CHAP. IX.

_Reflections on the Causes of the Existence and Continuance of the Frauds, Embezzlements, Peculation, and Plunder in his Majesty's Dock-Yards and other Public Repositories, and in the Naval Department in general.--Reasons why the Evil has not been suppressed.--A summary View of the Means employed in committing Offences of this Nature.--Reasons a.s.signed why the Defalcation of this Species of Property must be extensive.--Ill.u.s.trated by the immense Value, and by an Estimate, and general View, of the Public Property exposed to Hazard.--A summary View of the Laws which relate to Offences on Public Property; proofs adduced of their Deficiency.--Remedies proposed and detailed under the respective Heads of--1st. A Central Board of Police--2d. A Local Police for the Dock-Yards--3d. Legislative Regulations proposed in Aid of the Police System--4th. Regulations respecting the Sale of Old Stores--5th. The Abolition of the Perquisites of Chips--6th. The Abolition of Fees and Perquisites, and liberal Salaries in lieu thereof--7th. An improved Mode of keeping Accounts--8th. An annual Inventory of Stores in Hand--Concluding Observations._

Under the pressure of those acc.u.mulated wrongs, which const.i.tute the extensive frauds, embezzlements, pillage, and plunder, known and acknowledged to exist in the Dock-Yards and other Public Repositories, it is not easy, at first view, to a.s.sign a reason for that apparent supineness, on the part of men of known honour and integrity, who have heretofore presided, and who now preside at the Public Boards, in not using the means necessary to remedy so great an evil.

This may possibly be accounted for, by the extreme difficulty which men, constantly occupied in a laborious business, find in pursuing inquiries, or forming arrangements, out of their particular sphere; more especially when such arrangements require those powers of business, and that species of legal and general information, which do not usually attach to men whose education and habits of life have run in a different channel.

Under such circ.u.mstances, it is scarcely to be wondered at, that greater efforts have not been used, (for great efforts are unquestionably necessary,) to correct those abuses, which have long existed; and which have been progressively increasing; by means of which, not only the property of the Public suffers a vast annual diminution by frauds and embezzlements, but the foundation of all morals is sapped; and the most baneful practices extend even to men in the upper and middle ranks of Society, who are too seldom restrained by any correct principle of rect.i.tude in transactions, where the interest of Government only is concerned; either in the supplying, or afterwards in the taking charge of the custody of Public Stores.

When the object in view is to acquire money, the power of example, sanctioned by usage and custom, will reconcile men by degrees, to enormities and frauds which at first could not have been endured.--Acting under this influence, it too often happens that a distinction is made, as regards moral rect.i.tude, in the minds of many individuals, between _the property of the Nation_, and _private property_.--While the most scrupulous attention to the rules of honour prevails in the latter case, principles, the most relaxed, are yielded to in the former.

And thus it is, that in such situations, inferior agents also, induced by example, become insensibly reconciled to every species of fraud, embezzlement, and peculation.

It is no inconsiderable source of the evil, that large gratuities are given, under the colour of fees,[69] to those who can a.s.sist in promoting the views of the fraudulent, or in guarding them against detection.--What was at first considered as the wages of turpitude, at length a.s.sumes the form, and is viewed in the light of a fair perquisite of office.

[Footnote 69: Since the publication of the last edition of this work, the Select Committee on Finance in the House of Commons, who have derived immortal honour from their various and useful Reports, have recommended the abolition of fees; and the Lords of the Admiralty, and the Commissioners of the subordinate Boards, are ent.i.tled to the thanks of their country, from the exertions they are using to carry this measure into effect.]

In this manner abuses multiply, and the ingenuity of man is ever fertile in finding some palliative.--Custom and example sanction the greatest enormities: which at length become fortified by immemorial and progressive usage: it is no wonder, therefore, that the superior Officers find it an Herculean labour to cleanse the Augean stable.

A host of interested individuals opposes them. The task is irksome and ungracious. The research involves in it matter of deep concern, affecting the peace, comfort, and happiness of old servants of the Crown or the Public, and their families; who have not perhaps been sufficiently rewarded for their services; and who, but for such perquisites, could not have acquired property, or even supported themselves with decency.

