to circumstances.[130]
[Footnote 130: It is said that exile was first introduced as a punishment by the Legislature in the 39th year of Queen Elizabeth, when a statute (39 _Eliz._ _c._ 4.) enacted that such rogues as were dangerous to the inferior people should be banished the realm, _Barr. Ant. Stat._ 269: and that the first statute in which the word Transportation is used is the 18th of _Charles_ II. _c._ 3. which gives power to Judges at their discretion either to execute or transport to America _for life_ the Moss-Troopers of _Cumberland_ and _Northumberland_; a law which was made perpetual by the Act 31 _Geo._ II. _c._ 42. 2 WOODD. 498.]
Since that period the mode of punishment has undergone several other alterations; and many Crimes which were formerly considered of an inferior rank, have been rendered capital: which will be best elucidated by the following Catalogue of Offences, divided into six classes according to the Laws now in force.
* * * * *
1. CRIMES _punishable by the_ Deprivation of Life; _and where, upon the Conviction of the Offenders the sentence of Death must be pronounced by the Judge.--Of these, it has been stated, the whole, on the authority of Sir William Blackstone, including all the various shades of the same offence, is about 160 in number._
_The principal are the following:_
Treason, and Petty Treason; _See page_ 38, &c. Under the former of these is included the Offence of Counterfeiting the Gold and Silver Coin, _See page_ 191-211.
Murder, _See page_ 44, &c.
Arson, or wilfully and maliciously burning a House, Barns with Corn, &c. _See page_ 56.
Rape, or the forcible violation of chastity, &c. _See page_ 46.
Stealing an Heiress, _See page_ 48.
Sodomy, a crime against nature, committed either with man or beast, _See page_ 46.
Piracy, or robbing ships and vessels at sea: under which is included, the Offences of sailors forcibly hindering their captains from fighting, _See page_ 55, 56.
Forgery of Deeds, Bonds, Bills, Notes, Public Securities, &c. &c. Clerks of the Bank embezzling Notes, altering Dividend Warrants: Paper Makers, unauthorised, using moulds for Notes, &c.
Destroying Ships, or setting them on Fire, _See page_ 57.
Bankrupts not surrendering, or concealing their Effects
Burglary, or House Breaking in the night time, _See page_ 57.
Highway Robbery
House Breaking in the day time, _See page_ 54, 55.
Privately Stealing or Picking Pockets above one Shilling
Shop Lifting above Five Shillings, _See page_ 55.
Stealing Bonds, Bills, or Bank Notes
Stealing Bank Notes, or Bills from Letters
Stealing above 40_s._ in any House, _See page_ 55.
Stealing above 40_s._ on a River
Stealing Linen, &c. from Bleaching Grounds, &c. or destroying Linen therein
Maiming or Killing Cattle maliciously. _See_ the Black Act, 9 Geo. I. cap. 22.
Stealing Horses, Cattle or Sheep
Shooting at a Revenue Officer; or at any other person, _See_ the Black Act
Pulling down Houses, Churches, &c.
Breaking down the head of a Fish-Pond, whereby Fish may be lost, (_Black Act_)[131]
[Footnote 131: The unwillingness which it must be expected a Jury would have to convict a man capitally for _this offence_, might be adduced among many other instances, to show to what extent public justice is defeated, merely from the severity of the laws, and the want of a Scale of punishments proportioned to the offences.]
Cutting down Trees in an Avenue, Garden, &c.
Cutting down River or Sea Banks.
Cutting Hop Binds
Setting fire to coal mines
Taking a Reward for helping another to Stolen Goods, in certain cases, _See page_ 295
Returning from Transportation; or being at large in the Kingdom after Sentence
Stabbing a Person unarmed, or not having a weapon drawn, if he die in six months
Concealing the death of a Bastard Child
Maliciously maiming or disfiguring any person, &c. lying in wait for the purpose, _See page_ 50.
Sending Threatening Letters (Black Act)
Riots by twelve or more, and not dispersing in an hour after proclamation
Being accessaries to Felonies deemed capital
Stealing Woollen Cloth from Tenter Grounds
Stealing from a Ship in Distress
Government Stores, embezzling, burning or destroying in Dock-Yards; in certain cases, _See pages_ 261-263
Challenging Jurors above 20 in capital felonies; or standing mute
Cottons selling with forged Stamps
Deer-Stealing, second offence; or even first offence, under Black Act, not usually enforced
Uttering counterfeit Money, third offence
Prisoners under Insolvent Acts guilty of perjury
Destroying Silk or Velvet in the loom; or the Tools for manufacturing thereof; or destroying Woollen Goods, Racks or Tools, or entering a House for that purpose
Servants purloining their Masters' Goods, value 40_s._
Personating Bail; or acknowledging fines or judgments in another's name
Escape by breaking Prison, in certain cases
Attempting to kill Privy Counsellors, &c.
Sacrilege
Smuggling by persons armed; or assembling armed for that purpose
Robbery of the Mail
Destroying Turnpikes or Bridges, Gates, Weighing Engines, Locks, Sluices, Engines for Draining Marshes, &c.
Mutiny, Desertion, &c. by the Martial and Statute Law
Soldiers or Sailors enlisting into Foreign Service
* * * * *
2. CRIMES _denominated_ Single Felonies; _punishable by Transportation, Whipping, Imprisonment, the Pillory, and Hard Labour in Houses of Correction, according to the Nature of the offence._
_The principal of which are the following:_
Grand Larceny, which comprehends every species of Theft above the value of One Shilling, not otherwise distinguished
Receiving or buying Stolen Goods, Jewels and Plate. _See page_ 299
Ripping and stealing Lead, Iron, Copper, &c. or buying or receiving, _See page_ 295
Stealing (or receiving when stolen) Ore from Black Lead Mines
Stealing from Furnished Lodgings
Setting fire to Underwood
Stealing Letters, or destroying a Letter or Packet, advancing the Postage, and secreting the Money
Embezzling Naval Stores, in certain cases, _See pages_ 261-263
Petty Larcenies, or Thefts under one Shilling
Assaulting with an intent to Rob
Aliens returning after being ordered out of the kingdom
Stealing Fish from a Pond or River--Fishing in inclosed Ponds, and buying stolen Fish
Stealing Roots, Trees, or Plants, of the value of 5_s._ or destroying them
Stealing Children with their apparel
Bigamy, or Marrying more Wives or Husbands than one (now punishable with transportation)
Assaulting and Cutting, or Burning Clothes
Counterfeiting the Copper Coin, &c.--_See page_ 191-211
Marriage, solemnizing clandestinely
Manslaughter, or killing another without Malice, &c. _See page_ 44
Cutting or Stealing Timber Trees, &c. &c. &c.
Stealing a Shroud out of a Grave
Watermen carrying too many passengers in the Thames, if any drowned
* * * * *
3. OFFENCES _denominated_ Misdemeanors, _punishable by Fine, Imprisonment, Whipping, and the Pillory._
_The principal of which are the following:_
Perjury, or taking a false Oath in a judicial proceeding, &c.
Frauds, by Cheating, Swindling contrary to the rules of common honesty, &c. &c.
Conspiracies, for the purpose of injuring or defrauding others
Assaults by striking or beating another person, &c.
Stealing Dead Bodies
Stealing Cabbages, Turnips, &c. growing
Cutting and stealing Wood and Trees
Robbing Orchards and Gardens
Stealing Deer from Forests
Stealing Dogs
Setting fire to a House to defraud the Insurance Office
Making and selling Fire-Works and Squibs
Throwing the same when on fire about the streets
Uttering Base Money
Selling Base Money under its denominated value
Embezzlement in the Woollen, Silk, and other Manufactures
Offences by Artificers and Servants in various Trades
Combinations and Conspiracies for raising the price of Wages, &c. (_See stat._ 39 _Geo._ III. _c._ 81)
Smuggling Run Goods, and other Frauds relative to the Excise and Customs
Keeping Bawdy Houses and other Disorderly Houses
* * * * *
4. IDLE and Disorderly Persons _described by the Act of the 17th Geo. II. cap. 5. and subsequent Acts_; punishable with one Month's Imprisonment--_namely_,
1. Persons threatening to run away and leave their wives and children on the Parish
2. Persons who tipple in Ale Houses, and neglect their Families, &c. as described in the 3d Geo. III. cap. 45
3. Persons who shall unlawfully return to the Parish or place from which they have been legally removed, without bringing a Certificate
4. Persons, who not having wherewithal to maintain themselves, live idly without employment, and refuse to work for the usual Wages
5. Persons begging in the streets, highways, &c.
* * * * *
5th. ROGUES and VAGABONDS _described by the said Act of the 17th Geo. II. cap. 5. and subsequent Acts_; punishable by Six Months' Imprisonment--namely,
1. Persons going about as Patent Gatherers or Gatherers of Alms, under pretence of Loss by Fire, or other casualty.
2. Fencers, Bearwards, Strolling Players of Interludes, or other Entertainments
3. Minstrels, (except those licensed by the Lord Dutton in Cheshire)
4. Persons pretending to be, and wandering in the habit of, Gypseys
5. Fortune-Tellers, pretending Skill in Physiognomy, Palmistry, &c. or using any subtle craft to deceive and impose on others
6. Persons playing or betting at any unlawful Games or Plays
7. Persons who run away, and leave their Wives and Children upon the Parish
8. Petty Chapmen and Pedlars wandering abroad without a Licence
9. Persons wandering abroad, and lodging in Ale-Houses, Out-Houses, or the open Air, and not giving a good account of themselves
10. Persons wandering abroad, and pretending to be Soldiers or Sailors, without proper Certificates from their Officers, or Testimonials from Magistrates
11. Persons wandering abroad, pretending to go to work in Harvest, without a proper Certificate from the Parish
12. Persons having Implements of House-breaking or Offensive Weapons, with a Felonious intent
13. Persons concerned in illegal Lottery Transactions, as described in the Lottery Acts, 27th, 33d, 34th, and 35th Geo. III.
* * * * *
6th. INCORRIGIBLE ROGUES, _punishable with Two Years' Imprisonment and Whipping, or Transportation for Seven Years, if they break out of Prison--namely_,
1. Persons stiled End-Gatherers, buying, collecting, or receiving Ends of Yarn in the Woollen Branch, against the stat. 13 Geo. I. cap. 23.
