ABSTRACT
W Hile it is right, indeed necessary, that the public should be informed of the results of a system for which it is ‘morally and financially responsible, there is no recognised method by which the results of a prison system can be assessed, either absolutely or relatively, nor does it appear that such a method could be devised. Imprisonment is only one of the means at the disposal of the Courts for the prevention of crime, and the general statistics of crime can only reflect the total effect of the use which the Courts make of those means. Nor is it possible to compare one period with another, either over the whole field or in relation to prisons as one part of the field, on a purely statistical.basis: for this a wide social study would be necessary to take account of such extraneous factors as changes in social and economic, conditions relevant to the causation of crime, variations in the practice of the police and the Courts, and the effect of fresh legislation.A fortiori, there is no possibility of useful international comparison: the U.N. Secretariat is at present studying the practicability of some common form of general criminal statistics which may enable such comparison, but the prospects have not hitherto appeared hopeful. In the more restricted field of imprisonment and its results, there is insufficient published material to work on, even if it afforded any valid comparative basis.
