policing poverty

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Policing povertyDean Wilson aa Monash UniversityPublished online: 27 Jan 2009.

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Destitution and Policing Poverty

Police Work in Melbourne,

DEAN WILSON

1880-1910

This paper examines the historical importance of police welfare functions. Historians have too often neglected this area of police work, which represented a crucial interface

between local communities and the police institution throughout the nineteenth century. While American studies suggest there was a transformation in policing from class

control to crime control, Australian evidence indicates an alternative trajectory in the evolving welfare role of police. Despite the growth of new professionals and agencies of

government in the later nineteenth century, the police remained a vital conduit in relationships between the destitute and the State. This was largely due to the police

organisation "s unrivalled bureaucratic and archival capacity and its pervasive street presence. This ensured that, while police interactions with the poor became more bureaucratised and formalised, police retained a significant welfare role into the

twentieth century.

I N ¢ O N V E N T I O N A t A ¢ C O U N T S O F pol icing his tory 'welfare ' func t ions are all too of ten cursori ly dismissed as one of n u m e r o u s ' ex t r aneous dut ies ' police per formed in the n i n e t e e n t h century. The work street- level police per formed in deal ing wi th p rob lems of pover ty are v iewed as vestiges of earlier concept ions of

police work. In teleological accounts , such func t ions are inev i tab ly a b a n d o n e d in a process of police m o d e r n i s a t i o n in favour of a focus u p o n ' real police work ' , represen ted by the tasks of c r iminal inves t iga t ion a nd detect ion. For o ther

writers, police e n g a g e m e n t wi th the dest i tute in the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y provides evidence of a l ineage of oppressive a n d d iscr iminatory practices ex t end ing in to the present . However, the police welfare func t i on in colonial Aus t ra l i an cities has no t b e e n a subject of i nqu i ry in its o w n right. Whi le a . n u m b e r of writers have a l luded to the historical d imens ions of the 'social welfare ' role of police in Australia, it r ema ins a significantly neglected area. 1

1 For mention of the wide variety of police tasks see D. Chappell & RR. Wilson, The Police and Public in Australia and New Zealand, (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1969), 30; Robert Haldane, The People's Force, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), i09; more specifi- cally on welfare role see Stephen Garton, Out of Work: Poor Australians and Social Welfare, (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990), 47, 59-60; For a more extended discussion of the police welfare role see Susanne Davies, '"Ragged, Dirty ... Infamous and Obscene" The Vagrant in Late Nineteenth- Century Melbourne', in A Nation of Rogues?: Crime, Law & Punishment in Colonial Australia, eds David Philips & Susanne Davies, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1994) 158; Susanne Davies, 'Vagrancy and the Victorians: The Social Construction of the Vagrant in Melbourne, 1880-1907', (PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 1991 ).

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98 Australian Historical Studies, 125, 2005

Bri t ish a n d Nor th A m e r i c a n h is tor ians have g iven g rea te r a t t e n t i o n to the social we l fa re role of pol ice, x In Nor th Amer ica , h i s to r i ans have d r a w n on the pe r suas ive a r g u m e n t s of Eric M o n k k o n e n . M o n k k o n e n focused on two pol ice act ivi t ies , the ove rn igh t lodg ing of t r amps a n d the r e t u r n of lost chi ldren, a rgu ing these services func t ioned to con t ro l the ' d a n g e r o u s class' . The visible dec l ine in pol ice p rov i s ion of these we l f a re services in the 1890s a c c o m p a n i e d a less vis ible t r a n s f o r m a t i o n in the role of u r b a n pol ice f rom class con t ro l to c r ime cont ro l . 3 S imi la r a t t e n t i o n to the we l fa re role of the pol ice has also b e g u n in C a n a d i a n h i s to r iography , w h e r e s tudies suggest in te rac t ions b e t w e e n the pol ice a n d the u n e m p l o y e d were no t a lways hos t i le a n d i n c l u d e d the p rov i s ion of she l t e r a n d pol ice mob i l i s a t i on of civic rel ief efforts. 4

These d e v e l o p m e n t s in t he i n t e r n a t i o n a l h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of pol ic ing p rov ide a usefu l s ta r t ing po in t for a m o r e de ta i l ed accoun t of po l ic ing and p o v e r t y in the Aus t r a l i an context . In this ar t ic le I a rgue the po l ic ing of p o v e r t y was n e i t h e r a n e x t r a n e o u s pol ice du ty n o r an exerc i se in re len t less oppress ion . Rather , po l ice in t e rac t ions w i th p r o b l e m s of p o v e r t y we re in t r ins ica l ly i n t e r t w i n e d w i t h the n a t u r e of pol ice pa t ro l w o r k a n d wi th the s t ruc ture a n d o rgan i sa t ion of pol ic ing. Police 'we l f a r e ' act ivi t ies s t e m m e d f rom two sources. One factor ( c o m m o n also in the u r b a n cent res of n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Eu rope a n d N o r t h Amer ica ) was the pe rvas ive s t ree t p resence of pol ice, r e n d e r i n g t h e m the agency of the s ta te m o s t l iable to e n c o u n t e r cases of i nd iv idua l des t i t u t ion o n a r egu la r basis. The pol ice we l fa re role was i n t i m a t e l y b o u n d w i th t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s in concep t ions of the pol ice role. In the m i d - n i n e t e e n t h century , pol ice we l fa re dut ies f o r m e d pa r t of t he gene ra l pol ice task of m a i n t a i n i n g surve i l l ance ove r t he c r imina l class. As the p r e v a l e n c e of the ' c r imina l class ' concep t r eceded the sui tabi l i ty of pol ice as a n a g e n c y of social wel fa re was inc reas ing ly cal led in to ques t ion . F r o m the 1890s, the des i re to r e m o v e the s t igma of c r imina l i ty f rom m a n y social p r o b l e m s was m a n i f e s t e d in m o v e s to r e d u c e pol ice i n v o l v e m e n t in we l fa re activit ies.

Dec l in ing pol ice i n v o l v e m e n t in the a rea of we l f a r e r e su l t ed b o t h f rom the rise of we l f a r e exper t s w h o s u p e r s e d e d pol ice func t ions , a n d f rom the p e r c e p t i o n of po l ice officials tha t we l f a r e act ivi t ies w e r e n o t ' r ea l ' po l ice work . However , m o v e s to ex t r ica te pol ice f r o m the wel fa re field w e r e a lways m e d i a t e d b y the

2 For discussion of the welfare role of police in Britain see Carolyn Steedman, Policing the Victorian Community: The Formation of the English Provincial Police Forces, 1856-1880, (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984), 56-59 in which she examines the police role in enfordng the poor law, see also Clive Emsley, The English Police: A Political and Social History, (New York: St. Martins Press, t991), 76 and 146-147; see also Barbara Weinberger and Herbert Reinke, "A Diminishing Function? A Comparative Historical Account of Policing in the City', Policing and Society, 1, no. 3 (1991): 213-223.