2. Persons, who being Rogues and Vagabonds, have escaped after being apprehended, or who shall refuse to be examined by a Magistrate, or who shall give a false account of themselves after being warned of their punishment
3. Persons who shall escape out of any House of Correction before the period of their imprisonment empires
4. Persons, who being once punished as Rogues and Vagabonds, shall again commit the same offence.
[-->] _There are a great many other trivial Offences denominated Misdemeanors, subject to pecuniary Fines, which it is not easy to enumerate. Since almost every statute, whether public or private, which passes in the course of a Session of Parliament, creates new offences--the shades vary as Society advances, and their number is scarcely within the reach of calculation._
The crimes mentioned in the first and second classes of the foregoing Enumeration (except Petty Larceny) are always tried by the Superior Courts:--The offences specified in the third class, as also Petty Larceny, and every species of misdemeanor and vagrancy, are generally tried, (with some few exceptions) by the Justices in their General and Quarter Sessions, where, in certain cases in Middlesex, they act under a commission of Oyer and Terminer. The Magistrates in Petty Sessions, and in several instances a _single Magistrate_, have also the power of convicting in a summary way, for a variety of small misdemeanors, and acts of vagrancy: and of punishing the delinquents with fine and imprisonment.
It generally happens in the Metropolis, that out of from 2000 to 2500 prisoners who are tried for different crimes, in the various Courts of Justice, above 5-6th parts are for larcenies, acts of vagrancy, and smaller offences; where the Benefit of Clergy, either attaches, or does not apply at all. The major part are, of course, returned upon Society, after a short imprisonment, or some corporal punishment, too frequently to renew their depredations on the public.--But a vast proportion (as has already been shewn) are always acquitted.[132]
[Footnote 132: All endeavours towards the prevention of crimes will ever be attended with unconquerable difficulty, until some general House of Industry can be established in the Metropolis: where persons discharged for petty offences, as well as strangers and others out of work, may have an opportunity of finding, at least a temporary employment, sufficient to maintain them. An Institution of this sort would be a work of great charity and humanity; and it is earnestly to be hoped, that the view of the subject given in this Work may induce the Legislature to form a Police Establishment, calculated to promote such a multitude of good and useful objects;[E] more especially as with proper management it would very soon pay itself.]
[Footnote E: Vide _page_ 99 _n._]
In order to form a judgment of the proportion of the more atrocious offenders tried at the Old Bailey: the number acquitted; and the specific punishments inflicted on the different offences in case of conviction, one year has been selected; a year in which it was natural to expect from the immense, and indeed, unparalleled bounties which were given for seamen and soldiers, that the number of thieves and criminals would be greatly reduced,--namely--_from the month of April_, 1793, _to the month of April_, 1794,--including eight Sessions at the Old Bailey--
The following Table shews in what manner 1060 prisoners, put on their trials during that period, were disposed of.[133]
[Footnote 133: In the year 1795, 1894 prisoners were tried at the Old Bailey, and the different Assizes in the Country, exclusive of a much greater number at the General and Quarter Sessions of the Peace, in the different Counties. These trials in the Superior Courts of Judicature, produced the following results:--
Assizes London. in the Total. Country.
Received Sentence of Death 44 174 218 " " " Transportation 84 159 243 Imprisoned and Whipt 129 411 540 Judgment respited to serve his Majesty 23 25 48 Acquitted 150 351 501 Discharged for want of Prosecutors 91 253 344 --- ---- ---- 521 1373 1894]
The Crimes for which the different Offenders were tried, were these following:
Murder 46 Felony 315 Manslaughter 29 Arson 5 Larceny 998 Bigamy 3 Burglary 101 Receiving Beastiality 2 Robbery 58 stolen Goods 61 Rape 9 Horse and Cattle Frauds and Perjury 2 stealing 108 Misdemeanors 101 Sedition 2 Forgery 16 Rogues and --- Coining 17 Vagabonds 21 47 --- ---- --- 351 1496 --- ----
_A_ TABLE, _shewing the Prisoners tried at the Old Bailey, from April 1793, to March 1794, inclusive._
-------------+------------------------------------------------------ |Persons committed for trial. | |Of whom, acquitted and discharged. | | |Prisoners convicted, and their Punishments. | | |Death. | | | |Transported for 14 years. London, | | | | |Transported for 7 years. Middlesex, | | | | | |Whipt & Imprisoned. and | | | | | | |Imprisoned 6 months and Westminster. | | | | | | |upwards. | | | | | | | |Imprisoned 3 months | | | | | | | |& otherwise disposed of. | | | | | | | | |Sent to serve | | | | | | | | |the King. | | | | | | | | | |Judgment | | | | | | | | | |respited | | | | | | | | | | |Total | | | | | | | | | | |punished. -------------+----+-----+--+-+---+--+--+--+--+--+------------------- London | | | | | | | | | | | Sessions | 199| 70| 6|1| 50|10|29|20| 8| 5|129 | | | | | | | | | | | Middlesex and| | | | | | | | | | | Westminster | 861| 497|62|1|117|38|51|49|30|16|364 +----+-----+--+-+---+--+--+--+--+--+------------------- |1060| 567|68|2|167|48|80|69|38|21|493 | |[134]| | | | | | | | | -------------+----+-----+--+-+---+--+--+--+--+--+-------------------
[Footnote 134: The acquittals will generally be found to attach mostly to small offences which are punishable with death: where Juries do not consider the crime deserving so severe a punishment, the delinquent receives no punishment at all. If all were convicted who were really guilty of these small offences, the number of victims to the severity of the Law would be greatly increased.]
Thus it appears, that in London only, of 1060 prisoners, tried in the course of a year, only 493 were punished; of whom 197, after a temporary confinement, would return upon the Public, with little prospect of being better disposed to be useful to Society, than before.--It may be estimated that in all England, including those offenders who are tried at the County Sessions, upwards of five thousand individuals, charged with criminal offences, are thrown back upon Society every year.--
But this is not all,--for according to the present System, out of about _two hundred_ and upwards who are, upon an average every year, doomed to suffer the punishment of death, _four-fifths_ or more are generally pardoned[135] either on condition of being transported, or of going into His Majesty's service, and not seldom without any condition at all.
[Footnote 135: As punishments became more mild, clemency and pardons became less necessary.--Clemency is a virtue that ought to shine in the code, and not in the private judgment.--The Prince in pardoning gives up the Public Security in favour of an individual; and by the exercise of this species of benevolence proclaims a public act of impunity.--Let the Executors of the Laws be inexorable; but let the Legislature be tender, indulgent and humane.
BECCARIA, cap. 46.]
Hence it is, that, calculating on all the different chances, encouragements to commit crimes actually arise out of the System intended for their prevention:--_first, from the hope of avoiding detection and apprehension;--secondly, of escaping conviction, from the means used to vitiate and suborn the evidence;--thirdly, from the mercy of the Jury, in considering the punishment too severe;--and fourthly, from the interest of persons of rank or consideration, applying (under circumstances where humanity becomes the friend of every person doomed to die), for the interference of Royal Mercy, by Pardons_.
God forbid that the Author of these pages should do so much violence to his own feelings, as to convey an idea hostile to the extension of that amiable Prerogative vested in the Sovereign; and which His Majesty has exercised with a benevolent regard to the feelings of Humanity, and a merciful disposition truly characteristic of the mind of a great and good King.
These animadversions are by no means pointed against the exercise of a privilege so benign, and even so necessary, in the present state of the Criminal Law;--they regard only the impositions which have been practised upon so many well-intentioned, respectable, and amiable Characters, who have, from motives of humanity, interested themselves in obtaining _free pardons for Convicts_, or _pardons on condition of going into the Army or Navy_.
If these humane individuals, who exert themselves in applications of this sort, were to be made acquainted with one half of the gross impositions practised upon their credulity, or the evil consequences arising to Society from such pardons, (particularly unconditional pardons) they would shudder at the extent of the cruelty exercised towards the Public, and even, in many instances, to the Convicts themselves, by this false humanity.
In a Country, where, from the great caution which mingles in that part of the Criminal Jurisprudence which relates to the trial of Offenders,--it is scarcely possible that an honest or an innocent person can be convicted of a capital offence.[136]--It would seem to be a good criterion, that the Royal Mercy should only be extended on two indispensable conditions.
[Footnote 136: It is not here meant to say there have not been some instances, and even one of a recent date, where an innocent man may be convicted; but they are certainly very rare, and when discovered, the Royal mercy, of course, relieves the unfortunate person.]
1. _That the Convict under sentence of death should, for the sake of Public Justice, (and to deter others from the commission of crimes) discover all his accomplices, and the robberies, or other crimes he has committed._
2. _That he should be transported; or make retribution to the parties he has injured by being kept at hard labour for life; or until ample security shall be given for good behaviour after such retribution is made._
The precaution not having been used of knowing _for certain_, before pardons were granted, whether the parties were fit for His Majesty's service or not; the Convicts themselves carefully concealing every kind of bodily infirmity;--and the pardons containing no eventual condition of ultimate Transportation, in case the persons should be found unfit for the Army or Navy;--the result has been, that many Convicts, who have been since actually Thieves upon the Town, were almost instantly thrown back upon the Public.--Some, even before they were attested by the Magistrate, in consequence of the discovery of bodily incapacity; and others, in a very short time after they had gone into His Majesty's Service, from the like unfitness being discovered; from some artful device practised to procure a discharge--or from desertion.--A professed Thief is never deficient in that species of artifice and resource which is necessary to rid him of any incumbrance.
This, however, is seldom taken into the calculation when Humanity urges philanthropic Characters to interest themselves in behalf of Criminals; nor could it perhaps otherwise have been known, or believed, that so many of these outcasts of Society have found means again to mingle with the mass of the people.
What impression must these facts make on the intelligent mind!--will they not warrant the following conclusion?
1. That every individual, restored to Society in this way, is the means of affording a species of encouragement, peculiarly calculated to bring others into the same dreadful situation, from which the unhappy Convict is thus rescued.
2. That for this reason every pardon granted, without some lesser punishment, or removing the convicts from Society, is a link broken in the chain of justice, by annihilating that united strength which binds the whole together.
