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Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 55 Article 18 Issue 1 March

Spring 1964 The etrM opolitan Act of 1829 J. L. Lyman

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Recommended Citation J. L. Lyman, The eM tropolitan Police Act of 1829, 55 J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci. 141 (1964)

This Criminology is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. POLICE SCIENCE

THE ACT OF 1829:

An Analysis of Certain Events Influencing the Passage and Character of the Metropolitan Police Act in J. L. LYMAN

J. L. Lyman, D. . Adm. (Oxon.) is an Assistant Professor, Department of Social Science, Youngstown (Ohio) University. In addition to graduate study in history and political institutions at University, Dr. Lyman spent time as an observer with the Metropolitan Police and various other English police units. In 1958 she lectured before the Ohio Chiefs of Police Association on the Organization and Administration of the Metropolitan Police, and has published articles in several other professional journals.-EDroR.

The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 introduced system had become ineffective. Tradition and the a centralized and unified system of police in concepts of tlhe new industrial capitalism delayed England. The Act constituted a revolution in both the recognition of, and the willingness to deal traditional methods of law enforcement. with law, enforcement needs. The purpose of this paper is to examine certain The eighteenth century witnessed an increase in events which the writer feels were responsible population and urbanization. Revival of trade and for the eventual legislative action that established commerce, progress in medicine, improved agricul- the Metropolitan Police and its development as a tural methods, and the Industrial Revolution were civilian police. The scope of the paper is limited to contributing factors. Parliament was concerned Metropolitan London. The Metropolitan Police of with the maintenance of the Protestant Succession, London became the model for subsequent national and Parliament and people were concerned with police reform. Jacobite threats and foreign wars. Little serious In considering those events during the period attention was paid to law-enforcement in London. 1750-1829 which in the writer's opinion most in- London's and night watchmen were fluenced the introduction and passage of the 1829 insufficient and inefficient. Public safety and the Act, some historic and essential facts must be rec- security of property were dealt with on a makeshift ognized. First, the historic English concept of basis, although there were variations in the effec- liberty was embodied in the accepted theory of tiveness of the City, , and borough watches. community responsibility for keeping the King's By the mid-eighteenth century, the inability of the . It had been customary for freemen to ac- police to deal with growing lawlessness and crime cept, in turn, this responsibility. English justice caused periodic anxiety. and administration were obligations, and priv- The police were often harsh and bullying, many ileges of Crown-appointed, unpaid, Justices of the were unfit, physically or mentally, to perform their Peace who were usually chosen from amongst the duties. As economic opportunities increased, gentry. Their duties included responsibility for householders found it unprofitable to assume their maintaining law and order, and the direction of the turns at keeping the peace. They hired others local parish constables. Secondly, Englishmpn of to do it for them; their choice was decided all classes generally viewed the Continental mon- by the price. The result was that the archy as being based on a police tyranny. Conse- parish's poorest and most unfit were often the quently, any measure suggesting a strengthening parish constables. Many were notorious for bribe- of the power of the central government was sus- taking and collaboration with known criminals. pect. Thirdly, the parish- system had The increase in crime was reflected in a harsh penal become anachronistic in a new and rapidly develop- code containing over two hundred offenses punish- ing industrialized-urbanized society. The old police able by death. There was an increase in the con- J. L. LYMAN [Vol. 55 sumption of gin by the lower classes, accompanied of lawlessness or rioting. Much of the early police by an increase in drunkenness and vice. An increas- legislation was ineffective because it failed to pro- ing birth-rate and population, with little progress vide any source of central control, and the ultimate in housing, wages, or law enforcement, made con- control was always the individual parish or ditions worse in London. Boroughs, , and borough. private bodies established their own police or night Between Michaelmas 1769 and March 1770 there watch, and each operated only within its own were 104 house burglaries in the Metropolis. The boundaries. loud protests of householders resulted in the ap- The first realistic attempt to deal with the prob- pointment of a committee "to enquire into bur- lem of law-enforcement occurred in 1749 when glaries and robberies in Westminister and London was appointed to the Bow Street and whether it is a growing evil." In 1770 the magistracy. His interest in law-enforcement soon Committee's report was presented by John became manifest. This may have been due, in part, Fielding. The Report stated: to a particularly severe London crime wave about "The Watch is insufficient; their Duty too the time of his appointment. The increased crime hard, and Pay too small.... That as they are has been blamed on the hordes of disbanded paid Monthly, they borrow their Money of a soldiers and sailors who descended on London Userer once a Week.... That the Watch in after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and to the new is in every Parish under the Direc- Government policy on gin. In 1745 Parliament had tion of a separate Commission:-That Commis- granted permission to distillers to retail on pay- sioners of the respective Parishes appoint the ment of a £ 5 license fee. Official dram shops sprang Beats of their Watchmen without conferring up, and there was a- shocking increase of gin con- together, which leaves the Frontiers of each sumption due to its cheapness.' By 1750 the annual Parish in a confused State, for that where one consumption of gin was over one gallon per man, side of a street lies in one Parish, and the other woman, and child.2 side in another Parish, the Watchmen of one Shortly after assuming office, Henry Fielding Side cannot lend any Assistance to Persons on and his brother, Sir John, set up the Bow the other Side, other than as a private Person, Street 4 Foot , also called the . except in Cases of . These were regularly paid , functioning James Sayer, Deputy High Steward for West- as a police force, and famous for results achieved. minster, testified before the Committee. He com- The Fieldings also suggested that metropolitan plained that there was no way to punish watchmen property owners combine into societies for protec- for neglect of duty except by dismissal which "is tion against burglars. Each society would collect an not a Punishment, for they [parishes] find it diffi- annual subscription fee of two guineas per member. cult to get men to serve in that office.5 At the com- This accumulated fund would enable member- pletion of the inquiry, the Committee presented victims of robbery to call the Bow Street Patrol, six resolutions. The most important of these were and to pay any expenses incurred in the pursuit that the constables and watch should be under one and prosecution of offenders. 