Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-02-05
pRonRrsS LN MnKALH.

We seem TO be growing better That
Is, Il we may accept the evidence afforded
BY prison statistics. Fewer psople In
proportion to the gross population are to
be found inside Of penltentlary walls now
than ten years ago, or even live years ago.
The decrease of crime IN Texas is es-
peclally gratifying, II the decrease Of con
wet population Is any evidence of the in
crease IN morality and respect for thelaw.
Ia 1880 the state had Slis conyicts. Not
withstanding the large increase OF popu-
latlon, this humber, instead Of increasing
proportionately, was diminished TO 1852
on the Ist Of January, 1856. Our popula-
ton in 1880 was 1851 900, and there wss
one convict to every 542 persons. Among
an estimated population Of 2,25O,O00 on
January j, 1885, there were 1852 convicts,
an average OF one to s54. Had the pro-
portion remained unchanged, from 1880
10 1885, we would have had ll5l instead
OF 1862 convlcts.
Some minor influences may have been
at work between $50 and 1850 To reduce
'he proportion Of convictions. 1t may be
due in some small measure TO more
lenient feeling among iuries, and in yet
smaller measure TO a more lenient penal
code, reducing the grade OF otienses from
iclones to misdemeanors These inAu-
ences, however, arc trifing. To one
great cause we owe the decline In num-
Der of prison population, and that is the
growth of a feeling OF respect for the law,
and increasing disposition TO right wrong
by an appeal to legal methods Instead
Of the revolver and howie-knife. The
expulsion Of violent and brawling classes
by the steady pressure OF immigration
has substituted quiet and orderly pop
ulat!on for one that is quiet and orderly
only when in the graye--or swinging
from limb.
That latter is a prime cause, and people
who extend their Investigations no fur
Their than our own state win find in it the
sole cause of the decrease Of crime. 1t is
easy to believe that we are growing bet
ter by getting rid OF our worst classes,
and introducing better stock to take
their places. But the statistics of other
states, where the population is settled
and crystallized, agree in the same show
ing of progress in morals, and almost in
the same degree. New York has been
settled for 200 years, and the frontier
rough" IL not known TO have an existence
there as a class, nor is the shifting Of
population expellinga worse aud bringing
in better class; yet the prison statistics
of New York show that from 1876 to 1885
the prison population decreased from
$500 TO 296l, while in the same time there
was an increase in gross population from
4,779, 900 to 5,458, 600. The 5,i59, 600 per-
sons resident there now must be more
agreeable and better satisfied with their
condition than the i,779,000 who were
there ten years ago. This is the deduc.
tion when we tiud crime less frequent,
The conclusion is unavoidable that
people are becoming better as they I'D
vance in civilization and culture. They
may not have more comforts, their wealth
may not be increasing, but certainly there
is better feeling among the family
There are fewer infractions OF law, there
fore there are fewer Temptations or calls
to do unlawful things, or the general vir-
tue is stronger and ADLER to withstand
such temptations. We may not be ap-
preaching the millennium, but the pes
simism Of doleful croakers, who see
nothing but retrogression and decay, is
certainly controverted by the figures,
which prove that fewer people are found
necessary to send to prison year by year.