The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1868-05-12
A CHAPTER ON SUICIDES.
BIZ DE ". VAN BUREN,.

Suicides we take from the May number Of
The Public Spirit new and valuable Maga>
zine for the Million, published in New York.
From the frequent occurrence of selfdestruc-
ton all over the United States, the subject is
one of deep concern, and the suggestions OF
the writer will be responded to by every tho't>
full mind, as practical to great extent, in
ayerting that growing mania-Ed. Pal.
The subject Of suicide, associated as
it undeniably is with the problematical,
mysterious and darkened aspects of life,
has strange and not wholly unpleas-
ant interest for lost toiiers in the busy
realm of thought. Physieians and met
aphysicians,s scholars, scientific men and
divines, have written and printed ex-
haustless dissertations upon the pecu-
liar condition of the mind which leads
an individual to the commission of self
murder; and although they may have
determined the matter to their own sat
! isfaction, they have not succeeded in
l. convincing the world that there exists
any we'll defined causes for that singular
| mental disease which almost invariably
results in suicide. So varied are the
motives assigned for the commission of
self murder, and SO distinct and dissim-
| liar are the circumstances which usually
produce that state of mental distraction
which almost invariably precedes sui
cide that it would seem quite impossi-
BILE for the most acute moral philosopher
Or psychologist to establish any fixed
principles upon the subject generally,
or to satisfactorily unravel those mar
velous mysteries of the mind which, in
their utter escape from scientific inves-
tigation and deduction, seem invested
almost with awe-inspiring relations of
the Deity It may be asserted, without
fear Of. contradiction, that neither mod
ern science nor moral philosophy has
furnished any conclusive evidence con-
cerning the motives that commonly lead
to self murder. Insanity-or temporary
mental alteration, as it is technically
called-is doubtless the most common
cause of suicide. Sickness, disappoint-
ment, unrest and poverty are also cur
rent causes Of self. destruction. A study
of the various motives assigned either
BY the suicides themselves Or their
friends would comprise in itself curl
Gus and interesting chapter.
Concerning the statistics of suicide
in our own country, we regret to have
, no later record than the United States
. census of 1860. The returns in this
volume are doubtless incomplete, and
; in many instances unreliable. In Eu-
ropean countries, where thorough sys-
l TENS of registration prevail, it is posi-
BILE to obtain statistics which are quite
full and complete; but in the United
States where such systems do not exist,
except in very few localities, it is
3 nearly, if not quite impossible, to do so.
In the Eighth Census we are told that
4 in 1850, 49l persons destroyed them
selves, making II in 10000 deaths from
4 known causes. In 1860, 993 persons
7s9 males and ao4 females-put an end
to their own lives There were 8. 81 per
cent, almost four times as many male
as female suicides. The proportion of
these to total reported deaths was larger
at the North than at the South, on both
sides of the Alleghanies. In the free
) States it was more in the East than the
i West, and the reverse wac found in the
: slave States. The largest ratio, Al per
$ cent, was in New England and New
York, where we find the total number of
suicides reported at 397 In the Pacific
group of States, comprising Oregon,
California, Dakota, New Mexico, Utah,
> and Washington, it was 81 per cent /,
and there were Al suicides, the per cent.
!, being about double the highest in the
n Atlantic States, and three times the av-
erage of all. This is accounted for by
n the fact that the allurements of a gold
producing region called together class
of reckless and ambitious men, who, in
that land of sudden fortunes and re-
verses, were led through disappointment,
; to despair to WEAKNESS of life, and fin.
4 ally self destruction. It is noticeable
2 that the next highest ratio is in the New
: England States and New York, where
) business perplexities are deeper, and
= the cares and responsibilities of mer-
camille life more onerous than in any
. other section of the country, and where
:. sometimes mere ripple upon the ocean
. Of finance and trade, skaters the
. proudest fortunes, and carries men from
the 1oftiest eminence of ambition into
the lowest depths of despair,
The frequency Of suicide In this coun.
n try, especially in our large commercial