The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-04
He Submits Thoughtful Report to Governor. SOME ASTONISHING STATISTICS Remarkable Increase of HomicideS
 and Other Crimes. Mir. Wilson :, :ses Napnber of sug- gcstions to Reduse she
 Figures on Crime in E.
 tbe state.
SOME ASTONISHING STATISTICS

That crime in the State sof Ala balna is on the increase. and has grown to alarming proportions during the last four years is shown in figures which appear in the biennial reports of Attor- ney General Massey Wilson, from lsO2 to 1906 which were submitted to Gov ernor Jelks yesterday.
 From the general statement of the records ofs the criminal courts of the stats for the year ending September &C.,. 1904. it Is shown there were 11.574 eases disposed of In that time. During the two years ending September 30. 190B. there were 13,616 cases disposed of. an increase over the former years of nearly eighteen per cent.
 Of the cases during the period ending in 1904 there were 6.S54 Convictions. 1.f4 acduittals. 2,sso nolle prosequies and AS cases which were abated or with drawn During the last two years 7.- 954 convictions were secured, while there were 1861 acquittals, 2,S2S nolJe proseqnies and ss12 cases which were abated or withdrawn.
 Of the convictions during the former period, there were 42 sentences to death: I.s14 sent to the penitentiary; 1,623 were sentenced to hard labor Tn the countless: 15S were sent to jail; and WUlle tnere were osdSt mes inhpoSSu VI secured. There were three committals to the insane hospital and one to the State reformstory. .tts-s-s
 During the two years ending Sep temher 30, 1908 of the T.954 convictions there were 36 sentences of death; L. 3I5 to the penitentiary; 1.403 to hard labor; 1.340 to jail and 564 fines paid or secured The figure in the report show that during the two years ending e r,~ nf criminal cases were disposed of than at any time since the system of report ing to the Attorney General was be- gun.
 During the two years ending Sep tember 30. 1904 there were 33S cases of homicide disposed of in the State: of this number there were 146 convict ed of murder in the first degree; 1Ol of murder in the second degree; 65 for manslaughter in the first degree and 32 for manslaughter In the second degree ..
 During the two years ending Sep temher 30, 1906, 1t appears that there were 669 cases of homicide disposed of in the State; Of this number there were 1S4 convictions for murder in the first degree; 104 for murder in the second first degree and 47 for manslaughter in the second degree.
 In this connection the Attorney Gen eral says:
 The number of cases of homicide disposed of during the two years end ing September 30, 1906. is almost double the number disposed of during the preceding two years. I am unable to account for this astounding increase. Certainly a problem Is presented which calls for the most thoughtful consider ation of the people of this State and more especially of the executive off, cerS: tg &
 Regard and respect for the law comes not so much from the severity, as from the certainty of punishment. Defendants in more than fifty-siT hun dred cases during the last two years were either not tried or were acquit- ted It hardly seems reasonable that so large a numoer of prosecutions could be instituted without testimony to convict
 Tn very interesting discussion of this question by Judge Thomas of the City Court of Montgomery. before the International Congress of Arts and Sciences, St. Louis, Mo, September, 1904. he reached the following conclu- sions. with which I am inclined to agree: -s
 'First-Variations in the enforce ment of law are not 80 much due to climate, race, density of population, il- llteracy, form of government, length of governmental experience. as to a varying ieniency in the spirit of its administration.
 " 'Second-This varying toleratlon of crime is largely the result of an impa- tient desire for individual power. born Of unlimited opportunity, causing men to disregard their duties to the social compact.
 "Thlrd-Beneath 1t all is a moral arrest, a process of adjustment in in- dividual conception of, and cravings for. absolute truth, not yet so crystal ized in the aggregate of individual