The Spread of Crime by S. B. Whitney

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 2, 1875

“The Spread of Crime.”

By S. B. Whitney

NOTWITHSTANDING the saying of “peace and safety” which is heard so often from the pulpit and religious press, the conviction will press itself upon the public mind that matters in this respect are growing worse instead of better. The alarming extent to which crimes of every hue and kind are being carried, forbids the attempt to itemize; for it cannot be told which are predominant. An article with the above heading in the Boston Journal of May 25, a portion of which we give below, is very much to the point:—

“A New York paper expresses the deliberate opinion that the criminal class in that city is not sufficiently under the terror of the law, that the deterrent forces of the government are not as powerful as they should be and can be made, and that the whole subject demands the careful, conscientious consideration of all right-minded citizens. Exactly the same state of things, whether worse in degree or not, exists in Boston. The administration of the law has not been enforced here with that vigor, persistency, firm judgment, and practical skill, which are demanded by the welfare of the community. The criminal classes ought to have been made to feel that they were under a surveillance which it was no use for them to try to evade or escape, and that detection meant inevitably conviction and condign punishment; that no soft-heartedness on the part of magistrates, nor appeals of money-bought eloquence or of kindred’s tears, would suffice to smother the decrees of justice. We have all, doubtless, fallen short of our duty in this respect, and have done our part in lowering the tone of public sentiment, so that crime has come to seem not so dreadful a thing as it really is; that is, it has taken a new lease of impunity and of fearful vitality among us. The good name which Boston once had among the cities of the Union seems really in danger of giving place to a reputation for crimes peculiarly strange and heinous.”

“And one of the worst features of the case is, that these developments are not confined to what is generally regarded as the criminal class. They break out where they are least anticipated, among the outwardly respectable, in the walks of those who are apparently not tempted above others, within the very precincts of our churches. It seems quite analogous to the spread of disease in epidemics, according to the modern theory, which attributes the process to the floating of minute spores, or germs of the malady, through the air, and which attach themselves, bringing sickness and death to the constitutions that are in a condition to harbor them. So the tainting essence of crime seems to be spread abroad in the community at times with a truly epidemic energy and fatality. Minds previously supposed to be ordinarily sound break out suddenly with astounding viciousness, and no one knows whom to trust next.”

The following taken from the Utica Morning Herald, of July 10, also speaks for itself, and shows a most deplorable state of things:—

“Testimony taken before the special Assembly Committee, whose summer task is to look after the causes of crime in New York, goes to strengthen the charge that the metropolitan police are the protectors of rogues rather than of honest people. The detective’s story is followed by other tales in confirmation. These witnesses testify to what has been openly charged for a long time by the newspapers. They prove a condition of things which honest citizens cannot contemplate with complacency. The raising of the committee was not regarded with favor. It has thus far done a good deal to demonstrate the utility of official inquiry. It will receive all the credit it deserves, if it fixes the responsibility for the disorder and immunity of crime for which the metropolis is distinguished. The developments made point to as deep-dyed villainy among the ministers of order as among the recognized law-breakers.”

When will men learn what these things indicate? It seems almost as though outraged humanity might justly lift up the voice, and with the souls under the altar cry, “How long?” and yet men are lulled to sleep in the cradle of carnal security only to be awakened to a sense of what these things portend by the fearful scenes of the day of God. Now and then one rouses up to rub his eyes when some dastardly act is perpetrated against his own person, property, or friends, but stupor soon overcomes him, and he sleeps on. Let us who do see these things “not sleep as do others,” but let us “watch and be sober.” S. B. WHITNEY.