S17 



CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS. 



CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS. 



318 



1388 were not ascertained. The amount of prison accommodation is 

 stated to be sufficient on the average; but some of the prisons of 

 populous places are occasionally over-crowded such as Middlesex, 

 Westminster, Wandsworth, Durham, &c. The daily average number 

 of prisoners was about 19,686, and the total cost for the year was 

 567,804?., but this includes 120,799?. expended on new buildings, 

 alterations, and repayments, leaving 447,004?. as the ordinary annual 

 charge for prisoners, an average of 23?. 10s. 3d. for each, divided thus : 

 for repairs, furniture, Ate., 51. Os. 5d. ; for officers' salaries, pensions, 

 Ac., 91. 17s. 8rf. ; for prisoner's diet, clothing, medicine, &c., 81 12s. 2<?. 

 The government prisons now provide for the treatment of convicts 

 sentenced to long terms of detention, the great proportion of whom it 

 had been the practice to transport to the penal colonies, or to confine 

 on board the hulks. They are : 



" 1. The Millbank prison, now chiefly used as a general receiving 

 prison and depot for convicts of both sexes, including a penal class for 

 both, but appropriated also in part for a class of females undergoing 

 the first stage of their punishment. 



" 2. The Pentonville prison, adapted for the preliminary period of 

 separate confinement and instruction of adult male convicts. 



" 3. Portland prison, for able-bodied male convicts undergoing the 

 second stage of their punishment, and employed upon the public works. 

 " 4. Dartmoor prison, principally for infirm and sickly male convicts, 

 who are employed in farm labour, and partly in manufacture. 



" 5. Portsmouth prison, and 6, Chatham prison, for able-bodied male 

 convicts in the second stage of their punishment, who are employed in 

 the heavy unskilled labour of the naval yards and arsenals. 



" 7. Brixton prison, exclusively for females in the second stage of 

 their punishment, employed in needlework and the domestic labour of 

 the prison. 



" 8. The hulk ' The Stirling Castle,' at Portsmouth, used chiefly as 

 a receiving ship for prisoners sent from the convict establishments at 

 Gibraltar and Bermuda for release in this country, and for a small 

 number of invalid prisoners. 



" 9. Parkhurst, used as a reformatory for boys, who are employed in 

 farm labour, ami jrtly in manufacture. 



" 10. Fulham Refuge, for females under reformatory treatment in 

 their second stage of discipline." 



In these various prisons, there were at the commencement of 1857, 

 male prisoners 6171, females 830, and 8236 males and 758 females were 

 received during the year ; of the whole, 1032, all males, were sent to 

 Western Australia, Bermuda, and Gibraltar; 2871 males and 333 

 females were removed from one prison to another, including those 

 removed from the abolished hulks, and removed to lunatic asylums ; 

 and 178 females were sent to reformatories ; 162 males and 6 females 

 were discharged on the termination of their sentences ; 836 males anc 

 86 females were discharged on tickets of leave ; 9 males on commuta- 

 tion of sentence; 53 males and 15 females were pardoned; 68 male! 

 and 17 females died ; 2 males committed suicide and 6 escaped ; a tola 

 of 5675 disposed of, and 8320, of whom 7368 were males and 952 

 fclinaes, remained in the beginning of 1858. 



Crime in Ireland. In 1857 the total number of persons committed 

 or held to bail was 7210, of whom 3285 were not convicted. Of the 

 number committed, 5458 were males and 1752 were females. Of the 

 number convicted, 1036 were for offences against the person ; 31 4 for 

 offences against property committed with violence ; 1641 for offences 

 against property without violence ; 61 for malicious offences agains 

 property; 57 for forgery and offences against the currency; and 1811 

 for other miscellaneous offences. Only 6 were sentenced to death 

 and none were executed ; 40 were sentenced to transportation, 396 tc 

 penal servitude for various periods, 2674 to various terms of imprison 

 ment, and the remainder whipped, fined, discharged on sureties, 01 

 pardoned. In the year there had been 23,563 summary conviction 

 before magistrates or at petty sessions, and 9,557 committals fo 

 drunkenness. 



ne in Scotland. In 1857 the total number of offenders com 

 mitted for trial or bailed was 3840, of whom 2743 were males and 197 

 females. Of the whole, 920 were acquitted on trial, discharged with 

 out trial, or found insane. Of those convicted, 1140 were for offences 

 against the person, 408 for offences against property committed wit! 

 violence, 1903 for offences against property committed without violence 

 53 for malicious offences against property, 89 for forgery and offence 

 against the currency, and 207 for other offences not included in th 

 foregoing classes. Of the total, 557 males and 316 females couh 

 neither read nor write ; 1625 males and 697 females could read anc 

 write imperfectly ; 467 males and 75 females could read and write well 

 and 82 males and 7 females had had a superior education ; 14 are un 

 accounted for. Of the. punishments, 3 were sentenced to death an 

 executed for murder ; 28 sentenced to various periods of transporta 

 230 to various periods of penal servitude extending from thre 

 years to life ; 460 to various periods of imprisonment from three years 

 t'i mure than six months; 1877 to imprisonment for six months an 

 umler ; and 287 to be whipped, fined, and discharged. 



