The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-03-19
Increasing Crime In Ha,od,i;i;

Is Hawaii going back? Why is IT, despite the
i undeniable progress being. made by the anti
saloon forces the deyelopn1ent of'ths educational
system, the increased taRqtk of the churches and
the elevation Of the political tone of the Territory
generally, that the report Of the chief justice of
the supreme court to the legislature shows an in
crease OF violations Of the law out Of proportion
to the increase in population? 81
Is it because our police catching more law
breakers, or is it because there are more law
breakers per thousand among the people of the
Islands than heretofore? ,,l,4gg
The answer seems tetBe that there is a greater
proportion of lawbreakers than ever before, and
the statistics place the blame for this upon. the
Filipino immigration. In the biennial period Of
1854 reported on there were fewer Hawaians,
Chinese and Japanese convicted of crime by
2235, while the number of Filipinos convicted
increased during the period by 2253, wiping out
the gain. = .,< "@a
With number not quarter that of the Japa-
nese, the Filpnos had practically as many con-
victed in the criminal courts, the convictions of
all nationalities for the two years being: Ha-
waiian, 1859; Chinese, 2352; Japanese, 1850; Ko-
reans, 716; Filipinos, 1883; Porto Rcans, 678;
Spaniards, 152; Russians 287; whites, including
Portuguese 2283, and Others 372 In 1o0o-10 the
Filipino convictions were $50; in 1Qll-l2 they
rose to 2l0O, and for l9l3-l4 they were 4353, a
grave increase. = s. ~. 81"
The convictions for drunkenness decreased in
two years from 1878 to 1927; convictions for
gambling decreased from oO02 to 8OO6; assaults
and battery cases dropped from 1902 to 2244, but
the serious crimes against property, chastity and
life increased greatly. Violations of the liquor
law rose from 1872 to 2o2; sex offenses of the
more serious nature increased from 465 to go ;
stealing in it's various forms, from the high
way robbery to the polished gross cheat increas-
ed from 875 cases to 1865; mansaughter convic-
tions nearly trebled, from four to eleven, and
there were twenty-seven convictions for murder,
as compared to nine for the previous two-year
period. a.. .,,r~S- - = q
During the two years the various circuit courts
dealt with 1897 cases, appeals from district
courts or indictments. OF this number triHe
more than fifty per cent were convicted, in all
784. OF the others only Isl were formally ac-
quilted, the handy mol pros, relieving the epros7
ecuting officers Of the task of proceeding in no
fewer than 542 vases re E,tnAi. ,...al7sl y
OF these congSuient mol presses, the Honolulu
circuit court furnished 800 out Of a total number
Of cases in court of 942 roughly speaking forty
per cent of cases thus dropped without trial by
the city attorney.
Altogether, in the various police court and cir
cult courts of the Territory for the biennial period
of 1854, there were 1882 convictions, COM
pared with 1900 for the previous two years and
an increase of more than 1000 year over the
average of the past eight years. ,e
From 19ll-12 to 1914 the population increas-
ed thirty per cent while the convictions for crime
in the same period increased forty per cent.