The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-11-21 00:00:00

THE POLICE.

THE stute of crime in this borough has, accord-
ing to annual custom, been set forth in the shape
of u report by Major GREIG, the Head Constable,
which was presented to the Town Council fat its
last meeting, and published yesterday, for the
use of all concerned. The report is accompanied
by copious Criminal and Police Statistics for the
year ended 29th September, 1860. Generally
speaking the present returns exhibit very little
variety of results as compared with those of
former years, unless we note that serious offences
against the person such as stabbing, wounding, &c.,
—that class of crimes which are, for the most
part, committed in moments of passion—have very
much increased. On the other hand, the apprehen_
sions are, upon the whole, fewer than last year; and
in the various classes of larcenies—especially those
committed by juvenile offenders--there has been
a marked decrease. The number of persons
apprehended under sixteen years of age in 1859
was 927 ; in 1860, 768 ; decrease 159, or 17.152
per cent.,—a fact which, as Major GREIG well
observes, " must be satisfactory to those interested
in Ragged Schools and Reformatory Institutions."

There has been an apparent decrease in the
number of prostitutes and. brothels, but it would
seem that this is scarcely to be relied upon as
actuallythefact,the Head Constable
for
states
thatinconsequence
of the stringent
measures taken against those unfortunates and
their keepers as
a class, they have recently been
conceal their whereabouts from
Ttohis
is a most lamentable state of
tmhoer more carefulolice.
matters, sineo it implies that the pollution, •
instead of having been abated, has been merely
disguised ; and in place of being confined to a
few well-known localities which the respectable
and well-meaning_ members of the community
may at all times avoid, the nuisance has been

secretly spread over all parts of the town, so as
to endanger the peace and safety of districts
where the taint was formerly unknown. We
cannot but look upon this as an aggravation of
the " social evil," and if such is the only result
to be obtained by the use of repressive measures,
the sooner they are abandoned the better.
Turning to the table of educational statistics,
we find the same stereotyped result. Out of
21,j37 apprehensions, not one is said to have had
a superior education) only 3.7 per Cent. could
read and write well, the remaining 96.3 per
cent. could do neither perfect Ty. In other words,
only 794 professed to read and write 'well, while
10,158 could do so very imperfectly, 1,872 could
only read a little, and 8,313 could neither read
nor write at all. It puzzles us to explain how
any reasonable mind can contemplate these figures
without being convinced that there exists a
positive relation between ignorance and crime.
It may be that education and the progressive
diffusion of knowledge can never extinguish crime;
but if it be admitted that at least the methods of
crime might thereby be altered, and the motives
to the higher crimes be weakened, we hold such an
admission to be of itself enough to call for the
most strenuous efforts of the educationists. For,
if it be granted that the spread of education
would have the effect of reducing that class of
crimes which, in point of fact, are the most
numerous in the calendar, are we warranted in posi-.
Lively concluding that their places would be supplied
by cringes of a different hue ? Or, even supposing
that it probably might be so, are we to leave any
means unemployed for the prevention of prevailing
crimes, merely because we fear that success might
be, to some extent, counteracted by the manifes-
tation of human weakness in some other shape ?
Nearly one-half, or 49.8 per cent. of those
apprehended by the police last year were at once
discharged on being brought before a magistrate.
With the exception of two years, this is the
largest proportion of discharges as compared with
the apprehensions for any one year during the last
ten. Of the remaining half (not so discharged) the
vast proportion—or 45.7 per cent. of the apprehen-
sions—were summarily convicted, and only 4.3 per
cent. were sent for trial. The number tried,
convicted, and sentenced was 3.1 per cent of the
apprehensions—being the lowest proportion for
any of the last ten years with three exceptions.
The following are some of the other more
remarkable facts" brought out in the report. The
police have their eye upon 2,715 suspected per-
sons. They possess some knowledge of 1,509
houses of bad character, and of 2,256 prostitutes.
The number of fires this year has been 241,
having greatly exceeded the number for any
year since 1850. The police found 1,651 doors,
&c., open, when they ought to have been
shut, and in each case sent information to
the owner or occupier. The number of public,
beer, and coffee houses within the borough is
2,837. 1,277 accidents have been reported to the
police, 89 of which proved fatal. During
the year 861 children were found wandering the
streets, of whom 805 were restored to their
parents and 56 Were sent to the Workhouse.
700 inquests have been held by the Borough
Cdroner—only 41 of which cases were found to
have arisen from natural causes—unless, indeed,
we adopt the classification of the report, which
includes " excessive drinking" under the head of
"natural death."

