STATISTICAL NOTES.

ENGLAND AND WALES (CONTINUED).

(10.) The sum expended for the maintenance of the poor of England in the year ending March 25th, 1830, was 6,553,443l. For Wales, the sum for that year was 275,598l. Although the population since 1750 has only about doubled itself, the poor rates have increased, since that year, more than tenfold. For the ten manufacturing and mining counties, mentioned in paragraph 2, (viz., Lancaster to Salop,) the increase has been from 107,927l. in 1750 to 1,337,011l. in 1830; for the thirteen counties in paragraph 3, (Surrey to Hertford, including the Metropolitan,) from 294,070l. to 2,666,199l.; and for the nineteen agricultural counties, in paragraph 4, from 277,865l. to 2,550,330l. The sum expended for the poor of Middlesex in 1830, was 675,285l.; next to this comes Kent, 358,461l., though only the sixth county in the order of population; then, Norfolk, 299,211l., though only the ninth county in population; then, Lancaster, the third in population, 297,674l.; then, Essex, the fourteenth in population, and containing about one-fourth of the people in Lancashire, 282,133l.; then, the West Riding of Yorkshire, with a population of 976,400, 281,158l. The ratio of the poor rates of the ten manufacturing counties to their population is about as one to three; that of the thirteen metropolitan and other counties, about one-half; and that of the nineteen agricultural counties, as about two to three. The chief burthen of pauperism, therefore, falls upon the agricultural districts.

(11.) The committals for crime in the ten manufacturing districts were in 1805, 1,198, and in 1829, 6,430; in the thirteen metropolitan and other districts, they were in 1805, 2,317, and in 1829, 7,844; and in the nineteen agricultural counties, they were in 1805, 1,012, and in 1829, 4,158. In all Wales the committals decreased from 78 in 1805, to 24 in 1829. The number of persons committed for trial at Assizes and Sessions in England and Wales in 1830, was 18,107, of whom 12,805 were convicted, 3,470 acquitted, and 1,832 had no bills found against them and were not prosecuted. Of the convicted, 1397 were sentenced to death, and 46 executed. As a general result, the committals in England are thus in the proportion of one to 740 inhabitants; and in Wales, of one to 2,320. In London and Middlesex the proportion is higher than in any other county, being one committal to every 400 inhabitants; in Surrey the proportion is one to 680; in Kent, one to 730; in Sussex, one to 750; in Essex, one to 650; in Hertfordshire, one to 520; in Bedfordshire, one to 710. In the manufacturing districts the proportion is in Lancashire one to 650; in Warwickshire, one to 480; in Gloucestershire (including Bristol), one to 540; in Nottingham, one to 750; in Cheshire, one to 630. In the more remote counties the proportion is small, that of Northumberland being only one to 2,700; of Durham, one to 2,460; and of Cornwall, one to 1,600. It should be remarked, that of late, other causes than the advance of crime have tended to fill the prisons, such as the Malicious Trespass Act, and the law for paying prosecutors their expenses in cases of misdemeanour; and it is most satisfactory to observe that the darker crimes have, of late years, been less apparent than of old.

(12.) The number of depositors in Savings’ Banks in England in 1830 (including 5,904 Friendly and Charitable Societies) was 373,716, and in Wales 10,404. The total amount thus invested was, in England, 13,080,255l., and, in Wales, 340,721l. The proportion of the depositors to the total population, is therefore about 34 in every 1000, or one in 30. The average of the ten counties, in paragraph 2, is 25 depositors to every 1000; of the thirteen counties, in paragraph 3, it is 33 depositors to every 1000; and of the nineteen counties, in paragraph 4, it is 27 to every 1000. In Devonshire the proportion of depositors is the highest, being 55 to 1000; in Middlesex and Berkshire it is 50 to 1000; in Lancashire and Warwickshire, 20 to 1000; in Kent, Sussex, and Dorset, 36 to 1000; and in Monmouth, Westmoreland, and Buckingham about 12 to 1000 of the population. The average amount of each deposit is about 34l., and there has of late been a considerable increase in the number of depositors of sums under 20l., who amount now to 192,881. By some this fact is regarded as a proof of the growth of prudential habits among the mass of the working classes. It would be more exact to say so, of a small portion of the working classes, the fact being that 29 out of 30 of our population do not contribute to Savings’ Banks at all. There are some debatable questions in regard to the effect produced by the appropriation of the funds of the Savings’ Banks by the Commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt, but such questions cannot at all affect the manifest advantage to be attained by every working man in saving his money at interest, in preference to squandering it.

(13.) It has been already seen in paragraph 3, that the rate of increase of the population of Middlesex (including the city of London) since 1700 has been 117 per cent., being 37 per cent. less than the average of the rest of England. The following is a statement of the present population of the Metropolis commonly called London, as compared with 1801:—

1801. 1831.

City of London, within the Walls 63,832 55,778

Ditto without the Walls 65,696 67,480

City and Liberties of Westminster 153,272 202,050

Holborn Division 73,835 97,373

Finsbury ditto 7,155 139,248

Tower ditto 185,508 351,647

Ten parishes in Surrey, viz. five in Southwark, and Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Newington, Christchurch, and Lambeth, adjacent 137,655 266,499

Total within the Bills of Mortality 746,953 1,180,075

Five western parishes of St. Mary-le-bone, St. Pancras, Paddington, St. Luke Chelsea, and Kensington 117,802 273,587

Total of the Metropolis 864,755 1,453,662

91Those who desire fuller information in regard to London and its environs should consult Mr. Marshall’s ‘Topographical and Statistical Details of the Metropolis;’ a small and cheap work, which contains a great deal of valuable information. Mr. Marshall has also recently published a more elaborate work, in quarto, entitled, ‘Statistics, Mortality, &c. &c. of the Metropolis.’ To both these publications we are indebted for some of the materials of the statements in these ‘Statistical Notes.’

[To be continued.]