Chapter I (7)

Value of Merchandize imported L.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]

[Footnote 54: While every thing connected with the present state of Europe, and the whole Commercial world, appears favourable for the accomplishment of the aggrandisement of the port of London, by the establishment of Docks (already in part adopted by the Legislature) and by a general Warehousing System, there is no opinion more erroneous and delusive than that which supposes that arrangements of this kind will supersede the necessity of a Police for the protection of the trade, and for the preservation of the public peace within these extensive repositories.

In what manner are from two to three thousand labourers, who must be frequently employed at the same time within these Docks, (and those too of a class that have been accustomed to plunder, and are not restrained by any sense of the turpitude of the action) to be over-awed and controlled, if no Police shall be conceived necessary?

The risk would be immense to commercial property; and pillage, in spite of the gates, and every precaution which could be taken, would probably be as extensive as it has been from the Warehouses, or from his Majesty's Dock Yards, where the want of an appropriate Police has been the cause of many abuses.

Police as recently exemplified, is quite a new science in political oeconomy, not yet perfectly understood; it operates as a restraint of the most powerful kind upon all delinquents who would be restrained by nothing else. To the system of vigilance which pervades the criminal actions of labourers upon the River, joined to the imminent danger of detection, is to be attributed the general success of the Marine Police, in preventing depredations.

Wherever a proper Police attaches, good order and security will prevail; where it does not, confusion, irregularity, outrages, and crimes must be expected; wherever great bodies of aquatic labourers are collected together, risk of danger from turbulent behaviour, will be greater in proportion to the number of depraved characters, who, from being collected in one spot, may hatch mischief, and carry it into effect much easier in Docks than on the River. A Police only can counteract this; and to the same preventive system will the commerce of the Port be indebted for securing both the Docks and the Pool against Conflagration. In fine, under every circumstance where Property is exposed, a preventive Police must be resorted to, in order to be secure.]

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.

[Footnote 55: It is not here meant to criminate all the Mates of ships in this trade; for a large proportion are known to be men worthy of the trust reposed in them.]

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]

[Footnote 56: In the throng season of the year at least 900 inferior Customhouse officers, and about 300 Excisemen, are stationed on board of ships in the Port of London, besides 82 Customhouse watermen and 36 superior Officers who do duty on the River Thames. The fair allowance of the established Tide Officers may be from 50_l._ to 55_l._ a year. The preferable Officers having 3_s._ 6_d._ a day only when employed, are supposed to receive wages for 2-3ds. of the year; while the extra Officers, who have only 3_s._ a day, are not supposed to be employed above half the year: and the Glutmen not more than two months in the throngest part of the season.

Men in such situations having a trust committed to them of great magnitude and importance, in the protection of a Revenue amounting to more than Seven Millions, and receiving wages inferior to common labourers, with pecuniary pressures upon them, arising from the wants in many instances of large families, assailed on all hands by temptations to connive at evil practices, as they relate both to the Revenue and the Individual--What can be expected from them?--Humanity, policy, and even justice pleads for an increase of salary, as the best means of preserving their morals and increasing the Revenue. Other Regulations through the medium of the Police System might be established, whereby their purity might be secured, and the Revenue eased of a considerable expence, by reducing the number employed at present, often in promoting mischievous instead of useful purposes.]

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 L.100,000 a year.[58]

[Footnote 57: Sugar and Rum imported into the Port of London, from the 25th of March 1798 to the 25th of March 1799:--

Casks, Casks,
Islands. Ships. Sugar. Rum.

Jamaica 151 64,108 17,279
Antigua 14 5,258 715
St. Kitt's 14 6,137 755
Barbadoes 17 7,961 65
Granadoes 18 6,806 443
Mountserat 6 2,742 568
Nevis 4 1,867 418
Dominica 14 4,152 400
St. Vincent 26 10,147 908
Tortola 3 789 109
Sundry Places, }
including captured }
Islands, &c. } 106 32,739 2,271
--- ------- ------
373 142,760 23,931
--- ------- ------]

[Footnote 58: Independent of the excessive pillage by the labourers in the Warehouses, which has been rendered but too evident from the detections of Offenders since the establishment of the Marine Police, the samples alone, which on an average are said to amount to 12_lb._ per hhd. (instead of 1-1/2_lb._ per hhd. in conformity to the Regulations of the West India Merchants, of the 12th of June 1789,) make a net aggregate of 1,470,000 pounds of sugar, which at 10_d._ per pound amounts to 61,250_l._ a year!]

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.

[Footnote 59: See the "Treatise on the Commerce and Police of the River Thames," for a particular account of these classes.]

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]

[Footnote 60: For the purpose of defraying the expence of prosecutions for criminal offences upon the River Thames, and to raise a fund for suborning evidence, and employing counsel for higher crimes, and of paying the penalties under the Act of the 2d Geo. III. cap. 28. commonly called the Bumboat Act; there existed a club composed of _River Plunderers_, and _Lumpers_, _Coopers_, _Watermen_, and _Receivers_, (denominated _Light-Horsemen_, _Heavy-Horsemen_, and _Copes_,) from the funds of which the Law expences and the penalties incurred by members of the fraternity were paid. By these iniquitous means not a few notorious offenders escaped justice, while those who were convicted of penalties for misdemeanors escaped the punishment of imprisonment, and being thus screened from justice the culprits (previous to the establishment of the Marine Police System) returned to their evil practices without the least apprehension of any other inconvenience than the payment of a fine of 40_s._ defrayed by the Club. The New System, however, affording means of detection in the ships where the offences were committed: what were formerly misdemeanors are now treated as larcenies, which has operated most powerfully in breaking up this atrocious confederacy, and in defeating all the nefarious designs of the criminal delinquents of which it was formed, some of whom, although apparently common labourers, resided in handsome houses furnished in a very superior style for the rank in life of the occupiers.

