The National Register. — London, England, 1816-09-23 00:00:00

WIN 1// • y..u~r..-~ ..........r.., br 0 No. 440.—V0L. IX. POLITICAL DISQUISITION. REPORT of the POLICE of the METROPOLIS. THE more we contemplate the contents of the volume before us, the more we are amazed at the complicated niture and alarming extent of the evil:: therein recorded, and the less we feel competent to convey, particularly in our circumscribed limits, even a faint idea of their atro city. We shall not, therefore, attempt to give a regular abstract of those horrid details, but shall content our selves with selecting a few of the most remarkable, and making such general reflections upon them as may natu rally occur, without pretending to trace the source, or propose the remedy, of the evils in question. Many causes have concurred to bring matters to the excadfol crisis at which they are now arrived ; the first and greatest of which, no doubt, has been the War, which for duration and magnitude has never, and proba bly will never, be equalled; a war which, " growing with the growth," for more than twenty years, has not only exhausted the resources of the country, and conse quently increased the wants of the people; but, by directs ing our whole energies and attention to foreign affairs, has caused us to overlook or neglect the more important concerns of our domestic policy. By the termination of that destructive war, however, we are at last, fortunately, left at leisure to turn our eyes inward upon ourselves, and to behold with unparalized, though astonished gaze, that basilisk of corruption, the Police of the Metropolis ! \Ve look, and, as enchanted, are lost in admiration and horror ; admiration, at our apathy and blindness in not seeing, what we now see, sooner ; and horror, at the vil lainous combination of heterogeneous, yet conspiring in terests, which have so long upheld, and so ingeniously matured, that system of depravity which thrives upon the ruin of the country. But what shall we say ; where shall we begin ; how untie that worse than Gordian knot—that knot of ser pents, whose very existences are interwoven, and who are equally dangerous to be approached, and difficult to be laid hold of, by reason of their poison and their slime ? Shall we, beginning at the head, endeavour to trace them downwards, through all their various windings, to the tail ?—in other words, from the domineering, time-serving magistrate, to the feeble, fee-extorting watchman ; or follow their contortions from the tail up ward,—from the blood-seeking informer to the blood destroying distiller ? On whichever side, in whatever light we regard those appalling scenes, we are equally shocked and disgusted ; whether at the overreaching ava rice of brewers, the selfish connivance of magistrates, the mercenary motives of informers, the monstrous profligacy of the lower orders, or the criminal apathy of the higher ; —all, all serve to inspire but one opinion of the errors, insufficiency, and gross mismanagement of the present system of Police ! And, setting the degree of moral turpitude aside, it is difficult to determine, whether inure ruinpas effects to the publi: result from the con duct of a Mercer= or a Vaughan, a Millbury or a Price. That this censure may not appear, to those who have not read the Reports of the Committee, too severe or un foundixt, let us examine, but without pretemliug to me thod or order,a few of those circumstances that have trans pired in evidence. In proof of the first charge, namely of error :—The jurisdiction of Union Hall, which con. tains, it is said, 25 parishes, 127,319, souls, and is be tween thirty and ti►rty miles in circumference, possesses only seven constables; while that of Bow-street, which is but the eighth or ninth part as large us the former, has 10S. Again, the Thames Police Office is situated be tween the offices of Shadwell and Whitechapel, which, it is thought, transact but little business, and are, be tween them, fully competent to all that may arise to the east of the Minories ; while to Union Hall alone arc left the concerns of a district much more extensive than that of the other three put together: trr+ Our Ulna, Conatijutton anb 3Latu4. MONDAY, SEPT! ;fix 23, 1816. With respect to the second assertion, of insufficiency : Nothing is more notorious than the total inadequacy of the Watch : which so fir from being a protection to the inhabitants, is but too justly considered the reverse : as the known age and infirmities of most of the persons composing that body, as well as their flagrant corrupti bility, prove rather an encouragement than a cheek to depredations : while their extorting fees from the wo men of the town, in order to wink at their mal practices, shows how little they are to be depended upon as guardians of public decorum ;—the conse quence is. that the conduct of these women is become an intolerable nuisance; We are sorry to learn, that the foot patrol° are of little more service, with respect to those important - objects of polite, the regulation