3 Meanwhile deprada- general direction; that a new method of appointing tions against life and property continued, as did and discharging constables be adopted; and that Government inaction; except for the Runners, the there should be regulations governing the duties of police offered little protection and less prevention. watchmen, constables, and beadles. The Report Until 1829 numerous and sporadic, and generally was implemented by the Act of 1773. Both the inadequate, Bills were presented in Parliament for Report and Act were weak in that the former police improvement. Numerous committees were failed to state a source for central control, and the appointed to investigate the question, but their latter failed to provide for central control. More recommendations were seldom implemented. Bills serious was the fact that the Act applied only to and committees usually achieved little except the Westminster so that any improvement would be at belated recognition of some exceptional outburst the expense of surrounding parishes and boroughs. The Act did establish a minimum wage for the 'PATRICK PIRINGLE, Hum AND CRY, Museum Press, night watch, regulate hours of duty, define duties, London: 1955, pp. 80-81. 2 Ibid., p. 93. 4 JoURNAL OF THE HOUSE OF COMONS, XXXI, 'M LvH.LE LEE, A HISTORY oF T=E PouicE N 1770, p. 879. ENGLAND, Methuen & Co., London: 1901, pp. 157-158. 5Ibid., p. 881. THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829 and prohibit watchmen from frequenting alehouses quate, and that there was no civil force capable while on duty. The Act changed nothing nor im- - of restraining disorder. The proceedings of the proved anything, and apathy reigned for another debate of June 2, 1780 reveal the temper decade. of the mob. In 1778 the war in America was going badly. "...every noble who came in, bore about France and Spain seemed likely to support Amer- him some marks of the resentment of a mob, ica, and military and naval campaigns seemed to then collected to the amount of several be failures. Prices were rising but not wages. More thousands, in the old Palace Yard. Lord soldiers were needed, and the Government decided Mansfield. .was very ill-treated; lord [sic] on an attempt to persuade Roman Catholics to Stormont escaped with difficulty with his life. enlist. To do this, it was thought necessary to Lords Hillsborough and Townshend met with repeal a clause in an anti-Catholic statute which very rough treatment, having had their bags required anyone joining the to take the at- pulled off, and their hair... hung dishevelled testation oath. Recruiting among Roman Catholics over their shoulders. The archbishop [sic] of had never been very successful, and it was hoped York was very ill-used..."I' that the repeal would remedy the matter. The pro- The significance of the Gordon is that posed measure was in no sense aimed at Catholic Parliament and property owners were awakened to emancipation. Proponents of the proposed Bill saw the ever-present danger of the mob that lay just little possibility of dissent in Parliament to this beneath the surface of life in London. Parliament mild Catholic relief measure. The Opposition would was shocked into facing the facts of London's non- not be a deterrent as "every good Whig functioning, obsolete police system. Members of could not but agree to uphold the traditional both Houses were critical of the police magistrates belief of his party in religious toleration." 6 It was for their failure to take preventive action. introduced by Sir George Saville who was known Advertisements had appeared two days prior to the to dislike Catholics. was accepted as a riots calling for people to join in the protest march nonparty measure, passed, and received the Royal of the Protestant Association and protest the Assent. passage of the Catholic Relief Bill. Lord Chief The international situation worsened, Catholic Justice Mansfield summoned the Westminster Spain and France were again England's enemies, magistrate before the bar. He and another mag- old suspicions were rearoused and anti-Catholicism istrate appeared and were asked "whether they flared up. The activities of Lord George Gordon, an had received any orders to be ready, and why the eccentric, and the Protestant Association inflamed civil power was not assembled?" Both said that mass opinion against Roman Catholics. It should they had never received nor heard any such orders. also be taken into account that the bitter frustra- It turned out that the orders had been issued, but tions of the unrepresented, miserable lower classes Lord North, the Prime Minister, had neglected to now had an outlet in religious bigotry. Hibbert send them! The Westminster magistrate defended describes this reaction: himself saying, "... that as yet he has not been "... The prisons, the Inns of Court, the able to get more than six constables together, ... Bank and the houses of magistrates were all [and] it was in vain to expect to do any good hated and assaulted as symbols of oppression, in dispersing or quieting so very large and tu- 7 riches, and dishonest power." multous a mob.. .with so small a number of On June 2, 1780 a huge crowd carried a petition constables."' protesting the Bill to . A week of terror The Houses of Commons and Lords concurred in followed. Catholic chapels in several embassies condemning the actions of Lord George Gordon were smashed; homes and shops of Catholics and and the rioters. They were unanimous in asserting members of the Government were looted; IsNew- that something should be done to improve the gate, King's Bench, and Fleet prisons were police. There was complete lack of unanimity in stormed and prisoners liberated. Finally, the troops the solutions proposed. Lord Shelburne asserted were called. It had become glaringly and irrefut- that "the police of Westminster was an imperfect, ably apparent that the police system was inade- inadequate, and wretched system; that the 6 CHMSTOPHER HIBBERT, Kixr, MoB, Longmans- Green, London & New York: 1958, p. 18. 8Parliamentary Debates, XXI, 1780, p. 665. 7 Ibid., p. 127. 9 Ibid., pp. 669-671. J. L. LYMAN [[Vol. 55 commission of the peace was filled by men, base to Details m Scarcity written in 1795 is an expression the last degree, and capable of every mean act, of the period: derogative and opposite to the justice of the "The State ought to confine itself to what 0 laws. . ."' He recommended immediate re- regards the State. . ., namely the exterior modelling of the constables and watchmen on the establishment of its religion, its magistracy, its lines of the French police. Shelburne claimed that revenue; its military force...; the Corporations this could be done without danger to English that owe their existence to its fiat... In its liberties if magistrates were elected by the people it ought to be sparing of its and not appointed by ministers. Edmund Burke efforts, and to employ means, rather few, censured the police and use of troops, but offered infrequent, and strong....",3 no alternative. It was suggested that Westminster Little heed was paid the few who labored in the be made a corporation and be regulated in the cause of police and criminal law reform. Among same manner as the City. The City Members the most important of these was Patrick vehemently vetoed any suggestion of a centralized Colquhoun whose influence would appear later in force because it would lessen the power of aldermen Peel's police legislation. Colquhoun was a London and the ancient independence of the City. They magistrate, a pioneer in the cause of criminal law proposed arming citizen-householders who could reform, and author of A Treatise on the Police of then be available to the magistrates in time of London. Even he did not conceive of police as pri- trouble." Eight months later the state of the police marily a preventive