But in spite of all the efforts of human wisdom, aided by the lights of Philosophy, and freed from the mist of prejudice or the bigotry of darker ages;--In spite of the best laws, and the most correct system of Police which the most enlightened Legislature can form: it will not be altogether possible, amid the various opposite attractions of pleasure and pain, to reduce the tumultuous activity of mankind to absolute regularity:--We can only hope for a considerable reduction of the evils that exist.--_Let the Laws be clear and simple;--let the entire force of the Nation be united in their defence; let the Laws be feared, and the Laws only._

CHAP. III.

_The causes and progress of small Thefts in London explained and traced to the numerous Receivers of stolen Goods, under the denominations of Dealers in Rags, Old Iron, and other Metals.--The great increase of these Dealers of late years.--Their evil tendency, and the absolute necessity of Regulations, to prevent the extensive Mischiefs arising from the Encouragements they hold out, to persons of every age and description, to become Thieves, by the purchase of whatever is offered for sale.--A Remedy suggested.--Petty Thefts in the country round the Metropolis--Workhouses the causes of idleness--Commons--Cottagers--Gypsies--Labourers and Servants; their general bad character and propensity to thieving small articles from their Masters, encouraged by Receivers.--Thefts in Fields and Gardens--Their extent and amount throughout England--Frauds in the sale and adulteration of Milk in the Metropolis._

In a preceding Chapter the small thefts committed by persons not known to belong to the fraternity of Thieves, are estimated to amount to the enormous sum of .700,000 a year.

This discovery (except what relates to embezzled silk, cotton, and worsted) was originally made through the medium of a considerable Dealer in Rags and Old Iron, and other Metals, who communicated to the Author much interesting information, respecting Receivers of stolen Goods, confirmed afterwards through other channels, the substance of which has been already alluded to; and of which the following are more ample details:

That there exists in this Metropolis, (and also in all the towns where his Majesty's Dock-Yards are established) a cla.s.s of Dealers, of late years become extremely numerous, who keep open shops for the purchase of _Rags, Old Iron, and other Metals_.

"That these Dealers are universally, almost without a single exception, the Receivers of stolen Goods of every denomination; from a nail, a skewer, a key, or a gla.s.s bottle, up to the most valuable article of portable household goods, merchandize, plate, or jewels, &c. &c.

"That they are divided into two cla.s.ses:--_Wholesale_ and _Retail Dealers_. That the Retail Dealers are generally (with some exceptions) the immediate purchasers in the first instance, from the pilferers or their agents; and as soon as they collect a sufficient quant.i.ty of iron, copper, bra.s.s, lead, tin, pewter, or other metals, worthy the notice of a large Dealer, they dispose of the same for ready money; by which they are enabled to continue the trade.

"That the increase of these old iron, rag, and store shops has been astonishing within the last twenty years.

"That, as the least trifle is received, the vigilance of the parties, from whom the articles are stolen, is generally eluded; by the prevailing practice of taking only a small quant.i.ty of any article at a time.

"That the articles thus received are generally purchased at about one-third of the real value, and seldom at more than half;--gla.s.s bottles in particular, are bought at one penny each, and no question asked:--they are afterwards sold to dealers in this particular branch, who a.s.sort and wash them, and again re-sell them to inferior wine-dealers at nearly the full value:--this has become, of late, an extensive line of trade.

"That further facilities are afforded by the dealers in old iron, in the collection of metals, rags, and other articles purloined and stolen in the Country; which are conveyed to town by means of _single-horse carts_, kept by itinerant Jews, and other doubtful characters; who travel to Portsmouth, Chatham, Woolwich, Deptford, and places in the vicinity of London, for the purpose of purchasing metals from persons who are in the habit of embezzling the King's stores, or from dealers on the spot, who are the first receivers; from them, _copper-bolts, nails, spikes, iron, bra.s.s, lead, pewter_, and other ship articles of considerable value are procured.--These single-horse carts have increased greatly of late years, and have become very profitable to the proprietors.

"That some of these dealers in old metals, notoriously keep men employed in knocking the broad Arrow, or King's mark, out of the copper-bolts, nails, and bar iron, whereon it is impressed, and also in cutting such bar iron into portable lengths, after which it is sold to the great dealers, who supply the Public Boards; and who are in some instances supposed by this means to sell the same Article to these boards even _two_ or _three_ times over.

"That the trade thus carried on, is exceedingly productive both to the retail and wholesale dealers; many of whom are become extremely opulent, and carry on business to the extent of from ten to thirty, and in some few instances, fifty thousand a year in old metals alone.

"That the quant.i.ty of new nails, taken from the public repositories, and from private workshops, and disposed of at the old iron shops exceeds all credibility.

