The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-05-23
Tho Increase of Crime.

fact. that crime is greatly on the increase in
this country. Education is more generally
difuscd than ever. books are multiplied.
houses of worship never were so numerous,and
all the means of civilizing, enlightening. and
Outstanding men, are most sedulously
employed. vet crime keeps pace wlth-!ycs.
outstrips them all. What makes the case more
deplorablc is, that the crimes whose greater
frequency is the most noticeable are crimes
of violencc-murtlcr, rape. robbery, and 9TH
er offences against the person. The time has
been when Il single murder shocked the ma
ton. and aroused not merely the officers OF
Justice, but the whole community, to abhor,
detect. pursue. seize. and punish the guilty
man. Now murders arc of such constant oc-
currence that the daily newspaper seems te-
ficicnt. in an important respect when it omiis
to record some fresh deed of bloodshed. And
so accustomed have we become to the daily
recital. that it is only some extraordinary
crime, like the bloody and mysterious butch
erv of DIR. Burdcll. or the fearful tragedy
which drove Ellen Desmond to her death. that
arrest. our attention for more than a passing
moment 1t will not be protitless to consider
some of the causes of this dcplorable state
of things with a view to indicate the means
of remedying the evil.
|. In our estimation, one of the most
fruitful causes of the increase of crime. is
the wide publicity given to every criminal
transaction. 1t is an old provcrb that " IA
miliarty breeds contempt" but it is also true
that it breeds some other things quite as bad
as contempt, among the worst of which is
Indifference. And so subtle are the temrta-
tons by which we are surrounded. that IL
difference towards wrong doing is sure step
ping stone to the commission Of guilt, !.
was wisely said by the great poctcal mora!
list Of England
"Nicc is a monster of frightful ue in
That to be hated needs but To be seen
But seen too oft. familiar with her face.
We first cndurc-thcn pity-thcn embrace.
The truth of this is every day manifc>tug
itself Instead of the thrill of horror or liz
nation with which the account of criminal deeds
WAS oncc read. We have How 4 dcpravct "'-
petite for the shocking or disgusting details
Of crime. an appetite which grows with what
it feeds upon. ard is pampercd by con>t1A'
supply of its coveted nut. ::mcnt For months
past the columns OF the city press have been
crowded with the most Presidential matter that
could be gathered from the records cf til,
courts. The filth of the kalloch and Dalton
trials, and the horrors of the HurClcll MURDER
have been alike paradcd before the ewes Of
multitudcs, who ought never to have known
save in the most general and indefinite man
ncr, even of the existence of those events
We put these cases only by way Of example
for they are but specimens of the publicil.
which has for years been given to every >re
cics of crime Inasmuch as it is not rossill,
to touch pitch and not be dehled so ii is IN
possible to be f,miiarizcd from day to dav
for years together, with deeds of doprayity
without becoming more or less depravcd.
II. Yet more dclcterious in its influence !,
the morbid sympathy so generally manifested
in behalf of criminals. No sooner is pcr
sons accused of crime than a certain elias,
make it their especial duty to manufacture;
public opinion in his behalf. EVERYTHING
good that he has ever done is brought tc
light, and laudcd to the skies, as if, either a,
human or divine tribunals, ones good deeds
were to be Offset against his evil ones. Even
if there are no good deeds to be talked of
if the life of the accused has been only evil
and that continually, and there is a moral
certainty that he has committed the particu-
lar crime of which he is accused, there is NO
lack of those who desire to see him escape the
penalty justly due to his deeds. Sometimes
this desire is founded not on sympathy for
the accused nor on an underestimate of the
crime, but on the fear that particular inter
ests may be damaged by the conviction of
the suspected individual. Thus in the Kal-
loch case, good men were heard to express the
hope that he might be acquitted even though
he were gullty-on account of the disgrace
that the church and the cause of religion
would experience from the conviction. Asif
the disgrace arose, not from the commission
OF the sin, but from the conviction for it =
From whatever source the sympathy to which
we have referred originates, it is all wrong.
Letjustice be done though the heavens fall.
III. The frequency with which convicted
criminals, of the very blacklist dye, are allow
ed to escape the penalty of their misdeeds. is
great stimulus to crime. In some of the
States it is at least an even chance that half
II not the whole of the criminals punishment
will be RENTED. Pardons are numbered in
New York by the hundred every year, and in
Massachusetts the case is not much better
Every man. however vile he may be, has his
set OF friends who besiege the pardoning
power, with perseverance worthy of bet
ter cause. If they fail on one occasion thew
may succeed on another, and by dint of re-
peated applications they carry their point.
But once let it be established that a convict
ed criminal shall never be pardoned except
upon plenary proof that he was wrongfullv
convicted, and the knowledge of the fact