In the progress however of Society and Commerce, joined to the consequent influx of riches, producing luxury and extravagance, a larger field opened for cheats and sharpers of every description; insomuch, that the evil became so great, and the existing Laws were found so insufficient, as to render it necessary to provide a legislative remedy.
In applying this remedy, it seems that the great increase of a new species of cheating, practised by persons known in modern times by the name of _Swindlers_, had suggested the propriety of defining the offence, in a more applicable and specific manner, and of rendering the punishment more severe. By the act of 30 Geo. II. _cap._ 24. it is declared, "_that all persons obtaining money, goods, wares, or merchandise_, by false pretences, _shall be deemed offenders against the Law and the public peace; and the Court, before whom any such offender shall be tried, shall on conviction, order them to be put in the pillory, or publicly whipped, or transported for seven years_."
Thus stand the Laws at present with regard to Swindlers.[30] They ought certainly to embrace a wider field, so as to reach those artifices by which sharpers and persons of depraved minds, obtain money from the ignorant and unwary, by a.s.suming false characters, taking genteel lodgings, and cheating innocent tradesmen, who lose large sums annually by such depredations.
[Footnote 30: There appears to be a deficiency in the Act of 30th George the Second, cap. 24. in omitting to add _Bank Notes_ after the word _Money_, and also _Horses, Cattle, Sheep, or other Animals_, after goods, wares, and merchandise; since, (as has already been noticed, ante page 9,) it has been held that Bank Notes are not Money, nor are horses, cattle, &c. considered as goods, wares, or merchandise, according to the legal construction of any existing Statute.--An amendment of the Law with regard to these and other objects is the more necessary, as _Bank Notes_ and _Horses_ are, perhaps, more the objects of swindling, than other species of property.]
We shall next proceed to particularize the various cla.s.ses of Sharpers who thus prey upon the public: reserving all that relates to those more immediately connected with _Gaming Houses_ and _Lottery Insurances_ to the subsequent chapter.
I. _Sharpers who obtain Licences to become p.a.w.nbrokers_,[31] and bring disgrace upon the reputable part of the trade, by every species of fraud which can add to the distresses of those who are compelled to raise money in this way; for which purpose there are abundance of opportunities.--Swindling p.a.w.nbrokers, of this Cla.s.s, are uniformly receivers of stolen goods; and under the cover of their licence do much mischief to the Public. The evil arising from them might, in a great measure, be prevented by placing the power of granting licences in a general Board of Police; and rendering it necessary for all persons to produce a Certificate of character, before they can obtain such licence; and also to enter into recognizance for good behaviour.[32]
[Footnote 31:
Number of p.a.w.nbrokers within the Bills of } Persons .
Mortality, paying a licence of 10. a year. } 213 2130
In the Country, paying 5. a year. 432 2160 --- ---- Total 644 4290 --- ----]
[Footnote 32: A regulation of this kind is of great importance; as the property of the poorest and most distressed part of the community, to the amount of nearly one million sterling, is constantly in the hands of p.a.w.nbrokers in the Metropolis alone! and although it is of the utmost consequence that they, above all others, should be _honest, correct_ and even _humane_ characters, (and it is to be hoped many of them are of that description,) yet certain it is that any person, even the most notorious rogue or vagabond, who can raise ten pounds to pay for a licence, may at present set up the trade of p.a.w.nbroker; and it is even said that some have got licences who have actually been on board the Hulks!--a thing unavoidable under the present circ.u.mstances.]
II. _Sharpers and Swindlers who obtain Licences to be Hawkers and Pedlars_; under the cover of which every species of villainy is practised upon the country people, as well as upon the unwary in the Metropolis, and all the great towns in the kingdom.--The artifices by which they succeed, are various, as for example;--By fraudulent raffles, where plated goods are exhibited as silver, and where the chances are exceedingly against the adventurers;--By selling and uttering base money, and frequently forged Bank Notes, which make one of the most profitable branches of their trade;--By dealing in smuggled goods, thereby promoting the sale of articles injurious to the Revenue, besides cheating the ignorant with regard to the value;--By receiving stolen goods to be disposed of in the country, by which discoveries are prevented, and a.s.sistance afforded to common thieves and stationary receivers;--By purchasing stolen horses in one part of the country, and disposing of them in another, in the course of their journies; in accomplishing which, so as to elude detection, they have great opportunities;--By gambling with EO Tables at Fairs and Horse-races.