3 Eric Monkkonen, Police in Urban America, 1860-1920, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 86-128.

4 See John C. Weaver, 'Social Control, Martial Conformity, and Community Entaglement: The Varied Beat of the Hamilton Police, 1895-1920', Urban History Review/Revue d'historie urbaine 19, no. 2 (October 1990): 124; and his 'Introduction: Trends and Questions in New Historical Accounts of Policing': 79-83 in the same issue; see also Greg Marquis, 'The Police as a Sodal Service in Early Twentieth-Century Toronto', Histoire Sociale--Social History 25, no, 50 (November 1992): 335-358.

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Wilson: Destitution and Police Work in Melbourne, 1880-1910 99

pragmatic utility of the police as information gatherers and archivists. As Mark Finnane indicates, police in colonial Australia were 'an archetypal institution of modern g o v e r n m e n t ' ) The street presence of police combined with the bureaucratic capacity of the police organisation resulted in a continued police role in welfare, both in providing information and offering up subjects for the inter- vention of new welfare professionals. The continued utility of the police as providers of information meant that they retained welfare functions into the twentieth century.

Policing incorporated a 'welfare' dimension from the early period of European settlement in Victoria. From the 1840s police utilised the vagrancy acts to arrest the destitute on the street, with those unable to support themselves were committed to gaol 'as a charity'. 6 In 1840 Jane Spiers was brought before the Police Court charged with vagrancy. She had appeared twice before on the same charge and at her previous hearing evidence had been heard to the effect that she had been deserted by her husband and left 'in a deplorable state of destitution'. Further investigation revealed she had relatives and friends residing in Hobart Town, and the suggestion was made that it would be an act of charity to her if a subscription could be raised so that she could be sent there. Chief Consta- ble Smith solicited subscriptions and she was sent to Van Diemen's Land endowed with a parcel of clothing and a small sum of money. 7

Destitute people arrested by police on the streets served short sentences in the Melbourne Gaol. Appearing before the Select Committee on Penal Establish- ments in 1857, George Wintle, the governor of Melbourne Gaol, acknowledged that he received many prisoners of this description into the gaol from the Police Bench. 8 The commissioners were clearly concerned by the conflating of charity with the criminal justice system, foreshadowing an issue that would gain m o m e n t u m in later decades. Wintle conceded he could not differentiate between destitute prisoners and those confined for felonies, although those serving brief sentences of a week, a fortnight or a month, either for drunkenness or under the auspices of the Vagrant Act, were not required to dress in prison garb or have their heads shaved. 9

While vagrancy laws were utilised to provide relief for those in the most dire need, they retained a considerable punitive element. Police, in combination with magistrates, frequently utilised vagrancy provisions to move problematic cases of poverty from their jurisdictions, thus relieving themselves of the burden of providing either relief or punishment. John White, a seventy-eight year old rag and bone collector, was discharged upon making the promise that he would to go

5 Mark Finnane, Police and Government: Histories of Policing in Australia, (Melbourne: Oxford Univer- sity Press, 1994), 30.

6 Sheila Bignell, 'Child Welfare in Victoria 1840-1865', (MA thesis, Monash University, I977), i7. 7 Port Phillip Patriot & Melbourne Advertiser, 1 June i840, 4. 8 Testimony of George Wintle, Governor of Melbourne Gaol, 26 January 1857, Q. 2090, 9I, Report

from the Select Committee of the Legislative Council on the subject of Penal Establishments, Votes and Proceedings of the Legislative Council, 1856157.

9 Testimony of George Wintle, Governor of Melbourne Gaol, 26 January 1857, Q. 2092, 91, Select Committee on the subject of Penal Establishments.

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I oo Aus t ra l ian Historical Studies, 125, 2005

tO Geelong and ' the Bench should never see his face again'. 1° Inside the court- house, the testimony and assessment of character provided by police was instru- mental in shaping the magistrate's judgement as to whether an individual was deserving or undeserving. William Douglas, an old man arrested by police for begging, elicited little sympathy from the magistrates despite the fact that he was crying from hunger when taken to the watch-house. Police informed the bench that they found money, meat and bread in his pockets when he was searched after arrest, and that he was well known to them as 'a constant frequenter of taps and low public houses'. Douglas was sentenced to six months hard labour.ll

Punitive measures against those deemed undeserving co-existed with more altruistic treatment in cases individual policemen judged legitimate. Sarah Cox, who was found 'wandering about the streets very ill', applied to the watch-house keeper to be allowed to pass the night in custody. The Sergeant charged her with vagrancy 'for forms sake', t2 Direct provision of relief was also provided at the local watch-house. Mrs Dangerfield and her three children appeared at the watch-house 'in a famishing condition' and the watch-house keeper reported that he had been 'obliged to send for food for them' . 13 Others clearly saw the benefit of arrest in hard times. In the winter of 1865 William Flynn, 'a powerful robust looking fellow' stood throwing stones at the windows of Parliament House until he was arrested, claiming 'he wanted to be imprisoned having no means of getting a meal'. 14 The amount of relief available from the police or through the courts remained highly contingent upon the attitude of individual magistrates and policemen. 15

Although the network of charitable institutions increased in the 1880s, police continued to perform an invaluable service providing for cases of dire need. While charity w o r k e r s m a y have turned away those with a taste for drink or other 'undeserving' habits, the police watch-house offered some chance of a meal and shelter. 16 One elderly woman, Isabella Summers, clearly saw the police as the most likely agency to assist her. Ill from the effects of alcohol withdrawal, she approached a constable in the street and requested to be taken to the watch- house. 17 Herbert Johnson appeared at the King Street watch-house on a Sunday evening, asking to be placed in a cell 'as he was in want of food and had no means of procuring shelter', j8 Joseph Pinkerton also approached the King Street watch- house keeper in the winter mon th of June. Explaining to the watch-house

lo Argus, 18 July 1857, 4. i1 Argus, 30 August 1864, 6. 12 Argus, 15 July 1857, 6. 13 Argus, 20 November 1855, 5; see also Christina Twomey, 'Courting Men: mothers, magistrates

and welfare in the Australian colonies', Women "s History Review 8, no.2 (I999): 231-246. 14 Age, 14 July 1865, 7. 15 Bignell, 17. 16 On the attitudes prevalent among charity workers of the period see Shurlee Swain, 'The Poor

People of Melbourne', in The Outcasts of Melbourne: Essays in Social History, eds. Graeme Davison, David Dunstan & Chris McConville (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1985), 108-112.

