Chapter II: The Statisticians (2)

In these figures von Valentini sees a parallelism with those for small holdings, and draws the conclusion that this isolation of households is one of the best preventives of crimes against property.

VIII.

A. VON OETTINGEN. [57]

In chapter IV (“Die ungeordnete Geschlechtsgemeinschaft und die Prostitution”), the author treats of the influence of the fluctuations of price in certain important articles of food upon crimes against property, against morals, against persons, and incendiary crimes (Prussia). [58]

Percentage.

=======+========+======+=========+========+============ Year. |Offenses|Arson.|Offenses |Offenses| Combined |against | | against |against | Price per |Morals. | |Property.|Persons.| Bushel of | | | | |Wheat, Rye, | | | | |and Potatoes | | | | |in Groschen. -------+--------+------+---------+--------+------------ 1854 | 2.26 | 0.43 | 88.41 | 8.90 | 218.1 1855 | 2.57 | 0.46 | 88.93 | 8.04 | 252.3 1856 | 2.65 | 0.43 | 87.60 | 9.32 | 203.3 1857 | 4.14 | 0.53 | 81.52 | 13.81 | 156.3 1858 | 4.45 | 0.60 | 77.92 | 17.03 | 149.3 1859 | 4.68 | 0.52 | 78.17 | 16.63 | 150.6 +--------+------+---------+--------+------------ Average| 3.34 | 0.48 | 84.42 | 11.76 | 188.2 =======+========+======+=========+========+============

This table shows then: first, that crimes against property diminish as prices fall; second, that under these same conditions crimes against morals and against persons increase.

—We must be on our guard, however, against drawing false conclusions from this second fact. The relationship in question is observed only during a certain period and in certain countries, and is not to be regarded as a law of nature, i.e., it must not be understood that an improvement in economic conditions invariably causes an increase in sexual and violent crimes. If this were the case, the well-to-do classes, who are always in a position to provide for all their needs, would furnish most of the criminals of this description. The facts show just the contrary to occur everywhere. (See Part Two, where I treat this subject fully.)—

In the chapter, “Die social ethische Lebensbethätigung in der bürgerlichen Rechtsphäre,” the author treats our subject more fully. Reasoning from different data taken from other authors, he points out the connection between economic conditions on the one hand and vagabondage and mendicity on the other. Having shown a considerable increase in these offenses in the revolutionary period of 1848, he attributes this increase to the lack of social discipline, for the price of provisions was then low. We pass all this part of von Oettingen’s book in silence, his data being taken for the most part from other authors. We would merely point out his error in ranking the year 1848 among those economically favorable because of the fall in the price of food. As a matter of fact there was a terrible economic crisis in Europe at the time.

We take the following data from the section entitled “Getreidepreise und Kriminalität.”

To 100 complaints there were (in Prussia):

=======+======================+============= | Crimes against | Price of Rye Years. +-----------+----------+ per Bushel. | Property. | Persons. | -------+-----------+----------+------------- | % | % | Sgr. Pf. 1862 | 44.3 | 15.8 | 63.10 1863 | 41.6 | 17.0 | 54.3 1864 | 41.6 | 18.4 | 45.6 1865 | 38.5 | 17.7 | 49.11 1866 | 44.4 | 14.5 | 58.5 1867 | 50.2 | 13.1 | 79.0 1868 | 52.3 | 13.8 | 78.8 1869 | 45.7 | 14.3 | 64.7 =======+===========+==========+=============

We find here this rule, that a rise in the price of food is accompanied by an increase in the crimes against property and a decrease in crimes against persons, and vice versa. This table also shows that, if a very pronounced rise in prices has caused a great increase in criminality, the later fall in prices does not make itself felt in the number of crimes until some time after its commencement. (See 1867–1868.)

This phenomenon is very distinctly shown by the following table:

========+==============+================================= Years. | Cases Tried. |Total Price of a Bushel of Wheat, | | of Rye, and of Potatoes | | in Groschen. --------+--------------+--------------------------------- 1854 | 644,483 | 221.6 1855 | 686,207 | 241.4 1856 | 766,628 | 228.4 1857 | 705,291 | 161.1 ========+==============+=================================

It was only in 1857, then, that the fall in prices, beginning in 1856, commenced to produce its effect.

In conclusion we call attention to the following tables:

Saxony.

========+=======================+============================ Years. | Crimes Against | Price of Wheat, of Rye, and +-----------+-----------+ of Potatoes per Bushel. | Property. | Persons. | --------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------- | | | Gr. 1860 | 37.25 | 35.04 | 170 1861 | 40.28 | 33.10 | 181 1862 | 38.78 | 34.65 | 173 1863 | 36.56 | 35.09 | 147 ========+===========+===========+============================

Bavaria.

========+=======================+============================ Years. | Offenses against | Price of Rye. +-----------+-----------+ | Property. | Persons. | --------+-----------+-----------+---------------------------- | | | Fl. Kr. 1862/63 | 38.38 | 33.16 | 14, 48 1863/64 | 36.16 | 37.72 | 12, 16 1864/65 | 36.55 | 39.79 | 11, 53 1865/66 | 33.42 | 41.18 | 10, 57 ========+===========+===========+============================

Here is another proof of the rule, then, that crimes against property decrease and those against persons increase as prices fall.

IX.

H. STURSBERG.

In the first part of a brochure edited in 1878 and entitled, “Die Zunahme der Vergehen und Verbrechen und ihre Ursache,” the author attempts, with the aid of statistics, to discover in what measure criminality increased or decreased in Germany during the years 1871–1877. As a result of these researches he finds a considerable increase in all Germany. [59]

As regards the causes of this increase, Stursberg, though not rejecting entirely the opinion of Quetelet that society prepares the crime and that the criminal is only the instrument that executes it, is nevertheless of the opinion that it is very necessary to take into account the personal factor, i.e. the presence or absence of religious and moral sentiments.

