The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-13
CITY WITH NO CRIME.
What John SwintOn Saw i'm the
Scotch Capital.
NO MURDERS FOR a YEAR.
Light Penalties for Various O6enses-
The Result Of the Lenient system
- Shown by Statistics.
John swinson in New York Sun.

John Swinton in New York Sun,
During recent stay of six weeks in
Edinburgh, the ancient capital of Scot
| land, became interested in several feat
ures of the life of the people there that
were TO me novel and remarkable One of
the things that struck me soon after TAX
ing up my temporary abode in the city
may be here spoken Of.
Day after day, while looking over the
two morning newspapers, the Scotsman
and the Scottish Leader, and observing the
reports ofthe trials of offenders by the Judi
cal authorities, | was struck by the len
iency of the sentences imposed upon de-
| linquents found guilty of various offences.
| could not help noticing that the penal
ties were far lighter than those imposed
in like cases by our courts in New York,
which had heard of all through my life.
/ found that many offenders who would
have been sentenced to considerable terms
of imprisonment in New York were
merely ''admonished' by the courts in
Edinburgh. l found that other offenders
who would have been subjected to hard
penalties here were merely put under
caution there, and | noticed that still
other offenders were "sent to industrial
school" or "sent to reformatory" Be-
sides all this, saw that very large pro-
portion of the persons arrested, or, accord
ing to the legal phraseology of Edinburgh,
unprecedented, for petty misdeeds.
were at once acquitted when brought into
court.
| repeat that was greatly struck by the
daily newspaper report that brought
within my knowledge such facts as are
here referred to.
l began 10 make inquiries concerning
the subject, and addressed many questions
to various people whose acquaintance |
had made. ! spoke of intelligent men in
several classes of society. and sought in
formation in all quarters of the city, or,
rather, in both its halves, for Edinburg is
composed of the ''old town" and the new
town."
After doing this, / found that among the
people at large there was entire satisfac-
ton with the administration of the law
and that the leniency of the court was in
accordance with the public judgment.
At last the master of Corstorphine
house, who aided me in my researches,
proposed that should seek for informa-
ton from public functionary who bears
the official title of ''procurator hscal,"
whose duties, think. resemble those of
public prosecuting attorney in New York
When introduced to this learned function
airy of the law, who proved to be man of
courtly and pleasant address, found that
he was more than willing to give me all
needed knowledge of those matters that
came under his purview. told him that
had been struck by the lenient action of
the courts of Edinburgh in dealing with
sundry grades of offenders, and referred
him to several examples of it that had
come under my notice through the papers.
III aynrpSga6 his annrnyoI of shsS L.,
policy, and, for my benefit. explained
some of the features of modern Scotch law,
as well as the methods of its administra-
ton in the Edinburgh courts.
But the main thing that desired to as
certain from him was indicated bv the
questions that | then asked: What are
the practical results of this judicial len
iency? How does the thing work, as we
say in New York 2"
As made these inquiries had in mind
such allegations as had often heard here,
that only by the enforcement of the rigors
of the law in all cases, the application of
the severest punishment prescribed for
each and every offense can the safety of
the community be secured, or order be
upheld or offenders and malefactors be re-
strained. What have been the results with
in your experience? had asked and the
curator fiscal. Here" he replied, '"is
the report of the constabulary for last
year, and you will find all your questions
therein answered" He presented to me a
pamphlet consisting of broad tables of
statistics. and entitled Return of Crimes
and Offences Reported. Persons Appre-
hended or Cited, and Miscellaneous Details
Connected With the Police of Edinburgh
for the Year Ended 3ist December 1850"
] glanced at one of the tables with sur
prise, but before proceeding further | in
quired:
What is the population of Edin-
about 10000"
Then it is nearly one-ffth as large as
New York. And now" added, "let me
begin at the top by taking the worst of
crimes, and asking how many murders
there were in Edinburgh during the
year,?
lie referred me to table No. 3. remark
ing that the year was rather bad one in
that respect, and that there had been two
cases in which murder was suspected. but
that in one of the cases the man under
suspicion was not held, as there was not
evidence to warrant his trial, while the
other case was that of child found dead
IN bed under circumstances that led to the
trial of its parents, who were acquitted.
us 1t possible. them | asked, that
there were no murders in this city during
the yeari'
You have the record in your hand" he
replied as he pointed to table No. 8. in
which the two suspicious cases of the wear
were set down and stood alone
Then what was the number of criminal
assaults in the year,
The table shows that there were only
about 500 of all degrees
The record of stealing looked long. but
II turned out that nearly all the cases
were cases of petty theft. There were two
cases of forgery, six of shop and house
breaking, three of reckless driving, one of
dog stealing, and one of reckless discharge
of firearms. In all there were but | 10
persons apprehended for crime in Edin-
hurgh during the twelve months, and a
proportion OF these were not subjected or
were not liable to any punishment in
court.
All these facts seemed TO me remarkable
It was interesting TO observe the char
aeter of the penalties inflicted upon the
different classes of petty culprits by the
various courts of Edinburgh have be-
fore me the statistical record of the bureh
court, the sheriff summary court. the
sheriff and jury court, and the high court.
Here, for example Is the sheriff high conrt.
IN which 231 males and s. females were
tried during the year. OF these cases 20
were 'admonished,H Is were put under
caution, II Were tined, others were fined
and cautioned, others were sent 10 the in
dustrlal school or the reformatorv. and the
remainder were sentenced to brief terms of
imprisonment varying from three DAYS 10
Il week q q t0rfuiCht in,