558 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



of most que8tion.ible policy. They 

 have felt it their duty to examine, 

 not only the magistrates of the 

 vaiinus police offices in the metro- 

 polis, but the officers of the police 

 themselves ; and the testimony of 

 many of these ])ersons, as well as 

 of tliose, with the exception of the 

 Kecorder of Loudon, who have 

 had most <>p|)ortunities of witness- 

 ing the effcts of tliis practice is, 

 that tiie system is most dangerous 

 in itself; thai it has produced the 

 the worst consequences ; and that 

 it cannot be too speedily aban- 

 doned. It has beenstateil to your 

 comnuttee, that it has the tendency, 

 and in some instances has pro- 

 duced the practice of inducing 

 persons to forswear themselves for 

 the luci'e of the reward ; that, 

 while sometimes the iiuiocenthave 

 forfeited tlieir lives, from the cu- 

 pidity of those who swore them 

 away, to obtain the money which 

 was to be paid on tlie conviction 

 of the accused ; in otlier cases, 

 substantial justice has not been 

 had, from the suspicion which 

 juries have entertained that the 

 real truth was not spoken, ami 

 that the i)rosecutnr or witness (m 

 the trial forswoie himself for the 

 vahie of the reward. Tiie odious 

 appellation of blood- money has 

 been given to these rewards ; and 

 your committee have found in all 

 quarters an abhorrence to exi.st 

 against them, which constantly 

 opeiates as impediments to public 

 justice. Your committee have 

 sought with gre:it anxiety to learn 

 from the \ arious mrgistrates whom 

 they have exanuned, if to their 

 knowledge or belief the system was 

 pioduitive of carelessness and in- 

 attention on the part of the officers 

 of the police to the conviction of 



minor offenders. The answer has 

 been from all, that tliey did not 

 conceive any sucli ( onsequence had 

 followed ; but, with due deference 

 to the opinion of these peisons, 

 ytiur committee cannot avoid re- 

 marking, lliat estimating tlie con- 

 duct of the police officers to be 

 guided by the common interest 

 and motives that govern the actions 

 of mankind, it is impossible that 

 they sliould not lie stimulated into 

 greater activity in cases where that 

 activity was to be rewarded, than 

 in those where it was not; besides, 

 it has been allowed that the pecu- 

 niary rewards offt-red by iiuiivi- 

 duals are great stimulants to the 

 exertions of officei s ; and it seems 

 reasonable to conclude, that the 

 absence of these rewards would 

 operate in a direct opposite ratio. 

 There can also be no doubt that 

 ottVnders have been suffered to be 

 trained on in their cuieer of crime 

 from the first offence which made 

 them amenable to the law, though 

 not yet objects of profit, till, step 

 by step, they have been led to the 

 commission of offences for which, 

 on their conviction, the parlia- 

 mentary reward could be obtained. 

 Your committee have inquired 

 into the mode in which parlia- 

 mentary rewards are distributed. 

 At the county assizes they are ap- 

 portioned by the judge wlio tries 

 tfje prisoners, the expenses of the 

 ])rosecution being first deducted; 

 and though, contrary to the ex- 

 press words of the various Acts of 

 Parliament, considerable demands 

 are made in the nature of fees. 

 In the Midland Circuit, the prac- 

 tice is to deduct first 1 5s. 6d. for 

 procming the signature of the 

 judge to the certificate of the con- 

 viction, besides a fee taken for the 



under 



