Such a question is not easy to answer with any degree of certainty. Before 1829 many parishes were practically without police of any kind, and if they spent little in Watch-rates they paid dearly in the heavy tolls exacted by "the organised gangs of thieves" referred to by Peel. Other parishes kept their accounts so carelessly that their records are useless for purposes of comparison, and it is therefore impossible to tell how much money they wasted. The 1834 Committee, which investigated this question of comparative expense, had all the available material before them, and they gave it as their opinion that strict economy pervaded the new system. In support of this opinion, they quoted the case of the parish of Hackney, which was moderately well policed as things went then. Prior to the introduction of the reformed police, the ratepayers of Hackney contributed £3,380 per annum, whereas at the maximum police rate that could be levied under the new system (viz. eightpence in the pound) the bill was only £3,164. CHAPTER XIII PUBLIC OPPOSITION TO THE "NEW POLICE" The formation of the new police force in the metropolis aroused the fiercest opposition and remonstrance. Invective and ridicule were heaped upon the measure from all sides. The hopeless incompetence and the discredited character of the blackguardly Charlies were at once forgotten, nor were the prevalence of crime and the insecurity of life and property at all considered by those who made it their business to foment the popular antagonism. Week by week certain newspapers continued to publish the most preposterous attacks: no story was too improbable to gain credence. A _coup d'etat_ was contemplated--it was Sir Robert Peel's intention to place the Duke of Wellington on the throne--English liberty was to give place to military tyranny--under the pretence of providing protection for the people the government aimed at the creation of a secret political inquisition,--in fact anything that was at once inconsistent and absurd was listened to with avidity and partly believed.