agency. His object was was still being debated, but with no action. amelioration of the harsh penal code, and improve- During Shelburne's Ministry, 1782-1783, he did ment in the organization of the police. He was not a nothing to promote his ideas for a remodelled sentimental humanitarian nor a Radical. Through- police force. Despite legislative inaction, the out his Treatise the argument for reform stresses left an unforgettable impression the protection of property. on citizens and lawmakers. "The sole intention of the Author ...is to In 1785 Pitt the Younger introduced a "Bill for secure the inhabitants of the Metropolis against the Further prevention of Crime and for the more the alarming consequences to be dreaded from speedy Detection and Punishment of Offenders the existence of such an atrocious and criminal against the Peace.. . " His Bill proposed to unite confederation.... the City, London, and Westminster for police It is by the operation of legal and proper purposes into one district. The district was to be restraints, that the possession of all things divided into divisions with all the police under valuable in society is secured. three Commissioners."2 The City opposed the It is by the general influence of good laws and Bill on the grounds that it was an infringement of regulations, that the blessings of true liberty, the rights of aldermen. It was also criticized as and the undisturbed possession of property is being too similar to the Paris police system. preserved; as far as legislative authority, aided Ever aware of, and relying on, business and by a well-regulated and energetic police, can commercial interests of the City, Pitt withdrew prove a security against iniquity and depreda- 4 the Bill. tion.' Apart from sporadic discussions, the police and Concern for property and security of London's crime rates received little attention and less inhabitants is easily understood when one sees action as memories of the Riots receded. Politics Colquhoun's figures on crime and criminals in the and business absorbed the government, the Metropolis. He estimated that there were 115,000 Establishment, and the middle class. The spirit of "who are supposed to support themselves in and laissez faire was abroad in the land. Many held near the Metropolis by pursuits either criminal- 15 that severe punishment, fearlessly applied, would illegal-or immoral." Two of the twenty-four deter the lower classes. Burke's Thoughts and 13EDMUND BURKE, THOUGHTS AND DETAILS ON SCARCITY, London: 1800, XVI, p. 48. "0Ibid., pp. 679-681. 1"A MAGISTRATE [], A TREATISE " CHARIES RErm. ThE POLICE IDEA, London: ON THE POLICE OF LONDON, Philadelphia: 1798, pp. 1938, p. 83. xi-XUi. "2Public Bills, XV, 1785. p. 417. "Ibid., pp. vi-x. 19641 THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829 categories of criminals included in the total figure An attempt on the life of George III in 1796 convey some idea of the situation in London: and official, upper, and middle class reaction to "Females... who support themselves chiefly or the excesses of the French Revolution reawakened wholly by prostitution-50,000; Thieves, Pilferers, interest in Colquhoun's Treatise. In 1798 the and Embezzlers who live partly by depredation Select Committee on Finance recommended and partly by.. .occasional labour-8,000." The adoption of Colquhoun's proposals. England was total figure, 115,000, tell a startling story when at war with France and menaced by possible one relates them to London's population of about invasion, which may explain why Pitt took no 999,000. The constables and watch numbered action. The City's opposition to both the Treatise 1,000, and guarded "the lives and properties of and the Committee's Report is a possible further the inhabitants residing in near 8,000 streets." explanation for Pitt's failure to act. Colquhoun These police were under seventy different trusts, had testified before the Committee, recommended employed by and authorized to act only in their establishment of a Central Board of Police own particular ward, parish, or borough.16 The Revenue, and assisted in the drafting of a Bill in police themselves were underpaid, often feeble, 1799. It was never introduced. 9 Colquhoun's and frequently in league with the criminals. work was not entirely fruitless. The West India "... innumerable petty temptations are held Planters and Merchants invited him to present a out to dishonesty by Receivers of stolen goods, plan to prevent theft from ships in the Port of to the watchmen and ... as well as by London. His scheme was accepted and financed thieves and housebreakers in all situations by both the Merchants and the Government. A where they contemplate the commission of a River Police Office was opened with a force of burglary. eighty permanent police and eleven hundred and Money is also received from disorderly twenty part-time police whose duty was to watch persons in the night, topermit them to escape .... ; and unload West Indian ships in port. The River while unfortunate females are laid under Police were so well organized and successful that contribution, for permission to infringe the in 1800 the Government adopted the organization very laws, which it is thn duty of these.... as a separate establishment. Police to put in execution."'1 The threat of invasion by Napoleon in 1803 Colquhoun felt that the lack of security of life aroused patriotism among all classes; combined and property and the inefficacy of the police in with the Government's repressive measures in preventing crime had nine causes: regard to public gatherings and subversive 1. Imperfections in the criminal code. literature, criticism was effectively silenced. 2. Lack "of an active principle, calculated to Public disorder decreased. War and economic concentrate and connect the whole Police of improvement lessened law enforcement problems the Metropolis and the Nation." He rec- for a time. In 1807 the Orders in Council, part of ommended a police under the direction and England's blockade of French ports, came into control of the . force. Effective as a war measure, the results on 3. Lack of police magistrates in the dockyards. the working class were severe unemployment and 4. Lack of a public prosecutor for the Crown in hunger. A hard winter in 1810, and the failure of criminal cases. the harvest in 1812 added to their misery. The 5. Lack of a regularized system for obtaining increasing use of machinery in the nineteenth pardons. century produced the problem of surplus labor. 6. The system of the hulks. Machinery became a focus for the frustrations of 7. Lack of penitentiaries "for ... punishment the working class. In November 1811 the anti- and reformation .... " machine Luddite Riots occurred, and by January 8. Lack of a system for handling convicts 1812 the workers throughout the Midlands sentenced to hard labor or transportation. industrial were wrecking stocking-frames. 9. "The want of a more solemn modeof conduct- machinery, and factories. The Government rushed ing executions .... 18 through a Bill making the destruction of the frames 16 Ibid., pp. 161-164. punishable by death. There was concern that the 17Ibid., pp. 164-165. 19Reports from Committees of the House of Com- '8Ibid., pp. 21-22. mons, XIII, 1798-1803, pp. 344-356. J. L. LYMAN [Vol. 55

