Chapter II: Economic Crimes (1)

It is necessary to divide these crimes into separate groups. Notwithstanding their partial similarity they differ too much among themselves to be treated together. I propose to speak of them under the four following heads: A. Vagrancy and mendicity; B. Theft, and analogous crimes; C. Robbery, homicide for economic reasons, etc. (that is to say, economic crimes committed with violence or directed against life); D. Fraudulent bankruptcy, adulteration of food, etc. (that is to say, economic crimes committed almost exclusively by the bourgeoisie, while those of the first three categories are committed almost exclusively by the poor). Some crimes, like that of embezzlement, belong to the second class as well as to the fourth (for example, a workman’s making off with a bicycle loaned to him, and the embezzlement of deposits by a bank director).

It seems to me unnecessary to explain this division. It creates four fairly distinct groups, which contain all the economic crimes. However, I must point out why I treat vagrancy and mendicity in this way, while both are generally regarded not as misdemeanors but as contraventions. [822] Properly speaking they ought not, therefore, to appear in a work on criminality, but the following are the reasons why they nevertheless find a place here; first, they are the most important and the most common contraventions; second, there is a very close relation between vagrancy on the one hand, and criminality properly speaking on the other. This relation has been shown by many authors. As Professor Prins says in his “Criminalité et répression”, vagrancy and mendicity are the novitiate of crime. I will only recall here the opinions of two writers, Josiah Flynt and E. Sichart. The former, the author of “Tramping with Tramps”, has given up a part of his life to tramping for some years in America, Germany, and in other countries, in order to familiarize himself with the vagrant and the criminal; his conclusions accordingly have great value. He is of the opinion that the vagrants endowed with great energy become professional criminals, to fall again into vagrancy as soon as their physical and mental forces decline so as no longer to permit them to carry on their criminal trade with success. [823]

Sichart, the prison director, having examined 3,181 convicts, found that 28% of them had been convicted before for vagrancy, and 27% for mendicity—55% in all. [824] These figures differed according to the kind of criminal. There were to

each 100 thieves 44.2 vagrants, 35.0 mendicants
,, 100 swindlers 11.1 ,, 20.2 ,,
,, 100 sexual offenders 14.0 ,, 17.3 ,,
,, 100 incendiaries 15.1 ,, 15.5 ,,
,, 100 perjurers 4.2 ,, 4.7 ,,

For these reasons, then, it is necessary to treat of vagrancy and mendicity.

A. Vagrancy and Mendicity.

In examining the etiology of these contraventions, we perceive that different causes lead to them. We shall treat them successively and endeavor to find their relation to the economic life.

First. As a first cause of vagrancy and mendicity is the fact that under capitalism there are always workmen who cannot sell their labor. The number of these persons increases greatly at the time of a crisis. When the men out of work have no resource in their family and no longer receive aid from their union, they are obliged to go from place to place looking for employment, and if they do not succeed in finding it must have recourse to begging in order not to die of hunger. Statistics furnish the proof that the army of vagrants and mendicants is in fact made up in part of the unemployed who, though they wish to, cannot find work.

In the first place, vagrancy and mendicity increase in winter (as in general all economic criminality does), when forced unemployment is at its height, and needs are most pressing, while they diminish in summer. The following figures with reference to some of the German states show these facts.

Grand-Duchy of Baden, 1884–1891. [825]

=========+===================+================ | Number Convicted |Number Convicted Months. | of Vagrancy and | per Diem, the | Mendicity. | Minimum = 100. ---------+-------------------+---------------- January | 7,232 | 364 February | 6,315 | 336 March | 4,816 | 235 April | 2,945 | 148 May | 2,743 | 133 June | 2,475 | 124 July | 2,540 | 124 August | 2,410 | 118 September| 1,989 | 100 October | 2,672 | 130 November | 3,857 | 195 December | 5,310 | 259 =========+===================+================

Hesse, 1899–1900. [826]

==================+=============================== | Number Convicted of Vagrancy Months. | and Mendicity. +----------------+-------------- |Absolute Number.|Daily Average. ------------------+----------------+-------------- December-February | 479 | 5.32 March-May | 334 | 3.63 June-August | 259 | 2.82 September-November| 531 | 3.64 ==================+================+==============

The following figures confirm those that have preceded.

Saxony, 1882–1887. [827]

======+================================================================================== | Number Convicted of Vagrancy and Mendicity. +-------------------++-------------------++-------------------++------------------- | First Quarter. || Second Quarter. || Third Quarter. || Fourth Quarter. Years.+--------+----------++--------+----------++--------+----------++--------+---------- | |Percentage|| |Percentage|| |Percentage|| |Percentage |Absolute| of ||Absolute| of ||Absolute| of ||Absolute| of |Numbers.| Annual ||Numbers.| Annual ||Numbers.| Annual ||Numbers.| Annual | | Total. || | Total. || | Total. || | Total. ------+--------+----------++--------+----------++--------+----------++--------+---------- 1882 | 6,752 | 36.1 || 4,220 | 22.6 || 3,181 | 17.0 || 4,546 | 24.3 1883 | 6,619 | 36.6 || 3,934 | 21.7 || 2,957 | 16.5 || 4,567 | 25.2 1884 | 6,641 | 37.6 || 3,855 | 21.8 || 2,721 | 15.5 || 4,462 | 25.2 1885 | 6,555 | 35.9 || 3,424 | 18.7 || 2,872 | 15.7 || 5,440 | 29.7 1886 | 7,139 | 41.5 || 3,507 | 20.4 || 2,654 | 15.4 || 3,900 | 22.7 1887 | 5,787 | 39.1 || 3,344 | 22.6 || 2,251 | 15.2 || 3,411 | 23.1 ======+========+==========++========+==========++========+==========++========+==========

