St. Paul daily globe., 1888-05-31
CAUSES OF CRIME.
Love, Lust and Greed More Prolific
Than IntemDerance.

Than lntemperance.
Gallas Thomann, manager of the lit
erary bureau, read the joint report of
the publication and vigilance commit
tees, from which the following extracts
are made:
Your manager attended the Interia-
tional Temperance congress held ait
Zuerich, September. 1887, and from a re-
view of the report of the proceedingaof
that body it will be seen that the eX-
treme ideas and plans of English and
American prohibitionistS and total abb
stainers met with very energetic oppo-
SitiOn by an Overwhelming majority 5Of
the continental delegates, most of whom
were men of scientific training, thor
oughly familiar with the subject and alb
solutely free from prejudices, precQn-
| ceived notions and dOgmatism. In fact,
excepting. a few eminent men, who, i'm
their medical. treatment of inebriates,
| found total abstinence to be an effifa-
| cious means of curing confirmed topers,
and with the further exception of a
small band of anarchists, nihilists and
social demot rats, there was not single
continental delegate who spoke apprdv-
ingly of the methods of American Elk
tremists, while many denounced them
as unworthy, rimpracticable., absurd.
w Hy SOCldl VI Or
anarchists should wish that the
state forbid the use of liquors
was explained by one of them.
Maurice E. Stern. "You see," said
Mr.. Stern, ''the rich and well-to-do folks
Systematically debauch the laboring
classes by encouraging and even bring
ing about their drinking eXcesSes to the
end that they may be able to fleece
them more easily. They debase the
workman because they know that de-
based man
''CAN READILY BE ENSLAvED.'
American ProhibitioniStS are well
come to the comfort which the con
sciOusness of having such allies may af-
ford them. Mr.. Stern'S arguments, by
the way, are not whit more unphilO-
sOphical or illogical than those of the
PrOhibitiOnistS, of whom DR.. Milliet,
chief of the bureau of StatiStice, said, at
the congress, that they did not talk and
act like men of science who had made
study of the subject, but like crusaders,
propagatorS of new religion. The
discussion proved again that eXaggera-
ton, falSehOod and ignorance are the
stock in trade of the extremists.
the superficial methods of many writer's
the lack OF philOSOphic training of some
investigators and the obvious bias of
others have completely miSled the read
ing public in regard to the trne causes
of crime, and many honest and able
men of great influence treat the StatiS-
tics usually paraded at temperance
meetings as irrefutable evidence of the
assertion that if drink could be ban
iShed from our land our penitentiaries
and jailS might be closed forever.
1t will be shown, for instance, that of
S59murders which could be traced to
their origin Ghe total number being
1,009), 266 were caused by love or lust
and their offSprings, jealousy and in
fidelity, or by domestic infelicity, with
its multiform causes, to which latter i'll
compatibility of temperament con-!
tributes the lions share; 122 were
caused by greed, the object of the muir
der being robbery; 1876 by violent erup-
tions of rage and like passions, or by
malice, revenge, ETC.; 81 by political or
religious differences; 80 by insanity, in
Guiding hallucinations of religious nat
ure; and 9S by liquor. The remainder
Q13) were traceable to complicated
causes, with which intoXication had alb
solutely nothing to do. Ilt
Of 554 suicides Q1S remaining unex-
planned as to causes), SO were Ocea-
stoned by love OF lust; Al, by domestic
infelicity; 81, by insanity; So, by liquor,
and 1919 by other causes, principally
ueSGlGutlOH, ueSpalI. 'uOulcSlckleSS dllu
failures of all kinds. The greater pof-
ton of the unfortunoteS whom one
must place in the latter categorieS are
foreigners who emigrated from land
which
AFFORDED THEM NO HOME,
no earthly future worth living for, and
who in the land of their hopes and long
ing find themselves face to face with
starvation, even in the midst of super
abundance. n;
OF 53 cases of arson, but one being un-
explained, % were attributed to a greed ,
of gam; 9, to malice: 3, to insanity IL
each, to domestic infelicity and polit-
ical differences; Z, to other causes,
and only to liquor. OF 379 Grim
inal assaults, 81 are traced to liquor.
In the long list of cases of adultery,
bribery, abortion, forgery, burglary, en-
bezzlement, defalcations of all kinds,
one looks in vain for liquor as the cause;
while in large proportion of them the
primary causes afford a strong warrant
for the standing theory of the French
detective police: "Cherchez la femme"
Thus it is manifest that while drinking
and drunkenness are the least plo 'uc i've
causes of crime, love, lust and greed are
l,n