riots might spread to London. It, therefore, seemed mortality rate. Acting together, industrial and dangerous at this time to advocate criminal law medical progress contributed to the unemploy- reform, and Parliament resisted Sir Samuel ment. Romilly's plan to reform the Criminal Code; The masses were becoming politically conscious, apparently a harsh criminal code was the only and agitation for reform and economic disorder deterrent recognized for crime and disorder. went together. Opposition to the Corn Laws Except for a Bill which abolished the death evidenced itself in petitions to Parliament, dis- penalty for soldiers and sailors caught begging order, and rioting as starvation, high rents, and without a permit, Romilly's attempts at reform low wages plagued the workers. In the cities it failed. The Luddite Riots forced the Government was worse; there were only the soup kitchens. to acknowledge once again its dangerous lack of The high price of food and workers' demands for any civil agency capable of maintaining law and higher wages hurt the manufacturers. In the order. However, no Bills for police or law reform Lords concern was voiced about the increase on resulted. Frame-breaking became punishable by the Poor Rates, and the effect on manufacturers hanging, and the power of magistrates to enroll "... who would export arts, enterprize, and special constables was stressed. hands to those countries where sustenance was For the industrial and agricultural interests, cheaper, and the wages.. .corresponded better the war years were profitable. British agriculture with the means of life."" England seemed to lie and industry were "protected" by war and lack of between the Scylla and Charybdis of revolution or foreign competition. In 1815 the war with France reform. Manufacturing interests stood against ended. The seven years following, 1815-1822, agricultural interests, the underprivileged against were depression years. Trade languished and the privileged. unemployment increased as factories and shops In London the unpopularity of the Corn Laws closed. The spectre of starvation again threatened was revealed by rioting that invoked memories of the poor. The concept and philosophy of govern- 1780. Again the troops were called out as rioters ment intervention and the welfare state were assaulted Members of Parliament and attempted unknown. Discharged soldiers and sailors were to storm the House of Commons. On March 6, thrown onto the swollen labor market, the demand 1815 in the House of Commons for military supplies abruptly ceased, and the "Mr. Fitzgerald said... he saw a most unemployed were dependent on the parish Poor tumultuos [sic] mob by whom members were Rates. The agricultural interests and landed collared and dragged about. .. Sir Robert gentry still possessed the predominant power Heron shewed the skirt of his coat, which hung in Parliament. Fearing a fall in the prices of grain nearly torn from the body...; Sir Frederick and the decrease of their profits, they rushed Flood declared, that he had been carried.. .on through the Corn Laws of 1815. The importation the shoulders of the mob, just like a mackarel of foreign wheat was prohibited until the domestic from ..., and that he thought they price reached eighty-four shillings a quarter. The meant to quarter him."2' price of bread, the mainstay of the poor, rose. Another Member complained that on June 5 there Property owners and taxpayers demanded im- were no police outside the entrance to the House, mediate demobilization of the army and reduction but when he came into the lower lobby "he... of taxes. Discharged soldiers contributed to the found an abundance of them." The Secretary of ranks of the unemployed. The Government the Admiralty claimed that the civil power had repealed the property tax. The taxes most oppres- been guilty of neglect of duty, and summoned the sive to the poor were those raised from customs and High of Westminster to explain. His excise duties on sugar, tea, coffee, spirits, beer, and testimony is self-explanatory of the urgent need tobacco, and they were not reduced 20 It was as for police reform. ".. .of his 80 constables, about though the food and sustenance of the poor were 50 attended today...; he found this force, joined taxed. There was a further complication. Medical with all the force of the police offices, quite in- progress was eradicating the old scourges of sufficient to restrain the mob .... He had no plague, smallpox, and scurvy, thus reducing the power over any constables but his own." No "A. A. W. R.AMSAY, SIR , London: 21Parliamentary Debates, XXX, 1815, pp. 60-61. 1928, pp. 49-50. 22 Ibid., pp. 33-34. 19641 THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829 rioters were taken into custody!23 Criticism of'the group of England looked to reactionary Toryism use of troops and the inefficiency of the police for protection. The Government's reaction was the did not extend to advocacy of a unified and introduction of the Six Acts. The Acts prohibited centrally organized force. It seems as though unauthorized drilling; altered the procedure in police failures, riots, and use of troops were taken treason trials; authorized the seizure of seditious for granted; however, the main causes were and blasphemous literature, making transporta- opposition to more taxes and government in- tion the penalty for a second offense; authorized tervention by the upper classes, and a deep- the issue of warrants for the search for arms; seated fear by the lower classes that law enforce- imposed a stamp duty on pamphlets and leaflets; ment was just one more measure to protect the and restricted the size of public meetings. To privilege and property of a resented and some- workers and Radicals, Peterloo became a battle- times hated upper class. The Opposition was cry. opposed, partly to any -introduced measures As economic conditions temporarily eased, the and, partly because it was convinced that any disorders which had prompted the passage of the centralized system of police would inevitably be Six Acts began to subside. Demands for police a copy of the repressive government-sponsored reform also subsided. Once again apathy reigned Continental forces designed to keep old ruling until events in 1820 shattered the uneasy calm. class governments in power. Lord Castlereagh George III died in January 1820. The Prince defended the use of troops as well as police in- Regent became King George IV. He was illegally action by saying, "The police had not been married to a Roman Catholic, Mrs. Fitzherbert. negligent; but no police could prevent such He openly alternated between her bed and the attacks from being made in different parts of the beds of his mistresses, having long ago, and just town under circumstances like the present." 24 as openly, forsaken that of Queen Caroline to Again no action was taken. whom he was legally married. Shortly after his The ineptitude of the Government in dealing coronation, George IV demanded that the Ministry with civil disorder was to be displayed yet again as institute divorce proceedings against the Queen. the depression worsened. Resentment was in- Being politically insecure, the Ministry refused, creasing, four million were on the parish relief and the king threatened to dismiss them. Then rolls-out of a total population of about the Cato Street Conspiracy was discovered. It 12,000,000-and the parish Poor Rate system and was an alleged plot to murder the Cabinet. city soup kitchens were staggering under the load. In April a revolt broke out in . As usual, The Government was under attack by the agitators the troops were called out, and the fear of revolu- who talked Parliamentary and electoral reform. tion rallied the privileged classes to reactionary They found eager listeners among the hungry Toryism; in the latter they saw the only hope and unemployed. In the textiles centers the against a repetition in England of the excesses weavers rioted and broke power looms; farm of the French Revolution which they remembered laborers broke reaping machines. A meeting in and feared. The now felt secure. Divorce London culminated in rioting, during which proceedings were started. The storm broke. unemployed weavers shot at their masters. In Unpopular taxes, suspicions concerning the Duke August 1819 a crowd gathered at St. Peter's of Wellington's ambitions, and a licentious and Field to hear the Radical "Orator" Hunt. All profligate king whose sexual life was a public were there to protest the Corn Laws, demand affront and scandal, roused people of all classes reform, and proclaim their misery. The mag- against a Ministry which dared support the istrates, fearing revolution, ordered the reading trumped-up charges of adultery against the Queen. of the Act. The crowd refused to disperse. The Ministry was already hated by the workers With drawn sabers, the mounted yeomanry and the Radicals because of Peterloo and the charged. About eleven of the crowd were killed Six Acts. To the lower classes, the wronged Queen and four hundred wounded. When the news became an object with whom they could identify reached London, a weak Tory party found itself as fellow-victims of injustice. To the Radicals, the strengthened when the frightened governing case was fuel for their political fire. Every issue of (London) in July, 2 Ibid., pp. 35-37. 24 Ibid., p. 79. August, September, and October 1820 carried J. L. LYMAN [Vol. 55