In 18f)l the ].lan was more completely carried out. We give th 

 statement I..|M\V ,,i the crimes and punishments of 1858; but th 

 returns 6f the Civil Procedure do not come within our limits, and w 

 therefore confine ourselves to the criminal returns : 



Police and Corutabulary. The number and expense of the police an 



onstabulary for the whole of England and Wales, were 20,256 men 

 ncludingthe chief officers and other officials), and 1,447,019?. The 

 orough constables, appointed by watch committees were 5804 ; the 

 ounty constables, 7549 ; the metropolitan police constables, 6295 ; 

 nd the city of London constables, 608. The salaries and pay amounted 

 o 1,081,748?.; allowances and contingent expenses, 41,824?.; clothing 

 nd accoutrements, 106,097?. ; superannuation and gratuities, 55,386?. ; 

 orses, harness, forage, &c., 29,609?. ; station-houses, charges, printing, 

 :c., 108,896?. ; other miscellaneous charges, 23,459?. The borough 

 olice cost 366,207?., of which the treasury paid 70,528?. ; the county 

 onstabulary cost 553,483?., of which the treasury paid 99,774?. ; the 

 uetropolitan police cost 480,736?., of which the treasury paid 

 13,338?.; and the city of London police cost 46,593?., the whole 

 efrayed by the city. 



The investigations of the police have ascertained more precisely than 

 lad ever been done before, the real numbers of the criminal classes. 

 'he report states that in 1358 there were : 



Known thieves and depredators, under 1 6 

 ,, over 16 



Receivers of stolen goods, under 16 . 



over 16 



Prostitutes 



Suspected persons 

 Vagrants and tramps 



under 1C 

 over 16 

 under 16 

 over 1 6 

 under 16 

 over 16 



Males. 



4,773 



26,772 



119 



3,410 



3,912 

 28,028 



3,265 

 11,330 



Females. 



1,608 



6,879 



29 



787 



1,647 



27,113 



1,512 



5,774 



1,942 



5,962 



Total. 



6,381 



33,651 



148 



4,197 



1,647 

 27,113 



5,424 

 33,802 



5,207 

 17,352 



81,669 58,253 134,922 



These are at large, and the numbers in prison on September 1858 were 

 in county and borough prisons, 15,774, of whom 11,742 were males, 

 and 4032 females ; 7628 in government convict prisons, of whom 

 6556 were males, and 1072 females; and 2022 in Reformatories, of 

 whom, 1690 were males, and 332 females; making a total of 160,346 

 'or the criminal classes. The distribution of criminal classes varies 

 considerably ; in the metropolis they form 1 in 187 of the population ; 

 n the pleasure-towns, such as Brighton, Bath,and others, they are 1 in 

 )7 ; in towns depending upon agricultural districts, Ipswich, Reading, 

 Lincoln, and others, they are 1 in 78 ; at the commercial ports, 1 in 

 93J ; in the seats of the cotton and linen manufactures, 1 in 154J ; in 

 the seats of the woollen and worsted manufactures, 1 in 175J ; in the 

 seats of the small and mixed textile manufactures, Norwich, Maccles- 

 field, Coventry, &c., 1 in 113 ; and in the seats of the hardware manu- 

 facture, 1 in 48. The agricultural districts vary less : it is 1 in 115 in 

 the eastern ; 1 in 104J in the south and south-western, and 1 in 103J 

 in the midland. These numbers are so far satisfactory that, though 

 large, they are not so large as have often been estimated. In 1801, for 

 instance, Mr. Colquhoun (' Police of the Metropolis '), then stated the 

 number of prostitutes at 50,000 ; a number much exceeding the whole 

 number now in England and Wales. During the year, the police had 

 information of 57,868 offences against the criminal laws ; and 30,458 

 persons were apprehended, of whom 22,455 were males, and 8003 

 females; of the total, 11,789 were discharged, 191 discharged on 

 bail, &c. ; 1330 bailed to appear at trial, 82 committed for want of 

 sureties ; and 17,066 committed for trial. The number of persons tried 

 was 17,855, of whom 4576 were acquitted or not prosecuted, and 33 

 were found to be insane. Of the convictions, 1393 were for offences 

 against the person, of whom 38 were sentenced to death and 11 ex- 

 ecuted; 115 to various periods of penal servitude; 1166 to various 

 periods of imprisonment with whipping, fines, &c. ; and 74 to be 

 whipped and discharged ; for offences against property with violence, 

 \442 persons were convicted ; of whom 15 were sentenced to death ; 

 528 to various periods of penal ervitude; 897 to various terms of 

 imprisonment with whipping, &c. ; and 2 to be whipped and discharged ; 

 for offences against property without violence, 9074 persons were con- 

 victed, of whom 1295 were sentenced to various terms of penal servi- 

 tude ; 759 to various terms of imprisonment, &c. ; and 20 to be 

 whipped and discharged ; for malicious offences against property, 74 

 persons were convicted, of whom 40 were sentenced to various terms 

 of penal servitude, and 30 to periods of imprisonment, &c. : for forgery 

 and offences against the currency, 793 persons were convicted, of 

 whom 131 were sentenced to periods of penal servitude, and 662 to 

 various periods of imprisonment; for offences not included in the 

 above classes, 470 persons were convicted, of whom 21 were sentenced 

 to periods of penal servitude, 31 7 to various periods of imprisonment, 

 &C. ; and 132 to be whipped, fined, and discharged. 



For minor offences the number of persons proceeded against sum- 

 marily was 404,034, of whom 143,744 were discharged on examination 

 by the justices, and 260,290 convicted, of whom 216,120 were males, 

 and 44,170 females, of these, 65,261 suffered short periods of imprison- 

 ment, only 73 being above six months, and 20,968 being for fourteen 

 days or leas ; 160,636 were fined ; 10,360 were ordered to find sure- 

 ties, 3781 were delivered over to the army or navy, 502 were whipped, 

 and 19,750 otherwise punished. The offences for which convictions 

 were obtained were, being drunk and disorderly, 51,861 persons, of 

 whom 42,890 were males, and 8971 females ; assaults of various kinds, 

 49,873 persons, of whom 40,893 were males, and 8980 females ; trifling 





