CRIME IN IRELAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 16, 18 August 1893, Page 31

CRIME IN IRELAND.

England ... ... *117,472,4»1 Scotland ... ... 12,928,073 Ireland ... ... 10,466,698 In other words, the Irish spend in the year aboat 11 doll per capita, while the Scotch spend 16-14 dols, and the English 1916 per capita for liquor. Be it remembered that the laws have been administered in Ire* land by the enemies of the people and not by their friends, as in England and Scotland. Be it remembered, too, that although a more friendly administration has recently come into power, tbe system ii etill unchanged, and offenders are shown little mercy either by the police in making arrests or by the courts in passing sentence ; yet with all these disadvantages Ireland can well afford to challenge comparison with her critics, and appeal to the official records of an alien and unfriendly administration for the verdict.

Th« Irish World of a recent date, in reference to a charge of lawlenneu and crime brought by Mr Balfour against Ireland, publishes the following : Let us glance at some official statistics by way of illustration. Thorn's " Official Directory of the United Kingdom " gives the number of criminals convicted during the year 1890 as followß :— England »240 Scotland 1825 Ireland 1193 That is to say that the proportion of convictions to population was nearly fifty per cent, greater in England than in Ireland, and more than twice as great in Scotland at, in Ireland. If we look at the character of the offences it will give us a still better understanding of the relative prevalence of crime in Ireland. The offences are classified by the same authority as follows :—

It requires but a glance at these official statistics to show that the Irish bare nothing to ftar from a comparison with their neighboßTß, not only as to the relative number of all crimes, bat also as to the crimes of malice ac distinguished from crimes of impulse. Tbe same authority reports the following sentences of death and execution in the United Kingdom for the Bame year :— Sentenced, Commuted. Executed. England ... 24 9 15 Scotland ... 5 4 1 Ireland ... 1 None 1 In view of the above, how absurd it must seem to those familiar with the facts to hear Tory Coercionists howling themselves hoarse in the House of Commons over the " appalling prevalence of crime in Ireland." It might be interesting to the Anglo-maniacs in tbia country, who betray the same prejudice against the Irish people, to make a comparison between the aoiual number of executions for murder in Ireland and th« United SUtei. Placed in statistical form for the purpose oi careful and elaborate comparison it would stand thus : — No. Executed Ireland ... •■■ 1 United States ... ... 318 Of these 818 executions, as reported by the Chicago Tribune and the World Almanac, 123 were executed by law and 195 executed by lynching. We think the lash can stand the ordeal of comparison with a fair degree of complacency when they are treated to dissertations on the prevalence of " Orima in Ireland," Bo it is in the reports we bear of the proneness of the Irish people to drunkenness, aboit which much malevolent nonsense is indulged in by the enemies d Ireland. Let us make a few comparisons (again. In a recently pblisbed statement the Rev Doctor Dawson Barns, of London, ot the United Kingdom Alliance, whose name is familiar on both sides of .he Atlantic as a standard authority on matters relating to temperance, put down the amount of liquor consumed at f ollow 8: — Gallons. England ... ... 81,023,325 Bcotland ... ... 10 892,830 Ireland ... ... 8,728,287 , Tb« quantity is surely Bore tbaa it ought to be, all round ; but yf C tatist admit th»t Ireland hows to tbe best advantage of the three. Doctor Burns goes f urthr, and gives the amount of money spent lor liquor in the three counties as follows :—

Against the person ... Against property, with violence Against property, without violence Malicious offencss against property Forgery and offences against the currency Other offences iSing- Bcotland land 1728 668 1380 431 5137 740 217 26 237 20 541 40 Ireland 430 117 477 23 22 124 9240 1825 1193