3. That by removing the terror of punishments by frequent pardons, the design of the Law is rendered in a great measure ineffectual; the lives of persons _executed_ are thrown away, being sacrificed rather to the vengeance of the Law than to the good of the Public; and no other advantage is received than by getting rid of one thief, whose place, (under present circumstances,) will speedily be supplied by another.[137]
[Footnote 137: That able and excellent Magistrate, the late Henry Fielding, Esq. (to whose zeal and exertions in the exercise of the duties of a Justice of the Peace, in the Metropolis, the Public were under infinite obligations)--manifested, half a century ago, how much he was impressed with the injuries arising from frequent pardons.--Those who will contemplate the character and conduct of this valuable man, as well as that of his brother, the late Sir John Fielding, will sincerely lament that their excellent ideas, and accurate and extensive knowledge upon every subject connected with the Police of the Metropolis, and of the means of preventing crimes, were not rendered more useful to the Public. It is to be hoped, however, that it is not yet too late, since the state of Society, and the progress and increase of crimes, call loudly for the establishment of a responsible preventive System.]
Nothing can sanction the punishment of death for crimes short of murder, _but the terror of the example operating as the means of prevention_.--It is upon this principle alone that one man is sacrificed to the preservation of thousands.--Executions, therefore, being exhibited as seldom as a regard to the public interest really required, ought to be rendered as _terrific_ and _solemn_ to the eyes of the people as possible.
The punishment now in use, considered in point of law to be next to that of deprivation of life, is _Transportation_.
It has been already mentioned that Parliament authorized this species of punishment in the year 1718--when the general plan of sending Convicts to the American Plantations was first adopted. This System continued for 56 years; during which period, and until the commencement of the American War in 1775, great numbers of Felons were sent chiefly to the Province of Maryland. The rigid discipline which the colonial Laws authorized the masters[138] to exercise over servants, joined to the prospects which agricultural pursuits, after some experience was acquired, afforded to these _Outcasts_, tended to reform the chief part; and after the expiration of their servitude, they mingled in the Society of the Country, under circumstances highly beneficial to themselves and even to the Colony. Possessed in general (as every adroit thief must be) of good natural abilities, they availed themselves of the habits of industry they acquired in the years of their servitude--became farmers and planters on their own account; and many of them, succeeding in these pursuits, not only acquired that degree of respectability which is attached to property and industry; but also in their turn became masters, and purchased the servitude of future Transports sent out for sale.[139]
[Footnote 138: By the Acts 4 George I. c. 11, and 6 George I. c. 23, the persons contracting for the transportation of convicts to the Colonies, or their assigns, had an interest in the service of each, for seven or fourteen years, according to the term of transportation.]
[Footnote 139: For some years previous to the commencement of the American War, the adjudged services of convicts became so valuable in Maryland, that contracts were made to convey them without any expence whatsoever to Government, who had formerly allowed 5_l._ a head; for the reasons already assigned, they generally were more adroit, and had better abilities than those who voluntarily engaged themselves to go to America.]
The Convicts having accumulated greatly in the year 1776, and the intercourse with America being shut up, it became indispensably necessary to resort to some other expedient; and in the choice of difficulties the System of the _Hulks_ was suggested, and first adopted under the authority of an Act of the 16th of his present Majesty.
The Legislature, uncertain with regard to the success of this new species of punishment, and wishing to make other experiments, by an Act of the same Session,[140] empowered the Justices of every county in England to prepare Houses of Correction for the reception of Convicts under sentence of death, to whom his Majesty should extend his Royal Mercy, to be kept at hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years.
[Footnote 140: 16 George III. cap. 43, sect. 1st, 3d, and 11th.]
The same Act, among many other excellent regulations, ordered the Convicts to be kept separate, and not allowed to mix with any offenders convicted of crimes less than Larceny--and that they should be fed with coarse inferior food, water, and small beer, without permission to have any other food, drink, or cloathing, than that allowed by the Act, under certain penalties:--they were to be clothed at the public expence.
And as an encouragement to these delinquents, while such as refused to work were to receive corporal punishment, those who behaved well had not only the prospect held out of shortening the period of their confinement, but also were to receive decent clothes, and a sum of money not less than _forty shillings_, nor more than _five pounds_, when discharged.
This well-intentioned Act[141] (which certainly admits of many improvements), was followed up, three years afterwards, by another Statute, (19 Geo. III. cap. 74,) which had two very important objects in view.
[Footnote 141: An enormous expence has been incurred in building Penitentiary-Houses in various Counties, and many philanthropic individuals have exerted their best endeavours to carry this Act into execution; but it is to be lamented, that crimes have been by no means diminished. The fact is, that the System is erroneous--Responsibility is no where established.--No uniformity of System prevails, and no general superintendance or center point exists.--Like the Poor Laws, the only part of the Act which is rigidly carried into execution is raising a fund, which, without imputing blame to Magistrates (for the error is in the System), has increased the expence of this branch of the Police of the Country very far beyond what could have been conceived--and it now becomes a heavy burden upon many of the Counties.--The reform began at the wrong end.--The same expence applied in establishing a System of Preventive Police, ought to render numerous penitentiary houses in a great measure unnecessary.]
The first was to erect, in some convenient common or waste ground, in either of the counties of _Middlesex_, _Essex_, _Kent_, or _Surry_, _Two large Penitentiary Houses_, the one to hold 600 _male_, and the other 300 _female Convicts_, with proper _storehouses_, _workhouses_, and _lodging-rooms_; an _infirmary_, _chapel_, and _burying-ground_; a _prison_, _kitchen_, _garden_, and _air-grounds_: with proper _offices_, and other _necessary apartments_.
The expence of these grounds and erections was to be paid out of the treasury; and his Majesty was empowered to appoint three persons as a Committee of Management for regulating the Establishment; under the controul of the Justices of the Peace of the County, and Judges of Assize, with power to appoint a _clerk_, _governor_, _chaplain_, _surgeon_, or _apothecary_, _store-keepers_, and _task-masters_; and also a _matron_ for the females;--and to allow salaries to each, which were to be paid out of the profits of the work, to be performed by the Convicts.
As soon as the buildings should be completed, the Court, before whom any person was convicted for a transportable offence, might, in lieu thereof, order the prisoner to be punished by confinement, in any of these Penitentiary Houses, there to be kept to hard labour in the proportion of 5 _years_ instead of 7 _years' transportation_, and not exceeding 7 years in lieu of 14 _years' transportation_; limiting at the same time the number of Convicts to be sent annually from the Circuits in the Country, and from the different Sessions in the Metropolis.
This Act lays down various specific rules for the government of the Establishment, and for the employment of the Prisoners; and the following works, as being of the most servile kind and least liable to be spoiled by ignorance, neglect, or obstinacy, are selected, namely--
1. Treading in a wheel for moving machinery. 2. Drawing in a capstan, for turning a mill or engine. 3. Sawing stone 4. Polishing marble 5. Beating hemp 6. Rasping logwood 7. Chopping rags 8. Making cordage 9. Picking oakum 10. Weaving sacks 11. Knitting nets, &c. &c.
The food of the different offenders, as in the former Act, was limited to bread and any coarse meat, with water and small beer; and the Prisoners were to be cloathed in uniform apparel, with badges affixed, agreeable to the Institution.
Certain other rules were established for the discipline of the house, under the direction of the Committee to be appointed by his Majesty; who were to attend every fortnight, and to have power to reward such offenders as should appear most diligent and meritorious, by giving them a part of their earnings, to be applied for the use of themselves end families.
And when an offender should be discharged, decent clothing was to be delivered to him; with a sum of money for present subsistence, not less than _twenty shillings_, nor more than _three pounds_.
The second purpose of this Act (and which is the only part of it which was ever carried into effect), regards _the continuation of the System of the Hulks_.
It declares that for the more effectual punishment of atrocious male offenders liable to be transported, the Court may order such Convicts as are of proper age, and free from bodily infirmity, to be punished by being kept on board ships or vessels; and employed in hard labour in raising sand, soil, and gravel, and cleansing the River Thames, or any other river, or port, approved by the Privy Council; or in any other works upon the banks or shores of the same, under the direction of superintendants approved of by the Justices, for a term not less than _one_ year, nor more than _five_; except an offender be liable to transportation for 14 years, in which case his punishment may be commuted for 7 years on board the Hulks.
The mode of feeding is the same as already explained, and the clothing is to be at the discretion of the superintendant. A similar discipline, varied only by local circumstances, is also established; and on the discharge of any of the convicts, they are to receive for present subsistence from 20_s._ to 3_l._ according to circumstances.
The concluding part of the Act obliges the governors and superintendants of the two Establishments to make annual returns to the Court of King's Bench: and also authorizes his Majesty _to appoint an Inspector of the two Penitentiary Houses, of the several vessels or hulks on the River Thames, and of all the other gaols and places of criminal confinement within the City of London and County of Middlesex_; these Inspectors are personally to visit every such place of confinement at least once a quarter, to examine into the particulars of each, and to make a return to the Court of King's Bench, of the _state of the buildings--the conduct of the officers--treatment of the prisoners--state of their earnings and expences_--and to follow up this by a report to both Houses of Parliament, at the beginning of each Session.
It is much to be lamented that neither of these two salutary Acts, so far as regarded _National Penitentiary Houses_, which seemed to hold out so fair a prospect of employing convicts, in pursuits connected with _productive labour_, _industry_, and ultimate _reformation_, without sending them out of the kingdom, have been carried into execution. In the year 1784, the System of Transportation was again revived, by the Act of the 24th Geo. III. Stat. 2. cap. 56; "which empowers the Court, before whom a male Felon shall be convicted, to order the prisoner to be transported beyond seas, either within his Majesty's dominions or elsewhere; and his service to be assigned to the contractor who shall undertake such transportation."
The same Act continues the System of the Hulks for a further length of time; by directing the removal of Convicts, under sentence of death, and reprieved by his Majesty, and also such as are under sentence of Transportation (being free from infectious disorders) to other places of confinement, either inland, or on board of any ship or vessel in the river Thames, or any other navigable river; and to continue them so confined until transported according to law, or until the expiration of the term of the sentence should otherwise entitle them to their liberty.