These statistics justify the conclusion drawn by Ostwald, from whom I have taken the figures for Hesse. This author is a competent witness, as he tramped as a vagrant for some time himself. He says: “These figures directly contradict the statement that antipathy to regular work forms the principal source of vagrancy and mendicity; especially as there is no inclination to frequent the highways in winter. It is the need that comes of unemployment that drives out these poorest of the poor; and whoever wishes to do away with vagrancy must make the economic existence of the working people secure, instead of visiting the victims of poverty with Draconian punishments.” [828]

Another proof in support of the assertion that unemployment is a cause of mendicity and vagrancy, is to be found in the fact that the figures for vagrancy and mendicity rise considerably at the time of economic crises. The same phenomenon occurs more or less when the price of grain or bread goes up. Then those whose labor is only poorly paid must find some means of increasing their resources; and further when bread is dear less of other things can be bought, which brings about a decrease in production and consequently an increase in forced idleness.

In the first part of this work I have mentioned authors who have shown for different countries that the curve of vagrancy rises or falls as economic conditions become worse or better. I add here the data that I have been able to find elsewhere.

England, 1856–1896. [829]

=======+========================++=======+======================== | Vagrants Convicted. || | Vagrants Convicted. Years. +--------+---------------++Years. +--------+--------------- |Absolute| To 100,000 of || |Absolute| To 100,000 of |Numbers.|the Population.|| |Numbers.|the Population. -------+--------+---------------++-------+--------+--------------- 1856-57| 19,270 | 99.7 ||1876-77| 22,475 | 90.9 1857-58| 21,473 | 109.9 ||1877-78| 23,662 | 94.5 1858-59| 16,401 | 83.0 ||1878-79| 25,790 | 101.6 1859-60| 16,374 | 82.2 ||1879-80| 30,323 | 117.5 1860-61| 17,496 | 86.9 ||1880-81| 28,088 | 107.8 1861-62| 20,636 | 101.4 ||1881-82| 28,729 | 109.0 1862-63| 21,758 | 105.8 ||1882-83| 28,825 | 108.2 1863-64| 20,414 | 97.7 ||1883-84| 28,370 | 105.3 1864-65| 20,307 | 96.7 ||1884-85| 27,467 | 100.9 1865-66| 19,607 | 91.8 ||1885-86| 26,546 | 96.4 1866-67| 21,071 | 97.5 ||1886-87| 28,690 | 103.0 1867-68| 24,125 | 110.2 ||1887-88| 31,380 | 111.5 1868-69| 29,890 | 134.8 ||1888-89| 28,032 | 98.5 1869-70| 28,367 | 126.3 ||1889-90| 25,001 | 86.5 1870-71| 24,902 | 109.4 ||1890-91| 22,577 | 77.6 1871-72| 21,325 | 92.4 ||1891-92| 23,623 | 80.3 1872-73| 19,433 | 83.2 ||1893 | 24,830 | 83.3 1873-74| 19,582 | 82.8 ||1894 | 25,676 | 85.4 1874-75| 17,692 | 73.5 ||1895 | 23,524 | 77.4 1875-76| 19,841 | 81.4 ||1896 | 25,188 | 81.9 =======+========+===============++=======+========+===============

When we compare these figures with the course of economic events, we find the following: 1856 was a bad year economically, and 1857 and 1858 were still worse; in 1859 the situation improved, to become worse again in 1860, 1861, and 1862. The improvement was restored in 1863, while 1864 and 1865 were fair; in 1866, 1867, and 1868 conditions became worse again, but improved from 1869 to 1874. With 1875 things took a turn for the worse, and this condition lasted till 1879, when there was a slight improvement; 1880, 1881, and 1882 were fair, while 1883 was a passably good year. In 1884 a period of depression began, which lasted till 1888, following which there was an improvement until 1891, with the succeeding years up to 1894 not so good. In 1895 things once more took a turn for the better. [830]

With some exceptions the curve of vagrancy rises and falls, then, pretty much as the economic situation grows worse or improves.

Bavaria, 1835–1861.

Dr. G. Mayr has proved that during the period named there was a close connection between the movement of the price of grain and the figures for vagrancy. (See p. 42 of this work.) [831]

Flanders, 1839–1848.

Ducpetiaux had given proofs of the same correlation. (See pp. 33–37.)

France, 1840–1886.

Lafargue has proved that vagrancy and mendicity follow in general the curve for bankruptcies. (See p. 235.) [832]

Hesse, 1895–1900. [833]

======+==================================================== |Number of those Convicted of Vagrancy and Mendicity. Years.+-------------------+-------------------------------- | Absolute Figures. | To 100,000 of the Population. ------+-------------------+-------------------------------- 1895 | 2,583 | 21.96 1896 | 2,244 | 21.49 1897 | 1,968 | 18.49 1898 | 1,658 | 15.60 1899 | 1,267 | 11.82 1900 | 1,442 | 12.95 ======+===================+================================

In this period the economic depression in Germany, dating from about 1890, began to decrease.

Netherlands, 1860–1891.

Since there are no statistical investigations of the course of vagrancy and mendicity I have composed the following chart from the official data.

A comparison of the two curves shows that there is a parallelism, tolerably constant up to 1869. After this it ceases with some exceptions. The great fall in the price of bread, beginning with 1878 (as a consequence of the agrarian crisis), even coincides with a considerable increase in vagrancy and mendicity. To explain this we must consult the statistics of failures. These show that the great increase of vagrancy and mendicity coincide with an equally great increase in the number of bankruptcies, beginning in 1875 and lasting to 1882. For the following years there is no relation between the two phenomena apparent.

Prussia, 1854–1870.

I have composed the following table by means of the data given by Starke in his “Verbrechen und Verbrecher in Preussen” (pp. 55 and 115).

