DRINK AND CRIME.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 100, 13 September 1912, Page 4

DRINK AND CRIME.

—— r To the Editor. j Sir,—Whilst we all know, everybody knows, that there is a very close relaf tionship between drink and crime, itgreat many do not notice what a very large proportion of our court business lias drink caused. A copy of the New Zealand Gazette, of 23rd August, given the classified returns from all the Mag gistrates' Courts, and a glance over it. shows the relationship between drink and crime. The returns are for the quarter ending 30th June last. These \ are a few extracts: New Plymouth bad , 15 arrests, of which 14 were drunks, in ad- \ dition thereto were 44 summary eonvie- l tions on summons; out of these 13 wore •, drunks and prohibition orders. Thus we \ have with all the industry of our hor- I ougli inspector, in dealing with breaches i of ■ the borough bye-laws, 45.76 per cent, of all court cases summarily dealt with are drink caused, but of the total arrests 93.3 per cent, are dranks. Taking the whole of the Taranaki Provincial district t'he arrests summarily dealt with are 76, and 67 of these are drunks—Bß.ls per cent. The 'totals for the Dominion show that out of the total arrests for the quarter flfi.Bß per cent, were eases of drunkenness, ami out of the total persons arrested or .summoned 4115 were surifmarily convicted of drunkenness or were made subject to prohibition orders. Remembering that this ia for one. quarter of the year only we may expect a heavy list at the end of the year. There is an explanation of (lie effect of drink on crime, and many scientists have given it. Dr Munsterberg. in his book "Psychology and Crime," says that, under tbe influence of alcohol, "all nets of apperception become worse, the [ inhibition? are reduced, the merely mechanical connections control the mind, and (he intellectual processes are slow. Ts it necessary to demonstrate that every . one of these changes favors crime? Thd counter ideas awake too slowly, hasty, actions result from the first impulse before they can be checked, the inhibition oi *he forbidden deed becomes ineffective, the desire for rash, vehement movements becomes overwhelming.'' Tims we see tihe eP'Hinions of science on the use of alcoholic drinks are confirmed, by the statistics of our own Magistrate's Court.—l am, etc., G.TUr.