RECAPITULATION.
| Ships and Vessels. | Tonnage. | |
| Foreign and Coasting Trade as stated in the foregoing [Table] | 13,268 | 1,773,326 |
| Value of Merchandize imported | £.30,957,421 | 8 | 2 |
| Value of Merchandize exported | 29,640,568 | 4 | 6 |
| Total imported and exported | 60,597,989 | 12 | 8 |
| To which add the Local Trade within the limits of the Port, in the Upper and Lower Thames, and the River Lea | 235,000 | 0 | 0 |
| With a view to give the mind of the Reader a competent idea of the whole of the property upon the River Thames, which is exposed to hazard, the following estimate is added, viz.— | |||
| 1. Value of the Hull, Tackle, Apparel and Stores of 2144 British, and Coasting vessels, trading to the port of London, without including, as above, the repeated voyages | 8,825,000 | 0 | 0 |
| 2. Value of the Hull, Tackle, and Stores of 3507 Lighters, Barges, Punts, Hoys, Sloops, &c. employed in the Trade of the Thames, River Lea, &c. | 350,000 | 0 | 0 |
| 3. Value of 3349 Wherries, Bumboats, and Police Boats employed on the River, &c. | 25,000 | 0 | 0 |
| 70,032,989 | 12 | 8 | |
| 4. Value of Goods, including Coals, exposed in Craft and upon the Quays, to the risque of pillage on an average each day in the year; (Exclusive of the Public Arsenals, Ships of War, Gunboats, Transports, and Hoys, for conveying Navy, Victualing, and Ordnance Stores, nearly equal to five Millions more) | 235,000 | 0 | 0 |
| General Total | 70,267,989 | 12 | 8 |
Let the mind only contemplate this proud view of the Commerce of a Single River, unparalleled in point of extent and magnitude in the whole world; where 13,444 ships and vessels discharge and receive in the course of a year above three Millions of Packages, many of which contain very valuable articles of merchandize, greatly exposed to depredations, not only from the criminal habits of many of the aquatic labourers and others who are employed, but from the temptations to plunder, arising from the confusion unavoidable in a crowded port, and the facilities afforded in the disposal of stolen property.—It will then be easily conceived, that the plunder must have been excessive, especially where from its analogy to smuggling, at least in the conceptions of those who were implicated; and from its gradual increase, the culprits seldom were restrained by a sense of the moral turpitude of the offence; and where for want of a Marine Police applicable to the object, no means existed whereby offenders could be detected on the River.[54]
The fact is, that the system of River depredations grew, and ramified as the Commerce of the Port of London advanced, until at length it assumed the different forms, and was conducted by the various classes of delinquents, whose nefarious practices are now to be explained under their respective heads.
1st. River Pirates.—This class was generally composed of the most desperate and depraved characters, who followed aquatic pursuits. Their attention was principally directed to ships, vessels, and craft in the night, which appeared to be unprotected; and well authenticated instances of their audacity are recounted, which strongly prove the necessity of a vigorous and energetic Police. Among many other nefarious exploits performed by these miscreants, the following may suffice to shew to what extent their daring and impudent conduct carried them.
An American vessel lying at East-lane Tier, was boarded in the night, while the Captain and crew were asleep, by a gang of River Pirates, who actually weighed the ship's anchor, and hoisted it into their boat with a complete new cable, with which they got clear off.—The Captain hearing a noise, came upon deck at the moment the villains had secured their booty, with which they actually rowed away in his presence, impudently telling him, they had taken away his anchor and cable, and bidding him good morning. Their resources afforded them means of immediate concealment. No Police then existed upon the River, and his property was never recovered.
A similar instance of atrocity occurred about the same time, where the bower anchor of a vessel from Guernsey was weighed, and, with the cable, plundered and carried off in the same manner.
Although only these two instances of extraordinary audacity are specified, others equally bold and daring could be adduced if the limits of this Work would admit of it. When vessels first arrive in the river, particularly those from the West Indies, they are generally very much lumbered. Ships in this situation were considered as the harvest of the River Pirates, with whom it was a general practice to cut away bags of Cotton, Cordage, Spars, Oars, and other articles from the quarter of the vessels, and to get clear off, even in the day time as well as in the night. Before a Police existed upon the River all classes of aquatic labourers having been themselves more or less implicated in the same species of criminality, generally connived at the delinquency of each other, and hence it followed, that few or none were detected while afloat and the evil became so extensive.
It was frequently the practice of these River Pirates to go armed, and in sufficient force to resist, and even to act offensively if they met with opposition.—Their depredations were extensive among craft wherever valuable goods were to be found; but they diminished in number after the commencement of the war; and now since the establishment of the Marine Police they have almost totally disappeared.
On the return of peace, however, if a system of watchful energy is not maintained, these miscreants must be expected (as on former occasions on the termination of wars) to renew their iniquitous depredations in great force, as numbers of depraved characters may then be expected to be discharged from the Army and Navy.
2d. Night Plunderers.—These were composed chiefly of the most depraved class of watermen, who associated together in gangs of four or five in number, for the purpose of committing depredations on the cargoes of lighters and other craft employed in conveying goods to the quays and wharfs. Their practice was to associate themselves with one or more of the watchmen who were employed to guard these lighters while cargoes were on board, and by the connivance of these faithless guardians of the night, to convey away in lug boats every portable article of merchandize, to which, through this medium, they often had too easy access.
