FEWER PRISONERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 497, 3 May 1909, Page 4

FEWER PRISONERS.

AN INCREASE IN NUMBER OF CRIMES. BRITISH STATISTICS. _ According to a British Bluo Book issued in March there was in 1907 a diminution in tho number'of persons tried, convicted, and imprisoned, as will bo seen from tho following ! table' Orimoa infw persons tried 7 « 955 ••• VMOW ; Persons convicted 607,402 62254 Persons imprisoned 174,632 ... 183)329 Unfortunately tho diminution of criminality is confined to tho less sorious breaches .of tho law. Crimes proper (i.e., indictable offences), have shown a marked increase, tho number of indictable offences reported to the polico beng greater than iu any year since 1882, and, with the exception of 1905, this is truo also of persons tried for iridictablo offences. Tho total number tried for indictable offences was 61,381, whilst tire total t!i ,°A^^ al aTCl ' n ß° for 1903-1907 59,079 and 60,005 respectively. ■ 1 _ No fewer than 24 children admitted to reformatory schools in 1907 were stated to have been convicted of robbing coin slot pas meters. With regard to frauds, tho most striking feature ss tho growth of fraud bv agents, etc. In 1893-1897 tho average annual -5 0 p0 n r -, 6ons |°F, tri „ al was 16, in 18981902 it was 17, and the figuros for the last, six years have been 27, 54, 76, 72, 73, and 93 respectively. Prior to. 1902, tho number of persons prosecuted never exceeded 19. Prosecutions _ for forgery have decreased-sinco 1902, and tho figures , for 1907 (202) were lower than m any year since 1900. Coining Duo to Desperation. | There was a noteworthy fall in tho number of persons for trial for coining, following, a period of increase, but the offence is raro nowadays as compared with, say, fifty years ago, and appears to bo seldom committed by phifessional". criminals. Judg-ing-from the particulars available in the i prison calendars, it, appears probable that the offence is in some cases the desperate resource of a "skilled workman out of employment. Increase under the heading habitual drunkenness—from 377 t0477 ft a , yeai^—is probably merely a consequenco ot tho extended provision made for the accommodation of habitual drunkards in inebriate refonnatorios. Some ourious fluctuations in non-indict-tablo,°, 15 repealed by tho following. . ' : Inc. or dee. j u ' f : 1907. per cent, hood adulteration ... 4,131 • 3,546 -14.16 .Drunkenness ~.. ... 211,493 210,024 ; - ,G9 Betting.:,.. 1,743 - 3,003' +72.58 Motor-car offences ... 0,777 8,278 + 22.16 Sunday trading ... 5,333 :. 6,531 +23,40 . S?„ r ?,j s *■ decreajio in tho total of, nonindiwablo offonoes,. auo ontirelyto a fallineoff m tho number of persons proceeded against in the, Metropolitan Polico district, .bat. this was not accompanied by,a decrease of.indictable offences, which, on- the ' conmoro than double mL r the country, v i , There was a decrease of 8,66 per .cent, in t? . Me tropo]itAn offices - for . drunkenness 190b numfcered agMMt. 56,433 in ; curfous Results of Police Commission. , is pointed out that during 1907 tho cuities of the Metropolitan Police were under investigation by :a; Royal Commission, and there can >0 little: doubt that tho fact of this investigation placed the members of the roroo in. a condition ©f uncertainty as ,to the extent of their duties, and, therefore, tho depreaso of prosopution, does not proceed IT? of offences, but is to some extent, attributable to a less rigid enforcei** 16 during, tho period under, consideration, Judging from the figures of doubt d'stnete, tlcre can be :]ittlo h' the statistics 'had not 'been occurrence, all tho headings reverse shown an increase instead of the nt T hi°! !owi s e ' ta S° EhoW6 : tlle sentences for ]R^ n ;^ <JUai t ?r £essl<m . s > tho" figures kL,*m" bo'. ng ,given for comparison, that voir r earl,esfc .i"f w hich tho present formof figures aro available.—-, • Death u. ' 190 L 10 % ' W Penal servitudo ... ... 1,075 1042™ Imprisonment ... 741 st ~2® Inebriate reformatory ... ' 74' rV"' '' Reformatory schdol :11 jj 6J . In the 98,822 crimes hotirested and 6493 , dealt with by summons t-rim that .whilst in the oases of 3916 tomes againstthe person,3s36 persons were ofn 7SW or Sum^n6d ; S ** hou dC h' l • t,iß ~ni heads of burglary 7 and . shopbreaking that apprehensions to crimes is "lowest. These are tho crimes . <Jf the professional SMbj that on tho .1907,' thoro wero 4197 habitual criminals at largo, 3532 .being thieves and 400 receivers; $10 number of 809%f° ao a ir4 C ™ acter Ivas "tinwted at M 9!>ft 1 ' 4 ; 6 , 98 , Pfsons sent to. prison, WM f fnlKn ff - ?! drunkenness. There nas. a falling off m tho number of dnhtnr« impnsonod from 19,719 to 17,901. aoKm