It is an invidious task to make inquiries, or to impose regulations which may ultimately affect the interest or the character of dependants, who have heretofore, perhaps, been regarded as objects of partiality or affection. Those whose duty it is to superintend the departments, knowing their own purity, are unwilling to believe that the same principle of rect.i.tude does not regulate the conduct of others in inferior situations: and matters, of apparently greater importance, constantly forcing themselves upon their attention, the consideration of such abuses is generally postponed: while those who detect or complain of their existence, seldom meet with much encouragement; unless some specific act of criminality is stated, and then it is referred, as a matter of course, to the proper Law Officers.

These circ.u.mstances, however, only prove the necessity of some other and more effectual agency to remove an evil, which (if the a.s.sertions of those whose efficient situations give them access to the very best information as to its extent and enormity are correct) _is of the greatest magnitude_, and calls aloud for immediate attention.

To understand how this is to be accomplished, it will be necessary in the first instance to develope the means which are employed to commit these _abuses_, _frauds_, and _embezzlements_.--Then to take a general view of the property exposed to depredation, and afterwards to examine the nature and effect of the Laws and regulations now in being for the purpose of preventing these evils; and last of all, to suggest remedies.

The abuses, frauds, and embezzlements, are multifarious, and are perpetrated through the medium of a vast variety of agencies, which naturally divide themselves into two distinct branches.

The first relates to frauds committed by the connivance and a.s.sistance of Clerks, Store-keepers, and inferior officers in the Dock-yards, and other repositories, and in ships of war and transports; in _receiving and delivering Naval, Victualling, and Ordnance stores;--in surveys;--in returns of unserviceable stores;--in_ what is called _solving off stores;--in fraudulent certificates;--in the sale of old stores_; and innumerable other devices; by which a number of individuals are enriched at the Public expence; and a system of plunder is supported by fraudulent doc.u.ments and vouchers of articles which have no existence but upon paper.

The second branch relates to the actual pillage of _new and old Cordage, Bolts of Canvas, Sails, Bunting, Twine of all sorts, Fearnought and Kersey, Leather and Hides, old and new Copper, Locks, Hinges and Bolts, Copper Bolts and Nails in immense quant.i.ties, Bar-Iron, old Iron, Lead and Solder, Ship's-Plank, Oars, Timber of small sizes, Blocks, Quarterstuff, Candles, Tallow, Oil, Paint, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine, Varnish, Rosin, Beer and Water Casks, Iron Hoops, Biscuit Bags, Beer, Bread, Wine, Brandy, Rum, Oil, Vinegar, b.u.t.ter, Cheese, Beef, Pork, &c._--All these articles suffer a vast annual diminution, by means of that plunder which has become habitual to a number of the inferior servants of the Crown, who have in their respective situations, access to such stores.[70]

[Footnote 70: It is by no means to be inferred from what is here stated, that there are not, both among the furnishers and contractors for Public Stores, as well as the Officers and Clerks employed in the departments here alluded to, many individuals of great honour and integrity.--It is to be hoped, the fraudulent are the smallest in point of number, or that they will soon be so.]

This species of plunder is much encouraged by the difficulty of detection: Vast quant.i.ties are constantly provided, and the store-houses are generally full; it happens therefore as a matter of course, that the articles which were recently deposited are issued first; and hence many valuable stores, it is said, have remained untouched and unseen for forty or fifty years, until a number of articles perish or become unserviceable from length of time.--An annual inventory, upon the plan suggested at the close of this Chapter, rendered practicable by more extensive store-houses, would remove this obvious inconvenience.

All stores being delivered under the authority of warrants signed by the Commissioners and proper officers, the clerks, or in their absence the foreman of the warehouses, where the articles stated in the warrants are deposited, deliver the stores; and, if opportunities offer, large additional quant.i.ties are said to be frequently sent out, by the connivance of the inferior officers; sometimes stores are even delivered two or three times over, under colour of the same warrant, without discovery.

A similar System prevails with regard to stores sent to the public repositories from dismantled ships of war and transports.

Many vessels in the coasting trade, and even ships of foreign nations, it is said, touch at Portsmouth and Plymouth, merely for the purpose of purchasing _cheap stores_;--and it is well known, that many dealers in naval stores in the neighbourhood of the Dock-Yards are chiefly supplied in this way.

