Province of Guanacaste.
Comarca de Puntarenas.
Comarca de Limon.
The criminal statistics of Costa Rica for 1896 were as follows:
There were 4022 delinquencies punished by the police courts, namely: 1,295 in San José, 626 in Alajuela, 678 in Cartago, 520 in Heredia, 200 in Liberia, 424 in Puntarenas and 279 in Port Limon. Of these there were convictions of
There were also 989 criminal sentences recorded in the Court of Second Instance, together with 124 criminal and civil judgments in the Court of Cassation.
The national “Presidio de San Lucas” contained at the same time 170 prisoners. Costa Rica in 1896 had 1744 prostitutes, mostly between sixteen and twenty-five years of age, under supervision. Nearly half of this number were in San José, the rest in the ports and in Heredia, Alajuela and Cartago. Nearly 300 women were in the hospitals being treated for venereal diseases, while 502 individuals were registered in the “Department de profilaxis venerea.”
There were during the same year thirteen commercial insolvencies, two cases of absolute and three of partial divorce.
The different courts of the country, during the year of 1896, entered 5417 civil and testamentary judgments, including a number concerning mining and national land claims.
The people of Costa Rica must be considered as standing high above those of the neighboring countries in regard to morals and civilization. The mass of the people is industrious, honest, sober, clean, comparatively well-clothed, economical, obedient to the authorities and respectful of the laws.