This plan of Transportation, through the medium of contractors, although some Felons were sent to Africa,[142] does not appear to have answered; from the great difficulty of finding any situation, since the Revolution in America, where the service of Convicts could be rendered productive or profitable to Merchants, who would undertake to transport them; and hence arose the idea of making an Establishment for these outcasts of Society in the infant colony of New South Wales, to which remote region it was at length determined to transport atrocious offenders.--Accordingly, in the year 1787, an Act passed, (27 Geo. III. cap. 2,) authorizing the establishment of a Court of Judicature for the trial of offenders who should be transported to New South Wales.
[Footnote 142:
In 1785, George Moore, Esq. received for transporting convicts L.1,512 7 6
John Kirby for expences 540 19 4
1786, John Kirby; further expences 578 10 1
Anthony Calvert for Transportation 286 14 0
Thomas Cotton, Esq. Cloathing, &c. 303 2 7 ------------ L.3,721 13 6[F]]
[Footnote F: See Appendix (L. i.) to the 28th Report of Select Committee on Finance.]
Another Act of the following year, (28 Geo. III. cap. 24,) empowered his Majesty, under his Royal Sign Manual, to authorize any person to make contracts for the Transportation of offenders, and to direct to whom security should be given for the due performance of the contract.
By the Act of 30 George III. cap. 47, the Governor of the Settlement may remit the punishment of offenders there: and on a certificate from him their names shall be inserted in the next General Pardon.
Under these various legislative regulations, the two Systems of Punishment, namely, the _Hulks_ and _Transportation_ to New South Wales, have been authorized and carried into execution.
The System of the Hulks commenced on the 12th day of July, in the year 1776; and from that time until the 12th of December 1795, comprehending a period of nineteen years, 7999 Convicts were ordered to be punished by hard labour on the river Thames, and Langston and Portsmouth harbours, which are accounted for in the following manner:
1. Convicts ordered to hard labour on the River Thames, from 12th July 1776, to the 12th January, 1778 2024
2. Convicts, _under sentence of Transportation_, put on board the Hulks on the River Thames, from 11th January, 1783, to 12th December, 1795 4775
3. _Deduct_, under sentence of Transportation, put on board the Hulks in Langston and Portsmouth Harbours, received from the Hulks at Woolwich, on the 20th of June, 1791 466 ---- 4309
Additional Convicts sent from different prisons to Portsmouth and Langston from 1791, to 1st December, 1795 1200
To which, add those from Woolwich as above 466 ---- 1666 ---- Total 7999 Of the above convicts there have been Discharged 1610 Pardoned 790 Escaped 130 ---- 2530 Removed to other Gaols 17 Transported to New South Wales 2207 Died[143] 1946 ---- 6700
And there remain in the Hulks on the Thames 523
And at Langston Harbour 776 ---- 1299 Total as above 7999
[Footnote 143: A malignant fever, at one period, carried off a vast number, in spite of every effort to prevent it.]
By a subsequent account laid before the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Finance, and stated in Appendix, M. of their 28th Report, dated the 26th of June, 1798, it appears that the number of Convicts stood thus:
In the Hulks on the Thames, at Woolwich 501 At Portsmouth 948 ---- Total 1449
Besides 415 under Sentence of Transportation in the different Gaols, making in all 1864.
From the same authentic Documents, (pages 115, 116,) it appears, that of these Convicts, the following numbers will be discharged upon Society in the succeeding 13 years:[144]
Portsmouth. Woolwich. In 1800 140 115 1801 106 43 1802 127 26 1803 107 46 1804 149 77 1805 33 3 1806 1 1 1807 1 1 1808 1 1 1809 1 0 1810 1 0 1811 10 4 1812 1 0 --- 678 --- 317 For life 76 22
[Footnote 144: See page 98 of this volume, for an Account of the Convicts enlarged the preceding eight years,
in all 1383 To be discharged as above 995 ---- Total 2378]
RECAPITULATION.
Convicts discharged from the Hulks, from 1792 to 1799 inclusive (_See page 98 of this Treatise_) 1383
To be discharged from the Hulks at Langston chiefly in 6 years 678
From Woolwich, chiefly within the same period 317 ---- Total 2378
In the same authentic Documents, namely the Appendix (L. 1 & 2) page 103 of the 28th Report of the Select Committee on Finance, a Statement is given of the Expence which has been incurred by Government, "for or in respect of the Conviction, Confinement, and Maintenance of Convicts, from the 1st January, 1775, to the year ending the 31st December, 1797," of which the following is an abstract:
1 Jan. 1775 to 1 Jan. 1776 paid at the Exchequer L.8,660 0 0 -- 1776 -- 1777 -- 7,950 16 10 -- 1777 -- 1778 -- 13,676 14 5 -- 1778 -- 1779 -- 17,939 18 0 -- 1779 -- 1780 -- 22,292 11 1-1/2 -- 1780 -- 1781 -- 21,034 0 1-1/2 -- 1781 -- 1782 -- 18,686 19 0 -- 1782 -- 1783 -- 22,320 10 9 -- 1783 -- 1784 -- 17,669 3 11 -- 1784 -- 1785 -- 31,555 18 11 -- 1785 -- 1786 -- 32,343 17 7 -- to 7 March 1786 -- 9,353 17 0
To 31 December 1786 22,282 18 4 1787 33,927 9 7 1788 34,059 14 8 1789 62,656 15 5 1790 46,865 4 6 1791 43,840 9 0 1792 22,300 12 7 1793 25,403 16 0 1794 25,751 3 7-1/2 1795 14,195 7 4-1/2 1796 36,174 7 9 1797 } { 19,506 15 11 1797 } { 12,574 0 0 --------------- Total Expence of Convicts in the } Hulks, from the Commencement } L.623,022 14 5 of the System to 1 January 1798 }
The Contractors for the Convicts at Woolwich and Langston Harbour, (as appear from documents laid before the House of Commons) entered into an agreement with the Lords of the Treasury obliging themselves for _the consideration of 1s. 3d. per day_, (being 22_l._ 16_s._ 3_d._ a year _for each Convict_,) to provide at their own cost or charge, _one_ or more _Hulks_, to keep the same in proper repair, to provide proper Ship's Companies for the safe Custody of such Convicts; and sufficient _meat_, _drink_, _clothing_ and _medical assistance_, for the Convicts; as also to sustain all other charges (excepting the expence of the _Chaplain_, _Coroner_, and bounties to discharged Convicts;[145]) obeying, at the same time, all the orders of his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, respecting the Convicts. A subsequent contract was made at 14-1/2_d._ which reduced the expence to 22_l._ 1_s._ 0-1/2_d._ per man: and which is the allowance made to the present Contractors.
[Footnote 145: This expence, by an account laid before the House of Commons, for one Year, ending the 15th Feb. 1792, appears to be--
Expence of Chaplain, Coroner, and Bounties for Convicts at Woolwich L.221 17 4
At Langston and Portsmouth Harbours 153 19 8 --------- Total L.375 17 0]
The terms of these contracts appear to be as favourable for Government as could reasonably be expected, under all circumstances; and it would appear, that some advantages are reaped by the Public, as the documents laid before the House of Commons in 1792 and 1798, shew that the labour performed by the Convicts is productive in a certain degree.--The following Statements explain how their labour is valued:--
From the 1st of January 1789 to the 1st of January 1792, it appears that 653,432 days' work had been performed at Langston Harbour, Portsmouth, and Woolwich Warren; which being estimated at 9_d._ a day, is L.24,503 14 0
and
From the 1st of January 1789 to the 1st of January 1792, it also appears that 260,440 days' work had been performed at the Dock yard at Woolwich; which being partly performed by artificers in a more productive species of labour, is estimated at 1_s._ a day 13,022 0 0 ------------- Total value of Convicts' labour in 3 years L.37,525 14 0
It appears from the 28th Report of the Select Committee on Finance, Appendix, No. 7 and 8--
That the work done by Convicts confined on board the Hulks in Langston Harbour, during the year 1797, was performed by about 421 convicts upon a daily average, and computing the labour of each artificer at 19_l._ 8_s._ 9_d._ per annum, and each labourer at 11_l._ 13_s._ 3_d._ it will amount to L.5,997 18 3
The work performed in the same year by about 250 convicts, confined on board the Hulks at Portsmouth, computed as above will amount to 3,226 15 0 -------------- 9,224 13 3
From which is to be deducted, to make the amount correspond with the valuation made by the Ordnance Board 1,440 5 3 -------------- L.7,784 8 0
The work done by convicts, confined on board the _Prudentia_ and _Stanislaus_ Hulks at Woolwich Dock-yards and Warren, performed by 359 convicts, rated at 1_s._ and 1_s._ 2_d._ for labourers, and 1_s._ 5_d._ per day for artificers, is calculated to amount to 6,578 4 7 --------------- L.14,362 12 7
Deduct allowances made, and articles supplied, by the Board of Ordnance 1,498 14 10-1/2 ------------------- Total Estimate of the value of the labour of Convicts in 1797 L.12,863 17 8-1/2 -------------------
Upon this last statement the Select Committee on Finance (whose various elaborate Reports on the State of the Nation, do them immortal honour as Patriots and Legislators) very justly observe, that it is extremely difficult to calculate the value of labour, performed under such circumstances, with any degree of accuracy; and after several views of the subject a conclusion is drawn, that the net expence to the Public, for the maintenance of 1402 convicts in 1797, after deducting the estimated value of labour, amounted to 20,878_l._ 14_s._ 10-1/2_d._ being at the rate of 14_l._ 17_s._ 9-1/2_d._ per man.
It appears, however, that out of the whole number of 1402 maintained in 1797, only 1030 were actually employed. The labour of the remaining 370 was, therefore, in a great measure, lost to the Community.
At any rate, the value of this species of labour must be precarious, and the advantages resulting from it problematical.
Since the mere "possession of so many idle hands will sometimes be a temptation to engage in works, which but for this inducement, would not recommend themselves by their intrinsic utility."[146]
[Footnote 146: See 28th Report of Finance Committee, page 17.]
