H.—l6,

The principal increases during the year appear under the following headings, viz. :— Arson • • • • • • 15 Gaming offences .. .. .. 32 Assaults, common .. .. .. 127 Illegally on premises . . .. 25 Assaults and robbery .. .. . . 22 j Indecent exposure ... . 50 Breaches of the peace . . . . .. 71 j Introducing liquor into Maori pas . . 24 Cruelty to animals . . .. .. 22 Sly-grog selling . . . . .. 76 Disobeying orders of Court .. ... 72 ! Soliciting prostitution . . 46 Drunkenness .. .. .. .. 314'? Theft (undescribed) .. .. .'.47 Failing to support relatives .. ~. 56 Vagrancy .. . . .. .. 131 Forgery and uttering . . .. .. 51 The principle decreases were : — Assaults, indecent .. .. .. 9 j Obstructing police .. .. .. 33 Assaults causing bodily harm .. .. 11l Receiving stolen property ... . 30 Burglary. .. .. .. 112 Theft by servants .. .. ..33 Deserting wives and families . . .. 108 Theft from dwellings . . . . 29 Deserting merchant ships .. , ... 61 Theft from person .. .. .. 20 Disorderly and riotous conduct .. . . 102 ; Theft of cattle and horses . . 12 Malicious injury to property .. .. 23 ' Theft of sheep . . 10 Obscene language .. . . .. 30 It will be noticed that the increase has been mostly confined to the less serious form of crime, such as assaults, breaches of the peace, drunkenness, sly-grog selling and vagrancy, whilst there has been a gratifying decrease under the heading of burglary and certain classes of theft. _ The percentage of arrests ®r summonses resulting from all offences reported during the year under review is 95-61, the figures of the preceding year being 95-63. The following return shows the number of offences reported in each Police District during the year, the number of cases in which arrests or summonses resulted, and the number in which no prosecution followed :—

Serious Chimes. The following is a return of the number of serious crimes as compared with the preceding year :—

During the last nine years the number of serious crimes as above described has varied from 520 to 759, so that the present total (696) does not call for comment.

2

i ■ District. Number of Offences Number of all , in which Arrests Offences reported. | or Summonses resulted. Number in which no Arrests or Summonses resulted. Auckland Thames Napier Wanganui Wellington Grey mouth Christchurch Dunedin 6,063 719 1,994 2,554 5,508 804 3,652 2,116 520 5,829 697 1,930 2,488 5,308 770 3,492 1,882 484 234 22 64 66 200 34 160 234 36 Invercargill 23,930 22,880 1,050

1908. 1909. Crimes. Number of Number of '■ N Number of all Offences i Offences Offences in reported. reported , which Arrests resulted. * resulted. . I I Arson Assault and robbery ... Burglary (breaking into shops and dwellings) Forgery and uttering Murder ... ... ... ... ■ ... 13 35 476 135 6 12 11 65 6 8 32 364 114 5 12 10 63 5 28 57 364 186 7 5 8 35 6 27 55 242 176 7 4 8 as 6 „ attempted ... ... Rape Receiving stolen property ... Shooting with intent 759 613 696 560