The Sun.
London, England, 1846-04-07 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
SOUTHWARK.
James Anderson was brought before Mr. Cottingham,
chir".ged with breaking into the house of Mr. Robins, in Ber-
m amdsey, sad stealing a quantity of plate, consisting of silver
Fctioons, a fish slice, and other articles.
Policeman Noakes, 104 M, stated that between two and
three o'clock that morning, while on duty in Bermondsey, in
passing the premises of the complainant, hearing a seise
within, he ascended the roof of a low building attached to
the dwelling-house, and discovered that the tiles had been
removed, and a hole sufficiently large to admit of a man's
body had been made. He applied his bull's eye lantern to
-the opening, and distinctly observed the prisoner below
busily engaged in forcing open a writing desk. The moment
the rays of light from the lantern struck upon the prisoner
he attempted to escape through the hole he had made in the
roof, when he was encountered by the policeman, and a fierce
struggle took place between them, during which they both
tumbled off the roof together, and fell into a deep and muddy
ditch, adjacent to the premises. The constable, however,
still retained his hold of the prisoner, until assistance arrived,
and they were both pulled out of the ditch, completely im-
mersed in mud aid water ; and in the prisoner's possession
'w found a handkerchief, in which several articles of plate
taken from the house were found.
The prisoner, who stood shivering at the bar in his wet
clothing as he was pulled out of the ditch, complained that
he was allowed to remain so many hours in them, and said
that he already felt serious effects from it, and that he hoped
the magistrate, instead of keeping him locked up at the rear
of the Court, would send him off to gaol, where he could
change his wet garments. He added that be had nothing
to say in answer to the charge, further than that he was in
great distress, and that being without food or the means of
procuring any, he had entered the premises as de: cribed.
Evidence was then adduced of the prisoner having been pre-
viously convicted, he wes therefore remanded, and directions
were given to convey him to gaol as speedily as possible, in
order that he might be provided with clothes, in lieu of the
wet garments he then wore.
Seven boys, the oldest not more than 16 years of age,
were charged with destroying their clothes in St. George's
workhouse. The defendants were all admitted into the
casual ward on the preceding night, and the next morning it
was found the chief part of their clothes was torn up, so that
it was necessary to supply them with others in order to bring
them up to this Court.
The chairman of the board of guardians of St. George's
parish attended, and in forcible terms described the heavy
burdens thrown upoe the rate-payers owing to the numbers
of such persons as those before the magistrate, who applied,
and were admitted into the workhouse, no less a number than
8,000 having been relieved during the last year. That the
influx of such persons to the metropolis was principally at-
tributable to the conduct of the parochial authorities in the
country, who, instead of seeing to the wants of the poor, by
relieving them or procuring them work, which they were
bound to do, advised them to cone to London, and this ac-
counted for the vast numbers of wretched beings who were
to be seen wandering about the streets by day, and sleeping
in the different unions at nig,ht. He then instanced the case
of a poor boy affected with a sore leg, who had come up
from Bath in consequence of the refusal of the parish
officers to relieve him, and upon their advising him
to come to town, he applied and was admitted into the casual
ward of St. George's, where he represented the circum-
stances mentioned. That this poor boy was in such a condi-
tion, owing to the distance he had travelled, that they were
obliged to send him to the hospital. The conduct of many
of those casual paupers in the workhouse was of the very
worst deicription, and was calculated to increase the discom=
forts of the aged poor who had claims and were inmates of the
house. That amongst the casual paupers disturbances and
breaking of windows were of common occurrence, as the ma-
gistrate himself could testify, and their numbers and audacity
rendered it a matter of impossibility for the officers of the
house to prevent it. Every method they could devise having
failed to produce any kind of subordination amongst those
unfortunate class of persons, the matter had, in fact, now
become of so serious a nature that the board of guardians
deemed it indispensably necessary to communicate the facts
to the magistrate, in order that through his instrumentality
some plan might be devised to lessen or abate the evil.
Mr. COTTINGHAM Perfectly coincided in the observations
of the chairman of the board of guardians, with respect to
the gross misconduct of the parochial authorities of dif-
ferent towns and places in the country, in advising those
who applied to them for relief, to come up to London at the
risk of receiving any aid ; that such conduct deserved the
severest reprehension, they having an undoubted right to
support or obtain employment for their own poor. He was
fully aware of the great 'umbers of these unfortunate per-
sons, from the fact he daily witnessed of so many being
brought before him. That he would advise an immediate
application to be made to the Home-office, detailing the
whole of the circumstances, with a view that the matter
might be taken up by Government, and a remedy for the
evil obtained. He, however, would suggest, in order to pro-
duce a proper degree of subordination in the casual ward,
that an officer should be stationed there throughout the
night, and those who misconducted themselves, or attempted
to destroy their clothes, should be instantly taken out of the
place and given into custody.
Mr. Borer said that the officer who would be appointed to
such a duty, would run the risk of his life amongst such a
daring and vicious class of persons, and that it was found
they were quite unmanageable, as far as the present work-
house regulations were concerned.
Mr. COTTINGHAM offered another suggestion, that if an
aperture were made through the door of the ward, so that a
person could see from without what was going forward within
that the risk of such persons would be obviated, and that
then the parties offending could be seen and pointed out and
punished accordingly. That until other regulations for the
maintenance of proper rule and order in the workhouse were
adopted, he thought such a plan practicable, and likely to
lead to the observance of better order amongst the unruly
characters the parochial authorities had to deal with. He
would also suggest that the trial of a more soothing disci-
pline towards those unhappy persons might be effected, as he
found that sending them from from the workhouse to the
gaol had the reverse of a beneficial effect.
Mr. Borer said, that the suggestion with respect to a com-
munication with the Government on the subject should be
attended to, and that also regarding an aperture being made,
so as to give an opportunity, of witnessing the misconduct of
the inmates of the casual wards, and having thanked the
magistrate for his attention and advice, the chairman then
withdrew.