When I read a report of a statement of his in connection with the Mount Victoria murder I was profoundly shocked and reluctantly came to the conclusion that he should take a course in psychology: for he said, in effect, that he had talked to the accused during the trial and could see that the accused was not in any way mentally unbalanced. Now for a professional psychoanalyst to say that would be merely ridiculous, such a statement only being possible after psychoanalysis, this being out of the question when patient and doctor are separated by a court-room. and, on top of that, when the patient is under the stress of being tried for murder. It is, therefore, impossible for a layman to deliver forth in a dogmatic manner upon such matters.

This ignorance. I very much fear, is widespread throughout the world. New Zealand not excepted. And it is men and women who have not risen from this ignorance who are agitating for the return of the death penalty. Let me try to enlighten them.'

Motivations

When a person commits murder the act is either premeditated in cold blood or else done on the spur of the moment due to some overpowering impulse.

In the first of the above cases the murderer will either, in his opinion, be committing the perfect crime or his hate will be such as to make any punishment worth the pleasure of killing the object of his hate. In neither of these cases will the fact that there is a death penalty deter the would-be murderer any more than the fact that there is a sentence of life-imprisonment for his crime.

In the second case no thought of the future can be present in the mind of a man crazed by hate or jealousy to such a degree that murder is possible. What, then, is the point of reintroducing capital punishment? In my opinion there is none. What is worth doing, however, is to reform our school system and also improve the social system,

Figures...

Now to answer an imposing array of figures quoted by the "Dominion" on Thursday. February 19. In this article the period 1934-1948 inclusive is reviewed and some startling results obtained. For instance, in the seven years after the abolition of the death penalty the number of murders has an increase of over 61 per cent, on the number of murders in the seven years previous to 1941. An increase in population is very carefully omitted as this alters the picture somewhat.

Now let me quote some figures over a far wider range, from the year 1900-1948. The figures quoted were obtained from the "Annual Report of the Police Force of the Dominion presented to both Houses of the General Assembly" and also, for the populations. "The New Zealand Handbook,"

... in Perspective

In the year 1900 there were 11 murders in a population of 808,132 persons, or 0.012 murders per 1000 of population. This decreases more or less uniformly to 0.0027 murders per 1000 of population in 1912.

Then for the next fifteen years there was one year with 14 murders, three with 13. one with 10. three with 9. one with 8. one with 7 two with 6. one with 5. and two with 4. Over this period there was a rise in population of about 300,000. from, in 1912. 1,134,506 persons to 1,450,356 in 1927. There is no order in the recurrence of the figures. 1928 hit an all-time low with only two murders, but then the numbers rose to a peak with, in successive years. 6, 7, 13. 15. 22. murders respectively. After that the numbers fall off again with 16, 11, 8, 4, But now let us look at the middle seven years, the same length of time that the "Dominion" quotes at us. In these seven years, from 1930-1936 inclusive, there were 92 murders and the average population over the period was approximately 1,500,000. Now in the years 1941-1948 there were 87 murders and the average population, from the figures available, must have been about 1,650,000.

From an inspection of the figures it can be seen that the rate of murders per 1,000 of population tends to rise to a peak during, or immediately after periods of unrest.

It is, therefore, only to be expected that there should have been a peak in the number of murders recently, to be exact, in the years 1944 and 1945. when there were 20 murders in each. What is significant is that this peak is lower relatively than that occurring after the depression. This means, in effect, that the abolition of the death penalty was a safe and wise step and also that the education of the masses is bringing about one of the main effects it set out to achieve.

Backward Penology

But do not let this give you the impression that I agree with the penal system of New Zealand. The authorities here are extremely backward in this respect, doing practically nothing to help criminals to alter their outlook and turn into respected citizens. It would be an excellent idea if we were to follow Russia's lead in this matter, her prison system (not political, about which there is too much conflicting evidence to make any opinion on it accurate) being, in my opinion, the best in the world.