Males.

Females.

Males.

TABLE showing the RESULT of the PROCEEDINGS in the FOREGOING CASES.

2922

2

22

64 219 0 0

0 45

134 1468*

0 187

2152 36

2 0 30 194

289 219 732

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.
Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Females.

STATE OF CRIME IN LIVERPOOL.

The following paper was read by Mr. Joshua Walmsley in the statistical section of the British Association at Liverpool, on Friday, the 15th of September:

6

"Those who have interested themselves in the general proceedings of this Association will remember, that, at its last meeting, held in Bristol, a paper on Statistical Desiderata was read by a distinguished member of this section, wherein several censures were passed upon A report upon the state of crime in Liverpool,' then recently printed by order of the Council of the borough. That gentleman having subsequently visited Liverpool, I rejoiced in the opportunity it afforded me of showing him the data on which the conclusions were founded. He admitted that he misapprehended the report, for, instead of allowing, as he thought, an average income of 470l. a year to each criminal, it did not allow quite 80%.; and when the profligacy and necessary expenditure of a confirmed thief, or a dissolute woman's life are considered, 807. a year is not an excessive temptation to a life of crime and sin. In fact it implies most forcibly, that, in a pecuniary sense, the mass of them lead (which is the truth) a life of misery.

"The report gave, as the result of rigid inquiry, a criminal population to this town of 4,200 females and 4,520 males, 2,270 of the latter being professed thieves, and the remainder occasional thieves, living by a combination of labour and plunder; and the whole was set down at upwards of 700,000l. This does, at first sight, appear incredible; but an investigation, pursued with much labour, and not unattended with obloquy, convinced me the statement contained no exaggeration.

"A more recent inquiry, carried on by better means, afforded by a more experienced police force, not only confirms these details, but leaves an impression that the number of criminals was underrated. In an inquiry of this kind an approximation to accuracy is all that can be expected, and all I purpose to do is to furnish the society with the most accurate data which is accessible.

"I hold in my hand two or three returns, about the correctness of which there can be no doubt. They contain the number of persons brought before the magistrates, and the number committed; they also give the age of the juvenile felons. In the year 1835, there were taken into custody 13,506 persons, of whom 2,138 were committed. In 1836, there were taken into custody 16,890, of whom 3,343 were committed. Up to the 13th of the present month, the number taken into custody in eight months was 12,709, of whom 2,849 were committed. From July, 1835, to July, 1836, the number of juvenile thieves, under 18 years of age, apprehended was 924, of whom 378 were committed. From July, 1836, up to the present day, the number of juvenile thieves taken into custody was 2,339, of whom 1,096 were committed. There were in custody, during the same period, upwards of 1,500 well known adult thieves.

"In our report juvenile thieves were set down at 1,270, it now seems that the number was very greatly underrated, for the most expert officer does not pretend to say that one-half were taken into custody.

"In the returns made by the old watchmen, the number of houses of ill-fame was set down at 300; but this return referred only to the notorious ones.

A full and complete return has since been made, and the

real number is 655, exclusive of private houses in which girls of the town reside. In all the houses of ill-fame females reside, and, allowing an average of four to each house, the number residing in such places only would be 2,620.

This return is further confirmed by the fact, that, in the year preceding the inquiry, there were apprehended 1,000 females of a particular description. Mr. Bacheldor, now the excellent governor of the borough gaol, was then the principal bridewell-keeper; he gave it as his decided opinion, and no one was more competent to give one, that not one-fourth of the females had been apprehended. In this opinion the heads of the police, deriving their knowledge from a different source, coincided.

"Another return has been placed before me, which, though not absolutely bearing on the subject, is not without interest. Of 419 individuals now in the gaol, 216 profess the religious creed of church Protestants, 174 are Roman Catholics, 8 are Methodists, 17 are Presbyterians, 2 are Unitarians, 1 Baptist, and 1 Independent; 41 can neither read nor write, 59 read imperfectly, 38 read well, 127 read and write imperfectly, and 56 read and write well.

"I come now to the consideration of the annual sum necessary to the support of such a criminal population. In estimating this, the expenditure of persons living upon the wages of crime, as nearly as could be estimated, was taken as the basis. The amount expended by each individual will, of course, differ according to his or her position, as stated in the paper on the table, but the average for each is not more than 80%. per annum; and when the lavish and profligate expenditure, in which the characters in question are known to indulge, is taken into consideration, the amount will scarcely appear to be overstated. It must be borne in mind, as the report particularly observes, that the greater portion of this sum is derived from strangers; of these, including sailors, the weekly influx and departure exceed 8,000, and a small rate levied on each will be found to form a considerable proportion of the whole estimated amount in fact, the robberies committed by a certain class of depredators on the persons of those who, with an absence from the place where they are known, throw off moral restraint, are estimated by our chiefs of police at an average of 100%. nightly. The reported robberies of this nature on a single night have often been from 500l. to 1,0007. It must be understood, also, that the whole of the amount is not supposed to be derived from theft, a large portion of it being unquestionably the produce of voluntary contributions from the profligate. It may here be remarked, that writers on statistics seem to have had little idea of the extent of property stolen by felons. Baron Dupin, on the authority of Mr. Hibbert, states, that previous to the establishment of the preventive system, 1-50th part of all the sugars and 1-40th part of the rum landed at the London Docks were stolen; the quantities of colonial produce stolen during the years 1799, 1800, and 1801, were valued at 1,214,500. The exposed situation of the Liverpool Docks, and the detached localities of the warehouses, give the utmost facility to this description of robbery, which is still further encouraged by the existence of numerous receiving houses. The system observed in the discharge of vessels is another prop to this evil: the work is let out to men called lumpers, some of whom take it at low rates, calculating to increase the produce of their labour by plunder; they form a large body, and the matter should, and I trust will, have the attention of our merchants.

