It may be urged here that, notwithstanding the similarity of their motives the crimes of any class still present many differences. This is true in part, and I have accordingly subdivided them. But on the other hand these differences are not very great from the standpoint of criminal sociology. For the jurist the difference between counterfeiting bank-notes, burning a house to get the insurance, and procuration is very important; but for sociology it is much less so. A man who knows how to make counterfeit bank-notes, will commit this crime, whenever he wishes for any reason to enrich himself in a dishonest [[537]]fashion, but he will become neither an incendiary nor a procurer. A former prostitute, on the contrary, will not think of making bank-notes, but will become a procuress. The kind of economic crime committed by the person who has a mind to commit such a crime, depends principally upon chance (occupation etc.).
The second category includes sexual crimes, and the fourth political crimes—two categories quite distinct therefore.
The other misdemeanors and crimes form the third category, and are more or less heterogeneous. The principal motive of these crimes is vengeance. Among them are insults, malicious mischief, assaults, homicide, etc. Other motives are: the fear of shame (infanticide, which, however, may also be committed for economic reasons); then fear of falling into the hands of justice (perjury, rebellion); and some others beside.[332]
Finally, to give a picture of the quantitative proportions of the principal crimes, I add here some figures upon criminality in some of the countries of Europe. These figures may at the same time serve to show to those who are not acquainted with criminal statistics, how regular a course crime has from one year to another.
It is crimes of vengeance, therefore, which form the largest group, then come economic crimes, and then sexual and political crimes, both with low figures. If we do not count the very minor offense of insult in the third group, the first and third groups will be nearly of the same size. There are, then, almost no political crimes in England. As in Germany, sexual crimes are very rare, and it is the economic crimes and those committed out of revenge, etc., that are the most important. The latter preponderate even more in England than in Germany. [[538]]
Germany, 1896–1900.[333]
| Crimes. | Number of Persons Convicted of the Following Crimes in | ||||||
| 1896. | 1897. | 1898. | 1899. | 1900. | 1896–1900 Average. | ||
| Absolute Number. | % | ||||||
| Theft and embezzlement | 109,545 | 112,591 | 116,977 | 113,159 | 114,831 | 113,420 | 29.96 |
| Receiving stolen goods and being accessory after the fact in general | 8,164 | 7,922 | 8,490 | 8,124 | 8,068 | 8,153 | 2.15 |
| Procuration, etc. | 2,816 | 2,671 | 2,765 | 2,622 | 2,648 | 2,711 | 0.72 |
| Counterfeiting | 234 | 166 | 203 | 212 | 186 | 200 | 0.05 |
| Perjury | 1,523 | 1,450 | 1,478 | 1,316 | 1,198 | 1,393 | 0.37 |
| Criminal breach of trust and obtaining money under false pretenses | 28,649 | 25,169 | 26,546 | 26,580 | 26,079 | 25,604 | 6.76 |
| Forgery | 4,761 | 5,068 | 5,185 | 5,479 | 5,231 | 5,144 | 1.36 |
| Robbery and extortion | 1,048 | 995 | 1,114 | 1,114 | 1,009 | 1,056 | 0.28 |
| Fraudulent bankruptcy | 931 | 924 | 871 | 952 | 905 | 916 | 0.24 |
| Total of economic crimes | — | — | — | — | — | — | 41.89 |
| Bigamy | 76 | 72 | 64 | 70 | 64 | 69 | 0.02 |
| Incest | 462 | 381 | 397 | 411 | 448 | 419 | 0.11 |
| Rape, etc. | 4,483 | 4,182 | 4,507 | 4,597 | 4,762 | 4,506 | 1.19 |
| Total of sexual crimes | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1.32 |
| Insults | 53,968 | 54,143 | 55,988 | 55,514 | 52,883 | 54,499 | 14.39 |
| Malicious mischief | 17,485 | 17,486 | 18,213 | 18,858 | 18,261 | 18,060 | 4.77 |
| Arson | 479 | 468 | 501 | 519 | 472 | 487 | 0.13 |
| Assaults | 116,613 | 117,864 | 122,561 | 126,490 | 124,646 | 121,632 | 32.12 |
| Rebellion | 18,377 | 18,484 | 17,968 | 19,817 | 17,951 | 18,393 | 4.86 |
| Homicide | 1,511 | 1,562 | 1,468 | 1,542 | 1,580 | 1,532 | 0.40 |
| Total of crimes of vengeance, etc. | — | — | — | — | — | — | 56.67 |
| Political crimes | 561 | 428 | 466 | 416 | 305 | 435 | 0.12 |
| General total | — | — | — | — | — | 378,629 | 100.00 |
[[539]]
England, 1881–1900.
| Crimes. | Number Arraigned for Each of the Crimes Given: | |||||
| Annual Averages. | 1881–1900 Average. | |||||
| 1881–85. | 1886–90. | 1891–95. | 1896–1900. | Absolute Number. | % | |
| Theft (of every kind) | 57,373 | 52,573 | 50,432 | 45,960 | 51,584 | 32.92 |
| Embezzlement | 1,475 | 1,345 | 1,335 | 1,387 | 1,385 | 0.88 |
| Receiving stolen goods | 1,302 | 1,239 | 1,348 | 1,241 | 1,282 | 0.82 |
| Burglary | 1,464 | 1,530 | 1,665 | 1,630 | 1,572 | 1.00 |
| Robbery and extortion | 320 | 322 | 310 | 278 | 307 | 0.20 |
| Fraud | 1,054 | 965 | 997 | 870 | 971 | 0.62 |
| Counterfeiting, etc. | 534 | 410 | 365 | 309 | 402 | 0.26 |
| Perjury | 100 | 85 | 78 | 77 | 85 | 0.05 |
| Fraudulent bankruptcy | 49 | 41 | 43 | 35 | 42 | 0.03 |
| Total of economic crimes | — | — | — | — | — | 36.78 |
| Bigamy | 116 | 99 | 104 | 103 | 105 | 0.07 |
| Indecent assault upon girls under 16 | — | 305 | 258 | 236 | 249 | 0.16 |
| Rape, etc. upon adults | 647 | 639 | 636 | 595 | 629 | 0.40 |
| Total of sexual crimes | — | — | — | — | — | 0.63 |
| Malicious mischief | 21,779 | 19,646 | 18,484 | 17,470 | 19,594 | 12.51 |
| Arson | 155 | 133 | 117 | 104 | 127 | 0.08 |
| Assaults | 72,707 | 66,020 | 63,601 | 59,611 | 65,484 | 41.80 |
| Assaults upon officers | 322 | 285 | 291 | 278 | 294 | 0.19 |
| Homicide (including attempted homicide) | 13,223 | 11,850 | 12,626 | 12,524 | 12,555 | 8.01 |
| Total of crimes of vengeance | — | — | — | — | — | 62.59 |
| Political crimes | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
| General total | — | — | — | — | 156,668 | 100.00 |