Thus, as all thought, the spectre of the old law of deathbed was finally laid. But, to the surprise of most people, it was seriously argued in 1890 in Hay v. Coutts' Trustees1 that the Act of 1871 had only abolished the law of death-bed as to "deeds, instruments or writings," and that the old rule still prevailed which prevented a father prejudicially affecting the legitim of his children by delivery of cash on his death-bed. It was unnecessary in the particular case to decide the point, so it remains, as stated in the head-note, an interesting "Query.” J. S. HENDERSON.

1 18 Rettie 244.

VI.—JUDICIAL STATISTICS, ENGLAND AND WALES, 1913.

IT

PART I. CRIMINAL STATISTICS.1

T is perhaps a matter of regret that the collection and compilation of the Judicial Statistics for each year is such a lengthy operation that their publication is necessarily postponed for a period of twelve months, by which time many of the incidents which occurred in the year to which they relate, and might afford some clue to fluctuations in the figures, have been forgotten. This is not likely to be the case when the figures for 1914 come to be considered: the decrease in the amount of crime in the country which has been occasioned by the improved conditions of employment, &c., resulting from the outbreak of war, should be striking if the statements which have already been made on the subject prove to be justified. But it is just because of the exceptional interest which may be expected to attach to the Criminal Statistics published next year that those

1 Judicial Statistics, England and Wales, 1913. Part I.—Criminal Statistics. London: Wyman & Sons.

at present under review may seem comparatively colourless, and even a brief analysis of them may be received with indifference.

It must be admitted at once that the Statistics for 1913 do not contain any very striking features. They are divided as usual into the Comparative Tables, the first five of which cover the last 20 years and are summarised in the sixth; and the Annual Tables, to which, however, a new one has been added (No. XXXIA) containing the results of an inquiry regarding the number of deaths from burns caused by the ignition of flannelette and other clothing. This latter Table will be of more interest when it is possible to compare the figures it contains with those which will be available, presumably, next year; but it may perhaps be noted here that out of a total number of 36,801 deaths investigated by coroners' juries, 1,431 were caused by burns, the number of fatal accidents to females being nearly double that in the case of males-948 and 483 respectively. The number of deaths occurring among children under five years of age was 619, the proportion of males and females being more nearly equal; but among persons over five years of age the proportion of females who died from burns is naturally much greater in all cases where clothing was ignited, and it does not appear that flannelette clothing is as dangerous in this respect as are other materials. The remaining Tables compiled from the coroners' returns do not call for particular notice, the figures being nearly the same in most cases as those for the previous year. And the Tables are not, of course, entirely criminal, since the chief object of the coroners' jury is to determine whether death is or is not due to a criminal act, and criminal proceedings only follow in the event of a verdict being found against some person or persons upon whom it may be possible to fix the responsibility.

We may, therefore, turn at once to the Tables dealing with crime in the strict sense, taking first the Comparative Tables of Indictable Offences (Tables A, B and AB). The figures for these offences show an improvement on the previous year, the number of persons tried at Assizes, Quarter Sessions and summarily having decreased from 67,530 to 63,269. These returns are generally agreed to be the most reliable general criterion of the amount of criminality in the country, and they are usually supported by the returns of the number of crimes known to the police (Table D), which have decreased in the total by nearly the same amount (101,997 to 97,933). Practically the whole of this decrease of 4,261 in the number of persons tried for indictable offences comes in the class of offences against property without violence (Class III); and within that class again the fall is almost entirely due to the smaller number of simple larcenies, which have decreased by 4,193 (from 46,923 to 42,730) and stand at a lower figure than in any year since 1906, with the exception of 1911, when they were 42,525. These numbers may still seem somewhat high, but if the increase in population is taken into consideration, the improvement is more marked than would appear at first sight, the proportion of larcenies per 100,000 of the population having decreased from 14841 to 13585. Most of the other offences in the same class (i.e., frauds, receiving and larcenies other than minor larcenies) have remained practically stationary, the only ones that show a movement of more than 20 in either direction being larceny. by servants (3,707 to 3,996) and embezzlement (1,429 to 1,472) on the one hand; and on the other, larceny of horses and cattle (242 to 206), obtaining money by false pretences (2,275 to 2,149) and larceny from the person (1,685 to 1,517). The latter offence-pocket-picking-has been steadily decreasing, and as its successful accomplishment needs some experience and dexterity, as well as the help of an

accomplice, it is not unjustifiable to infer that the number of more or less habitual criminals who obtain their living in this way has declined and that their place is being taken by the amateur who knows his limitations and confines his attention to the easier exploit of shopbreaking. In the other main classes the fluctuations are small, in proportion to the size of their totals which are also comparatively restricted, since together they only form 14 per cent. of the number of indictable offences. They include most of the more serious crimes, however, and therefore deserve some notice.

Offences against the person (Class I) have advanced again, as they have done every year since 1909, the chief increases being contributed by indecent assaults on females (915 to 996) and procuration (15 to 73); and both the figures for this year and the total for the class (3,326) are higher than they have ever been before. Of those charged with assault, only 521 were actually convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, the remainder being acquitted, discharged on recognizances, or otherwise disposed of; and it is perhaps worth noting that less than half of those sentenced received more than three months. Of the persons charged with procuration, 55 were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, just one-half of them receiving more than a year; and it will be satisfactory to many persons to find that, in addition, 17 of them were ordered to be flogged.

Offences against property with violence (Class II) are practically stationary, the slight movement being in the right direction. Shopbreaking, the largest item, has again increased beyond the figure for last year, which was itself a record, and now stands at 1,886. It is, however, almost exactly counterbalanced by a fall from 668 to 579 in the number of persons charged with burglary (an offence which, like pocket-picking, is more for the expert than the amateur); and the rest of the reduction in the total is accounted for by a decrease in the charges of housebreaking from 964 to 885.

It is interesting to compare the figures for these three offences with the corresponding police returns. It appears that the number of reported cases of shopbreaking (4,260) and of burglary (1,501) have diminished slightly, the reduction being 263 for the two taken together; and that the reports of housebreaking (5,195) have grown by 274. It seems, therefore, that the increase in the number of persons charged with shopbreaking has occurred in spite of a diminution in the number of cases reported, while with housebreaking it is exactly the reverse. To the lay mind the three offences do not run very different from one another, burglary being housebreaking by night and shopbreaking only distinguishable by the type of building entered. Too much stress must, therefore, not be laid on the variations in the figures, which in the case of the two former are not very marked. But as regards shopbreaking, the sudden rise in the cases reported, which occurred in 1908, appears to have been definitely checked, the numbers having decreased continuously since that date, and it is permissible to conclude that this is due to increased vigilance on the part of the police, who have succeeded in bringing a larger proportion of offenders of this class to book.

Class IV, malicious injuries to property, and Class V, offences against the currency, have decreased a little, both as regards the number of cases reported and of the persons tried; and the figures for Class VI, containing the remaining indictable offences, not previously included, show a small rise. None of these figures, however, call for special comment, and we may therefore pass on to consider the non-indictable offences contained in Table C.

The total of these offences shows an increase over that of 1912 and represents an addition of 17,151, the totals for the two years being 663,139 and 680,290. The increase, however, is not so great as between 1911 and 1912, when it was 27,994. The advance shown in the latest total is