======+=================+=============================== | Number of New |Price of 50 Kilograms in Marks. Years.|Cases of Vagrancy+---------+---------+----------- | and Mendicity. | Wheat. | Rye. | Potatoes. ------+-----------------+---------+---------+----------- 1854 | 14,619 | 12.90 | 10.40 | 3.17 1855 | 16,665 | 14.21 | 11.45 | 3.37 1856 | 20,414 | 13.51 | 10.64 | 3.13 1857 | 15,801 | 10.18 | 6.87 | 2.18 1858 | 15,318 | 9.08 | 6.38 | 1.91 1859 | 16,978 | 8.93 | 6.79 | 1.98 1860 | 16,320 | 10.48 | 7.65 | 2.41 1861 | 14,239 | 11.04 | 7.71 | 2.79 1862 | 12,846 | 10.68 | 7.97 | 2.47 1863 | 11,840 | 9.18 | 6.78 | 2.04 1864 | 12,026 | 7.95 | 5.69 | 2.10 1865 | 11,640 | 8.13 | 6.24 | 2.03 1866 | 13,664 | 9.80 | 7.30 | 2.05 1867 | 15,339 | 12.89 | 9.87 | 2.95 1868 | 14,801 | 12.48 | 9.84 | 2.62 1869 | 15,091 | 9.70 | 8.08 | 2.16 1870 | 13,320 | 11.04 | 7.78 | 2.58 ======+=================+=========+=========+===========

Although the curves of the price of foodstuffs and of vagrancy do not exactly conform, the influence of the price is none the less evident. The three periods of high prices (1854–56, 1860–62, and 1867–68) coincide with high figures for vagrancy and mendicity. (It is to be noted that the effect of an economic depression does not always make itself felt the following year.)

Kingdom of Saxony, 1889–1892.

Bebel showed that mendicity increased greatly in the above period (a crisis of great intensity). (See pp. 228–229 of this work.) [834]

I am of the opinion that these data show sufficiently that the increase or diminution of vagrancy and mendicity are regulated by the economic situation; in other words, that a great many persons become guilty of these contraventions not because they are not willing to work, but entirely as a consequence of an unfavorable economic environment. There are some exceptions to this rule. Above (pp. 89–90) I have shown that these exceptions do not weaken the general conclusion; the unfavorable influence of the economic depression may be neutralized by counter-determinants. It must further be remarked especially with regard to vagrancy and mendicity, that the application of the laws relative to these offenses is quite arbitrary, and it happens at the time of a crisis that the courts do not punish those who are guilty of them, whence it follows that the statistics do not give an accurate picture of the reality. [835]

It is impossible to fix exactly how far the influence of economic depressions extends; in other words, we cannot determine the number of vagrants and mendicants who become such directly through forced idleness. When it is necessary to record a certain number of convictions for vagrancy and mendicity, although the economic conditions are most favorable, we shall not even then be able to say that this proves that the convictions fell only upon persons who could have found work, but did not wish it.

Under the present economic system unemployment is chronic, that is to say, it is present even in times of economic prosperity. Consequently it has not been proved that those who are convicted during these periods are necessarily lazy and do not want to work. The only figure that I have been able to find with regard to the importance of this cause of vagrancy and mendicity is this: that in Germany, out of a total of 200,000 mendicants, there are 80,000 (40%) who are really in search of work. [836] This figure being only approximate, its significance is not great.

Before leaving the subject of this cause, we must say something with regard to the objection that the workers who, on account of a long period of unemployment, fall finally into vagrancy, are inferior to the average, generally do not know a trade, and are often addicted to alcohol; and that consequently in this case an individual factor plays a rôle beside the economic factor.

It is true that most of the vagrants and mendicants do not know a trade, nor are worth much as workmen. In his study Dr. Bonhoeffer says that 55.4% of the vagrants and mendicants examined by him had not learned a trade, or had learned it insufficiently. [837] This author also shows (we shall return to this later) that a great proportion of these people are also physically inferior to the average. This inferiority is in part not the cause but the effect of the conditions under which they have been living (insufficient food, etc.), [838] and in part congenital weakness.

However, supposing that each of these individuals knew a trade, supposing also that they were all robust and healthy and in a condition to work regularly, would there then be fewer persons without work than there are now? The answer to this question must be negative. Even if every workman knew a trade, this fact would not increase the demand for skilled workmen. At any given time the labor market demands only a certain number of skilled workmen, and a certain other number of unskilled laborers; the number of unskilled laborers available has no influence. The same thing is true as to fitness for work; if all the workmen had the same energy, the same zeal, etc., this would not increase the demand for workmen; this demand is regulated by other factors.

In my opinion it cannot be a question of individual causes; individual differences explain partially who remain without work, and so become vagrants; but it is the economic system which causes the existence of persons without work. Vagrancy and mendicity would be no less extensive even if all the workers knew a trade and were equal in zeal and energy.

In the second place the world of vagrants and mendicants is composed of people too old to work, or more or less incapable of working, from physical or psychical causes, so that they are no longer employed. So far as I know the data concerning the age of vagrants and mendicants are not numerous; I can cite those that follow.

