The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-09-04
Prisoners and Crime.

RrlsOQorS c11tO OA1AAS.
The Bureau Of the Census has re-
Gently published the results Of an IN
vestigation by DR.. Roland ?. Fs!k-
ner of prisoners and juvenile delln-
ouents in institutions. Some of the
facts and conclusions Of the report
are of great interest and slgnltl-
cance. In a recent editorial The Co.
lumbia State compiled from this re-
port the figures we present below.
Not including juvenile delinquents
in special institutions for that class,
and exclusive Of persons imprisoned
for the nonpayment of fines, 6l,772
sane persons at least five years OF
age were serving sentences IN civil
prisons in the estimated population
on June 30, 1904, 1,004 were priso-
ners. On June l, 1890, the total
number of prisoners was only 66.oO3
but the number in each million Of
the population was l ,O67.
The investigator warns US, how
ever, not to accept these figures as
showing diminished tendency
toward crime. There have been
changes in the treatment of young
offenders that remove, for the time,
a large number of them from the
records; and the report admits that
the figures do not indicate whether
or not crime has actually decreased.
There is an increase in crime
among the negroes, while there is
a marked decrease in crimina.lty
among foreign-born whites. The
increase among the negroes is partic-
ularly noticeable in the North Cen
trail States, where it was nearly
fifty per cent. Following is the re-
markable conclusions drawn from
the figures:
The foreign-born whites, unlike
the colored, appear to be Of decreas-
ing Importance among prisoners. In
1890 the immigrant class formed
1913 per cent. Of all white prisoners
Of known nativity, but by 1904 this
percentage had decreased to Z3.7.
The native whites, on the other
hand, show and increased proper
ton, forming 1853 per cent. of the
total number of white prisoners in
1904 and only 71.8 per cent. in 1890.
This change, moreover, is not con-
fined to any one section of the coun-
try but is common to all. Even the
North Atlantic States, which have
absorbed most of the late immigra-
ton, show larger percentage OF
native prisoners and a smaller per
centage of foreign than they did in
1890.
The number of prisoners in each
million Of population varies very
widely in the differsnt States: In
1904 Nevada reported 1856; Califor-
MIA 5,234;; Massachusetts,, 1923: New
Jersey, 4, 1879 and Connecticut, a.
l43. At the other extreme are Ok
lahoma with 333, District of Colum-
bia with 419, Arkansas with 552,
Alabama with 557, Georgia with SIT,
and South Carolina with 586.
In the country as a whole -, 7o3
persons were sentenced for drunken
ness, 49, ,339 for vagrancy, and IT,
264 for disorderly conduct. In Of
her words, more than one-half of
the total number of prisoners COM
mitted during the year were SEN
fenced for some Of these three close
ly allied offenses. No less than 25,-
098 prisoners, 1863 per cent. for lar
ceny; 1917 or 7.3 per cent, for
assaults: and 7, l61 or 4.8 per cent,
for burglary. Of the remaining Of
fenses, homicide showed the largest
NUMBER. 444 or 1.6 per cent of the
total.
In discussing the relative proper
ton Of criminal among the white
and colored population, the report
has the following to say:
Among the 149,69l prisoners
committed during 1904, 5,093
were white and 24,598, colored of
whom 1856 were Mongolians and TIA
Indians. In other words 1914 per
cent, of the total number Of prision-
ers committed during the year were
colored. Of the general population
in 1900, the colored formed only 12.l
per cent. Since it can not be pre-
sumed that the proportion of color
ed in the population increased ma
terially between 1900 and 1904, it is
evident that the colored contribu-
ted to the prison class in excess of
their representation in the general
population. This condition is not
confined to any one section Of the
country, for the figures show that it
obtained in every State andTcrri-
tory except North Dakota and Ari-
zona, where the colored population
is composed chiefly of Indians.
The colored, moreover, formed a
arger percentage of the prisoners
of the more serious crimes
than they did Of those who had
oeen sentenced for the lesser Of
lenses. They formed 31.5 per cent.
If the major offenders and only l3
Der cent. Of the minor.
A particularly noteworthy portion
If thereport deals with the relation
If age to crime. Of the total number
If prisoners of known age, it states
;O,2 per cent were between the ages
# 20 and 40 years. The negro pris-
,ners, however were very much
younger than the white, for Of the
III per cent. were under 80 years
# age as contrasted with 1919 per
:ent. of the whites. Whether these
igures point to an earlier develop
nent Of criminaity in the negro race
" rather indicate that among ne
,roes coming into maturity at the
ime Of this investigation the crlml-
lal tendencies were greater than IN
he older generation Of negroes,
must probably be left an open ques- ,
ion. !,