The Wichita daily eagle., 1893-12-16
GEOGRAPHY OF CRIME.
Murder Product OF Lack OF Civ
uization.
Xhe Restraining Influence or Religious
Sentiment-Ccuntrie Where the
Most Murders Arc
Ccnn1ittad.

Murder. geographically considered,
is the product of lack Of civilization,
writes Prot. Oettinger in his Moral
Statistics" Whenever state Of gov
ernmept is in state OF disorganization
the people become demoralized, educa-
tional and religious progress Is at a
s6andstill. and murder is bound to in
crease, It is essential to ley great
stress Oh the religious feeling OF
community, because comparatively few
murders occur ia Turkey, q country
deranGed and unsettled In its af-
fairs, wherein large proportion
of the people are lacking IN civiliza-
tion and culture. But the Islam faith
is productive of certain religious
sentiment in these uneducated masses
which prevents murder, the greatest
crime against human and divine laws.
Compared with Turkey, Greece, once
the seat Of civiliza ticn, but now de-
moralized and degraded l,y Turkish in
fuenoc, without the prOhibftive power
of the Mohammedan religion, ,manifests
the Truth of this assertion by rolling UP,
in a population of less than 2,0oc,e 900
people. 316 murders, and 473 felouious
assaults, an average of one killed Or
MANNED for every $500 souls. This
number eraxcrshadows denoralized Ire
land, where for number of years the
most terrible agrarian crimes, Inur-
ders, arson. etc. have been committed,
the outcome of the atrociouS feeling
hox--aao lap1nxyrcrc md tba
antry,
Another country with a large per-
ccntage is Spain. and an increase in
bloodehed goes hand in hand with its
gradual decline. A glance at the Grim
inal statistics of the United States
demonstrates that murder reaches its
highest percentage among the unedn-
Gated class, who can neither write nor
read. In the state of Texas. for ex-
ample, one murder occurs to every
eight thousand five hundred inhabi-
tants. In Illinois this percentage is
considera bly, lowered, o1e murder be-
ing quoted for every fifty thousand.
Germany of late years shows an in
crease Of murder cases and assaults,
born out Of sociaistic tendencies. .he
murder perccD tage of Great Britain is
comparatively small, with the exccp-
tion of London and Ireland. and per-
sonal safety in England and Scotland
Is commended on all sides Ev0.r few
thefts are committed In the level por
tons France. Sweden. Denmark, Sci
gium. Holland and Switzerland record
murder statistics similar to those of Ger
many. No substantial data can be
obtained about Russia. rut the strik
ing increase in political murders, sig
naGzed by the nihilistic and soc;alistic
era. needs no comment. No state in
the world rolls Up more revolutionary
attacks and crimes at the present time
than Russia. During the year 1SS6-5T,
The last authentic report that could be
obtained, three thousand persons were
deported to Siberia for life.
As with suicide and murder. it is with
theft, geographically speaking. Lack of
culture and civilization is synonymous
with increased theft and dishonesty.
net SO mnch on account of the immoral
aud dcpraved condition OF the people IS
becanse of lack of protection Theft in
Sweden and Norway. in Denmark and
the extreme north is exceedingly rare.
The oriental and southeastern states
show an alarming amount Of theft, and
next to America Turkey, Russia, the
Balkan states and Hungary contain
the most crooks.
Fraudin all lits.various denominations,
ranging from hish-grade svindle in
its manifold phases down TO small
shady transactions which hover be-
tween dishonest practices and techri-
cal evasioas OF the law. has its homo
principally in the large cities Of tho
world London is a perfect mecca fo<
swindlers. while throughout England.
with tho exception Of Loadon, busi-
ness dealings are characterized by
sound principles Of honesty. Compar-
htively httla fraud is practiccd in the
northern and western states. as Swe-
Zen, Norway, Denmark and Finland.
Holland, Belgium, France and Switzer-
and rank favorably il this respect In
Germany striking decline is notices-
BILE in fraudulent transactions. The
same oonditions-laclI Of ciyiliza tion
and education-which prevail with
other crimes pertain TO fraud. Spain,
Italy. Greece. Turkey. and. above all.
Russia lead the line