CBIMINAL STATISTICS. 



23 



It is somewliat remarkable to notice that the ages twenty to 

 forty which, as we have seen, exhibited 56* per cent, of the crime, 

 should also exhibit a proportionably higher degree of instruction ; 

 for whilst the average of all the other ages is represented by 53* 

 in the 100, the average of the ages from twenty to forty reaches 

 63'50 in the 100 — an excess of 1050 per cent. 



Now, I have no desire to press these results beyond their 

 legitimate conclusion, but they do seem to me to expose the 

 fallacy of the theory that the money spent on schools will, as a 

 necessary consequence, be saved on gaols and lock-ups. 



But there is a further test to which I should wish to subject 

 these results, and without which the investigation would be 

 obviously imperfect. That test is the educational state of the 

 population at the respective ages, as it was ascertained by the 

 Census of 1871. Well, then, I find that after casting out the 

 children under five years of age it was as follows, namely : — 





Ages 

 under 20. 



20 to 30. 



30 to 40. 



40 to 50. 



50 and upwards. 



Read and write 



Readonly 



61- 

 17- 

 21- 



83- 

 7- 

 9- 



76- 



9- 



14- 



73- 

 Il- 

 ls- 



66- 

 14- 



Not read 



19- 









99- 



99- 



99- 



99- 



99- 



We see by these figures that a proportionably larger per- 

 centage of the ages twenty to forty had received a higher degree 

 of instruction than had fallen to the lot of the ages above and 

 below ; for while 79" per cent, represents the average of the 

 former, 66" per cent, represents the average of the latter. There 

 is this further noticeable feature presenting itself on a comparison 

 with the gaol returns — that whereas the mean of the uninstructed 

 of the ages above specified was by the Census 16; per cent., the 

 mean of the uninstructed in the gaols was 26' per cent. ; whilst, 

 on the other hand, the mean of those who had received more or 

 less instruction was by the Census 83 per cent., and by the gaol 

 returns 73' per cent. 



But a fairer application of this test may perhaps be made by 

 taking the figures which refer exclusively to the year 1871, the 

 year of the Census ; and suppose we* cast out all the boys and 

 girls under fifteen years of age — as rarely, if at all, coming within 

 the criminal class — we arrive at the following results, and I 



