The National Register. — London, England, 1817-10-20 00:00:00

NEIL POLICE REPORT. SECOND REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE ON THE POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS. (Cod iniatifrens our lad.) .1. BARNUM'S Evidence Continued. What is the general character of police officers ?—I do not &uow ; our's is nut of the best. Can you state any fact with respect to any of the officers, which has lien under your own knowledge ?—When there happens to be a warrant, or any thing of that kind granted, if it is a person they like or dislike, I have heard them tell the party that bav taken the warrant out, that they would lock them up, if they did not make it up, when at the same time that party was aggrieved ; and I have thought that that Val wrong. Have you had any reason to believe that officers pass over entail offences, and wait before they apprehend an offender till they can apprehend a reward for his capital conviction? --I has e sometimes thought so. I have observed them to be Tether partial is ten it was a small thing ; I cannot positively say that they did it on purpose, but I have thought it so in my own mind. Do you think that officers, when they have apprehended an offender, ever strain their evidence in order to gain a capital conviction ?-1I have heard, especially Hutt say, be dad not mind gi sing them a " little one in." Meaning that they would colour the evidence for the sake of getting a verdict ?—Yes ; filling up a chasm, or somethin pf that smt. Is it a common phrase used by the police officers, ' I have given them a little one in?'—l, have Mud them say AO frequeetly. That they have strained their evidence for the sake of the reward ?—I have always understood it in that light. To ex plain this, I would mention to the Committee, that I took up a man about a month ago fur a robbery ; nobody, as I knew of at that time, had seen him rob the person, though since, I have found out there was, but he was seen to run away, and • the-man was lying on the ;;round with his pockets corned out: therefore as nobody saw him, there were two of them turned up, and I expected at that time that he would be turned ep also; but since I have found a young man that ix so clear in his evidence against him, that " the little one." I think, would have been thrown in, if the witness had been a police Officer. You were quite clear he had been guilty of a robbery? —I had no doubt of it. And yon think that if the police officers had apprehended him, they would have given " the little one in," to insure the conviction?—Yes. Do you know any thing of a practice of whirls yon must have heard in the course of last slimmer, iu consequence of the trials at tile Old Bailey of police officers instigating indi viduals to the commission of crimes for the sake of after- wards getting the reward by their conviction, or the convic Lion of others who may through their meatus be led to the woinnitssiun of such offence e—l have heard of such things. Has it ever happened to you in your own district to know that such offences have taken ',Lace!—Poo. You know nothing more th an what Appeared at those trials ;---1 heard one of them make his defence at the Old Bailey, and he admitted it. You du nut know whether i t is a general practice ? I do not. Are there any persons in your parish who frt perfidy ev illy fur parochial help, who lease • sprat their week's earnings at the pt. -house on Saturday 4 ighl and Salida) morning?— Yes, this is a COllllllOll practice. Do persons often apply for err gal relief, stating that they Dave slept in the parish, wlitm h i t y have 001 i . —Very often. Yon are discovering those tram Is continual!) -Lvery day almost . Arc impierit•s made where thy y say they have slept Yes. 1)o the housekeepers ronfedet ate with thent to obtain money I . lllllllhr parish ?—They do. 1) 0 1 1 1 . 1 s hare the cy make it a practice, be. cause I have found them out at it ; they make a practice of gain , and if they get a shilling, the person who keeps the Louse his tourpence, or tight pence out of two shtlliu s : it is . luoirpeeice he the shilling fur as mut le as they can gel. '1 he lionskeepers have no liesi:a lion in saying that they have steed in their house whim that i • not the lat•t, doing it to obtain part of the moue)? • 4%. ; 1 have been d o wn there, Shit the) have said, " Oh, Oleo hat e been at our house one or two months, and they are vt•ry n curs' when, at the saute time, they have never slept in then I mow. Have you ally reason to believe 1 •i.tt the persons who ob tain i cher 111 this way commit fraud, -in ditlereut parishes on the same day?. -Not on the Sallie .1 iy, perhaps, hut in the saute Keck I have known them elto it. 1 hav e known thou barrow children of their ueiglinoui a, to go to the boards and Ott sunlit y. Did you ever see any poor lilt Non barter their pa rochial bounty for liquor I ha ve. Their bread and their coals ;---Y es, their potatoes, and such things, I have seen them otter t hem for sale. W hat proven tion of the money pt id in your parish to the poor du you imagine is slit ut in lig; tor?-1 shonlit suppose full one third. How much is paid to the ont..poor a if your liberty ?—A bout itteon per a.. um ; ours is a small ; we have but bate Luuaestn It. ptoportion does tlia: bear to the whole of the pa rish?