The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1895-01-03
observance of Law in the South.


4 study of the statistics of crit ne
and pauperism in the United Sta, es
will reveal some striking facts he
South has TT Ell SO DANGEROUSLY 81 nd
so peroistentiy maligned as lawIt SO
/ section that it has come to be almt ,st
universally assumed to be true e lat
the laws are more frequently vioi at
ed i'll that section than in OF her
parts OF the country. Even the
Southern people themselves. III a.
large part, having heard SO much,
| and siIeii con- iauous cutlery ae ainsr
Southern iawiessness. ana so much
| vauntiI.c OF alleged relative freedom
from crime of other parts of thu
country, have grown TO accept it as
a fact that the South is less regard
fal of law and peace and order than
the rest OF the country.
Tire Sout bern States asserted re-
Gently that there is less disorder, less
violation Of law, less crime in the
South than in tie rest of the country
IN prop ortion to population. An
analysis OF prison reports of the
! eleventh census will amply support
this statement.
The charge of lawlessness IN the
South is made with reference to the
white population. People who talk
about the South as a law breaking
section have in mind only the domi-
nant race in the South, the whites.
The statistics of crime here given
will therefore relate only to the white
poAGlation of both the North and
South.
Taking first the white convicts in
penitentiaries and calculating their
numerical proportion to the white
population, eliminating the negroes,
Indians ana Chinese, We fed that the
ratio is: in the North Atlantic
division, rs one to 1894 of popula-
ton; in the North Central division.
one Co 1866; in the Western, one to
500; in the South Atlantic, one to
1914; in the South Central one to
2ZS0. Or, to make the comparison
in another shape, to every 1OO, 900
of population the numhe Of convicts
is: in the North Atlantic division
II; in the North Central division ~;
in the Western division 125; in the
South Atlantic division 21; and in
the South Central division 43.
Taking the two divisions that COM
|
the three that make up all the rest
OF the country, it is found that the
proportion is: in the South one con-
Wet to every 1927 of population or
81 in every 100, 900; and the rest of
the country one to every 1907 or 60
in every 100000 Thus it will he
seen that the South as whole has
in proportion to population but
! 10 Il
vlcts as the North; that the better of
the two sections in the South, the
South Atlantic division, has only
half as many as the best section in
the North, the North Central
division; that in the section having
in the South the greater number of
conyicts, the South Central division,
the number is approximately the
same as in the Northern section that
/ has the fewest; that in the Southern
| section having the larger ratio, the
! Western division; that taking the
+, whole South together, the number is
f. more than one third less than in the
| Northern division that has the
| smallest umber.
| Considering the prison, in coun
| ty JaIlS comparing the whole
South with the three other divisions
Jointly the figures would be Is to
every 100, goo in the South and 81
IN the rest sof the country-that is,
| the South Atlantic division has
ever by one fourth than the best
| Northern division; the South Central
| has one-t!iiTd more than the best
| Northern division, but one third less
| than the North Atlantic and so per
cent less than the Western division,
and the South as q whole has fewer
| by oEe-third than the rest of the
country.
The statistics of pauperism are
equally noteworthy. Comparing the
Soul h with the rest of the country,
the figures would be, in the South &c
paupers to every 1OO, 900 of popula-
ton; in the rest of the country 139
to every 100000. These figures
include both white and colored races.
They show that the South has less
| than half as many paupers in pro
portion to population as the rest of
the country; that the ratio in the
South, as "a whole, is 40 per cent. less
than that of the Western division,
about 45 per cent. less than that of
the North Central division, and
about IS per cent. less than that of
the North Atlantic.
These comparisons are made in no
spirit of unfriendl:ness towards any
part of our country The purpose
is simply refutation of the con
stantly repeated charge that the |
South is less law abiding than other !
sections. These figures, from a
source authoritative and unques- }
toned, demonstrate beyond cavil |
that the South is by far the most |
peaceable and virtuous section of the
Union, as it is the most pronounced
ly American.
UnderselIing Foreign Makers.
From the Baltimore Sun