25 377 keefting these individuals under conditions in whieli it will he difficult, if not impossihle, for them to commit crimes. In other respects, their freedom of action is not interfered mth. Police supervision over persons residing in their own villages carries with it few practical inconveniences. The further and more severe measure of obligatoiy residence in a place designated by the Government is applied to such “dangerous persons ” as fail to give satisfactory security for good behaviour, or to persons under police supervision who subsequently infringe the regulations to which they are subject, or are convicted by the ordinary tribunals of an ofience. Even in these cases, the conditions of residence in the appointed locality have no penal character, and resemble those which have frequently been suggested in the case of compulsory labour colonies for able-bodied vagrants. Pei-sons there confined are allotted a residence to which they can bring their families, and are allowed and encouraged to earn their livelihood in any way they please. Further, tliose who have no means of subsistence are provided with suitable employment for which they receive remuneration.

The whole of the proceedings under this law have lx;en carried out under the personal supervision of Mr. Chitty, the Adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, whose intimate knowledge of the countiy and the people ofters the best possible guarantee against the occurrence of individual abuses. The first step taken was to appoint committees, composed of Omdehs and “ notables,"' to visit each village throughout the country and draw U{) lists of the names of persons whose presence in the locality was considered a danger to public security. The committees took six months to complete their labours, and their work was constantly supervised by the local authorities and the English inspectors of the Ministry of the Interior. When the lists were completed, the total number of mimes ainouiited to about 12,000. The Moudirs were instructed to make further inquiries and to note only the names of especially dangerous persons, and this revision reduced the number to about 1,200. Further revisions were made, at the most important of which English inspectors assisted, with the result that a tinal list of 283 persons, 236 of whom had previously been convicted or prosecuted for serious crimes, was drawn up.

The first session of the special commissions, appointed to examine these cases, resulted in 281 persons, out of the 283 which the Ministry allowed to go forward, being jfiaced under police supervision and ordered to find security for good behaviour. It may seem surprising that there were pi’actically no acquittals, but it must be borne in mind that the final list sent forward only contained names with v.rhich the Minister and Adviser were personally acquainted, or about which, from information in their possession, there could he no possibility of doubt. In fact, every person sent up for trial had been known for years to the administration as a dangerous character. The sittings were held publicly in the offices of the Moudirs, the front benches being allotted to the advocates of the accused and the representatives of the press, and the proceedings were conducted on the same lines as those of ordiiv y law courts. The witnesses whom the accused had summoned for their defence almost invaiiably turned against them, and testified to their criminal antecedents. In general, the witnesses, realizing that the atithorities were really in earnest, displayed considerable moral courage in giving their evidence, notwithstanding threats and insults openly directed against them by the accused during the trials. The number of appeals against the decisions of the commissions lodged by the accused was 102, and the Ministry of the Interior ordered independently a revision in 52 cases. Up to the present time, 272 have had their residence fixed in the Dakhla.Onsis, where a suitable settlement is in course of formation.

The crime statistics, since the introduction of this law, have shown a very great improvement, and the following table shows the number of crimes reported to the police during the six months from the 1st September, 1909, to the end of February 1910, as compared with the corresponding period of the two preceding years :— Class! ncatioii.

Murder and attempted murder Eoliliery and attempted rol)l)fry Other crimes ...

Total ...

September 1 to December 31. Jamiarv. February.

1007.

'177 201 •182 1,223 1908. i 1900. 1908. 1909.

585 i •J'12 283 '151 162 398 1910. 1908. 1909., i 1910.

Total, September 1 to February 28.

1907-8.! 1908-9.; 1900-10.

103 163 •19 ' GO 102 131 1,310 1,002 251 350 81 38 100 228 100 '12 125 129 88 CSO GO MO 22 IC'l 355 709 267 329 I 2M 1,7‘Mr 867 •112 725 2,001 CM 222 G08 1,111 House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.