A number of other devices might be pointed out, which render this cla.s.s of men great nuisances in Society; and shew the necessity of either suppressing them totally, (for in fact they are of little use to the Public;) or of limiting the licences only to men of good character; to be granted by a general Board of Police under whose controul they should be placed, while they enter at the same time into a recognizance in a certain sum, with one surety for good behaviour; by which the honest part would be retained, to the exclusion of the fraudulent.
III. _Swindlers who take out Licences as Auctioneers_, and open shops in different parts of the Metropolis, with persons at the doors, usually denominated _Barkers_, inviting strangers to walk in. In these places, various articles of silver plate and household goods are exposed to sale, made up on a slight principle, and of little intrinsic value; a.s.sociates, generally denominated _Puffers_, are in waiting to bid up the article to a sum greatly beyond its value, when, upon the first bidding of the stranger, it is knocked down to him, and the money instantly demanded; the goods, however, on being carried home and examined, are generally found to be very different in reality, from what their appearance exhibited, and upon a close examination the fraud is discovered.
Neither the common Law, nor the Act of the 30th George II. cap. 24, seem to be sufficiently _broad_ and explanatory to include this species of offence; and hence it is, that this mode of selling goods continues with impunity, and seems to increase. It is not, however, meant here to insinuate that all petty auctions are fraudulent.--It is to be hoped there may be some exceptions, although probably, they are not numerous. A licence from a general Board of Police, and to be subject to certain restrictions only burdensome to the dishonest, and obliging the parties to find security, would, in a great measure, regulate this kind of business, in a proper manner.
IV. _Swindlers who raise money, by pretending to be Discounters of Bills, and Money Brokers_; These chiefly prey upon young men of property, who have lost their money at play, or spent it in expensive amus.e.m.e.nts, and are obliged to raise more upon any terms, until their rents or incomes become payable; or who have fortunes in prospect, as being heirs apparent to estates, but who require a.s.sistance in the mean time.
Availing themselves of the credit, or the ultimate responsibility, of such thoughtless and giddy young men, in the eager pursuit of criminal pleasures, and under the influence of those allurements which the Faro Tables, and other places of fashionable resort hold out--these Swindlers seldom fail to obtain from them securities and obligations for large sums; upon the credit of which they are enabled, perhaps, at usurious interest, to borrow money, or discount bills; and thus supply their unfortunate customers upon the most extravagant terms.
Another cla.s.s, having some capital, advance money upon bonds, t.i.tle-deeds, and other specialities, or upon the bond of the parties having estates in reversion: by these and other devices too tedious to detail, large sums of money are, most unwarrantably and illegally, wrested from the dissipated and thoughtless: and misery and distress are thus entailed upon them, as long as they live; or they are driven, by utter ruin, to acts of desperation or to crimes.
A Law seems absolutely necessary to be pointed at this particular mischief, which is certainly an increasing evil.--Humanity pleads for it; and _Policy_ points out the necessity of some effectual guard against those miseries which it generates; and which could not exist in so great a degree, were it not for the opportunities held out by these blood-suckers, in affording money to the young and inexperienced, to be expended in scenes of gambling and debauchery.
V. _A Cla.s.s of Cheats of the Society of Jews, who are to be found in every street, lane and alley in and near the Metropolis, under the pretence of purchasing old clothes, and metals of different sorts_; Their chief business really is to prowl about the houses and stables of men of rank and fortune, for the purpose of holding out temptations to the servants to pilfer and steal small articles, not likely to be missed, which these Jews purchase at about one third of the real value.--It is supposed that upwards of fifteen hundred of these depraved people are employed in diurnal journies of this kind; by which, through the medium of bad money, and other fraudulent dealings, many of them acquire property, and then set up shops and become Receivers of stolen Goods.
