MURDER ON THE DECLINE [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sia,—Your comment on the number of murders in England and Wales deals with a matter of great public interest. As you say, the casual newspaper-reader usually has the impression that these crimes are on the increase. The impression is wrong. It is extremely unwise to base conclusions with regard to any form of crime on figures for single years, or even for two or three years. They fluctuate considerably from year to year. The truth with regard to murder statistics is that they show the volume of murder to have been fairly steadily trending downwards throughout the whole of the last 50 years. In 1891, the murder rate for England and Wales per million of population was approximately 5.5. The comparable figure for 1935 was 3.8 approx. This downward trend is common to most countries whether they have the death penalty or not, and is a consequence, probably, of rising standards of life and particularly of education.
It is noteworthy also in the English statistics that in recent years the number of murderers who commit suicide at the time of their crime (usually in circumstances indicating unbalanced mind) and the number of those found "guilty but insane" by juries have both risen sharply. It would appear, therefore, that the incidence of insanity in murder in England and Wales has become markedly greater in recent years, but I believe also some part of the increase in the numbers of the "Guilty but insane" verdicts indicates an increasing reluctance on the part of modern juries to condemn a man to be hanged. The "special verdict "provides their way of escape from an abhorrent Secretary.
National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, Parliament Mansions, Victoria Street, London, S.W.r._
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