The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1922-07-28
OFFICIAL RECORDS OF The STATE or MASSACHUSETTS
TELL STORY OF GOOD Effect OF PROHIBITION
Concluded From Page One)

TELL STORY OF
Concluded FIR
the two Prohibition years was 1888,
decrease of SIS per cent The aver
age arrests for drunkenness in the
state for the seven license years were
l08, 1923; the average arrests for drunk
enness for the two Prohibition years
1882, a decrease of SIS per cent. The
population of the state i'll the seven
license years was 1903, 100 and in 1920
the population was 3,852,32o.
Prohibition Boon to Women
Prohibitions beneficial effect on
women has been pronounced. There
were 5,233 fewer womensarrested for
all offenses in Massachusetts, in 1921
than in the last pre-war wet year,
1916; 4,2l8 fewer than in the average
wet year. There has been decrease
of two-thirds in the arrests of wo-
men for drunkenness During the
seven wet years there was an annual
average of 1878 women arrested in
Massachusetts, for drunkenness. In
the two drys years the average was
only 2,25l. This change affects par
ticularly the life of the cities for
about -tenths of the arrested wo-
men came from the cities and more
than half of them from Boston alone.
In Boston the average of 1921 wo-
men arrested for all causes in the wet
years, had dropped to 5000 in 1921.
The average for the two Prohibition
years was 43 per cent below that of
the seven wet years. The drunken
ness arrests fell from an average of
4,743 in the wet years to 1,494 in. the
Prohibition years. al7f -74A'
Woman Population of Workhouse
Decreases One-Half
A decrease of practically. one-half
in the number of commitments to the
state reformatory for women in the
two Prohibition years carries a stage
farther the story not only of the
passing OF alcoholic women from the
penal institutions but also of other
women offenders. In 1921 there were
but six women committed for drunk
enness to the state reformatory for
women, about FIVE per cent of the
total commitments as compared with
the yearly average of 20 per cent in
the seven wet years.
Fewer Men in Workhouse
The average commitments of men
to the state reformatory for the seven
wet years was SOL, for the two dry
years 235, a decrease of "a per cent.
The average commitments of men to
the state reformatory for drunken
ness in the seven wet years was l9,
in the two dry years |, decrease OF
81 per cent. Commitments to the
state farm for vagrancy also de-
creased 90 per cent and commitments
to the state farm for drunkenness
also decreased SO per cent during
these periods
State Prison Population Reduced n
Per Cent
The average population of the state
prison for the seven wet years was
692, for the two dry years 504, a de-
crease of 81 per cent. The average
prison population of county jails fer
the seven wet years was 2,857, for the
two dry years, POS, a decrease of SO
per cent.
Children Have Better Chance in Life
The children are having a better
chance under Prohibition. Arrests OF
minors for all causes fell off slightly
in Boston, about per cent, in the
two dry years from the wet years
average, but the average. of arrests OF
minors for drunkenness decreased "a
per I. AllCSlS III DOolOil VI Tin
dren under ten years OF age have
dropped almost one-half (45 per cent?
in the Prohibition years. Arrests OF
children ten years of age but under
fifteen fell off p per cent. In 1921
the total number of arrests of chill
dren under fifteen years of age was
the smallest in ten years. Compared
with the wet years average this rep
resents a saving of about 600 children
of this tender age who should be in
the home rather than within the arm
of the law.
Fewest Neglected Children of Decade
In 1921
Arrests of the groups known as the
neglected, hayward and deliquent
children accounted for in Boston pol
ice reports are decreasing in numbers.