There are those, says the author, who seek the cause in the consequences of the war against France. Although believing also that the war has had unfavorable effects upon criminality, it is impossible, in his opinion that this war should be the cause of the increase of criminality, since crime decreased after the wars of 1864 and 1866. He considers that one of the causes is the great mildness of the penalties imposed by the new penal code of the empire. But according to him, this is not important, for since 1871 there has been rather a diminution than an increase of recidivism. Nor can bad economic conditions be the cause, says Stursberg; for criminality had already begun to increase before the bad years, and it is not theft that has increased the most. Nevertheless, Stursberg recognizes that prolonged poverty weakens the moral sentiments, which shows that criminality and poverty are closely connected.

But there are, in his opinion, more serious causes. There follows a description of the impetus taken by industry in Germany during the early seventies, a description not easily surpassed in pointlessness, and in the naïve ignorance that it evinces. Without comprehending the significance of the really important events that are happening about him, the author fulminates against certain consequences of modern capitalism.

—This appears to him as the consequence of a suddenly awakened desire for riches. But why should this desire arise at this time? The author does not tell us. But notwithstanding this he has unquestionably discovered here one of the principal causes, since the prodigious increase of industry, shortly followed by the inevitable crisis, has infallibly caused an increase in criminality. Since Stursberg treats this question rather as a moralist than as a man of science, we have no interest in spending longer time upon it.—

In the first few pages of his brochure Stursberg speaks of the disastrous consequences of alcoholism, after the enactment of the law of 1869, which increased the number of spirit shops. Armed with quotations without number he combats in turn the cafés-chantants, immoral literature, etc., etc.; after which he introduces all at once the matter of professional liberty. He speaks of the “influence, impossible to estimate, which honest and pious masters exercised for centuries upon the journeymen and apprentices, who were like members of the family.” “The freedom of the trades came in and loosed the bonds of piety and discipline which had retained the journeyman and apprentices in the home of their master.”

—As far as we can see, the ideas of the author are rather those of a writer of the Middle Ages, than of a contemporary of modern capitalism. It cannot be denied that there is truth at the bottom of this reasoning. For it is incontestable that in the time of the guilds the position of the journeymen was in general more favorable than that of the proletariat today. But it does not follow that the religion of the master was the cause of this. And a demonstration in which professional liberty is represented as being in fact a legislative error, and not the logical and inevitable consequence of the birth of modern capitalism, is so unscientific that it has no place in an investigation into the causes of the increase of criminality.—

Then he preaches more particularly against the greater and greater extension of the study of the natural sciences, against social democracy, the lack of respect for constituted authorities, etc., etc., without, however, alleging the slightest proof of the connection of all this with the increase of crime. But at the end he says, “the fundamental cause of the increase of crime is the rapid growth of irreligion, and the weakening of Christian sentiment in church and school.” [60]

X.

L. FULD.

Before entering upon his special investigation, the author of “Der Einfluss der Lebensmittelpreise auf die Bewegung der strafbaren Handlungen” makes the following observation: Everywhere it is noted that assaults upon morals with acts of violence increase when the price of provisions falls. Adhering to the opinion of von Oettingen that “as the consequence of an increase of prosperity, the tendency to crime shows itself more by crimes against morals than by those against property”, Fuld also mentions the opinion of Valentini, that “in this case the people become audacious and commit these crimes more easily.”

Here are other salient facts; that the number of young criminals increases, and that the city produces more criminals than the country, although the sexual morality especially is far from ideal in the country. Finally in speaking of the influence of profession, Fuld mentions that the increase in the number of criminals which accompanies a rise in prices is greater for the first offenders than for recidivists. The following table which he gives to prove this point, however, plainly fails to do so:

England.

========+===================+===============+================== Years. | Good Character | Character | Price of Wheat. | Hitherto. | Unknown. | --------+-------------------+---------------+------------------ | | | Sh. d. 1858 | 153,576 | 138,388 | 43 11 1859 | 153,369 | 150,084 | 43 8 1860 | 137,574 | 144,485 | 52 9 1864 | 167,038 | 165,808 | 40 2 ========+===================+===============+==================

The author explains that the crimes against property are one of the consequences of the struggle for existence, a fact which accounts in part for the high figures for criminality in the great cities, where competition is most intense. The author treats of theft, and begins by saying that the connection between the price of provisions and theft is very close.

France.

=========+===========+==================== Years. | Thefts. | Price of Cereals. ---------+-----------+-------------------- | | fr. 1856 | 18,222 | 16.75 1857 | 17,218 | ,, 1858 | 15,537 | ,, 1859 | 14,755 | ,, 1860 | 15,707 | 20.24 =========+===========+====================

During the following years the prices fell. Nevertheless the number of thefts increased. According to Fuld we can draw the conclusion that the influence of price is only relative!—This table proves little. For, while in 1856 criminality attained its highest point, prices were lower than in 1860; and, while the figures for theft diminished greatly, prices remained constant.—

England.

=========+=====================================+================== Years. | Thefts. | Price of Cereals. +-----------------+-------------------+ | With Violence. | Without Violence. | ---------+-----------------+-------------------+------------------ | | | Sh. d. 1857 | 6471 | 43,397 | 42 10 1858 | 5723 | 45,618 | 43 11 1859 | 4433 | 41,370 | 43 8 1860 | 4065 | 41,151 | 52 9 1861 | 5062 | 40,242 | 55 4 1862 | 5746 | 40,191 | 55 5 1863 | 5433 | 39,801 | 44 9 1864 | 5022 | 39,481 | 40 2 1865 | 5160 | 40,383 | 41 10 1866 | 5088 | 39,731 | 43 10 1867 | 6355 | 46,502 | 49 10 =========+=================+===================+==================

Here there is some agreement between the number of thefts and prices. But it is not as great as Fuld would make out. For example, notwithstanding the sudden rise on prices in 1860, criminality diminished, while the year following there was a still further fall in the thefts without violence.

Prussia.

