Laws over laziness: Police control andjudicial practice in the dawn of the barrier (Tandil 1872-1881)

Abstract

At the end of the 1870's decade the provincial government in order to achieve a better social control over the country population implemented a police re-estructuration on the bonaerense campaign. The same had the objective of ground the private property and contribute to the work market, at the same time it had a strong interest in satisfying the state necessity of man, as it was the highest expansion moment of the barrier. The enrolment pressure of the state will reflect in the increase of detained persons under the charge of laziness, given that the laws of laziness repression in the Rural Code allowed its penalization with military service.The Rural Code was sanctioned in 1865 and it stipulates two process norms regarding the legal treatment of the defender: a written inform called "sumario" and the constitution of a "jury" to his judgment. These dispositions were rarely put into practice by the peace judges since this legislation was sectioned.At the end of 1870ïs decade the government will demand more firmly not only the prosecution of laziness but the application of the process norms to the defenders. Yet, the analysis of judicial practice reveals that a permanent manipulation of the norm kept its strength based on two values: work and property. On those who go against those values will fall the sanctioned norms and canalized the enlistment pressure.