Part 42 (2/2)
[Footnote 164: A Police Magistrate has nothing to do with the politics of the Country; and he is incapable, and unworthy of the trust reposed in him, if he permits any bias, or influence, but that which is immediately connected with a correct and chaste execution of the Laws, to take hold of his mind.--It is only by this line of conduct, that he can either render himself useful or respectable.]
Where men of this description pledge themselves, as they must necessarily do, to give up every other pursuit, a.s.siduously and constantly to execute the laborious duties of a Police Magistrate; Justice also requires that the reward should be commensurate to the sacrifices which are made. It is the interest of the Community that it should be so: for in the present extended state of Commerce and Society, no gratuitous System can ever be expected to answer any purpose of real utility.
While the higher order of Magistrates receive the just reward of their useful labour, bestowed in the exercise of their functions in promoting the public good--where can be the impropriety of extending the same species of remuneration to inferior Magistrates; who must devote even a greater portion of time and attention to the multifarious duties a.s.signed them?
The office of _a.s.sistant Magistrates_ in the City might be a.s.signed to six active and honourable men, who would give _their whole attention to_ the criminal department of the Police. The proceedings of these Magistrates should be sanctioned by the presence of the Aldermen, as often as one or more could conveniently attend; on which occasions they would necessarily preside, as holding within their own district, the highest rank in the Magistracy.
The difference in point of benefit to the Community between a _Mind_ constantly occupied in objects of public utility, and that which is only occasionally employed, is great beyond all possible calculation.--Nor is the measure without precedent, even in the City of London, since the Recorder may, in his high office, be fairly considered in the light of a Magistrate with a salary.
Ready on every occasion at their Sittings in the morning and evening, to offer their advice or a.s.sistance to the labouring people, as well as all ranks of the Community, who apply for it--to adjust their differences, and to protect them against wrongs and oppressions: prepared also, as a matter of business, to receive and follow up informations where crimes have been committed, and never to lose sight of the object while it is practicable to attain it; these a.s.sistant Magistrates would afford incalculable advantages to the City: which would be still farther increased, if a System of co-operation of the other Police Magistrates were established, upon a plan which would unite their energy, and render their jurisdiction co-extensive. (See _ante_ pages 419, 420).
It is a well-known fact, that since the establishment of Police Magistrates for Westminster, and the parts of Middles.e.x and Surry, contiguous to the City of London, great benefits have been experienced from the a.s.sistance and advice which have been afforded to the indigent, and the ignorant.
Many quarrels and little law-suits have been prevented, and innumerable differences immediately reconciled without any expence.
It is in this manner that Magistrates, acting up to the spirit of their Public Duty, and bestowing their _whole_ attention upon whatever relates to that duty, confer those obligations upon the Community which no moderate remuneration can repay.
The office of a Police Magistrate is not like other public situations:--for the business is multifarious, seldom admits of any recess or a vacation.--It is, or ought to be, _constant_, _laborious_, and without _intermission_.[165]
[Footnote 165: In the month of October, 1793, a respectable Committee, representing the great body of the Manufacturers in Spitalfields, waited on His Majesty's Princ.i.p.al Secretary of State for the Home Department, with an Address of Thanks for the Establishment of the Police System; the substance of which is as follows:
”That it is the opinion of this Society, that great benefits have arisen, with regard to the security of property, from the correct and regular manner in which the judicial business has been conducted by the Magistrates of Police; in consequence of whose vigilance and attention, an effectual check has been given to a System of depredation which heretofore occasioned a loss of many thousands per annum to the Silk Manufacturers:”--And it was Resolved,--”That the Thanks of this Society are due to the Right Honourable Henry Dundas, one of His Majesty's Princ.i.p.al Secretaries of State; and also to Mr.
Burton, and the other Members of Parliament, who proposed and supported the Police System, for the share they had in the establishment of a judicial Tribunal, which has been found to extend, to the Silk Manufacturers, many advantages in a just and proper execution of the Laws which were not heretofore experienced.”]
But with all these advantages, even improved by competent funds appropriated to the different Public Offices, still a _Centre-point_ is wanted to connect the whole together, so as to invigorate and strengthen every part, by a superintending Establishment, under the immediate controul of the Secretary of State for the Home Department: There, indeed, the const.i.tutional superintendence of the Police of the Metropolis, as well as of the whole country, rests at present; but from the vast weight and increase of other Public Business, connected with the general affairs of the State, foreign, colonial, and domestic, it has been found impracticable to pursue that particular System which has now become, more than ever, necessary for the detection of criminals. It seems then, that in executing a task so complicated and multifarious, a delegation of subordinate _Responsible Management_ to a _Central Board of Police_ should be resorted to: as the only means of giving strength, vigour, and energy to a System, heretofore only partially useful; and which, in its present disjointed state, is incapable of extending that Protection and Security, which has been shewn in the course of this Work, to be so much wanted, and so indispensably necessary.
