Police.
The Times, 1824-03-04T00:00:00

1Ac StON .ilOUSg.-\ esterda:.. a case camc on beforc the Lcirt MA YoII, whiich certainly regardls a question of considerablc imipor- tance to the public. A parcel, containing the lhalves of Bank notes, to the amount of about 6001.. was transmitted from the Bath Bank to Londoni, directed to the hoise of* Jones, Lloyd, and Co.. of L,oth. bury, by the Bath coach, whichi stops at the swan-with.two-Necks inn, Lad-lane. The parcel should have been delivered in Lotitburv on Tuesdav. but, to the astonishsicint of the house, no parcel reached tlhei ; and as they could get no satisfactory intelligence at the inn, a sirminons was lespatched, requiting thc attendanzec of thc clerks and porters who might hatc had charge of tIlc pared, or through whose hands it might have passed. lir. HAR7l1MER attendled upon the partof the ownersof the tnotes. He stated, that whlat was pecuiliar in this case was, that in the way, bill the parcel was mentioned, and ticked off as delivered, and that so involved and compleicated were the arrangements of carria e and delivery of goods. that thlere appeared to be no possibilitv oaascer- taining through what mileans, eitner of intention or carelscsne,s, the loss hat taken place. lIte public were, he added, deepiv intercsted in the subject, as there was no security for property transmnitted fronm tne place to another. One of the clerks producelt the wxay-bill, which included a parcel directed to Mlessrs. Jones, Llovd, anid Co., the carriage oh' which amounted to Is. 8d. Tre parcel was ticked off to one of the porters of the establisbment, whose name is BelUringer, who was of course responsible for that sum to Mr. Waterhouse. Another of the clerks, wlio was in the liabit of checking tite way- bill, stated that he hadl done so in this instance, atid that lie had ticked off the parcel to Messrs. .Joncs and Lloyd, but lie had no, seen the parcel. The LORD A As-OR expre sed surprise at his haviitg ticked off a parcel which he had not seen. The clerk said it was usual, in the great hurry of busitiess, to tick off without looking to the articles included in the was,-bill. The LoRD MIAVYOt Psked whether it was not thie duttvof the clerks, whett a parcel mentioned in the tray-bill was not found, to mention that circumstance to thrir entployer ? The clerk said, in answer to this question, that he teally had not observed whether tite parcel w as or was itot to be found. Ar.otber persor always called over the parcels, ald whethier this particular parcel had been called over or not, lie could not determine. There w4e mistakes of the kind constantlv occurring. T 'he LORtD MAYOR- eVe mUSt Eendeavour to put an end to mts- takes, which so trequentlv deprivc pcrsons of their prsperty, and leave thens no nmeatus of redress. Bellringer, the porter, was then questioned. He said that he was one of the Itorters of the establishulent, an3d was allowed an assist- ant. He was responsible for parcelsdirected to the ground where the ltousp of M cssrs. Jones and Lloyd was, but he did not himself deli- ver on thait ground. His assistant delivered there. The parcel was ehitered in the boolk to his account, but he had never seen it, nor been paid for it ; nor had lie of course paid for it. Mir. HARxsRt.-T his sort of confusion, by which the puolic are exposed to sudc serious losses, entirely contravenes the effiort to pEo- curejustice. Suppose the notes had bean whole and in circulation, a very serious sum would be totally lost. It is a most lamentable thing that a eDan's property should be subject to be bl6wu awvay from him; bisd that no cltenceeitlidfof reconipesnse or other satisfaction should remain. 'T'he assistant to Behiringer was caUed. He knew notbing, be gaid, about the parcel. lie had never reesived it, itever been paid f^r it, and of course never delivered it. The LonD AfAyon.-You art perfectly right, Mr. aMr, int Iaying that the public are grossly treated by tne persons connected with inns. IVhat security can I have, that if a parcel be directed to me 1 shall ever receive it ? The constant and dreadful impositiona to which we are all liable haye induced the Court of Aldermen to apply for an act of Parliament to give magistrates a power of mak- ing mnore strict inquiry into the cause of the loss of parcels, and to punish irregularites by which confusion likely to interfere with the detection of a felony is engendered. A'lr. HAR.MER said, he was sorry to say the case could not be pur- sued further. There waS no traceof the rotes, and al} that woutld be done at the inn, was by reference from one clerk to another, and froth one porter to another. One of the clerks observed, that the parcel had bce-e entered as a common parcel, by no means a proper security for property of value, which might be secured by insurance. The LoRD IAYOR said, the omission with respect to insurijng goods was no excuse for the disappearance of property confided to the care of innkeepers. He trusteds and indeed he was convinc&d, that thia Session of Parliament wouild not pass over, without some enactment for the protection of parcela. Here the case ended, but Mr. HARMbER assured the Loitr I11AYOR that every thing should be done to trace the half noteu. POLI CE.