I7 Age, 9 August 1884, 10. 18 Age, 29 July 1884, 8.

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Wilson: Destitution and Police Work in Melbourne, 1880-1910 ! 01

keeper that he had 'no home, no friends, no employment and no money ' , Pinkerton asked to be locked up as 'if compelled to sleep out of doors another night he would die, if not from hunger, from the cold. '19 While there may be some validity in the argument that benevolent use of the police watch-house branded ' the needy as criminal' and 'reinforced existing social inequalities', it is difficult to see how the situation would have been improved by policemen turning the impoverished away. 2°

While historians such as Susanne Davies regard altruistic police practices as an aberration, the policing of the destitute was characterised more by ambiguities than relentless oppression. Benevolent practices co-existed with harsh treatment for 'loafers' and those considered 'undeserving' . In his Police Guide, John Barry advised police that it was one of the maxims of police duty to 'watch narrowly all persons having no visible means of support ' . 21 Some policemen clearly took Barry's advice to heart. Catherine Hayes, who was arrested for sleeping in an abandoned house, complained that Constable Booth 'hunted her about wherever she went and would not let her alone when trying to earn her living'. 22

Clearly, police identified a group among the poor deemed wor thy of harass- ment rather than assistance. By the 1880s, when concerns for civic respectability increased, demands for police to remove those offending middle-class standards of decorum from public spaces accelerated. The figure of the vagrant represented an inverse reflection of Victorian ideals of thrift, sobriety, independence, and in the case of female vagrants, chastity. 23 Periodic crackdowns on the homeless, usually initiated by private complaints, were a common, if sporadic, aspect of police work. In 1879 police made 139 arrests in the Domain over fourteen months after receiving complaints that the area was 'infested by bad characters'. Despite the fact that most of the 'crowd of loiterers' were either inmates or outdoor relief recipients of the Immigrants Home they were nevertheless marched off to the watch-house. 24

In 1887, Senior Constable McHugh provided some indication of police perceptions of those deserving close police attention. Complaints that vagrants frequented the Public Library generated several police reports, describing the 'wharf rats' assembling in the Reading Room. According to McHugh, these men exhibited the physical signs of the ' loafer ' - - grimy collars, mud-caked decaying boots, and ' that filthy odour that comes from unwashed garments and a filthy

19 Age, 30 June 1884, 6. 20 Davies, 'Ragged, Dirty ... Infamous and Obscene', 154. 21 John Barry, Victorian Police Guide containing practical and legal instructions for police constables, (Sand-

hurst: J.W. Burrows, 1888), 20. 22 Age, 30 June 1884, 6. 23 Davies, A Nation of Rogues? [see notes elsewhere], 143-144; for other studies of police and the

homeless see S.L. Harring, "Class Conflict and the Suppression of Tramps in Buffalo, 1892-1894', Law and Society Review 11, (1977): 873-911; Sidney L. Harring, Policing a Class Society: The Experi- ence of American Cities, 1865-1915 (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1983), Chpt. 9; Jeffrey S. Adler, Wagging the Demons and Scoundrels: Vagrancy and the Growth of St. Louis, 1830-1861', Journal of Urban History 13, no. 1 (November 1986): 3-30.

24 Acting Chief Commissioner of Police to W.R. Guilfoyle Esq., 22 April 1879, VPRS 937/302.

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skin ' . Cons tab le Gil l igan was soon pa t ro l l ing t h r o u g h l ibrary f rom 2 p m to l O p m daily, e jec t ing those f o u n d s leep ing or o the rwi se d e m e a n i n g the Library 's upl if t - ing p u r p o s e . 25

Never the less , p o l i c e m e n w e r e m o r e d iscern ing in app ly ing the label ' v a g r a n t ' t h a n m a n y middle -c lass observers . In 1892, r e s p o n d i n g to compla in t s t ha t pol ice p e r m i t t e d vagran ts to lo i ter a b o u t the streets, S u p e r i n t e n d e n t Sadleir r e m a r k e d on the inc rease in the n u m b e r of u n e m p l o y e d ' w h o m a y h a v e been m i s t a k e n for vagran t s ' . 26 To be classed as a ' w h a r f ra t ' or ' loafe r ' by pol ice r equ i r ed s o m e t h i n g m o r e t h a n be ing w i t h o u t a j ob or h o m e . A l t h o u g h a subject of cons ide rab le i n t e r e s t to jou rna l i s t s a n d midd le -c l a s s c o m p l a i n a n t s , pol ice r e g a r d e d the h o m e l e s s derel ic t as m o r e of a nu i sance t h a n a th rea t . In 1905, Chief C o m m i s - s ioner O 'Ca l l aghan r e m a r k e d tha t the Vagrant Act was used to ar res t bo th 'a m e r e mi se rab l e beggar m a n ' and ' c r imina l ' . W h i l e r ega rd ing the c r imina l as dange rous , O ' C a l l a g h a n t h o u g h t the ' begga r m a n ' m e r e l y 'a p e s t ' S

Pol ic ing of the ' v a g r a n t ' i n v o l v e d coercion, bu t a n equa l ly i m p o r t a n t pol ice func t ion was faci l i tat ing the surv iva l of the des t i tu te . The pol ice role in secur ing med ica l a t t endance , she l te r a n d hosp i t a l i sa t ion for the des t i tu te suffer ing f rom ch ron ic a lcohol i sm, m a l n u t r i t i o n or t e r m i n a l i l lnesses was essent ia l for i nd iv idu - als ex is t ing largely b e y o n d the r each of p r iva te chari ty. This func t ion r e su l t ed f rom t h e s t ree t p re sence of pa t ro l work , w h i c h m e a n t tha t cons tables we re l ike ly to e n c o u n t e r ind iv idua l s suf fer ing f rom a va r ie ty of p r o b l e m s n e e d i n g i m m e d i a t e r e so lu t ion . 28 M a n y cases w e r e h a p p e n e d u p o n by cons tab les as t hey t r ead the i r beats , bu t ind iv idua ls also r e q u e s t e d pol ice ass is tance w h e n ser ious ly ill, recog- n is ing the pol ice as an agency l ike ly to secure relief. In 1887, Cons tab le Bray was cal led to the h o u s e of Sa rah Smi th in Little Lonsda le St ree t w h o was suffer ing f rom Chinese leprosy, and a s k e d to be t a k e n in charge "as she is w h o l l y des t i tu te and a lmos t unab l e to wa lk ' . 29 Se rgean t Bell was ca l led to a h o u s e in R i c h m o n d w h e r e he came across a y o u n g w o m a n , Har r ie t Fletcher , ly ing on an old s t r e t che r w i t h t he b o d y of a s t i l lborn chi ld ly ing in a pi le of c lo thes in the corner . Bell a r r a n g e d for a local doc tor to call on the h o u s e in t w o days. 3° M o r e f requent ly , h o w e v e r , pol ice w o u l d c o m e across peop l e in va r ious stages of i l lness in t he

