The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-03-26
% CRIME pecREAsINof
q ,s,ixh Observers Say There IL Change
For the Better.

For the Better.
There prevails comfortable beiief that
the standing army of crime Is steadily d.
diminishing and that, with the aid OF schooi
boards and reformatories, we arc making
sure if slow progress in combating the en-
emies of society who ill our jails. Mr..
Douglass Morrison, in paper read before
the Statistical society tells us that this be-
lief rests on no solid foundation, and'that
when the facts are analysed IL becomes
highly doubtful whether there has been
more than nominal decrease OF crime.
There is no doubt that the figures general
ly quoted in support of the view which eV-
cry one would fain believe do not supsIin-
tiate it, The explanation OF many OF the
facts which seem at first sight 10 Justify
optimism and self congratulation lies In
movement which influences, consciously or
unconsciously, all persons administering
the criminal law-the growth of feeling
of distrust of the efficacy of severe SEN
fences and of a conviction as TO their mis-
chievousness in many cases and pity or
tenderness toward large class OF GRIM
inals rs the victims of circumstances.
1t has been said that Victor Hugo's pic
ture of Jean Vatican, the outcast with noble
instincts who tries again and again 10 ex-
tricate himself from coil OF misiortunes
and who again and again succumDs IN the
struggle, profoundly influenced the admin
istration of the French criminal law, and
for many years that spirit of pity ana toll
GRAFTON which the French poet depicted In
Lies Miserables' has been everywhere In
the air, ard nowhere more than mere. III
| is therefore right TO caution the puplc
against confounding the diminution In the
number of offenders detained in prison In
4 4 ion Of a.
verify of the criminal law with "a CORE
spending decrease in the amount OF crime
II is lust possible, however, that in avoid
ING one extreme Mr.. Morrison has pushed
his point too far, and has given counte-
nance TO q respondent view as little Justi-
fed as the optimism which he condemns.
In interpreting the only available figures
the increased vigilance OF the police 10 an
element scarcely To be overrated.
scarcely less important element is that OF
publicity. Every offense Is noted Inc
chances Of detection are probably greatly
increased in these days, when every mousse
hold becomes aware of the person want
edo for any crime of magnitude. To know
that crime generally is increasing or de-
creasing is to know very little. 1t may
mean no more than that certain oifenses
} against police regulations have lncreased
or diminished. The morality OF the couh-
, try may be steadily rising though the con
yictions for breaches of the education acts
are increasing
There is a sensible diminution of certain
p offenses most indicative of licentlou'
( spirit. Property is respected more IMAM u
j was and some crimes connected thereWlti
f and productive of others-for example, re
0 ceiving stolen goods in some towns-pi'
fair to disappear. On the other hand, tner
r is no sign of reduction In certain o'he
o crimes which appear to come In the 'raii
@ of material prosperity. The report we ge
If is both of good and of evil. vi the rel
a causes of crime and of the extent to whlc
% II can he prevented by practicable meas
s. ures Mr.. Morrisons figures tell one littl
ID that is positiye. More than 2 1000 years ag
if Euripides expounded the theory OF tn
it criminal-ne under which Lombroso, Ma
,y 70 and Ferri have lately labored III
10 Greek writer puts into the mouth OF OF
or of his characters the reflection that, wher
ma land naturally barren may yield GOO
harvest if the season be good and fertl
land be sterile if the season be unklndi
men are always what they are-the goo
~ ALWAYS good, even in the pinch OF hard q
'io cumstances, the bad always bad-the crll
30 inal ne certain to be in the dock, howev
I'D carefully the chaplain and the philanthf
al mist look after him. What truth there
,o' i'm this view. how far the standing army
10 crime consists of this element, how far
',o people not much worse disposed but IL
IA lucky than others, statsticians 90 not !
=. us Perhaps they never Will. But In u
AZ direction lies the interest OF the prese
A. and still more that of the future.-Lono
Times