These corrupt watchmen did not always permit the lighters under their own charge to be pillaged.—Their general practice was, to point out to the leader of the gang those lighters that were without any guard, and lay near their own, and which, on this account, might be easily plundered. An hour was fixed on for effecting the object in view. The Receiver (generally a man of some property) was applied to, to be in readiness at a certain hour before day-light to warehouse the goods. A lug boat was seized on for the purpose. The articles were removed into it out of the lighter, and conveyed to a landing-place nearest the warehouse of deposit. The watchmen in the streets leading to this warehouse were bribed to connive at the villainy, often under pretence that it was a smuggling transaction, and thus the object was effected.
In this precise manner was a quantity of ashes and hemp conveyed in 1798, to the house of an opulent Receiver. Several other cargoes of hemp, obtained in the same manner, were conveyed up the river, and afterwards carted in the day-time to the repositories of the purchaser, till by the vigilance of the Police Boats, a detection took place, and the whole scene of mischief was laid open.
This species of depredation went to a great extent, and when it was considered that the very men who Were appointed to guard property in this situation were themselves associates in the criminality, and participated in the profit arising from the booty; and that matters were so arranged as to secure the connivance of all those who were appointed to situations with a view to detect and apprehend delinquents; it ceases to be a matter of wonder, that the plunder in this particular line was excessive.
In many instances where goods could not be plundered through the connivance of watchmen, it was no uncommon thing to cut lighters adrift, and to follow them to a situation calculated to elude discovery where the pillage commenced. In this manner have whole lighter loads even of coals been discharged at obscure landing places upon the river, and carted away during the night.
Even the article of Tallow from Russia, which, from the unwieldiness of the packages, appears little liable to be an object of plunder, has not escaped the notice of these offenders: large quantities have been stolen, and an instance has been stated to the Author, where a lighter loaded with this article was cut from a ship in the Pool, and found next morning with six large casks of tallow stolen, and two more broken open, and the chief part plundered and carried away. In short, while the river remained unprotected nothing escaped these marauders.
3d. Light-Horsemen, or Nightly Plunderers of West India ships.—This class of depredators for a long period of time had carried on their nefarious practices with impunity, and to an extent in point of value, that almost exceeds credibility; by which the West India planters and merchants sustained very serious and extensive losses.
The practice seems to have originated in a connection which was formed between the Mates of West India ships[55] and the criminal Receivers, residing near the river, who were accustomed to assail them under the pretence of purchasing what is called sweepings, or in other words, the spillings or drainings of sugars, which remained in the hold and between the decks after the cargo was discharged. These sweepings were claimed as a perquisite by a certain proportion of the Mates, contrary to the repeated and express rules established by the Committee of Merchants, who early saw the evils to which such indulgences would lead, and in vain attempted to prevent it. The connivance, however, of the Revenue officers became necessary to get these sweepings on shore, and the quantity of spillings were gradually increased year after year by fraudulent means, for the purpose of satisfying the rapacity of all whose assistance and collusion was found necessary to obtain the object in view.
The connection thus formed, and the necessary facilities obtained, from the sale of sweepings, recourse was at length had to the disposal of as much of the cargo as could be obtained by a licence to nightly plunderers, composed of Receivers, Coopers, Watermen, and Aquatic Labourers, who having made a previous agreement with the Mate and Revenue Officers, were permitted, on paying from thirty to fifty guineas, to come on board in the night,—to open as many hogsheads of sugar as were accessible,—and to plunder without controul. For this purpose, a certain number of bags dyed black, and which went under the appellation of Black Strap, were provided.—The Receivers, Coopers, Watermen, and Lumpers, went on board at the appointed time, for all these classes were necessary. The hogsheads of sugar and packages of coffee, &c. were opened; the black bags were filled with the utmost expedition and carried to the Receivers, and again returned to be refilled until daylight, or the approach of it, stopped the pillage for a few hours. On the succeeding night the depredations were again renewed; and thus, on many occasions, from fifteen to twenty hogsheads of sugar and a large quantity of coffee, and also in some instances rum (which was removed by means of a small pump called a Jigger, and filled into bladders with nozzels,) were plundered in a single ship, in addition to the excessive depredations which were committed in the same ships by the Lumpers or labourers who were employed during the day in the discharge of the cargo.—Instances have been adduced, and judicially proved, of various specific ships having been plundered in an excessive degree in this manner; and it has been estimated upon credible authority, that previous to the establishment of the Marine Police, above one-fifth of the whole fleet suffered by nightly plunder.—The ships subject to this species of depredation were generally known from the characters of the Mates or Revenue Officers who were on board, and were denominated Game Ships, where the aquatic labourers, called Lumpers, would on every occasion agree to work without wages, and even solicit their employers to be preferred on these terms, trusting to a general licence to plunder for their remuneration.
This nefarious traffic had long been reduced to a regular system. The mode of negociation necessary to obtain all the requisite advantages for carrying into execution these iniquitous designs, was not only perfectly understood, but in most cases, where new Officers were to be practised upon, a plan of seduction was resorted to which seldom failed to succeed, when one or more of the old practitioners in this species of criminality happened to be stationed in the ship.—In this particular line of aquatic depredations, (which certainly was the most mischievous,) scenes of iniquity have been developed, which, from their extent and magnitude, could not have been credited had they stood on any other foundation than that of regular judicial proofs.
4th.—Heavy Horsemen, otherwise denominated Lumpers of the most criminal class, who generally selected ships where plunder was most accessible, either from the criminal connivance of the Mates and Revenue Officers, in permitting nightly plunder, or from the carelessness or inattention of these Officers.
This class, many of whom occasionally assisted in the depredations committed during the night, were exceedingly audacious and depraved. They generally went on board of West India ships, furnished with habiliments made on purpose to conceal sugar, coffee, cocoa, pimento, ginger, and other articles, which they conveyed on shore in great quantities, by means of an under waistcoat, containing pockets all round, denominated a Jemie; and also by providing long bags, pouches, and socks, which were tied to their legs and thighs under their trowsers.
