Why Crimes Increase

The Liberal Christian discussos the grcat increaso of the crime of murder, and gives as one of the reasons the following which is undoubtedly true and worthy of considaration : The other social phase which has fostered in the community tha reckless taking of life is the absurd leniency with which transgressions of all kinds are treated. It is rare to flnd it looked upon with just abhorrence, rare tofind it pushedwithjust severity. The great public, for the most part, read the daily annals of crime with calrn indifference. When attention is given to them it is most often out ofcuriosity. Many find their entertainment in the criminal items. Reporter's sharpen their wit over the breaking of the most sacred laws, and newpaper readers roll under the tongue as luscious morsels heartless accounts of the most mournful human spectacles - an immortal soul fallen frotu its high estáte. At othor times the criminal is made the subject of false sympathy. Streams of sentimental tears are shed over him, because, forsooth, he had shown himself a brute. By acting ]ike a fiend he gets himeelf written up as the martyr of the hour, while the agonies of the innooent are eutirely forgotten. - The gallows is impeached as a relio of barbarism. Every maneuver of legal chicanery is called into play to secure an acquittal, and if by some lucky chance conviction is nevertheless obtained, a gubernatorial pardon isimrnediately applied for, and, as soon as the circumstances of the case are pretty well forgotten, generally obtained.