The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-07-21
RECORDS OF CRIME.
THE DIFFERENT KINDS THAT Fl ousN.
1871 IN SEVERAL STATES

The Average Of some Sections Lowered nv.
tine Influx OF OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES to.
the hscOrdS, Ohio Seems TO be the Rest,
Michigan and Florida the worst,
Nine out Of every ten men II asked in,
winch part Of the country was the.
most wickedness would answer the,
Atlantic seaboard. Their assumption.
would be based on the fact that the
large cities and particularly New York
are situated there and almost every.
BODY thinks New York city is the wick,
edest place in the United States.
Inc records of crime do not bear out
thls assumption and a comparison Of
the police records OF Eastern and West.
erh cities is quite favorable to New
YORK, Philadelphia, Boston or any of
the Eastern cities.
Inc population must, of course, be
taken into consideration when a COM
parlSon of States is made, lust as it is
Wheh their relative illiteracy is made
the subject OF st9tisticians' reports
mus considered, the Empire State
compares most favorably with any
other State in the Union. And thus
Judged. also, the Two worst States are
Michigan and Florida. Michigan's
crime list is swelled, it is said, by the
influx of lumbermen to the upper half
of the State, while certain parts of
FLORIDA being aim ST in their primitive
state may account for its condition.
The average of certain manufactur.
I Ing States is lowered by the influx
/ there of foreign workmen who bring
Z Il,
settS and Connecticut would have the
reputation Of having the best people in
the country were it not for the Portu.
gueSe and other foreign laborers at
tracted to Fan River and similar
places where there are big mills or
MANUFACTURES of various kinds. Some
OF the most dreadful crimes in the an
mails of the law have been perpetrated
N those extremely law abiding States.
Ihat is why they do not rank very
high among the virtuous.
The same is true of New York city
Or rather of New York State, because
Of the city. Its crime" record is pro-
digiously swelled by the rapid knife q
the Italian, and the imported citizens
of other nationalites.
The records show that the very best
people in the United States are the
men and women OF Ohio. Out of every
hundred thousand inhabitants of Ohio
only 81 commit serious crimes during
year. And when the police report
best they practically mean most
honest. If you take any hundred
crimes committed in this vast coun-
try, you will find that so of them are
thefts, burglaries or robberies.
The second, third, fourth and fifth
best States, that is, most honest,
States, are those lying adjacent to
Ohio, like Indiana, Pennsylvania, Miss
ouri and Kentucky. Those conspic.
uous in the other direction are some
Of the Western States, particularly
California. and some of the Southern
States. including two Of the Gulf
States.
Some people will tell you that drunk
mess Is the cause of all other crime.
But the criminal annals show that
there is no truth in this statement. In
the Eastern States twice as many in
dictable serious offenses are committed
as In the Western States. But the
Western man becomes intoxicated
three times to the Eastern man once.
Assaults and other crimes of violence
also seem to have small relation to dis
honesty and very little connection with
drink. Inc most violent of all are the
people of Tennessee, but in point of
honesty they are third best; and with
regard to drink they occupy sixth place
among the States.
1t is safe to say that almost every
one has somehow formed the impress.
sion that the inhabitants of North
Carolina are shiftless as well as
wicked Set of people. This, however,
is one of those general impressions"
which will not stand investigation; it
is slur on the State which has fur.
nished excellent citizens and supplies
magnificent scenery. AS a matter of
stern fact North Carolina ranks bet
ter than fourth in the pyramid of vir.
the formed by the various States, and
he cause Of its crimes, illiteracy, keeps
them down TO a somewhat innocuous
or petty grade.