The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1906. GRUESOME FIGURES

New Zealand Tablet, 8 November 1906, Page 21

The New Zealand Tablet THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1906. GRUESOME FIGURES

t~" lil^lßi E - °^ ~ the '^oXty gruesome," problems "ofT-the wßtoK 1 ' day- is the increasing ■■numl>er-o£'- those who,v •SSKBfIT -'Desperately run •*agsnß ? ' ' ;To death.?£or-; dreadlof deatfo^-v^:--. €£|p§i» It is . the.rfjfirivejsal;,ve£dict o£ statisticians, ■ i -. that^in all r conn tries*o£ ;Jbhe.,ciyilised, .world jthere is a greafcerhand' evteV greater^ tendency , to,-weary-of the burden— _or> ; r.fither the blessed "'privilege—of -; life/ , Nowadays- where- war and pestilence ,slay their jbljpjii- ' sands, suicide -slays its tens of; thousands., New-JZealand, with its ~ sparse and prosperous ' population, is f no. excep-, tion to the . melancholy- rule, -its .of selfrkillirig having risen from" 55 -cases ;<--indLß4£ "to . 68 ;in, 1900Tand— in 1905. Wagner*" Morselfi; Bod-iof 'Detti'ngen ? --Masaryk, Mayr, Rehfisch,. Durkh^im^-Legoyt, Phertwliezj andjygners* have probed the lurid.- mystery- with"" keen, speculations, - '" 'ia-nd' left it -in '" the main a\ : mystery ; : . stilL • • But-- - by - fat ( the "most 'exhaustive and c'oinplete statistical treatment' of -the- •• subject, seems-<to recently -publfefiedV work 'of Hhe-^Rev. P.^Kiosey'S/Jv, -^Dei^Selbstmord. imf-19.. ■Jahrhun-dert > , (' Suicide in. .the s - KineteeiitK^eentuty"'').' ■Pr om .. a- reyiew/bf - .the . wo'rfcC -in- '^fie SejjtemDer- Issue .of the ' Civilta Catlolica ', we learn that published no. statistics of "suicide/ for fhe'firs't decade ,o, of J the nineteenth' century, France : ipne, for the firsts quarter, Beli 'gium-and . Denmark, notfe; for the ftiss/t -third,-. England '"none for the first Half >~S&xony '• none'-for the- : first thirty years, and very few; (-oulffciies any for "the "first twenty _, T yeafs:V-2Tet '"the fragmentary . cen^ifs^retufW of' iB6O-' 1835 give an official, record of » no fewer than (in round ' numbers)/ 55, 000> suicides in Europe alone. In the second . J^ h^isLl*. ho .- < ? e .° tulT 3o18?0K3 o 18 ? 0 K the - °. ffic ! a i returns, wtiiclf were more , .numerous _ and. , regular, ' J ~ rose* to ,360,0)10 tori Europe 1 alone:' ' For ' tlie^renfaiiiing third of the ( fcentur> r Offi±Asffif^&&a\*\Aitlbi are-far 'more"- complete and copious,,: .and^<stilKf of '"Europe) reach the - -appalling r grand-; of M".^^^, .oUwhich P/fermany alone furnished more than -300,000. '"' ; •-„,-,<■ „ - : • . ul v -j^-.i .>. , , . -, _ ••-'•• •> f i' 1 - : -.---J _'-s\' f 'js_j «,s."*.■>: ?.. ! -,; fiV> , bl ->v- fjoni.jofficjal^retunis'' andp' bi^Hbwrf lestimates," - the \r, auMof;{^hb^had^lf eady;f w^n^s^W^npite'-;"foi;,his-' ; Wovid-I-rstat-is^ics) concludes (says,/ his i ieyiewbrj/'tliat and 1900 suicide in Europe has; increased 4 - -four '^■'hundrfed..; pef : '"ceAt'.' 'Jwfiile^the * population: has? increased' bjr" s 'i^Z M^Y 1 ; per -? cent.^^Fat '' the^rperiodV/^i-STl^igoO^tlie ~ ! %thpr > tof ; ; ':-[ ;Der Selbstrnotd^^\sortS' 1 -ti>u v fe' } 2'the^-' various {< European 7 cbiihtries into 'three -'" Tlie^highest-rate "of sificide^ (varying froni MB ? 'tp 162; per million inhabitants) is found in the following co~untVies : Saxony ('the Classical -land of. suicide" : )j Deriniark, France; "Prussia