25 Report of Constable Gilligan re: vagrants in public library, 27 May 1887, Report of Senior Constable McHugh, 20 May 1887, Bundle 3, VPRS 937132; see also Argus, 7 April 1887; Police had performed duty at the Public Library from its opening in 1856, see Chief Commissioner of Police to Inspector Winch re: Police on duty at Public Library to patrol at rear of buildings occa- sionally, 20 November 1873, ¥PRS 9371294; in this correspondence the Chief Commissioner mentions 'the constable who is generally to be found in the entrance hall to the library'.

26 Chris McConville, 'Outcast Melbourne: Social Deviance in the City 1880-1914', (MA thesis, University of Melbourne, 1974), 57.

27 Testimony of Thomas O'Callaghan, Chief Commissioner of Police, 22 September 1905, Q. 1236, Royal Commission on the Victorian Police Force, 1906, 45.

2s For the continued importance of the police as an agency to respond to problems requiring immediate resolution cf. Egon Bittner, Aspects of Police Work, (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1990), 249-250.

_~9 Report of Constable Bray re: women named Sarah Smith suffering from incurable disease, 21 July 1887, VPRS 9371336.

3o Report of Sergeant Bell re: attendance on sick pauper, 28 February 1884, VPRS 937•311.

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street. Constable Lillis, while walking his beat in Coll ingwood, was in formed by a local shopkeeper tha t a w o m a n had collapsed in the street. He proceeded to fetch a cab for the w o m e n - - w h o was suffering f rom per i ton i t i s - - and conveyed her to the Melbourne Hospital. 31 Few o ther agencies of the state had the pervasive street presence and bureaucracy of the police force al lowing t h e m to deal with such crises as they occurred.

If the police gained legit imacy and improved relat ionships wi th sections of the c o m m u n i t y t h r o u g h per forming welfare functions, the same did no t apply to the police role in enforcing distress and e jec tment warran ts issued by the courts. Constable Patrick Bourke, in 1882, was str idently opposed to the police carrying ou t such work, bel ieving it 'places the police in a very low es t imat ion of a great m a n y of the public ' . Constable Michael De laney also considered that adminis ter- ing distress war ran t s should be r e m o v e d f rom police duties, no t on ly because it was u n p o p u l a r but also because it took up 'a great deal of t ime' . 32 As the e c o n o m y collapsed in the I890s, act ing as bailiffs inevitably p i tched police against impover i shed local communi t ies . Police efforts to execute distress warran ts at t racted large crowds, w h o h a r a n g u e d constables act ing in the inter- ests of landlords and the wealthy. 33 In an a t t empt to offset the damage caused to relationships b e t w e e n police and the people by the en fo rcemen t of u n p o p u l a r distress warrants , the Police Band, an initiative of the rank and file, pe r fo rmed concerts at subu rban Town Halls and dona t ed the proceeds to local u n e m p l o y e d relief funds. 34

The police bureaucracy, combined wi th the ubiqui tous presence of police in local communi t ies , resulted in extensive in format ion gather ing tasks per formed by police constables for local authorit ies, charitable insti tutions and g o v e r n m e n t on the extent of pover ty dur ing the depression years. However , police duties ex tended b e y o n d filing reports, and constables were actively involved in the securing of relief. As private charitable insti tutions were o v e r w h e l m e d by the scale of dest i tut ion confront ing them, the poor tu rned to police in the hope that the state w o u l d provide aid. The need for the police to deal wi th these cases led to the e laborat ion of surveillance and repor t ing techniques on pover ty later utilised by the state as it became m o r e over t ly implicated in the welfare nexus. The depression years also t h r ew the ambiguit ies of the police welfare role into

31 Report of Constable Lillis re: sick woman conveyed to Melbourne Hospital, 10 June 1887, Bundle 3, VPRS 937/321.

32 Testfmony of Constable Patrick Bourke, 9 May 1882, Q. 1154, Royal Commission on Police, 1883, 40; Testimony of Constable Michael Delaney, 10 May 1882, Q. 1484, 51; for instructions to police in executing distress warrants see Barry, 58-72; Cornelius Crowe, The Duties of a Consta- ble set out in a concise form with references to Acts of Parliament, (Fitzroy: Robert Barr Printer, 1894), 14-16; see also instructions in Victoria Police Gazette, 1893, 26.

33 Haldane, 118; see also Bruce Scates, 'A Struggle for Survival: Unemployment and the Unem- ployed Agitation in Late Nineteenth-Century Melbourne', Australian Historical Studies 24, no. 94 (April 1990): 57-58; Graeme Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne, (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1978), 221-222.

34 VPRS 937/336, Port Melbourne Town Clerk to Chief Commissioner of Police re: Police Band at Town Hall, 21 September 1892; for the history of the Police Band see A.H. Mackenzie, "The Police Band: Its Origin and Progress', Police Journal, (1 November 1920): 5-7; Ha/dane, 119.

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sharp relief. While meet ing with hoots from crowds as they executed distress warrants , pol iceman also strove to secure aid from local councils and charitable organisat ions for the ' respectable ' destitute in their local communit ies .