of pub lic-houses, the apprehension of minor offenders, the sup pression of gaining houses,. brothels, the clearing the streets of prostitutes, &c.: fo? it appears that once .; on application to Bow-street to remove the latter nuisance, two patroles were desired to parade the streets, but at the expellee of two guineas a week to the parish. The parish not finding the smallest benefit from their services, after a fortnight's attenda,hcp, dispensed with it, and saved their money. It is somewhat strange that those officers should have been allowed double pay in order to perform what was a principal part of their duty ; and still more strange, that they did not perthrm it after all. ft appears, however, that this horse patrole has rendered very essential services, although it might yet be renner ed more serviceable. And now, touching the more serious charge of gross mismanagement, to give it no worse appellation, we will begin with the Licensing System. In the parish of St. Paul's, Shadwell, there are only between 10 and 11,000 inhabitants, and in High-street, which is about a quarter of a mile long, there is at the rate of onb public house to 1:2 others ; and in - New OfesseLlane...whieh is shorter, there are 15 public-hhuses, or Ito 9. In Lower Shudwell there arc 85, or 1 public-house to 6 others. Why is there this enormous superfluity of public-houses and gin-shops in Shadwell ? Oh ! becanse there are a great many sailors in that part. But, really and truly, why ? Why ! ask Messrs. Hanbury and Co. and Messrs. Stables and Williams ; ay, and Sir Daniel Williams him self; nay, perhaps Major Jeckson might be able to throw some light upon the case, .0t his nephew, Mr. Orange, who keeps the gin-shop iri"Whitechapel ! But these good and upright souls have no.interest whatever, as a worthy Chairman assures us, much less exert any un due influence in granting or procuring licenses for such a pestilent number of public-houses and gin-shops in this district, but do it purely through a laudable at tention to the wants and 4 eonveniences of the public. Though, it must be confessid, it looks rather suspicious, that in the very same division and after six years con stant application, those very gentlemen and their impar tial colleagues refused to grant a single licence to Mr. Beaumont, for the accommodation of 350 houses which he had built, because he would not consent that his house and the neighbourhood should be compelled to take Mr. Hanburv's beer, and Messrs. Stables and Williams's spi rits ; as all the other public-houses in the division are obliged to do, some for the term of seven and others fourteen years. To be sure, allbuilders are not so unfortunate as Mr. Beaumont. mr.Mercemn, for instance, the worship ful magistrate of Middlesex, it seems, found no difficulty in obtaining licenses fur eleven houses of his own in one day ! and, doubtless, he found as little in procuring eleven more for eleven other houses, to which he is agent. Not so with poor William Stocker, of the Peacock, on Bethnal Green. No less than 1001. to the ground landlord fur his interest, besides the usual stipolation of taking Mr. H.'s beer, could procure him a licence. Well, but Mr. Whitling is not Mr. Hanhury. 'True ; he is only his surveyor. . In short, there woupt be nu end of this ; suffice it to say, that some licences era obtained without the legal formalities (some being signed by the clergyman, some not, and sometimes his signiiture is ?rocurcd, as a matter of course; by the beadle ? who receives half-a-crown for his fee), others are granted in violation of law, others are improperly renewed Or re-granted atter complaints, and almost all are obtained through the influence, and subject to the controul of the 14:,vers and disinters. So much for the licensing; system},, We have no room at present to take notice of the va rious other topics cennected with the Police establish ment, but shall probably resume the subject on a future occasion. POLICE REPORT. Second Examination of Mr. J. MAN,. Have you now got the Rate-books of your parish ?—Yes. Have you looked through the books generally?—'Through the whole of these ; four others were returned to me this morn ing. In 1809, the Rev. Mr. King, the Rector of the parish, desired me to send him the books for 1809 and 1810, which 1 accordingly did, and from that time to this moment I have ne ver got back the book for 1800. 1 was the whole of last year looking for the book of 1800 and IMO, and I took down every book from the vear 1627, and I find I have totally lost the book for 1809 ; anal - I have no doubt they were in the possession of the Rev. Mr. King, for he returned the other books ; he had in books from me at the time I have spoken of; but I have never been able to tied the 1800-10 books. Have you found in those hooks in your hand many entries in which the rate is altered by Mereeron?—Many. How many should you say ?—From 12 to 20. Arc there any instances in which the rate has been dimi nished ?