England, 1894–1900. [839]

=======+==========+================================
| |Of Whom there were of the Age of
|Number of +----------------+---------------
Years. |Mendicants| 50 to 60 years.| Over 60.
|Convicted.+----------+-----+----------+----
| | Absolute | | Absolute |
| | Numbers. | % | Numbers. | %
-------+----------+----------+-----+----------+----
1894 | 13,021 | 1,638 | 12 | 1,916 | 14
1895 | 10,497 | 1,387 | 13 | 1,490 | 14
1896 | 11,839 | 1,512 | 12 | 1,801 | 15
1897 | 10,735 | 1,338 | 12 | 1,701 | 15
1898 | 11,047 | 1,540 | 13 | 1,838 | 16
1899 | 9,308 | 1,374 | 14 | 1,667 | 17
1900 | 8,402 | 1,253 | 14 | 1,690 | 20
=======+==========+==========+=====+==========+====

Netherlands, 1896–1901. [840]

======+===========+================================ | Number of |Of Whom there were of the Age of | Persons +----------------+--------------- Years.| Convicted | 50 to 60 years.| Over 60. |of Vagrancy+----------+-----+----------+---- | and | Absolute | | Absolute | |Mendicity. | Numbers. | % | Numbers. | % ------+-----------+----------+-----+----------+---- 1896 | 2,181 | 541 | 24 | 273 | 12 1897 | 2,139 | 529 | 25 | 278 | 13 1898 | 2,173 | 534 | 24 | 291 | 13 1899 | 2,215 | 564 | 25 | 285 | 12 1901 | 1,857 | 491 | 26 | 257 | 13 ===================================================

Russia, 1897.

In the work of Löwenstimm already cited we find mentioned the fact that out of a total of 7,916 mendicants arrested in St. Petersburg, 1,185 (14.9%) were between 50 and 60 years of age, and 982 (12.4%) over 60. [841]

As has been said, a certain number of vagrants are weak or sickly, and consequently are nearly or quite unable to work. In “Les habitués des prisons de Paris”, Dr. Laurent gives the following description of some vagrants observed by him, true types of this kind of individual. “I have known at the Santé in recent years an individual who has passed almost the whole of his life in prison, who was born and lived in misery. A natural child, his mother received him as a mistake and a burden and tried to destroy herself and him. Later, convulsions twisted him upon a hospital bed, and he has remained half-paralyzed. So far from knowing how to read or write he can hardly see clearly, for an opaque film covers his left eye. He has undergone more than twenty sentences for mendicity and vagrancy, and he is still only 37 years old. He leaves prison only to enter it again. So he complains bitterly and blames the judicial authorities, who, instead of placing him in an asylum, where he belongs, cast him into prison, because, says he, the food does not cost so much.

“An individual 29 years old, the son of a drunkard and a consumptive, has already been seven times sentenced for mendicity. He has been half-paralyzed since he was 13 months old and can walk only with crutches. Epileptic in addition, he drifts from prison to prison.

“These facts are very common, and it is impossible to estimate how many of these poor devils live in the prisons, which are a kind of refuge for them. Lately I saw a blind man who had been arrested for mendicity and sentenced to a fortnight in prison.” [842]

The following figures, taken from the work just quoted, inform us as to the number of such individuals.

Breslau.

===============================+=========+====== Physical and Mental Condition. |Absolute | |Numbers. | % -------------------------------+---------+------ Physical condition weak | 337 | 91 Incapable of military service | | from physical weakness | 236 | 64 Mental anomalies | 322 | 87 Epilepsy | 43 | 11 Imbecility | 86 | 23 Total number examined | 369 | 100 ================================================

Here it must be noted that in the years 1896–97 there were on the average only 9% of the conscripts of Silesia who were incapable of military service.

The other figures that are known agree with the ones I have just cited. Dr. Kurella found 20% to 30% of imbeciles or epileptics among the vagrants. [843] Dr. Mendel also found a great number of psychic abnormalities among the vagrants. [844]

All that I have just said demonstrates sufficiently, I believe, that the cause named above plays a considerable rôle in the etiology of mendicity and vagrancy. It is still necessary to give an answer to the question: do all the individuals who fall under the unfavorable conditions named under one and two, become vagrants or mendicants? It is evident that the answer must be negative. Three expedients offer themselves to one who has fallen into the blackest poverty; mendicity, theft, and suicide. It is partly chance (opportunity etc.), and partly the individual predisposition which fixes what anyone under the conditions named will become, whether a mendicant or a thief. Generally those who have still some intelligence and energy become thieves, the rest vagrants. [845] The third expedient, suicide, also is frequently met with among the lower proletariat. [846] Those who have recourse to it are either those who have known better conditions and find that the miserable existence that mendicity procures is not worth the trouble of living, or those who have lost all energy. Sometimes persons commit suicide to escape the shame of begging or stealing. These have been called “the heroes of virtue”; but, considered from another point of view, they may also be called the “victims of vice”, the vice of others, of course. These have been born with a very strong moral disposition and have lived in an environment where this disposition has been developed. These cases prove the degree of intensity that the social sentiments can attain; they are stronger than the fundamental desire to live, although those whom these “heroes” are unwilling to injure, reject these sentiments, by abandoning their fellows who find themselves in want.

Third. A third category of mendicants and vagrants is made up of children and young people. Let us see what relation there is between this fact and the economic and social environment. All those who have taken up this subject are agreed that a great proportion of the children are systematically taught to beg by their parents. Whatever may be the cause for which the parents act thus, these children are entirely the victims of the detestable atmosphere in which they are forced to live. Brought up in a wholesome environment they would become neither mendicants nor vagrants. [847]

Another part of the vagrant body is made up of children who are either illegitimate or orphans, or deserted by their parents, or forced by bad treatment to run away from home. Tomel and Rollet mention the following typical case. A girl of 16 was charged with vagrancy, and made this heart-rending statement of her case before the tribunal: “I went on Friday to find the police commissioner of the ward; I told him that I had been without a lodging place for 15 days, and that I had not eaten for 48 hours. I was employed at the house of a wine merchant, who, when my mother died three years ago, took me as a servant (at 13 years of age) at two sous a day as wages. But my employer failed, his shop was closed, and I had to go out and wander in search of work without finding anything. My father, sentenced to hard labor for life, died in New Caledonia. I have no longer any mother, and since I did not wish to imitate my grown-up sister, who leads a bad life, I preferred to get myself arrested.” [848]

It is difficult to tell how many of these children there are. The only figures that I know of are the following.

