One hundred years ago
THE GENERAL idea is that Birming- ham is, of all English towns, the most thoroughly civilised, that its finances are in excellent order, that the security of life and property is complete, and that its police, though governed by a Munici- pal Watch Committee, is as efficient as that of London. The Daily News shows, however, another side to the picture. Robbery of the very worst kind, because it prevents enterprise, is, according to that journal, practised with impunity. If a house remains unlet, or a new house waits for a tenant, robbers steal the lead-piping, carry off the woodwork of the stairs, and even make away with the bricks, presumably in carts. In one street, every house has been ruined, the neighbours burning floors and banisters from the pillaged houses for fuel. One large owner declares that people are afraid to take his houses, and the Watch Committee admit that the cases of such damage have been 119 in the last three months, and 171 in the preceding quar- ter. That is, 280 houses — or, say, two entire streets — wrecked every six months. The worst town in Western America would be disgraced by such a record, and would probably organise a Vigilance Committee with power to sus- pend offenders and offence. That is impossible in England; but one would Imagine that the employment of a few detectives, and the punishment of the offenders like any other burglars, would soon render Birmingham safe even for such criminals as builders.
The Spectator 14 October 1893
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