are 1899-03, 176, 1925, 133, à decrease of 43; but in 1925 there were 25 known instances of the offence of "infanticide "created by the Infanticide Act, 1922, i.e., the killing of a newly born child by its mother before she had fully recovered from the effects of childbirth. The net totals of all homicides recorded were, therefore, 1899-1903 (average) 324; 1925 (actual) 318, and this fall has occurred although the estimated population rose from 31,881,000 in 1899 to 38,890,000 in 1925.

The number of sexual offences that become known to the police varies greatly from year to year.

As regards unnatural offences, including attempts, and gross indecency between males, the annual average from 1899 to 1903 was 214; from 1920 to 1924 it was 453, the actual number in 1924 being 520. It is gratifying to note that in 1925 there was a slight drop to 491. Procuration appears to be dying out, the number of cases known in 1925 being only 8. Abduction has remained almost constant at about 20 cases a year, the number of cases known in 1925 being 16. Bigamy, the annual averages of which had been 119 during 1899-1903, 129 during 1904-08, and 155 during 1909-13, rose in 1914 to 172; during 1915-19 the average was 541, the highest figure in that 5-year period having been 926 in 1919; during 1920-24 the annual average was 568, the number in 1924, 456, being the lowest reached during that period. In 1925, there was a further fall to 406.

Special interest attaches to the figures relating to offences against women and girls, i.e., rape, indecent assault, carnal knowledge of young girls, and incest. As the Act making incest a criminal offence was not passed until 1908, the figures for this whole group of offences are best examined from 1909 onwards. In the Report of the Departmental Committee on Sexual Offences against Young Persons (Cmd. 2561, price 2s., obtainable from H.M. Stationery Office-see pages 9, 83 and 100) the figures up to 1924 inclusive were given, and were subjected to careful analysis.

The figures for 1925 can now be given, alongside some of the more recent figures set out in that Report :

All the foregoing offences against the person form only a small proportion of crime, accounting for only 4,621 out of 113,986 indictable offences known in 1925.

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Offences of dishonesty are much more numerous than offences against the person, the total being 106,130, or 93 per cent. of all the indictable offences known.

The known crimes against property with violence, i.e., burglary, shopbreaking, robbery, &c., have increased from 7,354 in 1899 to 18,072 in 1925; and crimes against property without violence have increased from 61,447 in 1899 to 88,058 in 1925. There is evidence here, apparently, of a real increase in crimes of dishonesty.

Allowance must be made, of course, for the increase of population by about seven millions since 1899. Further, in 1899 crime had receded to its low-water-mark; the volumes of statistics that will follow this may show that in 1925 crime reached a post-war high-water-mark.

There is, too, much difficulty in deciding whether an increase in the number of crimes known to the police indicates an increase in the amount of crime actually committed. Now that Courts in passing sentence take into consideration, not only the offences charged against an accused, but also any other offences which he is willing to admit (see below), accused persons often admit a whole series of offences, some of which might not otherwise have come to light On the other hand, it seems possible that some aggrieved persons may not take the trouble to report offences to the police, because they believe that probably the offender when prosecuted will only be bound over.

This leads on to the questions how many persons are annually charged before Courts, and how are they dealt with.

As regards the number of persons charged before Courts with indictable offences of all kinds, the figure for 1925 was 59,993, of whom 46,476 were arrested and 13,517 summoned. The number of persons charged, 59,993, was much smaller than the number of offences known to the police, which was 113,986. That is to say that for every 2 indictable offences known, only one person was prosecuted. At first sight this gives the impression that one offender out of two avoids arrest; but that impression is false. In the first place, one person may be charged with several offences. For instance, a person recently pleaded guilty to no less than 8 separate offences. Secondly, the modern practice, commended to the police by the Home Office with the approval of the Courts, is to bring to the notice of the Court not only all the offences formally charged against the accused, but also any other outstanding charges which the accused person admits, so that not only all offences proved against him, but all offences admitted by him, may be taken into consideration by the Court in passing sentence, and upon release he may have a chance of starting afresh and turning over a new leaf. The case of the person alluded to above is a striking example of the effect of this practice. In addition to the 8 offences to which he pleaded guilty, he actually admitted 88 others, so that 96 offences in all were taken into consideration by the Court in passing sentence of 3 years Penal Servitude. Cases of this kind often occur and it seems likely, therefore, that the number of indictable offences brought home to offenders bears a very high proportion to the number known to the police to have been committed.

Of the 59,993 persons prosecuted for indictable offences, 2,224 were discharged by the magistrates because there was no primâ facie case, 49,404 were tried summarily, 8,134 were committed for trial at assizes or quarter sessions, and 231 (mainly persons who absconded, insane persons removed to asylums, or persons in respect of whom proceedings were adjourned sine die) were otherwise accounted for.

Of the 8,134 persons committed for trial, 3,575 (or 44 per cent.), were allowed bail. In 1913, before the stringency of practice in regard to granting bail was relaxed by the operation of certain provisions of the Criminal Justice Administration Act, 1914, only 25 per cent. of the persons committed for trial were released on bail.

The number of persons that came for trial before Quarter Sessions or Assizes during the year was 8,139; 4,693 at Quarter Sessions, and 3,446 at Assizes.

