The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-03-29
THE RECENT TRAIN TRAGEDY.
Some Thoughts Suggested by Ii-.-lnter'
esting Theme Of Rev. ). y. Cryer's
Sermon Yesterday.

Central Presbyterian church yesterday
morning. The text was from Ezekiel,
7-23:
The land is full of bloody crimes.
After speaking at length on the details
of Mr. Nichols murder. Mr.. Cryer said:
1T is not my purpose to dwell on this
one crime If it were the only murder
that had been com mitled. 1t might well
rive, our attention, but the land is full of
bloody crimes. The CLEAN OF the assas
sins dagger and the crack of the suicides
pistol are seen and heard on all sides.
Men are falling by violence continually.
Every paper brings an account of fresh
murders and the unsuccessful search of
the detectives for the perpetrators of old
crimes, until the heart grows sick and
we awake to the fact that
CRIME is ON THE INCREASE.
First A proof of this statement.
Second. An inquiry into the causes.
Third. A word concerning the remedy
will form the outline OF my sermon.
First. The fact: Recent statistics
show that in England out of every ten
tuOuoduu utdtnSs oCNCH hiC ti' iNoui' vi
violence. In France the ratio is eight
and in the United States twenty-one.
This makes an average of twelve for
these three countries. If now we could
ascertain the number of violent deaths to
every ten thousand in each nation, the
ratio for the world would probably be
greater than twelve, since these three ma
lions are the most enlightened in the
| world This ratio does not seem to be
large, but when we remember that ten
thousand persons die every three hours,
or some every second, it would make four
violent deaths every hour or ninety-six
every day In single state in our own
land. crime in the last two years has in
creased three hundred per cent. Tins
state is New Jersey, one of the smallest
and most peaceful states in the union.
Mr.. W. F. Round, secretary of the
| Prison association, of New York. and
connected also with the National Prison
association, says: In the United States,
according to the census of 1880, there
were in the penal institutions
SIXTY THOUSAND CRIMINALS.
| By the best authorities. it is reckoned
that only one fifth of the active criminals
are in prison at one time This would
bring our active criminal population up
to three hundred thousand. 1t is reck>
oned also that the criminals IN person
only represent one twelfth of those whose
livelihood is dependent on criminal prac-
tees Thus we have seven hundred and
twenty thousand, or nearly three quarters
of a million persons directly interested in
the perpetuation of CRIME aud the perpet'
uation of the criminal class. Blu,
in New York alone last year the
criminals in prison were Is 800. an III
crease of thirty-three per cent ovel
the estimated criminal population of oul
state in 1880. During ibis time the pop
ulation of the state has increased only
twenty per cent. This means that Grim,
is increasing ten per cent or more thar
e-third faster than the population il
the state that We recognize rs one Of The
most important In the union. Statistic,
upon which we cannot dwell show that II
all our large cities crime is increasing a
a fearful rate. Looking across the oceaI
we see even more appalling picture. Ii
eight provinces in Russia in six year
crime increased sixty-five per cent; il
Bavaria, forty per cent; in Saxony, ont
hundred per cent. In this connection
might speak OF suicides, but we shall gain
nothing by prolonging this picture; oul
object must be to seek the reasons ant
remedy.
Second. The causes:
THE LOVE OF MONEY.
Centuries of trial have proven the bibl'
true and | should not be surprised
political economists found yet that tb
love of money is the root of all evil
Stealing in all its forms, grand and peti
larceny, embezZlemeIt, and highway rob
berry have their cause in the love of mon
ey or greed for unlawful gain Murder
also in nine cases out of ten is connected
with this desire. There are murders com
mitted in anger or intoxication or for re
venge but the confirmed criminal who de
votes his life to crime is a thief first and
murderer afterwards. His purpose i
to get gains, and in acquiring that h.
commits murder either to aid him in hi
purpose or screen him from detection an,
capture (2). An impure press. Thi
is powerful agent for melting to Grim
by corrupting morals. | am free to ad
nit that human nature is good soil TO
'hese boxious plants, but believe an i'm
pure press sows the seed. These ar
days when # man does not advertise h
will fail in business. There are firm
that spend thousands of dollars each yea
In advertisements and they succeed as the
deserve to do. Now the success of th
devil today is due to the wide spread ad
vertisement which some papers are Civ
ing to his work. Others have to pay bu
, his satanic majesty gets his advertising
! done for nothing. Even respectful
papers are doing his dirty work. Sup
pose the papers should take up som
merchant and his business and day afte
day should put in the account of ever
sale and purchase made, filing column
of space with detailed descriptions of b
undertakings, don't you think he woul
succeed? That is the way some papel
E are treating the devil Then, too, whe
i crime has been committed and the d.
tectives are trying to work secretly, the
have to fight the reporters of thes
a respectable papers who seem de
g teTmined not only to give th
!. devil the benefit of good ad
q vertisement, but to thwart the end c
6 justice by keeping his emmissaries posse
a as to every move the officers of the law al
a making to unearth crime This is a
r clear to his Satanic majesty. for he
: not supposed to own these papers. BIZ
= what shall we say of the Police Ne1s, th
Police Gazette and all the
1 BLouD AND THUNDER LITERATURE
: of our days A judge of New York cit
e says of the growth of crime: Il thin
2 cheap literature is mainly responsible.
r sends the boys out west to kill Indian
D and starts the girls after circus com
} panies. 1t organizes children into band
i with grips, war cries and all such ton
!, foolery. They lounge around, steal whe
they can. and there is your gang for you
! The indictment is fair. But if childhoo
/. is corrupted at its fountain by an impuI
Z | uress shall We not hold IL respons HE fe