The plan which prevails at present with regard to the sale of old stores, not only proves a kind of safeguard to these fraudulent dealers; but is also in itself subject to great abuses, from the delivery of larger quant.i.ties than are actually included in the public sales, by which the parties concerned are said frequently to pocket considerable sums of money.[71]

[Footnote 71: See a plan for disposing of old stores with a view to remedy the evil, in a subsequent part of this chapter.]

The artificers in the Dock-yards, availing themselves of their perquisite of Chips, not only commit great frauds, by often cutting up useful timber, and wasting time in doing so; but also in frequently concealing, within their bundles of chips, copper bolts, and other valuable articles, which are removed by their wives and children, (and, as has appeared in judicial evidence, by boys retained for the purpose) and afterwards sold to itinerant Jews, or to the dealers in old iron and stores, who are always to be found in abundance wherever the Dock-yards are situated.[72]

[Footnote 72: It seems evident, that the abolition of the perquisite of Chips would be a great improvement, and prove the means of correcting many gross abuses which at present prevail. In this suggestion the Author is supported by the very able and decided evidence of Brigadier-General Bentham, before the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Finance, in 1798. [_See the 31st Report of that Committee._] On a supposition that 3000 shipwrights are employed in the several Dock-yards at the wages of 2_s._ 1_d._ with the privilege of one bundle of chips each day, which, though not worth more than 6_d._ to each shipwright, actually costs Government 1_s._ 6_d._ because good and valuable timber is often cut down to make these chips.--The following estimate will elucidate what has been stated: and shew the benefits which Government would probably derive from the abolition of this perquisite, even if the wages should be raised, which are perhaps too low at present.

3000 men, working 300 days in a year, ent.i.tled to 900,000 bundles of chips at 1_s._ 6_d._ .67,500

Time lost to Government in making up these chips, equal to 6_d._ per day 22,500

Articles purloined and stolen, by being concealed within these bundles, and by women and children, who resort to the yards on pretence of carrying them away, supposed 50,000 --------- .140,000

Deduct 6_d._ a day additional wages in lieu of the perquisite of chips; which, it is understood, the shipwrights would consider as an ample remuneration 22,500 --------- Presumed gain by this arrangement .117,500]

The Naval, Victualing, and Ordnance Stores pillaged in the Dock-yards and other public Repositories, and also from ships of war, transports, and navy and victualing hoys, in the River Thames, and Medway, must amount to a very large sum annually. The detections, particularly in the victualing hoys and transports, since the establishment of the Marine Police, prove the existence of the evil, and the wide field which it embraces.

The vicinity of the Metropolis;--the a.s.sistance afforded by old iron and store shops on the spot;--by carts employed _in this trade alone_, constantly going and coming from and to the Capital;--by the advantage of an easy and safe conveyance for ponderous and heavy articles, in lighters and other craft pa.s.sing up and down the River; and the extensive chain of criminal connection, at every town and village on the Thames and Medway, which a course of many years has formed, joined to the ease with which frauds are committed, have combined to render this nefarious traffic a very serious and alarming evil.

Among the mult.i.tude of persons concerned in it, some are said to keep men constantly employed in untwisting the cordage, for the purpose of removing the King's mark, or coloured stran, which is introduced into it as a check against fraud; while others (as has been already noticed) are, in like manner, employed in knocking the Broad Arrow out of copper bolts, nails, bar iron, and other articles, on which it is impressed, so as to elude detection.

It is scarcely to be credited, to what an extent the sale of the cordage, sail-cloth, and other Naval articles, including victualing stores, thus plundered, is carried, in supplying coasting vessels and smaller craft upon the River Thames, at a cheap rate.[73]

[Footnote 73: When it is recollected, that 9176 coasting vessels, and also 4268 traders to foreign parts, enter and clear in the Custom-house of London, in the course of a year, independent of small craft in the River; an inexhaustible resource for the sale of cheap cordage, sail-cloth, and every other material, must be obvious at first view.]