"And finally, that the retail dealers in old iron, with some exceptions, are the princ.i.p.al purchasers of the pewter pots stolen from the Publicans, which they instantly melt down (if not previously done) to elude detection."

Thus are the lower ranks of Society a.s.sailed on all hands; and in a manner allured to be dishonest, by the ready means of disposing of property, unlawfully acquired, to satisfy _imaginary_ and too frequently _criminal_ wants, excited by the temptations which the amus.e.m.e.nts and dissipations of a great Capital, and the delusion of the Lottery, hold out.

The rapid growth of this Evil within the last twenty years, and the effect it has upon the morals of menial servants and others, who must in the nature of things have a certain trust committed to them, is a strong reason why some effectual remedy should be administered as speedily as possible.

It seems, under all circ.u.mstances, that the regulation of these Iron-shops, by licence, and by other restrictions connected with the public security, has become a matter of immediate necessity; for it is a dreadful thing to reflect that there should exist and grow up, in so short a period of time, such a body of criminal dealers, who are permitted to exercise all the mischievous part of the functions of p.a.w.nbrokers; enjoying equal benefits, without any of the restrictions which have already been extended to this last cla.s.s of dealers; who themselves also require further regulations, which will be hereafter discussed.

But beside the dealers in _old iron_, it will be necessary to extend the regulation proposed, to dealers in _second-hand wearing apparel_, whether _stationary_ or _itinerant_; for through this medium also, a vast quant.i.ty of bed and table linen, sheets, wearing apparel, and other articles, pilfered in private families, is disposed of; and money is obtained, without asking questions, with the same facility as at the iron shops.

To prevent metals from being melted by Receivers of stolen Goods, and other persons keeping crucibles and melting vessels, by which means the most infamous frauds are committed, to the evasion of justice, by immediately melting plate, pewter pots, and every kind of metal that can be identified; it may be also necessary to regulate, by licence, all _Founders of metal_, and also the horse and truck carts used for the purpose of conveying old metals from place to place: so as, upon the whole, to establish a _mild, but complete System of Prevention_; by limiting the dealers in old metals and second-hand wearing apparel, to the honest and fair part of their trade, and by restraining them with regard to that which is fraudulent and mischievous.

At present these respective dealers may truly be said to be complete pests of Society.--They are not, like p.a.w.nbrokers, restrained, as to the hours of receiving or delivering goods.--Their dealings are often in the night time, by which means they enjoy every opportunity of encouraging fraud and dishonesty.

It is impossible to contemplate the consequences arising from the seduction of so many individuals, young and old, who must be implicated in the crimes which these abominable receptacles encourage, without wishing to see so complicate and growing a mischief engage the immediate attention of the Legislature, that a remedy may be applied as early as possible.[21]

[Footnote 21: This remedy as it respects Receivers of stolen Goods, is specifically explained at the close of a subsequent Chapter which relates entirely to that subject, and to which the Reader is particularly referred.]

This System of petty thievery and general depredation is, however, by no means confined to the precincts of the Metropolis: it is extended in a peculiar manner through the different Counties in its Vicinity.--The following particulars, extracted from Mr. _Middleton's_ View of the Agriculture of _Middles.e.x_, will enable the Reader to form some judgment of the extent of the mischief, and the causes from which it originates; producing and increasing that band of plunderers, of which the Metropolis itself has ultimately been at once the Nurse and the Victim.

"The funds raised for supporting the _Idle Poor of this country_ (says this intelligent writer) are so numerous, efficient, and comfortable, as to operate against the general industry of the _Labouring Poor_.

"Lodging and diet in the workhouses, in every instance, are superior to what the industrious labourer can provide for his family. It is obvious that this must have an influence over their minds, and become most injurious to the interests of society; it holds out encouragement to prefer the workhouse to labour; and, by filling the poor houses with improper inhabitants, it reduces the amount of industry."

The annual expence of each pauper is calculated by the same Writer at about _Fifteen Guineas_; a stout healthy labourer in husbandry, with a wife and three children, earns only Thirty for the support of five persons.

"The want of prudence is increased, and general industry lessened, on the part of the poor, by the facility with which voluntary contributions are raised during every temporary inconvenience, such as a few weeks' frost, or an extraordinary advance in the price of provisions.[22] And also by the constantly cloathing upwards of ten thousand children of the labouring Poor in this Country.

