ALARMING INCREASE OF CRIME IN VICTORIA.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 35, 29 December 1893, Page 4

ALARMING INCREASE OF CRIME IN VICTORIA.

(Argus, 2nd December.)

Thb statistics of crime, drunkenness, and illegitimacy placed on record in another column by our contributor "Quivis," are sufficiently startling to arrest general attention. That Victoria should be going from bad to worse in each important matters as these is a circumstance which mast disturb the complacency of the most optimistic believer in the well-being aod well-doing of the Colony. And the picture, we are assured, ia drawn by no unfriendly hand . The Rev Mr Savage, like the prophet of old, was called upon to bless, and lo I he was compelled by the irresistible logic of facts to confirm the truthfulness of the many bard things wbicb had been alleged againfct us. Some of our readers may remember that at ths Folkstone Church Congress a year ago Bishop Moorhouse took up his parable against Victoria, and declared that hsr contemptuous diregard of religious education bad resulted in the moral degradation of the community. He supported bis assertions with statistics, and these were seised upon and

circulated in pamphlet form throughout England by the opponents of secuUr education. The duty of refuting the Bishop's denunciation was laid upon Mr Savage. " I was asked," he says, "to check his figures with the view, if possible, of preparing a counterblast. I checked them, and found that the Bishop of Manchester's assertions were every one more than substantiated." Mr Savage's method of investigation does not follow the ordinary lines of statistical inquiry. He is not content with the bare facts which indicate oar criminal and moral condition ; he endeavours to throw these facts into a form which will show whether we are improving or whether we are retrograding in these rebpecta. Taking the decennial period 1881-91, Mr Savage first of all points out that, according to the census returns, the population of Victoria had increased in the ten years by 3224 per cent. But applying the same method of calculation to the statistics of crime, he found that the summary convictions had increased in the same period by 4618 per cent, and the arrests for more serious offences by 54.69 per cent. In each caße, therefore, the rate of increase was far higher than the rate at which the population bad progressed. There are grave facts, but still greater are the figures which dsal with tbe statistics of crime among the rising generation of Victorians. These show that, while the native-born population had increased in the decade at the rate of 4294 per cent., the increase of crime among native-born Victorians was as high as 88 65 per cent. As for drunkenness, the arrests for tbis rffence increased in the period by 63-19 per cent., being nearly double the rate of increase of the population, and nearly 24 per cent, higher than Ue rate of increase of arrests for all crimes. We come next to illegitimacy, and here the figures are even more startling than all that has gone before. For the colony ai a whole tbe illegitimate births showed an increase of 49*35 per cent., or about 17 per cent, higher than the rate at wbioh the population had increased. In tbe metropolitan area, where the population increased in the decade by 73 67 per cent., illegitimacy i noreased at the rate of 9216 per cent. But the question will at once arise— Are these statistics continuously progressive throughout the decennial period, or do they fluctuate from year to year ? The answer if not very

WMSUxing. During tbe greater part of the decade the criminal ■tattatfos, Including those of drunken new, constantly tended upwards culminating in 1888, the maddest jear cf the boom. It seems that io this country it U not th« pinch of poverty, as in the old world, but the riot or abundance, that leads to crime and drunkennese, and Mr Savage holds that these blots on our civilisation are inseparable -they rise and fall together. When the boom wag over they began to falL « The increase of arrests for all crimes between 1880 and 1890 was 6092 per cent., while between 1890 and 1891 it was only 39 78 per ©exit." But Mr Savage takes no comfort from this improvement. I do not think," he says, '< that the spirit of the people is changed. _."* °° • TideßCe of mo ** 1 improvement. There is simply the evidenoe of an inability to purchase luxuries and indulge in vice." Pertups the most astonishing, and certainly the most perplexing, outcome of this statistical inquiry, however, ia that part of it which bnngg the Victorian figures into comparison with the correspond!^ statistics for Mew South Wale*. We need not produce the shameful wooia here, as the figure* are given folly in the article by •• Quivia." But a glance will show bow badly we come oat of tbe comparison. Taking the same period (1881-91), Mr Savage sfauwi that while, as regards crime and drunkenness, Victoria was rapidly treading the downward path, New Sooth Wales bad not only slackened speed, but was, as regards crime of certain descriptions, actually retracing her ■tepa. In Victoria the statistics of crime and drink showed a steady increase at a rate in all cases in excess of the rate of increase of the population. In New South Wales tbe fignres showed a rate of increase greatly below the rate at which the population had pro. grened, while under some headings crime had actually decreased. In other words, the actual number of persons under certain headings in tkt criminal statistic* of New South Wales were less at the end of the decade than thej were at its commencement, notwithstanding an increase of the population ot 60 per cent. The corresponding figures for Victoria all show an increase, and though tbe increase is not very large, atill tbe contrast will the actual decrease in the parent colony is in the highest degree disconcerting. We do not propose, however, to draw hasty conclusions from the disquieting material for reflection Mr Savage hai placed before us. They must be dealt with ultimately, of course ; but for the present it may be as well that they should be oarefuUy studied and pondered and looked at from all points of view. It is possible that errors may bt discovered, or that tbe sources from which tbe figures are derived may prove nn trustworthy. It is certainly extraordinary that the tendency towards crime and immorality in Victoria should be on the increase, while in other colonies the reverse is the case. Human nature, surelj, must be the same in all the colonies. What is there to differentiate the p 3 ople of Victoria from tha people of New South Wales or the people of South Australia ? We all belong to tbe same raw, substantially, and the economical and social conditions under whioh we live are practically the same. Why, then, is Victoria on the downward grade as regards crime and drunkenness, while New Booth Wales shows a marked improvement in recent years ? The mere statement of the fact seems to indicate that the element of error is latent somewhere. But we have small hope that the statistics compiled by Mr Savage with so much care and patience will prove erroneous. The problem we have just stated will have to be faced, and let us hope that it will be investigated in the serious spirit of the statesman and the patriot, anxious that the shame of tbie bad record may be taken from us, and not in the narrow and uncharitable mood of tbe faddist or the fanatic. The people who attribute all the ills of the community to the liquor traffic, or to secular education, or to the running of trains on Sunday, will all have a right to discuss this question from their respective points of view. But let us hope that there will be no exaggeration, and, above all, that there will be no hasty demand for legislation. When this ogly business has been probed io the the bottom, it will be time enough to talk of legislation. We are not prepared to say that some legislation may not be necessary, but on the other hand, it is quite possible, and even probable, that legist lation may do more barm than good.