withdrawn, or the person was discharged; in 90,539, or 14 per cent., the charge was held to be proved and an order was made but without conviction; and in 525,543, or 78 per cent., the accused was convicted.

In 54,834 cases in which the charge was proved but an order was made without conviction, the charge was dismissed, but in some cases the accused was ordered to pay costs or compensation; in 18,623 cases the offender was ordered to enter into recognizances to be of good behaviour and to appear for conviction and sentence if called upon; and in 15,979 cases not only was an order made for recognizances, but the offender was also placed for a term under the supervision of a Probation Officer.

The proceedings in Courts of Summary Jurisdiction for (1) indictable offences dealt with summarily, and (2) non-indictable offences, resulted respectively as follows:

The proportion of sentences of imprisonment and of probation orders (i.e., orders for supervision) is naturally higher for the general run of indictable offences than for most non-indictable offences, which are of a less serious character.

In 1926 the percentage of persons dealt with summarily for indictable offences who were placed under the supervision of Probation Officers fell sharply, after having risen steadily for some years :

Presumably few of those who committed indictable offences which were connected directly or indirectly with the coal stoppage or the general strike were thought proper subjects for placing under supervision.

Courts of Summary Jurisdiction made 8,970 orders for sureties to keep the peace or to be of good behaviour, 6,558 for the maintenance of illegitimate children, 9,941 for the maintenance of wives, 474 for the maintenance of children in Reformatory and Industrial Schools, &c., and 2,377 under the Poor Law Acts for the maintenance of families, relatives, &c. 5,489 separation orders were granted; 618 orders were made for the payment of wages, &c.; 5,676 for dealing with nuisances under the Public Health Acts, &c., and 5,849 for possession of small tenements.

There were 482 appeals against convictions at or criminal orders made by Courts of Summary Jurisdiction. In 348 cases the conviction or order was affirmed, the sentence being modified in 162 cases; in 119 cases the conviction or order was quashed; and in 15 cases the appeal was abandoned.

Juvenile Courts.-25,600 juvenile offenders were brought before Juvenile Courts; 13,606 children and 11,994 young persons. In addition, 764 children and 3,024 young persons were dealt with by ordinary Courts of Summary Jurisdiction, either because they were charged jointly with adults or because they appeared to be above 16. In all, therefore, 29,388 juvenile offenders, 14,370 children and 15,018 young persons, were dealt with. This is rather more than 4 per cent. of the whole number of persons proceeded against for criminal offences.

Of the 25,571 youthful offenders brought before Juvenile Courts (omitting 29 who were not tried summarily), 2,749, or 11 per cent., were acquitted; orders without conviction were made against 15,789, or 62 per cent. ; and 7,033, or 27 per cent., were convicted.

Of the 15,789 juvenile offenders who were proved guilty but not convicted, 6,720 were discharged, some of them being ordered to pay damages or costs; 2,124 were ordered to enter into recognizances; 6,417 were placed under the supervision of Probation Officers; 487 were sent to Industrial Schools; and 41 were placed in the care of relatives, sent to Institutions for Defectives, or otherwise dealt with.

Of the juveniles convicted only one was sentenced to imprisonment* ; 3 were sentenced to detention in police cells; 17 were committed to Places of Detention; 549 were committed to Reformatory Schools; 335 males were ordered to be whipped; and 6,076, or 86 per cent. of those convicted, were sentenced to pay fines, but in 3,265 cases the fines, damages or costs were ordered to be paid by the parent or guardian.

* Children under 14 may not be sentenced to imprisonment nor committed to prison in default of payment of fines, damages, or costs. Nor may young persons aged 14 to 16 years be so dealt with unless the Court certifies that the young person is of so unruly a character that he cannot be detained in a place of detention, or that he is of so depraved a character that he is not a fit person to be detained. (Children Act, 1908, section 102.)

PROBATION ORDERS.

Probation orders, t.e., orders placing persons under the supervision of Probation Officers, were made in respect of 16,617 persons, of whom 597 were convicted on indictment, 13,136 were dealt with summarily for indictable offences, and 2,864 were charged with non-indictable offences.

764 persons under the supervision of Probation Officers were brought before the Courts for breach of Probation orders. Of these 63 were discharged, 324 were dealt with for fresh offences, and 377 were sentenced (155 of them to imprisonment), or otherwise dealt with, for the offence in respect of which the Probation order was made. The total number, 764, is equal to about 4.6 per cent. of the number placed annually (e.g., in 1926) under Probation orders.

EXTRADITION AND FUGITIVE OFFENDERS.

16 applications for the extradition of fugitive criminals were received from foreign governments and 8 accused persons were extradited. Seven applications were made by H.M. Government, with the result that four persons were sent back, or came back, for trial.

