Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-03-25
IS CRIME DEcREAsINaf
English Observers Say There Is Change
For the Tletter.

English observers say Anere AB > 1khaMEo
For the Better.
There prevails a comfortable belief that
the standing armyof crime Is steadily d.
minishing and that, with the aid of school
boards and reformatories, we arc making
sure if slow progress in combating the en-
e1nies of society who fill 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 it 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 ey-
cry one would fain believe do not substan-
tiate it, The explanation of many Of the
facts which seem at first sight to 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 sem
fences and of a conviction az TO their mis-
chievousness in many cases and pity or
tenderness toward large class of Grim
inals as the victims of circumstances
It has been said that Victor Hugo's pic
ture Of Jean Vatican, the outoast with noble
instincts, who tries again and again to ex-
and who again and again sucoumbs In the
struggle, profoundly influenced the admin
istration of the French criminal law, and
for many years that spirit Of pity and toll
Grafton which the French poet depicted in
"Les Miserables' has been everywhere in
the air, and nowhere more than here. ID
is therefore right to caution the public
against confounding the diIninution in the
number of offenders detained in prison in
consequence of wise mitigation Of the Sc
verify of the criminal law with a CORE
spending decrease in the amount of crime.
1t is just possible, however, that in avoid
ing one extreme Mr.. Morrison has pushed
his point too far, and has given counte-
nance to a respondent view as little justi-
fed as the optimism which he condemns.
In interpreting the only available figures
the increased vigilance of the police is an
element scarcely to be oyerrated. A
scarcely less important element is that of
publicity. Every offense is noted. The
chances of detection are probably greatly
increased in these days, when every house
hold becomes aware of the person "want-
ed'' 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 offenses
against rolice regulations have increased
or diminished. The morality of the coun-
try may be steadily rising though the con-
victions for breaches Of the education acts
are increasing.
There Is sensible diminution of certain
offenses most Indicative of a licentious
spirit. Property is respected moro than. it
was, and some crimes connected Herewith
and productive Of others-for example, re-
ceiying stolen goods in some towns-bid
fair to disappear. On the other hand, there
is no sign Of reduction in certain other
crimes which appear to come in the train
of material prosperity. The report we get
is both of good and of evil. Of the real
causes of crime and of the extent to which
it can be preFented by practicable meas
ures Mr.. Morrison's figures tell one little
that is positive. More than 1900 years ago
Euripides expounded the theory of the
criminal-ne under which Lombroso, Mar
70 and Ferri have lately labored. The
Greek writer puts into the mouth Of one
of his characters the reflection that, where
as land naturally barren may yield good
harvest if the season be good and fertile
land be sterile if the season be unkindly,
men are always what they are-the good
always good, even in the pinch of hard cir
cumstances, the bad always bad-tke Grim
inal-ne certain to be in the DOCK however
carefully the chaplain and the philanthro-
pist look after him. What truth there is
in this view, how far the standing army of
crime consists Of this clement, how far of
people not much worse disposed but less
lucky than others, statisticians do not tell
US. Perhaps they never will. But in that
direction lies the interest of the present
ard still more that Of the future.
Times.