While it is admitted, that considerable improvements have been made with regard to the reduction of the expence; that provision has also been made for religious and moral instruction, by established salaries to chaplains;--and that the contractors have honourably performed their part of the undertaking; it is much to be lamented, that this experiment has not been attended with more beneficial consequences to the Public; not only in rendering the labour of the convicts productive in a greater degree, so as at least to be equal to the expence; but also in amending the morals of these miserable out-casts; so that on their return to Society, they might, in some respect, atone for the errors of their former lives, by a course of honest industry, useful to themselves and to their country. On the contrary, experience has shewn, that although an expence exceeding 623,000_l._ has been incurred by Government in the course of 22 years, most of them, instead of profitting by the punishment they have suffered (forgetting they were under sentence of death, and undismayed by the dangers they have escaped) immediately rush into the same course of depredation and warfare upon the public: nay, so hardened and determined in this respect have some of them been, as even to make proposals to their old friends, the Receivers, previous to the period of their discharge, to purchase their newly acquired plunder. It has already been shewn, that those few also, who are less depraved, and perhaps disposed to amend their conduct, can find no resource for labour; and are thus, too frequently, compelled, by dire necessity, to herd with their former associates in iniquity, and it is much to be feared, that the chief part of the multitudes, who have been periodically discharged, have either suffered for new offences, or are actually at present afflicting Society by reiterated depredations.[147]
[Footnote 147: See the Examination of the Author before the Select Committee of the House of Commons.]
After maturely considering the enormous expence, and the total inefficacy of the System of the Hulks, aided by the new lights which have been thrown upon the subject by the important documents called for by the Select Committee on Finance, it appears clear to demonstration, that it would be for the interest of the Country to abandon the present System; and the Author heartily joins in the opinion expressed by those respectable members of the Legislature,--"_That our principal places of Confinement, and modes of Punishment, so far from the Conversion and Reformation of the Criminal, tend to send him forth at the expiration of the period of his imprisonment more confirmed in vice; and that the general tendency of our oeconomical arrangements upon this subject, is ill calculated to meet the accumulating burdens, which are the infallible result of so much error in the System of Police_."
Having thus explained the nature and effect of the punishment inflicted on convicts, through the medium of the Hulks, and also the expence attending these establishments; it will be necessary in the next place, to examine the authentic documents, as they relate to the transportation of Felons to New South Wales.
From the Appendix, page 122, of the 28th Report of the Select Committee on Finance, printed the 26th of June 1798, it appears that the number of Convicts sent to New South Wales and Norfolk Island[148] from the year 1787 to the year 1797 inclusive, stood thus:--
Men and Women. Children. TOTAL. 1787 778 17 795 1789 1251 22 1273 1790 2029 9 2038 1791 408 11 419 1792 412 6 418 1794 82 2 84 1795 133 3 136 1796 279 13 292 1797 393 10 403 ---- -- ---- 5765 93 5858
[Footnote 148: Norfolk Island is a small fertile spot, containing about 14,000 acres of land, situated about 1200 miles distant from Sydney Cove in New South Wales, where the seat of Government is fixed.]
It appears also from another document in the same Report (being the last return of Convicts in the two Settlements) that their numbers stood as stated in the following Table,--
Convicts |Convicts |Convicts |Total |Total |Victualled|Emancipated| |Men | | | |and Men Women|Men Women|Men Women|Men Women|Women ----------+----------+-----------+----------+----- In New South } | | | | Wales on the } | | | | 31 Aug. 1796 } 1633 755| 78 5| 20 9|1731 769|2500 | | | | In Norfolk } | | | | Island on the} | | | | 22 Oct. 1796.} 379 167| 53 0| 12 3| 444 170| 614 ---- ---| --- -| -- --|---- ---|----- 2012 922| 131 5| 32 12|2175 939|3114
To which add the Convicts sent in 1796 and 1797, including Children 695 ---- Total 3809
The diminution of Convicts from 5858 to 3809 is to be accounted for, by a certain proportion leaving the Settlement after the expiration of their time, and also by deaths,[149] which in the natural course of things must be expected.
[Footnote 149: In 21 months after the arrival of the first Convicts in May 1788, there were 77 deaths and 87 births in the whole Settlement.]
In resorting to this mode of disposing of Convicts, which at the time must be considered as a choice of difficulties, a very large sum of money has been expended.--Certainly much more than could have been foreseen at the commencement: Since it appears from the 28th Report of the Select Committee on Finance, who certainly have bestowed infinite pains in the investigation, that the total amount exceeds _One Million Sterling_, as will be seen from the following Statement, extracted from page 120 of that 28th Report, viz:
Disbursed for 5858 Convicts including 93 Children, transported to New South Wales
L. _s._ _d._ In 1786 28,346 3 6 -- 1787 29,242 11 10-1/2 -- 1788 18,008 9 2 -- 1789 88,057 18 2 -- 1790 44,774 4 6-1/4 -- 1791 129,019 19 10-3/4 -- 1792 104,588 2 3-3/4 -- 1793 69,961 16 6-1/2 -- 1794 79,381 13 11-1/2 -- 1795 75,280 19 0-3/4 -- 1796 83,854 18 0 -- 1797 120,372 4 8-3/4 To which add the total Naval Expences 166,341 4 11 ------------------------ Total Expences in 12 Years L.1,037,230 6 7-3/4
Specification of the heads of Expences above stated--
Expences of the first Establishment of the Settlement and Transportation of Convicts 264,433 11 0
Expences of Victualing Convicts and the Settlement from hence 186,270 1 3-1/4
Expences of Cloathing, Tools, and Sundry Articles 116,658 15 3
Bills drawn for the purchase of Provisions, &c. for the use of the Colony 138,225 9 8-3/4
Expence of the Civil Establishment 48,134 0 2-1/4
Expence of the Military Establishment 94,993 11 3
Expence of the Marine Establishment 22,173 13 0-1/2
Naval Expences as above 166,341 4 11 ---------------------- Total L.1,037,230 6 7-3/4 ----------------------
Thus it appears, that in executing the sentence of the Law on 5765 Convicts more than One Million Sterling has been expended, nearly equal to 180_l._ for each Convict, exclusive of the expence incurred by the Counties, and by Government in the maintenance at home; and without taking into the account the very considerable charge, which must have been borne by the private Prosecutors in bringing these Offenders to Justice.
The Select Committee in their laborious investigation of the effects of this System, very justly observe, "that the numbers of the Convicts do not appear to have kept pace with the increase of the expence."--They proceed to state (page 27 of the Report) "that after a trial of twelve years, it seems not too early to inquire whether the peculiar advantages likely to arise from this plan are such as may be considered as compensating for its probable expence. The security held out by the difficulty of return on the part of the convicts is the only advantage that strikes the eye: but the nature of this advantage, the amount of it, and the certainty of it, seem not altogether undeserving of inquiry; nor whether a security of the same sort more at command, and more to be depended on, might not be purchased on less exceptionable terms. It may be also worthy of inquiry (add the Committee) whether the advantages looked for, from this establishment may not be dependent on its weakness? and whether as it grows less disadvantageous in point of finance, it will not be apt to grow less advantageous in the character of an instrument of Police? The more thriving the Settlement the more frequented: The more frequented the less difficulty of return.--The more thriving too the less terrible. To persons in some circumstances;--to persons who otherwise would have been disposed to emigrate, it may loose [Transcriber's Note: lose] its terrors altogether, especially if by money or other means the servitude be avoidable. This inconvenience had already become sensible in the instance of the comparatively old planted Colonies. Many, though innocent, went thither voluntarily, even at the price of servitude, while others under the notion of punishment, were sent thither for their crimes; so that while to some the emigration remains a punishment, to others it may become an adventure; but a punishment should be the same thing to all persons, and at all times."
Contingencies, the Committee remark, may diminish the utility of the Establishment, or may increase the expence. "Bad seasons, and the destruction of the vegetable part of the stock of food: Mortality among the as yet scanty stock of cattle.[150] Mischief from the natives,--from insurrection among the convicts, or from the enemy.
[Footnote 150: An account of the Live Stock in the possession of, and Land in cultivation by, Government, and the Officers civil and military, 1st September 1796, extracted from page 123, of the above Report of the Select Committee on Finance.
Civil and Military Government. Officers. Settlers. Total.
Mares and Horses 14 43 0 57 Cows and Cow Calves 67 34 0 101 Bulls and Bull Calves 37 37 0 74 Oxen 46 6 0 52 Sheep 191 1310 30 1531 Goats 111 1176 140 1427 Hogs 59 889 921 1869 ---- ---- ---- ---- 525 3495 1091 5111[G] ---- ---- ---- ----
[Footnote G: In addition to the above Stock 61 head of Cattle were discovered in the year 1795, about 50 miles S.W. of the town of Sydney, which must have been produced from three Cows which strayed from the Settlement in 1788. This proves that at least one of the Cows at the time must have been big with a Bull Calf, and also gives the data for calculating the rate of the increase.]
Land in cultivation, viz:-- Acres.
Government 1700 Civil and Military Officers 1172 Settlers 2547 ---- 5419
The above 1700 acres were unemployed in 1796, on account of the want of public labourers, and the many buildings required--about 4-5th parts of the 1172 acres were sown with wheat--much timber cut, but not burnt off, on the 2547 acres belonging to the settlers.]
"Here, as at Sierra Leone, malice may produce an expedition of devastation. The illusions to which the spirit of rapine is so much exposed may give birth to an enterprize of depredation; apprehensions of any such event entertained here would necessarily give birth to preparations of defence. The apprehensions may be well or ill grounded--the measures taken for defence successful or unsuccessful; but the expence in the mean time is incurred. The distance is unexampled, and all danger as well as all expence swells in proportion to the distance: these topics appear to merit consideration.
"Another circumstance is, that the labour of the whole number of persons sent to these colonies, whether as Convicts or Settlers, _is entirely lost to the Country_, nor can any return, to compensate such a loss, be expected till that very distant day, when the improved state of the Colony may, by possibility, begin to repay a part of the advance, by the benefits of its trade.
"Supposing abundance established, and remaining for ever without disturbance, it may be deserving of consideration, in what shape and in what degree, and with what degree of assurance, Government, in point of Finance, is likely to profit by the abundance: for the stock of the individuals, which each individual will consume, lay up or sell, is on his own account; is not the Stock of Government. The saving to Government depends upon the probity and zeal, and intelligence of the Bailiffs in Husbandry, acting without personal interest in the concern at that immense distance."
