OCR Text |
Show UNTIMELY DEATHS. I Is the moral depravity of our criminal element on the increase; This question is one of vital importance im-portance to political and religious reformers, and femes within the scope of our national, state and municipal governments, whose mission is to re- ' strain and punish evil-doers. The statistics of crime for the old year are not a pleasant subject to dwell on. They show the extent to which lawlessness law-lessness is carried. Murder comes first. In 190; ; there were 8,076 murders. Suicide, head the lisfV this form of murder having to its credit 8,507 victims, vic-tims, which is an increase of "06 over, the preceding pre-ceding year, when 8,291 suicides were recorded. If ve. go back four years, to 1809. when there were 5,1.40 suicides, the. great increase is a sad commentary commen-tary on our civilization. Poison and the revolver have been the' weapons most frequently used by tliese self-murderers. To the facility with which poison may be secured is traced most of these suicides. sui-cides. Midnight assassins, whi lob and plunder, in their insidious calling, killed 40ii of their unfortunate unfortu-nate victims. This criminal element is on the" increase, in-crease, and are becoming more daring in their operations. -They' have doubled the record of l'()2. Legal executions in 1903 numbered 12"j. Between Be-tween the northern and southern states, the greater percentage took place in the latter, where seventy-seven seventy-seven were executed, and in the formr forty-six. Alabama, Missouri and New York head the list, with thirty-three executions, equally divided be-tweeu be-tweeu these three states. Virginia comes next with tent. The number lynched in 1903 was 104, which yas eight more than in . 1902, when the record showed ninety-six, Of these lynching?, ninetyttwo took place in the southern states, and twelve in the north. Eighty-six belonged to the colored race, seventeen were white people. -and 'hi a;,,. ,, ,. j !' sity that two women were i , ,,- , ,, j, , i L , ,u' does not add l., the chivalry f t!.. i ,.' '.Jd.-e Lyneh. ',f Fnfimely deaths on land and w;i :-.; i;, ;;.(,:; very large.' fn railroad accident, 4,,,,,, . ' j sons were killed and 5.ihm.i perm.nient ly i:.jn,.,., ' ! ;.e;n ',, fliis we add de-ith r--ldtiiii;- !,.,., , : 1 wrecks on our inland hike-. r,,r riv ;.--i .-' ! oceans, which amounted to l.'X'.r., and . ! a ; total of .".:::.-, who Ic.-r their live-. ui.iL; , in the honest pursuits of life. Tin- I. N: ' ! siil! furtla r iii.-r--a.-ed by ot'i- r c an- ,.r . ,-;,!n in) death-, whi:-h numbered Lo-".!. and v-: cali.-ed by tlood. rock slides, cyclone-, ,.; Mid fire. The t'.ui who lo.-r their v. - '.. r .. 1 fared Iroquois theatre, are iinlede.l u ;, figures. The total, tabulated, i-: Murder- - Legal execution... 1 . ; Lynching : i Accidental . . . T.' - Total 1.;.; ,. This li-t of unforeseen and untimely ,, . ; population of t,or,(t.(,MH. Wou!. be a li'-i. than one in every 5,0tM, or oi.e-tift i. ?h 1 cent 'of the entire population. The per-ei : m appear .-mall, yet when all tiie-c- death- t ;,-,,, outside the natural eau-ed desrii.ed by IS. .-;.:,.,, they show the uncertainty of liiV. and tin .L-.- o whicli man is daily exposed. |