Under the Fugitive Offenders Act, four applications were received from the Dominions for the arrest and handing over of 4 accused persons, and 3 persons were handed over. Eight applications were made by H.M. Government and 5 persons were handed over.

PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS.

572 prosecutions were instituted or undertaken by the Director of Public Prosecutions; of which 469 were at the instance of Government Departments or of judges, magistrates, police, &c., and 29 at the instance of private persons. 725 persons were prosecuted, 608 of these were prosecuted for indictable offences, as follows:-77 persons for murder, 54 for incest, 136 for other offences against the person, 166 for frauds of various descriptions, 34 for bankruptcy offences, 68 for other offences against property, 47 for offences in connection with the currency, and 26 for other felonies and misdemeanours. 117 other persons were prosecuted for non-indictable offences. Of the total number of 725, 554 were victed and 21 were found "guilty, but insane."

POLICE STATISTICS.

Indictable Offences. As already stated, 133,460 indictable offences were reported to the police, or came otherwise to their knowledge. In respect of these offences, 55,140 persons were arrested and 24,451 were summoned, or 79,591 in all, many of whom were charged of course with several offences.

Of the 79,591 persons prosecuted, 1,731 were discharged by magistrates; 7,652 were dealt with summarily and the cases were dismissed; 28,729, against whom charges were proved, had orders made against them without conviction, and 33,314 others were convicted by Courts

of Summary Jurisdiction; 7,919 were committed for trial (of whom 3,663 or 46 per cent. were allowed bail), and 246 were dealt with otherwise, as shown in the note to page 107.

The actual number coming before Assizes or Quarter Sessions for trial was 7,924 (see page 6).

Non-Indictable Offences. Of the 606,921 persons charged with nonindictable offences, 477,580 were summoned and 129,341 were arrested.

CORONERS' INQUESTS.

Of 32,924 deaths touching which inquests were held, 12,117 were found to be due to natural causes, including old age; 13,851 to accident; 4,408 to suicide, including 78 cases of felo de se. In 1,486 cases open verdicts were returned; 262 children upon whose bodies inquests were held were found to have been still-born.

164 verdicts of wilful murder were returned, the bodies in 26 cases being those of newly-born children, 50 persons against whom verdicts of wilful murder were returned had committed suicide at the time of or soon after the murder; 88 verdicts of manslaughter and 20 of infanticide were returned.

PRISONS.

Returns from prisons show that 45,249 convicted prisoners were received into prison, 24 under sentences of death, 492 under sentences of penal servitude, and 43,988 under sentences of imprisonment.

16 per cent. of the sentences of imprisonment were for one week and under; 18 per cent. were for more than one week and not more than two.

11,027 non-criminal prisoners were received, including 10,683 debtor prisoners and 116 surety prisoners; 8,301 of the debtors were committed by Courts of Summary Jurisdiction, 3,655 of them for non-payment of arrears of wife maintenance, 2,380 for bastardy arrears, 1,780 for rates, 191 for income tax, 130 under the Poor Law, and 95 for nonmaintenance of children in Industrial Schools, &c. There were also 2,346 County Court debtors.

BORSTAL INSTITUTIONS.

601 persons (561 males and 40 females) were admitted on conviction, of whom 372 were convicted on indictment. 227 were convicted of burglary or similar offences, and 329 of larceny or fraud. 44 were ordered 2 years' detention; 554, 3 years' detention; and 3, more than 2 years' detention, but less than 3 years. 567 of the 601 had been convicted previously.

PLACES OF DETENTION.

There were 2,292 committals of children and young persons to Places of Detention for temporary custody. 17 were received under sentences of detention after conviction. The actual numbers concerned were 2,009 boys and 291 girls.

CRIMINAL LUNATICS.

147 criminal lunatics were received into asylums. 55 had been found by juries insane on arraignment, or guilty but insane; 91 had been certified insane while serving sentences in prison; only 1 was certified insane before trial. 68 of the criminal lunatics were received into Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum; 79 into County or Borough Mental Hospitals.

874 criminal lunatics were under detention at the end of the year. Of these no less than 399 had been charged with murder.

THE PREROGATIVE OF MERCY.

Seven death sentences were commuted to penal servitude for life. 17 convicts were released upon licence before they had earned full marks; and there were 157 remissions of the whole or part of various terms of imprisonment or of other sentences. In 140 cases the prerogative was exercised upon grounds of clemency or in view of mitigating circumstances; in 3 cases on grounds affecting the original conviction; and in 19 cases on medical grounds. Further, 44 convicts were relieved of the requirement to report to the police while on licence.