Special laws have been enacted for restraining these castes or clans, and special police officers now exercise supervision over them. Every man is required to register at the police headquarters and receive a passport. He is required to live within a certain district, and cannot change his abode or leave its limits without permission. If he does so he is arrested and imprisoned. The authorities believe that they have considerably reduced the amount of crime committed by these clansmen, who are too cunning and courageous to be entirely suppressed. No amount of vigilance can prevent them from leaving their villages and going off into other provinces for criminal purposes, and the railways greatly facilitate their movements. Nevertheless, if you will examine the criminal statistics of India you will be surprised at the small number of arrests, trials and convictions for penal offenses. The figures demonstrate that the people are honest and law abiding. There is less crime in India than in any other country in proportion to population, much less than in England or the United States. Out of a population of 300,000,000 people during the ten years from 1892 to 1902 there was an annual average of 1,015,550 criminal cases before the courts, and an average of 1,345,667 offenses against the criminal laws reported, while 870,665 persons were convicted of crime in 1902, with the following penalties imposed: Death 500 Penal servitude 1,707 Imprisonment 175,795 Fines 628,092 Over two years' imprisonment 7,576 Between one and two years 39,067 Between fifteen days and one year 86,653 Under fifteen days 34,517 The following were the most serious crimes in 1902: Arrests. Convictions. Offenses against public peace 15,190 5,088 Murder 3,255 1,102 Assault 42,496 12,597 Dacoity or highway robbery 3,320 706 Cattle stealing 29,691 9,307 Ordinary theft 183,463 45,566 House-breaking 192,353 23,143 Vagrancy 25,212 18,877 Public nuisances 216,285 201,421 The following table will show the total daily average of prisoners, men and women, serving sentences for penal offenses in the prisons of India during the years named: Men. Women. Total. 1892 93,061 3,142 96,202 1893 91,976 2,988 94,964 1894 92,236 2,941 95,177 1895 97,869 3,216 101,085 1896 100,406 3,280 103,686 1897 109,989 3,277 113,266 1898 103,517 2,927 106,446 1899 101,518 2,773 104,292 1900 114,854 3,253 118,107 1901 108,258 3,124 111,382