p. 8 | THE CARNIVAL OF CRIME by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 23, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 12.

THE CARNIVAL OF CRIME.

By Editor

WE know of no term more fitting to describe the condition of many of our cities and systems at the present time. Men seem to revel in crime; to count it as a very part of necessary conditions of life; and if not participators in the crime or its spoils and grafts, to condone its commission and treat lightly its unbounded license. Something more than ordinarily notorious in a community occasionally stirs up the mad mob spirit to commit a worse crime; but the love of truth and righteousness and honesty and justice and goodness is in no way nourished or strengthened or deepened.

It may be well to note a few of the manifestations of the prevailing iniquity which in the last few months have come to light.

1. On the Part of the Trusts.—We need but to recall the recent developments in the Ship Building Trust, in which some of the greatest financiers of the country were involved. Fraud, falsehood, dishonesty, swindling, were spelled out upon every page of its black record. The great steel combine of the country has demonstrated that it belonged to the same class. One needs but to read the clear, calm articles of Miss Tarbell in the McClure's Magazine to learn that greed and fraud and robbery have been interwoven with the career and success of the Standard Oil Company from the first. And courts seem well-nigh powerless against these monstrous growths of abnormal commercialism.

2. In the Government.—Standing out in bold relief are the evidences of stupendous fraud, chicanery, graft, and dishonesty in the postal department and in public land matters. No one seems to know how far-reaching in official life the ramification of these cancers of corruption extend.

3. In the Labor World.—Crimes of violence, which a generation ago would have staggered a nation, are now considered as scarcely worthy of note. Men are killed in cold blood for moving their own goods contrary to the dictates of a union, and for exercising the right of a free man to labor when he will, where he will, and for whom he will. Even the solemn rites of the burial of the dead have not been respected. Moreover, the labor trusts are uniting with the capitalistic trusts, and between the two the consumer, the middle and poorest classes, suffer, ground between the upper and nether millstones.

4. Corruption in Municipalities.—How the nation was appalled at the revelations of the Tweed ring made about 1870! The corruptions were a byword and a stench in the nostrils of all, the wide land through. But New York is as much under the influence of graft and boodle to-day as in the palmiest days of Tweed. But the metropolitan city does not stand alone. The revelations of corruption in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburg, the "City of Brotherly Love," and others clearly indicate that the disease has permeated the bodies municipal of the republic. Spasms of reform occur, the ugly sore is for a while hidden, the rogues lie low for a time, and then corruption comes forth to the fray, rested, more resourceful, more crafty, more vigorous, than before. And the people curse or cry or smile, according to their mood, while the tide rolls on to night.

5. Violent Crime.—Notwithstanding the "era of prosperity" through which we are passing, which, if it be a fact, ought to bring peace and contentment, it seems as tho a perfect carnival of crime were upon us. Here are some headlines from a prominent daily in a city whose administration has been fostered and favored by the journal in question:—

One Hundred and Fourteen Homicides, no One Hanged; Capital Punishment in Abeyance for Five Years and a Half in San Francisco.

One Robbery for Every Day; Record of Crimes of Violence for Two Weeks in San Francisco.

Record of Violence for a Single Day; Itemized History of Twenty-four Hours Makes a Bad Showing for a Civilized Community.

And following the first double heading, a list of 114 known capital crimes are given, from Oct. 14, 1898, to Jan. 1, 1904. This does not include the not infrequent homicides among the Chinese. Of the 114 there have been forty-seven murders committed, for which no one has been arrested.

Following the second heading above, is a list of fifteen known robberies in thirteen days, from February 22 to March 5.

Following the third double head above, we have the record of accident and crime, for a single day, March 5, consisting of four attempts at suicide; one attempted jail break; one robbery; one attempted burglary; one burglary; one holdup; a man shot after a game of cards; one murder. And all this in one city in one day. Does San Francisco stand alone in such a record? We opine not. In quiet, peaceful Oakland crimes are of almost daily occurrence; and in some districts of the city organized gangs of hoodlums terrorize the people and the authorities seem powerless.

6. The Mob Spirit.—How it has come in of late years, not alone in the South, but in the North! Men are lynched on mere suspicion, and in many cases, where it was certain that due process of law would have meted out the proper punishment. This very morning, March 8, we read of a mob of 2,000 Ohioans, in Springfield, who take a colored man from jail, shoot him, hang him, and then take delight in shooting at the dead carcass. The despatches say that the "crowd was jovial. Frequently an arm would fly up convulsively when a muscle was struck, and the mob went nearly wild with delight. Throughout it all perfect good humor and good order was maintained, and every one seemed in the best of spirits, joking with his nearest neighbor, while reloading his revolver." And all this by Twentieth Century "Christians" and "republicans"!

All this, and much more might be told in truth of this time in which we live. Yet God foretold it all, and we may read it, if we will, in the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 59, concerning the last days, and in other scriptures. The reason of it all is that men have separated from God, turned their ears from the hearing of His law, and joined themselves to their sins. In the days of Noah "the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:11), and when Christ comes it will be "as were the days of Noah" (Matt. 24:37). How long will it be at the present rate, ere we shall reach that climax? Christ's coming draweth nigh.