=========+==================+================ Years. | Thefts of Wood. | Price of Rye. ---------+------------------+---------------- | | Sgr. Pf. 1862 | 387,000 | 63.10 1863 | 354,276 | 54.3 1864 | 366,667 | 45.6 1865 | 426,336 | 49.11 1866 | 425,551 | 58.5 1867 | 412,165 | 79.0 1868 | 419,158 | 78.8 1869 | 406,662 | 64.7 1870 | 389,746 | 62.3 1871 | 439,288 | 66.0 1872 | 401,280 | 82.0 1873 | 337,112 | 93.0 1874 | 356,859 | 108.0 =========+==================+================

We can indeed find here some agreement between the two columns, but that is all that can be said.

Then the author says that differences in price are not as great as formerly, on account of the development of international commerce. He gives a table of comparative prices from 1870 to 1879 which shows that five staples show no consistent movement in price. But during the same period theft was continually on the increase. The number of male delinquents from 18 to 50 alone varies with prices; the figures for delinquents between 50 and 60 follow the course of prices but slightly. Other economic crimes show little conformity.

The final conclusion of Fuld upon crimes against property is: “The influence of the price of provisions upon these offenses is quite important.” Although not giving my opinion upon the correctness of this judgment at this time, I may say that the statistics furnished by Fuld give almost no proof of it.

The following part treats of crimes against life. It is evident that we are not concerned with crimes of passion. The only ones that enter into consideration are those that have an economic object. But since criminal statistics do not make this distinction, the results of the author’s investigation can be but small. He is indeed convinced that the influence of the price of provisions is very perceptible, but he does not prove it. The same may be said with regard to sexual crimes.

XI.

B. WEISZ. [61]

“The wants that man must satisfy are numerous, but there is none which makes itself felt so much as hunger. If he cannot satisfy his wants in a lawful fashion, necessity drives him to other means.”

To prove what he says Dr. Weisz produces the following table:

France.

=======+=====================+================ Years. |Accusations of Crime.| Price of Wheat. -------+---------------------+---------------- 1845 | 5054 | 19.75 1846 | 5077 | 24.05 1847 | 5857 | 29.01 1848 | 4632 | 16.65 1849 | 4910 | 15.37 1850 | 5320 | 14.32 1851 | 5287 | 14.48 1852 | 5340 | 17.23 1853 | 5440 | 22.39 1854 | 5525 | 28.82 1855 | 4798 | 29.32 1856 | 4535 | 30.75 1857 | 4399 | 24.37 1858 | 4302 | 16.75 1859 | 3918 | 16.74 1860 | 3621 | 20.24 1861 | 3842 | 24.55 1862 | 3906 | 23.24 1863 | 3614 | 19.78 1864 | 3447 | 17.58 =======+=====================+================

With but seven exceptions criminality here follows prices. When the figures for crimes against property are substituted for those for general criminality in the table, the agreement becomes greater:

=======+=====================+================ 1847 | 4537 | 29.01 1848 | 3020 | 16.65 1849 | 2895 | 15.37 1850 | 3174 | 14.32 1851 | 3126 | 14.48 1852 | 3327 | 17.23 1853 | 3519 | 22.39 1854 | 3761 | 28.82 1855 | 3133 | 29.32 1856 | 2766 | 30.75 1857 | 2689 | 24.37 1858 | 2315 | 16.75 1859 | 2019 | 16.74 1861 | 2146 | 24.55 1862 | 2144 | 23.24 1863 | 1941 | 19.78 1864 | 1744 | 17.58 =======+=====================+================

Belgium.

=======+========+============+================ Years. |Price of| General |Offenses against | Wheat. |Criminality.| Property. -------+--------+------------+---------------- 1841 | 20.02 | 444 | 332 1842 | 22.17 | 468 | 361 1843 | 19.41 | 434 | 346 1844 | 17.75 | 455 | 336 1845 | 20.06 | 387 | 275 1846 | 24.53 | 616 | 498 1847 | 25.20 | 579 | 496 1848 | 17.37 | 529 | 427 1849 | 17.15 | 451 | 338 1850 | 16.15 | 270 | 168 1851 | 16.71 | 247 | 132 1852 | 20.16 | 290 | 140 1853 | 25.13 | 264 | 191 1854 | 31.48 | 336 | 238 1855 | 32.92 | 299 | 212 1856 | 30.73 | 332 | 268 1857 | 22.96 | 309 | 197 1858 | 23.55 | 278 | 167 1859 | 24.00 | 314 | 187 1860 | 31.15 | 254 | 161 =======+========+============+================

It is to be noted here that in the years 1850–1860 the penal law was changed. The correlation is not constant but appears in many cases. The years of the crisis, 1846–1847, are especially interesting.

=======+=============
Years. | Infanticide.
-------+-------------
1845 | 5
1846 | 17
1852 | 7
1853 | 13
1854 | 12
1855 | 14
=======+==============

England.

=======+===============+=================== Years. |Price of Wheat.| Number of | |Criminal Offenders. -------+---------------+------------------- 1816 | 78.6 | 9,091 1817 | 96.11 | 13,932 1846 | 54.8 | 20,072 1847 | 69.9 | 22,451 1852 | 40.9 | 24,443 1853 | 53.3 | 27,187 1854 | 72.5 | 27,760 1855 | 74.8 | 31,309 1856 | 69.2 | 29,591 1857 | 56.4 | 26,542 1858 | 44.2 | 24,303 =======+===============+===================

—The value of Dr. Weisz’s information would be greater if he had given us the relation of the figures for criminality to those for population.—

XII.

W. STARKE. [62]

The first chapter that interests us is Chapter V (“Die Umgestaltung des Volkslebens, ihre Einwirkung auf die Kriminalität,” etc.) Sec. 3 (“die Sorge für die nothwendigsten Lebensbedürfnisse und die Lebensmittelpreise”).