letters from readers criticizing the that the grievances of non-representation are editorials and 26 king and the Ministry, and announcing protest now become insupportable." meetings and presentations of loyal addresses to Following the Queen's exoneration, celebrations Caroline. These meetings also represented the and nightly illuminations appeared in London. So middle class. Huge crowds daily greeted the unpopular were the king and Ministers that Queen and jeered the Ministers on their way to fresh outbreaks of rioting and destruction occurred and from the trial. The case became associated wherever the mob found a house without illumina- with the suppression of constitutional liberties as tions. Troops were necessary to protect the homes the Government's attempts to repress meetings of Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of Northum- V 7 and criticism increased. Placards began to appear berland. The turmoil indicated a deeper unrest. mysteriously. Some were so violent in their On November 17, 1820 an editorial in the Times implications that revolution seemed possible. warned that "... Radicalism is every day most On October 24, 1820 a meeting was held by "the alarmingly and portentously increasing; and will, inhabitant householders" of in the we predict, continue to increase more and more, Town Hall, and was reported in the Times. It till-Without a change of counsels the end is illustrates the resentment of the middle class who certain." The Government lost its support in the were angry and fearful of the results of the Corn House of Commons. Canning resigned as a protest Laws, the unemployment, and the trial of Queen against the treatment of Queen Caroline. Caroline. At the meeting the opening speech In August 1821 Queen Caroline died. The exhorted "the middling classes [to] step forward, funeral procession became a battle between a and by the strong manifestation of their opinion hostile populace and the troops. When the royal against the proceedings of his Majesty's ministers corpse reached Hyde Park, the situation became obtain their dismissal, and, by a change of serious. The Times reported that: measures, avert the fearful storm which was "The scene at this moment was most 25 gathering. awful-the carnage of ... shot Their fear was well-founded. The inefficient across our memory. police and the hated troops were unable to prevent Here a contest arose, and here blood was either the demonstrations or the appearance of shed. Some stones and mud were thrown at the threatening placards. The House of Commons military, and... the soldiers were sanctioned in was so concerned that on October 17, 1820 there firing their pistols and carbines at the unarmed was a debate on "The Manufacturing of Seditious crowd. .. .the number of shots fired... was and Treasonable Placards." Of the three placards not less than 40 or 50.8 read during the debate, one will suffice to reveal There was more fighting between people and troops Commons' cause for concern: in Church Street and "Let us, in this mighty crisis, bear in mind Court Road. The parish police who were there that the great are not our only foes. Those were powerless and useless. Instead of the blame middling ranks who make us hew and draw, and being placed where it properly belonged, on the dole our pittance to us according to their failure to provide effective police legislation, the humour-these are our most grinding enemies. chief magistrate at Bow Street was dismissed. What is the constituent body but the tyrants It is probable that revolution was averted of the nonrepresentatives? What are the tens because the protest against the Ministers was led of thousands of wretches.. .in Westminster... by the middle class and Whig gentry. The angry but the oppressors of their non-enfranchised masses had the illusion that they had champions fellow-citizens-content to crawl before the in Parliament. A Government reshuffle was higher orders, that we may continue slaves to obviously essential. The Grenville party joined both? Alike then, and equal be their common the Government. Sir Robert Peel was offered the destiny. The brave, though starving outstanders Home Office and accepted. of Manchester [Peterlool, should be avenged in Between 1822 and 1825 conditions in England London. Shall we non-represented Britions... improved. The more objectionable parts of the be scared by the fear of gibbets or bayonets? 26 LONDoN TimEs, Oclober 18, 1820, "Parliamentary ... let us in one heroic day, convince mankind Intelligence," p. 2. 27 LONDON TIMES, November 13, 1820, p. 2. 26 LONDON TiMis, October 25, 1820, p. 3. 28 LONDON TIMEs, August 15, 1821, 1.2. TiE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829

Six Acts were allowed to lapse. Profits and prices passage of the 1829 Act established the were increasing, but low wages were countered Metropolitan Police in London. by a decrease in the price of wheat to forty shillings Soon after Peel became , it a quarter. Taxes were reduced and foreign trade became clear that English police reform dare not expanded. As unemployment decreased so did the be delayed. The prosperity of 1823-1825 had led riots and disorder. to financial speculation. When prices fell in the At the Home Office, Peel concerned himself autumn of 1825, panic followed. There was a run with legal reform. He was not the first to advocate on banks. Seven London banks and eighty country reform of the Criminal Law. , banks failed. Wages dropped, factories and mills Sir Patrick Colquhoun, Sir Samuel Romilly, and closed, and unemployment resulted. In the Sir James Macintosh preceded him, fighting a textile counties strikes against wage-cuts erupted, valiant and largely unsuccessful battle "until a then riots. In London ten thousand member of the Government was found ready to weavers were jobless. Machinery was destroyed take up their work.' 2n Peel took up their work. and troops fought mobs.3' Hungry people raided In 1823 he consolidated into one statute the laws shops for bread. dealing with theft and destruction of property, The political situation was unstable. Lord and did the same with the laws dealing with , the Prime Minister, had died in 1827 offenses against the person. There were 130 and Tory political difficulties followed social statutes concerning larceny which were condensed disorder. Canning became Prime Minister. He was into one Act. The death penalty was abolished for known to favor Catholic Emancipation. As a result more than one hundred offenses. A clergyman Wellington, Peel, and Eldon resigned. Several could escape punishment for a first offense in pro-Catholic appointments widened the split in