The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-01
HOMICIDEs IN THIS COUNTRY
Appalling Statistics of a Crime THAI
Knows No Exclusive Section:
Washington Post.

a Louisville preacher has recently made
the sta rtling assertion that home life is
safer in the dOminions of the Ameer OF
Afghanistan than ii is in Kentucky. There
are more murders in Louisville, with 1Oa.CO0
people, than there are in London, with
1,00O,0 900. There are more murders in Ken
lucky, with it's 2,OCO.OOO people, than in
Great Britain, with a population of 10000
900. Finally, there are more murders in
the United States than in the whole OF
Europe, with Italy and Turkey left out and
Russia included" The Nashville American
says-and who can deny-that this state
ment is true" The American asseveri. ties
that mo other civilized nation approaches
this in the matter of murder, and those
which come nearest TO it are SUCH countries
as Italy and Turkey, where the assass7n's
knife is freely used, and where men allow
their anger and hate and diSgraceful Tas-
sions to rule thir conduct. This Nation
has a red record of which it should be
heartily ashamed"
1t is not our purpose to disparage foreign
missions, for they are doing a vast deal OF
good in many countries, but we sometimes
think it requires a strong equipment o.
nerve for Americans TO go abroad to
spread righteousness, leaving so horrible a
red record in their own country. One
can easily imagine the discontinue of one
of our ambassadors of Christ In Asia or
Africa if some well-informed heather
should confront him with the awful array
of facts proclaimed by the Louisville
preacher and admitted by our Nashville
contemporary. TIL Chicago Tribune'S fig
QreS are Z,0lb as our grand tOlal OF lyncn-
ings from 1885 TO 1891. Suppose some OBJ
durate pagan were to get hold of that fact
and thrust it in the face Of our mission
aries and quote from the Bible. "Physi-
clan, heal myself" We wonder If such in
cidents do not sometimes occur. And we
would like to know how the missionary
would meet the suggestion that a country
so wicked as ours needs the services of all
its good men, or the further suggestion
that a religion under which so terrible a
record of crime was possible was scarcely
the thing to spread abroad.
While 1T is easy enough here at home, or
in any Christian land, to explain that all
this crime comes from disobedience of
Christian teachings, and while a compari-
son of the conditions prevailing in Chris
tian lands with those of other countries is
an au-suf1clent vindication of Christianity,
it might be extremely difficult to get all
we suspect that If the Louisville preacher
were to go into Africa or India and try to
win converts by frankly stating the facts
above recorded his preaching would have
somewhat of a boomerang effect.
We agree with the Nashville American
that this Nation should be heartily
ashamed" of its bloody record. Our total
of homicides runs from 1000 to 5000 d year,
and most of them go unpublished. There
are more than fifty murderers abroad for
every one that is executed or imprisoned.
1t Is true that, on the other hand, we
lead the world in charity and benevolence;
true that We are doing more for education
and religion than any other people; true
that our progress in nearly all the elements
of national greatness and strength has no
parallel in human history. But all this does
makes our one great disgrace more promi-
nent.