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 |
The great fall in the prison population made it possible to close temporarily, at various dates, a considerable number of the penal institutions, representing about one-quarter of the total cellular accommodation of the country. These included the large convict prison at Dartmoor, which was utilized as a "Work Centre" for the prisoners known as "Conscientious Objectors," and the Borstal Institution at Feltham.
So far as crime generally in the country is concerned, a comparison with the Tables printed on pages 216-8 shows a further great falling-off, as follows:—
| Number tried or proceeded against. | |||
| 1917 | 1913 | Decrease per cent. | |
| (a) Serious crime tried on indictment | 5,586 | 12,511 | 55 |
| (b) Less serious, though indictable crime, tried summarily | 57,419 | 50,758 | 13 (increase) |
| (c) Non-indictable offences of a criminal nature | 52,152 | 71,124 | 27 |
| (d) Non-indictable offences of a non-criminal nature | 393,606 | 609,116 | 35 |
With regard to category (a), serious offences against the person have fallen since 1913 by 39 per cent; offences against property with violence (burglary, housebreaking, &c.) by 58 per cent; and offences against property without violence (larceny, receiving, &c.) by 60 per cent.
As regards the increase shown under category (b) above, a large proportion of the charges included are for petty larceny by children and "young persons." Deducting these from the total, the offences committed by persons over 16 total to 33,012 and 36,433 for the years 1917 and 1913 respectively, or 9 per cent. decrease.
In category (d) are included 65,386 offences created by war-time legislation, viz: offences against regulations made under the Defence of the Realm Acts, about 50,500; Aliens Restriction Act, 1914, 13,600; and National Registration Act, 1,192. If these be excluded, the decrease shown in the Table above would be about 46 per cent.