The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1881-04-08
CRIME IN MAINE.
JUDGE GODDARD AND HIS REMARKABLE STATS

JUDGE GODDARD AND HIS REMARKABLE STATS
TICS.
Mr.. EDITORIALS you are well aware the ar
ticle originally appearing in the PRESS from
the pen of Judge Goddard has had very wide
circulation, especially in those sections where
the principle of prohibition, as applied to the
liquor traffic, is being discussed. To the enc
mics of prohibition the "facts and figures
presented by Postmaster Goddard have proved
an especially "sweet morsel." The Chicago
Times copies the article under the caption,
"Neal Dowism in Maine! How Coercive Tee
totalism Improves Public MoralsP' A gentle
man from the West writes to the editor OF the
Gospel Banner to express establishment at the
declaration that "t,centy-one murders maze
been committed IN Maine during the last gear.
And the St. John IN. b. Sun of March 3lst
copies the article entire, and makes the COM
ment, based upon the Judges figures, that
'crime has Increased beyond all precedent an
the history Of the State. The promises Of Pro-
hibitionists haze proceed deceptive. Thousands
ofpeople are arrested every gear for drunken
ness" etc, Scarcely ever has there been
publication so grossly deceptive or so well
calculated to spread broadcast over the land
the impression, nay, the direct charge,-of a
decline in the morals and civilization of our
people. The ingenious arrangement of the fig
ures tendedto mislead and mystify, and in their
effect we have witnessed forcible illustration
of the adage that ga lie aoiU trauel a league
while truth is putting on ats boots.''
The recent publication of statistics compiled
by Ex-Governor Dingley, Mr.. Burrage of Iii
on's Advocate, and by the editors of the Port
land Transcript and the Gospel Banner, effec-
tually refute the remarkable representations
of Judge Goddard, and prove that there has
been no such remarkable increase of crime in
Maine as he alleges. On the contrary, if the
committals for violations of the liquor law be
deducted, the Attorney Generals Reports
show a decrease rather than an increase of
crime, Notwithstanding the increase in our
population. A careful analysis of these statis-
tics for the past twenty years is certainly not
unfavorable to the prohibitory policy Of the
State, and show a state of facts in harmony
with such testimony as the following:
Said Warden Rice in 1868, sixteen years in
charge of our State Prison: "But 4S have
been sentenced to this prison during the year,
against GO in, 1867 and SO in 1866 indicating
that crime n, this State has continued to de-
crease, as predicted in my last report.
The traffic in intoxicating drinks is either the
direct or indirect cause of the crimes commit
ted by seven-eighths of the inmates of this
prison."
In 1875 the county attorney of York county
said:
During the year the officers of York county
have been unremitting in their efforts to effec-
tually enforce the law for the suppression of
drinking houses and tippling shops. The
grand jury returned IS indictments, and AZ ap-
w ant
convictions, and fines and costs to the amount
of $6,273.92 were imposed. The municipal
court of Biddeford, aside from bills in liquor
cases, returned only thirty-three bills of costs
for six months This unparalleled shouting in
a city of II, 900 inhabitants, 5000 of whom are
of foreign extraction, can only be attributed to
strict enforcement of the lGao. With one ex-
ception the only felonious assaults committed
IN the county this year arose directly from the
use of Intoxicating liquor purchased in New
Hampshire, the assaults being committed near
the State line. The people of the county are
satisfied with a result which has not only given
them greater peace and quiet, but accomplished
direct saving of $780, 600 to the county during
the past two years, and rendered possible re-
duction of 81 in the amount of the county tax
Such showing is an unanswerable argu-
ment in favor OF the law for the suppression of
a traffic which in years past involved the direct
expenditure by the people of this State of
"a, 25OOOO annually, in addition to the enor-
nous sums required to punish the criminals
and maintain the paupers engendered there
y."--RepOrt to the attorney General.
Such testimony, abundantly supported by
the official figures, is of vastly more conse-
quence than the remarkable representations of
Postmaster Goddard, who certainly owes the
people Of the State an apology for the irrepara-
Bile mischief which has been inflicted by his
careless use of figures" 1t is certainly true
that
''the bringer of unwelcome news
Hath but a losing office;''
but when that "unwelcome news" is founded
upon mere suspicion and proves to be falla-
cious and mischievous, such office would seem
to be an uneviable one, and the sooner slost''
the better. HAS
Portland April 6, 1881.