The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-27 00:00:00

.

CRIME IN IRELAN..q.7-1.
The criminal tables for Ireland for t.N.zetir,'4s49...._
have been published. The following • : .paea)che
observations which may be deduced 4- wm.;-;;;-;
The returns for 1849 show an increase • ,nixiisttala
of 3,467, or 899 per cent. on the p •,
The gross annual number of committal• . • ied-•
of seven years in 1849 has ranged from T. 614.4 A) „
to 41,989 (1849). In 1843 the total number Of -3
committals was 20,126; for the next three years it
was below 20,000; in 1847 it rose to 31,209,
and in 1848 to 38,522. A comparison of the
year 1849 with its predecessor shows in crimes
against the person with violence a decrease of 11.8 per
cent. ; in those against property with violence an in-
crease of 4.7 ; in those against property without vio-
lence an increase of 18.5 ; in malieious offences against
property a decrease of 23-73 ; in forgeries and offences
against the currency an increase of 30.05 ; and in
miscellaneous offences an increase of 6.01 per cent.
The first class of offences-viz , "against the person
with violence," offer a favour:-ble result as regards
their character. The decrease under the head
" Murder" is 12.83 per cent. on the preceding year.
Tne committals for murder for the last eight years
have ranged from 92 (1845) to 195 (1848); in 1849
they were 173, of which 138 were atq,itted on trial.
In the committals for shooting and stabbing there has
been a decrease f•om 110 to 66, or 40 per cent., while
those for manslaughter have increased from 166 to
173. Committals for rape have decreased during the
last three years, thus-62, 56, 43 ; and in assaults the
decrease has been 10.24 per cent. In class No. 2 the
crimes of sacrilege, burglary, and robbery show an in-
crease respectively of 25, 121, and 57, over 1848.
heads,
" Cattla stealing," under its several and " lar-
ceny," exhibit an increase of 1,699 for the former and
1,734 for the latter. Among the malicious offences,
there is an increase under the head " arson" of 55,
while in killing or maiming cattle there is a decrease
of 322, or more than 60 per cent. The offences
against the currency show an increase of 69, of which
41 are under the head buying, procuring, having, &c.,
counterfeit coin. The increase in the last class is
principally under the heads " riot" and "rescue," the
former being 279 and the latter 557 more than in
1848. In administering and taking unlawful oaths
there is also an increase of 62, but in perjury
and subornation there is a decrease of 17. The
number of sentences of death passed for the first
four years of a septennial period ending 1849,
has ranged from 13 (1845) to 20 (1844); for the
last three years there have been respectively 25, 60,
38. The transportations for life for the first four
years of the same period ranged from 39 to 49, and
for the last three years they have been respectively
17, 79, 61; those for 15 or 14 years ranged for the
first four years from 15 (1845) to 29 (1846), and for
the last three they have been 71, 71, 32; those for
seven years ranged in the first four years from 428
(1845) to 526 (1844), and in the last three they
were 1,587, 2,075, 1,896 ; the transportations for
other periods ranged from 113 (1844) to 158 (1843)
during the first four years, and for the last three were
440, 473, 1,061. The number of persons imprisoned
for from one to two years during the first four years
of the same period ranged from 107 (1844) to 193
(1846), and for the last three years respectively the
numbers were 342, 263, 344 ; of those imprisoned
for from six months to one year the number ranged
during the first four years from 534 (1845) to 758
(1846), and during the next three was respectively
1,428, 1,410, 1,721; the imprisonments for six
months and under for the first four years ranged
from 4,347 (1841) to 5,282 (1845), and for the sub-
sequent years were 9,440, 11,289, 13,369. The
number of persons fined or discharged, &c., during
the seven years has ranged from 1,349 (1845) to
2,336 (1849), and of those whose sentence was re-
spited from 94 (1844) to 351 (1843). Of the capital
offences passed in 1849, 15 were executed, viz., 13 for
murder, one for shooting at, and one for solicitation to
murder ; 20 were commuted to transportation for life,
and three for 14 years. The greatest comparative num-
ber of acquittals, during the septennial period occurs
in 1845, being 57.47 per cent., and the lowest in
1849, when it was only 49.5 per cent. The cases
in which the greatest comparative number of ac-
quittals has occurred are those of offences classed
under the bead " miscellaneous" and those "against
the person," the respective proportion of acquittals
for these being 58.33 and 64 82 per cent. The
cases in which the smallest number of acquittals has
occurred are those of offences against property, the
proportion being 37 02 per cent.
Of the 41,989 offenders committed in 1849, 31,340
were then and 10,649 women. Of the former 6,484
could both read and write, 3,023 could only read,
12,157 were unable to read or write, and of 9,676
the instruction could not be ascertained. Or the
women 235 could read and write, 1,500 could only
read, and 5,877 could do neither ; the number whose
instruction was not ascertained being 2,357. When
classed with respect to age we find the greatest pro-
portion of offenders occurring from the age of 21 to
30; the numbers being 7,151 men and 3,110
women. The next most numerous class is from 16
to 21 ; the relative numbers being 5,731 men and
2,238 women.

