s they go, point to the
conclusion that it is the growth of wealth, rather than the reverse,
which has a tendency to augment the number of offences against
property, and national statistics, as far as England is concerned,
exhibit a similar result. It is perfectly certain, for instance, that
the mass of the population possessed a greater amount of money, and
were earning on the whole higher wages between 1870-74 than between
1884-88. According to the evidence given before the late Lord
Iddesleigh's Commission on the depression of trade, the prosperity of
the country in the five years ended 1874 was something phenomenal.
This was the opinion of almost every class in the community. Chambers
of commerce, leading manufactures, workmen in the various departments
of industry, all told the same tale of exceptional commercial
prosperity. During this period it was easy for any person with a pair
of hands to get as much as he could do; workmen were at a premium and
wages had risen all round.

But, notwithstanding this state of unwonted prosperity, we shall find
on turning to the statistics of offences against property that a
larger number of persons were convicted of such offences in the five
years ended 1874 than in the five years ended 1888. It hardly needs to
be stated that the five years ended 1888 were years of considerable
depression, some of them were years in which there was a good deal of
distress, and in none of them was the bulk of the population as well
off as in the preceding period. It is, therefore, plain that an
increase in the wealth of a country is not necessarily followed by a
decrease in the amount of crimes against property; that, in fact, the
growth of national and individual wealth, unless it is accompanied by
a corresponding development of ethical ideals, is apt to foster
criminal instincts instead of repressing them.

If we look at crime in general, instead of that particular form of it
which consists in offences against property, it will likewise become
apparent that it is not so closely connected with poverty as is
generally believed. The accuracy of Indian criminal statistics is a
matter that has already been pointed out. When these statistics are
placed side by side with our own what do we find? According to the
returns for the two countries in the year 1888, it comes out that in
England one person was proceeded against criminally to every forty-two
of the population, while in India only one person