It is a well-established fact, which does not admit even of the shadow of a doubt, that these miscreants, during the discharge of what they called a Game Ship, have been accustomed to divide from three to four guineas a-piece every night from the produce of their plunder, independent of the hush-money paid to Officers and others, for conniving at their nefarious practices.
Long habituated to this species of depredation, they became at length so audacious, that it was found extremely difficult to controul them where a disposition existed to protect the cargo from pillage, and where no seduction had taken place.—And indeed, so adroit had this class of Lumpers become, that no ship escaped plunder in a certain degree, wherever they were employed, in spite of the greatest vigilance and attention on the part of many of the shipmasters.
5th. Game Watermen, so denominated from the circumstance of their having been known to hang upon West India ships under discharge for the whole of the day, in readiness to receive and instantly convey on shore bags of sugar, coffee and other articles, pillaged by the Lumpers and others in the progress of the delivery of the cargo, by which they acquired a considerable booty; as they generally on such occasions were employed to dispose of the stolen articles, under pretence of their being a part of the private adventures of the crew, for which service they usually pocketed one moiety of the price obtained.—It was by such assistance that Mates, Boatswains, Carpenters, Seamen, and Ship Boys, have been seduced, and even taught to become plunderers and thieves, who would otherwise have remained honest and faithful to the trust reposed in them. Many of the watermen of this class were accustomed to live in a style of expence by no means warranted, from the fair earnings of honest industry in the line of their profession.—An instance has been known of an apprentice lad in this line having kept both a mistress and a riding horse out of the profits of his delinquency.
6th. Game Lightermen.—This class, which is composed of the working, or Journeymen Lightermen, who navigate the craft which convey West India produce and other merchandize from the ships to the quays, are, with some exceptions, extremely loose in their morals, and are ever ready to forward depredations by the purchase or concealment of articles of considerable value, until an opportunity offers of conveying the property on shore. Many of these Lightermen, previous to the establishment of the Marine Police, were in the constant habit of concealing in the lockers of their lighters, sugar, coffee, pimento, ginger, &c. which they received from Mates, and other persons on board of West India ships.—These lockers are generally secured by a padlock; they are calculated to hold and conceal considerable quantities of goods, whether stolen or smuggled, which were seldom taken out until after the discharge of the lighter, unless in certain instances where skiffs attended them.—When completely unladen, the practice has been to remove to the road where empty craft usually lies a-breast of the Custom-house quay, and then carry away the stolen or smuggled articles—and it has not seldom happened that many of these Lightermen have, under pretence of watching their own lighters while laden at the quays, or in connivance with the Watchmen selected by themselves, actually plundered the goods under their charge to a very considerable amount, without detection.
Nor does it appear that the nefarious practices of these Lightermen have been confined to West Indian produce alone. Their criminal designs were directed to almost every species of merchandize placed under their charge; and the tricks and devices to which they were accustomed to resort, clearly evinced that their plans for obtaining pillage had long been systematized, and that they seldom permitted any opportunity whereby they could profit by making free with property under their charge to escape their attention. As a proof that this assertion is well grounded, the following authenticated case, among others which could be detailed, is stated as an instance of the extreme rapacity of this class of men.—A Canada merchant, who had been accustomed to ship quantities of oil annually to the London market, finding (as indeed almost every merchant experiences) a constant and uniform deficiency in the quantity landed, greatly exceeding what could arise from common leakage, which his correspondents were quite unable to explain; having occasion to visit London, was resolved to see his cargo landed with his own eyes; so as, if possible, to develope a mystery heretofore inexplicable, and by which he had regularly lost a considerable sum for several years. Determined therefore to look sharp after his property, he was in attendance at the wharf in anxious expectation of a lighter which had been laden with his oil on the preceding day; and which, for reasons that he could not comprehend, did not get up for many hours after the usual time.
On her arrival at the wharf, the proprietor was confounded to find the whole of his casks stowed in the lighter with their bungs downwards. Being convinced that this was the effect of design, he began now to discover one of the causes at least, of the great losses he had sustained; he therefore attended the discharge of the lighter until the whole of the casks were removed, when he perceived a great quantity of oil leaked out, and in the hold of the vessel, which the Lightermen had the effrontery to insist was their perquisite. The proprietor ordered casks to be brought, and filled no less than nine of them with the oil that had thus leaked out. He then ordered the ceiling of the lighter to be pulled up, and found between her timbers as much as filled five casks more; thus recovering from a single lighter-load of his property, no less than fourteen casks of oil, that, but for his attendance, would have been appropriated to the use of the Lightermen; who, after attempting to rob him of so valuable a property, complained very bitterly of his ill usage in taking it from them.
7th. Mud-Larks, so called from their being accustomed to prowl about, at low water, under the quarters, of West India ships; (or at least that class which were denominated Game, these being mostly the objects of pillage;) under pretence of grubbing in the mud for old ropes, iron, and coals, &c. but whose chief object, when in such situations, was to receive and conceal small bags of sugar, coffee, pimento, ginger, and other articles, and sometimes bladders containing rum, which they conveyed to such houses as they were directed, and for which services they generally received a share of the booty.—These auxiliaries in this species of pillage were considered as the lowest cast of thieves; but from a general knowledge of the Receivers in the vicinity, they frequently afforded considerable assistance to the Lumpers, Coopers and others, who collected plunder in the progress of the ships' delivery.