certain . The Benefit of Clergy was abol- the Tory party, and seriously weakened Canning's ished. Peel made it easier for victims of sexual support in Parliament. In 1828 Canning died. offenses to get justice by abolishing the require- Viscount Goderich kissed hands, but, after trying ment that certain embarrassing proofs be unsuccessfully for three months to form a Ministry, furnished. He increased the number of judges and he resigned. The king than asked Wellington to instituted a Third Assize to lessen delays in form a Ministry. Peel returned to the Home bringing prisoners to trial. Prison discipline laws Office in 1828 with the Wellington Government. and transportation laws were each consolidated, The economic situation eased a bit, aided by a new and Peel tried to prevent abuses. Ramsay describes Corn Law, passed in 1828, which allowed the Peel's achievements in the cause of criminal law importation of corn when the domestic price reform: "When he finally left office in 1830 he had reached sixty shillings a quarter. reformed and consolidated practically the whole In London public order and the security of life of the Criminal Law of England."3" and property still remained, for the most part From 1812 to 1818 Peel had been Secretary for solely dependent on troops. Peel's mind turned . The experience influenced his pattern for toward the creation of an adequate police force. English police reform. Ireland had been a testing Under Peel, the time had come for police reform to ground, possessing some parallels to the English be linked with legal reform. Twelve of London's situation. Ireland was in a chronic state of disorder, parishes, with a total population of twenty there was no efficient police, and troops were used thousand, had no night police. By 1828 one person to maintain order. Among his Irish reforms was in every three hundred and eighty-three was a 32 the "Bill for the Execution of the Laws in Ireland" criminal. which Peel had introduced into Parliament in In October 1828 Peel wrote a letter to Lord 1814. One of its provisions concerned the ap- Gower about the Irish situation. It is this writer's pointments of a salaried superintending magistrate opinion that Peel there expresed what he believed and salaried special constables. In recruiting to be the proper purposes of law enforcement: constables, preference was given to discharged non- "The enforcement of the law compromises no commissioned army officers with good character opinion on political questions, and it enables the certificates. Peel followed this policy after the 21ANTI[ONV WOOD, NINETEENTI CENTURY BRITAIN, 2' RAMSAY, p. 69. London: 1960, p. 69. -1 Ibid., p. 68. '- RAMsA, p. 87. J. L. LYMAN [Vol. 55

Government to speak with a tone of authority, measures that would prevent such losses. The not only to the party against whose acts the law influential voice of the Whigs, The Edinburgh may be immediately directed, but to other Review, supported the Report: parties, who may be carried beyond due bounds "The rich will always entertain doubts, in their preparations for resistance or self whether there is any need for the existence of defense. It deprives them of the pretext that the those who contribute nothing to their law does not afford protection or redress."' comfort ... : while those who do exist will Peel moved the appointment of a Select Com- .. help themselves to the means of remaining mittee to study the police. The 1828 Committee in the world..., honestly if possible, but was the fourth such Committee since 1803, and the somehow. first to accomplish anything. Their Report was .. while the increase of population outstrips issued on July. 27, 1828. The Committee found an that of employment, the number of offences increase in and , a against property cannot.. .be stationary. But reflection of the national increase in committals. It the public authority cannot connive at these discovered nothing new about the causes of crime. irregular proceedings: they must be punished What was new was the Committee's proposed and prevented."36 solution: an Office of Police under the Home The Review also supported the concept of a Secretary, with police responsibility for the whole centralized police with arguments based on cost metropolitan area. The Office of Police would be in and freedom. .... such a system would be a charge of appointed magistrates without any great and decided improvement, ....it might bench duties.- be adopted... at a less expense than the [parish- At the time of th*e Committee's appointment, watch], and with no new restraint on the liberty 37 Peel had expressed his idea of a unified and of the subject." centralized policy system with St. Paul's as a In April 1829 Peel introduced "A Bill for center and extending to a radius of ten miles. The Improving the Police in and Near the Metropolis." City refused .inclusion in any centralized system, It incorporated his ideas of the chief requisites of and opposed the Report. There was also opposition an efficient police-unity of design and the because of the practice in many parishes of employ- responsibility of its agents. The purpose was "to ing paupers as constables in order to reduce substitute a new and more efficient system of Poor Law Rates. Because they believed a unified Police in lieu of such establishments of nightly police system would introduce another tax, some Watch and nightly Police." The Bill set up a new manufacturing interests opposed the Report. Office of Police in Westminster to be in charge of Then there were those who believed that increases certain Crown-appointed Justices, later called in crime and disorder arose from laxity in punish- Commissioners, whose conditions of office and ment, not from a defective police. 5 For political administrative duties were defined in detail.38 reasons there was some Whig opposition and The area in charge of the Police Office was to be Radical opposition because the Report was called the Metropolitan Police District, and associated with the Tories. Then there were those included all of Westminster, and parts of who feared that a unified police system would be Middlesex, , and . The Bill also an instrument of reactionary Tories to keep contained rules for the duties, powers, and dis- themselves in power. However, there was also cipline of the paid constables. The section on Whig support. Publicly advocating reform, discipline is interesting because of its implications. condemning the use of troops, committed to No policeman on duty could go into a public certain positions because they were representative house except in the pursuit of duty. A publican or of middle class business and industrial interests, "victualler or keeper of any house, shop, room, or the Whigs could not completely condemn the other place for the sale of any liquors, whether Report and its proposals. A number of these spirituos or otherwise" who entertained or sold interests suffered financial and property losses to a policeman could be fined up to five pounds. from the riots, and were therefore interested in The Bill also provided for the appointment of a 3 TAE RT. HON. SIR ROBERT PEEL, PEEL, London: 3' THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, XLVIII, 1828, p. 411. 1857, p. 242. Ibid., p. 412. 