At When the injury of the excise, and the cheapening of bread. all had been arranged, however, the use of spirits was allowed; and, in that season of violence, 1798-99, we find almost a fourth more whisky consumed. So, at the great election for the county Clare, 1828, the use of whisky was effectually discountenanced, with the happiest results. But the prohibition (in part) of distillation, from 20th June to 31st December, 1808, and from 13th March to 31st December, 1809, was a national demonstration of the truth. Whisky rose from 8s. to 18s. the gallon, which, of course, placed it beyond the reach of multitudes. once a marked improvement in the manners of the people took place, sobriety and order supplanting riot and debauchery. (See 70). The nightly commitments to the Dublin watch-house Again, in 1810, when decreased in an extraordinary measure. the prohibition ceased, "the commitments increased nearly fourfold"; and the fact became so striking as to induce the Lord Mayor and Magistrates publicly to notice the circumstance, and direct attention to its cause (§ 44). In the prohibition period of 1758-9, not a single death by intoxication is registered; but in 1811, we find the two Coroners of the City, under date of "May 11th," certifying to Parliament "that the deaths "occasioned by drinking spirituous liquors have greatly increased "within the last twelve months; and that we consider it owing "to the reduced price of whisky, that has tempted the working "classes to such destructive consequences." So, again, when the distilleries were stopt from 8th February, 1812, to September 1813 (by 53rd George III, c. 145), crime stops too: when they revive to their work of destruction, crime revives with them. The following are from the Police returns: 1814 .... 10,737 10,249 No. of Prisoners. 1 Years Decrease. Years. .... .... 9,908 2,093 Thus, even in years of want, a partial measure, merely rendering drink dearer, was attended with a reduction in crime of one-sixth, when, under other circumstances, it would have increased largely. We have still another illustration derived from a comparison of the years of Father MATHEW's great success in reforming the people, with ordinary years of intemperance. In the year 1840, the Public-houses had been lessened by 237, within the police bounds of Dublin. On the 1st of September, 1839, the prisoners in Richmond Bridewell, Dublin, numbered 136; but in November, 1840, the number was reduced to onesixth-viz. to 23. In consequence of 100 cells being empty in the Bridewell, the Smithfield prison was shut up. The Governor of Maryborough gaol thus wrote on the 13th of November, 1841 : "Temperance has had the most desirable effects on the pea * See Report of House of Commons, on Brewers' petition, 1811, p. 12. santry in this part of the country. Peace in all places of "public resort, such as fairs, markets, etc., has taken the place "of disorder, riot, bloodshed, and murder. Very few crimes of "a serious nature are now heard of; and in minor offences there "has been a great decrease. The number of prisoners in gaol, "13th November, 1837, was 128 (Roman Catholics, 122); the "number on this day, 98 (Roman Catholics, 73). This is a great "saving; at £15 each, it amounts to £450 annually." It was almost exclusively amongst the Roman Catholic peasantry that the reformation prevailed. In 1837 and 1838, the average consumption of whisky per head was 1 gallons: in 1840 and 1841, about 8-10ths of a gallon. What was the result? In his place in the House of Commons, the then Irish Secretary, Lord MORPETH, declared that "the "heaviest offences, such as homicides, outrages upon the person, "assault with intent to murder, aggravated assaults, cutting and "maiming," had greatly diminished. Proceed to a subsequent period, and observe how Drunkenness stands directly related to crime. The years of Father MATHEW's triumphs were from 1839 up to the culminating æra of 1845, when the movement began to decline, in part owing to emigration, in part to the natural subsidence of all great enthusiasms, but in 1847-8-9, to the desolation of the Famine and the Exodus. Those years, especially 1849, 1850, 1851, must, therefore, be put out of calculation as peculiar but their results, (though the Table was cited against us by the Waterford Mail of May 3, 1854) are in the most perfect accordance with our theory, and with the historic explanation. When it is said that the licensed facilities measure drinking, and that drinking measures crime, we do not mean that drinking is the only factor in the business; or that the introduction of a new element will leave things as before. Cæteris paribus is to be understood of all comparisons in Sociology-is assumed in all enquiries into Causation. Moreover, we do not speak of drunkenness' as the great source of crime under ordinary circumstances; but we say that drinking is. Certain classes of grave crime are far more intimately connected with excitement and perversion than downright police drunkenness. In this Table, then, we find, over the series of years bracketed, that Temperance diminished cases of serious crime to the extent of one-third as compared with preceding, and one-half as compared with succeeding years. Criminal drinking, therefore, must have been lessened. * But, says the Mail, drunkenness was lessened only a little, and 'petty' offences increased. We answer: Not so! On the whole, they have increased (keeping out of view the famine period as exceptional); it would only show (what is quite plain) that that class of offences may be steadily augmenting, in conse. quence of a fixed social