8th. Revenue Officers.—Notwithstanding the laudable severity of the Commissioners of his Majesty's Customs and Excise, in making examples of their inferior servants by immediate dismission, on proof made of any offence, or even neglect of duty; a certain class of these officers, who are denominated Game, have found means to promote pillage to a very extensive degree, not only in West India ships, but also in ships from the East Indies, and in every ship and vessel arriving and departing from the River Thames, of which it is to be lamented, that too many proofs have been adduced. This class of officers generally make a point of at least having the appearance of being punctual and regular in their attendance upon their duty, and by never being found absent by their superior officers obtain preferences, where such can be given, with respect to those particular ships which afford the best harvest, either from being under the charge of Mates or others, with whom they have had criminal transactions in former voyages, or from the cargo being of a nature calculated to afford a resource for plunder. They are also generally acquainted with the Copemen or Receivers, with whom and the other officers, after seducing the Mate, (if not already seduced) they negociate for the purchase of whatever can be plundered.
In those seasons of the year, when the crouded state of the port renders it necessary to have recourse to extra and Glut Officers, the general distress of this class of men, and the expectations most of them have formed of advantages by being placed on board ships of a certain description, render it an easy matter to seduce them; and by such means had every obstruction been removed to the perpetration of these excessive robberies, in all their ramifications, which had so long afflicted the port of London.[56]
9th. Scuffle-Hunters—so denominated probably from their resorting in numbers to the quays and wharfs where goods are discharging, under pretence of finding employment as labourers upon the landing places and in the warehouses, and from the circumstance, of disputes and scuffles arising about who should secure most plunder from broken packages. This class of men, who may fairly be considered as the very scum of society, frequently prowl about with long aprons, not so much with a view to obtain employment, as for the purpose of availing themselves of the confusion which the crowded state of the quays often exhibits, and the opportunity of obtaining plunder; in which object they have too frequently been successful, particularly when admitted into the warehouses as labourers, where they have found means to pilfer and carry away considerable quantities of sugar and other articles, in which they were not a little countenanced, by similar offences committed by journeymen coopers and others, who, under the colour of sanctioned perquisites, abstract considerable quantities of sugar, thereby subjecting the proprietors to an accumulated loss: for, in addition to the first cost or price of the article, the duties which have been paid form no inconsiderable part of the ultimate value. It is only necessary to resort to the Journals of the House of Commons, and the Appendix to the Report of the Dock Committee in 1796, in order to be satisfied, that the plunder in the warehouses has been excessive. And if credit is to be given to the evidence then brought forward, and also to the affidavits of persons, who have worked for many years in the sugar warehouses, the loss sustained on an importation of 140,000[57] casks of sugar has not fallen much short of £.100,000 a year.[58]
10th. Copemen or Receivers of Stolen Commercial Property.—This mischievous class of men may be considered as the chief movers and supporters of the extensive scene of iniquity which has been developed and explained in the preceding pages of this Chapter. They were heretofore extremely numerous, and divided into various classes.[59] Those denominated Copemen formed the junto of wholesale dealers, who were accustomed to visit ships on their arrival, for the purpose of entering into contract with such Revenue Officers or Mates as they had formerly known or dealt with, and such others as they could by means of friendly officers seduce to their views.
Their negociations were carried on in a language and in terms peculiar to themselves; and commenced by settling the price of
| Sand | by which, in their cant language, was meant | Sugar. |
| Beans | or | Coffee. |
| Pease | — | Pimento or Pepper. |
| Vinegar | — | Rum and other Liquors. |
| Malt | — | Tea. |
It was their custom to afford assistance wherever such articles were to be procured by providing Black Straps, (i.e., the long black bags already mentioned) to contain sugar, and calculated to stow easily in the bottom of boats, without being discovered on account of the colour. They also procured bladders with wooden nozels for the purpose of containing rum, brandy, geneva, and other liquors, and furnished boats to convey the plunder from the ships during the night.
Some of these Receivers had acquired considerable sums of money by their nefarious traffic, and were able to tempt and seduce those who would permit them to plunder the cargo, by administering to their wants by considerable advances of money which, however, rarely amounted to a moiety of the value of the goods obtained, and frequently not 1-4th part, particularly in the article of Coffee.
Other classes of Receivers purchased from the Lumpers, Coopers, &c. after the property was landed, and being generally engaged in business as small grocers or keepers of chandlers' shops, and old iron and junk warehouses, they were accustomed to protect it in its transit, from one criminal dealer to another, by means of false bills of parcels.
It would fill a volume to recount the various ramifications of this nefarious traffic, and the devices used to defeat Justice and elude the punishment of the Law.[60]
It extended to almost every article imported into, and exported from, the port of London. But the dealings in stolen West India produce were by far the most extensive; at the same time it appears from recent investigation, that the East India Company and the Russian and American Merchants, as well as the Importers of Timber, Ashes, Furs, Skins, Oil, Provisions and Corn, were also considerable sufferers. The Coal Merchants have likewise sustained losses to a great amount annually, while every species of goods imported have been more or less subject to depredations.
Nor has the Export Trade on the River Thames been in any respect secured against the rapacity of this phalanx of plunderers. Many well-authenticated cases have recently been developed, which prove that Hamburgh vessels outward bound, have been plundered to a considerable amount,[61] particularly those which were laden with sugar, coffee, and other West India produce. Outward-bound ships to every part of the world have also been more or less objects of plunder, to the numerous herds of delinquents who were employed upon the River, aided by their associates in iniquity, the Receivers.
To enter into particulars, or to detail specific instances, would far exceed the limits prescribed for this branch of the general catalogue of delinquency exhibited in this Work. Suffice it to say, that the most satisfactory evidence can be adduced, that the system of depredation which had so long prevailed, and which had advanced with the growing Commerce of the Port, had pervaded every species of Merchandize laden or discharged, as well as the Tackle, Apparel and Stores of almost every ship and vessel arriving in, and departing from, the River Thames.