The percept ion that an increasing number of the poor coming into contact wi th the police were ' respectable ' problematised the role of constables. Suspicion of the police role was based on the link be tween the constable and crime. However, with no other agency of the state to assume the role of report ing on poverty, the solution resorted to by police adminis trators was to instruct policemen to behave in a m a n n e r calculated to fashion the constable as social worker. As the recession peaked in 1893, police received instructions from the Chief Commissioner to prepare reports of all destitute w o m e n and children in their districts whose husbands and fathers had gone to the country in search of work. Daily reports of cases of distress were compiled by Melbourne Police and forwarded to municipal mayors and local ladies benevolen t societies in respective districts. In an effort to avoid the stigma of criminali ty assumed to accompany the uni formed policeman, the need for discretion was emphasised in instructions, wi th constables directed to 'avoid any appearance of officiousness'. 35

Pol icemen were only required to provide reports, but the sight of chronic dest i tut ion among ' respectable ' working class people often mot ivated t hem to in tervene more directly. W h e n Will iam Rounds left Melbourne to seek work in the country, his family was left desti tute and th rea tened with eviction. Constable Wardley went personally to the real estate agents, Lyons & Turner, convincing them to wait several weeks while he a t tempted to secure assistance for the family th rough the Mayor and local charitable institutions. 36 Police reports stressed the respectabil i ty of many of those left in pover ty by circumstances beyond their control, in an obvious effort to secure what resources were available. Constable Sellwood in Clifton Hill repor ted that Sarah Walker was 'a hard working steady woman ' . In Brunswick Constable Wilcock, approached the Brunswick Ladies Benevolent Society on behalf of the Medlicotts, 'a very respectable family' . 37

In a harsh economic climate, the ' respectable ' poor were also less re luctant to approach the local police station to secure assistance. Constable Keily of Richmond repor ted that Mrs Holloway, a young marr ied w o m a n residing in Garfield Street, South Richmond, had called at the stat ion and stated that her husband, along with others, had gone to the Labour Colony at Leongatha. Left with three children aged seven, eight and ten years, she had been supported up until the point of visiting the station by the charity of neighbours and a few

35 Chief Commissioner of Police, Memo re: Destitute women and children whose husbands and fathers seek work up country, 17 April 1893, Bundle 2, VPRS 937/338.

36 Report of Constable Wardley re: William Rounds' family destitute, 2 May 1893, Bundle 3, VPRS 9371339.

37 Report of Constable Sellwood, Clifton Hill, re: Sarah Walker, (no date) 1893, Bundle 4, VPRS 9371339; Report of Constable Wilcock re: destitute family Meldicott, Bundle 3, 28 May 1893, VPRS 9371339; for similar reports see Hotham Hill Police report re: John Bourke & family destitute, Bundle 3, 28 April 1893, VPRS 9371339; Report of Constable Gleeson, Collingwood, re: Mrs Mary Templeton being in destitute circumstances, Bundle 3, 25 May 1893, VPRS 9371339; Report of Constable Carter, Collingwood, re: the case of Mrs Gibbs, 17 May 1893, VPRS 937/339.

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shillings which she earned from bringing in washing. Constable Keily proceeded to investigate her circumstances finding that there was scarcely any furniture in her house as it had been seized for rent three months prior. The constable's report concluded with the sombre observation 'children are in need of food'. 38 Report- ing on poverty was also a means by which police performed a crucial intermedi- ate role between the poor and charitable institutions. In the case of the six children of James Coyle living in destitution in Dudley Street, West Melbourne, the report was forwarded to the visiting ladies for the district. 39

The dilemma of the policeman, and his association with the criminal justice system, performing the rote of chanty worker also surfaced in relation to the elderly poor. The 1890s also brought increasing numbers of the elderly without means of support to the attention of police. In terms of total population, those over sixty-five years of age had comprised a meagre 0.38 per cent of the population in 1854, but by 1891 were a more significant 3.4 per cent. 4° For many years police had dealt with individual cases of the aged destitute, however the problem was compounded by the impact of economic depression in the 1890s which over- loaded the facilities of Melbourne's charitable institutions. Moreover, it was older and less able workers who were the first to go as employers retrenched in a harsh economic climate. It was also apparent that many of the aged who faced destitution had indeed led frugal lives, but had lost all savings in the turbulent financial storms of the depression. 41

The needs of the aged who required assistance were not met by the charitable hospitals, who had little interest in chronically or incurably ill cases offering little hope of rehabilitation. 42 In the early 1890s such cases were apprehended by the police, brought before the bench and committed to gaol. The Royal Commission into Old Age Pensions heard that twenty-one elderly people had died in custody, most of them 'picked up in the street in a dying condition and committed to prison'. 43 Charity workers considered it a legitimate activity to arrange with police to have such cases committed to gaol. In 1890, the Melbourne Ladies Benevolent Society approached police to have an elderly widow in their care arrested and sent to the gaol. When police replied they could do nothing while she still had a roof over her head, the District Visitor arranged with the Mayor to have her evicted, and further arranged for police to wait outside, where they arrested her for vagrancy. 44 Increasing numbers of aged

38 Police Report, Mrs Holloway & family destitute in Richmond, A 69556, July 1893, VPRS 9371339.

39 Police Report on the family of James Coyle, 5 July 1893, VPRS 937/339. 4o Wray Vamplew (ed.), Australians: Historical Statistics, (Sydney: Fairfax, Syme & Weldon, 1987), 29

& 36. 41 Shurlee Swain, 'The Victorian Charity Network of the 1890s', (PhD thesis, University of

Melbourne, 1976), 353; see also Graeme Davison, '"Our Youth is Spent and Our Backs are Bent": The Origins of Australian Ageism', Australian Cultural History, no. 14, (1995): 46-47.

42 Swain, 'The Victorian Charity Network', 327. 43 Testimony of Captain J. Evans, 16 June 1897, Q. 2639, Report of the Royal Commission on Old

Age Pensions 1898, Victorian Parliamentary Papers, 1898, vol. 3, 122. 44 Swain, "The Victorian Charity Network', 328.

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poor w h o fell outside the net of charity also looked to the local watch-house as a final resource of survival.

The greater frequency with which the impoverished elderly sought relief th rough the agency of the police and the magistrates courts led to the gradual replacement of informal and discretionary police practices with formal regulatory mechanisms. Police procedures for assisting the poor had relied on the criminal justice system. Increasingly however, it was considered inappropriate to gaol individuals whose only crime was pover ty and the non-existence of family support ne tworks to look after them. This was succinctly stated in the questioning of witnesses before the Royal Commission on Old Age Pensions. Questioning Captain James Evans, the Inspector General of Penal Establishments, the commissioners asked 'Do you think it is the right way to deal with an old respectable man who has no charge against him, except that he is unfit ted for work, that he should be arrested in the street and taken to the watch-house? ' . Evans replied that he considered this m anne r of dealing with the destitute aged 'very undesirable ' . 45

Police continued to deal with the destitute largely because of their street presence and bureaucratic capacity, despite reservations over their association with crime. The desire to r emove the stigma of criminality f rom des t i tu t ion--a t least where cases were regarded as deserving-- led to the issuing of specific instructions to the police outlining procedures to be followed w h e n dealing with the impoverished. In May 1898 the Victoria Police Gazette advised police that ' in order to prevent the necessity of sending to gaol persons who either are arrested by or give themselves as being without sufficient means of support ' they should be brought immediately before a magistrate. If the magistrate was then satisfied that such individuals were 'not of the criminal class' the Police Depar tment would then take charge of and mainta in such persons for four weeks. The cost of maintaining these destitute cases was initially borne by the Police Depar tment who then forwarded a requisition order to Treasury who reimbursed the Depart- men t the sum of ten shillings per week for each case. 46