cause operating upon the people quite independently of drinking. For one year of the famine we can ourself speak: the petty offences were truly petty.' We have seen hundreds in the gaols for no greater offence Mr PORTER, in his Progress of the Nation, remarks on the great fluctuations which have occurred with respect to four heads of offences-assaults, illicit distillation, riot and rescue, and misdemeanors not otherwise described. But take Convictions for OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON, as those at once most likely to arise from excitement, and to be least liable to fluctuation from varying social influences of an ordinary character, and we shall arrive, on an average of years, at a very noticeable result. We shall of course stop before the famine years, as that period was subject to a disturbing influence of an extraordinary nature. (The serious lessening of population after the famine and exodus, must be taken into account in estimating the subsequent crime of Ireland; and social and legal causes of the than taking a turnip from a field to allay the pangs of hunger. In the years 1847-1850, also, the crimes of theft greatly increased, and for the same reason which prevented men getting drunk-absolute want. As regards the drunken column, for the middle period, we must observe that, in the fervor of Temperance Reform, the police and magistrates were influenced by the tone prevailing, and looked after these cases; but when the furor ceased, they were not really so stringent, and are laxer now than ever. Taken from the returns of the Inland Revenue Office. See Report on Public Houses, 1853, p. 656. At the beginning of this period 1296 persons were confined in prison for illicit distilling: in 1840 only 175, and in 1841 only 171. +In several counties during this period, there happened the unprecedented circumstance of the presentation of white gloves to the Judges. diminution of disorder, altogether independent of this question, must not be forgotten.) We will now take two quinquennial periods, including the Mail's own figures, and see what they establish in regard to "Convictions at Quarter Sessions and Assize," compared with the years remarkable for diminished consumption of whisky-the element omitted from the 'cookery' of the Mail,-but the very basis of the Alliance doctrine. The recent Prison returns for Ireland, compared with the Revenue returns, show that a legal check to drinking is also a check to crime. We find the same result coming out in the Police returns for the city of Dublin, containing a population at the last census, of 258,000 souls. Year ending December, 1854-Drunkenness..12,139...All offences 43,108 9,887... Decrease.. 2,302 35,634* 8,474 We fall back, then, upon the distinct, adequate, and undeniable facts of the Table, demonstrating that even a partial, voluntary, and temporary withdrawal of the people from the Traffic, was attended by a prodigious reduction of crime, and, as we have elsewhere established (§ 98), by a vast improvement in Trade and Commerce, which again, for want of a prohibitory law, was a drawback to the results, since a certain class will drink in good times who abstain in bad. We subjoin a 'Police Picture' of the Christian City of Dublin, indicating some things by italics which we conceive to be intimately associated with drink : CAUSES. "XXXII. Number of houses where spirits are sold by retail, without retail Licence, distinguishing grocers' shops from other kinds of houses, for four years ended 1853.-There were 105 of these houses in 1853, 47 of which are described as regular, and 13 as irregular, and 60 are stated to be frequented by persons of the inferior class. There are also stated to be 45 unlicensed houses in our city, 33 of which are frequented by persons of inferior character, and 11 by persons of bad character. "XXXIII. Number of public-houses; also, number of grocers' shops where spirits are sold, or suspected to be sold, by retail, without retail licence, for four years ended 1853.-It appears we have 1,033 of these establishments in our city, including 82 taverns, and of these, 873 are described as regular, and 60 as irregular. This return shows a considerable increase, the number of public-houses in 1850 being but 978. "XXXIV. Number of reports against hotels, taverns, grocers' shops, and public-houses, where the parties were summoned, for seven years ended 1853. Hotels reported in 1853, none; taverns, 9, of which there were four convictions; public-houses, 295, of which there were 163 convictions. "XXXV. Number of Temperance coffee-shops, and the manner in which they have been conducted, for four years ended 1853.-There are 94 of these houses, of which 93 are described as regular, and 1 as irregular; 5 are stated to be frequented by respectable persons, 83 by the lower orders, and 6 by bad characters. "XXXVI. Number of gaming-houses, distinguishing houses where gaming is solely practised, from houses where other business is transacted, such as public-houses, cigar-shops, etc., for four years ended 1853.-There are 201 of these houses, which is a gradual increase for the last few years, and of them 16 are described as superior, and 185 as inferior." Of these, 24,188 were summarily convicted, and 779 committed for trial. 10,667 were discharged. The whole 35,634 are thus arranged: Offences against the person Ditto against property, committed with violence Ditto ditto without violence ... Malicious offences against property Forgery and offences against currency 3,362 76 5,131 700 105 Other offences, as drunkenness, prostitution, vagrancy, etc. 26,260 |