Nor can it be a matter of wonder, that such pervading mischiefs should have prevailed when it is known, that above 5000 individuals, employed in various stationary situations upon the River, have, with a very few exceptions, been nursed from early life in acts of delinquency of this nature.
In a group so extensive there are unquestionably many different shades of turpitude; but certain it is, that long habit, and general example, had banished from the minds of the mass of the culprits implicated in these offences, that sense of the criminality of the action, which attaches to every other species of theft.
Such was the situation of things in the Port of London, in the month of July 1798, when the Marine Police Institution, a wise and salutary measure of Government, arose from the meritorious exertions of the West India Merchants.
The object of this Establishment was to counteract these mischievous proceedings, and by salutary arrangements in the Science of Police to prevent in future a repetition of those crimes which had so long contaminated the morals of the people, and operated as an evil of no small weight and magnitude on the Trade of the River Thames.
How far this System, planned and adapted to the exigencies of the case, and carried into effort by the Author of these pages, assisted by a very able and indefatigable Magistrate, and by many zealous and active Officers, has been productive of the benefits which were in contemplation, must be determined by an accurate examination of the state of delinquency, among the aquatic labourers and others, employed at present in ships and vessels in the River Thames; compared with what existed previous to this Establishment, as detailed in the preceding pages of this Chapter.
Although much yet remains to be done to prevent the renewal of those criminal proceedings, which have by great exertions been happily in many instances suppressed.—Although the Marine Police[62] has been unquestionably crippled by the want of those apposite Legislative Regulations, upon which its energy and utility, as a permanent Establishment, must, in a great measure depend, yet the proofs of the advantages which have resulted from it, not only to the West India Trade[63] (for the protection of which it was originally instituted) but also to the whole Commerce and Navigation of the Port of London, are so decided and irrefragable, that specific details are unnecessary, especially since Deputations of the most respectable Merchants from the whole Commercial Body, sensible of the benefits derived from the system have solicited the sanction of Government, for the purpose of passing a Bill to extend the design, so as to afford the same protection to the general Trade of the Port, which has been experienced by the West India Planters and Merchants;[64] and requesting to be permitted to defray the expence by an annual assessment upon the Trade.
It may only be necessary in this place to state, that under all the disadvantages and difficulties attending the execution of this design, it may truly be said to have worked wonders in reforming the shocking abuses which prevailed.—The River Pirates do not now exist in any shape.—The Nightly Plunderers, denominated Light Horsemen, have not dared in a single instance to pursue their criminal designs.—The Working Lumpers, denominated Heavy Horse, are no longer to be found loaded with Plunder.—Watermen are not now as formerly to be recognized in clusters hanging upon the bows and quarters of West India ships under discharge to receive plunder.—Lightermen, finding nothing to be procured by attending their craft, are accustomed to desert them until the period when they are completely laden.—Journeymen Coopers do not wilfully demolish casks and packages as heretofore, since no advantage is to be reaped from the spillings of sugar, coffee, or other articles.—The Mud-Larks find it no longer an object to prowl about ships at low water while under discharge, since the resource for that species of iniquitous employment, which they were accustomed to solicit, is no longer in existence.—The criminal class of Revenue Officers, who had long profited (in many instances to an enormous extent) by the nefarious practices which prevailed, have not been able to suppress their rage against the New Police, by the vigilance of which they feel themselves deprived of the means of profiting by the system of plunder, which they had so perfectly organized, and which, in collusion with the Revenue Watermen, they were so well able to cover by availing themselves of their official situations, on many occasions, in protecting to the houses of the Receivers articles which were both stolen and smuggled.
By means of a Police Guard upon the Quays, which forms a collateral branch of the General System, the Scuffle-hunters and Long-apron-men, who were accustomed to prowl about for the purpose of pillage, have in a great measure deserted the quays and landing-places; while the Copemen and Receivers, finding from several examples which have been made, that their former infamous pursuits cannot be continued without the most imminent hazard, have, in many instances, declined business, while not a few of these mischievous members of society have quitted their former residences, and disappeared.
Such has been the effect of the remedy which has been applied towards the core of the enormous evil of River Plunder.
It is not, however, to be understood that this System has entirely eradicated the pillage which prevailed, a circumstance not to be expected, since the design was partial and limited in its nature, and only intended for the protection of West India property, although very extensive benefits have unquestionably arisen from its collateral influence, and its energy, in terrifying thieves of every description upon the River, and diminishing their depredations, which, but for the dread of detection by means of the Police Boats in the night, would unquestionably have been committed.
But while it is readily admitted that amidst the opposite attractions of pleasure and pain, it is impossible to reduce the tumultuous activity of such a phalanx of individuals to absolute order and purity, who have been in many instances reared up in habits of delinquency. And while it is a vain hope to expect that crimes can be totally annihilated, where temptations assail the idle and the dissolute, and religion and morality, or even in many instances, the fear of punishment, does not operate as a restraint;—yet is it, notwithstanding, clear to demonstration, from the effects produced by the limited experiment which has been made, that the General Police for the River Thames which is in contemplation, aided by the apposite Legislative regulations which experience has suggested to be necessary,[65] must in its operation, under the guidance of an able and active Magistracy, so far diminish and keep down the depredations which were committed, as to prove scarce a drop in the bucket, when compared to the extensive and enormous evils which it has been the object of the promoters of this new System to suppress.