Italy, 1885–1889. [849]

Among the minors sent to a house of correction for vagrancy there were

=====================================+=========+====== Divisions. |Absolute | |Numbers. | % -------------------------------------+---------+------ Illegitimate children | 91 | 8.0 Orphans | 498 | 43.8 Children whose parents were in prison| 25 | 2.2 Other children | 524 | 46.0 +---------+------ Total | 1,138 |100.0 =====================================+=========+======

We must now speak of another kind of vagrant and mendicant, those whom some criminologists have called born-vagabonds; children who run away from home to meet with adventures and to see something more than the neighborhood where they live. It makes little difference to us here whence comes this desire; everyone, especially every child, has it more or less (who is there who does not love to travel?) and there are those in whom it is very strong. “Who among us,” say Tomel and Rollet, “at certain moments of existence, does not feel the desire to break with social conventions, or more simply, to break through the circle of his horizon, in order to depart in search of the unknown? Put money in the pocket of the tramp and you make a tourist. The sportsman and the delinquent are separated only by the thickness of some hundred-sou pieces.” [850]

These authors have hit the truth of the matter. Such children are called born-vagabonds, but then we meet thousands of born-vagabonds who have never become vagabonds in reality. The children who have a great love of adventure are found in all classes of society, but only those who come from among the poor become vagrants. It is in poverty then that we find the “causa efficiens”; the same inclination that brings poor children to prison, would perhaps lead them to a post of honor if they had lived in better surroundings. There are people of all kinds among criminals, and it cannot be denied that the majority of them are inferior in every way. But this does not apply to this class of little vagrants. Those who, as a consequence of years of experience, have a right to speak, are agreed that such children can be made useful members of society, if they are rationally guided. [851] They are bold and energetic lads. Could it be believed that all the boys who, in 1889, came on foot to Paris from all parts of France to see the Eiffel tower (there were some of them under seven years of age) were not brave and energetic? Brought up in another environment they would have become sailors or explorers, or would have undertaken long journeys as tourists—while now they get into prison, to descend later lower and lower. [852]

Fourth. Finally, the fourth category of vagrants and mendicants. This consists of those not included in the other three classes of people who are physically in a condition to work and who have opportunity to do so, but are not willing to work. It is hard to determine with certainty how large a part of the army of vagrants and mendicants they make up. But it seems to me certain that the facts given above prove that they are not as numerous as some authors and many other people believe. Besides, how is it that the philanthropic institutions where everyone admitted has to work, are always full, if it is true that most vagrants are persons who are not willing to work?

The vagrants of this class are then lazy persons, unwilling to work, but living at the expense of others, and consequently parasites. It is with reason that many authors have blamed such persons (though, as Dr. Colajanni says, justice would require that we should include all do-nothings, and not the poor only). But this does not advance the cause of sociology; her task is to find the causes of the phenomenon.

It is incontestable that the zeal and energy, evidenced by modern peoples in their work, are not innate but acquired. All sound individuals have, not in the same measure, it is true, an innate tendency to exercise their muscles and their intellectual faculties, but without external causes this inclination does not go very far. The primitive peoples work no more than is necessary to provide for their very moderate needs. They find people laughable who work more than is strictly necessary. [853] The enormous change which took place in the method of production little by little induced men to produce a greater and greater amount of work; on the one hand were the slaves, forced to labor hard, and on the other hand the property owners driven to work by the desire of profit. In our present society the case is almost the same; the great mass are forced to work by fear of poverty, the smaller number by the desire for gain. And then the great majority of men have been accustomed to work from infancy; much work is done from necessity, but much from habit, which causes a feeling of uneasiness when one cannot work.

The first reason why there are people who do not want to work, is that they have not been accustomed to it from childhood. In general children, like primitive people, who are analogous to them in many ways, show little zeal for work. It is necessary to train them for a fairly long time before they set themselves to work assiduously. What will all those children whose parents have neglected them, or who have even taught them to beg, turn into when they are grown up, if not into vagrants and mendicants? They have never learned any trade, have never become accustomed to work, have never found any pleasure in it, so that later in life they will never have any desire to do anything. [854]

Part of those who have not been able to work for a long time go the same road, they lose the habit of working, become lazy, and in the end are not willing to do anything any more. [855] These, to be sure, are the least diligent by nature, but that would not alone send them into vagrancy if they had always been able to find work.

However, there is still one more thing to be said about the circumstances which give rise to this class of individuals. In the first place, the long duration, the monotony, and the disagreeable features of the work of the proletariat, which, as a consequence is rather hated than loved. [856] In the second place: the small wages of a large part of the workers, and the comparatively large amounts that clever beggars are able to secure. Flynt gives the following data as to the “earnings” of tramps; in New York, $1 a day; in the Eastern States generally, from 50 cents to $1 or $2, without counting food; in New Orleans a skilful beggar can “earn” $1 a day. He estimates that in Germany the daily receipts of a beggar are from a mark and a half to four marks, and food; in England most beggars get from 18 pence to two shillings, though some very clever ones even get as much as 10 shillings. [857] Löwenstimm tells that in Petrograd a skilful beggar has a daily income of three rubles. [858] Florian and Cavaglieri say that in Paris a beggar gets four francs, and if he is very clever, even as much as twenty-five francs, a day. [859]

In some cases, then, it is more profitable, and in all cases more easy, not to work. In consequence of these facts we read very often that the public ought not to give to these idlers. But the public cannot distinguish this class of mendicants from the others. It is certainly true that professional mendicity would diminish if nothing were given to mendicants; but on the other hand the great misery among the other poor would be aggravated still more. And I venture to doubt whether the advantage thus gained on one side would counterbalance the disadvantage created on the other.

