From observation of all the causes leading to the very remarkable decrease in every category of criminal offences during the War, the conclusion to be drawn seems to be that when employment is easy and plentiful, and when, at the same time, there is severe restriction of the opportunities for spending wages in intoxicating drink, there is the probability that the records of crime (and by 'crime' is meant not only grave offences, but the multitude of offences against Police Regulations, Vagrancy, &c.) would be very low in the community. In past years, the effect upon crime of prosperity, leading to good wages and easy employment, seems to have been obscured in criminal statistics owing to the enormous figures of convictions of Drunkenness, which, in some recent years, have exceeded 200,000, and have represented one-third of the whole receptions into prison. The following Table is interesting as showing the comparison of prison statistics during a year (1918-19) of plentiful employment with restrictions on the sale of intoxicating liquor, with a year in which there was acute trade depression:-- ----------------------------------------------------------+-------+------- |1918-19|1908-09 +-------+------- Board of Trade percentage of Unemployment | ·08 | 7·8 | | Daily Average Local Prison population | | (excluding Military prisoners) | 5,500 | 16,000 | | Total receptions on convictions |26,050 |184,901 | | Including | | | | Charges for Drunkenness | 1,670 | 62,822 | | " Begging and Sleeping-Out | 1,066 | 27,387 | | " Larceny | 8,380 | 24,060 | | Total Debtors received | 1,830 | 18,996 | | Number committed in default of fine | 5,264 | 95,686 ----------------------------------------------------------+-------+-------