[PLATE I. (STARKE)]

Just as the influence of the price of food makes itself felt in the number of marriages and births, it is also visible in the figures for criminality. So, when the temperature of the winter is very low (e.g. 1855, ’56, ’65, and ’71), since men have greater wants than ordinary, criminality rises. Thefts of wood increase during these years, for example. But it is in only one part of the year that the cold makes itself felt, while the high price of food lasts the whole year. Hence the latter has much more influence on criminality.

[PLATE II. (STARKE)]

In the first of the plates which the author gives (see Plates I–VI), the effect of the rise in prices is distinctly seen in the period 1849–1855. The fall that follows is also accompanied by a diminution in the number of crimes. When, at the close of 1858, the price of rye and potatoes begins to rise again, criminality also increases, though not so much. We do not see this agreement during the years 1861–1865. While prices rise in 1866, criminality declines as a consequence of the war with Austria, and of economic events.

The years 1870–1871, during which prices rose, show a fall in the figures for crime, a second exception to the rule therefore, since 1866. At the close of 1875 criminality increased greatly, although prices rose but little, and when, in 1877, prices begin to come down, the curve for criminality goes on rising. As for the years 1870–1871, the explanation is to be found in the war, which strengthened the feeling of solidarity (as in a less degree in 1866). Further, the development of manufacturing had already begun by the end of the war, and the war itself withdrew from ordinary life many persons who, without it, might have committed crime. The author mentions also the great diminution of crime in France during these years.

We note, however, that the French statisticians (Lafargue, for example) consider these years as of little importance in the study of criminality, since the police and the courts were then much less active than at ordinary times. The same causes may be supposed to have been active in Prussia also, though in a less degree than in France.

At the close of the middle of this century manufacturing was but slightly developed in Prussia. But after the war its development assumed gigantic proportions. Wealth increased, but was not evenly distributed, as the following table from the income tax returns shows:

============================================+==========+============== | Persons. | Percentage. --------------------------------------------+----------+-------------- I. Having an income of 1000 thalers | 139,556| 1.2 II. ,, ,, ,, ,, 400-1000 ,, | 643,628| 5.6 III. ,, ,, ,, ,, 140-400 ,, | 4,207,163| 36.4 Not liable to the income tax | | IV. (Average income, 120 Th.) | 6,582,066| 56.8 +----------+-------------- Total |11,572,413| 100

Total number of those having an income of 400 thalers or under, 93.2%. ======================================================================

Education (Men and Boys over 10).

==============================+===========+============ Classes. | Persons. | Percentage. ------------------------------+-----------+------------ I. Higher education | 93,000 | 1.023 II. Intermediate education | 193,000 | 2.122 III. Elementary education | 7,885,423 | 86.703 IV. Illiterate | 923,274 | 10.152 +-----------+---------- Total | 9,094,757 | 100.00 ==============================+===========+============

There were 96% of the population, then, with no education or only an elementary one.

Little by little manufacturing so forged ahead of agriculture that the necessary food was no longer produced in the country. From this time dates the importation of large quantities of grain.

The year 1873 saw the beginning of the terrible reaction that made itself felt in all strata of the population. The number of marriages diminished as well as the number of births, and criminality increased. (See Plate I.)

At first the curves for theft and criminality in general run parallel in their rising and falling. But with 1854 they begin to diverge, and this divergence is especially plain from 1871 on. Consequently something else must have had an influence upon criminality. And this other thing, according to Starke, is the modification of the political position of the people. According to him the participation of the mass of the people in politics, made possible by the right of suffrage, has been one of the causes of the increase of the number of crimes against the authority of the state, as the socialistic movement has been a second cause. [63]

[PLATE III. (STARKE)]

—Without doubt the participation of all classes in the political life will lead to crimes, especially when in the strife of classes the propertied class makes use of violent means. The assertion that the socialistic movement causes many crimes has only a semblance of truth. It is rather because of the manner in which the socialists are treated, than because of their doctrine that they are driven to acts of violence. For the socialists wish to attain their end by pacific and legal, political and economic means, and it is only when they are opposed by force that they are incited to the use of violent means.—

[PLATE IV. (STARKE)]

Starke finally draws the following conclusion as to the causes in the movement in criminality: “Hardly ever in the short space of a generation have so many mighty factors of different kinds influenced the life of our people, as in the years from 1848 to 1878; a complete metamorphosis of the courts and the police; so extraordinary an increase in the numbers and density of the population that the soil could no longer produce enough to feed such numbers; connected with this a great development of manufacturing with repeated crises, brought on by the high price of the necessaries of life, and by epidemics; the development of intercourse and commerce world-wide in extent; bloody wars, which, through the system of universal military service, disturb the whole population of every class; a politico-economic crisis so severe that there has been none like it hitherto; and in addition to and at the same time with all these factors, the entrance of the people into the exercise of political rights; and finally, dependent upon these, a deep-seated socialistic agitation.

“All these factors have their part in the moulding of the life of the people in good as well as bad directions and accordingly influence the movement of criminality. In the first rank stand the effects upon the physical life of the lack of warmth and nourishment. The great significance of the coldness of the winter upon the increase and decrease of the theft of wood has been noted. Much greater is the effect of the anxiety about daily bread, which finds expression in the movement of the price of provisions.... Parallel with the curve of food-prices runs that of thefts and the movement of the latter is again impressed upon the curve of crimes and misdemeanors in general.” [64] Let us consider now some of the important kinds of crime.

OFFENSES AND CONTRAVENTIONS AGAINST PROPERTY.

“It is egoism which chiefly governs man, shows itself positively in the desire to acquire as much as possible, and negatively in the desire to lose as little as possible, and which reduces activity to insatiability, and economy to avarice.” [65] Now, cupidity leads to most of the crimes against property, while hatred, vengeance, etc. drive men to malicious mischief.

Examining now Plates II and III, the influence of the years of high prices (1856 and 1867), of the years of war (1866 and 1870–1871), and of the years of crisis shows itself very plainly. It is to be noted that the curve of crimes of “malicious mischief” takes a course totally different from that of crimes against property committed from other motives. Plate III shows the great influence of economic events upon fraudulent bankruptcies (1857 and 1873 having been years of crisis).

