No one reading the daily papers can fail to see the alarming increase of all kinds of crime. Every day brings its account of this or that murder, and so numerous have these become that only the most atrocious are mentioned at all. A lynching, that a few years ago would have occupied most of the front page, is now found among the minor news, and even the burning at the stake of two or three persons is given but a few lines. The public mind has become so callous to ordinary crimes, that the fact that last year about 10,000 murders were committed in the United States—with only 123 legal executions—has elicited no widespread comment. There were 175,871 persons arrested in New York City last year on different charges—2,000 for murderous assault, and yet “there is no special cause for any alarm,” as some would have us believe; 24,426 young persons under twenty years and 32,681 women are included in this number—figures that ought to cause serious reflection in the heart of every lover of righteousness.
And yet this great number of arrests—as many arrests in one year as there are people in Denver, Colo., or Minneapolis, Minn.—does not include the great number of criminals that escape, or who through money influence are able to do business contrary to the law. And their number is legion. As one contemplates the disclosures brought to light through different investigations, one is led to wonder if there are any honest men left, or if any more dependence can be placed on humanity. The view that some take of the situation is aptly illustrated in a cartoon that appeared in a prominent daily some time ago. Diogenes, the man that went on a daylight hunt with a lighted lantern in search of an honest man, is seen, disgusted, crawling back into his barrel again after an unsuccessful trip, and underneath are these words: “Aw, what’s the use.”
