It has been well said that the large number of relapsed persons who are brought to trial year after year proves that thieves ply their trade as a regular calling; the thief who has once tasted prison life is sure to return to it.[8] And again, there are very few cases in which a man or a woman who has turned thief ceases to be one. Whatever the reason may be, as a matter of fact the thief is rarely or never reformed. When you can turn an old thief into an honest worker, you may turn an old fox into a house dog.[9] [8] _Quarterly Review_, 1871, ``The London Police.'' [9] Thomson, ``The Psychology of Criminals,'' _Journal of Mental Science_, 1870. We must, however, read these testimonies of practical men, which could easily be multiplied, in the light of our distinction between incorrigible criminals, who are so from their birth, and such as are made incorrigible by the effect of their prison and social environment. The former could scarcely be reduced in number, whilst the latter could be <p 36>considerably diminished by the penal alternatives of which I will speak later. The following statistics of relapse are quoted from Yvern<e!>s, ``La R<e'>cidive en Europe'' (Paris, 1874):-- FRANCE--1826-74. ITALY--1870. Relapses ENGLAND--1871. SWEDEN--1871. Accused Accused Prisoners. Thieves. and brought and brought to trial. to trial. Once ... ... 38 per cent. 54 per cent. 45 per cent. 60 per cent. Twice ... 18 '' 28 '' 20 '' 30 '' Three times... 44 '' 18 '' 35 '' 10 '' In Prussia (1878-82), 17 per cent. had relapsed once, 16 per cent. twice, 16 per cent. three times, 13 per cent. four times, 10 per cent five times, and 28 per cent. six times or oftener.[10] [10] Starke, ``Verbrechen und Verbrecher,'' Berlin, 1884, p. 229. At the Prisons Congress of Stockholm the following figures were given for Scotland. Out of a total of forty-nine relapsed prisoners, 16 per cent. had relapsed once, 13 per cent. twice or three times, 6 per cent. four or five times, 6 per cent. from six to ten times, 5 per cent. from ten to twenty times, 4 per cent. from twenty to fifty times, and 1 per cent. more than fifty times. At the meeting of the Social Science Congress, held at Liverpool, in 1876, Mr. Nugent stated that upwards of 4,107 women had relapsed four times or oftener, and that many of them were classed as incorrigible, having been convicted twenty; forty, or fifty times, whilst one had been convicted 130 times. The judicial statistics of Italy for 1887 give the following results:--