Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/702
M.—The Number of Persons Punished Annually by Discipline
| Year. | Annual Number of Newly-imprisoned Convicts. |
Number of Newly- imprisoned Convicts per 1,000 Persons. | ||
| 1900 | 160,269 | 3.62 | ||
| 1899 | 151,425 | 3.46 | ||
| 1898 | 182,280 | 4.22 | ||
| 1897 | 180,656 | 4.23 | ||
| 1896 | 175,634 | 4.15 | ||
| 1895 | 175,264 | 4.19 | ||
| 1894 | 188,494 | 4.55 | ||
| 1893 | 178,217 | 4.34 | ||
| 1892 | 170,572 | 4.19 | ||
| 1891 | 157,570 | 3.90 | ||
| 1890 | 138,501 | 3.90 | ||
| 1889 | 102,123 | 2.58 | ||
| 1888 | 102,641 | 2.63 | ||
| 1887 | 124,586 | 3.24 | ||
| 1886 | 151,507 | 3.97 | ||
| 1885 | 167,108 | 4.41 | ||
| 1884 | 153,812 | 4.11 |
Note.
1. The general population prior to 1887 is that of the 1st of January in each year. The general population subsequent to 1887 is that of the inhabitants at the end of the previous year.
2. The figures in this table include all cases of felonies, misdemeanours, and contraventions where the penalty of loss of liberty has been enforced.
3. The increase in number of newly-imprisoned convicts for the three years from 1884 to 1886 is probably due to the enforcement of Articles 260 and 261 of the Penal Code with reference to gamblers, which placed the punishment of such offenders in the hands of the Executive Police Authorities in 1884.
The decrease of criminals in 1888 and 1889 is traceable to the remarkable decrease of offenders against property as the natural outcome of the increase in corn products and other favourable conditions of commerce and industry during those two years. But misfortunes followed this happy condition of affairs, and the result is shown in the gradual increase of criminals from 1890 for the following six years. The offences during this period showing increase are mainly those against property or the public morals.