The Sun. — 1867-10-16 (London, England)

JUDICIAL STATISTICS, 18G6.  (From the Solicitors' Journal.)  Commencing with the police and constabulary these 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 additional 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 accounted 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 man, 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 at large, amounting to 3,060, or 2.6 per cent. on the numbers of the preceding year. How 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 Poorlaw 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 apprehended ; 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 apprehensions to the number of crimes was, in 1866, 53.7 per cent. ; in 1865 it was 55.6 per cent. ; in 1864 it was 56.2 per cent. ; and in 1862 58.2 per cent. Evidently, then, it appears that the more crimes that are committed the smaller is the proportion of persons apprehended. This fact has 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 magistrates. 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 fivecrimes go unpunished. This proportion refers to the amount of crime reported to the police. If we could arrive at any statistics 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 preceding 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 persons 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 indictable offences, 339,091 persons were summarily convicted by magistrates, and a further number of 142,679 were discharged, having been brought before magistrates to be dealt with under their summary 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 apprehended for indictable offences, as well as those summarily proceeded against, there is the usual proportion of " known thieves," &c. ; but it is remarkable 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 " character unknown.," showing that probably more than half these offenders s ere fresh recruits in the ranks of crime; in fact, 36.2 per cent of the whole number 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 2,734 are in the metropolis. Appeals to Quarter Sessions against summary decisions of justices 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 number of murders reported by the police—the latter