“The reason must be the following: The occasion for high spirits to be found in improved living conditions follows immediately upon any such improvement, and disappears at once when times grow worse. For this reason the fluctuation in attacks upon persons harmonizes exactly with the fluctuation in the price of food. The effects of hard times are only partially such as lead to punishable offenses; in most cases economic ruin occurs first, which leads only after an interval to attacks upon property. For this reason the effects of hard times continue to manifest themselves at a time when the hard times themselves are already practically over. This is the explanation both of the great number of attacks upon property in the year 1857, when the effects of the immediately preceding hard times were making themselves felt, as well as the gradual increase in the number of attacks against property in the years 1860–1862.” [43] Number of Persons against whom Action was Brought for Abandonment. ========|================ Years. | To 100,000 of | the Population. --------|---------------- 1858 | 20 1859 | 18 1860 | 17 1861 | 21 1862 | 21 1863 | 19 1864 | 18 |---------------- Average | 19 ========================= The fall in the price of grain in 1863–1864 was accompanied by a diminution in the number of crimes of this kind. Violations of the Vagrant Act to 100,000 of the Population.