[Footnote 22: This observation can only apply to such voluntary contributions as are liable to abuses, and where the poor are permitted to dispose of the benevolence of the opulent in their own way.--The _Soup-Charities_ established in different parts of the Metropolis are a peculiar exception, inasmuch as they contribute only to the relief of those that are really objects of distress, while no Public Charity heretofore inst.i.tuted has been found to be liable to fewer abuses. In a great Metropolis like London, it has been clearly established, that in spite of every regard to prudence and oeconomy, decent families will be suddenly broke down, while the habits of life peculiar to the lower orders, and their want of the knowledge of frugal cookery have proved a source of much real calamity; for where nothing is laid up, every pressure arising from sickness, child-birth, or death throws many hundreds upon the Public, who have no legal parochial Settlement, and who but for some relief must absolutely perish;--While the Soup-Charities hold out immediate and constant relief to many families, who might otherwise perish with hunger;--while this species of relief may be said to be accessible to every indigent family in the Metropolis, no lure is held out to the idle or profligate. It cannot be disposed of, as bread, meat, and coals, for gin and other articles. There is therefore scarcely any risque of deception, more especially as the applicants pay down half the original cost on receiving it--Thus establishing the means of discrimination between _real_ and _pretended distress_. About 10,000 families, composed chiefly of persons who had not the means of obtaining sufficient food to support nature, consisting of 50,000 men, women, and children, were relieved by the daily distribution of Soups at _Spital-Fields_, _Clerkenwell_, _St. George's Fields_, and _Westminster_, during the last winter, at an expence to the Subscribers not exceeding One Guinea for every 504 meals of rich nourishing Soup, which those poor people received. But this is not the only advantage which attends these Inst.i.tutions, since there is every reason to believe, that while the poor are thus frugally fed, they are taught by example, and by circulating among them printed friendly advices, what they never knew before--_The means of making a little go far_, by introducing the same beneficial mode of dressing food in their own houses. And from a minute attention to this object, the Author has great satisfaction in stating, that from the eagerness shewn to obtain the Soup, and the thankfulness almost universally expressed for the benefits it conferred, there is every reason to hope, that more good has arisen to the industrious poor from these establishments (which are now extending themselves in the Villages and Manufacturing Towns) than by any plan which has ever been resorted to for relieving distress. Among the various cla.s.ses of benevolent individuals, to whom the Public have been indebted for their pecuniary and personal aid in promoting this design the Society of _The Friends_ is peculiarly prominent. To the zeal and perseverance they have manifested, and the valuable time they have bestowed, in giving effect and utility to the System, is owing much of its success.]

"Every inst.i.tution which tends to make the poor depend on any other support than their own industry does them great disservice, and is highly injurious to society, by diminishing the quant.i.ty of labour which annually produces consumable goods, the only wealth of a nation."

Although these suggestions may appear harsh, and some of them may admit of more extended discussion, yet they certainly deserve very serious consideration; as do also the following observations on the Commons and Waste Lands with which this kingdom still abounds; and on the general character of Servants and Labourers; the latter of which afford but too melancholy a confirmation of many opinions which the author of this treatise has thought it his duty to bring forward to the Public eye.

"On estimating the value of the Commons in Middles.e.x, including every advantage that can be derived from them in pasturage, locality of situation, and the barbarous custom of turbary, it appears that _they do not produce to the Community, in their present state, more than four shillings per Acre_! On the other hand, they are, in many instances, of real injury to the Public, by holding out a lure to the poor man; by affording him materials wherewith to build his cottage, and ground to erect it upon; together with firing, and the run of his poultry and pigs for nothing. This is, of course, temptation sufficient to induce a great number of poor persons to settle upon the borders of such Commons. But the mischief does not end here; for having gained these trifling advantages, through the neglect or connivance of the Lord of the Manor, it unfortunately gives their minds an improper bias, and inculcates a desire to live, from that time forward, without labour, or at least with as little as possible.

"The animals kept by this description of persons, it is soon discovered by their owners, are not likely to afford them much revenue, without better feed than the scanty herbage on a Common; hence they are tempted to pilfer corn, &c. towards their support; and as they are still dependant on such a deceptious supply, to answer the demands of their consumption, they are in some measure constrained to resort to various dishonest means, so as to make up the deficiency.

"It is a notorious fact, that in all cases cottages not having any ground belonging to them promote thieving to a great extent; as their inhabitants constantly rob the neighbouring farms and gardens of root and pulse sufficient for their own consumption, and which they would have no temptation to do, if they had the same articles growing of their own." Hence Mr. Middleton suggests the evil admits of an easy remedy, namely, the allotting to each cottager a piece of ground.

