The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-16 00:00:00

JUDICIAL STATISTICS, 1866.

(From the Solicitors' Journal.)
Commencing with the police and constabulary
,hese returns exhibit an increase this year in the

strength of the force, amounting to 478, or upwards
of 2 per cent., and consisting of 9 superintendents,
25 inspectors, 36 sergeants, 323 constables, 53 ad-
ditional constables, and 32 detectives. As compared
with the population the police are as 1 to 893, having
been in 1865 as 1 to 902, a difference apparently slight,
but when the increase of the population is taken into
consideration it is in reality of great importance. One
noticeable fact with regard to the police is that the
cost of the force has increased by upwards of £78,000
and that this increase in expenditure is to be ac-

counted for not only by the increase in the numbers
of the police, but also to some extent by the higher
scale of pay which has been generally adopted. This
increases the average cost per mau, which in 1865

amounted to £75 4s. 3d., and in 1866 to £77.
The total cost of the police and constabulary is
£1,829,105, of which amount the public revenue
contributes £441,947. There appears to have been

a decrease in the number of the criminal classes

large, amounting to 3,060, or 2.6 per cent. on the
numbers of the preceding year. low the numbers
of the criminal classes at large are ascertained we
are unable to state, but the returns inform us that
all thieves and known depredators are included, and
that persons known to have been living honestly for
12 months are not enumerated. Vagrants and
tramps would appear to be on the increase ; in 1865
they numbered 33,690, in the three years preceding
that period they averaged 23,339, but in 1866 they
were 35,191. The reason for this large increase
may form a useful subject of inquiry by the Poor-
law Board, especially as a gaol is usually considered
to be a pleasanter habitation than a workhouse by
those well accustomed to both. In London the
criminal classes are in the proportion of 1 to 222 of
the population. In addition to those at large who
number 113,566, there are in local prisons, 16,708 ;
in convict prisons, 7,018 ; and in reformatories,
3,635 ; making a grand total of 140,927 persons of
the criminal classes.

The number of indictable offences in the year
1866 not summarily disposed of was 50,549, and in
respect of these crimes 27,190 persons were appre-

heeded ; this is a decrease from the preceding year
of 3.2 per cent. on the first number, and of 6.3 per
cent. on the second. The proportion of apprehen-
sions to the number of crimes was, in 1866, 53.7 per
cent. ; in 1865 it was 55.6 per cent. ; in 1864 it wal
56.2 per cent. ; and in 1862 58.2 per cent. Evi-
dently, then, it appears that the more crimes that
are committed the smaller is the proportion of per-
sons apprehended. This fact bas been noticed in
previous years ; and we have also this additional
fact, that out of the 27,120 persons apprehended,
no fewer than 8,002 were discharged by the magis-
trates. We are therefore entitled to conclude that,
while 50,549 crimes were committed, only 19,188
of the offenders were actually discovered, and that
at least three out of every five crimes go unpunished.
This proportion refers to the amount of crime re-
ported to the police. If we could arrive at any sta-
tistics of the actual amount of crime committed, the
proportion would, of course, be much lower; it is
sometimes estimated at one-sixth.
The number of offences reported comprises 131
murders, being four less than in the previous year,
and 45 attempts to murder, as against 51 in the pre-
ceding year; and under the class of offences against
the person we find a total of 2,861 in 1866, against
3,123 in the previous year—a decrease of 8.4 per
cent.; and in most of the other descriptions there is
a corresponding decrease. Of the murders, eight took
place in the metropolitan police district and one in
the city of London.
In respect of these 2,861 offences against the
person, 2,896 persons were apprehended, and 1,646
were discharged by the magistrates ; the number
convicted being a proportion of 78.6 per cent., while
the proportion in the previous year was 82.8 per
cent., and in 1863, 83.3 per cent. 'With respect
to offences against property, the proportion of per-
sons apprehended scarcely exceeds 50 per cent., and
the number committed is very much smaller, being
about 30 per cent. of the whole number apprehended.
Besides those apprehended and committed for in-
dictable offences, 339,091 persons were summarily
convicted by magistrates, and a further number of
142,679 were discharged, having been brought be-
fore magistrates to be dealt with under their sum-
mary jurisdiction. The increase in the number of
persons proceeded against in this class was in 1866
at the rate of 5 per cent. over that of the preceding
year, and of 25 per cent. over that of 1859,while in
the number of convictions there was an increase
over the previous year of 8.3 per cent. Among the
penalties imposed we find that 1,131 were sent to
reformatory schools, 471 to industrial schools, and
that 596 were whipped. Among the persons ap-
prehended for indictable offences, as well as those
summarily proceeded against, there is the usual pro-
portion of " known thieves," &c. ; but it is remark-
able that out of the 508,960 comprised under this
head no less than 200,827 are described as persons
of previous good character, and 175,335 as of " cha-
racter unknown," showing that probably more than
half these offenders NI ere fresh recruits in the ranks
of crime; in fact, 36.2 per cent of the whole num-
ber is the proportion of those known as thieves or
otherwise bad characters. The returns also show
that 13,629 " known thieves" are at large, of which
number 2,731 are in the metropolis.
Appeals to Quarter Sessions against summary
decisions of jutices were 91, and there were besides
these 69 cases stated for the opinion of the Superior
Courts under the Act 20th and 21st of Victoria,
chap. 43. In 1865 there were 50 such cases statedi;
the appeals to Quarter Sessions were the same in

number.
Coroners' returns for the year 1866 are up to the
31st of December, instead of the 29th of September,
as are most of the other returns, and they exhibit
the result of 24,926 inquests. In these the verdict
was murder in 272 cases, manslaughter in 223,
suicide in 1,360, and accidental death in 11,262 ; the
remainder ascribe death to other causes of different
descriptions. As regards inquisitions by coroners
it is remarkable that the number of verdicts of
murder exceeds by more than 100 per cent. the
itnumber a murders reported by the police—the latter