And these laments upon the subject of the stupidity of the public are generally accompanied by anathemas upon those who prefer the life of the parasite to work. No one would naturally be inclined to excuse these individuals. But it is necessary to look at the question from both sides. If these people are blamed, blame must be attached also to a state of society in which honest labor is so poorly paid that begging is often more lucrative. These individuals are cunning egoists and as long as society is organized as it is, they are right from their point of view. To be sure, they have no feeling of honor, they attach no value to the opinion of others, but the feeling of honor is not innate but acquired. As the facts show, vagrants generally come from an environment where there can be no question of a development of moral qualities. Dr. Bonhoeffer shows, for example, that about 45% of the vagrants examined by him had been brought up in bad home surroundings (alcoholism of the parents, etc.). Then, as we have seen above, the social feelings can be developed only where there is reciprocity. I should like to know whether society really concerns itself with the fate of these unfortunates to such an extent that they in their turn care greatly for the opinion of this same society. Certainly not. They are pariahs, and since they are such the contempt of a hostile world is a matter of indifference.

As we come to the conclusion of our observations upon the etiology of vagrancy and mendicity, we have still but one category to consider, that of those who are indolent by nature. There are individuals in whom assiduous labor of any kind awakens a strong feeling of discomfort. [860] As we have already stated above, in speaking of poverty in general (see p. 288), the cause of this phenomenon is a species of neurasthenia, more especially physical. It is necessary to recognize that, while these individuals are out of harmony with society, they are sick and must be cared for if society is to avoid trouble. Besides, Professor Benedict, who was the first to point out physical neurasthenia, himself recognizes [861] that such sick persons need not become vagrants, if they are brought up in a favorable environment, and that later the struggle for existence will not be painful to them.

To sum up, it is evident that the principal causes of vagrancy and mendicity are lack of work, the want of care for the old, the sick, and the weak, the abandonment of poor children, the low wages and long hours of the workers. The persons who run most danger of being incorporated in the army of vagrants are the weak, whether mentally or physically, but this need not necessarily happen; the “causa causarum” is the environment. [862]

History proves this also. If vagrancy and mendicity sprang from the innate qualities of man, there would always have been vagrants and mendicants, which is not the case. The appearance of these is due to the economic structure of society. It is not possible to discuss this at length and the reader is referred to the work of Florian and Cavaglieri, “I vagabondi” (I, Part One). These authors show that the first type of vagrant was the runaway slave, and then the serf who had fled from his lord’s domain. In the following periods the penalties with which vagrants were threatened (and they were very severe) were especially designed to force the proletariat to serve the purposes of the possessors of the means of production. [863] In measure as the number of available workers increases and the proletariat submits to the will of the capitalists, this cause becomes less important, and disappears almost completely in our own time. It is rather the contrary that takes place, since the army of vagrants and mendicants is now mainly composed of those who have not been able to find work. Vagabondage and mendicity are at present punishable because of the importunity of the mendicants, the losses experienced by persons living in the country especially, and also because of the danger to society from the fact that the dangerous criminals are partly recruited from this class.

B. Theft and Analogous Crimes.

Before examining the motives inducing the commission of theft (the most important crime of this group, the others being mostly modifications of it) we must first stop a moment to ask the question, “Is honesty an innate characteristic or is it acquired?”

In my opinion it is indisputable that honesty is as little innate as any other moral conception. [864] No child can distinguish between mine and thine, it is only little by little that he gains this concept. On the contrary he has the tendency to monopolize everything that he desires (the prehensory instinct, Lafargue names it). [865] It is just this instinct that must be combated to make a child honest. It would, therefore, be more correct to say that dishonesty is innate. Unless one takes account of this fact it is impossible to give the etiology of theft and crimes of the same nature.

The motives for these crimes with which we are now occupied we shall speak of under three heads. The first group includes the crimes committed from poverty, the second those that result from cupidity, and in the third group we shall treat of the criminals by profession.

a. THEFTS COMMITTED FROM POVERTY.

There are some needs which a man must satisfy, without which his existence is impossible. These are fundamental needs, independent of environment. If a man has not sufficient food, if he has not (at least in non-tropical countries) clothing to protect him against cold, if opportunity for rest is lacking, etc., his life is in danger. In our present society there are always a number of persons who are in want of the strict necessaries of life, and who are therefore obliged to steal if they do not wish to succumb to poverty. It is evident that the word “poverty” is not to be taken in the most limited sense, so that one who can still buy a morsel of bread, and yet steals, may still be considered as a thief from poverty.

We must make here one more observation before we enter upon the proofs of this thesis. We have defined crime as an egoistic act. However, the same act may be at once egoistic and altruistic, and this is the case with some crimes committed from poverty, when an individual steals in order not to have those in his charge die of hunger. What conflicts of duty our present society creates!

The proofs that absolute poverty provokes a number of thefts are of three kinds. The first two are based upon the dynamics of criminality.

First. In winter, when poverty is most pressing, the number of thefts etc. is much greater than in summer. This is a fact so well known that it is unnecessary to give detailed proofs of it, and I think it will be sufficient to give the following statistics dealing with two important countries for a great number of years.

