CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



by police courts ; 256,670 by correctionary courts; 

 and 7556 in assize courts ; 2 in 5 for offences 

 against the person, and 3 in 5 against property. 

 There were 38479 recommittals, i female to 6 

 males. Of those sent to the central prisons, about 

 i in 2 were under the age of 30, i in 2 quite un- 

 educated, and i in 2 had only the elements of 

 education. 



In the United States, 1850, apart from police 

 and justice court cases, there were 26,679 persons 

 convicted of crime, or I in 866 of the population, 

 and 6737 persons in prison on ist June. To 

 100,000 of the population there were, 1850, in 

 prison 22 native whites, 78 foreign whites, and 

 224 free blacks. In 1870, exclusive as above, 

 there were 36,562 persons convicted of crime, or 

 i in 1054 of the population, and 32,901 persons in 

 prison on ist June. In spite of the free institu- 

 tions, division of land, and education in the United 

 States, murders, desperate offences, and lynch law 

 are numerous. The coloured race are very liable 

 to poverty and crime in the United States, from 

 the social degradation to which they are subjected 

 by the whites, fostering malice and deceit, and 

 leaving them little but sensual enjoyments. 



In the United Kingdom, 1871, 238,274, or i in 

 133 of the population, were convicted as drunk, or 

 drunk and disorderly, in public thoroughfares, in- 

 volving a fine or 14 days' imprisonment. This is 

 37 per cent, of the total summary convictions for 

 crimes in the year, but the number includes as 

 different persons, the same person convicted more 

 than once in the year. A multitude of drunkards, 

 however, escape the police, or are convicted for 

 other crimes. In Liverpool, said to be the most 

 drunken city in the kingdom, i in 10 of the popu- 

 lation was apprehended as drunk in 1870. Of 

 crimes against the person, 3 in 4 are connected 

 with drunkenness. This country spent ,87,000,000 

 in intoxicating liquors in 1860, and ,140,000,000 

 in 1873. 



Juvenile delinquency has of late years attracted 

 much attention, as it is mainly by preventing the 

 young falling into crime, and reforming them when 

 they do so, that we can hope to diminish adult 

 crime. Juvenile delinquency arises from the in- 

 fluence of depraved parents, home discomforts, 

 corrupting associates, wee pawns, low haunts, as 

 minor shows and theatres, &c The famous Code 

 Napoleon considers offenders under the age of 

 16 as subjects not for confinement in a jail, but 

 for correctionary training in a school. This prin- 

 ciple and such schools, called industrial and 

 reformatory, have been legally recognised in this 

 country by various acts of parliament since 1854, 

 for the detention, 3 to 7 years, and the intellectual, 

 moral, and industrial training, besides boarding, 

 clothing, and feeding of young offenders, who have 

 been found guilty of some offence against the law, 

 as vagrancy, begging, or petty theft (for which 

 they may be imprisoned not above 14 days), or 

 who have criminal parents and associates, or no 

 settled abode or visible means of subsistence. In 

 addition to private endowments and voluntary 

 subscriptions, the schools are supported by Trea- 

 sury grants, and forced contributions from able 

 parents. Above 70 per cent of those discharged 

 from these schools, on expiry of their detention, 

 are known to be doing well. In Great Britain, 

 1872, there were 100 industrial schools, containing 

 10,905 young offenders, under sentence of detention, 



542 



at the yearly cost of^io, los. to 18, 103. per head; 

 and 65 reformatory schools, containing 5575 young 

 offenders, under a like detention, at the yearly 

 cost of 17 to ,20 per head. These schools have 

 reduced the number of offenders, under the age of 

 1 6, in England and Wales, from 13,981 in 1856, 

 to 8977 in 1871 ; and in Scotland, from 1228 in 

 1859, to 1094 in 1871. 



EDUCATION. 



Education, so necessary to civilised life, is the 

 art, dependent on a knowledge of man's whole 

 nature, by which adults impart mental and bodily 

 aptitude to the young, fitting them for their func- 

 tions as human beings. Of old it was limited to 

 the higher ranks, Greece wishing to make bril- 

 liant, and Rome useful citizens ; but with the 

 Reformation came the conviction that all ranks 

 should be educated. Education includes bodily, 

 mental, moral, religious, mechanical, professional, 

 and political training, and continues through life. 

 Education has had to be forced by the higher and 

 middle ranks on the lower. The education of the 

 young is conducted in schools, gymnasia, colleges, 

 and universities. 



State systems of primary education for the 

 young now exist in most parts of the middle and 

 north of Europe, and in the United States of 

 America and Canada ; but in some of these coun- 

 tries primary education is not yet compulsory. 

 The state leaves religious instruction to be given 

 by each sect. Each parish has one or more schools. 

 Teachers require certificates of qualification. State 

 inspectors examine the schools periodically. In 

 most of these countries, i in 10 to i in 5 of the 

 population, and 35 to 98 per cent, of the children 

 of school age, are at the public schools ; but in 

 London, Paris, and New York, nearly half the 

 children were recently not at school. 



The German Empire is the best educated 

 country in Europe. Primary education is in 

 most parts compulsory in rate-supported or other 

 schools, in every town and village. The Ger- 

 man system is based on the Prussian, the most 

 perfect system (for classification, support, and in- 

 spection) of national compulsory education exist- 

 ing. It dates from the Reformation, and was much 

 improved in 1809. In Prussia, i in 8-6 of the 

 population is at the primary schools, and there 

 are 9 sorts of superior schools between the primary 

 and the universities. In different parts of the 

 German Empire, 12 to 17 per cent, of the popula- 

 tion attend the schools and universities. The 

 empire has 21 universities, with 1154 professors, 

 and 13,990 students in 1872, or i in 2930 inhabit- 

 ants. German children of all ranks read, write, 

 cipher, know some geography and history, and 

 often attend the same school. The poorest rival 

 the children of the British middle ranks in dress, 

 manners, and cleanliness. Germany has fewer 

 paupers than in Britain, and the lower classes 

 have the information and manners of British shop- 

 men. 



In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, primary edu- 

 cation was, in 1848, made compulsory for all 

 children of the ages 6 to 12 ; but the system has 

 only been fully carried out in the German parts 

 of the empire. The empire has 7 universities, 

 with 548 professors, and 10,628 students, or i in 

 3476 of the population. 



