The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1850-07-25

SCARCITY AND CkIAluALITY.-lne LONDON
Etoaomtst Of June 12d remarks upon tho init
mate connection between scarcity and criminal
ity, or bstwssn the abundance Of food and d.
minution Of crime. ~ illustrated BY tabular
statement recently submitted TO the English
Parliament by the Registrar General, exhibiting
the number Of commitments in twonty-siI Of
the principal counties Of England for the last ten
yean. Notwithstanding the increase Of popu-
ation, the number Of criminal offenders COM
mtted for trial within the last half Of this pc
riod 10 over four per cent. less than that Of the
former. This decrease 10 especially notable in
the manufacturing and commercial districts.
The comparison Of year with year very clearly
shows that erime has diminished very much in
the same ratio ~ food has become moro cheap
and labor more abundant
In the succeeding number tho Eeonomiss re-
turns 10 the subject, in 4 notice Of the report
just addressed to the President, Of tho French
Republic by the Minister Of Justice, containing
4 general account Of the administration Of jus
ticc in lS<T, year remarkable for the dearness
of food
We give enough Of ito extracts from that
document to show how it bears upon tho ques-
tion treated BY the Eeonomi,t
"Ia ls47. Thea, there vas. compared with the two
preceding year.. sn increase Of about 800 cases
tisd-shat 10 10 per cent, or sns-si1th; AID Of
800 accused, or - per cent. Or nearly three
tssshs. Since 1855. VIE. the accounts Of criminal
justice were FIRST Published, II il ls47 which pre-
ssnA We Grsatsst number Of accusations and
a. -. a
those in which The number descended the lowest.
The .ss7 Accusations divided into ,o73 crimes
against The person. and 4.sss against property; lO1
accused % per esnt) were implicated in the former,
and s,sls (7spsr ssat) In tho latter. There vos
$50 S~ssss sees.sd q ~ p,IIsSs u sov~ s~l fo~~.
whilst ths annual average number Of such offenders
from ls+i " is4o did not exceed twenty. In Is47,
there Wa for all France accused for every 1907
inhabitants; in 1916, there was in Bl2S; and in
1895 in Is4s.
eft 10 remarkable that bachelors form every year
more than half Of The total number Of accused: in
ls<1. tAsrs ,S1% out OF 7o< accused that TO-
Sss per l,oos. The last census. made in ls46,
shows that, o.t Of the u. 4ol ,Tel, total population
Of France, there we're II, 1a8 ,S1i unmarried, or
$40 per 900; 10 eo4 s9s married. or $50 per 900;
All, 400 widows or vidowsrs, or 81 por 900.
In what are called "efYsnoes,' which are tried by
The Tribunals Of Correctional Police, there 10 also
. considerable augmentation. In 1916. the num-
Der Of before these tribunals vas 1871 s7e and
Of seos,e< so7.47s; in ls47, there ls4, s2a
osses, ssd f,s.ioi accused. This makes an in
crease o, H. $40 cases. and IL Sis accused or about
10 per cent Of both. The increase must be
cribsd 70 the bad harvest Of lsls and Va the dis
,ress which sssued. The same cause led 10 an in
crease in me number accused Of mendaeity, from
Sse in 1s4s, 70 s,fTa il 1874, AID SIS in Is<7;
Of vsr.bonds f,on +,074 in Is4s, ~ 5000 in 1886
and s,isl in ls47; and Of accused Of simple rob
berry, from 1927 in 1913, TO q, 76s in lsl7."
The Eeonom,st, as might be supposed from
its known predictions, makes these extracts
the text FOR brief sermon in behalf Of free
trade. "On tho quantity Of food" it says,
"dcpsnds the number Of tho people; and they
| are vrtuous or vicious, civilized or barbarous,
a. they can command q constant and abundant
supply On that depends division Of labor, on
that depends skill. on tina, depends knowledge
and though abundance 10 by no means every
requisite to social welfare, yet it is the primo
requisite, and without that there can be no
other enjoymsnis and no safety"
We agree heartily with the doctrine OF the
unrc.trictivo ~ it. terms. Why limit it. scope,
as the context evidently ntends7 Why not
| predicate the Same truth Of an abundance in
fuel, in clothing, in shelter, in every element
Of material comfort1 Why not come to the
root Of the matter, and front the fact that it is
the ability to earn a Notwithstanding
over and above what il necessary to feed, to
clothc and TO shelter the laborcr and his family
something 10 feed the hope Of still moro apid-
ly increased progress in the future, that is the
stimulus to Industry, that knits the bonds Of
family affection, and hedges man about with
those social charities that fence out the devil.
II is but narrow notion that this writer has
Of human wants; such general wants, at any
rate, as he supposcs to stir his brethren Of that
multitudinous body whom the economists and
politicians Of Europe regard m separated by
broad and impossible lines Of distinction from
their happier fcllo~-men. They speak Of the
lsboring class, which makes mp the vast major