At the expiration of another quarter of a century, however, we find that, instead of an increase of income to the extent of one-third, as occurred in the first quarter of a century of the Society’s existence, its resources have fallen off to the extent of nearly one-half, as compared with the income of 1842. This is as it should not be. As has been shown, feeding the deserving poor as well as punishing the inveterate vagrant comprises a prominent feature of the Society’s business, and this it is impossible to do without adequate funds. It might be supposed that the passing of the Houseless Poor Act would have diminished the number of applicants to this and other charitable societies; but there is a large class of persons temporarily thrown out of work to whom the casual wards of workhouses are useless, and who do not apply for assistance there. The number of this class who applied with tickets at the Society’s office during the past year was more _than double the number of such applicants in the preceding year_, being, in 1866, 4,378; but in 1867, 10,532. Among these poor persons 44,347 meals, consisting of 7,389 four-pound loaves, upwards of four tons of cheese and 785 gallons of soup, have been distributed. In addition to this amount of food, 65_l._ 7_s._, in small sums of money, has been given to those whose cases seemed suitable for such relief. The apprehended cases were 644, as compared with 693 such cases in 1866; but though a diminished constabulary force was employed for part of the year, yet nearly as large a number of old offenders was committed by the magistrate, being 311 compared with 372 in 1866. The number of begging-letters referred to the office for inquiry during the past year was 2,019, being somewhat fewer than the return of such applications for the year 1866. Of the 2,019 letters 790 were from unknown applicants; 620 from persons previously known to the Society’s officials, but requiring a more recent investigation; and 609 from persons too well known to require any investigation. The following cases that have occurred during the past year will show the mode in which the Society deals with the very different classes of applicants brought within the sphere of its operations: