A Temperance Item

In the last twenty-seven years 24,002 conviots have been sent to the penitentiary at Albany. Of these 2 1 ,057 have acknowleiiged that previoua to their conviction they were addicted to drunkenness It is more than probable that the greater number of these convicta would never have been guilty of the crimes for which they were sentenced had they not been inebriates. When we add to the penitentiary expenses of these crimináis the costs of pohce officers, courta and jails previous to their conviction, the question arises whether it would not be more economical to provide State asylums for all pauperism directly attributable to intemperate drinking, and rnake the asylums also places of retreat and hoapitals for all ine'briates who are willing to iucarcerate thetnselves and submit to necessary rulea and regulations for their cure and reformation. ïh e work performed by the inmates of sueh asylums could certainly be made much more remunerativo than convict labor. There is not a doubt that were ampie provisión to be made for the 8afe-keepiug of incurable inebriates the expendituies of the publio treasury would be no greator than the aggregate that ia now paid by the people in the form of fees to offloers in every city, village and town for the auppression of diaorders, misdemeanors and crimes directly oonaoquent on drunkenness. - N. Y. Sun. A man was lately sentencod in a London (Eng) pólice court to six months' imprisonment for ukiiming two cats , alive.