PROGRESSIVE MASTERTON

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 75, 29 March 1919, Page 2

PROGRESSIVE MASTERTON

THE DISTRICT’S*FREEDOM EROM CRIME. ' ‘ I [An Address by the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) to the Grand Jury , at ' the opening of the : Supreme Court in Masterton on September 10th, 1917.] : > ■ In his charge to the Grand Jury at the opening of the criminal Sittings of the Supreme Court in Masterton on September lOth, dofo His Honour the Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) said: . The last time I presided at the sittings of the criminal court at., Mastertoll was on September 20, 1916; I ther> referred to the great, pmgress your town and district had made Since I had previously visited it in 1912 I am glad that I can again congratulate you on the progress of Masterton and its surroundings. I have, visited outlying paHs :of your,: town, and I ito many sigriS of progress. Maiiv neat apd artistic cottages have been built, Your streets are well kept, many of them asphalted, and many more have asphalted footpaths and side-walks, . 1 am also much improved with the Cleanliness of your town. Ip mo town have I seen mote attention paid to the keeping of the streets clean T 1 do • not ’ know ■’ what your Uncial cob-* ditions are,, but you Y district *HaS made ’9..name for itself in;the^large sums you have given to help onf .Empire in its great struggle for freedom. r-Tbk etat* Of your district so; far >as crime ;, ia concerned, • merits 1 hearty cOngrattdatiott. have been exAmito*ng the tocorjs. iipt only of convictions but of charges brought before the courts, and that- is, Bonie criminologists consider, the best test of the crime In a community. But whether the charges that have been made or the convictions of those #bO have offended against oiir laws are [considered, the result is equally gratifying. ■' . ■ ■' . - j have taken the charges of all kind* brought before the Magistrate’s Court at Masterton for the yeSts 1906 up to December, 1916. > In the Irst yflais ypur district. was a licensed, or,» as it is popularly termed, a “wet” : district Since June, 1909,. the MasteHon eleci toral district has been a “dry'[ district, and whatever the cause of the decline l of criminal charges .may be, the fact | is, and cannot be gainsaid, that offenI Ces have greatly lessened. In the figr ! tires I give first the year, then, the total : charges made, incluhng all offences, j both-large and small, then the cases of drunkenness, then all other charges not jof drunkenness.

’ * Of 26 of these 8 were arrested off the Homewood and Tenui coaches, 12

at the railway station, and 6 on arrival of motor eSt from Carterton.

I have the charges matte and heard in trie other towns situated in the Wate rarapa electoral district during the pa#6 five years, and I give; them: — :'

| So that there may be a fair compari- ' son the returns from Eketahuna must : be added to the Masterton totals. The I remit, then, will be total charges in fiv§ ( years In the dry district of Mas- • tertom lil—. , .« . , S 1912—198, drunkenness 3 Q I 1913—196, drunkenness 61 | 1914—16Q, drunkenness 53 I 1915—143, drunkenness 50 | 1916—133, drunkenness 70 • In wet district, Wairarapa electorate:— ■„ -y , drunkenness 403 I 1915—471, drunkenness 120 | 1914—505, drunkenness 153 i915--~760, i drunkenness 316 ) 1916prr7S8j, drunkenness3o3 It will bi dioted that drunkenness has increased ifi the r Wairarapa electorate. Tfie increase is mainly in Featherstop. -fno^ae'ed. item*: 13. in, 1914 to 141 in 1916. This have fieOn caused by the .fact that jwp camps are neaEr jreatherstoii. That - does, not imply that the ; soldiers were charged, ft may have beeh the ■ followers. Seeing .ghat bae happenedj arid what has happened in* Wellington, might not the, Defence Department give leave to Masterton? The cost of the rgilage from Feathemton to Master ton yvilT be; much cheaper than oyer the Summit and due provision, (tabid no doubt ho made, in Matserton for the entertainment of the soldiejfl hejre, : and for giving, them pieaiure. I sufe tyduld make every prober‘provision for them. Td sum fcp f , m tbe wet. Wairarwa district there Wife 41896 cases brought before th© Courts, said in the dry 830. Of drunkenness, the charges were in .jyemni. 273, in the wet Wairarapa 1005. Suppose we eliminate 1915 and 1916 - when the- sofdi&s* Camps were in the Wairarapa, we have for 1912, 1913, and 1914 the: charges of drunkenness in the dry Wairarapa district 153 viand in the wet Waiiarapa 256. It is also, I believe, correct to, state that manyvsokliepS Whe hfiyfi indulged in excess. in liquor haye not been charged.; • Another, consideration is that many charged in Masterton hay© come ‘ from wet districts ianl have become intoxicated before reaching Masterton, ; I hive given details, for the year 1916. Out of ofi: charges in Masterton tor 1915, : 8 were arrested off Homewood a*o’-Tandi ebaches, 12; arrested 4t the railway station, and 6 arrested on Arrival of motor caps from Carterton. If these wepe filducttad, and it may be others also must be , deductedthe 68 charges of drunkenness would be reduced to 42 oP a lower number.

