The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1901-06-18
THE INCREASE OF CRIME.

It would seem from the daily papers that this
country IS undergoing very baptism of blood.
Murders and suicides every day occurrences,
and attract attention only when attended by extra
ordinarily sensational features. Crime may be di-
v1ded into three classes, crimes of passion, crimes
of necessity and crimes from inherent depravity.
During the hard times the country witnessed many
crimes OF necessity; thieving embezzng and pill
lterlng OF all kinds. Such crimes not so ram
pant now. The criminal by inheritance have
always with us. The criminal is almost dis
tnct people. Their progeny can be traced through
the records of jails and penitentares and asyums
Just as certainly as the current of the gulf stream
can be traced through the trackess ocean 1t is
the crime of passion, the crimes:committed in full
blood, the crimes of the prosperous and the vgor
Gus which press upon the people to-day. The peo-
pie OF America are living under fearful pressure
OF nervous tension. Men striving to become
rich in day, they fail to do this and the over
wrought nerves prompt the brain to suicide. They
are not the suicides of grinding dispair and want
but suicides of disappointed ambitions or discover
ed crimes. In other words the people border
ing on state OF emotional insanity 1t is contag-
lous In one little town in Kansas the newspapers
are forbidden to publish detailed accounts of sui
cides on account of the prevalence of the mania.
All kinds of mystical ssisms abound in the coun-
try and no new creed is so absurd as not to find
followers. We believe that in a measure these
crimes are due to the doctrine of discomfort which
has been preached by demagogues for the past few
years. They have made envy to enter into the
hearts of men, they have encouraged the feeling
that riches ard prosperity are not the rewards of
the work of the brain or of the hand, but of
he b,u baa,,
made to feel that they were so because some one
else had cheated them, and the people have been
told that the only wayto gain position and equality
in the eyes of the law and of the world was to become
rich. Is wonder that men have struggled be-
yond their capacity in order to become rich, is it
wonder that men, longer content with the in
come from their daily toll, have rushed into mpos-
sible speculations which have led to failure and
dispair and suicide. Verify the demagogues have
much for which to answer. Prosperity also has
much to answer for. Given more money, men
have had both greater temptation and opportunity
for the qualification of the baser passions and this
has led to many sensational murders and other
cases of the police and divorce courts What we
need is return to first principles in many respects
We need less envy and more common sense, less
carnalitY and more spirituality, less "hypo" and
more hard work.
The Des Moines Leader says the Burlington
Hawkeye is not republican paper. AS hard
working republican we have always wished there
was some reliable authority that would thus sepa
rate the sheep from the goats and the long years
service which the Leader has given the republicans
of this state eminenty qualify it for the position
of mentor and press The Leader Direc