After opinions so decided, the result of an inquiry, aided by extensive information, and conducted by men of talents and judgment, it would ill become the Author of this Work to offer (if he could suggest,) additional arguments to prove the disadvantages which have attended, and which are likely to attend the transportation of Convicts to New South Wales. Although with regard to mere _subsistence_, there may be a prospect (and it is yet a distant one), of the Colony becoming independent of supplies from this Country; yet with respect to most other articles its wants will experience no diminution, and having once engaged in the project, humanity requires that the Settlement should be supplied at the expence of the Nation.
When the measure of establishing this Colony was adopted, a hope was probably entertained that while the great difficulty and expence of the passage home, joined to the fertility of the soil and the salubrity of the climate, might induce convicts to remain after the expiration of the period specified in their sentence, so as not to become offensive again to their native Country; the removal to an unknown region, inhabited by Savages, and situated at such a remote distance from Great Britain would exhibit this species of punishment in so terrific a light as to operate powerfully in preventing crimes.
Experience, however, has shewn that this salutary effect has not been produced, and that crimes are not to be diminished by the dread of punishment in any shape. This great desideratum is only to be attained by a well-regulated Police, calculated to destroy the sources from whence evil propensities spring, and to remove the facilities by which criminality is nourished and assisted.
Under the present circumstances, where the mind continues depraved, and where the harvest is so prolific, it ceases to be a matter of wonder that a considerable proportion of the convicts transported to New South Wales, have found their way back to their native Country;--and that not a few of them have again afflicted Society by renewing their depredations on the Public.--It is, indeed, lamentable to reflect, that after the extreme labour which has been bestowed, and the unparalleled expence which has been incurred, no effect whatsoever favourable to the interest of the Community, or to the security of innocence, has been produced. Looking back to the period when Government was relieved of the expence of Convicts, almost of every description under sentence of Transportation, and reflecting on the enormous expence which has been incurred since the channel of disposal, through the medium of the late American Colonies, has been shut up; considering that within the short period of twenty-five years no less a sum than 1,663,974_l._[151] has been expended in transporting and maintaining about 15,000 Convicts, which would have cost nothing under the old System;--it cannot be sufficiently lamented, that so liberal a provision had not been employed in establishing Systems of Prevention. One fourth part of this enormous sum expended in a proper establishment of Preventive Police, would probably have rendered transportation and punishment in a considerable degree unnecessary, while the Country would have benefitted by the industry of a large proportion of these outcasts, who would then have been compelled to earn an honest livelihood by their labour.
[Footnote 151:
Expence of maintaining about 9000 Convicts in the Hulks, from January 1, 1795, to January 1, 1798 L. 623,022
Expence of Transporting Convicts in 1785 and 1786 3,722
Expence of Transporting and Maintaining Convicts from 1786 to 1797, New South Wales 1,037,230 ----------- Total L.1,663,974]
Deploring the mass of turpitude which has drawn from the resources of the Country so enormous a portion of wealth, it is no little consolation to be able to look forward to a measure recommended by the Select Committee, and in the train of being adopted by Government, which holds out so fair a prospect not only of gradually diminishing this expence in future, but also of rendering the labour of Convicts productive, and of securing the Public against the repetition of those depredations which have been rather increased than prevented, by the System of punishments which have been heretofore adopted.
The advantages in contemplation are to be attained by carrying into effect a _proposal for a new and less expensive mode of employing and reforming Convicts_, which has been offered to the consideration of Government by JEREMY BENTHAM, Esq. and which appears to have been fully investigated by the Finance Committee, who state it (p. 20, of Report 28,) "to be no small recommendation to the plan, that the Contractor proposes to employ the prisoners on his own account, receiving a proportionally smaller sum from the Public for their maintenance.--That the great and important advantages which distinguish that plan from any other which has been hitherto suggested, consist in the certain employment and industrious livelihood which it insures to those whose terms of confinement are expired. In the responsibility which the Contractor proposes to take upon himself, for the future good behaviour of Criminals entrusted to his care, even when they shall be no longer under his control: in the publicity which is meant to be given to the whole conduct and effect of the Establishment, _moral_, _medical_, and _oeconomical_, as well by an annual report of the state and proceedings, as by the constant facility of inspection, which will in an unusual manner be afforded by the very form and construction of the building, upon which the prompt and easy exercise of the superintending power of the Governor himself principally depends."
These advantages appear to the Committee of more importance, when the periods of the enlargement of the several Convicts now on board the Hulks are taken into consideration. The pernicious effects produced upon the unfortunate persons confined in these seminaries of vice; and the circumstance of 1411 destined to be enlarged in the course of 7 years, to afflict the Society from which they have been separated--the Committee consider as deserving of very serious consideration: and they conclude their view of the subject by expressing, an uncommon degree of solicitude, that no delay should take place in the execution of the contract with Mr. Bentham, "because it would deprive the Public for a longer time of the benefits of a plan, which they cannot but look to as likely to be productive of the most essential advantage, both in point of oeconomy and Police."
The object in view is by the aid of ingenious machinery, to render the labour of every class of Convicts so productive to the Contractor, as to admit of their being maintained at 25 per cent. less than the expence incurred on board the Hulks; while a rational prospect is held out of reforming these Convicts and returning them upon Society, not only with purer morals, but with the knowledge of some trade or occupation by which they may afterwards earn their bread;--but this is not all.--The proposer of this important design insures to the Convicts, after the expiration of their time, the means of obtaining a _livelihood_; by setting up a _Subsidiary Establishment_, into which all who found themselves otherwise destitute of employment would be admitted, and where they would be continued in the exercise of the trades in which they were employed during their confinement.
It is, however, impossible to do justice to the merit of this _Proposal_, without laying it wholly before the Public. It seems to embrace every object calculated to remove the errors and difficulties of the present System, while it promises in a short time to relieve the Finances of the Country from the enormous and unparalleled expence which is incurred by the Establishment of the Hulks, and by Transportation to New South Wales.
* * * * *
PROPOSAL
FOR A NEW AND LESS EXPENSIVE MODE OF
_EMPLOYING_ AND _REFORMING CONVICTS_.
The Author, having turned his thoughts to the Penitentiary System from its first origin, and having lately contrived a Building in which any number of persons may be kept within the reach of being inspected during every moment of their lives, and having made out, as he flatters himself, to demonstration, that the only eligible mode of managing an Establishment of such a nature, in a Building of such a construction, would be by _Contract_, has been induced to make public the following Proposal for Maintaining and Employing Convicts in general, or such of them as would otherwise be confined on board the Hulks, for 25 per cent. less than it costs Government to maintain them there at present; deducting also the average value of the work at present performed by them for the Public: upon the terms of his receiving the produce of their labour, _taking on himself the whole expence of the_ BUILDING, _fitting up and stocking_,[152] without any advance to be made by Government for that purpose, requiring only that the abatement and deduction above-mentioned shall be suspended for the first year.
[Footnote 152: All these articles taken into the account, the originally-intended Penitentiary Houses on the late Mr. Blackburne's plan, would not have cost so little as L.200 per man:--for 1000 Prisoners, L.200,000: exclusive of the whole _annual_ expence of maintenance, &c. to an unliquidated amount.]
Upon the above-mentioned Terms, he would engage as follows:
I. To furnish the Prisoners with a constant supply of wholesome _Food_, not limited in quantity, but adequate to each man's desires.
II. To keep them _clad_ in a state of tightness and neatness, superior to what is usual even in the Improved Prisons.
III. To keep them supplied with _separate Beds_ and Bedding, competent to their situations, and in a state of cleanliness scarcely any where conjoined with liberty.
IV. To insure to them a sufficient supply of artificial _warmth_ and _light_, whenever the season renders it necessary: and thereby save the necessity of taking them prematurely from their work, at such seasons (as in other places) as well as preserve them from suffering by the inclemency of the weather.
V. To keep constantly from them, in conformity to the practice so happily received, every kind of _strong_ and spirituous liquor; unless where ordered in the way of medicine.
VI. To maintain them in a state of inviolable, though mitigated seclusion, in _assorted_ companies, without any of those opportunities of promiscuous association, which in other places, disturb, if not destroy, whatever good effect can have been expected from occasional solitude.
VII. To give them an interest in their work, by allowing them a share in the produce.
VIII. To convert the prison into a _school_, and, by an extended application of the principle of _the Sunday Schools_, to return its inhabitants into the world instructed, at least as well as in ordinary schools, in the most useful branches of vulgar learning, as well as in some trade or occupation, whereby they may afterwards earn their livelihood. Extraordinary culture of extraordinary talents is not, in this point of view, worth mentioning: it would be for his own advantage to give them every instruction by which the value of their labour may be increased.
IX. To pay a penal sum for every _escape_, with or without any default of his, irresistible violence from without excepted; and this without employing _irons_ on any occasion, or in any shape.
X. To provide them with _spiritual_ and _medical_ Assistants, constantly living in the midst of them, and incessantly keeping them in view.
XI. To pay a sum of money for every one who _dies_ under his care, taking thereby upon him the insurance of their lives for an ordinary premium: and that at a rate grounded on an average of the number of deaths, not among imprisoned Felons, but among persons of the same ages in a state of liberty within the Bills of Mortality.
XII. To lay for them the foundation-stone of a _provision for old age_, upon the plan of the _Annuity Societies_.
XIII. To insure to them a _livelihood_, at the expiration of their terms, by setting up a _Subsidiary Establishment_, into which all such as thought proper, should be admitted, and in which they would be continued in the exercise of the trades in which they were employed during their confinement, without any further expence to Government.
XIV. To make himself personally responsible for the reformatory efficacy of his management, and even make amends, in most instances, for any accident of its failure, by paying a sum of money for every Prisoner convicted of a Felony after his discharge, at a rate, increasing according to the number of years he had been under the Proposer's care, viz. a sum not exceeding 10_l._ if the Prisoner had been in the Penitentiary Panopticon _one_ year: not exceeding 15_l._ if _two_ years; not exceeding 20_l._ if _three_ years; not exceeding 25_l._ if _four_ years; not exceeding 30_l._ if _five_ years or upwards: such sum to be paid immediately on conviction, and to be applied to the indemnification of the persons injured by such subsequent offence, and to be equal in amount to the value of the injury, so long as it did not exceed the sums respectively above specified.