It is estimated that there are from fifteen to twenty thousand Jews in the city of London, besides, perhaps, about five or six thousand more in the great provincial and sea-port towns; (where there are at least twenty synagogues, besides six in the Metropolis;) most of the lower cla.s.ses of those distinguished by the name of German or Dutch Jews, live chiefly by their wits, and establish a system of mischievous intercourse all over the country, the better to carry on their fraudulent designs in the circulation of base money,--the sale of stolen goods, and in the purchase of metals of various kinds; as well as other articles pilfered from the Dock-Yards, and stolen in the provincial towns, which they bring to the Metropolis to elude detection,--and _vice versa_.
Educated in idleness from their earliest infancy, they acquire every debauched and vicious principle which can fit them for the most complicated arts of fraud and deception; to which they seldom fail to add the crime of perjury, whenever it can be of use, in shielding themselves or their a.s.sociates from the punishment of the law.--From the orange boy, and the retailer of seals, razors, gla.s.s, and other wares, in the public streets, to the shop-keeper, dealer in wearing apparel, or in silver and gold, the same principles of conduct too generally prevail.
The itinerants utter base money to enable them, by selling cheap, to dispose of their goods; while those that are stationary, with very few exceptions, receive and purchase, at an under-price, whatever is brought them, without asking questions.
VI. _Cheats who sell provisions and other articles by means of false weights and measures._ Nothing requires the a.s.sistance of the Legislature in a greater degree than this evil; to shield the Poor against the numerous tricks thus practised upon them, by low and inferior shop-keepers and itinerants.
The ancient System of regulating this useful branch of Police by the Juries of the Court-Leet, having been found ineffectual, and in many respects inapplicable to the present state of Society, an act pa.s.sed the 35th of his present Majesty, (_cap._ 102,) to remedy the inconvenience with regard to fraudulent weights; but difficulties having occurred on account of the expence of carrying it into execution, certain amendments were made by another act, (37 Geo. III.
_c._ 143,) and the Magistrates in Petty Sessions have now power to appoint Examiners of weights, and to authorize them to visit shops, seize false weights, &c.
This plan, if pursued as steadily as that which already prevails in regulating Bakers, promises to produce very valuable benefits to the lower ranks of people at a very small expence.
VII. _Cheats and Swindlers who a.s.sociate together, and enter into a conspiracy for the purpose of defrauding Tradesmen of their goods._--One of these sharpers generally a.s.sumes the character of a Merchant;--hires a genteel house, with a counting-house, and every appearance of business.--One or two a.s.sociates take upon them the appearance of Clerks, while others occasionally wear a livery: and sometimes a carriage is set up, in which the ladies of the party visit the shops, in the stile of persons of fashion, ordering goods to their apartments.--Thus circ.u.mstanced, goods are obtained on credit, which are immediately p.a.w.ned or sold, and the produce used as a means of deception to obtain more, and procure recommendations, by offering to pay ready money,--or discount bills.
When confidence is once established in this way, notes and bills are fabricated by these conspirators, as if remitted from the country, or from foreign parts; and application is made to their newly acquired friends, the tradesmen, to a.s.sist in discounting them. Sometimes money and bills upon one another are lodged at the bankers for the purpose of extending their credit, by referring to some respectable name for a character.
After circulating notes to a considerable amount, and completing their system of fraud by possessing as much of the property of others as is possible, without risk of detection, they move off; a.s.sume new characters; and when the bills and notes are due, the parties are not to be found.
Offences of this sort, where an actual conspiracy cannot be proved, which is generally very difficult, are not easily punished; and it seems of importance that frauds and impositions of this sort, and others of the same nature, where the confidence of tradesmen and manufacturers is abused by misrepresentation and falsehood, should be defined, so as to render it difficult for the parties to escape punishment.
