CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL.
By Christian at Work
THAT crime is on the increase in this country may not be a pleasant thing to contemplate, but it is a fact brought out at the recent meeting of the National Prison Association. The growth of our prison population shows marked increase during the last forty years, and it is remarkable that, contrary to the general understanding, this increase is greater among the native than among the foreign population. . . . In 1850 the ratio of foreign-born prisoners to the foreign-born population was more than five times that of native prisoners to the native population, but in 1880 it was little less than double. Mr. F. H. Wines, secretary of the Prison Association, has put forth an elaborate paper on the subject, from which some interesting facts are obtained. From the statistics, as summed up by Mr. Wines, it appears that the native whites of this country are more addicted to crimes of interest, the foreigners generally to crimes of passion, though the Englishmen, Scotchmen, and Canadians are exceptions, there being among them a smaller ratio of crimes of passion and a larger ratio of crimes of interest than even among the native whites. Of the foreigners, those most given to crimes of violence, proportionately to their numbers, are in the order named: Immigrants from Italy, Spain, Russia, Switzerland, South America, Holland, and Ireland. It will surprise very many people to find the much-abused Irishmen at the foot of this list.