"Another very serious evil which the Public suffers from these Commons is, that they are the constant rendezvous of Gypsies, Strollers, and other loose persons, living under tents which they carry with them from place to place, according to their conveniency. Most of these persons have a.s.ses, many of them horses, nay, some of them have even covered carts, which answer the double purpose of a caravan for concealing and carrying off the property they have stolen, and also of a house for sleeping in at night. They usually stay a week or two at a place; and the cattle which they keep serve to transport their few articles of furniture from one place to another. These, during the stay of their owners, are turned adrift to procure what food they can find in the neighbourhood of their tents, and the deficiency is made up from the adjacent hay-stacks, barns and granaries. They are known never to buy any hay or corn, and yet their cattle are supplied with these articles of good quality. The women and children beg and pilfer, and the men commit greater acts of dishonesty. _In short, the Commons of this Country are well known to be the constant resort of footpads and highwaymen, and are literally and proverbially a public nuisance._"----

"_The Labourers of this country are ruined in morals and const.i.tution by the public houses._ It is a general rule, that the higher their wages, the less they carry home, and consequently the greater is the wretchedness of themselves and their families. Comforts in a cottage are mostly found where the man's wages are low, at least so low as to require him to labour six days a week. For instance, a good workman at nine shillings per week, if advanced to twelve will spend a day in the week at the alehouse, which reduces his labour to five days, or ten shillings; and as he will spend two shillings in the public house, it leaves but eight for his family, which is one less than they had when he earned only nine shillings.

"If by any means he be put into a situation of earning eighteen shillings in six days, he will get drunk Sunday and Monday, and go to his work stupid on Tuesday; and should he be a mechanical journeyman of some genius, who by constant labour could earn twenty-four shillings or thirty shillings per week, as some of them can, he will be drunk half the week, insolent to his employer, and to every person about him.

"If his master has business in hand that requires particular dispatch, he will then, more than at any other time, be absent from his work, and his wife and children will experience the extreme of hunger, rags and cold.

"The low _Inns on the road sides_ are, in general, receiving houses for the corn, hay, straw, poultry, eggs, &c. which the farmers' men pilfer from their masters.

"_Gentlemen's Servants_ are mostly a bad set, and the great number kept in this county, is the means of the rural labourers acquiring a degree of idleness and insolence unknown in places more remote from the Metropolis.

"The poor children who are brought up on the borders of commons and copses, are accustomed to little labour, but too much idleness and pilfering. Having grown up, and these latter qualities having become a part of their nature, they are then introduced to the farmers as servants or labourers; and very bad ones they make.

"The children of small farmers, on the contrary, have the picture of industry, hard labour, and honesty, hourly before them, in the persons of their _parents_, and daily hear the complaints which _they_ make against idle and pilfering servants, and comparisons drawn highly in favour of honesty. In this manner honesty and industry become, as it were, a part of the nature of such young folks. The father's property is small, and his means few; he is therefore unable to hire and stock a farm for each of his children; they consequently become servants on large farms, or in gentlemen's families, and in either situation are the most faithful part of such establishments."----

"One great hindrance to comfort in a life of agriculture, and which drives liberal minded men, who are always the best friends to improvement, out of the profession, is the want of laws to put a total stop to the Receivers of stolen goods. These are the wretches who encourage servants in agriculture, and others to pilfer, by holding out the lure of buying every article, which such servants can bring without asking them any questions. Most things which are usually produced on a farm, from so small an article as an egg, to hay, straw and grain of all sorts are daily stolen,[23] and sold on the sides of every princ.i.p.al road in this county. Among the Receivers are to be reckoned Millers, Cornchandlers, Dealers in eggs, b.u.t.ter and poultry, and the Keepers of Chandlers' shops.

[Footnote 23: These thefts are committed by degrees in a small way, seldom exceeding a truss of hay or a bushel of corn by one man at one time; and are generally of smaller articles. In some places the stealing of gate-hooks and iron-fastnings is so common as to compel the farmer both to hang and fasten his gates with wood. _Middleton._]

"The Drivers of Gentlemen's carriages are intrusted to buy hay, straw, and corn, for their horses; in the doing which, they generally cheat their masters of 5_s._ in each load of hay, of 2_s._ 6_d._ in each load of straw, and 1_s._ in every quarter of corn. This gives them an interest in the consumption, makes them extremely wasteful, and brings on habits of dishonesty.

"The Ostlers at the Inns on the sides of the roads, purchase stolen hay, straw, corn, eggs, and poultry. A person who kept a horse several weeks at one of these inns, in attending occasionally to see the animal, discovered him to be fed with wheat, barley and oats mixed together, which could only happen by the farmers' servants robbing their Master, and selling the corn to the Ostler."----

"The fields near London are never free from men strolling about in pilfering pursuits by day, and committing great crimes by night. The depredations every Sunday are astonishingly great. There are not many gardens within five miles of London, that escape being visited in a marauding way, very early on a Sunday morning, and the farmers' fields are plundered all day long of fruit, roots, cabbages, pulse and corn.

Even the ears of wheat are cut from the sheaves, and carried away in the most daring manner in open day, in various ways, but mostly in bags containing about half a bushel each. It has been moderately estimated, that 20,000 bushels of all the various sorts are thus carried off every Sunday morning, and 10,000 more during the other six days of the week; or one million and a half of bushels in a year, which, if valued at so small a sum as sixpence each, would amount to 37,500.