"I have come forward at this time solely with the hope that the subject may be taken up by those able and willing to devise and carry into effect some means for the amelioration of the condition of so many of our fellow creatures. The surveillance of a vigilant police unquestionably lessens the opportunities for the commission of crime, and leads to the quick detection of the offenders; but humanity requires, that while we take measures to punish, we should use means to reclaim. We should recollect, that 'oft the means to do ill deeds make ill deeds done.'

"I am glad to see that so great an interest is now taken in criminal statistics. One of our worthy magistrates, a few days since, observed, that people were wont to go in search of the picturesque, but that now they came in pursuit of crime. Like Sancho Panza's hare, they start up where least expected; but the subject being disagreeable and repulsive, there is no danger, I apprehend, of this kind of research becoming mischievously fashionable."

PUBLIC CARRIAGES IN LONDON.-It sometimes happens that an idea of the great extent, vast population and busy habits of London, is more immediately conveyed to the mind of a stranger by some circumstance which would not be directly referred to for that purpose, than by the most elaborate details. We remember once feeling somewhat piqued by the apathy with which a German listened to our statements respecting the population, the shipping, the churches, bridges, &c. of London; but our equanimity was restored by the surprise he evinced at hearing what large sums the contractors paid for the privilege of clearing the streets and emptying the dust-holes. This reflection was suggested by reading an account of the number of convictions had, and penalties levied on the drivers and proprietors of public carriages in the metropolis during two years, a summary of which we present to our readers. The number of drivers and proprietors of stages, omnibusses, hackney-coaches, and cabs, convicted for offences, committed in London, between March, 1835, and March, 1837, inclusive, was 2552, and the penalties actually levied upon them amounted to no less a sum than 24341. 6s. 1d. The offences were chiefly classed under the following heads-furious driving, demanding more than the fare, obstruction, cruel treatment of horses, assaulting a passenger, using abusive language to a passenger, and carrying more than the proper number of passengers. Those who read so much in the newspapers about "the omnibus nuisance," and " omnibus ruffians," will be surprised to learn that the number of hackney-coach and cab convictions, is greater than that of omnibus convictions. There are, we believe, more hackney-coaches and cabs than omnibusses, but then it is certain that for one passenger by the former, there are six by the latter description of conveyance. Perhaps the circumstance may be accounted for by the fact, that the persons who ride in hackney-coaches and cabs are, compared with those who make use of omnibusses, of a class less likely to submit to insult or injustice, and possessed of more leisure to bring offenders to punish

ment.

FIRE-ARMS. The number of guns and pistols proved at Birmingham Proof-house during the past year, viz. from March, 1836, to March, 1837, amounted to three hundred thousand. The charge upon proofs has lately been reduced from 1s. to 3d, a barrel.

TRADE BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA.

[The kindness of the author has enabled us to present the following important paper to our readers, but owing to the late period at which it was received, it was found impossible to print the tables that accompanied it. Those which are necessarily omitted now, will, however, either be published next month, or incorporated with a complete Statistical Account of the United States, which is in preparation, and will appear in an early number.]

A BRIEF MEMOIR OF THE GROWTH, PROGRESS, AND EXTENT OF THE TRADE BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY ΤΟ THE PRESENT TIME, READ IN THE STATISTICAL SECTION OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, AT ITS MEETING IN THE TOWN OF LIVERPOOL, 11TH SEPTEMBER, 1837. BY G. R. FORTER, ESQ., VICE-PRESIDENT

OF THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY OF LOondon.

In this place, and especially at the present time, it cannot be necessary to offer an apology to the statistical section of the British Association for presenting to its notice a brief record of the growth, progress, and present extent of the trade carried on between the United Kingdom and that portion of the New World which now constitutes the United States of America. There is, however, some necessity for bespeaking the indulgence of the section towards the execution of an attempt, which is necessarily incomplete, because the commercial records relating to the earlier periods of our history are exceedingly scanty, and, besides, are too frequently without the stamp of authenticity; so that their value is to be estimated rather from their agreement with other known facts than from any confidence we should otherwise place in the records themselves.

Until comparatively a very recent period, the importance of statistical labours was not understood in this country. It was not seen in what manner, nor in how great a degree, the knowledge of facts applying to former years, and systematically arranged, could assist the legislature and public functionaries in conducting the business of government, and providing for the prosperity of future years. This indifference to what is now recognised as a work of high necessity was formerly not confined to commercial details. It might perhaps be thought that the record of those details would be best preserved by commercial men, who were most interested in the subject; but the deficiency of which we now complain was exhibited in a matter of much more obvious importance to the government and the nation at large, namely, the financial accounts of the country. In these days of watchfulness and severe scrutiny into every branch of the public expenditure, it will hardly be credited that there is not a trace to be found in the journals of the House of Commons of any account of the produce of the taxes having been called for by Parliament during the whole course of the American war-a fact attested by the late Mr. George Rose, who having been for many years a cabinet minister, knew well the importance of such returns. As might naturally be expected, the carelessness thus evinced by the members of the legislature was not confined to them, but was shown also by the public accountants. In the published report of the finance committee, which sat in 1782, it is stated that "The committee thought it right

VOL. I.-NO. I.

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