COMPARISONS OF CRIME
Sir,—ln your report of the Tecent meeting convened by tho Moderate League in "Wellington," published on January 27, Mr. B. A'. Armstrong is reported to havo said "that crime other than drunkenness, at.Ashburton, wa6 twelve times as heavy thanntEiccarton, six times that of liliesmere, five and a half times that of Hurunui, and twice tliat of Sehvyn." As Ashburton is under no-licenso and the ' other _ places named are -under, license, thedesired inference is obvious. As no information ns to population was given, I looked up tho N.Z.P.O. Directory in use here, and found that the number of residents given were:-Ashburton 2855, Ellcsmere 4S, Hurunui 13, Selwyn 27, while Eiccarton ' was included in Ohristchurch. Hence Mr. Armstrong's comparisons do not appear to me to lie of very great value. Another query is, are there courthouses at these four places? lam informed there are not. Eiccarton cases go to Christchurch, just as Johnsonville cases go to Wellington; while Selwyn, Ellcsmere,and Hurunui cases go to Ashburton. I notice that the Moderate League is very anxious that thoso who are not in sympathy with the league should never stray ono hair's breadth over the line of abso-i i lute fact. Nobody can object to this, i but in the matter of these comparisons i the league does not appear to be "playing s the game." If there are no courts, then I no records are readily available. If tho > league 'has tho ability to obtain information denied to the average man and is really anxious that the people should have all possible information bearing on the liquor question, will it kindly give your readers: i (1) The total number of convictions for s drunkenness for the twelve months prior - to the early closing cf bars? (2) The number of convictions for the b subsequent twelve months? This seems to me to be much, more s useful than unconvincing comparisons.— I am, etc., o JOSEPH PIPER. * Petone, January 30.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 117, 11 February 1919, Page 6
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327COMPARISONS OF CRIME Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 117, 11 February 1919, Page 6
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