11Reports from Committees, VI, 1828, p. 423. ARRANGEMENT OF THE PAPERS ... OF THE HOUSE 31Parliamentary Debates, XVIII, 1828, pp. 793-810. OF COmONS, 1., 1829, pp. 425-426. THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829 salaried Receiver for the Metropolitan Police -Tories of the Established Church and of District whose duty was the handling of "all and Universities. There was monies applicable to the purposes of this Act." little he could do about that. But he could try to The Watch Rate was abolished, and provision minimize opposition that would be based on fears made to levy a Police Rate on property-holders to of increased taxation, or on possible Radical the same amount as the Poor Rate. To prevent charges of extravagance. Peel carefully planned the any irregularities by the parish overseers, the financial costs of the new police, and he emphasized Receiver was to be given a note in writing specify- economy. The maximum chargeable Police Rate ing the amount of Rate paid, and he would render was fixed at eight pence in the pound on the annual a receipt. In the parishes where there was no value of property. In 1829 the whole cost of cloth- Poor Rate, the property-owners' contribution was ing per man came to five pounds, three shillings, determined by assessors nominated by the Police and six pence. Each man had a weekly two 2 Office Justices. The Crown was given power to shilling clothing deduction made from his pay. order any parishes within twelve miles of Charing The Duke of Wellington presented the Bill in Cross, excluding those of the City, to form part of the House of Lords and repeated most of Peels the Metropolitan Police District.P Parts of the Bill arguments. He also, like Peel, stressed the concept were amended in May 1829. The most important of preventive police. The Radicals, Whigs, and provision established that ultimate responsibility humanitarians, generally, had protested the harsh for police finances, as well as administration, lay criminal code and had supported its reform. with Parliament. An account of all monies re- Their support was needed again now. The ceived, rates charged and received by the Police, preventive police idea also may have been stressed and an account of all police expenditures was to be in order to allay the fears of the working class and presented annually to both Houses of Parliament. 0 some Radicals that the new police would be a Introducing the Bill, Peel said that Police repressive instrument for the benefit of the Committees in preceding years had not produced privileged classes or a vehicle to power for any improvement in the police; that "It had been Wellington. Hence his argument that "the best clearly ascertained that it was altogether unsafe, mode of avoiding the infliction of punishment, was and had been for a long period to commit the care to prevent the growth of crime; and the legis- of lives and property.. .to the charge of the lature would do away the necessity of frequent parochial watch.. ." He said crime had increased punishment by... an efficient police in the hands 55% in London and Middlesex between 1821 and of the magistrate."41 1828, as compared to the period 1811-1818, while The "Bill for Improving the Police.. ." passed the population had increased only 19%.4' He both Houses without serious argument, and added that he did not believe that the increased received the Royal Assent on June 19, 1829. Mr. crime rate was due to depressed conditions, but, and Colonel were rather, to a lax police system. Peel stressed that he chosen to command the new Police Office. Both intended a gradual reformation of the police. He men had served in Ireland, knew Peel and his intended to put the new police in charge of a accomplishments there, and supported his ambi- certain number of parishes, and then gradually tions for the new police. extend their authority until the whole police The passage of the Bill may seem paradoxical authority devolved upon them. A day was to be in the face of ultra-Tory anti-Catholic hostility fixed for each parish, and on that day it would toward Peel, the suspicions entertained about surrender its police responsibility to the new Wellington's personal political ambitions, and establishment of police. the allied Whig-Radical political opposition. To the Peel had been forced to resign his Parliamentary writer, the explanation lies in the contemporary seat for Oxford University because of the leading events of the period. part he had played in securing the passage of the London had been the scence of riots almost 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act. Now, almost every year since 1815. Poor economic conditions any measure he proposed would be resisted by the and the unemployed and striking Spitalfields 1 Ibid., pp. 433-449. weavers aroused the fears of the middle class, the 40TIbid., p. 463. 41Parliamentary Debates, XXI, New Series, 1829, 42RAmsAY, p. 88. p. 871. 4 Parliamentary Debates, XXI, 1829, p. 1750. J. L. LYMAN [Vol. 55 manufacturers, and the upper classes. During coat. '46 There were also the usual broadsides. A the debates on Peel's Bill there were outbursts of popular broadside-ballad, entitled "The New rioting and frame-breaking. The Times daily Police Act," included these verses: carried reports of violence, and in editorials "The Crackman then must take the day their demanded Government action. On June 2, 1829 a business to complete sir City Member presented to the Commons a For they will find the Charlies then they cannot petition asking for measures for "the maintenance keep them sweet sir and vindication of the law, which is thus openly For watchmen then no plaver will stand when and systematically violated, and.. .such protection the new act's in force sir as to the house... shall seem most meet."" And body snatchers sell their tools they'll have It had become obvious by 1829 that any attempt no work of course sir by the government to enforce the law would Oh Mr Peel what have you done with your necessitate both the immediate availability of police act so grand sir troops and the willingness to risk mob violence. Twill be the cause I haiVe no doubt of filling When a weaver had been sentenced to be whipped Van Diamen's Land sir for the distance of one hundred yards, or about And London now believe me sir is overstocked seventy lashes, Peel told the House that "all the with queer Coves civil forces which could be spared" were at the Who wish the Police Act and you were sent to scene. If these proved insufficient, he had Jemmy Square toes. authorized the magistrates to call "the military arm of the state to their assistance. '45 It is the So hear me all you funny blades who delight writer's opinion that the trend of events seemed to in lark so funny indicate an approaching crisis. The was And who whea [sic] in a scrape was got would unpopular, republican sentiment was being heard circulate your money openly, there was fear of revolution, fear of the You Toms and Jerrys now lament the Charlies mob, and apprehension for the security of property. now will queer you The demand for protection became For Mr Peel's new Watchman will be to [sic] widespread as ' business and industrial interests exerted a pressure strong to fear you. ", which transcended party lines, a pressure which The need for adequate and efficiently Parliament dared not ignore. The Metropolitan administered police had been demonstrated, and Police Act was passed. the 1829 Act provided such a police. Peel's The first appearance of the new police on the interest did not confine itself to legislative success. streets of London was on September 29, 1829. It was essential that the police win public ac- To avoid any suspicion that they were a military ceptance. TherefQre, the selection of police police, the police uniform had been carefully personnel was important. Peel felt that retired chosen. The one thousand men of the new police non-commissioned army officers with good wore blue suits of civilian cut and top . They character certificates would be suitable recruits; were unarmed. Their sole distinguishing marks, as it was important that the moral character of the policemen, were the brass buttons bearing the police be above suspicion. His pride in the new word "Police" on their suits. police and his concern for their success is evidenced Popular opposition from the masses to the new in a letter which he wrote to the Commissioners of the Metropolitan Police on December 10, 1829. police was immediate. Among the epithets hurled "I propose to refer all applications to you, for at them were "raw lobsters," "Peel's bloody gang," and "Blue Devils." Peel himself was assailed as a inquiry into the character and qualifications of the candidates .... all nominations for employ- dictator and tyrant, and pictured as the robber of the poor. On October 10, 1829 he wrote to his ment in the Police, as well as.. .promotions wife, "....1 did laugh.. .at one [caricature] called from inferior stations, should depend ex- 'Peeling a Charley' in which I am represented clusively upon the character, qualifications, and stripping one of the old watchmen of his great- services of the person selected .... I am con- 46 GEORGE PEEL (ed.), ThE PRrvATE LETTERS OF 14 LONDON TimEs, "Parliamentary Intelligence," SIR ROBERT PEEL, London: 1920, p. 117. June 3, 1829, p. 1. 47Broadside 506, VI, 1829; in the University of 45Ibid., p. 1. London Collection at the Senate House Library. THE METROPOLITAN POLICE ACT OF 1829

