The facts show (1) that drink puts a man into a condition in which he is more liable to commit an offence or crime than he is when sober; (2) that while drinking is common in all parts of the country, police offences and crimes occur mainly in closely populated districts; (3) that the amount of crime and police offences in Scotland is not dependent on the amount of drinking alone, but is mainly dependent on indulgence in drink under certain conditions of city life; (4) that the major portion, and the most serious kind, of crimes against property, are not attributable to drink. CHAPTER II POVERTY, DESTITUTION, OVERCROWDING, AND CRIME The majority of persons in prison there because of their poverty-- Poverty and drink--Poverty and petty offences--Poverty and thrift-- Poverty and destitution--Case of theft from destitution--Poverty and vagrancy--Unemployment and beggary--Formation of professional offenders--The case of the old--The degradation of the unemployed to unemployability--No ratio between the amount of poverty alone and the amount of crime--A definite ratio between density of population and crime--Slum life--Overcrowding--Cases of destitution and overcrowding--Overcrowding and decency--Poverty and overcrowding in relation to offences against the person--The poor and officials--The absence of opportunity for rational recreation--The migratory character of the population--The multiplication of laws and of penalties--Transgressions due to ignorance and to inability to conform--Contrast between city and country administration--Case of petty offender--Treatment induces further offences--The city the hiding-place of the professional criminal--Crime largely a by-product of city life. While the majority of prisoners were under the influence of drink at the time they committed the offences for which they are convicted, it is equally true that they are in prison because of their poverty. They are there because they are unable to pay the fines imposed on them. Their offences may be attributable to drink, but their imprisonment is due to want of money. There are many who are most estimable citizens, though poor; poverty alone does not lead them to prison. On the other hand, there are many people who drink to excess and do not transgress the law; their drunkenness alone does not lead them to jail; but while a man may be poor and virtuous, his poverty will compel him to live under conditions in which any vices he has may easily develop into crimes or offences.