As a proof, among many others, of the enormous extent of the River Plunder, the convictions for misdemeanors under the Act of the 2d Geo. III. cap. 28. from August 1792 to August 1799, exceeded _two thousand two hundred_; of which number about 2000 culprits paid the penalty; partly from their own resources, but chiefly, it is believed, from the funds of the club, amounting in all to about 4000_l._ in the course of seven years.]

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.

[Footnote 61: A Shipmaster in the trade a few months since was compelled to pay 40_l._ for deficient sugars plundered by Lumpers and others, who assisted in lading his vessel, notwithstanding his utmost personal vigilance and attention while the sugars were taking on board. A single Marine Police Officer would have prevented this. The effect of their power in overawing delinquents, from the nature of the system and the discipline peculiar to the institution, is not to be conceived.]

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.

[Footnote 62: For a particular account of this Institution, see the "Treatise on the Commerce and Police of the River Thames," already alluded to.]

[Footnote 63: With respect to the advantages which have resulted in the aggregate, to the West India Planters and Merchants, from this New Institution, it is impossible to form any decided opinion; but estimating the savings, on an average, at 28_lbs._ of sugar per hhd. (which is only one half of what the Committee of West India Merchants, in their Report to a General Meeting in 1798, supposed the plunderage might have been formerly) it appears, upon this data, that the gain to the Planters, Merchants, and the Revenue, on a very reduced estimate as to the actual importation may be thus stated.--

Saving Saving
to the to the
Planters. Revenue. TOTAL.

On 115,000 casks of sugar, at
28_lbs._ per cask L.97,012 L.25,150 L.122,162

15,000 casks of rum, at three
gallons each 9,000 15,000 24,000

Coffee, pimento, and other
articles, suppose 5,000 10,000 15,000
--------- -------- ---------
Totals L.111,012 L.50,150 L.161,162

If credit is to be given to the general and specific proofs of the depredations which took place before the establishment of the Marine Police, and to the numerous documents which demonstrate the saving of property, which has been the effect of this system of prevention, the above estimate will not appear to be over-rated. In an importation amounting to above L.8,000,000 sterling a year, it is not too much to say that 1-1/2 per cent. on this sum may have been saved under a system of such extreme vigilance, where every class of depredators were defeated in their iniquitous designs, and deprived in a great measure of the powers they formerly possessed, of doing mischief. The probability is, that it has amounted to more, though the fact never can be accurately ascertained.]

[Footnote 64: At a meeting of the Committee of the West India Merchants appointed to manage the general concerns of the Trade, held on the 4th of January 1799, It was

"RESOLVED,

"That this Committee are deeply impressed with a high sense
of the singular advantages, which appear to have resulted to
the Commerce of the Port of London in general, but
particularly to the West India Planters and Merchants, in
the protection afforded to their property by the exertions
of _The Marine Police Institution_, as well as by the
General System established for the prevention of pillage and
plunder arising out of the measures for detection pursued by
the Magistrates presiding at the Marine Police Office, by
which, in the opinion of this Committee, great and extensive
benefits have also resulted to his Majesty's Revenue."]

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.

[Footnote 65: For the specific provisions of _the Marine Police Bill_, see the "Treatise on the Commerce Navigation Police of the River Thames."--The object of this Bill is rather to prevent Crimes than to punish; and where punishments on conviction are to be inflicted, they are of a nature which, it is to be hoped, will operate sufficiently as an example to diminish the evil, without the exercise of any great degree of severity.]

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?

[Footnote 66: John Harriott, Esq. the Resident Magistrate.]

[Footnote 67: So powerful was the effect of the preventive System, wherever it was permitted to be applied, that no instance has occurred in the course of more than fifteen months, since the Marine Police was established, of sufficient grounds for a criminal prosecution having taken place by the commission of any Larceny or Felony in ships or craft under the immediate protection of the Institution.]

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]

[Footnote 68: As a proof of the approbation of the whole body of the West India Planters at the General Meeting, not only of the System of the Marine Police, but also of the Bill which has been prepared to extend its influence to the general Trade of the River Thames, the following extracts are inserted:

_Extract from the Minutes of a Meeting of a Committee of the
West India Planters and Merchants--London, June 7, 1799._

"Resolved,

"That this Committee is fully convinced that considerable
advantages have been derived from the institution of the
Marine Police in checking the depredations on West India
produce on board ships in the River Thames; and consequently
approves of the Bill for constituting the said _Marine
Police_, with powers enlarged and more effective, and on a
more extended plan, provided the Act for that purpose be in
the first instance limited to the duration of three years,
and that the whole expence of the Institution does not
exceed Ten Thousand Pounds annually."

_Extract from the Minutes of a General Meeting of the West
India Planters, held by public Advertisement at Wright's
Coffee-house, Soho-square, London, June 13, 1799._

The Right Honourable Lord PENRHYN in the Chair.

"Resolved,

"That this Meeting confirms the Report of its Committee, and
approves of the project of a Bill for the purposes, and
within the limitations stated in that Report.

"Resolved,

"That Lord Penrhyn be requested to present to the Chancellor
of the Exchequer the Report of a Committee of this Meeting,
on the subject of the Marine Police Institution, and the
Resolution of this meeting approving the said Report.

"Resolved,

"That Lord Penrhyn be requested to communicate the thanks of
this Meeting to Mr. Colquhoun for the zeal, ability, and
perseverance with which he has endeavoured to form an
effectual check to the system of depredation which prevailed
on the River Thames."]

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.