p. 8 | THE INCREASE OF CRIME by L. A. Phippeny

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 19, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 51.

THE INCREASE OF CRIME.

By L. A. Phippeny

THIS is a well-worn heading, but every indication is that it will stand true in the present until the history of crime and criminals is brought to a close by the personal coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. As the law views it, crime is only a part of evil, and it would be absurd to say that crime is increasing, while wickedness of other descriptions is decreasing. It is true that a great deal of the public's information on this question is derived from the newspapers, the greater portion of which are inclined toward the sensational. And yet no one will thoughtfully say that the newspapers publish all of crime. On the contrary, it is safe to say that only a small per cent. of existing crime and evil appears in print.

It is by no means a desirable thing to proclaim the increase of crime. No doubt it shocks the moral sense of many who are fondly hoping and saying that the world is growing better. But the question is not going to down. Lynchings, mobs, riots, strikes with violence accompanying, and miscarriage of justice, are the causes of a swelling note of protest the country over, to say nothing of the world outside; and men who are slow to recognize in the condition the fulfilment of scriptural predictions indicating that we have searched the threshold of the world's crisis, are quick to see that a condition exists demanding firm treatment, at least, in a social and political way. The subject can not be touched at one point without receiving a shock all through its system. Therefore it is that the following extracts from an editorial in the Independent touch with no tender finger some of the sore but responsible members of this body of evil:—

"Juries are becoming more and more loath to hang murderers; lawyers invent new delays and appeals; judges impose shorter sentences on bank-crackers, house-breakers, and forgers; presidents and governors tumble over themselves in their eagerness to pardon the worst scoundrels on half-expired sentences; trade unions put a stop to remunerative labor in State prisons, as one important step in their program of reducing useful service to a minimum throughout society; politicians and legislators who go to bed every night of their lives wondering what strange fortune has hitherto kept their own precious persons outside of prison walls, aid and abet all these efforts to ameliorate the condition of the unlucky ones who, in spite of everything, get caught. And all the while the strenuous work of robbery, assault, and murder goes industriously on. . . .

"In the last three or four years murder after murder in New York, in Philadelphia, in Chicago, and in other large cities, has gone unpunished. The murderer has gone undiscovered, or he has eluded his pursuers, or he has escaped sentence through the ingenious exploitation of a criminal law that in its solicitude to protect the accused has ceased to protect the public. Train-wrecking and hold-ups of passenger and express trains are little if any less frequent than they were in the unsettled days when railroads first crossed the plains and penetrated the far Southwest. Worse yet is the insecurity of families living in suburban villages and in secluded rural hamlets which ought to be the abode of restfulness and peace. For months past the southern and western suburbs of Chicago have been the scene of weekly hold-ups and highway robberies. One of the most atrocious murders in many years was committed a week ago in the quiet town of Pittsfield, in the Berkshire Hills, of Massachusetts. . . .

"The perpetrators of this crime have not been apprehended, and if by any chance they shall be arrested, it is probable that months will lengthen into years before they are brought to execution. Indeed, the chances are two or three to one that if the crime shall be definitely proven against them, they will by some legal hocus-pocus escape punishment.

"It is these miscarriages of justice, through failures to apprehend malefactors, failures to convict them, and failures to keep them in prison when once they have been put there, that vitiate all the conclusions of writers who try to prove that crime is increasing. . . .

"We are aware that we have spoken disrespectfully of American courts in their criminal procedure, of American executives in their abuse of the pardoning power, and of prison reformers in their zeal to end ancient abuses and to give offenders a chance to reform. We have spoken thus intentionally, for we believe that consideration for criminals at the expense of protection to the law-abiding, has become a scandal and a danger. Not least of the perils of it is the encouragement it gives to the terrible and growing practise of lynching. We are by no means prepared to set forth all the causes that have conspired to produce this lamentable lapse into barbarism; but that one chief cause is found in a settled popular disbelief in the intention and the ability of courts and executives to mete out legal justice, we have not the slightest doubt."

The denunciation of men in authority is deserved, as all know, and the other terrible evils mentioned are of such common knowledge as to require no further comment at this time. There are some who do not deny that there is more crime now than there was ten, twenty, or one hundred years ago, but who insist that the proportion of criminals to the general population is less, and is decreasing; in other words, that morality is prevailing. But this is a conclusion based on the world's self-constructed premise that material progress makes for good, and is a deception. Increase of wealth and inventions and growth of science do not by any means imply the presence of the leaven of righteousness. There is only one true promise, and that is God's Word, which we are aware the world is coming to regard as foolishness. But that Word will judge the world not far hence, and its testimony of the last days is: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving; and being deceived."

And concerning men in high places, the picture was drawn long ago that we behold to-day: "And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil is accounted mad." "That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire; so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier; the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge." Be not deceived; the world is terribly wicked, and the great day of final judgment is breaking. But be not discouraged; turn from earthly hopes to the enduring and heavenly. There is a solution of the matter in Christ, our source of wisdom, and our redemption.

L. A. PHIPPENY.