In the following table the different Italian districts, as well as the crimes committed, have been grouped about their average figures.
| Wealth. | Crimes. | ||||
| (3.333) | Latium | VII | — | ||
| — | VI | — | |||
| — | V | — | |||
| (2.747) | Piedmont-Liguria | IV | — | ||
| (2.400) | Lombardy | III | — | ||
| — | II | — | |||
| (2.164) | Tuscany | I | Lombardy (649) | ||
| Tuscany (710) | |||||
| Piedmont-Liguria (732) | |||||
| Emilia (749) | |||||
| Marches-Umbria (774) | |||||
| (1.935) | Venice |  | Average. |  | Venice (857) |
| (1.876) | Kingdom | Kingdom (926) | |||
| (1.762) | Emilia | Sicily (1021) | |||
| — | 1st | Naples (1150) | |||
| (1.471) | Sicily |  | 2d |  | Sardinia (1440) |
| (1.333) | Naples | ||||
| (1.227) | Marches-Umbria | 3d | — | ||
| Sardinia | 4th | Latium (1797) | |||
According to the author it appears from this table that, with the exception of Latium, the districts with wealth above the average have a number of crimes below the average. Nevertheless the regions with a figure for wealth above the average, i.e. Piedmont-Liguria, Lombardy, and Latium, show a greater number of crimes than one would expect, while Sicily, Naples, Marches-Umbria, and Sardinia [[141]]show lower figures for crime than would be supposed. This contradiction is only apparent, according to the author, and is to be explained as follows: first, because where there is wealth there is also poverty and frequent opportunities to steal; second, because dangerous individuals migrate less to districts where there is less wealth; third, because, as John Stuart Mill says, it results from the social conditions of our day that the education of the poor is nil and that of the rich bad.
The second chapter, having as its title, “Il fattore economico e la delinquenza.—Dinamica”, contains some data upon the trend of criminality in the period in question. Criminality in general is increasing; serious crimes remain nearly stationary, while less serious crimes increase. As Ferri observes, criminality is decreasing, even in Italy, as to its intensity and violence, but increasing as to its extent.
Finally, the author considers the influence of emigration. It is chiefly the crimes against property that feel the favorable effects of it, as murder does among crimes against persons. The cause of this favorable influence is easily explained. Emigration removes a number of persons who, not having the means of existence, would easily become criminals.
The consequences of agricultural vicissitudes are as follows: the years of abundant harvests show a decrease in criminality, bad years, on the contrary, an increase; good vintages, however, lead to the same result. It is chiefly crimes against property (especially rural thefts) that yield to the influence of the degree of the abundance of the harvest; while among crimes against persons it is principally assaults that show the effect of the character of the crops. It is plain that the agricultural class is that which especially shows the effect of a bad harvest. During the years 1887–1889 the proportion of the farming class among those convicted rose from 35.3% to 37.8% and 38.2%.
The effect of the fluctuation of the price of food is the following: criminality in general shows the influence of it greatly. When prices fall crime diminishes, and vice versa. This is more clearly to be seen in crimes against property. Crimes against persons increase especially when the price of wine is low, and vice versa. When a fall in the price of food coincides with a fall in the price of wine, the increase of crimes against persons is great.
According to Dr. Fornasari di Verce the cause of the increase of crimes against persons in the case of low food prices is not to be found [[142]]in the improved nutrition that results, but in the greater consumption of alcohol. The other crimes feel the effect of the fluctuations in the price of provisions less.
The author then takes up manufacturing. (As a consequence of the defectiveness of the official statistics the data are incomplete.) During the period of which the author speaks, manufacturing increased enormously, and crime in general increased also. The serious forms, however, decreased while the less serious ones increased. Industrial crises bring an increase chiefly of crimes against persons.
The condition of the working-people. According to the author it would be of the highest importance to establish for each year the number of industrial workers. For this has a greater importance for criminality than the price of food or the rate of wages. In default of official data such an investigation cannot take place, and he has to limit himself to an examination of wages. With some few exceptions these wages increased about 35% during the period 1873–1889. However, to obtain a clearer picture of the condition of the working-class, the author has combined the fluctuation of wages with those of the price of grain; that is, he has made a calculation of the number of hours each man has had to work to get 100 kilograms of grain.