Of these 8,139, 116 were not actually tried, for in 2 cases the prosecution was not proceeded with, in 96 cases the Grand Jury returned "No Bill" and in 18 cases the jury found the accused insane on arraignment. Of 8,023 persons actually tried, 1,350 were acquitted, 6,639 were convicted, and 34 were found to have been insane at the time of committing the offence.

The 6,639 persons convicted were dealt with as follows:

Bound over, without any order for supervision
Bound over, with order for supervision..

To be detained in Borstal Institutions

Imprisonment

Penal Servitude
Death

1,009

658

322

4.040

459

30

The cases of 121 persons convicted were disposed of in other ways.

The first two figures, relating to binding over, attract attention to the increasing use by Courts of Quarter Session or Assize as well as by Courts of Summary Jurisdiction of the power of placing upon probation, i.e., of binding over, with or without an order for supervision. This topic is referred to again on page 9.

As regards sentences of death, probably the numbers since 1923 have been slightly affected by the passing of the Infanticide Act, 1922. It is too early to analyse the statistics from this point of view, but from the figures so far available it appears probable that most of what are now shown as convictions of infanticide (18 in 1925) would formerly have been shown as convictions of murder, or of concealment of birth, and that few of them would have been shown as convictions of manslaughter.

The manner in which the women convicted of infanticide since 1922 have been dealt with shows very strikingly the use made of probation and also the increasing tendency to leniency in those cases where probation is not felt to be justified:

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Of the total number of persons convicted at Quarter Sessions or Assizes in 1925, namely 6,639, 461 made applications to the Court of Criminal Appeal, such applications being technically applications for leave to appeal. Some applications were heard by a single Judge and some by the full Court, either in first instance or after refusal by a single Judge ; 48 prisoners abandoned their applications; leave to appeal was granted in 64 cases and refused in 349. In addition to the 64 cases in which leave was granted, there were 2 appeals on grounds involving questions of law, 1 with the Certificate of the Judge at trial and 15, without previous leave to appeal, against sentence of Preventive Detention

Nineteen convictions were affirmed; 26 were quashed. Nineteen sentences (including 15 of Preventive Detention) were affirmed; 2 were simply quashed; in 16 cases the sentences passed were quashed, but other sentences were substituted.

Indictable Offences dealt with Summarily.

In 1925 no less than 49,404 out of 59,993 persons charged with indictable offences were dealt with summarily. The vast majority of them, 46,426, were charged with offences against property without violence.

That the police do not often bring charges without evidence which is sufficient to convince the Court or which makes it hopeless for the accused to do otherwise than plead guilty, is indicated by the fact that of 49,404 persons tried summarily for indictable offences no less than 43,944 pleaded guilty or were found to be guilty.

Since the passing of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907, a Court of Summary Jurisdiction which finds that guilt is proved need not necessarily proceed to conviction; and in 1925 orders were made against 22,720 persons without proceeding to conviction, so that only 21,224 of the guilty were actually convicted. Of the 21,224 so convicted of

indictable offences, 10,657 were let off with fines and only 9,081 sentenced to imprisonment. Of the 22,080 guilty who were dealt with under the Probation of Offenders Act without being convicted, 4,165 were discharged; 6,487 were bound over without an order for supervision; and 11,428 were bound over with an order for supervision. These figures as to the use made of the Probation of Offenders Act, together with those already given for Courts of Quarter Sessions and Assizes and those given below for non-indictable offences tried by Courts of Summary Jurisdiction, are brought into a single summary on page 9.

More than three-quarters of the persons dealt with under the Probation of Offenders Act in respect of indictable offences, i.e., 17,500 out of 22,080, were guilty of simple larceny; of 38,553 persons tried summarily for this offence only 6,348 were sentenced to imprisonment, 8,852 were fined, 3,557 were discharged under the Probation of Offenders Act, 5,140 were bound over without an order for supervision, and 8,803 were bound over with an order for supervision.

Non-Indictable Offences tried Summarily.

No steps are taken to record the number of non-indictable offences that become known to the police, for from the full list of such offences at page 197 it will be seen that, as regards many of them, the total number actually committed could not be stated with any approach to accuracy.

As regards non-indictable offences, therefore, the only available guide is the number of cases in which proceedings are taken. That number tends to fall and, unlike the number of indictable offences, shows no sharp post-war rise. Since 1899, the annual averages, or the actual annual numbers, have been as follows:-

The general decrease over the whole period is largely due to the marked decrease in proceedings for offences connected with drunkenness, which in 1903 numbered 230,180 but by 1925 had fallen to 80,412, a fall of 149,768.

The decrease would have been very much greater if it had not been for the enormous increase in proceedings for offences connected with motor vehicles, which in 1913 numbered only 25,701 but by 1925 had increased to 150,733, a rise of 125,032. In 1925, indeed, proceedings for these offences constituted nearly one quarter of the total number of proceedings for non-indictable offences.

Of the 610,801 persons who were charged with non-indictable offences in 1925, 560,501 pleaded guilty, or were found to be guilty, of whom 499,177 were actually convicted, while 61,324 had orders made against them without being formally convicted.

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