Although in this arduous pursuit, the Author of this work has experienced infinite difficulties and discouragements, yet is he rewarded by the consciousness that he was engaged in an undertaking in which the best interests of Society were involved:—that independent of the pecuniary benefits derived by the State, and the Proprietors of Commercial Property (which already have unquestionably been very extensive,) he has been instrumental in bringing forward a great preventive System, and by administering the Laws in conjunction with a very zealous, able, and humane Magistrate,[66] in a manner rather calculated to restrain than to punish,[67] a multitude of individuals, together with a numerous offspring, are likely to be rendered useful members of the Body Politic, instead of nuisances in Society.—The advantages thus gained (although his labours have been in other respects gratuitous,) will abundantly compensate the dangers, the toils, and the anxieties which have been experienced. In the accomplishment of this object, both the interests of humanity and morality, have been in no small degree promoted: unquestionably, there cannot be a greater act of benevolence to mankind, in a course of criminal delinquency, than that which tends to civilize their manners;—to teach them obedience to the Laws;—to screen themselves and their families from the evils and distress attendant on punishment, by preventing the commission of crimes; and to lead them into the paths of honest industry, as the only means of securing that real comfort and happiness which a life of criminality, however productive of occasional supplies of money, can never bestow.—If it shall be considered (as it certainly is) a glorious atchievement to subdue a powerful Army or Navy, and thereby secure the tranquillity of a State—is not the triumph in some degree analogous, where a numerous army of delinquents, carrying on a species of warfare no less noxious, if not equally hostile, shall not only be subdued by a mild and systematic direction of the powers of the Law; but that the conquered enemy shall be converted into an useful friend, adding strength instead of weakness to the Government of the country?
Such has been, at least, the result of the partial operations of the Marine Police; and such will unquestionably be the issue of the general measures which have been planned and arranged, when the Key-stone shall be finally laid to the fabric, by passing into a Law the Bill which has been prepared for the extension of this design to the protection of the whole trade of the port of London.[68]
CHAP. IX.
Reflections on the Causes of the Existence and Continuance of the Frauds, Embezzlements, Peculation, and Plunder in his Majesty's Dock-Yards and other Public Repositories, and in the Naval Department in general.—Reasons why the Evil has not been suppressed.—A summary View of the Means employed in committing Offences of this Nature.—Reasons assigned why the Defalcation of this Species of Property must be extensive.—Illustrated by the immense Value, and by an Estimate, and general View, of the Public Property exposed to Hazard.—A summary View of the Laws which relate to Offences on Public Property; proofs adduced of their Deficiency.—Remedies proposed and detailed under the respective Heads of—1st. A Central Board of Police—2d. A Local Police for the Dock-Yards—3d. Legislative Regulations proposed in Aid of the Police System—4th. Regulations respecting the Sale of Old Stores—5th. The Abolition of the Perquisites of Chips—6th. The Abolition of Fees and Perquisites, and liberal Salaries in lieu thereof—7th. An improved Mode of keeping Accounts—8th. An annual Inventory of Stores in Hand—Concluding Observations.
UNDER the pressure of those accumulated wrongs, which constitute the extensive frauds, embezzlements, pillage, and plunder, known and acknowledged to exist in the Dock-Yards and other Public Repositories, it is not easy, at first view, to assign a reason for that apparent supineness, on the part of men of known honour and integrity, who have heretofore presided, and who now preside at the Public Boards, in not using the means necessary to remedy so great an evil.
This may possibly be accounted for, by the extreme difficulty which men, constantly occupied in a laborious business, find in pursuing inquiries, or forming arrangements, out of their particular sphere; more especially when such arrangements require those powers of business, and that species of legal and general information, which do not usually attach to men whose education and habits of life have run in a different channel.
Under such circumstances, it is scarcely to be wondered at, that greater efforts have not been used, (for great efforts are unquestionably necessary,) to correct those abuses, which have long existed; and which have been progressively increasing; by means of which, not only the property of the Public suffers a vast annual diminution by frauds and embezzlements, but the foundation of all morals is sapped; and the most baneful practices extend even to men in the upper and middle ranks of Society, who are too seldom restrained by any correct principle of rectitude in transactions, where the interest of Government only is concerned; either in the supplying, or afterwards in the taking charge of the custody of Public Stores.
When the object in view is to acquire money, the power of example, sanctioned by usage and custom, will reconcile men by degrees, to enormities and frauds which at first could not have been endured.—Acting under this influence, it too often happens that a distinction is made, as regards moral rectitude, in the minds of many individuals, between the property of the Nation, and private property.—While the most scrupulous attention to the rules of honour prevails in the latter case, principles, the most relaxed, are yielded to in the former.
And thus it is, that in such situations, inferior agents also, induced by example, become insensibly reconciled to every species of fraud, embezzlement, and peculation.
It is no inconsiderable source of the evil, that large gratuities are given, under the colour of fees,[69] to those who can assist in promoting the views of the fraudulent, or in guarding them against detection.—What was at first considered as the wages of turpitude, at length assumes the form, and is viewed in the light of a fair perquisite of office.
In this manner abuses multiply, and the ingenuity of man is ever fertile in finding some palliative.—Custom and example sanction the greatest enormities: which at length become fortified by immemorial and progressive usage: it is no wonder, therefore, that the superior Officers find it an Herculean labour to cleanse the Augean stable.
A host of interested individuals opposes them. The task is irksome and ungracious. The research involves in it matter of deep concern, affecting the peace, comfort, and happiness of old servants of the Crown or the Public, and their families; who have not perhaps been sufficiently rewarded for their services; and who, but for such perquisites, could not have acquired property, or even supported themselves with decency.
It is an invidious task to make inquiries, or to impose regulations which may ultimately affect the interest or the character of dependants, who have heretofore, perhaps, been regarded as objects of partiality or affection. Those whose duty it is to superintend the departments, knowing their own purity, are unwilling to believe that the same principle of rectitude does not regulate the conduct of others in inferior situations: and matters, of apparently greater importance, constantly forcing themselves upon their attention, the consideration of such abuses is generally postponed: while those who detect or complain of their existence, seldom meet with much encouragement; unless some specific act of criminality is stated, and then it is referred, as a matter of course, to the proper Law Officers.