Germany, 1883–1892. [866]

===============+======================================================================================================== | Number of Punishable Acts Committed in the Months of Crimes.[867] +--------+---------+-------+-------+------+------+------+-------+----------+--------+---------+---------- |January.|February.| March.| April.| May. | June.| July.|August.|September.|October.|November.| December. ---------------+--------+---------+-------+-------+------+------+------+-------+----------+--------+---------+---------- Simple theft {a| 7,991 | 7,342 | 6,909 | 5,777 | 6,097| 6,003| 6,230| 6,481 | 6,249 | 7,436 | 7,966 | 8,523 {b| 113 | 115 | 98 | 85 | 87| 88| 88| 92 | 92 | 106 | 117 | 121 | | | | | | | | | | | | Aggravated {a| 913 | 877 | 830 | 777 | 840| 856| 879| 866 | 818 | 956 | 971 | 996 theft {b| 102 | 107 | 92 | 89 | 94| 98| 98| 96 | 94 | 106 | 112 | 111 | | | | | | | | | | | | Embezzlement {a| 1,539 | 1,358 | 1,454 | 1,397 | 1,505| 1,485| 1,583| 1,551 | 1,459 | 1,604 | 1,573 | 1,659 {b| 100 | 97 | 94 | 94 | 98| 100| 103| 101 | 98 | 104 | 105 | 108 | | | | | | | | | | | | Receiving {a| 682 | 615 | 571 | 442 | 458| 447| 444| 451 | 451 | 556 | 643 | 789 stolen goods{b| 123 | 122 | 103 | 82 | 82| 83| 80| 81 | 81 | 100 | 120 | 142 | | | | | | | | | | | | Professional {a| 3 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 4| 3| 3| 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 and habitual{b| 71 | 130 | 94 | 195 | 94| 73| 71| 71 | 146 | 71 | 73 | 118 receiving of | | | | | | | | | | | | stolen goods | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Fraud {a| 2,174 | 2,050 | 1,909 | 1,744 | 1,823| 1,869| 1,932| 1,845 | 1,758 | 2,065 | 2,279 | 2,432 {b| 107 | 111 | 94 | 89 | 90| 95| 95| 91 | 90 | 102 | 116 | 120 ===============+========+=========+=======+=======+======+======+======+=======+==========+========+=========+==========

There is, then, a pretty considerable increase as winter approaches, and a decrease with the summer months. I would call the attention of the reader especially to the fact that it is the crimes of simple theft and the receiving of stolen goods which show this change in the most marked way, while aggravated theft, embezzlement and the professional and habitual receiving of stolen goods show it in less degree. It is the two former crimes which have poverty as their cause, while the three latter are more apt to be committed from cupidity and by professional criminals.

The following figures, taken from the criminal calendar composed by Professor Lacassagne, have to do with

France, 1827–1870. [868]

Number of Crimes Against Property for Each Month, Reduced to an Equal Duration of 31 Days.

January. 16,350
February. 15,400
March. 14,250
April. 13,450
May. 13,625
June. 13,450
July. 13,225
August. 13,425
September. 13,875
October. 14,400
November. 16,100
December. 16,825

We have here, then, as always, a great increase in fall and winter, and a corresponding decrease in spring and summer.

Second. A second proof of the importance of absolute poverty as a cause of crime etc. is furnished by the fact that there is a considerable increase of the crimes in question in times of economic depression (high price of bread, lack of work, etc.). In Part One I have cited many works in which this phenomenon is proved for a number of countries. I refer the reader, therefore, to the more important of these, and add other data here.

Germany, 1882–1911. [869]

=======+============+===========+================================================ | | | Number of Persons Convicted of Crimes given | | | below, to 100,000 of Population over 12 Years |Price of Rye| Imports | of Age. Years. |in Marks per|and Exports+------+----------+---------+------+------------- |1000 Kilogr.| in | | |Receiving| | | (Berlin.) | Billions |Simple|Aggravated| Stolen |Fraud.|Embezzlement. | | of Marks. |Theft.| Theft. | Goods. | | -------+------------+-----------+------+----------+---------+------+------------- 1882 | 152.3 | 6.3 | 250 | 28 | 26 | 37 | 46 1883 | 144.7 | 6.5 | 241 | 25 | 24 | 38 | 46 1884 | 143.3 | 6.4 | 231 | 25 | 23 | 39 | 46 1885 | 140.6 | 5.8 | 214 | 22 | 22 | 38 | 45 1886 | 130.6 | 5.9 | 210 | 20 | 21 | 41 | 45 1887 | 120.9 | 6.2 | 198 | 21 | 20 | 43 | 44 1888 | 134.5 | 6.7 | 194 | 21 | 20 | 44 | 44 1889 | 155.5 | 7.2 | 211 | 23 | 21 | 49 | 47 1890 | 170.0 | 7.6 | 206 | 24 | 21 | 50 | 47 1891 | 211.2 | 7.7 | 216 | 25 | 22 | 54 | 50 1892 | 176.3 | 7.3 | 236 | 31 | 25 | 59 | 52 1893 | 133.7 | 7.3 | 202 | 26 | 22 | 58 | 51 1894 | 117.8 | 7.2 | 198 | 27 | 22 | 60 | 52 1895 | 119.8 | 7.6 | 192 | 24 | 22 | 61 | 53 1896 | 118.8 | 8.2 | 184 | 24 | 19 | 58 | 50 1897 | 130.1 | 8.5 | 188 | 23 | 18 | 61 | 51 1898 | 146.3 | 9.4 | 191 | 25 | 19 | 63 | 52 1899 | 146.3 | 10.0 | 179 | 24 | 19 | 63 | 53 1900 | 142.6 | 10.7 | 181 | 23 | 18 | 60 | 51 1901 | 140.7 | 10.2 | 190 | 26 | 19 | 64 | 52 1902 | 144.2 | 10.6 | 191 | 28 | 20 | 66 | 55 1903 | 132.3 | 11.4 | 182 | 26 | 19 | 64 | 54 1904 | 135.1 | 12.1 | 176 | 24 | 17 | 62 | 54 1905 | 151.9 | 13.2 | 175 | 25 | 17 | 61 | 56 1906 | 160.6 | 14.8[870] | 179 | 28 | 18 | 62 | 58 1907 | 193.2[871] | 15.5 | 178 | 28 | 18 | 61 | 60 1908 | 186.5 | 14.0 | 189 | 32 | 20 | 61 | 63 1909 | 176.5 | 15.1 | 182 | 33 | 20 | 62 | 65 1910 | 152.3 | 16.4 | 176 | 32 | 19 | 63 | 65 1911 | 168.3 | 17.8 | 169 | 30 | 19 | 63 | 65 =======+============+===========+======+==========+=========+======+=============

If, in examining the preceding table, we do not lose sight of the fact that the rise or fall of the price of grain does not make itself felt immediately, and that in the criminal statistics of a certain year there appear also persons who have committed their crime in a preceding year, it is clear how enormous is the influence of the economic movement upon economic crimes. The price of grain had formerly a decisive influence upon the trend of economic crimes; now, in industrial countries like Germany, it is rather the industrial situation, without, however, the price of cereals losing all influence. [872]

England, 1823–1896.

