The Low Price of Life

THE LOW PRICE OF LIFE.

Commenting upon the past year’s gruesome record of crime, the Raleigh News and Observer says:

“We do not hold life very dear in America. During the year 1903 there were 8,796 murders and homicides in the United States. There were only 123 legal executions, 115 of which were for murders and homicides in 1902, and 7,852 persons, liquor 302, and quarrels brought about 4,952 deaths. There were 8,834 murders and homicides in 1902, and 7,852 in 1901. Suicides in 1903 numbered 8,597, an increase of 306 over 1902 and of 1,352 over 1901.

What is the remedy? Do people really believe in capital punishment? When inflicted, does it deter others from the commission of crime?

The Chicago Tribune prints statistics showing that 104 lynchings occurred in this country, as against 96 in the previous year. The increases were in Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas, which are the chief lynching States of the Union. Fifty-seven of the lynchings occurred in the four States, leaving but 47 to be assigned to 41 States and territories. Seventeen whites and one Chinaman were lynched during the year, and 86 negroes. The alleged crimes were as follows: Murder, 47; criminal assault, 11; attempted assault, 10; murderous assault, 7; unknown offenses, 5; race prejudice, 5; complicity in murder, 5; mistaken identity, 3; insults to whites, 2; making threats, 1; refusing to give information, 1.”

That is a showing as sanguinary as it is shameful. In a single year, 8,834 people murdered and 104 lynched! It is small wonder that foreigners ask sneeringly if the United States is a civilized country.

And the worst of it is that there is apparently no remedy for a condition so deplorable and so disgraceful. The lynching spirit seems to be growing rather than declining, and instances of provocation do not decrease.

Apparently nothing but the slow leaven of a higher civilization can be relied on to afford relief from the blood-horror shown by these figures.