The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-02-20
NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY FEBRUARY 90 1853.

quarrels arising out of these too intimate rela-
tionships. Suits, we understand, have been iu-
stituted for damages against the parties who
have encroached upon the forbidden degrees OF
kindred; and the profits of managers, usually so
difficult to realize, are likely to become
pleasant fact for the hungry pettifoggers Of the
City Hall. These actions, it is stated, will be
contested for the purpose of trying the right Of
foreign dramatist to a property in his produc-
tons here. We trust the question will be pushed
to a decision, in order to impress upon Congress
the necessity of remedying the shameful injus-
tice which results from the absence of an inter.
national law of copyright
Statistics Of Vice and Crime-Are They Re-
tablet
We have before us the annual report of the
Commissioners of Police, made to the Legislature,
and Just printed by the Assembly, also the quar-
terly police report of Deputy Superintendent
Carpenter, made to the General Superintendent,
giving an array of statistics of crime, and vice,
and of arrests, which claim to be very accurate
and reliable II is often said that figures do not
lie. Now, of all the lying things in the world,
figures are the most mendacious, for they may
be made to say almost anything when there is
no opportunity or means of cOntradicting them.
In other descriptions of statement the reader
can often form pretty accurate judgment for
himself; but in the case of figures he is left
very much at the mercy of those who make
statistical statements, unless where they SO gross
ly outrage truth and probability that the mind
instinctively revolts against them, aud in
quiry is instituted, which detects the fallacy
of the statistics, as in the case presented by
the annual report Of the Commissioners of
Police; some are true, some may be true
or false, some are very. improbable, and
the greater part unreliable. Among these state
ments is comparison of the number of police
in proportion to population in New York and in
European cities. In London, for example, there
are 5,Sl3 policemen, or l to ass of the popu-
lation. In New York there are 1,O63, with 100
population. Some of the present beats of
patrOllmen in New York extend two miles.
How, then, can they protect the public
The number of persons who took refuge in
the station houses for nights lodging in
1858 was 12l 1854; whereas in 1856 the num-
Der was only 1884. How is this increase ex-
planned, with decrease of Irish emigration, and
the fact that is of this class the dodgers chiefly
consist? The total number of arrests in New
York in 1858 was 1873, of which 1882 were
of persons born in the United States, while of
Irishmen there were A ,587-a majority of the
whole number. By the quarterly report of the
Deputy Superintendent the proportion of Irish
men for the last three months is two-thirds How
can this be consistent with the fact that Irish
emigration to this port is decreasing? Of the
principal descriptions Of crime, the following
are the numbers reported:-Assault and battery,
S,6O6; disorderly conduct, 9,011; fighting in the
street, 984; misdemeanors, 1888; murders, So;
grand larceny, 1889; petty larceny, 4,4lO; vio-
lation of the Sunday liquor law, 154-a very
small figure this latter, considering the terrible
uproar of the Sabbatarians, who attribute nearly
all the crime in the city to the Sunday grog
shops
Mr.. Carpenter, the Deputy Superintendent
of Police, reports from the returns of the
captains that there are in this city 496 known
designation, and that the whole number
Of prostitutes occupying these houses is
1853, besides 4Sl known prostitutes who
hire apartments in tenant houses-total num-
Der Of known prostitutes ,S39. The Deputy
says, with naicae which is highly re-
freshing-"This is a much less number OF
this degraded class Of our population than
is generally supposed, and 1 have no doubt
there are several hundred more but it is
difficult to get sufficient proof of the fact, their
mode of living being very private" The De-
putty adds:-"The Captains of Police have the
power and the means in their respective pre-
cincts to ascertain how many public prostitutes
reside within them, and believe their reports
from which this aggregate is made up, are relia-
ble."
We agree with the Deputy, that the captains
have the means Of ascertaining the truth in this
matter; but whether their reports are reliable
is another question. He says the captains Of the
Twelfth, Eighteenth and Twenty-second pre-
cincts made no reports at all. Why they were
exempt from this duty we are not informed; but
it occurs to us that, in being silent altogether,
they do better than some of those who report
only half or one-fourth of the truth, and thus
lead the public mind astray. The Deputy never
hints that some Of the police are known to be
in the pay Of these houses, and have special
interest in not reporting them, while
others are protected by the political influence
of men who resort to them and give
the police the wink to keep "mum." Who will
believe that, in city like this, of 100000 inha-
bitants, there are only 1889 known prostitutes?
Any night in the week the police could almost
pick up that number promenading the streets.
But the statistics Of the police are refuted by
themselves, and "out of their own mouths they
are condemned"
In document signed by Mr.. Matsell, Chief of