Year: 1879

A city like New York is certain to have
its full share of crime, however efficient Its
police regulations may be. Wherever the
! extremes of wealth and poverty come in
contact temptation to crime naturally
exists and is increased in proportion to the
love of display prevailing on the one hand
and the suffering experienced on the other
The unemployed man who is willing to
work and earn an honest living leaves his
family starving at home and walks the
streets to see on every side the evidence OF
riches expended on extravaganza and
luxury, an Insignificant fraction OF which
would supply bread for those he loves. lie
might pause to moraliZe on the fact
that these things are inevitable ana
afford no justification of criminal
act: but this would not stop the
cravings of hunger. so he steals
The great bulk of European emigration
comes to New York and remains here, and
from this source we get socialistic theories
that make no nice distinctions about the
rights of property and work much mischief
among the laboring classes. While per-





most respectable citizens there is no doubt
that foreign immigration adds materially
to our lists OF criminals and paupers.
As the financial centre Of the coun-
try New York naturally attracts the
attention of those who engage in
such crimes as burglary, forgery, swim
ding and the like, while q crowded and
busy metropolis is always prolific OF petit
larceny offences. Hence, under the best
of circumstances we may expect that the
police of New York will always find occu-
patton, and that our criminal courts will
not be idle nor our jails empty.


While accepting our full share of the
evil of crime as an inevitable consequence
of the size, wealth and cosmopolitan char
acter of the city, we fail to discover any
good reason why New York should become
notorious above all other cities for the
number and boldness of its criminals We
expend nearly twice as much money as
London or Paris for police protection in
proportion to the respective populations,
yet no one will pretend that life and prop
erty are as secure and as we'll guarded in
New York as in either of the European cap
itals. Our annual appropriation for
the police proper, independent of the
million five hundred thousand dol
lars, and while this amount, if
wisely expended, ought to give us
a greater number Of patrolmen than we
have, the present force ought still to be
quite large enough, with the Park police,
for the efficient protection of the city. That
we do not have this protection must be con-
ceded by everybody who has paid attention
to the history of the great crimes that have
within short period been committed in
the most populous parts of the city. The
burglary at the Manhattan Bank on Broad
way was carried out ut the leisure of the
robbers, the large proceeds were secured
without difficulty, some ofthe thieves stood
coolly at the doors talking with the early
milkmen and preventing them from caus-
ing any interruption Of the operations, and
police officer is now under indictment as
one of the burglars. The Stewart vault rob-
berry was successfully perpetrated under the





the criminals made their way into the
graveyard and left it again bearing with
them the stolen body-a difficult load to
carry at any time. Yet they managed to
get it over the high ratings enclosing the
ground and into cart which had been a
long time awaiting its CHASTITY freight, with
out attracting the observation of the
police, although they worked in an open
space in full view of three or four streets,
in frequented thoroughfare and in the
full light of the street lamps. few weeks
ago q man who had been drinking in COM
pany with a friend got into an alteration
with crowd of rowdies gathered oppo-
seventh street before midnight and was
beaten and kicked to death on the
sidewalk. All the parties to the assault
escaped, and the dead man lay on the side
walk until some citizens summoned a po-
liceman to the spot. Mrs. Hull was mur-
dered because of the sudden thought of
the negro, Cox, that he would break into
her house and steal the jewelry which he
knew she wore. He went up the front
steps of the house at twelve o'clock at
night and tried for some time to open the
street door by means of a false key. Fail
ing in that, and observing by the strong
light of the street lamp that the bolt of the
parlor window was not shot across the
lower hah 80 as to fasten it, he climbed
from the front doorstep to the window SILL


raised the sash and entered the house, from
which he soon afterward emerged q mur-
derer On leaving the house he left the
front street door and the inner vestibule
door wide open, and they so remained until
five o'clock in the morning without attract
ing the attention of the police. Mr.. Sey-
mour is the latest victim. He was shot in