ABSTRACT
Drunkenness offences are non-indictable offences, and as such treated rather summarily in the Criminal Statistics. The first post-War years, in particular 1919 and 1920, with their abnormal prosperity and the general urge to make up for chances lost during the War, lead to a partial revival of former habits, whilst the year 1921, which introduced an eleven-year period of almost unbroken decline in drunkenness convictions represents a rather complex picture. Drunkenness as the Cause of Crime. To assess the extent to which drunkenness has been the cause of offences other than infringements of the intoxicating liquor laws must necessarily be very difficult. Neither the Criminal Statistics nor the Annual Reports of the Prison Commission make any attempt to collect pertinent data of this kind. Motoring Offences. The connection between alcohol and crimes involving the use of motor vehicles is obviously of a twofold character.
