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TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 89 
labourer,’ The hospitals were supported by assessments levied on the citizens and 
. the’companies. By the charter of Edward the Sixth the government of these insti- 
tutions was given to the Corporation of the City of London, but the chief power was 
seized by the Court of Aldermen. Mr. Fletcher then explained the causes that placed 
these institutions in the hands of self-elect governors, between whom and the corpo- 
tation a kind of compromise was effected by Act of Parliament in 1782. But this 
Act only provides for the election of forty-eight governors annually by the Common 
Council, twelve for each hospital, Bethlehem being reckoned with Bridewell; and 
as these form but a small minority among the total number of governors, the anoma- 
lous ‘self-elect constitution of these bodies continues to the present day. Mr. Fletcher 
then entered into an elaborate detail of the various efforts that have been made to 
Suppress mendicancy by penal enactments, some of which were so severe as to vest 
an arbitrary power of transportation in any two governors of Bridewell. In 1708, the 
London Workhouse, though of earlier origin, was first brought into full operation ; but 
it fell into a state of inefficiency and was abolished. Mr. Fletcher then contrasted 
the system of relief attempted by the Royal or Corporation Hospitals with the present 
pauper administration of London, and showed how widely the hospitals had deviated 
in practice from the principles at which their founders aimed. 
Result of Inquiries into the State of the Agricultural Labourers in the County of 
Norfolk. By Sir Joun Bortzau, Bart., F.R.S. 
Out of 680 parishes to which queries had been addressed, 426 sent returns. These 
parishes contain 664,487 acres, of which 471,399 are arable. The total number of 
labourers usually employed thereon is 23,058 labourers, of which 18,277 are above 
20 years of age, and 4781 above 14 and under 20 years of age, Hence the average 
of labourers of all kinds to land of all kinds is 35 to 100 acres. The average of la- 
bourers of all kinds to arable land is nearly 5 to 100 acres. Labourers above 20 to 
100 acres of all kinds 23 to 100 acres. Labourers above 20 years of age to arable 
land is 33 to 100 acres. Hence it was concluded that there was no surplus supply 
of labour in the country, and that the land, if judiciously cultivated, would provide 
‘employment for the entire population. 
On the Police Statistics of Manchester. By W. Niexp. 
This paper comprised a series of tables, forming the Statistical Returns of the 
Police of Manchester in the year 1844, with the observations of Mr. Willis, Chief 
Constable. The total number of apprehensions from the Ist of January to the 31st 
of December 1844 has amounted to 10,702, being a considerable decrease in the 
number apprehended, as compared with previous years, and exhibiting much fewer 
apprehensions during the past year than during any year since the establishment of 
a day and night police force. The decrease may be, in some measure, attributed to 
the more’ prosperous state of trade, which, as compared with previous years, has ex- 
‘isted during the period to which the present returns relate. At the same time, as it 
is a fact’ well-known to the police, that there is always a large class of persons who 
never work, and another class who (although employed, and in the receipt of good 
wages) are in the habit of committing, or attempting to commit, felonies after their 
hour's of labour, there can be no doubt that the decrease in the number of apprehen- 
‘sions is not to be altogether attributed to the state of trade, but must be partly 
‘ascribed to the increased efficiency of the police, which has tended in a great measure 
to prevent the commission of crime. As respects the summary convictions in the 
“year 1843, out of 12,147 apprehensions, there were 298] summary convictions and 
758 committals for trial; whilst in 1844, out of 10,702 apprehensions, there were 
‘3961 summary convictions and 691 committals for trial; or an actual increase in 
the past year of nearly 1000 convictions, although the number of apprehensions has 
been less by 1445 individuals. The increase in the number of summary convictions 
‘may, in a measure, be attributed to the provisions contained in the New Police Act, 
which came into operation on the 4th of July 1844, which enables the Justices to 
‘punish by fine or imprisonment parties found drunk in the streets, and which power 
‘hasbeen frequently exercised. The number of apprehensions for drunkenness is 
