5

H.—l6.

Return showing the Number of Prosecutions against Hotelkeepers within each Principal Centre during the Year 1924 as compared with 1923, the Number convicted, and the Number discharged or otherwise dealt with.

Sly-grog Selling. There were sixty-seven prosecutions during the year for selling liquor without a license, resulting in forty-four convictions, and there were also seventy prosecutions, resulting in fifty-nine convictions, for other offences against the provisions of the Licensing Act in force in no-license districts. The fines imposed on sly-grog sellers during the year 1924 amounted to £1,195. The amount of fines in the various districts is as follows : —- £ £ Whangarei . . . . 50 | Greymouth Auckland .. .. 121 j Christchurch .. .. 100 Hamilton .. .. .. 396 | Timaru .. .. .. 50 Gisborne .. .. 35 Dunedin Napier .. .. .. 20 Invercargill Now Plymouth .. .. .. ——•— Wanganui .. .. ..278 Total .. .. £1,195 Palmerston North .. .. .. - Wellington .. .. 145 The direct cost to the Department in detecting and prosecuting sly-grog sellers during the year was £283, this being £912 less than the amount of fines imposed. Gaming Offences. There were 467 prosecutions, resulting in 386 convictions, during the year under the Gaming Act, against 435 prosecutions and 358 convictions in 1923. Criminal Registration Branch. The finger-impressions of 2,764 persons were received, classified, searched, and filed during the year ; 267 persons were identified as previous offenders either in the Dominion, the Australian States, or England, and two unknown deceased men were identified by their finger-prints ; 1,065 photographs were taken by the photographers attached to the branch; the photographs of 1,903 prisoners (8,038 photographs) were dealt with, and 632 photographs were reproduced in the Police Gazette. Photographic enlargements were prepared and produced as exhibits in the Supreme Court as required. In eighteen cases of breaking and entering, finger-prints left by offenders when committing the crime were identified. During the year a fair amount of revision work has been accomplished. Two coded finger-print classifications were received by cablegram from the London police, and a search in the local finger-print collection revealed the fact that these offenders' prints had not been recorded here. The cablegrams were then repeated to the Sydney police, and they identified each offender and cabled their records direct to London. This is believed to be the first occasion on which coded finger-prints have been received by cablegram in Australasia, and by means of them the London police were able to produce the Australian records of the two offenders in the London Court within a few hours of their arrest. On the 31st March the finger-print collection consisted of the impressions of 33,802 persons, an increase of 1,873 on last year's figures. The following table shows the increase in the finger-print collection since the introduction of the finger-print system of identification in March, 1903 : —

p Prosecutions, Prosecutions, Convictions, ?! Centre. 1p „ „ 1q „. otherwise deal 1916. 1.M4. UZi. withj lg24 Auckland and suburbs ... ... 23 27 12 1 15 Wellington and suburbs ... ... 13 37 14 | 23 Christchurch and suburbs ... ... 23 44 30 14 Dunedin and suburbs ... ... 7 5 5 Totals ... ... ... 66 113 61 52

Number of Increase on Prisoners Number of Increase on Prisoneis Year. Prints in Previous t ™ ced as I Year. | Prints in Previous trace . das Collection. Year. .EfT" 3 Collection. Year. n P i e T US Offenders. Offenders. 1904 .. 3,500 : 3,500 117 ! 1915 .. 16,682 1,380 270 1905 .. 4,200 i 700 72 1916 .. 18,134 1,452 218 1906 .. 5,000 800 88 1917 .. 19,508 1,374 166 1907 .. 6,151 1.151 104 1918 .. 20,982 1,474 132 1908 .. 7,622 1,471 123 1919 .. 22,332 1,350 153 1909 .. 8,718 1,096 138 ! 1920 .. 23,686 1.354 1 176 1910 .. 9,919 1,201 140 ! 1921 .. 26,650 ! 2,964 232 1911 .. 10,905 986 148 1922 .. 28,408 1,758 255 1912 .. 12,097 1,192 178 1923 .. 30,284 1,876 292 1913 .. 13,552 1,455 183 1924 .. 31,929 1,645 : 289 1914 .. 15,302 1,750 230 : 1925 .. 33,802 1,873 I 267