Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1861-08-23
Increase Of Crime and Its Causes.


good citizen. first, to learn tho causes. aud
second. to apply the remedy. We have
our ideas a. to ihese matters, and We shall
freely express them.
Our taxes IN this county, Tor criminal
prosecutions, have become enormous. and
they are frish,iuliy increasing every day.
/ n they can be lessened. and the ends OF pub.
lie justice 10 answered., every good man will
rejoice. There are several causes that have
IN our jadsmen, contributed to bring upon
the people the present dcplorable state OF
things. We will mention some Of them
LIST. Tho sros shops take the lead. An
investigation will prove tie startling fact
tina, the grcs..hops in Oxford County are the
cause Of tire, f6rihs Of the crimes com.
mi,ted within is limits; that they are
taxing the people BY thousands every year.
Our readers will well remember the ungodly
var tina, in times past ba. been wased
against the temperance men in Oxford
County who have tried by legal means
TO suppress these nuisanees. They have
been mobbci. booted at, their build.
ing, burned. their lives threatened. and
every indigni,y heapcd upon them .hs, rum.
sellers. rum guIrlers. aud rum sympaihirer.
could inyrnt. Some Of these, after o while,
concluded that they had made all the sacri.
fees that duty called them to make in this
direction. and Of course aba,ed their efforts.
Since then gros shors, and Of course intern.
Jerabcc. have been on the increase among
u.. And the efforts Of the law and order
citizens OF this county to stop up these
breathing holes Of perd,ion scem 10 be al.
mos, entirely unavailing. Quite a large
uumter Of indictments have been found,
but NO arc not aware OF conviction. IN but
, a single instance. We should like some one
g. explain 10 US why rum.,ellcrs canno, BE-
conyicted in Oxford County. A. we'll a. in
Others, IL il all humbug TO talk Of stop.
ping crime as long A. the cros-.hops are
/ k.p, IN full blast. IL cannot b. done.
-. The virtual abolition Of the death
penalty frr wiliul murder has, in our opin.
zen. sharrcned the knife and pointed the
dagger OF the assassin. We know many
good men disagree with u' upon this quc--
ton. We eanno, help IL. Under the laws
a man may have les, than fvc dollars eoun'
,erfci' coin in his pocket, with an intent 90
pass tho same. and he 10 liable 10 just the
sane amount and desrc" Of punishment, rs
/. the man who willfully. with malice afore.
thought. cut. the ,hroa, Of hi. fellow man
and destroy. hi. life. Tcnder.he,r,ci phil.
an,hrori.,s may argue tina, Imprisonment,
Tor life carries with /, greater terror. than
death upon the gallow'; mono but sickly
.eu,imsntal.u will believe them. This may
seem sererc, but it, greatest severity il
u. truth. A man can under our laws com.
init capital offence with jus, as little fear
OF punishment, a. the man who goes into
the business OF passing ooun,erfeii money.
The extent ,ha, either can b. punished i'
Imprisonment for life. with all the chances
Of getting out The murderer Coolidge
never died in prison No one acquainted
with the circumstances. doubt. fora momcn,
,hA, he il alive now. unless he has died
.ince bis escape. Under these lax rules OF
punishment. murders are becoming common.
We have now .wo per-ons in this county
under indle,msn, for TIN. offence. They
will continue % incross until the punish.
men, 10 made concentrate with the crime.
>. Another reason why crime. increase i'
the .eniementality % q certain cls.. Of pre-
tended philan,hropi.t- Tor convicted Offend
ers. These moral croakcr. .hci all their
tear. over the fate Of justly condemned .eoun'
drrls. and never for once think Of children
m.dc orphans. or OF wives made widows, 10y
the bloody hand Of tie assassin. Ihi. class
always stand, ready 10 translate every Airn'
ciou, villain. tina, las been convicted oi a
heinou. offence agains, God and man, into
a martyr. Th. very ela. wep, over the
murderer llolme., until they prevailed on
Jane. Buchanin to pardon him cut, and
lSi him loose upon the community.
l. The law in many cases Is loosely al.
mini.,erej, in Consequence Of which pun.
ishneu, !or crimes !. uHocrisia. The chances
are generally sgaius, conviction. even 1t a
man is guilty. The municipal officers OF
town. are careless abou, the men whose
name. are TO 50 into tho jury box. We
knew u,au opee tried fvr murder. and in
impanellins the jury. the erea, effort OF the
prisoner. counsel was, out Of seventy men
summoned as Jurors, TO select twelve Of the
biggest fool, IN he iot, to try the case. Ut
terry ineompe,en, men, and corrupt and de-
PRAYED men are found in the jury box Of al.
mos, every town. Then again, men often
run clear IN consequence Il technical defects
in papers. a DR.. Smith was few years
since eonvi,,ed OF manslaugh,er in York
County-proved guilty beyond all question ;
yet motion in arre-, of Judgment prevail.
el. and the guilty calprI, lie, loose upon an
outraged community.
3. Our court. seem to have established q
sort o. rule that little rascals should be pun.
i.he!. and biz ones 50 free. a man with
money and influence to back him has, to say
the lea.', u good star, for an acqulttai, even
=, 10 1. ,,.r An ,nil,y We dn not mea m