—About onc-fonith of the pail; 'h. Is it your opinion that what ale ca Ilcd gin-shoiv , me great priblic evils ?--I think so, indeed. The last licence day 1 presented to t h e Nlagisirates all that were gin-shops entirely; they went tuned, anti made them make a little bit tf a bench sto to make a taproomin front, but that:is discontinued; it is much in the Sallie way again. Have you known sonic of the WWI immoderate ly addicted to drinking?- I have, very nine h i liked : .1 have known a man to drink fourteen glasses of a ten in a morning, bet ire breakfast ; 1 had the rumba) to rut them. He did this in his ordinary cows' ? -Yes, lie did. {:Toss this Wail injured in his health , and reduced in his cir cumstances, by this practice?—l'es ; le• was :I man terinerly that did very Hrll, and he is now se: y poor, and has a cough and asthma; lie can intielly stir alum . Du they teat h their diddles' tne of drinking liquor —Yes, that l have very ufuu note oil, that a si omaii In the morning %Shell slur get., up will smell hcu t•lielit to the gin shop, then, Alien rile has drank ovhai she hi. ke•, slit- will lea ot• a little for the child to drink, that it may suet tell it s f a th er . *bat it the 'tete of Ilolboru-hilt on Sunday morning t TIiL IETATIONAL REGISTER. From this time till Michaelmai time nothing bitt riot and con. fusion, front Hatton-garden to the market, from four o'clock in the morning till eight t the gin-shops open so early, that they get drunk, and rioting and fighting about. How many people are in the habit of assembling on Ho/- born-hill on a Sunday mor ll illg =I should think there are two, or three, or four hundred ; it is quite like a marker. Louse disorderly people of both sexes ?—Yes ; I have seen as many as three or four fights on a Sunday morning. Are thereany notorious giu-shops in that part?—Yes, there is Thompson's, which is what they call best; that is, what has most trade ; and there are others. Thompson is a very respectable man, who has brought np his family well, is hr nut es ; I believe he has now let it to his son -inlaw, and believe hr has a partnership in it; the trade is so great at his house, it is amazing. How many customers do you think there are on a Sunday - morning before the time of service? should not wonder if there were a thousand ; the place is full from four in the . . morning till eleven. Is it your htisiness to go round to the public-houses in your parish during divine service ?--as soon as divine service begins,l and the constable, andtwo of the court lest, go all round the liberty, to every gin-shop and public house, to see them all cleated out. It is not a part of your duty to visit the public-houses at an, other time , —No it is not. Mr.Slade.—The hunheh are opened again as soon as the court lest and the beadle have passed, and are again tilled. Mr. Barnley.—When I take them before the Magistrate fur serving on a Siinda, the Magistrate hays there is nothing for your trouble, it all goes to the office, ever since the police was established. I say it is luridly right if they pay ten shillings, or whatever it is, that some little remuneration should not be made for the trouble of bringing them up, fur I lose that day and part of the next ; the law 53% it shall go to the poor, but there is nobody that will trouble tlteiuselves• with it; for that very reason they go on Monday to get a summons for those publicans, and there is another di) , spent in attending to fine them ; and the officers get nothing, and therefore they will let it go. And the evil increases?—Of course. Is not that gin-shop on Hulburwhill exactly opposite the wat eh -house is. Have you ever reported the state et this place to the Ma gistrate?—lt is in the city, and therefore out of my juris diction. Do the persons who keep that shop opposite the watch house, take au active pal t in the atfans of the City i Yes. Did they not lately publish an advertisement in the praise of gin, as the best beverage fur Er glisiimen ?—Yes it was wrftten by Coates. Have you found it to be a great evil f , r those gin shops and public 'loosest° be open so early on Sunday morning?—Very great indeed. Has it great tendency to ruin the morals of the lower claas of society ?—Certainly, it must. Did you ever hear any publicans boast how much hnsi l ies, they could do during diviue service i—Yes ; they have told me to my face, " look after me as sharp as you will, and 1 will draw a butt of beer in the service time." What house was this ?—The Horseshoe and Magpie. How could the publican accomplish this ?—Bv two win dews he had down the court ; there are several of them has* got windows of that description down the courts ; they kse i , the front dour shut dnring divine service, and carry on their b nsiness through the window. Have you ever reported those practices to the Magistrates? Yes ; and have fined them. There is generally somebody looking out for my cocked hat at tile chamber window, and the moment they see my gold laced hat they shut it up. Have you ever reported those houses to the licensing Ma. gintrates r—l have. What has heen done to consequence ?