These circumstances, however, only prove the necessity of some other and more effectual agency to remove an evil, which (if the assertions of those whose efficient situations give them access to the very best information as to its extent and enormity are correct) is of the greatest magnitude, and calls aloud for immediate attention.
To understand how this is to be accomplished, it will be necessary in the first instance to develope the means which are employed to commit these abuses, frauds, and embezzlements.—Then to take a general view of the property exposed to depredation, and afterwards to examine the nature and effect of the Laws and regulations now in being for the purpose of preventing these evils; and last of all, to suggest remedies.
The abuses, frauds, and embezzlements, are multifarious, and are perpetrated through the medium of a vast variety of agencies, which naturally divide themselves into two distinct branches.
The first relates to frauds committed by the connivance and assistance of Clerks, Store-keepers, and inferior officers in the Dock-yards, and other repositories, and in ships of war and transports; in receiving and delivering Naval, Victualling, and Ordnance stores;—in surveys;—in returns of unserviceable stores;—in what is called solving off stores;—in fraudulent certificates;—in the sale of old stores; and innumerable other devices; by which a number of individuals are enriched at the Public expence; and a system of plunder is supported by fraudulent documents and vouchers of articles which have no existence but upon paper.
The second branch relates to the actual pillage of new and old Cordage, Bolts of Canvas, Sails, Bunting, Twine of all sorts, Fearnought and Kersey, Leather and Hides, old and new Copper, Locks, Hinges and Bolts, Copper Bolts and Nails in immense quantities, Bar-Iron, old Iron, Lead and Solder, Ship's-Plank, Oars, Timber of small sizes, Blocks, Quarterstuff, Candles, Tallow, Oil, Paint, Pitch, Tar, Turpentine, Varnish, Rosin, Beer and Water Casks, Iron Hoops, Biscuit Bags, Beer, Bread, Wine, Brandy, Rum, Oil, Vinegar, Butter, Cheese, Beef, Pork, &c.—All these articles suffer a vast annual diminution, by means of that plunder which has become habitual to a number of the inferior servants of the Crown, who have in their respective situations, access to such stores.[70]
This species of plunder is much encouraged by the difficulty of detection: Vast quantities are constantly provided, and the store-houses are generally full; it happens therefore as a matter of course, that the articles which were recently deposited are issued first; and hence many valuable stores, it is said, have remained untouched and unseen for forty or fifty years, until a number of articles perish or become unserviceable from length of time.—An annual inventory, upon the plan suggested at the close of this Chapter, rendered practicable by more extensive store-houses, would remove this obvious inconvenience.
All stores being delivered under the authority of warrants signed by the Commissioners and proper officers, the clerks, or in their absence the foreman of the warehouses, where the articles stated in the warrants are deposited, deliver the stores; and, if opportunities offer, large additional quantities are said to be frequently sent out, by the connivance of the inferior officers; sometimes stores are even delivered two or three times over, under colour of the same warrant, without discovery.
A similar System prevails with regard to stores sent to the public repositories from dismantled ships of war and transports.
Many vessels in the coasting trade, and even ships of foreign nations, it is said, touch at Portsmouth and Plymouth, merely for the purpose of purchasing cheap stores;—and it is well known, that many dealers in naval stores in the neighbourhood of the Dock-Yards are chiefly supplied in this way.
The plan which prevails at present with regard to the sale of old stores, not only proves a kind of safeguard to these fraudulent dealers; but is also in itself subject to great abuses, from the delivery of larger quantities than are actually included in the public sales, by which the parties concerned are said frequently to pocket considerable sums of money.[71]
The artificers in the Dock-yards, availing themselves of their perquisite of Chips, not only commit great frauds, by often cutting up useful timber, and wasting time in doing so; but also in frequently concealing, within their bundles of chips, copper bolts, and other valuable articles, which are removed by their wives and children, (and, as has appeared in judicial evidence, by boys retained for the purpose) and afterwards sold to itinerant Jews, or to the dealers in old iron and stores, who are always to be found in abundance wherever the Dock-yards are situated.[72]
The Naval, Victualing, and Ordnance Stores pillaged in the Dock-yards and other public Repositories, and also from ships of war, transports, and navy and victualing hoys, in the River Thames, and Medway, must amount to a very large sum annually. The detections, particularly in the victualing hoys and transports, since the establishment of the Marine Police, prove the existence of the evil, and the wide field which it embraces.
The vicinity of the Metropolis;—the assistance afforded by old iron and store shops on the spot;—by carts employed in this trade alone, constantly going and coming from and to the Capital;—by the advantage of an easy and safe conveyance for ponderous and heavy articles, in lighters and other craft passing up and down the River; and the extensive chain of criminal connection, at every town and village on the Thames and Medway, which a course of many years has formed, joined to the ease with which frauds are committed, have combined to render this nefarious traffic a very serious and alarming evil.
Among the multitude of persons concerned in it, some are said to keep men constantly employed in untwisting the cordage, for the purpose of removing the King's mark, or coloured stran, which is introduced into it as a check against fraud; while others (as has been already noticed) are, in like manner, employed in knocking the Broad Arrow out of copper bolts, nails, bar iron, and other articles, on which it is impressed, so as to elude detection.
It is scarcely to be credited, to what an extent the sale of the cordage, sail-cloth, and other Naval articles, including victualing stores, thus plundered, is carried, in supplying coasting vessels and smaller craft upon the River Thames, at a cheap rate.[73]
If the actual value of stores deposited at the different Dock-yards and public Repositories in the course of a year, is to be considered as a rule whereby a judgment may be formed of the extent of the losses sustained by frauds, plunder, and embezzlement, it will be found to be very erroneous, since a large proportion of what forms the great aggregate loss sustained annually by Government, does not arise from the actual stealing of stores, but from frauds committed in fabricating documents both at home and abroad.
