The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-01-30
naAnBTUAL DueUStsassDS
Report OF Commissioner Stcrn---in-
efficiency of the Present statute.

L nt OOlllllllSslDntIS vi NliIlllcS anu I OF
rection of the city of New York adopted
at their last meeting the subjoincd report
OF Commissioner Stern, which reveals
condition of general and increasing intern
perance which is worth noting;
IL the Commissioners Of charities ami Cor-
lecti0n
GENTLEMEN The large number of per-
sons committed for intoxicatiOn and which
is constantly ON the increase, calls for seri-
Gus investigation by this Board, and recon-
mcndations for speedy legislation on the
subject, especially as the whelming
portion of those committed to our care for
that offence are females. The intention OF
the law making drunkenness a punishable
offence, was, beyond doubt, to effect
reform in the habits of persons inclined to
incompetence. That it signally failed how
ever, to accomplish that purpose is best
proven by the official statement furnished
from the records of the WorkhOusc. ac
cording to which from JANUARY /, 1870, to
JANUARY /, 1874, $50 males were commit
ted for habtual drunkenness from six To
100 times for the rcpittion of the same of
fence, and 9,006 females for the same
mcnt the number Of males and females
that were inmates Of the Workhousc com
mittcd for the same cause for less than six
times The figures in themselves, $50 male
habitual drunkards to 9006 confirmed fc-
male drunkards, are appalling to contcm-
plate The degradation and contempt a.
tcn0ant upon n commitment to the Work
house brushes every spark of sclf-rcspcct
that may still exist in woman who had
yielded to the temptation of intcmpcranCc,
and instead of q beneficial effect her com
mitmcnt to the Workhousc, where She is
thrust into the society of fallen women of
every grade, will cffcctualy accomplish
her moral ruin beyond the hope of rcsur-
rccion. They are not all abandoned
characters that are thus consigned to the
tomb of vice n number of them arc
mothers. some are destined to become
mothers, others arc the victims of hcartoss
SeduCions, many of whom can be saved
from hopeless pcrdition if the proper means
are employed and the necessary measures
taken to effect permanent reform of their
habit In the annual report Of the Com
miSsoncrs for the year 1870. attention is
already called to the unsatisfactory work
ing Of the law regarding the treatment Of
persons committed for intOXicatiOn. The
Commissioners there already questioned
whether it he Just to punish TO punish by
imprisonment occasional or accidental in
toXication 1t is certainly more than pun
I'll :, 1.,..
persons, male or female, from their iami-
lies, relations or friends, and crowd them
with habtual drunkarts and vagabonds for
what may have been an indscretion com
mittcd At an unguarded moment Instead
of leading them on the right path, they are
thrust with Il rude hand ON the downward
road to crime they lose their self-rcspect,
and often are lost to society beyond re-
trievancc. 1t was wisely and correctly
suggested by the Commissioners in the re
port already alluded to, fortified by expert
encc thus far that the cause of suffering
is wholly incommcnsurate with the offence
involving the loss of character, and often
the means of support The removal of
any person found intoxicated to the station
house and his detention there until sober
would be sufficient punishment for the
fence \ commitment for ten days is
either punishment too great, bordering ON
cruelty, uniustliahle as in the eases Just
stated or, as in the case OF confirmed in
temperance, that is, means of reform or
correction, commitments for any length of
time for the reason of hahitual drunken
ness can have no other meaning than to re-
strain forcibly people inclined to excessive
indulgence In alcoholic drinks. If they
can be cured Of II habit which in most
cases is so strong AS to obtain entire control
of their will, energy, and faculties, society
Conters benefit upon them and upon it.
self every member of society rescued
from the slough of vice and useessness is
gain to humanity, and society must at
least make the attempt to make the at
tempt to make the rescue. Our present
practice, however is complete failure in
that respect, of which no better proof is re-
quired than the statistical account of com
mltments for intoXiCation made during the
past three years That account speaks
volumes for itself, The tale it tells of
male drunkards being rccommitted to
prison from one hundred times down to six
times, of whom ISL offenders were com
mitted ten times, is dreadful to contem-
plate. But this tale of horror put entire
ly in the shade it is lost sight of, it placed
side by side with the statistics of female
arrests. While $50 male persons were
committed for intoXication during the past
three years, there were arrested a,OO6 te-
males sixteen times as many. or The
former one was arrested roo times for the
same offence of the female drunkards 20
had to be rearres,ed 100 times, and this
fearful proportion Is observed all through.
Is not this sufficient evidence of "A deplora-
BILE defect IN the present law, and which
we must be taken into serious considera-
ton. The present system entails upon the