The Daily News. THURSDAY. MARCH 31, 1904. THE INCREASE OF SUICIDE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 74, 31 March 1904, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY. MARCH 31, 1904. THE INCREASE OF SUICIDE.

Thu remarks which fell from tho lips of Mr Brabant, S.M., at a recent sittingof the Auckland Police Court make most unpleasant reading. It it be true that the suicidal mania is increasing in our midst it becomes manifest at once, says the Otago Daily Times, that we in New Zealand are destined to enjoy no immunity from those grave perplexities which have for some time engrossed the philosophers and statesmen of older lands. Indeed, as we shall immediately show, .the statistics before I us seem to indicate that the problem ' with us has already reached an acute

stage. A great deal of thought has recently been devoted in England to the fact that during the past halfccntury the crime of self-murder has actually trebled its number of victims. In America, too, the same peril is swiftly pressing itself into a position of urgency. The records of the city of Chicago, for example, show that, whilst, during the ten years between 1880 and 18 I JO, 10(5<j citizens met their deaths at their own hands, during the ten years immediately following, the number leapt up to no less than <1132.- In New York, too, during the same decade no fewer than !ioUB persons suffered in a similar manner. And a singular feature about these gruesome reflections seems to be the utter absence of any workable theory us to the cause. One might reasonably suppose that the returns would show that these unfortunate tragedies were most common in districts in which the conditions of life and labour were the most galling. Yet, as a matter of fuel, a statement to the reverse effect would really appear to approximate more closely to the truth. H is astonishing, for example, to discover that, if we divide Knglum.l up into three classes, lirst including London and' the great cities, the second embracing the provincial towns, and the third covering the rural 'districts, we lind that the last mentioned class furnishes us witii tlie maximum proportion oi these crimes on a population basis, whiile the iirst-named claims the minimum. Hut the climax yet confronts us, and only becomes obvious when we compare these facts with the corresponding slatistics for the colony. It is a little humiliating to discover that in Xew Zealand, where the stress of life is so much less felt, and where, as a consequence, it might fairly be assumed that the cruel temptation to self-assassina-tion would be comparatively rare, the figures disclose the astonishing fact that, on a population basis, the proportion of suicides in the colony is actually higher than in any of the three English areas we have ulready Instanced. And if, as Mr Urabant maintains, the tendency to this particular crime Is rupidly increasing, JJe has dono a public service in calling attention to the melancholy fa«t. Two sets of circumstances demonstrate most conclusively the fact that the severity of the struggle for existence i s not responsible for these calamities. Tlic first is that by far the greater proportion of such crimes are committed in summer time, and the so cond is that, generally speaking, the sunnier the clime the higher the ratio of suicides. Victor lingo once formulated a theory to account for these two remarkable facts. "As the life of even the most prosperous man," he says, "is always in reality more sad than gay, a gloomy sky is in harmony with ourselves. A brilliant and joyous sky mocks us. Nature in Its sad aspects reassuies and consoles us." Suicide is often referred to as a disease. The term Is by no means unwarrantable—indeed, thene would seem to be some justification for classing it as an infectious disease. It would lie easy to 'demonstrate from the records of almost any land that, in those years in which certain men of influence and stunding have yielded, in a weak moment, to tlie temptation to terminate their careers, the number of suicides lias shown an increase. Upon a certain class of mind already characterised by a morbid outlook or a pessimistic temper, the very suggestion offered by the intelligence l of a suicide ncls a fatal fascinntion. It is some consolation to know that, whilst in England and other European States the number of these crimes among women and children is increasing by leaps and bounds, in Mtw Zealand last year the statistics of female suicides showed a striking diminution. Now that Mr Urabant has called public attention to the state of things that actually exists, and seems to be growing, others will doubtless set themselves to seek both the cause and the cure. Perhaps one wholesome suggestion may be found in the letter written by a youthful suicide in Wellington recently in which, with a pathos that is not unmixed with irony, he appeals to "a kind jury" not to sacrifice truth to sentiment by declaring him "temporarily insane."