XV. To present to the Court of King's Bench, on a certain day of every Term, and afterwards print and publish, at his own expence, a Report, exhibiting, in detail, the state, not only moral and medical, but economical, of the Establishment; showing the whole profits, if any, and in what manner they arise; and then and there, as well as on any other day, upon summons from the Court, to make answer to all such questions as shall be put to him in relation thereto, not only on the part of the Court or Officer of the Crown, but, by leave of the Court, on the part of any person whatsoever; questions, the answer to which might tend to subject him to conviction, though it were for a capital crime, not excepted: treading under foot a maxim, invented by the guilty for the benefit of the guilty, and from which none but the guilty ever derived any advantage.
XVI. By neatness and cleanliness, by diversity of employment, by variety of contrivance, and above all, by that peculiarity of construction, which, without any unpleasant or hazardous vicinity, enables the whole Establishment to be inspected at a view, from a commodious and insulated room in the centre, the Prisoners remaining unconscious of their being thus observed, it should be his study to render it a spectacle such as persons of all classes would, in the way of amusement, be curious to partake of: and that, not only on Sundays, at the time of Divine Service, but on ordinary days, at meal-times, or times of work: providing thereby a _system of superintendance, universal, unchargeable and uninterrupted_, the most effectual and _indestructible_ of all securities against abuse.
Such are the methods that have occurred to him for accomplishing that identification of "_interest with duty_," the effectuating of which, in the person of the Governour, is declared to be one of the leading objects of the Penitentiary Act.--[19 GEO. III. ch. 74.]
The station of Gaoler is not in common account a very elevated one: the addition of Contractor has not much tendency to raise it. He little dreamt, when he first launched into the subject, that he was to become a suitor, and perhaps in vain, for such an office. But inventions unpractised might be in want of the inventor: and a situation, thus clipped of emoluments, while it was loaded with obligations, might be in want of candidates. Penetrated, therefore, with the importance of the end, he would not suffer himself to see any thing unpleasant or discreditable in the means.
* * * * *
_Outline of the Plan of Construction alluded to in the above Proposal._
The Building _circular_--about the size of _Ranelagh_--The Prisoners in their Cells, occupying the Circumference--The Officers, (Governor, Chaplain, Surgeon, &c.) the Centre.
By _Blinds_, and other contrivances, the Inspectors concealed (except in as far as they think fit to show themselves) from the observation of the Prisoners: hence the sentiment of a sort of invisible omnipresence.--The whole circuit reviewable with little, or, if necessary, without any change of place.
_One_ Station in the Inspection-Part affording the most perfect view of every Cell, and every part of every Cell, unless where a screen is thought fit occasionally and purposely to be interposed.
Against _Fire_ (if, under a system of constant and universal inspection, any such accident could be to be apprehended,) a pipe, terminating in a flexible hose, for bringing the water down into the central Inspection-Room, from a cistern, of a height sufficient to force it up again by its own pressure, on the mere turning of a cock, and spread it thus over any part within the Building.
For _Visitors_, at the time of Divine service, an _Annular Gallery_, rising from a floor laid immediately on the cieling of the Central Inspection-Room, and disclosed to view, by the descent of a central _Dome_, the superior surface of which serves, after descent, for the reception of Ministers, Clerk, and a select part of the Auditory: the Prisoners all round, brought forward, within perfect view and hearing of the Ministers, to the front of their respective Cells.
_Solitude_, or _limited Seclusion_, _ad libitum_.--But, unless for punishment, limited seclusion in assorted companies is preferred: an arrangement, upon this plan alone, exempt from danger. The degree of _Seclusion_ fixed upon may be preserved, in all places, and at all times, _inviolate_. Hitherto, where solitude has been aimed at, some of its chief purposes have been frustrated by occasional associations.
The _Approach_, _one_ only--_Gates_ opening into a walled _avenue_ cut through the area. Hence, no strangers near the building without _leave_, nor without being _surveyed_ from it as they pass, nor without being known to come _on purpose_. The gates, of _open_ work, to _expose hostile_ mobs: On the other side of the road, a wall with a branch of the road behind, to _shelter peaceable_ passengers from the fire of the building. A mode of fortification like this, if practicable, in a city, would have saved the _London Prisons_, and prevented the unpopular accidents in _St. George's Fields_.
The _surrounding Wall_, itself surrounded by an open palisade, which serves as a fence to the grounds on the other side.--Except on the side of the Approach _no public path_ by that fence.--A _Centinel's Walk_ between; on which no one else can set foot, without forcing the fence, and declaring himself a trespasser at least, if not an enemy. To the four walls, four such walks _flanking_ and _crossing_ each other at the ends.--Thus each Centinel has two to check him.
In contemplating the whole of this important design, it is impossible to avoid congratulating the Public on the prospect which now opens by a recent vote of Parliament,[153] for the purpose of carrying it speedily into effect.
[Footnote 153: At the close of the Session in June 1798, the House of Commons voted 36000_l._ to Mr. Bentham, toward the expence of carrying his plan into execution. See the Appropriation Act, 39 Geo. III. c. 114.]
It comprizes in its structure every thing humanity can dictate, or which a mind full of resource, and a judgment matured by great depth of thought could suggest, for the purpose of relieving Society from a dreadful and oppressive evil.
It is even to extend comforts to offenders in the course of punishment; and they are to be returned to Society after the period expires, not as at present, polluted and depraved beyond what the human mind can conceive; but impressed with the force of religious and moral instructions, with an abhorrence of their former course of life, and with a resource for obtaining an honest livelihood by the trade or occupation which they were taught during their confinement.--And if employment should fail, when at liberty to make their own election, an asylum is provided, into which they will be admitted, and where they may continue to exercise the trades in which they were employed during their confinement, with certain advantages to themselves.
These Convicts are, moreover, while in confinement, to have an interest in the work they perform, by being allowed a share of the produce, which may be either partly or wholly applied in laying the foundation-stone of a provision for old age, upon the plan of the Annuity Societies, which is to form one of the oeconomical arrangements of this excellent Establishment.
Among many other advantages calculated to improve the morals of delinquents, and to render them useful to Society, it will possess, after a certain period, the singular faculty of extending to the Public these incalculable benefits, _perhaps without any expence whatsoever_; since it may be reasonably expected, that by training both Sexes to productive labour, extended and rendered valuable by the proposed introduction of ingenious machinery, it will hereafter become an object of advantage to new Contractors, (after the System is fully matured, and the profits arising from it clearly ascertained), to take upon them the conduct of the design, without stipulating for any annuity or assistance whatsoever from Government. Nay, the certainty of this profit, and its magnitude arising from labour alone, may, perhaps, ultimately even create a competition of Contractors, who, instead of _receiving_, will be induced to _offer_ a premium to Government for the appointment to the situation; the value of which will be evidenced by the increasing annual profits.
It is, indeed, highly probable, that as the Institution advances to maturity, under a plan so admirably adapted to render labour productive in the greatest possible degree; in the same manner will the profits gradually increase year after year until they shall be rendered obvious and certain, and not as at present depending on speculative opinions.
The proposed annual report to the Court of King's Bench, through which medium the progressive profits will be generally promulgated, will create notoriety, and excite attention; and it is by no means improbable, that when the contract becomes open, by the decease of the two Gentlemen to whom the Public are to be indebted for this invention, that it will acquire _a precise value_, like any other saleable commodity.
This was exemplified in the instance of Convicts sent to America, which for a great length of time cost Government a large sum annually, until a discovery of the profits, arising from the disposal of the services of Felons, created a competition, which eased the Public of every expence whatsoever on account of their Transportation.
But these are not the only advantages which the Country will derive from this new Penitentiary System. Its success will rapidly change the oeconomy of the many unproductive Houses of Correction, which have been erected at an enormous expence to the different Counties, under the Act of the 16th of Geo. III. cap. 43. Those in the management of these respective Establishments will gladly follow an example which mingles in so great a degree--_humanity with reform and profit_, thereby holding out a prospect both of diminishing crimes, and reducing the County Rates, now estimated by the Finance Committee at _fifty thousand pounds a year_ for prisons, and criminal Police alone.
Such are some of the benefits which may be reasonably expected to arise from the proposed Penitentiary System. If they shall be realized to the extent which is contemplated, so as to render transportation, as well as the Hulks, unnecessary, the pecuniary saving to Government in twenty years will be immense. This may be ascertained by referring to a preceding page, where the disbursements in the criminal department are inserted, which have taken place since the commencement of the American war, which rendered a new System necessary. If to this sum is added the expences incurred by the Counties, it will probably be found to have exceeded _Two millions sterling in all_.
But still further advantages may be contemplated in addition to those of a pecuniary nature.--By retaining delinquents in the Country, and rendering their labour profitable to the State, a new source of wealth is opened which never existed at any former period, since the labour of convicts transported, whether to America or New South Wales, has been totally unproductive to the Country.
The success of such a design, once clearly manifested, would give a new and favourable turn to the System of Punishments. Labour would be exacted in almost every case, not more for the benefit of the State than the advantage of the Prisoner, since labour and reform generally go hand in hand.--Without the aid of labour, it is in vain to expect an improvement in the morals or habits of delinquents--without an asylum to which discharged prisoners can resort for employment, their punishment produces no advantage. On the contrary, the vices of a Gaol send them forth more hardened in iniquity, and greater adepts in the trade of thieving than before.
Nothing, therefore, can be more hostile to the diminution of crimes than the present mode of punishment for small offences, by a short imprisonment, without being employed in useful and productive labour.
Under this defective System the different Gaols in the Metropolis and the Kingdom, are periodically vomiting forth hordes of Minor Delinquents, who serve as recruits to the more desperate gangs, and remain in a course of turpitude until cut off by the commission of higher offences. Some exceptions, doubtless, there are; but while the resource for honest labour is so effectually shut out, many who have totally lost character, and are without friends, seem to have no other resource.