OFFENSES AGAINST PERSONS.

We see that the curves of these crimes shown upon Plates IV and V have a course quite different from that of the curves of the crimes against property. It is only in 1870 that both fall together. Starke deduces the rule, confirmed by many statisticians, that an improvement in economic conditions is accompanied by an increase in assaults, etc., and vice versa. The facts confirm this rule during the first part of the period that Starke has studied, but not later. (Compare Plates I and IV.)

In studying the curve of infanticide we note that it reaches the highest point in the bad years, 1857, 1863, 1866, 1867 (Eastern Prussia), and 1868. In 1857 the first commercial crisis took place, and in 1864 and 1866 the cholera raged and war was declared; a number of fathers of illegitimate children died, leaving the mothers unable to support the children.

A comparison between the curve of crimes of arson, with those of the crimes against property in Plate III, committed with the same end, shows a great resemblance; the increase in this crime also shows itself in bad years.

XIII.

RETTICH. [66]

The part of this author’s work dealing with crimes and misdemeanors against property contains some observations which are of importance for our subject.

[PLATE V. (STARKE)]

I cannot show the views of the author better than by quoting the following: “That the number of offenses against property must be related to the prevailing economic conditions, seems to need no proof. For the man who lives in the possession of abundance, the motive for appropriating the property of others is lacking, even though the inclination to commit all possible crimes slumbers within him. It is a favorite expression of the Social-democrats, that the abolition of private property would cause all crimes against property to disappear. They forget, while maintaining this, the probability that just as earlier private individuals were robbed, so under the new order the state would be, by people of the same kind—those who today, without living in want, still are not content with their lawful gains, and reach out after unlawful ones. The apostles of state-ownership, in order to make their contention credible, must at least offer proof that the offenses against property which are now punished, are entirely due to hunger and need on the part of those convicted. They cannot however, offer such proof. This is not because the government statistics ... give no data with regard to the economic condition of the convicts, but because, as a matter of fact, the worst offenses against property are not committed by the hungry. The merchant who goes into a fraudulent bankruptcy, the banker who embezzles deposits, the worldling who forges drafts, have all taken the step into crime from a life, if not of abundance, at least of a competence. People of this kind will not disappear from the socialistic state. In their case the lack is not in the social system, but in their individual make-up.” [67]

[PLATE VI. (STARKE)]

—We have given this quotation simply to furnish a typical example of the incorrect way in which many authors represent the socialistic opinion with regard to the genesis of crime. What nonsense, to assert that according to the theory of socialism all crimes against property find their causes in hunger and misery! See the second part of this work, where the reader will find that socialists hold an entirely different opinion, and that they have facts to prove the truth of their theories.—

With regard to the relation between the movement of the price of certain important cereals and a great part of the crime against property, the author gives the following table:

========+=========================================+================ | Average Price Per 200 Kilogr. in Marks. | Arrests for Years. |-------------+--------------+------------+ Theft to | Wheat. | Grain. | Rye. | 10,000 Persons. --------+-------------+--------------+------------+---------------- 1882 | 22.57 | 23.63 | 18.81 | 26.0 1883 | 19.04 | 19.29 | 16.30 | 25.2 1884 | 18.44 | 18.75 | 17.17 | 22.7 1885 | 17.92 | 18.11 | 16.17 | 21.5 1886 | 17.68 | 17.94 | 14.69 | 20.7 1887 | 18.88 | 18.95 | 15.26 | 20.5 1888 | 20.23 | 20.64 | 16.19 | 20.3 1889 | 20.03 | 20.52 | 16.50 | 21.4 1890 | 21.43 | 21.71 | 17.97 | 21.2 1891 | 22.48 | 22.92 | 19.26 | 19.3 ========+=============+==============+============+================

There is at first a certain correlation between the figures in the different columns, but there is none in the later years. It is very probable that the diminution in crimes against property is due, during these years, to a combination of favorable economic circumstances at that time.

XIV.

A. MEYER.

The second section of the second chapter of the work, “Die Verbrechen in ihrem Zusammenhang mit dem wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Verhältnissen im Kanton Zürich”, [68] treats of the influence of the price of provisions and crop-returns (see Plate I).

The author first calls attention to the years 1853–1861. We see that the curves of the price of cereals and of offenses against property are then quite closely parallel. However, the curve of the price of cereals was lowest in 1858, and that of offenses in 1859. It is a well-known fact that economic phenomena make their influence upon criminality felt only after some time. Further, it is only by the following year that a part of the offenses are counted in the criminal statistics. Crimes against persons increase when prices fall, and vice versa. The less the price of food is influenced by bad industrial conditions, the more its influence upon criminality will strike the eye.

The section following is entitled: “Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkurs-statistik als Ausdruck der wirtschaftlichen Lage der Bevölkerung und Kriminalität.” When we examine Plate II for the period 1832–1852, we see that the curves of bankruptcy and of offenses against property are parallel. From Plate III (1852–1892) we note that offenses against property are influenced by failures as well as by the price of grain. At times the two forces act in the same direction and reënforce one another, and at times their direction is opposite, and they more or less neutralize each other. It must be remarked that in 1867 an epidemic of cholera raged in the canton, and that the relief fund which was then given out kept the figure for criminality below what the economic situation would have produced.

[PLATE I (MEYER)]

Dr. Meyer’s conclusion from what has been said is this: “The result of the researches proves that in the course of years the number of crimes against property is strictly bound up with material conditions; the greater the difficulty of getting a living, the more numerous the crimes against property. The statistics of crimes against property show at the same time the degrees of the prosperity of the country, as the statistics of failures, for example, prove.” [69]

[PLATE II (MEYER)]

Plate IV gives a comparison of crimes against persons with economic conditions, and shows that these crimes increase when economic conditions improve, and that vintages more or less abundant are not without importance.

On page 44, the author commences his examination of the criminality in the different districts of the canton of Zürich, investigating its distribution, both as to where the crimes are committed, and where the criminals come from.

