Show IS CRIME ON THE INCREASE THE eleventh census is by many admitted to be the most moat perfect of its kind ever taken in the united states it la Is true there has baa been some die satisfaction with returns here ami there and an effort has been made to bow that it partook of in ite figure it makes dry reading rea dlug but it is the material from which the states man the educator the religionist religion iet and moralist must draw A noticeable feature made plain by the returns of this census ceneus is the a arming alarming I 1 increase of crime insanity sanity Ju and pauperism this may seem disheartening to the reformer and philanthropist it may lead the cynic to say that education religion and enlightenment lighten ment are of no avail in making the world happier and better in view of such deductions an article by VV P andrews clerk of the criminal courton court of salema mass on increase of crime by reformatory prisons is timely and instructive he dwells principally on the prison system of massachusetts and says that the generous liberal manner in which culprits are treated is putting a premium on vlee vice he quotes from the official reports of the commissioners of prisons wherein convicts are termed scour our unfortunate friends 21 A list ot oj the articles of food served in prisons every week is reproduced it comprises tomato soup beef soup clam chowder baked fish with sauce mashed potatoes corned beef with apple sauce roast beef with vegetables baked beans brown and white bread bread with butter oatmeal and milk gingerbread prunes cheese teak tea coff coffee ee milk sugar fruit and cocoa in addition to this charitable associations send christmas cards to the prison innia inmates tes young ladies send bouquets of flowers and men of note attend and deliver lectures there are also orchestral select selections lons 11 1 tenor solos piano solos papers on phil anthrop by illustrated lectures lecture sJ and vocal selections by the prison quartette 11 and this to is the treatment accorded to housebreakers footpads drunkards bank robbers monsters guilty of rapine ansons arsons arson murder highway robbery and so forth mr andrews says say Is this a fancy picture only the mockery of a philistine mind afis it is information drawn not only from the personal observation of the writer in daily attendance upon the criminal courts bouchea durin during more ore than two decades but it is in couched vouched for by the annual reports of the commissioners of prisons made to Legislature the of massachusetts for the years 1886 1887 1888 and 1890 where all these interesting facts concerning the bodily aesthetic and spiritual well being of the criminal class of this enlightened commonwealth may be found of course this gentle treatment was adopted on reformatory grounds avid and with the view of diminishing crime if not ultimately removing it altogether this has been the object in view in transatlantic countries as well as here but judging from statistical figures the question may be raised whether it has been productive of the benefits anticipated in 1836 england and wales had 14 people there was then one ode prisoner to every inhabitants I 1 in the same year new york had one prisoner to wery very 2000 inhabitants arid massachusetts haj had one to every comparing these figures with the latest statistics mr andrews says saye th the 0 population has only trebled but the number of prisoners has increased fifty fold when the situation however to is viewed closely the out outlook ook is Q not so bad as it seems out of the 33 prisoners committed during 1690 in massachusetts nearly were known to be re commitments there were persons known to have been committed more than thirty times there is at the house of industry in boston harbor an old gardener who has had himself committed one hundred times he says he knows when he be is ht well off it is clear that too much gent gentleness lenen is not a punitive process it is ia also abo clear that some of these prisoners re turn to prison because they are really better provided for than hardworking men and women who try to live by honest labor the danger in thle this ay system stem Is said to be that it looks like rewarding evil and punishing good this is a bold way of putting it but mr andrews regards it as the correct way |