VIII. _Cheats who take genteel Lodgings, dress elegantly, a.s.sume false names_:--pretend to be related to persons of credit and fashion--produce letters familiarly written to prove an intimacy,--enter into conversation, and shew these letters to tradesmen and others, upon whom they have a design--get into their good graces, purchase wearing apparel and other articles, and disappear with the booty.
This species of offence would be very difficult to reach by any existing Law, and yet it is practised in various shapes in the Metropolis, whereby tradesmen are defrauded to a very considerable extent.--Some legislative guards would certainly be very desirable to define and punish these offences also.
IX. _Cheats, who have been formerly in the service of Milliners, Mantua-Makers, Taylors, and other Traders, who have occasion to send to shop-keepers and warehous.e.m.e.n for goods_;--These, after being discharged from their service, getting into the company of sharpers and thieves, while out of place, teach them how to personate their former employers; in whose names they too frequently succeed in obtaining considerable quant.i.ties of goods before the fraud is discovered.
It would certainly be a good rule at no time to deliver goods upon a verbal message; and it would be useful if all persons discharging servants, would give notice of it to every tradesmen with whom they deal.
X. _Cheats who personate Gentlemen"s footmen_; These order goods to be sent to a genteel lodging, where the a.s.sociate is waiting, who draws upon some banker in a distant part of the town for the money; or, if the check is refused, a country bank-note (the gentleman just being arrived in town) is offered to be changed, which, although a forgery, often succeeds: if this should also fail, this mischievous cla.s.s of people, from habit and close attention to the means of deception, are seldom at a loss in finding out some other expedient; and before the fraud is discovered, the parties are off; and the master transformed into the livery-servant, to practise in his turn the same trick upon some other person.
XI. _Cheats who a.s.sociate systematically together, for the purpose of finding out and making a prey of every person from the country, or any ignorant person who is supposed to have money, or who has come to London for the purpose of selling goods._--It is usual in such cases for one of them to a.s.sume the character of a young "Squire, just come to his estate; to appear careless and prodigal, and to shew handfuls of bank-notes, all of which are false and fabricated for the purpose.
Another personates the guardian of the "Squire, while a part of the a.s.sociates pretend to sit down to play, and having won money of the young spendthrift, who appears extremely ignorant and profuse, the stranger"s avarice gets the better of his prudence, and he is induced at length to try his luck,--the result is that he is soon left without a penny.
XII. _Cheats who prowl about in all the streets and lanes of the trading part of the Metropolis, where shopmen and boys are carrying parcels_: These, by means of various stratagems, find out where the parcels are going, and regulating their measures accordingly, seldom fail by some trick or other, (such as giving the lad a shilling to run and call a coach,) to get hold of the property.--Porters and young men from the country should be particularly cautious never to quit any property intrusted to their care, until delivered (not at the door) but within the house to which it is directed.
XIII. _Cheats who attend Inns, at the time that coaches and waggons are loading or unloading._ These by personating _porters_ with ap.r.o.ns and knots, or _clerks_ with pens stuck in their wigs or hair, and by having recourse to a variety of stratagems, according to the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the case, aided by their having previously noticed the address of several of the parcels, seldom fail of success, in the general hurry and confusion which prevails at such places. This proves how necessary it is at all times to have one or two intelligent officers of justice, who know the faces of thieves, in attendance, while goods are receiving and delivering.
XIV. _Cheats who go from door to door collecting money; under pretence of soliciting for a charitable establishment_, for the benefit of poor children, and other purposes. But the money, instead of being so applied, is generally spent in eating and drinking; and the most infamous imposition is thus practised upon the charitable and humane, who are the dupes of this species of fraud in too many instances.