„ej,c.; - .., the t ,, second .or middle' s class ;(159 ; toj 63:., ' per .million) ..compiisk' V^Austrikv ' "Bavaiia,Swed^n, Hjingary; Belgium,. .England, Norway," Al^aceLpfcraine: ,. Tfte -lo west" records -(S9^t6.*'2l? i per"maiiion^aret held by Scotland, llollandj'-Itaiy^rßussiav^'lrelahdr'aiid-Spadn, which gives the suiallest i: return"of any .country. Buring^the, last ten years;/ of -i-.the^ninefeenth century^ the' annual mean of suidides'in'^Eurdp'e-Tea'ched ttelor-"-mows, .figure -of; 38,727./Efance..has kept', careful>tabistlcs of' its' suicides since Jbß!27. ---Ahd-.v'nobody .■wtoys'jhasi watcheajthe--p'dlitieaf progress ' !: 'of "that irajuippy; country will be surorised-to leanr-that WtweeirthaT-date and 1900 its .self-murders' increased^by 341 per cent [ \';<>ii .*•'-' -.• iVf-'< ■'■ . 'Hi •":::;u':v*i' ''i fs-'> \' .■>•, m •'•>■' •' '" -Il''I I ''•■ •• ■'■'•'■"' "■.! l<-> hU,P! '•. >;■ : .:»■:<•-, i^, ' 1 ?, 811 ; m ode'of ; < : m6derii('h r umah' life-'tiie ? keen- f ness' 'qf; ; cptigetitiox'ithe Ji&re&Mg, .nressuje, .ofj ' bilsiiiess cares )o diss'a'iisfaction unsatasfied( [ cirkv--ings t. of-- .ey-eMricreasing deed's— wMbh mak6 the ~.lu'xu : ry of to-day- the necessary : of .- ""to-morrow— all -these - « are," •'• l no doubt, contributing . .causes I ; J{q r the. r recklessness., 'of V; life which seeks relief in rope, raxorj "bullet,' "charcoal fumes, arsenic,. or deep, waterV'' : "Butut; is- -manifest' 'these factors," are not sjf themseiyes :^alo.n'e:^sunipie.ri t" ' 'tbraccouAiS for • the^^ appalling.- .increase. l af:/,the '-.bastard ■ valor"' of selfislaughter. "Portugal, ''^painviindlreiand—thfee countries tliat, -from diverse political I 'feauses> are ambng 'ihe poorest, .countries in E'urope-rcbnst^tly/ show the smallest percentage Qf suicidesr And' -readers, of the^ history of the great famine"" of" 1846-7 kridw 'that v self-murder was almost "quite'lnik'nßwn among "the' Irish poor during that long and agonising period of concentrated suffering and- woe. The chief motive cause >f the " increased disregard for, 'the;sanctit^'6f; life' lies "deeper^ The histb'rian Lecky,- although a rationalist, put his. .linger on the' spot when,- in, his-; • European /Morals l , -he: stated j that - one determining cause" (he might * have , said the" chief ldetermining" cause) of. the iiicr ( eas;e of .suicide in'bur day is ' the advance of , religiqus sc.e,plic.ism,. ; ,and the relaxation of religious discipline*. "■ r, '■ ■ , .<) .'.,<■ Suicide is; briefly,' • iii ' the .main' an outcome of pagan or materialistic modes ~ of, thought, and,\action. ,,' Christianity gave a new and sublime meaning to life when it taug-ht that.it , is a-, sacred gift. of" the Creator,; that it is. lent- to us, like .the- talents :of- the -Gospel, "under.. high - responsibilities, 4/q make" the most 4nd' best of Jt •'that suicide is a~ crime;. _ and ; that^death 'is. npt: r i>he end- of all things, but the beginning 'of .' a-..life."*bf" endless.' happiness or of endless woe.- .- •" s < • u-' « • -..' - . - ' . ■ • •,!.,-,'.. 1.'., . ' •„ -ri '-A sacred-.burden ;is this, life, ye bear ;.. . Look on- it, -lift it, bear >it- solemnly-? -. - .'Sta*d up. and walk' beneath it .steadfastly '. The Christian doctrine, of- the. origin and destiny of human life wrought- a moral' revolution in the "pagan wdria. .' Direct: and 'deliberate' suicide y ; says Leck'y,' 1 almost* entirely 'disappearefi;' withim ?fh,e Church '../So rare, was self-destruction inJthe; middle ages that j for centuries only one suicide was- -irecordedi -among women 1 . It arose again in-peripds^.when.faith>;had ; lost its robustness .aHd^ became languid "and anaerhic-ras' in Spain : 'during period'; in.;*l3iiglan'd ! after" the nß'efor"Sf,^ nY P e Ji ad ' s ajn"d t ,felij|ious^ stagnation and fashionable,- infidelity" ..of >t jie^.j eighteenth t - century ;,Jn Frarice-i'during- Uie great revolutionary period. '^1. Germany' and. ;pthefscpun tiles i't v jldVa'nc'ed wit^the . spread X 6f materialism, a|Td s'cepjLici'smi^iie'' 'd^strifctjlye ''criticismi of suph^men^as Strauss fand" "Bauf,: Schopenhauer !-s- philosophy of _- despair, Harsmann'S' ! theory;'i/nat lifes4s- T hardly worth living;^'Nietzsche's "gro^;- philosophy^ of. 1 mere pleasure, apd^^he^ PP f a(|..'bJE ''gpdlps^pu^iic^ jhstrub^ion^an. eyil legacy wni ch-^hasv come to- us^ifonx>.the/^ren(^VEevolutJ[onV -The remedy jvis'v an. 'robvidus^hut difficult* otic : -to rollback the tide V 6f -to'; those Christian principles " wßioYi ' caused- 'the 'disappearance of suicide within the bounds of the old Roman Empire. And. the beginning is best made in the schools. ' '