PROPOSED BREAKWATER OFF

BRIGHTON.
On Tuesday a meeting was held at the Town-hall,
to take into consideration the practicability of apply-
ing Mr. Smith's yielding Breakwater to Brighton.
Mr. Wilkinson acted as chairman. Mr. Smith
briefly explained his plan. Any object, he said, how-
ever fragile, might exist with safety in the roughest
sea, if unmoored and capable of being carried hither
and thither by the waves. Such was the principle of
his breakwater; it was screwed to piles similar to
those of the pier, but was flexible and and waved
backward and forward with the motion of the water
in such a manner that though offering every resistance,
it seemed to offer none, and incurred no danger. In
fine weather it was perfectly quiescent; and even in
a storm the links by which it was connected were so
few that comparatively trifling friction was pro-
duced, and consequently its durability might be
reckoned on. It might be made of timber or
wrought iron. It would afford anchorage alike
for three- deckers and the smallest boats. The
advantages it offered must be obvious. It
would give Brighton the advantage of being a
harbour-town, it would protect and increase its
fishery, it would make it a rival to Ryde as a yacht-
ing station, and would be an ornament and a defence
to the coast. The proposal could be easily carried
into effect, and thereby cause persons to pass through
Brighton to the Great Exhibition of 1851. Such a
chance as that for reimbursing the money to be ex-
pended on it might not occur again for years. The
expense would be about 12C,000/. a mile in round
numbers. Mr. Thornton, Mr. Wilds (who said he
preferred the plan to his own), Mr. Bass, Mr. Mow-
bray, Mr. C. Burrows, Mr. Ricardo, Mr. Goulty,
Mr. Goodall, and Mr. Thorncroft, all spoke on the
question, each taking the side of the advantages of
breakwaters in general and of this in particular.
Eventually, three resolutions were passed, expressive
of the advantage and desirability of a breakwater at
Brighton, and the design and model produced and
explained by Mr. Smith appeared to offer great faci-
lities for the accommodation of the desired object,
and that a committee be appointed to consider the
subject, confer with such parties as they might think
expedient, and report to a vestry meeting. Here
for the present the matter rests.—Brighton Guar-
dian.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS.
CDESTEP. AND HOLYHEAD RAlLwAy.—Trafic for the
week ended Sept. 22:

MAIN LINE.

Passengers
Parcels, H. C. and D.
Goods, cattle, &c.
Mails ...

... £2,039 19 9
... 74 8 11
... 374 16 1
... 575 0 0

Tot al

... £3,064 4 9

Pasrengers ...
Parcels, U. C. and D.
Goods, cattle, &c.

... £42 12 9
... 1 5 4
... 66 17 10

Total

STEAM-BOATS.

Passengers _
Parcels, H. C. and D. ...