According to the first distribution the districts of Zürich, of Dielsdorf, and of Horgen have the highest figures; those of Hinweill, of Meilen, and of Pfäffikon the lowest. According to the second distribution it is again the districts of Dielsdorf and of Horgen that have the highest figures, while Hinweill, Meilen, and Pfäffikon take the last place here also. Zürich and Winterthür, which in the first distribution held the first place, in the second have the eighth and tenth. We see from this that, however great the number of crimes the last two districts produce, the authors of the crimes are outsiders.

Dr. Meyer then compares the districts of Hinweill and Pfäffikon, which have the lowest figures, with the districts of Horgen and Dielsdorf, which have the highest. He concludes that the two former districts are the poorest, and the two latter the most well-to-do, a conclusion which he bases upon different facts, among others upon the appropriations which the public charities of the different districts receive from the state. And according to him it follows that in this case the connection between criminality and economic conditions is not direct.

The author then explains the indirect connection as follows: “In Hinweill as in Pfäffikon, there exists a general impoverishment, caused by the unfavorable state of the soil and of the population, heavy mortgages, bad cultivation by the small farmers, the diminution of industry, the lack of education, etc,—an impoverishment that threatens the ruin of entire communities.” [70] Then, an increase of crime is not to be feared in countries where poverty strikes the whole population, for the thief has nothing to steal. Since in the well-to-do districts the differences of possessions are more marked, the opportunity for wrong-doing is greater, and it is this which makes criminality greater also.

The conclusion of Dr. Meyer upon what has gone before is this: “Criminality is an historical product, and economic conditions are only one, though a significant, factor. Under like economic conditions ... the number of crimes against property need not necessarily be like. It depends upon how the population has accommodated itself to the economic situation, whether it makes higher or lower demands upon life, what views it holds as to the end of human existence, etc.” [71]

As to the occupations of those convicted the data of Dr. Meyer are incomplete. The conclusion drawn from them is that the agricultural population is less criminal than the industrial proletariat. Here is the reason, according to Dr. Meyer: “An explanation of this phenomena that agrees fully with our investigations has already been given by von Valentini when he says: ‘Small holdings make direct and exhausting demands upon the labor of the whole family, while, on the other hand, they provide sufficiently for the immediate and indispensable needs of the household, so that idleness as well as anxiety about sustenance are generally both excluded from such a family.’” [72]

“It is otherwise in manufacturing. The greater independence of the industrial worker, his receiving his wages in money exclusively, the dependence of industry upon the conjunctures of the market, give instead of the stability of existence, enjoyed by agriculture, a life fluctuating and insecure. Abundance as well as want visits industrial workers, and each of the two begets in him a corresponding kind of crime.” [73]

—The expression “abundance” as describing the state in which the proletariat live, is a strange one. A man who is not indigent and has a few sous does not on that account live in abundance. The author adds a quotation from Garofalo to point out how the proletariat spend a great part of their “abundance” in the wine-shops. The reader is, however, referred to Part II of this work, where I have pointed out the social and economic causes of alcoholism.—

Dr. Meyer concludes his work by saying that he does not believe that an improvement of economic conditions will inevitably lead to an increase of crimes against persons, but that the causes of them are rather to be found in frivolity, grossness, and dissipation consequent upon an improvement of conditions.

[PLATE III. (MEYER)]

But—youth does not possess wisdom! It is only by advancing in age that rash, rough youth becomes wise and gentle. Now, in the same way society will lose, one by one, the faults of its youth!

[PLATE IV. (MEYER)]

XV.

M. TUGAN-BARANOWSKY.

“Die sozialen Wirkungen der Handelskrisen in England”, [74] by this author, aims to prove that the commercial crises in England in the years 1823–1850 had a much more violent character than those of the years 1871–1896, which occurred less suddenly, and made themselves felt for a long time afterwards. Since criminality is one of the social phenomena pointed out as caused by these crises, it is worth while giving a résumé of the work in question.

Dr. Tugan-Baranowsky has examined the influence that commercial crises have exercised, first, upon the agricultural counties, Cambridge, Essex, Norfolk, Oxford, Lincoln, Suffolk and Wilts (Diagrams 1 and 4); second, upon the industrial counties of Lancaster and Chester (Diagrams 2 and 5); third, upon all England (Diagrams 3 and 6).

Let us study the first three diagrams. The first shows that the commercial crisis of 1825 had a very slight effect upon criminality. It was the high price of grain in 1829 that made crime increase. The same effect was produced by the famous law of 1834 (by which not only was the aid given to poor working people very much limited, but which prescribed the placing in work-houses of those who were without means of support) and by the crisis of 1836. In 1844–1845, years of good harvests, criminality declined, after which the bad crops of 1847 brought about a contrary effect.

We note from Diagrams 2 and 3 that the effect of commercial crises was much greater in the manufacturing than in the agricultural counties (more plainly seen in 2 than in 3). The crisis of 1825 made the curve of criminality rise considerably; the favorable years 1833–1836 made it descend from 1834 on; while the crisis of 1836 caused a considerable increase in the number of crimes in 1837. The bad years 1840–1843 caused a formidable increase in the criminal population, which must also be attributed, at least in part, to the Chartist movement. The favorable period that followed had the contrary effect. It is interesting to compare the curves (in Diagram 3) of exports and crime, which cross continually.

Let us consider now the last three diagrams. Dr. Tugan-Baranowsky attributes the descent of the curve of criminality in Diagram 4 to the improved condition of the agricultural population. Further, the number of crimes was greatly diminished by the alteration in the criminal procedure in 1879, and it goes without saying that this influence must also be taken into account in studying the last two diagrams. By Diagrams 5 and 6 we see that the influence of criminality is much less marked. Thus, for example, the diminution of criminality was not prevented by the crisis at the beginning of the period 1890–1896.

