PENALTY FOR MURDER

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25741, 1 March 1949, Page 3

PENALTY FOR MURDER

MR EFFORD REPLIES TO MR A. J. HAUB MURDER RATE SAID TO HAVE DECLINED * s a . 6?^ at that, in this grave .'J 1 . 1 '? and death . those who nSSIe, tatlstl F s sh °ul<i not take the utmost care to ensure accuracy and proper use,” said the president of the Howard League for Penal Reform Lmeoln Efford) in a statement mv te s da /> referring to the remarks of "ir A. J. Haub, president of the Federation of Justices of New Zealand, who was quoted in “The Press” yesterday as saying that “according to statistics, since the abolition of the death penalty in 1941, there had been an increase in the number of murders committed of more than 61 per cent.

This statement is grossly inaccurate continued Mr Efford, “in that the death penalty was in fact abolished at the end of 1935, not in 1941 as ®J r . t Haub state s—though the actual statute abolishing it was passed in the latter year. Therefore, the death penalty h as been imposed in only one, the first, of the 14 years covered by Mr Haub’s figures. Mr Haub had obviously used the statistics of murders reported to the i police, said Mr Efford. Those figures contained inevitable inaccuracies but, properly used, they revealed a decrease in murders in New Zealand rather than the increase he alleged. Because the numbers of murders violently fluctuated from year to year, it was necessary to compare fairly long periods with and without the death penalty to obtain ’ accurate comparison. A period of at least 10 years was usually taken for this reason. It was true that murders increased in one or two of the war years, but this was to be expected and the increase was not as great as in countries, for example Great Britain, which retained the death penalty and in which increased numbers of murderers were hanged. Comparing the murders reported in the 13 years before abolition of hanging with the 13 years since, it was found the total for the former period was 139, and for the period since abolition 123. This showed an absolute decrease of 16 and a greater relative decrease in the murder rate because of the growth of the population during the period. “The public should have the opportunity of seeing the figures of murders reported to the police over the last 26 years,” said Mr Efford. “They are as follows:

Total .. 139 Total .. 123 “The figure for 1948 is not official, but has been calculated from newspaper files. “Though, as has been said, it is dangerous to make short-term comparisons, it is satisfactory to note the great decrease in murders during the last three years compared with 1944 and 1945. The alarmists should take these figures to heart.”

13 Years Before 13 Years Since Abolition. Abolition. 1923 .. 7 1936 .. 8 1924 .. 8 1937 .. 4 1925 ..6 1938 .. 7 1926 .. 13 1989 .. 4 1927 .. 13 1940 .. 4 1928 .. 2 1941 .. 9 1929 , .. 6 1942 .. 5 1930 .. 7 1943 .. 10 1931 .. 13 1944 .. 20 1932 .. 15 1945 .. 20 1933 .. 22 1946 .. 10 1934 .. 16 1947 .. 12 1935 .. 11 1948 .. 10