Crime Statistics for 1933 The• criminal statistics for 1933 seem
to show con- clusively that unemployment and indictable crime are closely connected. After 1929 the records become worse, but the year 1933, when employment was increasing, is better than 1932. But the. broader view of society over a long period shows that the England of today is on the whole more free from crime than the England of the pre-War period. It is certainly less drunken : there is certainly less .cruelty to children, in spite of the fact, as recently shown, that the vigilance of the S.P.C.C. brings - more cases to light within the field of its inquiries. But there are disconcerting features in the report, not all of which can be satisfactorily accounted fol., The large number of child offenders may be explained by more readiness to charge children since they are to be brought before juvenile courts. In regard to the big proportion of offenders under 21, it is .explained that many of the offences committed were of a petty character. Even so, it has to be recognised that one of the gravest social evils of our time is the prevalence of crime among persons not yet adult—an evil which is mainly due to unemployment.
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