XV. _Sharpers who are known by the name of Duffers._ These go about from house to house, and attend public houses, inns, and fairs, pretending to sell smuggled goods, such as India handkerchiefs, waistcoat patterns, muslins, &c. By offering their goods for sale, they are enabled to discover the proper objects, who may be successfully practised upon in various ways; and if they do not succeed in promoting some gambling scheme, by which the party is plundered of his money, they seldom fail pa.s.sing forged country bank notes, or base silver and copper in the course of their dealings.
XVI. _Female Sharpers who dress elegantly, personate women of fashion, attend masquerades, and even go to St. James"s._ These, from their effrontery, actually get into the circle; where their wits and hands are employed in obtaining diamonds, and whatever other articles of value, capable of being concealed, are found to be most accessible.
The wife of a well-known sharper, lately upon the town, is said to have appeared at Court, dressed in a stile of peculiar elegance: while the sharper himself is supposed to have gone in the dress of a clergyman.--According to the information of a noted receiver, they pilfered to the value of 1700. on the King"s birth-day (1795,) without discovery or suspicion.
Houses are kept where female Cheats dress and undress for public places.--Thirty or forty of these sharpers generally attend all masquerades, in different characters, where they seldom fail to get clear off with a considerable booty.
XVII. _Among the cla.s.ses of Cheats may be ranked a species of Female Bankers._ These accommodate barrow-women and others, who sell fish, fruit, vegetables, &c. in the streets, with five shillings a day; (the usual diurnal stock in trade in such cases;) for the use of which, for twelve hours, they obtain a premium of _six-pence_, when the money is returned in the evening, receiving thereby at this rate, about _seven pounds ten shillings a year_ for every five shillings they lend out!
The Author, in the course of his Magisterial duty, having discovered this extraordinary species of fraud, attempted to explain to a barrow-woman on whom it was practised, that by saving up a single _five shillings_, and not laying any part of it out in gin, but keeping the whole, she would save 7. 10_s._ a year, which seemed to astonish her, and to stagger her belief.--It is to be feared, however, that it had no effect upon her future conduct, since it is evident that this improvident and dissolute cla.s.s of females have no other idea than that of making the day and the way alike long.--Their profits (which are often considerably augmented by dealing in base money, as well as fruit, vegetables, &c.) seldom last over the day, for they never fail to have a luxurious dinner and a hot supper, with abundance of gin and porter:--looking in general no farther than to keep whole the original stock, with the _six-pence_ interest, which is paid over to the female banker in the evening; and a new loan obtained on the following morning, of the same number of shillings again to go to market.
In contemplating this curious system of Banking, (trifling as it seems to be) it is impossible not to be forcibly struck with the immense profits that arise from it. It is only necessary for one of these female sharpers to possess a capital of _seventy shillings_, or three pounds ten shillings, with fourteen steady and regular customers, in order to realize an income of ONE HUNDRED GUINEAS a year!
XVIII. _Cheats who pretend to tell fortunes._ These impose on the credulity of the public, by advertis.e.m.e.nts and cards; pretending a power, from their knowledge of astrology, to foretell future events, to discover stolen property, lucky numbers in the Lottery, &c.
The extent to which this mischief goes in the Metropolis is almost beyond belief; particularly during the drawing of the Lottery.--The folly and phrenzy which prevail in vulgar life, lead ignorant and deluded people into the snare of adding to the misfortunes which the Lottery occasions, by additional advances of money (obtained generally by p.a.w.ning goods or apparel) paid to pretended astrologers for suggesting _lucky numbers_, upon which they are advised to make insurances; and under the influence of this unaccountable delusion, they are too often induced to increase their risks, and ruin their families.
One of these impostors who lived long in the Curtain-Road, Sh.o.r.editch, is said, in conjunction with his a.s.sociates, to have made near 300. a year by practising upon the credulity of the lower orders of the people.--He stiled himself (in his circulating cards) an _Astronomer and Astrologer_; and stated, _That he gave advice to Gentlemen and Ladies on business, trade, contracts, removals, journies by land or water, marriages, children, law-suits, absent friends, &c._ And further, that _he calculated nativities accurately_,--His fee was half-a-crown.