Increase of Crime

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 16, 1915

Increase of Crime

A WRITER in one of our exchanges draws from the report of the police department of Chicago some conclusions which are not encouraging:—

In 1910 there were sixty-one charges of murder in the city. Following this there was a steady increase year after year, until in 1914 the figures mounted to 229. There may also be added to this 67 cases of manslaughter. Crimes of various kinds in the city are said to be on the increase. . . . The crime of burglary has increased more than fifty per cent in five years; robbery, forty per cent; crimes against children, fifty per cent. It is asserted that 1,400 automobiles were stolen in the city during last year. There were arrested in Chicago in 1914, 115,286 persons. Of these more than 71,000 were Americans, and the rest may be divided between at least twenty other nationalities. This goes far to offset the claim made many times that the foreign-born population is the largest contributor to our criminal records. It would appear from the above that native-born Americans are fully performing their part in the dark recital.

One of the sorriest parts of this unpleasant picture is that of juvenile offenders. These have multiplied to an alarming extent in the city. They are from the schools, and many times are dealt with in a very lenient way. On repeated offenses they are sent to some reformatories. It is said that in the reformatories of the State more than fifty per cent are from the city of Chicago. This is one of the most serious problems before our modern city governments. One of the Chicago teachers endeavors to solve the problem by laying the blame for present conditions at the door of too great a leniency for the children:—

“There are tens of thousands of boys in Chicago, born here of foreign parents or brought to America in their infancy. In the Old Country, from which they came, obedience or respect for those in authority was sternly enforced. They learn that this is the land of the free, where it is thought that everybody may do as he pleases. Presently they begin to look down on the old folks and to flout their authority. Family discipline does not last long.

“When these boys come to school, they are shortly told that it is against the rule for the teacher to lay hands on them, no matter what the provocation. They become impudent and disobedient. A teacher stands it as long as possible. Then the boy is taken to the principal and here he gets off some more impudence. Presently the offender is reported as incorrigible. Next the courts get hold of him, and he is sent to some reformatory institution, and is started on a career of crime. I sincerely believe that the chief reason for the rapid increase in the number of juvenile delinquents—which is a polite way of saying criminals—is the fact that we teachers are not allowed to discipline them, and thus teach them the most important of all lessons, that of obedience, self-control, and respect for law during their school days.”