For government , the vital police service was the under taking of investigation. During the four-week period in which the police were responsible for the case, they were required to under take full inquiries into the individual's circumstances, to enable the magistrate to ascertain whe the r or not they might best be referred to a charitable institution. Investigating constables were provided with a form for the investigation asking for information regarding previous employment , length of residence in the colony, parents ' names, marital status and whe the r or not they had previously been an inmate of a charitable institution. 47 If the magistrate, upon hearing the report of the investigating police officer, was

45 Testimony of Captain J. Evans, 16 June 1897, Q. 2633, Report of the Royal Commission on Old Age Pensions 1898, Victorian Parliamentary Papers, 1898, voL 3, ] 19.

46 ½ctoria Police Gazette, (11 May 1898): 146-147. 47 Victoria Police Gazette, (17 August 1898): 253.

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then satisfied that the case warranted being forwarded to a charitable institution the full particulars of the case were then forwarded to the Treasurer who would make the necessary arrangements. Making these arrangements frequently involved the police further, as they were responsible for the physical removal of the destitute to a designated institution, the costs of conveyance being once again met by a requisition order forwarded to Treasury. 48

Police dealings with the destitute were increasingly bureaucratised, with formal regulations and procedures replacing ad hoc police practices. Formal procedures were intended to provide a measure of protection for the 'respectable' poor against the taint of criminal justice surrounding the constable and the watch-house. The trend towards bureaucratised policing of the destitute was extended with the introduction of Old Age Pensions to Victoria in 1901. Old Age Pensions represented a form of state charity, and had much in common with the outdoor relief of previous decades. 49 The Victorian Pensions Act, according to William Pember Reeves, was 'notable for the number of its precautions and reservations, and for the care with which it tries to confine its pensions to the utterly enfeebled and utterly necessitous'. 5° The legislative requirement that the applicant be 'deserving" positioned the police as key figures in the administration of the pension. The role demanded of police in this regard was a continuation of strategies that had evolved to deal with destitute cases in the late 1890s. Police were instructed to ' render all assistance in their power to the Police Magistrates who are dealing with applications'. 51 The assistance was to be mostly in the form of providing an investigation into the circumstances of applicants.

The bureaucratic and informational capacity of the police consequently outweighed reservations about their association with crime, and police became key agents in the administration of pensions. It was of ' the utmost importance' the Police Gazette informed members of the force, ' that all information in the possession of the police should be available for the guidance of the different Police Magistrates'. 52 In much the same way as the police investigated the eligibility of cases wor thy of charitable assistance, they were furnished with lists of Pension applicants by the Clerk of Petty Sessions; the police were then required to furnish reports on each applicant which would be returned to the Clerk of Petty Sessions. 53 The investigations represented a substantial workload. By 31 December 1903, there were 5147 pensioners proven to be eligible for the

48 Victoria Police Gazette, (11 May 1898): 146-147. 49 Jill Roe, 'Old Age, Young Country: The First Old-Age Pensions and Pensioners in New South

Wales', Teaching History, (July 1981 ): 28. 5o William Pember Reeves, State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand, vol. 2., (London: Grant

Richards, 1902), 296. 51 Victoria Police Gazette, (16 January 1901): 32; see also Thomas O'Callaghan, Victorian Police Code,

Melbourne: Victoria Police Department, 1906), paragraphs 1575-1577, 201-2; for instructions to police in dealings with the destitute see Victorian Police Code, i906, "Destitute Persons', paragraphs 706-708, 89-90.

s2 Victoria Police Gazette, (16 January t901): 32. 53 Victoria Police Gazette, ( 13 March 1901 ): 103.

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allowance, representing a substantial quantity of investigation. 54 In I906, Senior Constable James Stapleton, who was in charge of the plain-clothes men who carried out all pensions investigations in the city, confirmed the time-intensive nature of the work, explaining that it entailed 'a lot of inquiries'. 5s The ability of police to provide information was crucial to government administration of the pension scheme, and they were commended for the thoroughness of their inquiries. In 1903 the Sub-Treasurer wrote to the Chief Commissioner of Police to record the Treasurer's:

high appreciation of the manner in which they (the police) have made their investigations respecting recipients of the Old Age Pension. With but few exceptions the reports furnished him have been very comprehensive displaying an amount of zeal and sympa- thetic discrimination that is highly commendable. 56

The investigations undertaken by police utilised both their formidable bureaucracy and local knowledge. Having much in common with the techniques of reporting on poverty used in previous decades, police were required to make judgements on the respectability of those they investigated. The inquiry into the case of Mary Ann Scott included interviews with the local grocer, clergyman, and her son in Newport, all of who testified to her sober and industrious habits. Unable to work due to rheumatism, and judged to be 'a respectable w o m e n and not addicted to drink', her application was successful, s7 In addition to assessing an applicant's general respectability, investigations were driven by the ideology that the poor and disabled should be taken care of by their own families where possible.

While magistrates required police judgements regarding respectability, police investigations were principally focused on establishing that pension applicants were entirely destitute and without relatives capable of supporting them. John Hogan and Catherine Hogan were both granted pensions at the Carlton Court- house in 1901. Police investigations revealed that they had moved from Shep- pat ton to Melbourne in the previous year. Shepparton police reported that the Hogans' son now ran a farm capable of supporting his parents. There were strong suspicions in the report that the Hogans had transferred their farm to their son for the express purpose of moving to Melbourne to claim the pension. John Hogan received the following grim letter on the 18 July:

Mr Hogan is informed that, as the whole of the amount appropriated by Parliament for the Old Age pensions has been exhausted, the Treasurer had decided, with a view to payment of the pension being made in necessitous cases only, that no persons whose reIatives are deemed to be in a position to maintain them shall be allowed to draw pensions.

54 Statistical Register of Victoria, Pt. III, 'Social Condition', Victorian Parliamentary Papers, 1904, vol. 2, 35.

55 Testimony of Senior Constable James Stapleton, 7 February 1906, Q. 17397-17398, Royal Commission on the Victorian Police Force, 1906, 632.

56 Sub-Treasurer to Chief Commissioner of Police, 21 January 1903, VPRS 8071205. 57 Constable Parkin, Hawthorn Station, Police Report on pensioner Mary Ann Scott, 17 June 1901,

no. 7484, VPRS 120711898.

