THE VALUE OF STATISTICS. 45 i 



than the population is a vicious argument and the conclusion a 

 false one. 



The high crimes are those that have been always recognized as 

 crimes. The crime of drunkenness and other crimes belonging to 

 liquor legislation are modern, and in the light of this statement 

 the table receives valuable explanation. In Massachusetts the pro- 

 hibitory law of 1855 was in force until 1868, when a license law 

 was passed. Under the former the vigorous prosecutions of 1866 

 and 1867 caused the number of sentences to increase rapidly, and 

 this led to a repeal of the prohibitory law and the enactment of 

 the license law of 1808. The friends of the license law insisted 

 upon its vigorous enforcement, and this action carried the number 

 of rum convictions of all grades still higher, when another re- 

 action secured the re-enactment of the prohibitory law, which 

 went into effect July 1, 1869, and under the application of this law 

 the lines of figures representing drunkenness and liquor offenses 

 went to their highest point in 1872. In 1870 the Legislature al- 

 lowed the free sale of " ale, porter, strong beer, and lager beer," 

 everywhere, unless prohibited by a vote of a city or town. This 

 law was repealed in 1873. From the year 1873, either through the 

 effect of the repeal of the beer law or of waning interest in the 

 prohibitory law, resulting in decreased vigilance in prosecutions, 

 the lines of figures dropped till 1875, when *the prohibitory law was 

 repealed. From 1876 to 1879, the last year named in the table, the 

 figures constantly decreased. 



It would be interesting in this respect to inquire whether the 

 figures representing rum crimes are due to legislation wholly, or 

 to vigorous or weak execution of law alternately applied, or to 

 the positive decline of drunkenness through the efforts of reform 

 movements. It is true that sentences for minor crimes and mis- 

 demeanors, and even felonious assaults and aggravated crimes, 

 have risen or fallen, as indicated by the barometer of sentences 

 for rum crimes alone. Legislative crimes offenses which have 

 been named crimes by legislative enactment should not be used 

 to show increase of crime in volume. Civilization has raised 

 many things formerly considered as, perhaps, immoral and as 

 offenses against the moral law to well-defined crimes. The result 

 is, that we are constantly increasing the work of criminal courts ; 

 the number of sentences is thus increased comparatively, even 

 when the volume of crime, as shown by the comparisons of crime 

 per se, may decrease. So truthful statistics may show absolutely 

 false conclusions, unless the elements are intelligently and hon- 

 estly used. 



Many illustrations as forcible as those cited might be drawn 

 from the statistical work of the State and Federal Governments, 

 but those given are sufficient to illustrate how dangerous truthful 