The final conclusion of Dr. Tugan-Baranowsky is this: “The first three diagrams give a picture of the life of the English people in the second quarter of this century [the nineteenth]. We see abrupt periodical changes of important phenomena in the life of the people, which are plainly connected with the changes in the industrial situation. Especially sudden are the variations in the life of the industrial population. Each crisis has a devastating effect upon the ranks of the working-classes, the workhouses are swamped with the unemployed, the prisons fill up as well, mortality mounts enormously, the mass of people out of work readily take up with any political agitation, and the years of crisis are likewise years of revolutionary movements.

“At the same time the manufacturing and commerce of the country increase rapidly. The enormous growth of exportation in England, the curve of which mounts continually, is in sharp contrast with the deterioration of the living-conditions of the working-class.

“The last three diagrams show us an entirely different picture. English exports no longer increase. In place of a steady rise of the curve with a sharp depression in the critical years, there are regular, wave-like variations in the same plane. The industrial development of the country proceeds at a slackening pace.

“And at the same time in the life of the people there are signs to be noticed of increasing well-being. Mortality, criminality, and pauperism fall quickly. Crises no longer have their former influence upon the condition of the people. Even in manufacturing districts business stagnation no longer has its former disastrous effect upon the working-class; crime and the death-rate no longer increase, and even the increase in the number of paupers is hardly noticeable. Organized labor supports even the unemployed. Wages are only a little lower in years of industrial depression than they are in a time of prosperity!”

[DIAGRAM No. 1. (TUGAN-BARANOWSKY)]

[DIAGRAM No. 2. (TUGAN-BARANOWSKY)]

[DIAGRAM No. 3. (TUGAN-BARANOWSKY)]

[DIAGRAM No. 4. (TUGAN-BARANOWSKY)]

[DIAGRAM No. 5. (TUGAN-BARANOWSKY)]

[DIAGRAM No. 6. (TUGAN-BARANOWSKY)]

XVI.

E. TARNOWSKY. [75]

At the end of his study the author gives the following table, which contains some data upon the relation between the price of grain and abundance of the crops, on the one hand, and criminality on the other. The figures in the second column have to do with the different kinds of theft. The law of May 18th, 1882, having considerably modified the penal code, the figures for the years 1882 and 1883 cannot be compared with those of preceding years. This is why they have been suppressed.

================+================+==============+=================== | New Cases to | Price of a | Ratio of Cereal Years. | 100,000 of the | “Pud” of Rye | Crop to Average of | Population. | in Kopecks. | 25 Years (= 100). ----------------+----------------+--------------+------------------- 1874 | 76 | 75 | 105 1875 | 77 | 73 | 90 1876 | 78 | 76 | 95 1877 | 86 | 80 | 103 1878 | 95 | 76 | 106 1879 | 90 | 86 | 93 1880 | 104 | 99 | 87 1881 | 103 | 129 | 105 average 1874-81 | 89 | 87 | -- 1884 | 45 | 90 | 108 1885 | 46 | 77 | 90 1886 | 44 | 74 | 100 1887 | 45 | 67 | 114 1888 | 43 | 65 | 108 1889 | 43 | 70 | 83 1890 | 46 | 68 | 97 1891 | 52 | 129 | 73 1892 | 52 | 89 | 87 1893 | 50 | 61 | 104 1894 | 50 | 50 | 121 average 1884-94 | 47 | 76 | -- ================+================+==============+===================

According to the author it may be doubted whether the years of poor harvests could cause an increase in the number of thefts in Russia. For the agricultural population is benefited by the high price of grain. However, it is proved by the figures given above that these years have an unfavorable effect upon criminality, which can be understood if we take into account the fact that most of the Russian peasants only raise grain for their own consumption, and that bad crops accordingly affect them seriously.

XVII.

H. MÜLLER.

In the introduction to his work, “Untersuchungen über die Bewegung der Criminalität in ihrem Zusammenhang mit dem wirtschaftlichen Verhältnissen”, Dr. Müller describes the result of his researches as follows: “In the course of our discussion it will appear that with time the state of industry, the greater or less chance to get work, the activity or depression of the general economic life, have gradually become of far more significance for the increase or decrease of crime, than a rise or fall in the price of provisions, and that at present these factors have reduced the economic meaning of the price of provisions to a minimum.” [76]

The period examined (1854–1895) is divided into two parts, because the criminal statistics of the empire, which are to be had from 1882 on, give the number of crimes and criminals, while the Prussian statistics give the number of new cases brought before the examining magistrate.

The figures for these years are as follows:

Prussia, 1854–1878. New Cases to 100,000 of the Population.

======+=================+================+================== | | |Against the State, Years.|Against Property.|Against Persons.|Public Order, and | | | Religion. ------+-----------------+----------------+------------------ 1854 | 416 | 78 | -- 1855 | 436 | 78 | 41 1856 | 472 | 81 | 47 1857 | 324 | 95 | 55 1858 | 288 | 103 | 54 1859 | 295 | 103 | 51 1860 | 310 | 102 | 56 1861 | 314 | 93 | 52 1862 | 313 | 105 | 54 1863 | 288 | 111 | 53 1864 | 290 | 115 | 56 1865 | 325 | 121 | 58 1866 | 314 | 109 | 55 1867 | 360 | 112 | 51 1868 | 392 | 117 | 52 1869 | 338 | 126 | 53 1870 | 296 | 99 | 46 1871 | 254 | 75 | 41 1872 | 281 | 94 | 56 1873 | 266 | 106 | 64 1874 | 295 | 125 | 81 1875 | 284 | 135 | 84 1876 | 315 | 142 | 89 1877 | 341 | 160 | 87 1878 | 370 | 164 | 103 ======+=================+================+===================

Prussia, 1882–1895. Persons Convicted to 100,000 Inhabitants over 12 Years.

