§ 54. Mr. ROWNTREEasked the Home Secretary to what extent the number of offenders under the age of twenty-one, imprisoned in default of paying fines, has been reduced since the despatch of the Home Office circular upon the subject to the magistrates in 1910?
§ Mr. McKENNAThe exact information asked for could only be ascertained after laborious search at all the prisons, but the following figures, giving the total number of prisoners received on conviction, under the age of twenty-one in each of the last three years, show that a satisfactory decrease has taken place: 11,500, 9,200, 8,700. All but a small percentage of these prisoners were sentenced to terms not exceeding one month.