—They hive some limos been stopped till the adjourned day : four or tive on the last licensing day were stopped, but they were licensed after wards. \Vas the licence of the Horse shoe and Magpie ever •sus pended i—That was suspended the -year betel e last. It is a hardy conducted house IlOVV":—Nut now ; there is a new man 1111 W. iMa lone hail the old landlord conducted himself ill befit' e you repot tell him ?—fror a whole year or better. Was it a very had house?-=Very. Did he lose his licerivel'--No; the common practice is, and especially with Reels, the brewers, if they tied that a man has lost his chat .ieter, they shove him out, and put in ano ther, then they apply for the licence, saying it can be nu f It of his. and they generally obtain he licence azain. Are the low Irish anti other characters in your parish much a Idieted to gaming on the Sunday ? Yes, they ph“ at catds, StMlellllle , they get music, but I stop that when hear it; but they will be dancing and playing a tardy eu the• Sunday. Do they never attend mass ?—Yep, but they generally get , back by eight o'clock iu the niornig. And spend the rest of the day,in idleness and di unkenness ? —A es they do. Is there no remedy for this.—There is a remedy for drunk eile-s most certainly. This gambling is in .pcl.tate 4 , ouses ;—Yes, it is. you ever attend an Irish wake i—Yes, 1 remember one the wile of James ,Corcoran : it w;:s called a capital one ; I think 1 cottntql about sisty-l'our or sixty-tive gallons of por ter that ,they ; kad before than to drink, in gallon-pots, and two gallon-pots, and so on ; I counted them from curiosity.; the pots that were there, held, I think, about sixty-four gallons. I have seen them likewise when they lave got quite drunk, tight and throw down the corpse, and tight over it. At what hour in the morning?—About three or four °cluck in the morning, wheu they get quite drunk. Do they commonly tight at wakes?—Very commonly. Do you think it your duty to attend on those occasions ? Yes, when 1 hear of any thing of that kind, 1 ginerally attend. Are the low Irish worse than others ?-1u that respect I think they are ; in drinking and fighting, I think they are. Nam education ul . their children neglected ?—ll,luite neg lected. Do they manifest affections to their children?—They do ; they seem to manifest a deal of affection, hir if any one hap. peas to hit any of thein,they are very violent in their tempos ; but • they will not have them educated; they will send them to the selioal. that are opened and get clothes, and as 1.01011 as they have them clothed, it is a hundred to out if they go any wore. (To be Contissiged.) OCT. ItO. ACCIDENTS, OFFENCE& 4.c. Monday, Mr. Lester, a baker in Suffolk-street, Borough,suspeind. ed himself from a beam in his warehouse, to which the sales were usually fastened. A young man, who lodged in the house, went into the shop, and observing Mr. 1.. hanging, he cut him down; but though the body was warm, the united exertions of several stn geons could not restore animation. Embarrassed circumstances are stated to have been the cause of this rash act. On Saturday ee'nnight, a most shocking circumstance occurred in the village of Wentfield, in Somersetshire. A young man, the son of a fennel, had professed an ardent affiction for the daughter of a neighbour, whose circumstances woes too low to gain the sanction of the youth's parents to an union. The poor girl was possessed of a greater share of discretion than her lover, and refused her consent to a private marriage, convinced that it would only by a source of un happiness ultimately to both. it was in vain that he used every per suasion his passion could devise, she remained resolute, and -be came to the horrid determination of putting an end to the existence of the girl and himself. He succeeded but too well. He possessed hint self of a double-barrelled pistol, and alter mortefruitless endeavours to make her swerve from her sense of duty, he hastily took from hie pocket the pistol and tired, but from what cause is not known it {turn, and dreadfully actuated the girl, as well as shattering his right hand all to pieces. She fell, and as he thought, probably life les,, he then took from his pocket a knits, which he constantly wore about him, and stabbed himself in many parts of his neck and bode. The bodies were found very shortly after the horrible castaetroplic. but neither wa. death The girl is expected to recover, but no hopes are cherished of his recovery. On 'Tuesday, about one o'clock, a poor boy, between 11 and 12 years of age, was found by some carters at the tup of a brick-kiln. near the road between Islington and Newington, apparently dead front the effects of suffixation. lie was taken down. and carried to the next public house in Islington, and the parish euigenn being• called in, on inspection of the body, said that life wasperfectly extinct, and that from appearances lie must have been dead some hours. It appeared, from there being sonic few potatoes and skin, pear the body, that the boy had been gathering the tionier•in a neighbouring field, and went to the top of the kiln to Toilet them, mid was suffo cated by the smoke. Ile was the son of two poor labouring people residing noir the place, and had been missing since 9 us*h e morning. One of his hands was much so.rclied. On 'fuesilay night an inquest was