382 



EEPOET — 1882. 



indictable ofifences those disposed o£ summarily by magistrates. The 

 total number of persons thus tried in the last ten years was as follows : — 



It thus appears that there has been a great increase in the number of 

 persons brought before the magistrates for offences subject to summary 

 jurisdiction. It should bo observed, however, that in a large number of 

 cases the same individuals come again and again before the Courts, that a 

 large proportion of the cases so dealt with by magistrates consists of 

 offences of a very light character, and that of late the number of offences 

 involving imprisonment has been greatly increased. 



During the last twenty-five years the number committed for summary 

 jurisdiction in England and Wales has been as follows : — 



Years Average number of cases Per 



1857-61 . . . 389,142 



1862-66 . . . 442,493 



1867-71 . . . 510,175 



1872-76 . . . 616,751 



1877-81 . . . 660,661 



1,000 of population 

 19-65 

 21-79 

 23-08 

 26-13 

 26-21 



Twenty-five years' average 523,544 



23-37 



§ 10. General Character of Crimes and Offences. 



Classified according to the general character of indictable and non- 

 indictable offences, the following table indicates the relative criminality of 

 England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, in 1880. 



A good classification of crime would be a great aid in studying the 

 working of our criminal jurisprudence. Generally crimes and offences 

 may be divided into the following classes : — first, against public order 



