The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-21
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SUICIDE INCREASING. .

(By Elmer Hupcrt.)

| Wy GllIlcE l1uDCEI.l
n is the cause of the terrible in.
crease in the crop of suicides" was
the Psychological problem PROFOUND
ed by one Pittsburg notable scientific
mel yesterday in the presence Of a
reporter. II do not refer especially to
Pittsburg." he continued, for this
species of insanity seems to be gen.
eral in America, and in all other coun-
tries. 1t is a CHASTITY record. this self
destruction by bullet. by deadly drugs,
py the knife, the rope. by gas, by
drowning, by almost every means con-
cetvable and some nearly %inconceiy.
able"
Many of the suicides are traceable
TO causes that are really trivial. but
those are mostly confined to women
and for the most part, I think the rec
ords Will show, to young women Of the
shallower sort, who have been disap-
pointed in what they imagine love.
sometimes 1t is domestic difficulty, and
cases of this sort are really due to the
impossibility OF the family to make
the social show they desire. This at
fects the wife and mother poignantly
probably because of the presence Of
daughters who wish to dress more
showiiy than the purse Of the father
Will permit. The father also is fond
Of his children and in attempting to
give them all that his purse will allow
deeper into pecuniary difficulty, and
concludes that the easiest way out is
the a that will end all for him, not
stopping to consider that the sensible
way would be to live we'll within his
means no matter what the demands on
his income.
Nearly always this is the result of
wishing to live like other people live
whose incomes are larger. 1t is a
extent 1t Is peculiarly an American
View. The show that mere money will
give induces a sort of craze to make
the same sort of show that somebody
else's money gives, and where there is
much more money. I have here a
clipping Of an interview with Frederic
Harrison of world wide reputation as
a pubiicits. and it is SO much to the
point that ! hope it can be reproduced.
The comment of Mr.. Harrison was
called by the suicide of a young stock
broker, MI. Coleman, whose income
was about $4,000 but who lived to the
limit of about $4,000. He became in
volved in debt and paid his debts by
putting a bullet in his brain. Here is
the comment:
However terrible the cost, people
iIlOSI We III Iue swirl. EaCn man to.
day in England copies the senseless
extravaganza Of his richer neighbor.
They follow like sheep one after the
other. and no n has the courage of
his convictions.
The ase of Mr.. Coleman is a fin
ger post on the road along which we
are travelling today.
THE taste for luxury has increased
beyond all bounds. spreading from the
upper classes, who started it, to the
middle classes. who We're free from it
20 years ago.
People cannot keep quiet now.
They can't be alone. they can't read,
they can't stay at home. Formerly
people went to the theater to enjoy the
play. Now. the play is not enough.
They must have supper at an expen-
stve restaurant after the theater.
And 1t Is not because they really
desire these lnxuries that they indulge
in them. 1t is something even more
poisonous to public life than mere idle
extravaganza.
1T is a want of mental balance.
The middle-class family has lost the
power, of estimating things on their
own merits. They do things now be-
cause they fear to be out of it, It is
sufficient for a ma or woman to see
their neighbors in enjoyment Of some