Los Angeles herald., 1910-08-18
IRELAND REPORTS
CRIME DECREASES
General Prisons Board Explains
Improvement in Enforce
ment of Laws
REFORM METHOD SUCCEEDS
New Finger Print System Results
in Identification of Many
Former Offenders
REFORM METHOD SUCCEEDS


port of the general prison board for
Ireland sets out some interesting facts
regarding the decrease of crime in this
country. In pursuance of the policy of
concentration of prisons, which has
been rendered possible owing to the
diminution that has taken place in the
number of prisoners, and increased ia
cilities in the means of communication,
Kilmainham prison was evacuated on
February 2S, 1910. The number of pris-
ons and bridewells under the control
of the general prisons board April /,
1S7S-the date when the local prisons
and Bridewells were transferred to the
board-and now is as follows
1S7S-Four convict prisons; So local
PRISONS 95 bridewells.
1910-One convict prison; one joint
convict and local prison; 10 prisons; b
bridewells.
To the list for 1910 are to be added
two institutions of a reformatory ma
ture, which have during recent years
been established under the control or
the board, viz, the state inebriate re-
formatory at Ennis. In 1899, and the
Borstal institution ia Clounel Iii 1909.
The number of ordinary offenders
committed to local prisons in Ireland
crease of 1853 on the number for 1908.
The daily average number in custody
was $685. as compared with 2230 for
1908. The fact that the daily average
number was not also decreased is at
tributed to a slight increase in the aV-
erage length of sentence. The NUMBER
of convicts committed to prisons In
Ireland in 1909 was 11S, and the dally
average number was 243. The corre-
spending numbers for 1908 were 65 and
24S. The board says:
SHORT SENTENCES FUTILE
eve have. in previous reports fire.
quently referred to the inutility OF very
short sentences of Imprisonment. Last
year the number of prisoners commit
ted under sentence of seven days or
less represented Al per cent of the total
number of convicted prisoners COM
mitted during the year"
Now that the punitive side of prison
treatment is being subordinated SO
much to the reformatory side, and
that prisoners are made so COMFORT
able in prison, these short sentences
have little or no deterrent influence.
The result is that those on whom an
adequately long sentence would prob
ably have q deterrent effect, or a re-
formatory effect from the influences
brought to bear on them, come PACK
to prison so frequently that they
spend longer aggregate time IN PRISON
than if longer sentences were lnnlcteu
in the first instance.
No less than 10 per cent Of the total
number of convicted prisoners are
committed under sentences of four
DAYS or less. 1t would appear to be
a matter for consideration whether
manv of the offenses which have here
tofore been dealt with by such snort
sentences might not be more suitably
dealt with under the probation OF Of
tenders act, 1907, by discharglng the
offender conditionahy on his entering
into a recognizance, with or without
sureties, to be of good behavior, ana
to appear for conviction and sentence
when called on.
RELATIVE CONVICTION FIGURES
The proportion of convicted prisoners
committed last year for drunkenness
alone, or riotous or disorderly beha-
vior while drunk, was about the same
as that of the previous year, VIZ: Al
per cent. About $4,000 sets of finger
Impressions of criminals are now class
flied and deposited in the office of the
board.
In APO cases where the antecedents
of prisoners on remand were unknown,
the police made application to the gov
errors of the prisoners concerned 70
have the finger prints taken, and this
procedure resulted in 1876 being identl-
fed as having served previous SEN
tences of Imprisonment. In NUMBER
of instances during 1909 burglars were
convicted principally or solely on eFl-
dence furnished by finger marks
THE annual report of the inspectors
of lunatics on the district, criminal
and private lunatic asylums IN lrelanu
shows that the total number of insane
in establishments on January !, 1871
was 1852 males and 11,5S2 femaIes, as
compared with 12,355 males and 11.5lo
females on the same date In 1909.
Thasa numbers do not include the in
sane wandering at large or those re-
siding in private dwellings, with the
exception of such cases as are under
the care Of the lord chancellor, /. e.,
chancery patients. This summary
shows that there was total increase
of 215 during the year, which was eX-
actly the same as the increase TOT tne
previous year. 1t was, however ioo
less than the average increase for the
preceding ten years, which was 1863.
INCREASE AMONG INSANE
The figures relate to the actual num-
hers of the insane under care, but the
ratio of the increase in the NUMBER OF
the registered insane from year to
year, in proportion to the population,
is somewhat greater, owing to the fact
that the general population was, until
1909 yearly decreasing. During 1909 an
Increase took place in all classes of in
stitutions except warehouses;. The
numbers in district and auxiliary asy-
lums increased by 232; those in the
Dundrum criminal lunatic asylum by
six; those in the private asylums and
institutions for the insane by thirty
eight, and the chancery patients in
unlicensed houses by five; while the
numbers in warehouses; decreased by
sixty-eight Notwithstanding great
in the different asylums
the proportion of males and females in
all the district asylums taken together
has remained practically constant for