The good conduct., appearance, and discipline
of the force, under Major GREIG, seem to be as
nearly as possible all that they ought to be. The
force now numbers 1,002 of all ranks. The
Superannuation Fund Act promises to operate
most beneficially. There have been twelve deaths
in the force during the year, including Mr.
CLoUGR, head of the detective department, an
old and valuable servant of the public. The
average length of service stands high, being six
years and twenty-one weeks. The new offices in
Dale-street are pronounced suitable in every
respect. The force was inspected as usual, by
Colonel WTOODFORD, the Government Inspector
of Constabulary, and highly commended.
The report is a most elaborate and carefully
prepared document, embracing twenty-four tables
of statistics, arranged with admirable distinct-
ness—each of which might form, an interesting
subject of separate discussion. Even a cursory
glance at these returns will satisfy any one of
the manifold forms in which the services of this
valuable force are daily made available to the
public, as well as of the multifarious duties im-
posed upon the Head Constable, whose zeal and
ability are of themselves at once a guarantee for
the efficiency of the body, and a source of proud
gratification to the Borough.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

FRANCE.
(PROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Monday, Nov. 20.

All the news from Austria quite confirms the
embarrassment of the Government, and abun-
dantly attest the impossibility of the Emperor
Francis Joseph, however much he may be dis-
posed for war, taking the initiative in th©
struggle. Another project is now attributed to
Garibaldi—viz., of organising a landing at
Cattaro, and revolutionising Montenegro and the
whole Dalmatian coast. Should this movement
be sympathised with on a large scale, and ener-
getically followed up, and if Hungary should at
the same time break out into insurrection, the
fate of the Austrian Empire would, failing a
second intervention of Russia, be very seriously
compromised. Compelled by a diversion in these
quarters to diminish her forces in Venetia,
Austria, would almost inevitably see this province
slip out of her grasp. It need not, therefore, in
such circumstances, be a matter of surprise to find
that the Government of the Emperor Joseph
should have found itself forced of late to entertain
the question of ceding Venice, and that this idea
should be very generally seconded by public
opinion. It appears also that the state of affairs
in Bohemia has become rather uneasy. The
dissatisfaction among the Bohemians with the
new statutes proposed for their government, is
stated to be almost as great as that which prevails
in Hungary.

The recent intelligence from Constantinople
represents the antagonism between Sir L. B ulwer
and M. Lavalette as more decided than ever. It
has even gone so far, it is said, that the former is
doing all he can to endeavour to persuade the
Porte to withhold his sanction to a loan which M.
Mires is endeavouring to effect in Paris. This
question of the East never seems to cease increas-
ing in its proportions, while the variety of phases
which it developer is almost infinite. A general
"break-up" of the Turkish Power cannot be long
delayed; and the deluge that will follow is pro-
bably already gauged, and anticipated with no
small degree of accuracy.
Count de Persigny was expected to arrive in
Paris last night. A great many people seem to
think that this astute and agreeable diplomatist
is not likely to return to London, in consequence
of the climate not agreeing with the health of
the Countess. It is said that the Count, in the
event of his being thus forced to retire from his
post, will be inducted into the place of Count de
Walewski, who at present draws his £4,000 per
annum as a member of the Privy Council of the
Empire, without filling any public office ; and
that M. Walewski will be sent to St. James's,
in his mom.

Another arrival here, and one of far greater
importance, is announced in some quarters, being
no less than that of Garibaldi himself. It is said
that the ex-Dictator of the Two Sicilies will be
in Paris in the course of a fortnight, and that
apartments have been taken for him at the Hotel
Meurice. I need hardly say, however, that I
don't believe this report. In fact, a letter from
Turin, dated the 10th, mentions that Colonel
Deideri, Captain Marzuccihi, and Bertani, have
gone to visit the illustrious voluntary exile, who
is far from being at his ease. General Turr and
a party of Hungarians also purpose to spend a few
days in Caprera with the man upon whose aid
they chiefly reckon for the regeneration of Hun-

gary. With such an entourage around him, it is
not likely that he will falter in his purpose of
opening another campaign in the spring.