The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-07-16
The South Judged by Figure :

the Northern and Southern States; ma The az
tonsbed hearers of Theodore Parke and VIII
liam Lloyd Garrison have learnt aor the first
time that rel gion is more spare an crime more
frequent in che free States than In the slave.
Comparative tables compiled frt jln census re-
turns have shown that the South .rnfStates with
quarter Of millions popul alton than the
Northern, contain 1885 more churches, and
about half as many criminals Of course it is
easy to suggest reasons for SO striking dis
crepancy the solutions off ,rcd by extreme
fanatics in both sections Of the country are
numerous and frequently amusing. A seces-
sionist organ traces the fact to the direct
agency Of the sieve syste m, which it recem-
NERDS the North to adopt As the only cure for
its social evils. A North ern aholitionist de-
MES the accuracy Of the '.ensus,report-a very
safe sort of solution Of The difficulty. Others
eyolain the scarcity Of crime in the South by
charging the Se1thern police with ineficiency,
and their courts with undue leniency to crimi-
nals. On both sides-but especially in one
section Of the countryside statistical discovery
has led to mueh loud defamation, and angry
appeals to feeling. It seems to have ex-
beyond measure to lind that religion thrives
better under the shadow Of the institu-
| ton which trey are pleased to style the sum
| OF all evils than in the pious, moral, and
| prosely tizing community of which they are
| themselves conspicuous members and bright
shining lights. Nor can they be at all
reconcilcd 10 the fact that such peccadilloes as
| tbefts, assaults, and murders are twice as fire.
| quent in the society they yaunt as model, as
| in the pitiea and much abused slav e-holding
States. They are heartily welcome to whatever
| consolation they may derive from ascribing
these differences to errors in the census report,
| the prevalence OF UNPUBLISHED crime in the
! South, and such silly pleas: facts are none the
| less facts and if accidental agencies have
heightened the contrast, we may leave wide
margin for the operation Of such causes, and
still find that, SO far from slavery being slever
| sive Of religion and provocative Of crime, our
own experience Of this and other systems Of
labor show exactly the reverse.
| Other statistics confirm the discovery--if it
must be called by that name in Difference to
anti slavery prejudice. Let Us compare two
prominent States, one North, the other South
Massachusetts, and Tennessee. The latter is
the most populous by about $4,000 souls; the
| figures being, at the last census, Massachusetts,
993, 800 inhabitants, Tennessee ,O32,6 YET
the former State contains 5,549 paupers, and
| the latter only j3l. In Massachusetts there is
one panper for every 200 Of her population; in
| Tennessee, one to every 1900. The same con-
| trast is presented by the returns of the insane.
ofwhom Massachusetts, contains ,G47, aud Ten
ncsse but i7S. Whatever connection there may
be between slavery and religion or slavery and
crime, the disparity existing between the mum
Der Of panpers aud lunatics at the North and the
same classes at the South is clearly traceable TO
the effect of that institution. A system OF he
reditary labor necessarily precludes pauperisn;
and in great measure reduces the causes
which lead TO insanity. In these points slavery
has The advantage over freedom.
Bat we may 60 further, and, without discuss
ing the abstract merits Of either system a.
sumo boldly that crime must be what the CEN
sus shows il to be-more frequent in communi-
ties where the laborers are free than in those
where they are the property Of master tn
discipline essential to the management OF Slaves
is formidable obstacle in the way Of the com
mission Of crime. The slave who desires to rob
or murder must first foil the vigilance of his
overseer before he can enable himself to perpe-
trate the crime: the freeman is unmatched and
unchecked until the crime has been committed.
Opportunities for crime are rare where it is the
duty and the interest OF those in authority TO
keep perpetual watch over their servants:
they occur at every instant where the servant.
bis work finished, has no control to acknow.
ledge. In like manner, this vast authority in
the slave owner imposes on him graver re-
sponsibility for his own acts than devolves on
one whose powers are more limited: vicious
master knows that he sets the example of vice
to his slaves, and that their crime will cost him
more than he can afford. The freeman, sur
rounded by freemen, has comparatively insig-
ni6cant interest in the virtue Of his depen-
dents. Again, paupersm being necessarily
more frequent where ell arc selEdependent
and rarer where the sick and the nfrm are
gratuitously supported by master, one OF
the most fruitful sources of crime must
be greater in free than in slave communities.
We shall not eSaggerate If we say that one
half of the thefts committed in the North are
due to poverty and want this stimulus to crime
is entirely wanting among slaves. Well or
sick they are lodged, fed, and clothed ifevery
free laborer at the North were sure ofas much.
our jail calendars would be much lighter.
Another potent spur TO crime Is passion, which
hdrliual restraint ard perpetual serv'tude mist
q 80.