Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-05-12
TUESDAY EVENING. MAY Il, 1896
THE INCREASE OF GRIMES.

A willfui and depraved boy grows
up. He begins with forgery, goes on
70 bigamy, and winds up by commit
ting wholesale murder. He is finally
caught, tried, convicted and executed.
From the time of his arrest the tee
graph makes it a point to give the
public about three columns a day OF
his achievements IN crime; all the
minute details Of the execution, and
then, as a last dose, repeats the story
Of his crimes to the extent OF three or
four columns. The death and funeral
Of q Gladstone, or q Bismarck, or a
Ii Hung Chang, or the triumph of
some great discovery of science, or
some great invention IN mechanics
would o fill one. half the space for
one day that has been given day after
day to the case of the miserable, half
insane and utterly bad DR.. Holmes.
And yet The telegraph managers are
shrewd people, says the Salt Lake
Tribune. They know what will suit
the readers Of the daily press, and they
supply it, but that so much is
supplied of that kind of drivel,
and SO little space is given to
really great and meritorlous
things, is an impeachment of the in
telligence of the American people. And
speaking of these things, no one has
probably failed to note that a great
part of the news, every morning, is
made up from the criminal annals of
the country. The number of terrible
crimes that are being committed has
no parallel, in all the past, and that
much of it our statesman should make
a note Of. Why is it, that the criminal
courts, the divorce courts, and the
boards that examine men as to their
lunacy are all running full! Some
shrewd statistician ought to take some
state Of the union, no matter which
and give a list OF all the criminals,
lunatics and paupers Of the state, to.
day, then of twenty years ago, giving,
at the same time, the population to-day
and the population twenty years ago;
then give the conversions in the vari-
Gus churches in the past year, and of
the year twenty years ago, and we
fancy that it would be a showing which
would startle people, generally, and
there would De a louder inquiry than
there is now as to what in the world
has come upon the nation to close
mems hearts 10 religion to turn men
to crime, and in a lovely country like
ours, with all its great resources 10
cause so many panpers to be living on
the bread supplied them by those who
have some property which may be
taxed. A great commercial depres-
sion in the country means more than
the loss OF dollars and cents. 1t means
the breaking down Of the morals of the
people, and that is why the rural dis
tricts in the country are not gaining
in population, while the cities, which
hold most of the wickedness, are grow
ing with abnormal swiftness. The
boys and girls on the farms, seeing no
hope for their future there, look to the
cities, and a mighty percentage of
both are lost, and when one reads and
reflects owe these dismal facts, it does
not give him any comfort to turn to
the proceedings OF some political con-
vention and hear the wise asses re-
solve that we must keep our
money The very best IN the world, with
the highest purchasing power. Rather,
it makes every man who understands
the real situation SILVER. When we
needed twice as much money as we
had, that is, original primary money,
such as had been good before the days
of Abraham, two or three men man
ipulated . trick and induced congress
e destroy. SO lar as the government o.
the United States can, half this worlds
money. The troubles have all come
then. 1t has not only destroyed
the fortunes Of millions Of men. keeping