THE INCREASE OF CRIME by F. M. W.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 24, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 25.

THE INCREASE OF CRIME.

By F. M. W.

IT is often argued by those who believe in the speedy conversion of all the world that crime is greatly on the decrease. We wish that this were indeed true, but we cannot shut our eyes to the stern facts which assert the contrary. Paul says, “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” The history of all the past proves this to have been the growing tendency of the race of man. The history of the future (the prophecies of God’s word) plainly declares that this will be the tendency for the time to come. As we near the final culmination of earthly history, the nations of men will have filled up the cup of their iniquity to the brim. Delayed justice will assert its right, and upon a guilty world will be visited the wrath of the Lamb, whose proffers of mercy and love have been spurned and rejected.

The logic of facts presented in the world around us shows that crime is rapidly on the increase. Nor can the force of the argument be broken by the plea that the increase of crime is caused by the increase of the population. Statistics go to prove that the increase of iniquity is out of all proportion to that of the populative growth. A few figures will demonstrate the correctness of this claim.

Take for instance the increase of drunkenness. Surely all will admit this to be one of the crying evils of the day,—an evil, too, out of which grows, either directly or indirectly, many of the crimes that fill the country with violence.

According to Rev. Josiah Strong, D.D., in his widely-circulated and much-read book, “Our Country,” in Great Britain from 1850 to 1874, “while the population increased 113 per cent., the consumption of spirituous liquors increased 241 per cent. From 1868 to 1887, while the population increased less than 10 per cent., the amount of spirituous liquors consumed increased 37 per cent.” Says the Voice: “In the United States the consumption of beer has increased, since 1840, 1,675 per cent.; of wine, 400 per cent.; and of ardent spirits, 200 per cent.” And “during the same time,” adds Mr. Strong, who quotes the above extract from the Voice, “the population increased about 217 per cent.” These facts argue little for the speedy conversion of the world.

Take, as another notable example of the increase of crime, the growing frequency of the chief of all crimes,—murder. The present day is without a parallel in all the history of the past in the increase and frequency of this terrible evil. Upon the increase of murders in this country the following words from Judge Isaac C. Parker, a United States District Judge, will be of interest. They are part of a charge given to the Grand Jury at the February term of the Federal Court, sitting at Fort Smith, Arkansas:—

Let me say to you that in the year 1889 there were committed in the United States murders that were discovered, 3,568; in 1890 there were committed 4,290 known murders, an increase of 722, or about 20 per cent. over those of 1889. But in 1891 and in 1892 the red-handed demon seemed to fully get in his work. In 1891 the number of known murders was 5,908, nearly 6,000, over one-half as many more as were committed in 1889. The total number of murders known to have been committed in 1892 was 6,791, an increase of 793 over the year 1891, being an increase of a fraction over 11 per cent. During these four years there has been an aggregate of 20,557 murders. How much security for human life is there in this country, in the face of these facts? When we consider that the undiscovered murders in the four years I have named will make up at least one-fourth as many more as those which are known, it is safe to say that 25,000 human beings have been murdered in the United States in four years.

Laxity in enforcing laws against crime is always proportionate to the laxity in the morals of the people. And while the great increase in crime to-day is startling, more startling still is the laxity in the enforcement of the laws to suppress or punish the crime. The same bloodthirsty savagery which prompts the criminal to take the life of his victim is often seen in the punishment of the criminal. Instead of allowing justice to take its course, the fickle public will either idolize, and by their unwise course shield the lawbreaker, or else, moved by the same murderous cruelty that actuated him, they will rise up, and, without law, order, or investigation, wantonly take

his life. Either course shows a corruption of morals and a spirit akin to the one who commits the murder.

Speaking upon this point, Judge Parker says:—

There are other startling facts, and they show almost a failure to enforce the law in cases where these high crimes have been committed. For the 4,290 murders committed in 1890 there were executed by the law 102 persons, and there were lynched by mobs in that year 127 persons, more persons punished by mob violence than by the juries and courts.

In 1891 there were for the 5,906 murders committed tried by the law and executed 123 persons, while there were lynched by mobs 195. In 1890 25 more persons were lynched than were punished by verdicts of juries, and in 1891 72 more persons were lynched than were punished by law. In 1892, for the 6,791 murders committed, 107 persons were tried by the law and executed, while 236 were lynched by mobs, 231 of them being men, and 5 women; 129 more persons were lynched last year by mobs than were executed under the law.

The figures for these years are amply sufficient to show that the increase of crime is out of all proportion to the increase of population, and that the punishment for this high crime, while crime is constantly increasing, is constantly decreasing. There seems to be a failure of duty somewhere. What is the matter with the system of jurisprudence in this country that more men each year are taken out and destroyed by the violence of the mob, by the fury of the populace, and put to death for having committed murder, than are tried and convicted and punished legally for this great crime?

Yes, crime is sadly on the increase. The world is fast hastening on toward its final doom. Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that crime is on the decrease, and that the world must be converted before Christ returns. The doctrine of the world's conversion, or a thousand years of peace and righteousness before the coming of the Lord, is one of the last-day delusions to blind the minds of men to the truths of God's word. All men might come to Christ if they would, but all men will not come. The great mass of the people will reject God and his truth. Let us not expect peace this side of the literal reign of the Prince of Peace. If we do we shall be deceived, and, with those who cry "Peace and safety," shall sudden destruction come upon us.

But while crime is on the increase, and Satan is working with all power to drown men in perdition, we, as the professed servants of Jesus Christ, should increase our efforts to rescue men and women from the vortex of destruction. In the midst of prevailing sin our light should shine out clear and undimmed, a beacon to those in darkness. May Christ in us be lifted up to the race, and may men be led by our godly lives to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. F. M. W.