The Broken Windows Theory 1864 Style.

From "Broken Windows" :

"The people were made up of "regulars" and "strangers." Regulars included both "decent folk" and some drunks and derelicts who were always there but who "knew their place."

The Broken Window Theory was adopted by the country at large, and police were quick to adopt this "Zero Tolerance" policy, as Rudy Giuliani called it. This by and large is still the dominant theory of policing. (This is normally where I would dive into a vicious and detailed account of why the broken window theory is a pile of canine excrement, but I must hold back because that is not the point. For more on that go here or read Bernard E. Harcourts 'Illusion of Order: The False Promise of Broken Windows Policing.")

Unbeknownst to Wilson or Keeling they had been beaten to the punch by 125 years. These exact concerns, even down to an obsession with broken windows, and a distaste for "the mob", were brought up by a scientist and politician 125 years earlier, one who actually knew Charles Darwin. (Although the term Social Darwinism would not be invented for another 22 years, it is a fair title for the belief system of this particular Victorian gentleman)

"Table of the Relative Frequency of the Causes of Breakage of Plate Glass Windows" was written by Charles Babbage in 1857 as was "Observations of Street Nuisances." in 1864. Charles Babbage, "Father of computing", creator of (or at least half of) the Difference Engine, "The Cow Catcher" (the plow on the front of trains) Occulting Lights, various other inventions, and a genius with an innate understanding of computers that was a 100 years ahead of his time, he was also a very grumpy Victorian.

Babbage hated the lower classes, he hated Beer-Shops, he hated visitors from the country, he disliked children (at least ones who played or made any noises) and most of all, most of all, he absolutely hated street musicians. Below are two very funny tables of his outlining the problem at hand.

From his book: Passages from the life of a philosopher, The chapter Street Nuisances, 1864

"On a careful retrospect of the last dozen years of my life, I have arrived at the conclusion that I speak within limit when I state that one-forth part of my working power has been destroyed by the nuisance which I have protested"

Protest he did. Infamous among the "lower classes" for the Babbage Act which made street music illegal (at least somewhat), Babbage engaged in a kind of single handed battle with most of London's disgruntled and instrument armed poor. In a unintentionally hilarious quote from his book, Babbage describes being harassed by the unhappy rabble.

"In the meantime, the crowd of young children, urged on by their parents, and backed at a judicious distance by a set of vagabonds, forms quite a noisy mob, following me as I pass along, and shouting out rather uncomplimentary epithets. When I turn round and survey my illustrious tail it stops...the instant I turn, the shouting and the abuse are resumed, and the mob again follow at a respectful distance." "In one case there were certainly above a hundred persons, consisting of men women, and boys, with multitudes of young children who followed me through the streets before I could find a policeman"

This goes on to include tales of brass bands performing under his window, of a man who would blow on a whistle for half an hour every day outside of Babbage's house for months, and other equally humorous situations.

Babbage was writing the Broken Window Theory of 1864. Although he would have certainly called it "The Street Musician Theory" or perhaps better yet "The Broken Musician Theory". He tallied up 165 "nuisances" over a period of 80 days. He carefully lays out the case of street musicians being a cause of all sorts of ills, including sickness, disorder, and the death of children (as caused by a horse spooked by a street musician). He also stresses the same idea laid out in the Broken Window Theory, that a strong policing of minor crimes, will help the society as a whole.

From his book: Passages from the life of a philosopher; Street Nuisances, 1864.

"Every kind of noisy instrument whether organ or harp, or trumpet or penny-whistle, if sounded should be siezed by the police and taken to the station, also all hoops and instruments for playing games. The effect would ultimatly be to diminish the labours of the police." "I have been compelled individually to resist this tyranny of the lowest mob, because the government itself is notoriously afraid to do so."

Wilson and Kelling were also not the only ones to see broken windows as emblematic of societal entropy. Whereas Wilson and Kelling saw the window as a symbol, Babbage, ever the empiricist, wanted to find the reason behind it. In "Table of the Relative Frequency of the Causes of Breakage of Plate Glass Windows" he catalogued the diverse causes for the breakage over 10 months.

Unsurprisingly, things did not work out very well for Babbage in the long run. An unfavorable magistrate threw out his cases against the street musicians. He spent a fortune trying to unsuccessfully prosecute an Italian Organ grinder. He found himself old, embittered and without support. When he died in 1871 few people knew who he was and only one carriage (the Duchess of Somerset's) followed in the burial procession that took his remains to Kensal Green Cemetery. The Royal Society printed no obituary, and the Times ridiculed him. On top of all that, his brain sat in a jar of alcohol for 37 years before someone at the Royal society felt like it was worth dissecting.

Little did he know that he was answering a question that would be posed 125 years later. Who broke the damn window in the first place? According to Babbage, it could have been an air gun, a burst bottle of soda water or stones kicked by a horse or cattle. Most likely it was one of those "lower class" persons throwing stones. This only leaves one question. Were they throwing them at the Victorians in 1864, or the Yuppies in 1982?

From "Broken Windows" by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, 1982

"The citizen who fears the ill-smelling drunk, the rowdy teenager, or the importuning beggar is not merely expressing his distaste for unseemly behavior; he is also giving voice to a bit of folk wisdom that happens to be a correct generalization--namely, that serious street crime flourishes in areas in which disorderly behavior goes unchecked. The unchecked panhandler is, in effect, the first broken window."

From Passages from the life of a philosopher, The chapter Street Nuisances, 1864

"An ancient philosopher divided all mankind two sections, namely, fools and philosophers; and, unhappily for the race, the one cannot enjoy his whistle except at the expense of the other."

For more great reading on the fascinating and the ever so grouchy Babbage http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/theory-babbagesdancer.html.
and http://www.hrc.wmin.ac.uk/theory-babbagesintelligence.html

I also highly reccomend reading the entire street nuisances chapter from Babbages book. It is a very funny account of a grumpy Victorian fighting the entire London rabble to absolutely no avail.
http://books.google.com/books?id=qkMAAAAAQAAJ&vid=OCLC29388048&dq=Babbage+Observations+of+Street+Nuisances&jtp=337

This post is dedicated to Rob Macdougall who makes history seem like the most awesome place to hangout.