The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-08-23

New YORK POLICE AND CRIMINAL STATISTICS
Wehave before us the last quarterly report made
by the Deputy Superintendent Of the Metropoi-
tan Police to the General Superintendent. It
contains good deal Of curious information, and
is in many respects interesting 1t appears that
the total strength of the police Of the Metropo-
Titan dist1ict-officers and mems LABS, and
that the whole number Of arrests made by them
during the quarter ending 31st Of July was
1922. Of this number there were 1,667 arrests
for larceny, or attempts at larceny; 1852 for rob.
berry, OF attempts at robbery; 1Ol for swindling;
III for passing counterfeit money, or forging; 81
for receiving etolen goods; $50 for violations of
corporation ordinances, and I'll for offences not
specified We are not informed, however, nor is it,
of course, the province of the Deputy Superin-
tendent to state, what disposition has been made
of the offenders.
We could wish very much to have, side by side
with this report, statement from the District
Attorney showing what proportion Of them
were proceeded against, and what proportion
punished. 1t is pity that some arrangement is
not made by which we could have the police
officers report and the law officers report made
simultaneously, SO that we might see at glance
the course Of our public administration of jus.
tice. Without any definite information on the
subject, We would not incur much risk in ex-
pressing our conviction that not one in ten
Of the persons arrested for offences more
serious than drunkenness has been punished.
We have our doubts whether, of the 1Ol individu-
ais arrested for swindling, the odd unit has met
his deserts; and as to the violations Of corpora
ton ordinances, we would not expect to find that
any further notice whatever was taken of them.
At all events, we would like very much to have all
uncertainties on these various points cleared up.
We also remark in Mr.. Carpenters report that
besides the arrests, 1914 complaints were made to
the Corporation Attorney for violations of cor
polation ordinances, and sol to the District At
torney for violations Of the Sunday liquor law.
What was done about particularly the lat
ter? Why are not these complaints prosecuted,
so that we may have the constitutionality of the
law and resolutions On the subject fairly and fully
tested? Mr.. Waterbury will please make note
of this
1t seems that offenders Of the masculine gender
are twice as numerous as those of the feminine.
They stand in the proportion of 1897 to S,265.
There is an equilibrium between the married and
unmarried (9,53O married, 1882 single). The
totally literate classes were not 80 largely repre-
scented as were the classes skilled in the accom-.
plishments Of reading and writing. There were
1874 of the former to IL 1888 of the latter but it
is not to be thence inferred that our criminal sta
ristics give any force to the poetical dictum
that
A little learning Ia q dangerous thing
We do not think it will operate much as an ar
gument against our common school system, al
though Mr.. Carpenter has deduced from his
statistics the sage piece Of Bunsbyism that "the
marriage relation tends in slight degree to
diminish crime but the mere ability to read
and write has no perceptible effect" Our citi-
zens will find much matter for reflection in this
report but they would be much more enlgnt-
ened if they could compare with it the statistics
Of our criminal courts for the same period.
THE MOUNTAIN IN LABOR-The American