Part 8 (1/2)

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This discovery (except what relates to embezzled silk, cotton, and worsted) was originally made through the medium of a considerable Dealer in Rags and Old Iron, and other Metals, who communicated to the Author much interesting information, respecting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 astonis.h.i.+ng 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 s.h.i.+p 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 wis.h.i.+ng 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.