========+=================+================+==================
| | |Against the State,
Years. |Against Property.|Against Persons.|Public Order, and
| | | Religion.
--------+-----------------+----------------+------------------
1882 | 545 | 328 | 180
1883 | 520 | 343 | 174
1884 | 527 | 382 | 188
1885 | 492 | 385 | 185
1886 | 488 | 402 | 196
1887 | 475 | 421 | 203
1888 | 466 | 404 | 200
1889 | 503 | 423 | 197
1890 | 496 | 449 | 199
1891 | 520 | 443 | 190
1892 | 575 | 458 | 199
1882-91 | 510 | 404 | 194
1894 | 528 | 527 | 219
========+=================+================+==================

Now, the causes that make crime increase when there is an economic depression are, according to the author, the following: “The instinct of self-preservation, which in its harmonious development is the motive for the lawful and moral struggle of men for existence, and in more restricted form is the principal ground for industrial activity, in its degeneration ... demands a certain, often high, percentage of victims, who fall into crime, especially theft, fraud, embezzlement, and other offenses against property. And experience shows that the greater the care to maintain existence, or often simply to procure daily bread, the greater is the number of offenses against property. When need appears, at the same time comes the instinct impelling a man to seize the property of another, better situated than himself. Infractions of property are in part to be ascribed to other motives. There is nothing to show, however, that these motives (greed and covetousness, for example) are stronger in one year and weaker in another throughout a whole people. We must rather ascribe to them a certain uniformity in their influence upon criminal activity. The determining factor in the increase and decrease of crimes remains the general well-being of a people, in earlier times the price of the necessities of life, at the present the opportunity for employment.” [77]

Let us study in the first place crimes and misdemeanors against property:

I. Offenses, against Property.

Prussia, 1854–1878. New Cases to 100,000 of the Population.

=======+========+===============+============+=============+==========+==========+=========== | | | Robbery | Receiving | | | Years. | Theft. | Embezzlement. | and | Stolen | Perjury, | Forgery. | Malicious | | | Blackmail. | Goods, Etc. | Etc. | | Mischief. -------+--------+---------------+------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------- 1854 | 334 | 28 | 1.0 | 40 | 17 | 5.4 | 10 1855 | 354 | 29 | 1.1 | 34 | 16 | 5.7 | 8 1856 | 386 | 31 | 1.1 | 43 | 17 | 6.0 | 8 1857 | 246 | 23 | 1.0 | 38 | 15 | 7.0 | 10 1858 | 213 | 22 | 0.8 | 30 | 12 | 7.3 | 11 1859 | 219 | 22 | 0.8 | 25 | 12 | 7.5 | 12 1860 | 229 | 24 | 0.8 | 30 | 13 | 7.7 | 12 1861 | 232 | 24 | 0.8 | 26 | 13 | 8.1 | 12 1862 | 229 | 24 | 0.9 | 25 | 13 | 8.2 | 14 1863 | 206 | 23 | 0.8 | 21 | 14 | 7.5 | 15 1864 | 206 | 24 | 1.0 | 25 | 13 | 7.4 | 17 1865 | 227 | 24 | 0.8 | 25 | 14 | 7.6 | 17 1866 | 222 | 23 | 0.8 | 24 | 14 | 7.2 | 17 1867 | 265 | 25 | 0.9 | 32 | 15 | 8.1 | 17 1868 | 293 | 27 | 1.2 | 36 | 16 | 8.0 | 17 1869 | 241 | 25 | 1.0 | 30 | 15 | 7.1 | 18 1870 | 211 | 22 | 0.9 | 27 | 14 | 6.4 | 17 1871 | 190 | 18 | 0.8 | 33 | 10 | 3.2 | 14 1872 | 209 | 20 | 1.4 | 46 | 11 | 3.4 | 17 1873 | 196 | 19 | 1.4 | 46 | 11 | 3.5 | 18 1874 | 216 | 22 | 1.7 | 50 | 13 | 3.7 | 19 1875 | 209 | 23 | 1.7 | 49 | 13 | 4.2 | 19 1876 | 223 | 25 | 1.9 | 50 | 16 | 4.9 | 21 1877 | 238 | 28 | 2.4 | 51 | 18 | 5.5 | 22 1878 | 257 | 30 | 2.4 | 55 | 20 | 5.6 | 24 =======+========+===============+============+=============+==========+==========+===========

Prussia, 1882–1896. Persons Convicted to 100,000 Inhabitants over 12 Years.

=======+========+===============+============+=============+==========+==========+=========== | | | Robbery | Receiving | | | Years. | Theft. | Embezzlement. | and | Stolen | Perjury, | Forgery. | Malicious | | | Blackmail. | Goods, Etc. | Etc. | | Mischief. -------+--------+---------------+------------+-------------+----------+----------+----------- 1882 | 337 | 44 | 1.5 | 30 | 29 | 8.0 | 38 1883 | 323 | 42 | 1.4 | 27 | 29 | 7.7 | 37 1884 | 322 | 44 | 1.7 | 27 | 31 | 8.4 | 41 1885 | 289 | 44 | 1.4 | 25 | 30 | 8.0 | 41 1886 | 282 | 43 | 1.5 | 24 | 32 | 8.3 | 41 1887 | 267 | 42 | 1.4 | 24 | 35 | 8.6 | 43 1888 | 262 | 43 | 1.2 | 23 | 36 | 8.6 | 38 1889 | 289 | 46 | 1.4 | 25 | 41 | 10.0 | 40 1890 | 278 | 46 | 1.5 | 25 | 41 | 10.0 | 42 1891 | 292 | 47 | 1.6 | 25 | 44 | 10.9 | 41 1892 | 329 | 52 | 1.6 | 30 | 48 | 11.7 | 42 1893 | 298 | 45 | 1.5 | 26 | 36 | 9.0 | 41 1894 | 276 | 51 | 1.4 | 25 | 51 | 12.9 | 47 1895 | 271 | 53 | -- | 24 | 52 | 13.2 | -- 1896 | 259 | 50 | -- | 22 | 50 | 12.8 | -- =======+========+===============+============+=============+==========+==========+===========

The following table gives the prices of certain important foods (per 50 Kilogr.):