—Ni one to my knowledge. Turn to 12409, folio 18,"S. Mendo,2l.lBs. 3d. relieved to 21." —1 cannot find that without reference to the division. Turn to the 211 division, folio 4," Moses Messiah, relieved to 21. from td. 164. ad. ;" is that entered?—lt is not Mr. Merceron's hand-writing. I do not think it is. Is that done before appeal?--I think it was. Is it the custom, when a. rate is reduced upon the regular ap peal, to enter a menurrandunt that it was done?—Yes. And am I to take it for granted, that when such memo►an dum is not entered, the rate was not reduced by an appeal ? —lt may frequently be not put down when there is an appeal. It frequently happens that there are S or 400 persons in the room, and eight or nine books to attend to ; and when any en tries are made in the books by me, my hand-writing appears to them. I sign J. M. Now turn td folio S, in which it appears that Thos. Tyler has been relieved from 141. told. ,—That was on appeal. In folio 10, It. Vandrnm; the rate there appears to have been raised from 81. to 141. and it does not say on appeals—The Col lector collected that ; it is in his hand.wriring. Is that rate raised on appeal ?—I have no doubt it was. Then how comes it that that is not stated in the book to be collected on appeal, the same as Tyler?—When they come into the room, there are four other persons, each of whom name the books in which-the rates arc collected; I hand over the books to them, and desire them to pot down a note in all cases where there is an appeal, and it frequently happens, in the harry in which the business is done, that such remarks are not made. Torn to the third division, folio SS, and inform the Commit. tee whether you rind the names of A. Angley and S. Divine, and explain the nature of the entry opposite to them 1. —The entry is Mr.. Atkins's tenements, Hoxton, farmed at 61. Is that the hand-writing of Mr. Merceron ?—No, the Col lector's. N. Divine was reduced from 01. to ; was Mr. Merceron instrumental to it, and was it upon appeal?-1 think it was. It appearing, by your own statement, that Mr. Merceron al. tcred the rate in the former entries without an appeal, do yros believe that wherever there is a reduction of the rate in Lis name, that it was done on appeal cannot speak povitiveky as to that. Do you believe it has been done otherwise ?—I never saw him sign a book in my life. Did you every remonstrate with Mr. Merceron noon the al. terations which he made in the rates? —1 did not know of the alterations until just before the indictment in the Court of Kin g '. Bench took place, and I said it was very wrong. What did Mr. Merceron say in justification of his conduct ? —Generally that be did not know it was wrong. Did you apply to Mr. Pulley for legal advice how io act, when you disrovered.that Mr. Merceron had so misemodneted himself, under an apprehension that you might be involved in such misconduct ?—Certainly not. Did you apply to ;my one for Weal advice ?—No, Sir; I have attended for my father and myself for 43 or 46 years, and there is not any book in print upon the Poor Laws that I have not provided myself with. I know the law myself on the subject ; 1 knew it was wrong. Did you at any time express your abhorrence at so scanda lous u transactioli%-1 do not know that I did ; I said that )l r. Nlereeron had improperly altered the rates. And when dill you make use of that observation 1312. He had vo l itjuolvd to ultvr t h e rates as late as -I have looked through all the books front Islo down to the present time, and I do not ste any alteration since the prosecution was taken up. Then the altrtrations appear to have existed for 10 years. frmit Innt, or from Isol, to psi r—l have not the Iso9-ia books. lii Isll there do not appear to be any. • Then during the whole of that period, Mr. Merceron 1134 been in the habit of altering the rates, at his own pleasure i—lt Ail' • o;,ear, so. Does he sign the rates?—Yes, I believe every We. These rate-hooks are siumed by Mr. lereeroui ?-1 o. • Vim will feel it your ditty to provide yourst II with further information, in ease the Committee should summon yam "text year, to ‘peak more positively as to the alterations: will take every step for that purpose. 21tirti Examination ui 11r. J. MIN: You have stated to the Committee in your formes- examints. film, that considerable alterations had been made in the rates of the parish of Bet hit for many years past, rates had been ?--I said that I could never speuk ;14 to that; I had never seen them aitt red. K hen made by me, Ldeliver it out to the Collectors. Not beim e it is laid?—Not till a is laid. State clearly what you do ?—I make out the rate It is signed by the thureliwardens anti Ovt rsuerso. mid then it has also the siptaature of the Magistrate are then delivci ell to the Collectors;tact' t ; ,k e tb they uenr . eiume back jut() my hands until situ 10. s past, Alter tilos pehik lioili%Orl! It • 14 lieu the rate il' • I .31 1 1„= ate: after %%hie . ere of the, pitri rt' 4;A tf „; strait.; the r 4 e the liook, a • they are Audi • IA 44,4*/is-lp 11, 4,