474 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION GI. 



been chosen because they apparently lead to quite dissimilar con- 

 clusions. 



2. Crime and Morality. — At the outset it must be pointed out 

 Ihat in dealing with statistics of crime, one has to be careful to 

 observe the advice given in a preceding paragraph, in regard to 

 making due allowance for factors which are not or cannot be 

 embodied in the tabulations. In the first place, the spread of 

 civilisation is naturally attended by an increase in the number of 

 laws, or the scope of legislation, necessary to safeguard the ever- 

 widening circle of human interests. The corollary to this is of 

 course obvious. Again, the improvement and extension of means 

 of communication, and the spread of education and technical 

 training amongst the police, render the detection and identification 

 of criminals much easier than was the case in former years. These 

 influences will naturally be reflected in various ways in the criminal 

 returns. Further, the attitude of the judiciary and the police 

 towards certain offences, such as drunkenness, gambling, and the 

 several forms of vagrancy, is subject to considerable fluctuation. 

 The question is complicated also by the circumstance that accurate 

 returns are not available for the Commonwealth as a whole in 

 respect of the prevalence of undetected crime. Moreover, the 

 methods of compilation of the returns are not identical in all the 

 States, nor have they been identical during the period for which 

 figures are available. 



Happily, however, after making allowance for all these factors, 

 investigation shews clearly enough that during the last half century 

 - — i.e., up to the end of the year 1908 (the latest year for which 

 ■complete figures were available at the time of writing) there has 

 been a very considerable decrease in crime throughout the 

 •Commonwealth. This decrease is manifested in the returns from 

 the higher as well as from the lower courts. In view of the circum- 

 stance that the returns of discharges and withdrawals have purely 

 a negative interest, figures relating to actual convictions only will 

 be quoted. For the lower, or magistrates' courts these are as 

 follow, the comparison necessarily starting with the year 1881 

 owing to the difficulty of obtaining accurate results for earlier 

 years :■ — 



CONVICTIONS AT LOWER COURTS IN THE COMMONWEALTH, 1881-1908. 

 Convictions. 1881. 1891. 1901. 1908.» 



Total 105,057 127,050 125,924 141,307 



Rate per 1000 of the popu- 

 lation 47-3 39-9 32-3 33-4 



The above figures refer to aU convictions at the lower courts, and 

 include many offences which can hardly be classed as criminal, 

 the number of which has a tendency to increase with the increase 

 of local enactments. For example, in addition to the graver offences 



• There has been a considerable decrease in 1909 — figures not quite complete. 



