The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-02-26
THE RECORD OF VIOLENCE.

been made UP and We are indebted Z
il for a copy. 1t appears that durin:
the year 1901 the murders We're 1852
as against S275 in 1900. The lega
hangings were lis as against 119 in 1900
| and the suicides were 1915 as agains
6755 two years ago. Lyncnings have
| increased from rs to 135. but the mum
| Der is much smaller than the average
I for ten years past.
The Tribune says that. as usual, tbs
/ year found the greatest proportion OF
| all the crimes, save suicide, in the
| South OF the legal executions the
| South had So and the North SO. and OF
those executed II were negroes and Al
whites. Compared with 1900. the num-
Der Of whites decreased 10 and the ne
groes increased by exactly the same
number. The crimes which led up TO
these executions were as follows: Muir
der, 107; criminal assault. 8; attempted
criminal assault. /; train robbery, l.
In legal hangings, Alabama led off
with u, followed by Arkansas and
Pennsylvania, with II each. Next came
Louisiana and Florida, with 9 each, and
then New York. with T. Alabama and
Tennessee had each; Mississippi and
Texas, 8 each; Missouri, Maryland,
Virginia and Washington, each; and
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Ida
no, Iowa. Kansas, Maine, Michigan,
Nebraska, New Hampshire Nevada,
North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota,
Utah, Vermont, West Virginia. Wis
consin, Wyoming, Arizona, Indian Ter
ritory and Oklahoma had none. OF the
Southern States South Carolina, with
2. shows the smallest number.
"Of the lynchings," says the Trib-
une, "121 occurred in the South and IA
in the North, as compared with 107 in
the South and in the North in 1900, an
increase which is not creditable to the
five Northern States, California, Idaho,
Montana, Kansas and Indiana. The
number OF negroes lynched in 1901 was
107, the same number as in 1900. Be
sides these, one Indian and one China
man were victims. Curiously enough,
the principal crimes which led to these
lynchings are almost the same in the
two years, being SO for murder in 1901
and SO for murder in 1900; 10 for Grim
inal assault in 1901 and IS for criminal
assault in 1900 The six Southern
States which had the largest number
of mob murders were Mississippi, 16;
Louisiana, Is; Alabama, Is; Georgia, "A;
Tennessee. II; Texas, II. Three of
ment, Mississippi having 4. Louisiana
3, and Georgia 2 less than last year,
but Alabama has increased z, Tonnes
see 3, and Texas 7. Discouraging as
these figures appear there are many
causes at work in the South which
promise Improvement. 1t is not en-
couraging that the number of lynch
ngs in the North should have increas-
ed so much.''
OF the II lynchings in the North,
Kansas had 2, California 6, Idaho l,
Montana 4. Indiana 1. However, Okla
homa had 2 and the Indian Territory
L and these perhaps ought to be added
Missouri Is credited with 6. the same
as California.
A sad story Is told when we come to
the record of suicides. For some rea-
son there has been a constant increase
in this kind of death since 1890. The
Tribune attributes it to the ease with
which poison is obtained, this being the
most common agency employed, and to
a general increase in the public famil-
iarity with narcotics. The suicide rec
ord for the ten years reads as follows:
1892, $3.50; 1898, 1895; 1894, 1912; 1895,
$3.50; 1896, $3.50; 1897, $500; 1898, $500;
1899, >534O; 1900, 6755; 1901, 7245.
OF the suicides of last year $3.50 were
males and 1895 females, and curiously
enough this proportion of about five to
one has held good for a number of
years. Physicians, as usual, head the
list among professional men, the record !
standing: Physicians SO; attorneys, !
10: clergymen, 10; bankers, 6; journal
lists, 8; college professors, l. OF the
total, 300 killed themselves with poi
son, 2476 by shooting, GA by hanging, J
5l3 by drowning, $50 by cutting their
tnroats, 5S by jumping from roofs and ,
windows, 80 by throwing themselves in
front of locomotives. % by stabbing, %
by fire, IL by dynamite and by starry
Ing.
OF the causes which led TO these self
murders it is difficult 10 speak under
For example, the cause of
$3.50 of them Is given as espondency,"
which is itself but the manifestation of
a cause. OF the remainder, 1913 are list
ed as unknown, GA from insanity, 618
from ni-health, 541 from domestic in
439 from liquor, 2S3 from unre-
quilted love, and 81 from business
losses.
Another in a-astiug feature OF the
Tribune's article = its ANALYSIS OF the
causes which Ied 10 The 1852 murders Of
last yeac-more deaths, by the way,
than vsra incurred during the war
with Spain and in the Philippines. or
the [. ,ai. 1891 were from causes I'M
known. i6s5 we're from quarrz'., $50
from HquC-. IS from jealousy. isS by /
Ia from insanity, 20
were infanticidc 134 from resisting ar
rest, IS killed in riots, 23 in the e-er- /
else OF self-defensa. 20 n strikes. and l. ,
women from outrage. TIE murders At .
TIL uted to liquor stand second il the
list. and there is more than s-spi- /!
cion that some of the 1916 listed as
''Guarrels" belong in the liquor column. /.
one of the notable features Of the muir :
der statistics is the distinct showing +
made for peace in some Of the newer I
states and Territories. Colorado. for
example, had no lynchings. no legal
hangings and far less of killing than
is common And what is true OF Col
orado is true OF all the bully West"