170 REPORT—1857. 
there is something in the social state of the locality which requires to be remedied ; if 
in the latter, it is merely a matter for the police, or probably accidental. The informa- 
tion on these points should form part of the police returns, and should be carefully 
collected, together with the number of times which the offenders have, in each case, 
been charged with crimes, whether proceeded against or not; and if not, for what 
reason. With this view a new Table is proposed, in the form annexed. 
To obtain more accurate knowledge as to the criminal classes generally, it might 
be desirable to adopt the Casiers Judiciaires, which have been established in France 
since 1851. They are placed in various localities—one of them in each judiciary 
arrondissement. Notices are there sent and classed, of every sentence of the different 
tribunals of the empire (soit du continent, soit des colonies), against any individual 
belonging to any part of a district of which the locality where the casier is established 
may be considered as the centre. Of these there are 361. If it be wished to ascer- 
tain the antecedents of any individual, application is made to the clerk (aw greffe du 
tribunal de premiere instance), by whom the casier for the district to which the party 
belongs, is kept; and a notice is returned, stating that he either has, or has not, been 
reported as a criminal; and if reported, how often and under what circumstances. A 
central office takes cognizance of foreigners and persons whose birth-place is unknown. 
The police find in these establishments one of the most valuable and ready modes of 
obtaining information* ; and they appear to be a much more reliable source than the 
revelations made, as with us, by the criminal himself in his interviews with the 
governor or chaplain. 
It is stated in the Report that the ‘ Judicial Statistics, Part I.,’ prepared at the 
Home Office, for 1856, show a continued approach to whatever is most valuable in | 
the best returns which have hitherto been devised: that for still greater improvements 
we shall find the materials in our police offices and courts of petty-sessions ; and that 
it is principally from these sources, if carefully and faithfully watched, that we can 
derive a better knowledge of the classes whom we have to punish or reclaim. It is 
not thought desirable, however, till our arrangements are more perfect, to require 
complicated returns either from the prison officers or the police. The great object 
should, in the first instance, be to make them reliably correct. 
Proposed New Table, for the Police. 
(Taken from the ‘ Journal of the Statistical Society,’ vol. i, (1839), p. 174, with some 
additions.) 
I. Domicile. II. Parentage. III. Antecedents. 
Illegiti- |Foundling| Previous| Previous 
mate. jor Orphan.| Charges. |Convictions. 
Native |Inhabitant 
Inhabitant.|not native. 
Stranger. | Legitimate. 
The second division is chiefly applicable to juveniles. A column of Remarks may be added 
for the remaining information required. 
On Equitable Villages in America. By Ricuarp H. WAtsH. 
These villages were established on the principle that persons were to sell articles at 
what they cost without any profit; the sovereignty of every individual; the adapta- 
tion of the supply to the demand; and a circulating medium founded on the cost of 
labour. A paper had been read before the meeting of the Association in Glasgow, | 
in which these villages were stated to have produced a successful result. The author 
had however corresponded with parties in America and found that they had failed, 
and that very unsettled notions of family relations prevailed in them. He considered 
that the principles upon which they had been founded were unsound and mischievous 
in practice, 
* Compte rendu de la deuxi¢meSession (1855) du Congrés International de Statistique, p. 86. 
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