August Drahms

“ A curious study in the variation of the criminal psychological wave that sweeps over the land, is afforded in tracing the rise and fall of the various grades of offences throughout the different geographical divisions of the United States. ”

“ The cause assigned for this apparent falling off in crime, however, is set forth in the body of the report as due to the introduction and spread of the probationary system by which the more youthful, and first offenders, are placed under suspended sentences dependent upon good behavior under proper supervisoral care appointed by the court, a wise tentative measure, not without its faults, but infinitely superior to the unconditional detention of this class of offenders at the risk of a still greater immurement in crime at the most impressionable period of their existence. ”

“ These figures present material for the politico-social and economic philosophers, with whom it is left to discover the true points of causal relations and to trace the relative virulence of the social disease as it approaches those great active centers where the struggle for existence grows constantly more intense. ”

“ Among these, it is observable, the professional (to the extent of 2.1 per cent.) , and the agricultural portion (to the number of 23.4 per cent.) , were more addicted to major than to minor offences, while the laboring classes and servants were more prone to the lesser than to the graver forms, the temptations to the latter being much less in rural districts than in the cities. The largest proportion of offences against the person is found in the rural sections (34.2 per cent.) , while those against property predominate in the professional (40.9 per cent.) ”