If the actual value of stores deposited at the different Dock-yards and public Repositories in the course of a year, is to be considered as a rule whereby a judgment may be formed of the extent of the losses sustained by frauds, plunder, and embezzlement, it will be found to be very erroneous, since a large proportion of what forms the great aggregate loss sustained annually by Government, does not arise from the actual stealing of stores, but from frauds committed in fabricating doc.u.ments both at home and abroad.

Reasons have already been a.s.signed, why many individuals reconcile their minds to devices, whereby they may be suddenly enriched at the Public expence, who would be shocked at the idea of over-reaching an individual. For the purpose, therefore, of estimating truly the probable extent of the evil, a general view must not only be taken of the Naval, Victualing, Ordnance, and other Stores at all times deposited in the Public a.r.s.enals, but also the stores and provisions on board of the numerous ships of war, and transports, constantly consuming and replacing in all quarters of the Globe; and to measure the whole by the great annual expence, which is incurred in this necessary service, _The Bulwark of Britain, and the Glory and Pride of the Nation_.

Looking at the subject in this point of view, where the ramifications are so extensive, and the opportunities so numerous, whereby in the hurry and confusion of carrying on a most important public service, frauds and embezzlements may be committed with impunity, the question is, Whether measures are not practicable, whereby the public loss, by the rapacity of individuals, may not lie greatly diminished, and what system would be best adapted to the attainment of this object?

To ill.u.s.trate this proposition it may be necessary to form an estimate, in the first instance, of the stationary and floating property belonging to his Majesty, in the different Public a.r.s.enals and ships of War.--The following statement is hazarded with this particular view, not as an accurate detail of facts; for accuracy to a point under the present circ.u.mstances is neither practicable nor absolutely necessary. It is sufficient if it tends to elucidate and explain an important point, on the subject of the frauds and depredations committed on the public stores, which would not be otherwise intelligible or useful to the public, to the extent which the Author contemplates.--

_Estimate of Floating Naval, Victualing and Ordnance Stores, in the different Repositories and Ships of War._

Naval, Victualing } and Ordnance Stores } at Deptford and Red House .1,800,000 Woolwich 150,000 Sheerness 100,000 Chatham 200,000 Portsmouth 1,300,000 Plymouth 900,000 Ireland, Leith, and other parts 50,000 { in the a.r.s.enals at Halifax, } { and the East and West Indies } 150,000 Gibraltar, Minorca, &c. 50,000 { in 900 Ships of War and } { Transports in Commission } 2,300,000 ----------- Total .7,000,000 -----------

The annual pecuniary Supplies for the Navy may be estimated at _Thirteen Millions a year_ during war; of which sum about _Six Millions_ may be applicable to the pay of the Officers and Seamen, and _Seven Millions_ to _Ships-Stores, Provisions, &c._ The last two, namely, the stores and provisions being in a constant state of movement, both at home and abroad, furnish abundant resource for frauds and depredations, which may certainly be greatly diminished, though perhaps impracticable to be eradicated entirely.

The object, therefore, is to devise means whereby this _diminution_ may be accomplished: and in pursuing this important inquiry, it will be necessary to precede it by the following general view of the Laws now in being, which relate to offences committed in the Naval and other Public Departments.

The Acts of the 31st of Elizabeth, (cap. 4.) and the 22d of Charles II. (cap. 5.) made it felony, without Benefit of Clergy, to steal or embezzle any of his Majesty's Military or Naval Stores or Provisions, above the value of Twenty Shillings.

By the 9 and 10 of William III. (cap. 41.) the Receivers of embezzled stores, or such as should have the same in their custody, are subject to a penalty of .200.

From this period, till the 1st of George the First, the attention of the Legislature does not seem to have been directed to this object; when by the statute, 1st Geo. I.

stat. 2. cap. 25, the princ.i.p.al Officers or Commissioners of the Navy were authorized to issue warrants to search for Public Property stolen or embezzled, and to punish the Offenders by fine or imprisonment.

A succeeding Act, (9 Geo. I. cap. 8.) empowered the Judges to mitigate the fine of .200 imposed on persons having in their possession public stores, and to punish the offenders corporally, by causing them to be publicly whipped, or kept at hard labour for six months in the House of Correction; which certainly was a great improvement.