New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-06-18

The statistics of crime so far as derived from the
criminals themselves. are not always of the most
trustworthy character. special degree of doubt
attaches to the figures which the sincere but SOME
times supplemented temperance reformers are in
the habit of compiling relative to State Prison
vics and the causes which led to their Incarceration
and rum. The motive of the compcrs is a worthy
ono of course, the intent being to show
the evil effects of intemperance in such
a hight as to deter from forming
drinking habits But they are not strict at all in
their scrutiny of testimony nor particular as to the
character of their Witnesses, and the consequence is
that they are frequently imposed upon. The other
day. in The Connecticut State Prison, the warden
put the question to the conycts under his charge,
How many of you attribute your incarceration to
iguor and of the TO- prisoners all but ten raised
their hands Had the warden been compiler of
statistics in the interest of temperance re-
form. he would have taken the result
without question and from it made his
deductions and delivered his sermon. And no doubt
the deductions would have been i'll the main true
and the sermon profitable. But the warden. being
practical man, inquired further, and made up his
mind that not more than one-quarter of them had
ever been even moderate drinkers, and that they
laid their fall to rum because it was the fashion and
seemed TO be a sort of extenuating circumstance.
Rum does lots of mischief in this world but it isn't
the only vice or the only of crime. Perhaps
bv and by society will begin to find out that drunk
enness must be dealt with per sc rs an Ofense
and moi made the stalking horse for all other crimes.
So long as a namby-pamby sentimentaism gushes
in sympathy over the "unfOrtunato victim of in
temp,rancev we shall have not only constant in
crease OF drunkenness, but all sorts OF criminals
attributing to rum the crimes of innate depravity
ar "pure cussedness" Make drunkenness an az
eravaing circumstance as it really is instead of a
mitigation of criminal ofienscs and there won't be
So many prison-birls raising mp their hands and
shifting off their responsibility upon rum.
Ex-Goy and District Commissioner Dennson has
been making a very forcible speech in Washington
concerning the inequality between mems wages
and women's. &" lie referred TO a conversation he
had had with the superintendent of schools in rea-
ton to the school organization in the District, in
which he md been told that a largo majority of the
teachers are women. On his inquiry TO why this
was. be was told that according to the opinion Of
educators women the better instructors of youth.
and that women are employed because they receive
less compensation than men would perform the same
service for. lie objected to this inequality of
pensation between men and women for like services
and adyerted 10 what seemed 10 him great injustice
in tie practice Of the Government in paying women
much less than men for similar service. lie could
! imagine no principle on which this unjust discrim-
| nation could be based" Perhaps if the Governor
would reflect little longer he might learn that
women are paid less because they are willing to