Illiteracy and Crime.

THE latest statistics relating to juvenile crime in Behar and Orissa seem to point to the intimate connection between illiteracy and crime. No less than 655 juvenile criminals were admitted to the provincial jails during 1916, of whom only 1.52 per cent. were literate. Most of these were in the jails for less than three months during which period some of them were taught to read and write. And after their release though there was no particular organisation to guide their lives, they fared pretty well. On the other hand, it was the illiterate section of the released juveniles that went back into jail on a repetition of their criminal habits. Those who feel anxious about the increasing crimes will have no hesitation to urge the adoption of compulsory free education all over the country.