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In view of the fact, therefore, that it has been ascertained that Mr Hogan's sons are able to maintain him it has been decided to cancel the certificate authorising payment to him of the pension. 58

M a r t h a Pres ton, w h o l ived in a Car l ton b o a r d i n g house , faced a r e d u c t i o n in h e r p e n s i o n f rom t e n shi l l ings a w e e k to e igh t as she a d m i t t e d to pol ice tha t she h a d a t t e m p t e d to m a k e a l iving by fo r t une tell ing. 59

The p e n s i o n cou ld also be d i s c o n t i n u e d if the app l i can t was convic ted of d r u n k e n n e s s . Police w e r e to f o rwa rd repor t s of those a r res ted for t he i n f o r m a t i o n of t he Treasurer . 6° U n f o r t u n a t e cases such as M a r g a r e t Q u i n n f o u n d the i r p e n s i o n s topped . M a r g a r e t was a p p r e h e n d e d for d r u n k e n n e s s a n d d i so rde r ly conduc t ou t s ide a pub l i c h o u s e in N o r t h F i t z roy on 22 J u n e 1901. She a l r eady h a d two p r e v i o u s conv ic t ions for d r u n k e n n e s s before the Car l ton magis t ra tes ear l ie r in the y e a r a n d h e r l a n d l a d y Mrs Sage i n f o r m e d Cons tab le M c G o w a n of the Car l ton pol ice tha t she 'has no t b e e n sober one day for t he pas t w e e k ' . W h e n she was to a p p e a r be fo re the Car l ton mag i s t r a t e s on a fou r th charge of d r u n k e n - ness in Ju ly it was r e v e a l e d tha t the Treasure r h a d d i s c o n t i n u e d h e r p a y m e n t s the p rev ious day. 61 W h i l e such m e a s u r e s s e e m harsh , and of ten were , t h e r e was a degree of flexibili ty. A n d r e w McClure was b r o u g h t in to the City w a t c h - h o u s e on a charge of d r u n k e n n e s s . W h e n he was s ea rched the d u t y cons tab le f o u n d a b o o k showing he was d r a w i n g a n old age pens ion . McClu re was f ined five shil l ings by the City mag i s t r a t e s the n e x t day and a le t te r was sent by the pol ice to the t reas- u r e r i n fo rming t h e m of McClure ' s convic t ion . His p e n s i o n was n o t d i scon t inued , b u t was s u s p e n d e d for a for tn ight a n d McClu re i ssued w i t h a w a r n i n g . 62

W h i l e f r e q u e n t l y in t rus ive a n d discipl inary, t he re was a m o r e b e n i g n side to t h e pol ice role c o n c e r n i n g Old Age Pensions . Police su rve i l l ance of pens ione r s also kep t a w a t c h o n the i r cond i t i on a n d abi l i ty to suppor t t hemse lves . Francis Short , I n spec to r of Char i t ab le Ins t i tu t ions , c l a imed in his a n n u a l r e p o r t for 1901 tha t whi l e t he Old Age Pens ions s c h e m e h a d h a d the effect of r educ ing the n u m b e r of i n m a t e s in B e n e v o l e n t A s y l u m s the resul ts we re ' in a large n u m b e r of cases, to the d i s a d v a n t a g e of rec ip ien ts ' . 63 W h i l e it has b e e n c l a imed pol ice sent on ly those des igna t ed as ' u n d e s e r v i n g ' to char i t ab le ins t i tu t ions af te r the in t ro- duc t ion of pens ions , 64 the re w e r e also cases of the e lde r ly u n a b l e to care for t hemse lve s w h o re l ied on pol ice i n t e r v e n t i o n to p lace t h e m in ins t i tu t ions . Cons tab le Campbe l l of the Car l ton po l ice f o r w a r d e d a r epo r t t h r o u g h the magis- t ra tes on the s i t ua t ion of Wi l l i am Pocock w h o was ' in a ve ry de l ica te s ta te a n d

58 Treasury memorandum to John Hogan, 18 July 1901, no. 7194, VPRS 1207/1898. 59 Report on Martha Preston pensioner no. 648 Carlton, 8 July i901, no. 7194, VPRS 120711898. 6o See Old Age Pensions Act 1751; see also Victoria Police Gazette, (20 February 1901): 76. 61 Constable Robert Lowrie, Carlton Police, report on Margaret Quinn, 5 July 1901, no. 7317,

VPRS i20711898. 62 Report of Constable Fanning re: penisoner Andrew McClure, 6 July 190I, no. 7302, VPRS

120711898. 63 Report of Inspector of Charitable Institutions, 30 June 1901, Victorian Parliamentary Papers, I901,

vol. 3, 1179. 64 Swain, 'Charity Network', 355.

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has no one to a t t e n d h im. He is anx ious , if possible, to ga in admis s ion in to a b e n e v o l e n t a s y l u m and to s u r r e n d e r his pens ion . Cons t ab l e Campbe l l s tates t ha t he is in a ve ry w e a k state ' . 65 Pocock was a d m i t t e d as a n i n m a t e of the M e l b o u r n e B e n e v o l e n t A s y l u m shor t ly a f t e rwards . Clear ly the pol ice i n v o l v e m e n t w i t h the p e n s i o n was no t s imply a m a t t e r of social cont ro l or surve i l lance , b u t also i n v o l v e d i n t e r v e n t i o n s based u p o n the cons ide ra t ion of i nd iv idua l c i r cums tance . W h i l e the le t te r of the l aw p r o v i d e d a clear d i s t inc t ion b e t w e e n dese rv ing a n d u n d e s e r v i n g , ope ra t i ons on the g r o u n d t e n d e d to be m o r e complex .