The' lesson .that can be drawn from these figures need hardly be Stated. Where liquor is openly sdld offences against our laws in. a population about the Same size are about four, times, as numerous as in a district where there are no licensed houses.

; I; may give some further figures •regarding,, serious crime, that is, crime that comes before the Supreme Court at Masterton. I have not the cases that hive been sent frbin the Wiirarapa districts to Wellington for tiral or sentence, but there are ,few . cases,

Taking the last seven years 1910 to 1916,.. only one person residing in the Masterton; Electoral District in all these years has been sentenced to imprisonment by the Supreme Court sitting at Masterton, and that was a native of* the Celestial Empire in 1910. There have been two other convictions, but one was fined and the other granted probation.

Now Masterton Electoral District has about one eighty-seventh of the , population of, the jpoiniriioh.. In these seven years there have been oyer two thousand persons sept ,;to .ptjsohvby'/the.Eiiipreme Court. If all the Dominion were like Masterton, one gaol would be. all that xyopld be necessary for the Dominion, instead of eight large gaols and several police prisons. It may be asked, what are the charges of serious crime for the past , seven years that have come before the Supreme Court sitting at Masterton ? v There have been in all 26 persons charged,: six came from Masterton, four from Pahiatna, apd l l6, from the other Wairarapa Electorates., In whatever,way, jthe. criminal; Statistics are viewed! they speak wblt for the dry district; I am-'sure no distinction can be made between, the people iii the Masterton Electorate and ii| the Wairarapa District. Both are of good stock. Ip: the one district, however, there is the temptation of the open Saloon, ip the other the temptation is tiOtV present, arid it is for pur people to consider whether that fact explains the figures I have given. The fall in the crime in the Mastertph IHstrict I hdye already alluded to. Inhere Were in .the licensing days, of MastertOix that is, in the two years 19 &t aaigC- igOfl, 866 charges, whilst in 1915 obatges ; numbered only little more than one-fourth. The people have iibfc fi6‘ changed, in eight years to cause this difference in charges. How, then, tS: the change to be explained? c. I 'have thought it. necessary to pass these remarks as it is the function of a Judge ih addressing a Grand Jury to deal with the position of the district from which the Jury comes, sp , far as law and oMe? are concerned. Add you, gentlemen, afiq your district, may be pongfatnlated on the good position you hold amongst the many Judicial Distndta of our Dominion.*

Total DrunkenOther Year. Charges ness. Charges 1907 45? 256 2Q1. 1908 4& 302 197 im 325 155 170 1910 105 39 66 1911 104 34 70 1912 125 32 93 1913 . 143 51 92 1914 133 49 84 1915 136 SO 86 1916 128 68* 60

1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 Carterton 211 203 329 357 348 Drunkenness 62 66 128 141 127 Feathers ton' 70 89 66 238 210 Drunkenness 13 17 13 134 141 Oreyidwii is 74 62 92 141 Drunkenness § 11 9 30 19 Martinborough 73 105 48 63 69 Drunkenness 19 25 13 11 16 Eketahuna 73 53 27 7 .5 Drunkenness 7 10 4 0 2