CHAP. X.
Receivers of stolen Goods more mischievous than Thieves;—the latter could not exist without the assistance of the former:—the Suppression therefore of Receivers would restore to Society, and to honest Industry, a great number who at present live by crimes.—The increase of Receivers of stolen Goods to be attributed to the imperfection of the Laws, and to the disjointed state of the Police of the Metropolis.—The number of common Receivers does not exceed sixty; of whom not above ten are persons of property able to purchase valuable articles.—Thieves, in many instances, settle with receivers before they commit robberies:—Receivers always benefit more than Thieves:—Their profit immense:—They are divided into two classes.—The immediate Receivers connected with Thieves, and those who keep shops and purchase from Pilferers in the way of trade:—The latter are extremely numerous.—The Laws are insufficient effectually to reach either class.—The existing statutes examined and briefly detailed, namely, the 3d and 4th of William and Mary, cap. 9; the 1st Anne, cap. 9; the 5th of Anne, cap. 31; 4 George I. cap. 11; 29 George II. cap. 30; 30 George II. cap. 24; 2 George III. cap. 28; 10 George III. cap. 48; 21 George III. cap. 69; 22 George III. cap. 58.—Observations on these respective statutes.—Amendments and improvements suggested.—Means proposed to ensure the due execution of these improvements.
HAVING in the preceding Chapters completed the proposed explanation of the various depredations and frauds upon the Public: It remains now, in the order of the plan, to examine and follow up the progress of this property, from the hands of Thieves, Robbers, Cheats, and Swindlers, to that of Receivers, or first Purchasers of Goods stolen or fraudulently obtained.
In contemplating the characters of all these different classes of delinquents, there can be little hesitation in pronouncing the Receivers to be the most mischievous of the whole; inasmuch as without the aid they afford, in purchasing and concealing every species of property stolen or fraudulently obtained, Thieves, Robbers, and Swindlers, as has already been frequently observed, must quit the trade, as unproductive and hazardous in the extreme.
Nothing therefore can be more just than the old observation, "that if there were no Receivers there would be no Thieves."—Deprive a thief of a sale and ready market for his goods, and he is undone.