In some areas, m a i n l y in M e l b o u r n e ' s i n n e r suburbs , pol ice no t on ly p e r f o r m e d the task of r e p o r t i n g on p e n s i o n e r s ' c i r c u m s t a n c e s - - t h e y also a s s u m e d direct respons ib i l i ty for t he d i s t r ibu t ion of t he pens ion . Wi th n o o t h e r b u r e a u c r a c y of compa rab l e size, the pol ice were ca l led u p o n to a d m i n i s t e r the p a y m e n t s in 1901, w h e n the officers of the Post Office w e n t over to the Fe de ra l G o v e r n m e n t . 66 In Sou th M e l b o u r n e , N o r t h M e l b o u r n e and Abbots ford , p a y m e n t of t he pens ion , m a d e on Thur sdays a n d Fr idays of a l t e rna t e weeks , was a pol ice responsibi l i ty . 67 Al loca t ing this task to pol ice s h o w e d a wi l l ingness on the pa r t of the g o v e r n m e n t to take a d v a n t a g e of pol ice b u r e a u c r a c y for a wide r ange of act ivi t ies . The officer at S o u t h M e l b o u r n e was g iven a n abs t rac t con t a in ing the n a m e s of all pens ione r s t o g e t h e r w i t h the a m o u n t s p a y a b l e to t hem. The officer r ece ived a c h e q u e f rom the p a y m a s t e r at Sou th M e l b o u r n e for the a m o u n t , a n d was r e spons ib le for col lect ing receipts f rom pe ns ione r s a n d fo rw a rd ing these back to t he paymas te r . S o u t h M e l b o u r n e pol ice e s t i m a t e d tha t d i s t r ibu t ing p e n s i o n m o n e y occup ied a day a n d a half each for tnight . 68 It t o o k a s imi lar t ime, a b o u t seven to e ight h o u r s a week , in N o r t h M e l b o u r n e , w h e r e t he s igna tures of 340 p e n s i o n e r s had to be col lected a n d 248 p o u n d s in p e n s i o n m o n e y d is t r ibu ted . 69

The e x t e n s i v e i n v o l v e m e n t of po l ice in a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d i nve s t i ga t i on was cr i t ic i sed b o t h for i m b u i n g po l i ce w i t h too g r e a t e r a u t h o r i t y in re l ief w o r k and as i n a p p r o p r i a t e w o r k for pol ice cons tables . Dan ie l B e r r i m a n , a Clerk of Cour t s a n d C o m m i s s i o n e r of Old Age Pens ions , d i s a p p r o v i n g l y o u t l i n e d the p r o c e d u r e in Victoria be fo re t h e C o m m o n w e a l t h R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n on Old Age Pens ions in 1906:

When a claim is lodged, practically the first thing clone is to call upon the local constable for a report regarding the applicant. If that report is unfavourable, the Registrar refuses to send the claim on for hearing, and the consequence may be that a deserving applicant never gets an opportunity of showing his right to the relief afforded by the Statute.

65 Carlton Police: report on William Pocock, 23 June 1903, R3796, VPRS 12071 1959. 66 Victorian Parliamentary Debates, 1901, vol. xcvii, 31 July I901, 550-551. 67 Police to act as paymasters of Old Age Pensions, 4 July 1902, R6146, VPRS 8071184; also

Sergeant Shields to perform Old Age Pensions work at North Melbourne from 1 March 1903, 1133, Register of Inward Correspondence, Treasury Department, VPRS 12121179; see also Testi- mony of Thomas O'Callaghan, Chief Commissioner of Police, 22 September 1905, Q. 1163, Royal Commission on the Victorian Police Force, 1906, 42.

68 Payment of Old Age Pension by Police Officer, South Melbourne, 3 July 1902, R6577, VPRS 807/184.

69 Report of Sub-Inspector Dempster, 11 November 1903, S 9087, VPRS 8071228.

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To Berriman this system was 'manifestly unfair and practically makes the policeman the Commissioner' . 7° Nevertheless, this purportedly omnipotent power was hardly embraced by police officials, who resented pension duties as a t ime-consuming and frivolous diversion from real police work. In 1906, Chief Commissioner O'Callaghan informed the Royal Commission that pension duties were 'very troublesome and responsible work ' and concluded, 'I do not know that [it] is really work that the police ought to be called upon to do'. 71 Pension work ran counter to the growing conception of police work as primarily concerned with the task of criminal detection. Nevertheless, the bureaucratic and informational capacity of the police resulted in governments continuing to call upon police services. Payment of pensions was taken over by the Federal Govern- ment on 1 July 1909. The police maintained responsibility for giving 'every assistance possible', which continued their role in the provision of information. The only change was administrative. Police relinquished the duty of distributing pension payments, al though the Commonweal th allocated police a new duty helping pensioners fill out the "property statements' they were required to submit to establish eligibility for the pension. 72

The continued involvement of police in the administration of Old Age pensions demonstrates police welfare functions in Victoria did not undergo a straightforward decline. The role of Victorian police was not a clear shift from class control to crime control as Monkkonen outlined for the American case. 73 Nevertheless, there were vocal advocates for a reduced police role. By the early decades of the twentieth century, police administrators resisted welfare tasks, regarding them as a diversion from real police work. Underpinning such demands was the stress placed upon the work of crime fighting as the true focus of professionalised and modern policing. 74 However, the continual street presence of constables, and their depth of penetration into local communities, resulted in continued police engagement with instances of destitution beyond the reach of charitable institutions or new government agencies.

The police role in 'social welfare' areas remained ambiguous due to the association of the police constable with the criminal justice system. The depression of the 1890s made it apparent that destitution could afflict the deserving. Special instructions attempted to alleviate the stigma of the watch-house and magistrates court associated with the local police constable. There remained considerable tension between the contradictory roles of police constables as enforcers of a social order frequently viewing poverty as individual failing and facilitators of

7o Testimony of Daniel Berriman, Clerk of Courts and Commissioner under Old-Age Pensions Act of Victoria, 20 June 1906, Q. 4110, Report from the Royal Commission on Old-Age Pensions together with proceedings, minutes of evidence, appendices and a synopsis of evidence, Common- wealth Parliamentary Papers, vol. 3, 1906, 202.

71 Testimony of Thomas O'Callaghan, Chief Commissioner of Police, 22 September 1905, Q. 1162, Royal Commission on the Victorian Police Force, 1906, 42.

72 Victoria Police Gazette, (1 duly 1909): 229; Victoria Police Gazette, (1909): 207. 73 Monkkonen, Police in Urban America, 86-128. 74 Dean Wilson, 'On the Beat: Police Work in Melbourne, 1853-1923', (PhD thesis, Monash

University, 2001 ), 124-129

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relief. Such contradictions were nevertheless overridden by the realities of colonial government. The police force was the largest government department, with a literate workforce and an expansive bureaucracy. When legislative initia- tives expanded the role of the state and required agents to enforce provisions, governments understandably looked to the police force. Private charities and individual reformers also approached the police to supply them with the information with which to tackle a variety of social problems. The police played a pivotal role in assembling an expanding archive of the social landscape. And the police constable treading a steady beat through local communities frequently continued to be the first point of contact be tween immediate problems of poverty and the State. With a street presence and local knowledge welI beyond that of charitable institutions or any other state agency, police continued to deal with many cases of poverty bearing no relation to 'crime' well into the twentieth century.

Monash University

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policing poverty

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