102 REPORT—1846. 
employment for their children. It has been ascertained, from the Statistics of the 
Night Asylum for the houseless and the police offices, that 46 per cent. of the paupers 
are not natives of Glasgow. An amendment of the Poor Law of Scotland passed the 
legislature last year, which, it is hoped, may in some respects remedy this evil. 
Under the authority of this Act, the parochial boards in the cities of Glasgow and 
Edinburgh have resolved on having industrial schools for the purpose of supporting 
and educating poor children. These schools have been for some time in operation in 
Aberdeen and Perth; and if generally adopted, may be expected to remedy the evil 
complained of in some degree. 
Statistics of Crime in England and Wales, for the years 1842, 1843, and 
1844. By F.G. P. Netson, F.L.S. 
The first point to which attention was directed, was the necessity of viewing age as 
an element in every investigation into the amount and progress of crime. From an 
arrangement of the criminal returns for the above three years, in relation to popula- 
tion, it appeared that the tendency to crime among the male population, at different 
terms of life, will be found to vary from ‘7702 per cent. to 1694 per cent., or, in 
other words, the tendency to crime at one period of life is more than quadruple that 
at another. Similar results will be found for the female population, but with a lower 
specific intensity fo crime. It was further shown, that in the counties and districts 
of England and Wales a different distribution of the population is found over the va- 
rious terms of life. In Anglesea, Caermarthen, and Dorset, the proportion of the po- 
pulation alive in the qninquennial term of life, 20-25, is under 8 per cent. of the 
whole; while in Lancaster, Middlesex, and Monmouth, the proportion varies from 10 
to upwards of 11 per cent.; and, since the tendency to crime at the same periods of 
life is more than quadruple that at other periods, it follows that, although the tendency 
to crime in those two groups were precisely the same at the respective terms of life, 
there would still, in reference to the whole population, appear to be an excess of crime 
in the three latter counties ; therefore any method of investigation in which the ele- 
ment of age is omitted can never show the relative amount of crime. In illustration 
of this principle, it was shown that during the years 1842, 1843 and 1844, the pro- 
portion of criminals in England was 1 in every 336 of the male population ; but if the 
population during those years had been under the same distribution in regard to age 
as in the year 182], the proportion of criminals would have been only 1 in every 
365 of the male population. Again, assuming the same tendency to crime at the 
respective terms of life to prevail, the differences in the distribution of the popu- 
lation would, for Glasgow, produce 1 criminal in every 304 of the male population ; 
and in two districts of the metropolis the difference is so much as to give 1 in every 338 
for Bethnal Green; while in St. George’s, Hanover-Square, the ratio would be as high 
as 1 in 280 :—showing a difference, or rather an error, in any such method of inves- 
tigation of 21 per cent. The results for England and Wales establish the same truth. 
In Dorset, Anglesea, Cardigan, Caermarthen, Montgomery, Merioneth, and Pembroke, 
the ratio of crime would be one in every 360; but in Lancaster, Middlesex, Mon- 
mouth, and Glamorgan, the average would vary from 1 in 525 to 1 in 318 of the male 
population. It was thus made evident, that calculations on the progress and amount 
of crime in which the element of age is neglected cannot be relied on, as they would 
lead to the fallacious conclusion, that districts in which the same ratio of crime pre- 
vailed were at least 20 per cent. in excess of the average of the whole kingdom. A 
series of tables were brought forward, pointing to the existence of an interesting law 
in the development of crime. It was found that, in the male sex, from age 20, crime 
in each successive term of life decreases at the rate of 333 per cent., and in the fe- 
male sex at the rate of 25 per cent.; so that if two tables were formed,—one in 
which the numbers resulting from such a law were given, and the other showing the 
actual number of criminals,—the one table, particularly in reference to the female sex, 
would be almost identical with the other. The paper went into an analysis of 
the various causes generally believed to increase or lessen the amount of crime in va- 
rious districts ; such as the prevalence of manufacturing, mining, and agricultural in- 
terests, the greater or less amount of wealth, and the degree of education. In the 
group of the manufacturing and mining districts, it was found that the actual 
crime was less than the average of England and Wales by 2°3 per cent.; but in 
Se ee 
