onest between 17 and 19; 20 per
cent. became dishonest under 20.

I have little doubt that these proportions are still in the main
correct, and that the criminal instinct begins to show itself at a
very early period in life. In Staffordshire "it is an ascertained
fact, that there is scarcely an habitual criminal in the county who
has not been imprisoned as a child."[28] But it is after the age of
twenty has been reached that the criminality of a people attains its
highest point. A glance at the subjoined table will make this clear:--

Population of England and | Prisoners in Local Gaols
Wales in 1871-- | in 1888--

Under 5 13.52 | Under 12 0.1
5 and under 15 22.58 | 12 and under 16 2.8
15 " 20 9.59 | 16 " 21 16.1
20 " 30 16.66 | 21 " 30 30.2
30 " 40 12.80 | 30 " 40 24.3
40 " 50 10.05 | 40 " 50 14.7
50 " 60 7.32 | 50 " 60 6.4
60 and upwards 7.48 | 60 and upwards 5.4

[28] _Reformatory and Refuge Journal_, July, 1890.

These figures show that in proportion to the population, crime is, as
we should expect, at its lowest level from infancy till the age of
sixteen. From that age it goes on steadily increasing in volume till
it reaches a maximum between thirty and forty. After forty has been
passed the criminal population begins rapidly to descend, but never
touches the same low point in old age as in early youth.

Females do not enter upon a criminal career so early in life as
males;[29] in the year 1888, while 20 per cent. of the _male_
population of our local prisons in England and Wales were under 21,
only 12 per cent. of the _female_ prison population were under that
age. On the other hand, women between 21 and 50, form a larger
proportion of the female prison population, than men between the same
ages do of the male prison population. The criminal age among women is
later in its commencement, and earlier in coming to a close than in
the case of men. It is later in commencing because of the greater care
and watchfulness exercised over girls than boys; but it is more
persistent while it lasts, because a plunge into crime is a more
irreparable thing in a woman than in a man. A woman's past has a far
worse effect on her future than a man's. She incurs