Reasons have already been assigned, why many individuals reconcile their minds to devices, whereby they may be suddenly enriched at the Public expence, who would be shocked at the idea of over-reaching an individual. For the purpose, therefore, of estimating truly the probable extent of the evil, a general view must not only be taken of the Naval, Victualing, Ordnance, and other Stores at all times deposited in the Public Arsenals, but also the stores and provisions on board of the numerous ships of war, and transports, constantly consuming and replacing in all quarters of the Globe; and to measure the whole by the great annual expence, which is incurred in this necessary service, The Bulwark of Britain, and the Glory and Pride of the Nation.
Looking at the subject in this point of view, where the ramifications are so extensive, and the opportunities so numerous, whereby in the hurry and confusion of carrying on a most important public service, frauds and embezzlements may be committed with impunity, the question is, Whether measures are not practicable, whereby the public loss, by the rapacity of individuals, may not lie greatly diminished, and what system would be best adapted to the attainment of this object?
To illustrate this proposition it may be necessary to form an estimate, in the first instance, of the stationary and floating property belonging to his Majesty, in the different Public Arsenals and ships of War.—The following statement is hazarded with this particular view, not as an accurate detail of facts; for accuracy to a point under the present circumstances is neither practicable nor absolutely necessary. It is sufficient if it tends to elucidate and explain an important point, on the subject of the frauds and depredations committed on the public stores, which would not be otherwise intelligible or useful to the public, to the extent which the Author contemplates.—
Estimate of Floating Naval, Victualing and Ordnance Stores, in
the different Repositories and Ships of War.
| Naval, Victualing and Ordnance Stores at | Deptford and Red House | £.1,800,000 |
| —— | Woolwich | 150,000 |
| —— | Sheerness | 100,000 |
| —— | Chatham | 200,000 |
| —— | Portsmouth | 1,300,000 |
| —— | Plymouth | 900,000 |
| —— | Ireland, Leith, and other parts | 50,000 |
| —— | in the Arsenals at Halifax, and the East and West Indies | 150,000 |
| —— | Gibraltar, Minorca, &c. | 50,000 |
| —— | in 900 Ships of War and Transports in Commission | 2,300,000 |
| Total | £.7,000,000 |
The annual pecuniary Supplies for the Navy may be estimated at Thirteen Millions a year during war; of which sum about Six Millions may be applicable to the pay of the Officers and Seamen, and Seven Millions to Ships-Stores, Provisions, &c. The last two, namely, the stores and provisions being in a constant state of movement, both at home and abroad, furnish abundant resource for frauds and depredations, which may certainly be greatly diminished, though perhaps impracticable to be eradicated entirely.
The object, therefore, is to devise means whereby this diminution may be accomplished: and in pursuing this important inquiry, it will be necessary to precede it by the following general view of the Laws now in being, which relate to offences committed in the Naval and other Public Departments.
The Acts of the 31st of Elizabeth, (cap. 4.) and the 22d of Charles II. (cap. 5.) made it felony, without Benefit of Clergy, to steal or embezzle any of his Majesty's Military or Naval Stores or Provisions, above the value of Twenty Shillings.
By the 9 and 10 of William III. (cap. 41.) the Receivers of embezzled stores, or such as should have the same in their custody, are subject to a penalty of £.200.
From this period, till the 1st of George the First, the attention of the Legislature does not seem to have been directed to this object; when by the statute, 1st Geo. I. stat. 2. cap. 25, the principal Officers or Commissioners of the Navy were authorized to issue warrants to search for Public Property stolen or embezzled, and to punish the Offenders by fine or imprisonment.
A succeeding Act, (9 Geo. I. cap. 8.) empowered the Judges to mitigate the fine of £.200 imposed on persons having in their possession public stores, and to punish the offenders corporally, by causing them to be publicly whipped, or kept at hard labour for six months in the House of Correction; which certainly was a great improvement.
By the Act 17 Geo. II. c. 40. jurisdiction was given to the Judges of Assize, and the General Quarter Sessions, to try the Offenders, and punish them by a fine not exceeding £.200, imprisonment for three months, and other corporal punishment.
The Laws on this subject were further amended by the 9th of his present Majesty, cap. 35; by which the Treasurer, Comptroller, Surveyor, Clerk of the Acts, or any Commissioner of the Navy, are empowered to act as Justices, in causing Offenders to be apprehended and prosecuted. These powers were given with a view to establish a greater degree of energy in detections; but experience has shewn that the purpose has not been answered.
The last Act which relates to the protection of the Public Stores, was made the 12th year of his present Majesty's reign (cap. 24.) and related solely to burning ships, warehouses, and naval, military, or victualing stores, in any of the dominions of the Crown; which offence is made felony without Benefit of Clergy.
A very superficial view of the above Laws will demonstrate their insufficiency to the object of Prevention. And even if they were complete, the task imposed on the public officers, who are on every occasion to act as Justices, has proved from experience to be a measure ill calculated to attain the object in view, namely, the detection of offenders; otherwise the evil would not have increased.—Other remedies must therefore be applied. It is not, however, by any single act of the Legislature, that the enormous frauds and depredations in the Navy and Victualing Departments of his Majesty's service, which the Commissioners and chief Officers, under whose management they are placed, are so anxious to suppress,[74] can be remedied: This important object must be obtained by a combination of various salutary measures, calculated to afford collateral aid to specific Legislative Regulations, and to secure their effectual execution, by means which are now to be explained under their respective heads.—