vinced that on a strict adherence to this prin- The absence of crime will be considered the cipal must entirely depend the efficiency and best proof of the completely efficiency of the character of the new Establishment. Police. When the whole Establishment shall be...in ... [the constable] must be particularly full operation, it may not be fit to establish, cautious not to interfere idly or un- as a fixed and inviolable rule, that all necessarily.... He must remember that there appointments... above that of.. .common con- is no quality more indispensable to a police stable, shall take place from out of the ranks of officer than a perfect command of temper, the Police.... never suffering himself to be moved.. .by any The experience which you have already had language or threats...; if he do his duty in a will enable you to determine.. .what is the age, quiet and determined manner, such conduct will and.. .previous occupation of candidates, which probably induce well disposed bystanders to offer the greatest probability that they can be assist him. .. ."49 usefully employed in the Police. And a reference Police Orders for October 17, 1829 warned that to these. . ., combined with a personal examina- "Some instances of rudeness on the part of the tion into their character and habits of life, will Police toward persons asking.. .civil questions enable you to select.. .those best entitled to has been reported to the Commissioners," and recommendation. called on the Superintendents to warn and instruct .. whenever a vacancy shall occur in the... their men. On Guy Fawkes Day, the following Police, or whenever new appointments shall be month, the. Superintendents were ordered to necessary.. .you shall submit to me the instruct their men "to preserve peace and good names.. .to be recommended by you, and that a order by the mildest possible means." Police printed form be prepared.. .specifying whether corruption had been a glaring defect under the old the person.. .has or has not previously served police system. Every effort was made to avoid it in in the Police, his age, his previous occupation, the new. Precautions were taken against possible the name of the persons by whom he is recom- charges of corruption as Christmas approached. mended ... "" Orders for December 21, 1829 directed that "The From its inception in 1829, the essential civilian Constables are not.. .to ask for a Christmas character of the police was stressed; public service, Box from any of the inhabitants upon their self-control, and the importance of gaining the beats; if any money is offered to them.. .they must public's trust were emphasized. The Instrxlions report the circumstances to their superior officer."-' and Police Orders for 1829-1830, issued by the From its beginning, the force was administered Commissioners at , contain explicit according to the intent of its founder. The directions for the conduct of the police. The character and conduct of the police was vigilantly Iltstructions illustrate the basic emphasis on the supervised. Between 1829 and 1831, eight thousand preventive and protective nature of police work men had been enrolled, and over three thousand which was Peel's philosophy and design for the new had been discharged for unfitness, incompetence, police and which was to be continued by successive or drunkenness. By June 1,1830, the force consisted Home Secretaries and Commissioners of the force: of three thousand, three hundred and fourteen "It should be understood, at the outset, that (3,314) men, and the Metropolitan Police District the principal object to be attained is the preven- covered Whitehall, Westminster, and twelve other tion of crime. boroughs. By the terms of the Act the City was To this end every effort of the Police is to be excluded, and remains so to this day. Peel was directed. The security of person and property, proud of what had been accomplished, and wrote the preservation of the public tranquility, and all to his wife in October 1829, "1 have been again other objects of a Police Establishment will busy all the morning about my Police. I think thus be better effected than by the detection and it is going very well, the men look smart, and a punishment of the offender, after he has suc- strong contrast to the old watchmen."5' ceeded in committing the crime. This should... The magnitude of Peel's accomplishment, and be kept in mind by every member of the Police 49 Public Bills, I, 1829, pp. 409-415. force, as a guide to his own conduct.... 1 Ibid., p. 421. 49 Accounts and Papers, XXIII, 1830, p. 408. 51GEORGE PEEL, p. 117. J. L. LYM3AN VOi. 55 the potential for law and order, is shown by factors of vital importance in the development contrasting the available police protection for and design of the Metropolitan Police system. 1800 and 1830. In 1800: one thousand (1000) con- These factors shaped its development as a civilian stables and watch underseventy (70) different local police, and stressed the preventive function of trusts. In 1830: three thousand, three hundred and police. It is significant that for almost thirty fourteen police under two Commissioners, re- years there was no plain-clothes division. sponsible to Parliament through the Home Office. This was due to working class opposition, as Within five years (1834) a Select Committee, in- well as some political resistance, to any measure quiring into the state of the Police of the Metropo- which they thought resembled the Continental lis, was able to report that "The object ...long police-spy system. It took many years before the sought, viz. an efficient and systematic establish- new police gained the trust and confidence of the ment of Police, has been practically attained." The people. Economic dislocation, struggles for Committee found that violent offenses had de- political and economic reform, and riots would creased and detection of lighter ones increased, continue to plague England for several decades. "which is. . . what was to be expected from a good However, the real significance of the Metropolitan system of preventive Police."' Police lay in its example to the nation as a model All the political, social, and labor unrest, the for subsequent reform legislation riots, class suspicion, and agitation for reform and organization. It proved that an efficient decrease the use of troops during this period, together with the traditional police could greatly English concern for the liberty of the subject, are against civilians; that it could protect life and property; that it could be compatible with the 1-Reports from Committees, XVI, 1834, p. 4. English constitutional concepts of liberty.