Dr. Tugan-Baranowsky proved for the periods 1823–1850 and 1871–1896 the correlation between good and bad times and the decrease and increase of criminality.

For the period 1858–1864 the same proof is given by Mayr (see Part I); and for the years 1840–1890 by Fornasari di Verce (see Part I). The figures of the former have reference only to crime in general, and do not, therefore, show sufficiently the effect upon crimes that are merely economic. [873]

Grand-Duchy of Baden, 1875–1892.[872]

J. S(chmidt), the statistician, shows the parallelism of the two curves for the period mentioned (p. 243).

Bavaria, 1835–1861.

Dr. G. Mayr was one of the first statisticians to show the influence of the price of grain upon crimes against property (pp. 39–42).

Belgium, 1839–1890.

Dr. Weisz has proved the influence of the price of grain during the period from 1841 to 1860 (p. 61) and Professor Denis that of the economic happenings for the period from 1840 to 1890 (pp. 235–237), while Ducpetiaux draws attention especially to the enormous increase of criminality in Flanders during the years of crisis, 1846–1847 (pp. 32–37). [874]

France, 1825–1886.

The influence of the price of grain upon crimes against property has been shown for the periods 1845–1864, 1850–1864, and 1855–1864 respectively, by Drs. Weisz (pp. 60–61), Corne (pp. 48–49), and Mayr (pp. 46–47). Lacassagne and Lafargue have shown the correlation between the fluctuations of the economic life and those of economic crime for the years 1825–80 and 1840–86 respectively (pp. 149 and 231 ff.).

Italy, 1873–1890.

For this period Fornasari di Verce has shown the parallelism between the curves of economic occurrences and of economic crime (pp. 138–143).

New South Wales, 1882–1891.

The same author has shown here also the same correlation (p. 144).

Netherlands, 1860–1891.

Since researches for this country upon our subject are lacking, I have composed the following diagram from the official data.

I. Number of those Convicted for Theft to 100,000 of the Population. II. Price of Bread per Kilogram in Centimes.]

The parallelism of the two curves is striking, there being simply a slight exception in the years 1871–1873. The increase of theft in the years 1879–1881 coincides with a very great increase in the number of bankruptcies, which continued until 1882. [875]

The same parallelism has also been shown for Prussia, Russia, Wurtemberg, and Zürich by Starke and Müller, Tarnowsky, Rettich, and Meyer, as quoted in Part I of this work. [876]

Few sociological theses, it seems to me, have been proved as conclusively as the one of which we have just been speaking. The important influence of the trend of economic events upon that of economic criminality has been shown for thirteen different countries for different periods of the nineteenth century. Some authors are of the opinion that poverty cannot be the cause of crimes that are committed when economic conditions are most favorable, and when economic crimes have consequently reached their minimum. This assertion still needs fuller proof, as I have already pointed out, since there are still many persons who are in want of the necessaries of life even in times of prosperity.

I must say here a few words in answer to a final objection to the preceding observation; namely, that the increase of theft etc., in times of economic depression, is, in great part, a consequence, not of absolute poverty, but of the impossibility of satisfying needs that have sprung up in more favorable times; and that the increase will be, therefore, in large measure due to an increase of crimes committed from cupidity, and not from poverty. This may be true in some cases, but not, in my opinion in the great majority of cases, for the following reasons. When the economic situation is favorable, when earnings are more than usual, and when, consequently, wants increase and become more intense, can everyone satisfy the desires awakened in him by the spirit of imitation? Surely not; even at such times of prosperity there are still many individuals with whom desire is awakened but who are not able to satisfy it in a lawful manner. On the other hand, wants in general diminish in times of crisis; cupidity is therefore less excited, and with a limited income men are quite satisfied with having the means of subsistence, when there are so many who lack the very necessaries of life. In my opinion, crimes from cupidity increase rather than diminish in times of prosperity, while in times of depression the opposite takes place. This cannot be proved for each economic crime separately, since criminal statistics do not show whether a crime is committed from poverty or cupidity. However, embezzlement, fraud, and aggravated theft are committed in a greater degree from cupidity than is simple theft, (and by professional criminals). Now statistics show that it is chiefly simple theft that follows the course of economic events, the other crimes named doing so much less; the same is true of the changes during the different seasons. Finally, while absolute poverty in countries like Germany has decreased and simple theft also, luxury and cupidity have increased, together with the other crimes named. [877]

The third proof that poverty is a great factor in the etiology of theft is the enormous number of widows and divorced women who participate in these crimes (see pp. 452, 453). There is no reason to believe that these women are more covetous than married women or spinsters; but it is certain that their economic situation is often very burdensome. [878]

We shall not employ any further methods to establish our thesis; since for the reasons already stated they would lead to results of no great significance, and it seems that the accuracy of the thesis has been sufficiently shown by the proofs cited.

We have now come to the end of our consideration of the subject of thefts committed from poverty. There are two ways in which it is the cause of theft. On the one hand it incites directly the appropriation of the property of others, and on the other hand it exercises a demoralizing influence.

b. THEFT COMMITTED FROM CUPIDITY.