El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-12-26

criminal tendencies of the new" i'm
migration that they have come gene
rally to accept as gospel truth the oft
repeated statement that the aliens
coming to America are distinguished
for their criminal tendencies. And yet
every investigation that has been made
points TO the conclusion that if there
is any difference between the 1mml-
grant and the native American IN TINS
! regard it is in favor OF the foreigner
rather than against him
! The statistics do indicate, however.
| that the American born children q
! immigrants show a greater tendency
! to crime than do the children OF ma
/ tive parentage. It also appears that
| the children of immigrants than
among those of native parents
| Crimes of Personal Violence.
A marked increase IN the numDer o.
! crimes of personal violence, such as
] abduction, kidnapping, assault, homlclde
/ and rape is noted, and the number OF
! cases of diSOrderly conduct, drunken
| ness, vagrancy and like offences mas
| increased largely as a result Of the
/ presence of the immigrant The same
/ is true Of offences against chastity, ana
| also of the prevalence OF DlackmaIl'
| extortion, and the receiving OF stolen
/ property. On the other hand, in the
| majority of the gainful offences the
4 native American has a worse record
| than the immigrant
| The commission concludes that the
! increase in the number of offences OF
/ personal violence in this country IS
! due to the immigration from southern
! Europe in general, and from Italy IN
/ particular. The Irish and Scotch are
I notable for their penal records for in
/ toxication, the italian for his number
of attempted homicides, and the Greeks
4 and Russians for their contempt OF
/ public ordinances in the big cities.
Crimes by Native Americans
But a much larger proportion of
! the offences committed by native
Americans are of serious nature
| than among those committed by the
| immigrants. For instance, the census
inquiry shows that seven out OF every
10 crimes committed by native Ameri-
can prisoners are major offences,
while less than six out of 10 commit
ted by immigrant prisoners DeIOngeo
to that category.
. Perhaps the most interesting ten
/ dency disclosed by the investigation IS
| the inclination of the children OF
| foreigners to cease to commit the
| crimes which characterize their par
! ents and to commit the Kinds Of crimes
| which characterize the native Amer1-
can opulation-showing that they imi-
tate Americans with vengeance
Millions to Support Prisons.
There are some 1900 alien prison
ers in the penal institutions of the
United States. Assuming that it costs
only $500 a year to MAINTAIN each OF
them. the country must spend over
S2,500, 600 annually to keep them One
I fourth of their crimes were commit
! ted within three years after their ar
rival in the United States 1t is IN
tereSting to note the tendency OF GER
tain nationalities TO commit certain
forms of crime. Half of the crimes
committed by Italians were Of per-
sOnal violence, while crimes of this
class were committed by one One-SiX-
of he DTfGOnRrE
other hand, the Jews committed near4y
twice as many gainful offences as did
the Italians TWO-thlrds OF the Of
fences of which Irish prisoners were
convicted were against public policy,
while the Germans committed much
less than half as many such crimes.
On the other hand, the Germans COM
mitted more than twice. as many gain
full offences as the Irish And so 20
the proportions all down the line. One
nationality makes but few murderers,
yet 1t has many forgers, burglars and
thieves. Another nationality has many
men who commit or attempt to COM
NIT murder, and yet is possessed q
only a few forgers, thieves and burg
lars.
Attempt to Hide Crime.
Much Of the crime among immi-
grants is the direct result of drunken
ness, and this particularly explains
why the number Of crimes Of peESonal
violence among the immigrants from
southern ana eastern Europe Is 80
large. The foreigner often attempts to
hide the crime of his own people, al
though it may have Been committed
against himself 1t has been esti-
mated that not more than three per-
cent Of all those who commit murder
are brought to justice.
The immigration commission 1nVes-
tigated the tendency Of foreign crimi-
nails to come TO the United States IN
order to escape punishment, and the
results show the inadequacy Of the
present law to debar them
1t was found that there are many
Italian criminals in the United States
who served out their sentences before
coming; many others who were tried
and convicted in their absence and |
are fugitives from justice; many who
were acquitted, but against whom
there was strong evidence; and still
others. who never have been tried for
any crime but whose regulations at |
home were notorious. The law shuts |
been tried and convicted before their |
arrival in the United States.
There have been instances where the |
Italian courts have convicted a crimi- !
nal after his landing in the United |
States, but the courts have held that |
the law does not require the deporta- |
ton Of such persons Furthermore, NJ |
matter how clear the evidence that 4
criminal got into the United States in |
defiance Of the immigration laws the |
courts have held that if he has been /
here three years he is not subject to |
deportation.
Many Urge Deportation.
It has been urged in many quarters
that every person who has committed /
a criminal offence should be liable TO
deportation at any time within per-
iod of five years, and also that any
immigrant committing a criminal Of
fence within five years after coming |
here shall be deported Immediately. |
Some have suggested that every per-
son who lands ought 10 be required to /
present q certificate Of good standing
from his home country. AS it is, the /
immigration authorities have very lit /
tie ground upon which to work in try |
ing to prevent the entrance of crirni- !
nails Unless there are peculiar cir |
cumstances the criminal is usually |
shreWd enough to hide any indications |
of IS criminalities, and so he comes in. |
Gen Theodore A. Bingham said, l
when he was police commissioner If /
New York, that he believed there were |
fully 5000 desperadoes from southern /
Italy alone in that city, and that /
among them there were some as fero- |
cioUs and desperate as ever gathered |
in a modern city in time of peace |
/