New-York tribune., 1898-01-13
appealing to the sympathy and charity Of the
American people.
LOMBROSO'S LATEST SENSATION.

LOMBROSO'S LATEST SENSATION.
We have always felt sympathy for Professor
Cesare Lombroso His popular repute OF being
the master Of that monger Of sensations Max
Nordau. seemed to entitle him to 1t. But 1t Is
an instance Of the literal rendering unto
Cesar that which is Cesars. The master gets
due credit for his disciple The method OF dress
Ing out In the respected garb OF science the
most grotesquc and yellow journalistic Of sensa-
| tions is theirs in common.
The italian Criminooglst has published In the
last two numbers OF THE North American Re-
view" an article entitled why Homicide Has
Increased in the United States" 1t Is wonder
! fully impressive. scientific and serous-and 1t
has a title which Is designed to catch the eye of
the sensation hunter. THE United States stands
alone" declares the Professor, I'm Offering an
extraordinary exception to what may be called
'the rule for. according to statistics mot al
ways reliable, however, published here, homi-
cides are Of startling frequency in that country.
This fact is OF greater significance when we
consider that, while in all other civilized coun-
tries homlcdes are yearly decreasing in num-
"bers In America the contrary is the case. such
Grimes being continually on the increase
Professor Lombroso then proceeds with his
statstics-"not always reliable. however'-and
increased GO per cent from 1880 to 1890 while
the population increased only 20 per cent. The
Professor confuses arrests for homicide with
homicdes I; seems to us q fairer conclusion
from the statistics would be that society In this
country had become better organized In that
decade the police system more effective. and so
the arrests for crime more numerous. The one
deduction is as justhabe the other. so call
ing arrests homicides, Professor Lombroso
shows the number OF such crimes to be - to
100000 inhabitants. Tho number is not start
ling" as compared to that OF European coun-
tries. for. according to some more OF the Pro-
fessor's statistics, Italy's ratio Of homlcides
is 96 to 100000 inhabitants: Hungary's,
15 Spans. IS; Austria's %; France and
Belgium's, 49, Sweden and Norway's. %;
while only two--Engand and Germany
show smaller ratio than this country. their
ratio being 3. There Is nothing In these
statistics to show whether they are Of reported
homicides arrests for homicide. Perhaps the
figures Of England and Germany may be OF con-
vctons of homicdes; who knows. In watching
the manipulations of this statistical magcian2
These statistics are Of even less value for pur-
poses OF comparison than appears on their face,
for the reason Professor Lombroso says. that
many persons whom the law in the United
"sidered in Europe. Hence. the homicdal statis-
tics which appear so dscreditable to the United
States have not the same significance as SINH
lar statistics have in Europe"
So much for his figures Now for his reasons
for this increase. We give the captions Of his
subdivisions Of this subject: Climate" "Immi-
grafton" Negroes and Mongoans," "Civiliza-
ton and Barbarism." Thus he shows that the
seml-tropical climate OF the Southern States
conduces to violent crimes. Immigration bring
ing TO this country peoples who maintain at
home averages OF 06. 10, IS. ETC. homicdes to
every 100000 inhabitants. contributes power
fully to make the ratio OF this country high.
They do not change their habits with their
habitat. The Italian loses In New-York moth
Ing OF the spontaneity oc stetto-handling that
he possessed In Naples. The several nation
"aitles furnished the same proportion OF homi-
''cldes in the United States in their respective
native countries"
The negroes too, not far removed from bar
barism and still less from slavery are another
cause OF the number OF homicdes in this coun-
try So. too, the semi -barbaric life on the from
tier States unbridles the primitive instincts Of
mankind More direct methods Of avenging
wrongs than those which civilization prescribes
find favor In those communities.
ouCn, IN Drlel, is the course or the Professor o
argument. No would dispute that It does
show reasons for the greater number Of homl-
cides In this country as compared. for instance
with England. but does 1t show the slightest rea-
son for increase OF homcides In 1890 over
1880? The climate. forsooth! Had the climate OF
the Southern States changed so TO awaken any
more criminal instincts in 1890 than in 1880?
Had the character Of immigration so altered
that at the end Of the decade this country was
receiving a larger proportion Of Europeans with
homicidal instincts than at the beginning? Per-
haps Il had. but Professor Lombroso neglects
to show It, Whatever change had taken place
in the negro and the inhabitant OF the frontier
were they not decade nearer to civilization in
1890 than In 1880? Professor Lombroso has
stated a condition what is only a presump-
tOn, and has written an explanation which does
not explain. 1t is such work this which |
throws into utter discredit the serious and phil
anthropc efforts OF students to treat crime |
scientifically. 1t is nearly century since an !
English statesman announced that nothing lies |
like facts except figures" SiLce that time not |
a few masters OF mathematical plausibility have |
been taking advantage of the truth OF his |
epigram