To all who may be confined in the proposed Penitentiary Establishment, this difficulty will be removed.--A difficulty in the present state of things, the magnitude of which cannot be estimated, since it generates most of those evils to which are to be attributed the extensive corruption of morals, and the increase and multiplication of crimes.
Upon the whole, it would be expedient to give full effect to the new Penitentiary System as soon as possible; which, to use the language of the Select Committee, (p. 30.) "seems to bid fairer than any other that was ever yet offered to the Public, to diminish the Public expenditure in this branch, and to produce a salutary reform in the objects of the proposed institution."
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, sex, and state of health of the Convicts_.
5th. That the local Penitentiary Houses in the different Counties, destined for the Punishment of persons convicted of Larcenies, and other minor offences, should be conducted, as nearly as possible, upon the plan of the National Establishments; and also by contract, under circumstances where the labour of the Convicts may, by the resources of the Contractor, be rendered (without hardship) equal, or nearly equal, to the expence; a measure conceived to be almost, in every instance, practicable, where knowledge of business, stimulated by interest, shall form an ingredient in the executive management.
6th. That there should be attached to each County Penitentiary House, a Subsidiary Establishment, into which all discharged prisoners should be admitted who choose it, and where they might be continued in the exercise of the trades in which they were employed during their confinement, and for which they should receive wages in proportion to their earnings, until they could otherwise find a settled employment through an honest medium: thus giving those who are desirous of reforming an opportunity of sheltering themselves from the dangers of relapse, which arise from being afloat upon the Public--idle, and without the means of subsistence.
In carrying the Penitentiary System into effect, it ought not to escape notice, that the hardship imposed on Convicts, with respect to manual labour, would be no more than every honest artisan who works industriously for his family, must, during the whole course of his life, impose upon himself. The condition of a Convict would, even in some respects, be superior, inasmuch as he would enjoy medical assistance, and other advantages tending to the preservation of health, which do not attach to the lower classes of the people, whose irregularities not being restrained, while their pursuits and labours are seldom directed by good judgment and intelligence, often produce bad health, and extreme indigence and distress.
The difficulty which has heretofore been experienced with respect to productive labour in the Provincial Houses of Correction will vanish, when the System shall be exemplified in the National Penitentiary Establishment. To conduct a Plan of this nature with advantage to the Public and to the individual, an assemblage of _qualities_, _dispositions_, and _endowments_, which rarely meet in one man, will be necessary--namely, _education, habits of business, a knowledge of the common affairs of life--an active and discriminating mind--indefatigable industry--the purest morals, and a philanthropic disposition, totally divested of those hurtful propensities which lead to idle amusements_.
Such men are to be found, and would come forward, as Contractors, with ample security as often as opportunities offered, after the System became matured. It is only by the uncontrolled energy of talents, where duty and interest go hand in hand, that labour is to be obtained from Convicts.--No fluctuating management, nor any superintendance whatsoever, where a spring is not given to exertion by motives of interest, can perfect any Penitentiary design; or, indeed, any design where profit is to be derived from labour. Hence the ill success of almost all the well meant establishments with respect to the Poor, and to most of the local Penitentiary Houses. In some instances a few establishments at first hold out prospects of success; but at length they dwindle and decay, and in the result they have mostly all been unprofitable. The death or removal of an active or philanthropic Magistrate produces a languor, which terminates often in the ruin or the abandonment of the design.
The National Penitentiary System is guarded against this contingency; and until the local Establishments can enjoy equal advantages, success in any degree is scarcely to be expected, and _permanent success_ is altogether hopeless.
The object to be attained is of great magnitude.--Let an appeal be, therefore, made to the good sense of the country, and to the feelings of humanity in behalf of an unfortunate and noxious class of individuals. Let the effects of the present System be candidly examined, in opposition to the benefits which may result from that which is proposed, and let the decision be speedy, that Society may no longer be tormented by the evils which arise from this branch of the Police of the country.
The suggestions which are thus hazarded on the subject of punishments, are by no means the refinements of speculation doubtful and uncertain in their issue.
The System accords either with what has been already enacted by the Legislature or recommended by the Finance Committee. And the whole has been admitted to be practicable under an able and permanent superintendence. A hope may, therefore, be indulged, that where the interest of Society and the cause of Humanity is so deeply concerned, a design which holds out so many advantages, will experience that general support which it unquestionably merits; since its object is not only to reclaim the Out-casts of the present generation, but also to rescue thousands yet unborn from misery and destruction.
CHAP. XVII.
_The Police of the Metropolis examined--Its organization explained, with regard to that branch which relates to the prevention and suppression of Crimes.--The utility of the new System, established in 1792, examined and explained.--Reasons assigned why this System has not tended, in a greater degree, to the suppression and prevention of atrocious Crimes--Its great deficiency from the want of funds, by which Magistrates are crippled in their exertions, with regard to the detection and punishment of Offenders.--Reasons in favour of a New System.--The Police of the City of London (as now constituted) explained and examined.--Suggestions relative to established Justices, and the benefits likely to result from their exertions in assisting the City Magistrates: from whose other engagements and pursuits, that close and laborious attention cannot be expected which the Public interest requires.--The Magistrates of London the most respectable, perhaps, in the world.--The vast labour and weight of duty attached to the chief Magistrate.--The Aldermen have certain duties assigned them, which ought not, in justice to be augmented, as they act gratuitously.--The benefits which result to the Community from established Police Magistrates, considered in different points of view; and exemplified in the advantages which have arisen from the System under the Act of 1792.--General Reflections on the advantages which would arise from the various remedies which have been proposed in the course of this Work.--These benefits, however, only of a partial nature, inadequate to the object of complete protection, for want of a centre-point and superintending Establishment, under the controul of the first Minister of Police.--Reasons assigned in favour of such a System.--The advantages that would result from its adoption.--The ideas of enlightened Foreigners on the Police of the Metropolis explained.--Reflections suggested by those ideas.--Observations on the Police of Paris previous to the Revolution in France: elucidated by Anecdotes of the Emperor Joseph the Second and Mons. de Sartine.--The danger of an inundation of Foreign Sharpers and Villains on the return of Peace.--The situation of Europe requires, and the necessity of a well-regulated Police points out the utility of, a Central Board of Commissioners for Managing the Police.--This measure recommended by the Select Committee of Finance, since the publication of the last Edition of this Work._
Having in the preceding Chapters endeavoured to bring under the review of the Reader, not only those prominent causes which have occasioned that great increase of Public Wrongs, which every good man must deplore, but also the _various classes of delinquents_ which compose the melancholy catalogue of human depravity; having also stated such observations and facts, relative to _detection_, _trials_, and _punishments_, as seemed to be necessary for the purpose of elucidating a subject of great importance to be understood; it remains now to explain and develope the _System_ hitherto established for the purpose of protecting the Public against those enormities; and from which is to be expected that energy, and those exertions, which have been shewn to be so indispensably necessary, for the suppression and prevention of crimes.
The POLICE _of this great Metropolis_ is undoubtedly a System highly interesting to be understood, although heretofore (as far as the Author has had access to know) it has never been, at any period, fully explained through the medium of the press;--and hence it is, that a vast proportion of those who reside in the Capital, as well as the multitude of strangers who resort to it, have no accurate idea of the principles of organization, which move so complicated a machine.
It has been already stated in a preceding Chapter, that twenty-six Magistrates, forming that respectable body, comprehending the Lord-Mayor and Aldermen,[154] sit in rotation every forenoon, at the Mansion-house, and at Guildhall, and take cognizance of all matters of Police within the ancient jurisdiction of the City of London; while twenty-six established Magistrates appointed for every other part of the Metropolis,[155] including the River Police, having particular offices or courts of justice assigned them at convenient distances in Westminster, Middlesex, and Surry, sit every day (Sunday excepted) both in the morning and evening, for the purpose of executing all the multifarious duties, connected with the office of a Justice of the Peace, which unavoidably occur in large societies.[156]
[Footnote 154: The following are the names of the Aldermen at present in the Magistracy of the City; arranged according to their Seniority.
1761 Right Hon. Thos. Harley, Bridge Ward Without 72 Sir Watkin Lewis, Knt. Lime-street 72 Sir William Plomer, Knt. Bassishaw 74 Nathaniel Newnham, Esq. Vintry 82 John Boydell, Esq. Cheap 84 Paul Le Mesurier, Esq. Dowgate 84 Brock Watson, Esq. Cordwainers 85 Thomas Skinner, Esq. Queenhithe 85 William Curtis, Esq. Tower 86 William Newnham, Esq. Farringdon Within 86 G.M. Macauley, Esq. Coleman-street 89 J.W. Andersen, Esq. Aldersgate-street 90 Harvey C. Combe, Esq. Aldgate 90 Sir Richard Carr Glyn, Knt. Bishopsgate-street 93 William Staines, Esq. Cripplegate 95 Sir John Eamer, Knt. Langborne 96 Sir William Herne, Knt. Castle-Baynard 96 Robert Williams, Esq. Cornhill 97 Charles Hamerton, Esq. Bread-street 98 Charles Price, Esq. Farringdon Without 98 Peter Perchard, Esq. Candlewick 98 Thomas Cadell, Esq. Walbrook 98 George Hibbert, Esq. Bridge Within 98 James Shaw, Esq. Portsoken 98 John Perring, Esq. Broad-street 99 William Leighton, Esq. Billingsgate
Sir John William Rose, Knt. Recorder of London, a Magistrate, holding rank above the Aldermen who have not served the office of Lord Mayor.--He assists at the General and Quarter Sessions of the Peace, and in the principal affairs of the City; but does not sit in rotation.
Richard Clark, Esq. Chamberlain, acting judicially with respect to Apprentices.
Mr. Newman, Clerk to the Lord-Mayor, or Sitting Alderman at the Mansion-house.
Mr. Whittle, Clerk to the sitting Alderman at Guildhall.]
[Footnote 155: The following are the Public Offices in the Metropolis; (exclusive of the City of London;) and the respective Magistrates who _preside_, and the Clerks who _officiate_ at each.
Westminster.
Bow-street, Sir William Addington, Knt. } Covent Garden. Nicholas Bond, Esq. } _Magistrates_. Richard Ford, Esq. } Mess. Lavender and Davies, _Clerks_.
The following seven Public Offices were established by the