To understand the Police of the Metropolis to that extent which is necessary to direct and superintend its general operations, it must be acted upon _practically_; and those who undertake the _superintendence_ and _management_ alluded to, must be men _able_, _intelligent_, _prudent_, and _indefatigable_: devoting their whole attention to this object alone. Clerks might be continually employed with great advantage in entering and posting up under the proper heads, such new information as should be obtained from day to day; and hours should be appointed for receiving such intelligence from all proper and well-informed persons, who might choose to offer the same; so far as such information related to Public wrongs, and offences against the peace, safety, and well-being of Society.
Under such a System, with a proper power of remunerating Officers and others, scarcely a _Robbery_, _Burglary_, _Larceny_, or _fraudulent Transaction_, could be committed, where the perpetrators would not be very speedily detected and brought to justice; for then the Magistrates, in their respective districts, would be enabled to act with confidence, vigour, and energy, in the discovery and apprehension of offenders;--and the effect would be to excite a general terror in the minds of every cla.s.s of delinquents; which could not fail to operate strongly as a means of preventing crimes, and improving the morals and the happiness of the lower orders of the People.
In addition to this these responsible Commissioners of Police might, with great propriety, and with no little public utility, have committed to them the superintendence of _all Receipts and Disburs.e.m.e.nts of the accounts_, and of _all monies applicable to objects of Police_: these they should lay annually before Parliament, if required, accompanied by a General Report; that the Legislature, as well as the Public at large, might see in what manner the funds had been applied; and what progress had been made in the prevention of crimes, and in restoring among the Labouring People that sense of morality, which never, perhaps, was at a lower ebb than at present.
The most enlightened Foreigners who have visited this Metropolis, and contemplated the nature and organization of our Police System, join in one general remark upon it; viz.--”_That we have some shadow of Police, for apprehending Delinquents, after crimes are actually committed; but none for the purpose of preventing them_.”--This certainly is, in one sense, literally true;--and from this source, combined with the imperfection of the Criminal Code, have arisen all those enormities and inconveniences already so amply detailed.
Attached to the Laws and Government of his country, even to a degree of enthusiasm, the Author of this Work will not be too p.r.o.ne to seek for greater perfection in other nations: or to quote them as examples to be imitated in the Metropolis of the British Empire; and still less if such examples should tend, in the slightest degree, to abridge that freedom which is the birth-right of every Briton. But as all true liberty depends on those fences which are established in every Country, for the protection of the Persons and Property of the People, against every attack whatsoever: and as prejudices ought to be banished from the mind in all discussions tending to promote the General Weal, we ought not to be ashamed of borrowing good Systems from other Nations; wherever such can be adopted, consistent with the Const.i.tution of the Country, and the Liberty of the Subject.
In France, under the Old Government, how much soever many parts of the System of that Country were justly reprobated, by all who were acquainted with the blessings of Freedom, yet, in the management and regulation of what was denominated _The Police_, there existed that kind of Establishment, with regard to personal security, and protection against the depredations of the most depraved part of the community, which Englishmen have certainly never enjoyed; who, on the contrary, have suffered manifold inconveniences from an idea, (surely a very erroneous one,) ”that we must endure these public wrongs, and expose our property and lives to the attack of murderers, robbers, and highwaymen, as the price of _Liberty_.”
When difficulties are felt, it is our duty to look at them dispa.s.sionately; to face them with fort.i.tude, and to discuss them with intelligence--divested of all prejudices generated merely by habit and education. By pursuing this mode of investigation, it will be discovered that in other Governments there may be some Establishments worthy of imitation; and which, perhaps, might in part be adopted, not only in perfect consistency with the Freedom of the Subject; but with the advantage of extending to the ma.s.s of the People, who are not in a course of delinquency, more real liberty than they at present enjoy.--
At the commencement of the troubles in France, it is a curious fact, that the Lieutenant-General of the National Police, as well as that of the Metropolis, had upon his Registers the names of not less than twenty thousand suspected and depraved characters, whose pursuits were known to be of a criminal nature; yet, by making this part of Police the immediate object of the close and uniform attention of one branch of the Executive Government, Crimes were much less frequent than in England; and the security extended to the Public, with regard to the protection of Life and Property against lawless depredation, was infinitely greater.--To elucidate this a.s.sertion, and to shew to what a wonderful height the System had advanced, the Reader is referred to the following Anecdotes; which were mentioned to the Author by a Foreign Minister of great intelligence and information, who resided some years at the Court of France.
”A Merchant of high respectability in Bourdeaux had occasion to visit the Metropolis upon commercial business, carrying with him bills and money to a very large amount.
”On his arrival at the gates of Paris, a genteel looking man opened the door of his carriage, and addressed him to this effect:--_Sir, I have been waiting for you some time; according to my notes, you were to arrive at this hour; and your person, your carriage, and your portmanteau, exactly answering the description I hold in my hand, you will permit me to have the honour of conducting you to Monsieur De Sartine._
”The Gentleman, astonished and alarmed at this interruption, and still more so at hearing the name of the Lieutenant of the Police mentioned, demanded to know what _Monsieur De Sartine_ wanted with him; adding, at the same time, that he never had committed any offence against the Laws, and that he could have no right to interrupt or detain him.
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