The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 24, 1906.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1842, 24 August 1906, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, AUGUST 24, 1906.

Yustki:i>ay we published an interesting item, supplied by our Special Parliamentary Correspondent, on the 'question of gambling and its relation to tho increase of crime. The comments wore those of the governor of Mount E.lon gaol, who claims that “no ono knows tho various c ruses of crime so well as prison officers.” That may be so; but it does not necessarily foTow that prison officers are as a class bottor tilted to draw logical conclusions from what they know than other people who have received a different mental training, and indeed in this 'case it does not appear too evident that the right conclusions have been drawn from the information available. Before going further, however, it is nocossary to say that wo give Mr Severne, the officer in question, credit for the best intentions, and that we applaud his aims though we cannot agree with his conclusions This gentleman overlooks the obvious fact that tho causes of crime have a far deeper root than common habits of liviDg such as drinking and gambling, which are not in themselves regarded as crimes, although it may bo conceded that they do contribute to the development of it. Nevertheless, it does not logically follow that because the majority of convictod criminals havo been cither drunkards or gamblers that to both or either of those evds is directly duo the causes of crime. If that wore so the vast majority of drunkards and gamblers would necessarily become criminals ; but we know that that is not the case, and wo know also that only a comparatively small proportion of professional gamblers or habitual drunkards ever get into gaol for other crimes. As a matter of fact professional gamblers are an astute class of rascals who evade the clutches of the law and keep themselves w’thin safe legal limits, whereas, if Mr doverne’s deductions were the correct one 3 the development of the* gambling instinct in them to such a pitch would have brought them most irretrievably within tho mealies of tho law. So with drunkards also, and while it is true that intemperance may in many cases let loose the vicious proclivities of persons, that result could not occur if the vicious proclivities had not a prior existence. Opportunity is also a necessary factor in the committing of a crime ; but no one would condemn the opportunity, or attribute the increase of crime to it, yet it would bo as roa*

sonnblo to nay that a man committed a crime because tho opportunity pre> seated itself iuj to say that ho committed it per so because ho hupponod to ho inloxioatod. Tho fact that tho

majority of criminals lmppcu to ho oithor gamblers or drunkards is not extraordinary ; indeed it would ho ex* 1 traordinary if they woro not ono or tho other, but tho fact of thorn being either or both is not oven prima facio evidence that their criminal instincts

have npi-iing from oit.h»r or both of tiioso onuses. Iu Hooking for tho truo explanation of tho mattor, thoroforo, wo must go doopor into tho (juostion than gaol govornors or prison ollicials of any rank liavo ovor gone, or are lilcoly to go, for the very sulliciont reason that nono of thorn are cither philosophers or biologists, and as liorodity and environment play tho major part in tho formation of tho human character wo naturally look to higher authorities for reliable pronouncements on the subject. Unfortunately with regard to liorodity we can liavo little to say that would instruct tho ordinary roador, because tho intelligent discussion of it takes us boyond tho protoplasmic substance into tho structural character of tho coll, and without the aid of diagrams words alono can convey no moaning to tho uninitiated of the important part played by tho chromosomes and controsomos which'play thoirSpart within tho infinitesimal cell itself and exercise their inlluence upon tho future man. Yet these things are now so woll understood as to leave no doubt about their influence being all important, and that hereditary traits and characteristics aro handed down from goneration to generation, although these may for a time lay dormant. Yet whon the opportunity comes they develop with amazing rapidity and tho reputed man of honor becomes a criminal, though he lias never tasted alcohol or gambled in his lifo. Against those boreditary traits thoro aro but two safeguards (1) a healthy environment, and (2) the absoluto prevention of propagation among the criminal classes. The latter is an effective remedy, and one that is staunchly advocated by the greatest authorities upon the subject of criminology and by judges innumerable as a most desirable thing ; whoreas a healthy environment (by which .we mean, of course, sound moral training, abseuco of incontivo or example in the commission of crime, and freedom from want) is after all but a safeguard aud not an infallible one. Its object is to build up a sound mind in a sound body, and if it succeeds in doing that its purpose is complete, for thoro is no danger of lapses into untoward ways whore these conditions exist. Clearly, then, the true remedy must not be sought iu legislative suppression leaving the source of the evil untouched. It is like trying to dam back the llood caused by many converging streams instead oE getting to the source of them all and directing them apart so that no flood could * appear. It may be that one of theso I streams may be called Waipiro, another Gamblers’ Creek, a third Opportunity stream, and a fourth Heredity Eiver, and whon they converge reformers may dam and dam and dam, but the flood continues to sweep along ovor the surface and only a comparatively small portion is checked in its progress Gambling and intemperance are not essentially crimes, but phases of a human weakness that craves for something to supply tho want of healthy enjoyment principally ; but in tho professional gambler the desire is controlled by avarice, and in that form it becomes one of the most pernicious things that can infest humanity.