held at the Swan and Sugar loaf, Fetter-lame, before Thomas Shelton, Esq. Coroner, on the body of Mrs. Sarah ['carman, aged V, who died in consequence of cuttine her thiost with a nen knife. The jury returned a verdict of by her own act, being at the time in a state of temporary derange ment. An inquisithm•was taken arthe Griffin, corner of Ihike-street and Villiers-street, Strand, before Hugh Lewis, Esq. Coroner, on the body of I .ieutenarit Bryland, who put an end to his existence by taking opium. Verdict—l bed from taking opium when in a state of intoxication, which produced temporary insanity. An inquest was heid at Wapping workhouse on the body , of R. Brewer,agesl27, an Excise officer, who was drowned in the river Thames, with another young man, a lighterman, who has not since been found, tinder the following circumstances :—lt appeared from the evidence adduced, that the deceased went along with another Ex cise officer and lighterman in a boat to the Vauxhall distillery, to fetch some spirits to 'lie Exciseoffice. When they arrived at the dis tillery, they took four pipes of gin, which they put into the host, and rowel off till they stopped between Illackfriars and London bridges, for the purpose of putting the other officer on shore, who stated, the decea ed was quite sober when he parted with him. pipes of gin being meamred sc the office, and found all correct, they could not have made free with them, by drinking any of it. I n ems sequence of the boat being seen floating on the river with no one in it. an inquiry being tria,:e, it was ascertained the deceased% w',e miss ing, and they were dragged for, but only one of them was found. There being no evidence to prove how the deceased crane in the water, . it is supysaed tout the lighten-Ilan was turning the boat on going through I.onelon-bridge, and fell overboard; and the deceased, us his effints to save him, was taught '.old of, and pulled in after him. The Jury returned a verdict of—Founti Drowned. The following shocking accident occurred in the parish of Nice field, in Sussex on Monday last :—.ln iadtherieus woman, named Munn, being necessarily absent from home, for the purpose of pick ing hops for the better sustenance of her tan:ily, let; an infant to the care ut her eldest daughter, a girl about nine years old, wnose clothes in drying an article of them before the tire, caught the flame, and instantly burst into a blaze, by widen she was so miserably burnt, that she lanieuiehed a few hours and then expired. The poor little sufferer, before any aseistance arrived, in the most exeruciaung agony. ran out on the ro-al, and rolled herself ire a wheel track, .Us whi c h the Line was, in some measure, 'attined ; but she was too !severely burnt to render medical :oa:it:ince of any service. The infautt re mained in the house unhurt. J. P. Cr !IRAN Esp.—On Tuesdarat 'his apartments at 13rompton, of a Paralyie affection, died the Right Honourable John Philpot .Cucran. Mr. Curran was a native of the Asounty ,of •Cork. Ilis parents had nothing to 7neetow ,pain him but the rudiments of a elimie,4l,-edu.Acicu. 'He ascended by his own energies to an .etnizterce, which throws rank and Jimmie into comparitive!scorn. Mr. Curran was the great ornament of his time of the Irish Bar, and in forensic eloquence has certainly never been exceeded in modern times. lie was made master of the Rolls in Ireland, during the Vice-royalty of the Duke of BeiltOr,!„ and at his death enjoyed a pension of 30001. a year settled upon hint upon him in resigning that office in favour of Sir W. M‘Mahon, and who still holds it. Mr. Curran was near 70 years of age; he had been fur some time declining tepidly in health and spirits, and though the brilliancy .of his wit shone to the last moment, he seemed like one who had outlived every thing in life that is worth enjoying,—Two of his sons, and a daughter, were with him during his last moments. THE HON. HENRY ERSK I s E.—We hate the melancholy duty to announce the death of the Hon. Henry Erskine, at his seat at A dill, on the pith instant. nom at mac and the sonic moment the great loaders and ornaments of the Scots bar, as well as of the Irish. have paid the debt of u a t ure „ Mr. Henry Erskine was long thief/eau of Faculty, tow hieh lie was raised by his brethren from their respect for the superi" silty of his talents, sod t lie uniform maintenance of the die_ nito anal independence of the bar. On the return of the Whigs to office he was appointed Lord Advocate of seidland, at the time when his broth) r was made Lord Chancellor of Great Rritsin. It was peculiarly honourable to the Wiwi ions fa. mily of Hnelian, that at one and the same time, and for many years, the two brothers of the noble Earl should be the nn. rivalled leathers of the English and Scots bar—both equally eminent, not only for the ardour with which the ) maintained the privileges, and paid , d the Ike*. liberties, and proper ties of their fellow-citizens, hut also for the brilliant wit, per fect integrity, and irresistible persuasion of their professional exertions. The conversational powers of Mr. Ilenr Erskine were of the first order—prompt, gentle, and luminous—hi. flashes of a it irradiated every countvnauce, while its amenity. left no sting behind.