Persia, review of Mr. Curzon's book upon, 293-Kelat-i-Nadiri, 296 Post Office Savings Bank, review of books upon, 485-Mr. Whit- Powell, J. C., his book on American convict system reviewed, 1. Ꭱ Rogers, J. E. T., his book on England's industrial supremacy reviewed, 431. Rousset, C., his 'Souvenirs de Maréchal Macdonald' reviewed, 114. Ryle, Professor, his book on Old Testament Canon reviewed, 453. S Saxe, Marshal, and Marquis d'Argenson, review of Duc de Broglie's Scottish Union, John, Duke of Argyll's letters upon, 506-necessity of Union, 508-leaders of Unionists, 510-commercial enmity be- Scott-Keltie, J., his 'Statesman's Year-Book' reviewed, 431. Sedding, J. D., his book on garden craft reviewed, 174. Simeon, S. L., his translation of 'Recollections of Marshal Macdonald Smith, Professor R., his book on the Old Testament reviewed, 453. - V Verney Family, review of memoirs of, 411-Claydon House, the home W Wellhausen, J., his book on the History of Israel reviewed, 58. 6 Worsley, Sir R., his History of the Isle of Wight' reviewed, 234. END OF VOL. CLXXVI. PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE THE EDINBURGH REVIEW, JULY, 1892. No. CCCLXI. ART. I.-1. Census Bulletin No. 106. Washington: Department of the Interior. 2. The American Siberia; or, Fourteen Years' Experience in a Southern Convict Camp. By J. C. POWELL, Captain of the Florida Convict Camp. Chicago: 1891. 3. The New York State Reformatory in Elmira. By ALEXANDER WINTER. London : 1891. IT T is one of the results of the quick transmission of news from place to place in this age that men concentrate their attention on events for a short time. They come suddenly on the mind, but they as quickly fade away again. When a number of Italians were lynched at New Orleans in the spring of 1890, the attention of the civilised world fixed itself on this event, and the administration of justice in the United States suddenly entered into the thoughts of all who follow the circumstances of the time. But the surprise which was aroused on this side of the Atlantic was soon obliterated by other events. We do not propose now to re-enter in detail upon the discussion of this particular circumstance; it was, after all, only one of a series of similar occurrences which are continually taking place in the United States. It obtained an ephemeral and unusual notice from the fact that it tended to cause international complications, but stripped of these particular accessories it cannot be regarded as an extraordinary event. This may appear a somewhat sweeping assertion, but there cannot be a doubt that any general examination and consideration of the present state of the criminal law of the United States will show that, great as has been in many respects the progress VOL. CLXXVI. NO. CCCLXI. B of the Republic, she has degenerated as a law-abiding community. It may be well in the first place to ascertain, if possible, what is the state of crime in the United States. We are met at once by a difficulty. The great Republic of the West does not possess any publication which sets forth the judicial statistics of the nation. Without statistics it is impossible for the country to form an opinion of its progress or its retrogression, and it is amazing that a nation of great wealth like the United States has not long ago insisted on the compilation of trustworthy criminal statistics. This absence of actual statistics is made more remarkable since we have only to cross the frontiers of the United States into Canada to find ourselves in possession of full and well-grouped figures. The Canadian criminal statistics are made up to September in each year, and are published in a volume much more convenient in form than that to which we are accustomed in this country. They are so arranged as to show the character of crime in the several provinces and in the entire Dominion, and the report is printed both in the French and English languages. We repeat that one of the first duties of an administration is the compilation and publication of such statistics, and that until the Government of the United States issues a complete and trustworthy volume on the subject year by year, it is impossible that those charged with the administration of justice can have either certain grounds on which to base charges, or can test the efficiency of existing methods of dealing with the criminals of the country. So far as figures are obtainable, they show that crime in the United States is on the increase. According to Census Bulletin No. 31, the ratio of penitentiary convicts to the population in 1880 was 709 per million. In 1890 it has risen to a ratio of 722, being an increase of 13 per million in the decade; and, says the same document, 'The number of leased prisoners in the South has almost doubled in ten 'years.' Of these leased prisoners we shall have more to say in a later part of this article. In a pamphlet recently issued by the Howard Association, stronger indications of the increase of crime in the United States are given. American 'criminality is so alarmingly increasing,' says the writer, that, whereas in 1850 every million inhabitants of the United States only contributed 290 prisoners, the proportion had risen to 853 in 1870, and as high as 1,169 in 1880. 'The census of 1890 appears to indicate a still further in 'crease of criminality, there being 10,000 more convicts than in 1880.'* These figures, it will be observed, only relate to the number of convicts actually tried and brought to justice. They afford no evidence at all of the number of criminals who escape detection and punishment altogether; and no doubt can be entertained that from the inefficiency of the police, and the absence of any central authority for the protection of life and property, the proportion of offenders who are never laid hold on is extremely large. But there are general indications from figures which make us conclude not only that crime had increased in these ten years, but also that in the Republic as a whole it had become of a worse description. In 1880 the percentage of life sentences was 5.06; in 1890 it was 6.33; there was likewise an increase in 1890 in the sentences for 20 years and over, and for 10 to 19 years. Severe sentences ought to be considered as an index to the character of the crime, and judged by this and the preceding test of numbers, we are obliged to conclude that in the United States crime is on the increase, both in amount and in kind. It may, on the other hand, be urged that the criminal statistics of the United States are of an incomplete character, and that a cause also of the apparent increase in crime for the period ending with the year 1890 is that the police have become more efficient, and that consequently more criminals are brought to trial. This argument, though specious, is one which cannot be supported by figures; it is the opinion, on the contrary, of competent and calm observers, that the number of criminals who escape punishment is large, and that crime is on the increase. Therefore, whether we base our conclusions on figures or on the mere assertions of wellinformed men, we must conclude, however reluctantly, that crime is increasing both in amount and degree in the United States. But whilst we take this view of the United States as a whole, there is no doubt that investigation shows that in some States the criminal condition is worse in appearance than it is in fact. Mr. Warren P. Spalding, Secretary to the Massachusetts Board of Commissioners, in an interesting paper in the 'Forum' of January 1892, defends the conduct of that State. He admits at the outset that since 1838 the population has trebled, whilst the prison popula * The Collegiate and Hotel Prisons of the United States, 1891. † Census Bulletin No. 106. |