Arizona weekly citizen., 1885-06-06
WORSE AND WORSE.
HOW IT IS THAT STATISTICS SHOW
 AN INCREASE OF CRIME.
Acts Not Formerly CIassed as Criminal Now lnegal-Increase of Facilities, for DetcctiOn-The Enterprise"
 of the Modern Newspaper.
-lhIcacn Tines ]

me census reports certainly do show that the proportion of population confined m penitentiarics and various reformatory installations Is increasing from decade 10 decade with fearful Tapidity. We must remember, however. that many acts are now ciassed as criminal that were not SO regarded generation or two ago. Then lotieTles were encouraged in almost every state m the union. Now it is a crime moi only to sell lottery tickets but to advertise lottery scheme. Then any person could sell cigars and tobacco as he may now sell cloth and potatoes. but now it is crlme 10 deal in them without A license or 10 sell them if they are not accompaniei with a revenue stamp Then there were no convictions for selling intoxicating liquors to minors or habiiual drunkards. but now such convictions are very common. Teachers are now punished for -correct- Ing children m school New crimes are created by statute every time the national congress or a s,aie legislature meets. The number of nominal criminals is increased by adding new crimes to the calendar.
 The facilities for detecting crimes and for arrcsting criminals are much better and more numerous than they were even few wears ago The microscope has been improved and new chemical tests have been discovered Photography has greatly aided the arrest and con vIcdon of criminals by furnishing inc likeness of nearly every per son belonging Co the acknowledged criminal class. In every considerable town the police department have a large and wcll-arranged -rOgues' gallery As new pictures are taken. duplicates are sent 10 every city in the country The illus tTalcd papers have made the faces of the more noted criminals familiar to almost every person. The daily papers give very accurate descriptions of the men who make their escape after the commission of crime Not only the railroad car and the steamboat but the telegraph and tele- phone are employed in the arrest of per sons implicated in the commission of crime. The governor of nearly every stale has been authorized 10 offer. at his discretion. large rewards for the arrest and detention of persons presumed 10 be guilty of crime
 The public detective force has been ex- tended and greatly improved during the past thirty years. During the same period the private detective system has been ex- tended. tlll now il is the terror of crimin-
 
 been rendered almost impossible, whereas IL was very easy before the era of steam and electricity The criminal courts have come Co look upon night as confession. In nearly every section of the country the cle aicd moral sentiment of the community demands the arrest of parties implicated in crimes at any cost They are accord ingiy followed over the continent and brought back from countries beyond the seas With no more crimes committed. We should expect to find a much larger number Of pcrsD ns confined in prisons
 W hen a large portion of the country was svarscly settled and the means of con vcying information were poor. thousands of crimes were committed that were never reported tO the public The per >uI> CtiuuuIittiug them found little diff Cuiiy in making their escape. and were u0' likely Co he pursued and captured. Ihgir uamcs never appeared to swell the list 5t offenders confined in peniientiaries. newspapers then displayed little center prise7 in collecting criminal news It was very difficult and expensive to do so. The newspaper. in the proper sense of the word. is a Nery modern institution. lt had its rise with the introduction of the means for the rapid transmission of intelligence. lt gives an account of more crimes and of more charities than the old-time paper did The science Of statistics as well as the art fl making newspapers has made its grcatest progress during the last thirty wears li becomes easier every year 10 show by statistics that the world Is grow ing wicked and society is becoming more demOralized