The morning times., 1896-12-13
POVERTY INCREASES CRIME.

The criminal statistics for the province
/ OF Quebec show an extraordinary increase
/ In the number of prisoners for the past two
years as compared with previous years.
| For several years prior to Syi the num-
| Der OF prisoners COnfincdin Quebec peniten-
| tiaricS averaged 500. In 1S94 the mum
| Der jumped to 4,520, and for the last fiS-
| cal year the total is 1862. Hard times,
| say the prison officials, has caused this
: great increase of crime"
| In the early history of this coutinent eX-
! lied criminals from Europe were sent here
| in large numbers And, though this should
| naturally tend to increase and propagate
| criminals in America, yet free access TO
| productive land tended SO strongly to
: counteract the disposition to commit crime
| that even in penal colonies there was very
| little wTongdoing.
| Since the general prosperity coming from
! easy access to productive land, has, from
, the early settlement OF America to the
present time, been standing object les
| son, demonstrating how crime lessons with
| freer access to desirable land 4 nd inCrea seS
| as access thereto is restricted, the great
/ wonder is that more have not learned the
lesson it teaches. As America was vir-
tualiy peopled by the legaliZrG prosecutions
OF tue old world, the relation OF most of
these prosecuted immigrants TO the laws OF
| their native land was largely that of Grim
| iDalS and anarchists.
Yet, who is not proud to trace his an
| ceStry back to those original settlers OF
| America, whose many virtues blOSsomed
into such bOundleSS IuXurianCe on the free
ind fertile soil of America as to overShad-
ow and dwarf their so-calIed vices into
dinnutive inSignificanCe? And, gradual
| ", even the Puritan fathers, born andvea red
in an atmosphere of superstition and in
tolerance, where old women were hanged
as witches and men, women and children
Il II
logical differences of opinion, though they
at first also hanged witches and drove the
peaceful Quakers out OF their dominions
| In New England, yet, through free access to
a fertile soil, soon became more generous
and liberal mentally as well rs fjnan-
cially.
JUSTICE AND LIBERTY.
1t is certainly a striking coincidence that
the reactive tendency toward the reSurrec-
ton OF old Puritan blue laws and Seventh
| Day Adventist Sunday law persecution and
other intolerance comes just when our free
public domain is about exhausted, thus sug-
costing an intimate relation bet wcen these
| two coeXiStlng evil conditions.
Justice, truth and liberty are correlated
In all their various branches. Narrowing or
restricting the perception in one branch
narrows the mental vision regarding them
all. This is why all great reformers have
held comparatively liberal views on all
questions, while tyrants have been narrow
minded, bigoted, andintOlerant alike on all
Fortunately tyrantS are gradually Gimin-
ishing in numbers and genuine reformers
increasing, and, as the momentum of this
movement will probably largely increase the
number ofreforms and reformers and their
radical views, those who would keep
abreast of the times IN ust investigate these
reforms.
While the ancients generally expected
these reforms to be in operation after they
had passed away, modern reformers are
inclined 10 be less visionary, and insist on
practical, everyday reforms, on the ground
that what is good in heaven can't possibly
be bad here. And they, whose ideal of a
perfect world is a kingdom wherein all
socialistically are equal, regardless of
whether their services began early or late
are certainly not inconsistent for trying
to inaugurate a similar system down here
The wonder is that the many advocates OF
this future socialism have not striven harder
to force it's present adoption here.
Though, by the force of numbers, social
ism has grow n to be regarded as much more
respectable" than formerly, yet singi,
takers desire it TO be clearly understood
that the single tax is not socialism. Singl,
| takers desire not to equalize the possession