§ Mr. G. WHITEasked the Home Secretary if he will state, in respect of the years 1922 and 1923, the number of youths and girls between 16 and 21 who were sent to prison and who had no previous conviction against them?
Mr. DAVIESI cannot give the precise figures asked for, but during the year ended 31st March, 1923, the number of youths and girls between 16 and 21, not known to have been previously convicted, who were received in prison on conviction, was—males, 1,640; females, 162. The corresponding figures for the year ended 31st December, 1923, are—males, 1,337; females, 127. It should be noted that each of these periods contains the March quarter of 1923; the figures for this quarter were: 324 males and 34 females.