Proceedings of the British Association, 281 



the labourer had been much deteriorated. This was further shown 

 by the fact, that similar complaints of the increase of vagrancy and 

 beggary were made in Spain and Belgium, where the monasteries were 

 not suppressed at the same time as in England, and a similar course 

 of legislation adopted. He was also of opinion that the breaking up 

 of the feudal system, in the reign of Henry the Seventh, had at the 

 first, though not subsequently, an injurious effect on the condition of 

 the labouring classes. 



Sir John Boileau then read a brief abstract of the result of 

 inquiries into the state of the agricultural labourers in the county of 

 Norfolk. 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 4,781 above 14 and under 20 years of age. Hence 

 the average of labourers of all kinds to land of all kinds is 3^ 

 to 100 acres. The average of labourers of all kinds to arable land 

 is nearly 5 to 100 acres. Labourers above 20 to 100 acres of all 

 kinds 2g- to 100 acres. Labourers above 20 years of age to arable 

 land is 3 J to 100 acres. Hence it was concluded that there was no 



o 



surplus supply of labour in the country, and that the land, if judici- 

 ously cultivated, would provide employment for the entire population. 

 Mr. Nield then presented a series of elaborate 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 1st 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 existed 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 are always a large class of persons who never work, 



