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52
the mob, and should have shot ten men ; but did not
control, and did not shoot
This charge may best be considered under two
heads, (a) the means to control the mob; (6) the
propriety of shooting ten men.
The means of controlling mobs are the police and
the military. In 1835 Boston had no police,
as we now
understand that word. There were about thirty night
watchmen who went on duty for alternate nights,
were under
making some sixty men in all. They
the orders of the Captain of the Watch, who was an
officer independent of the City Marshal. During
the day they pursued their callings, most of them
being teamsters or truckmen ; and it was only at
night, when they reported for duty
at their watch-
houses, that they could be certainly counted on.
When the Mayor says (page 23) that he had "all
the watch on the alert," he means that the whole of
the men, instead of one half, were put on duty dur
ing the night of the riot. Of day patrolmen there
were none ; but there were fifteen constables who
had offices in the city, and who gained their living
by keeping order in the courts, serving subpoenas,
writs of ejectment, and the like. Of these there
were five who were generally, but not always, em
ployed by the city to patrol the disorderly quarters
during the day. They were under the orders of the
City Marshal, who, in 1832, had been authorized to
command all
"
constables in the service of the city."
It is fair to assume that the Mayor could, at any
time, send for these five men during the day ; but,
beyond them, he had to rely, in sudden emergencies,