Edw. Ducpetiaux.
One of the parts of his “Paupérisme dans les Flandres” treats of the criminality in the two provinces of that name. We quote the following from it: [[34]]
“Criminality is the inseparable companion of poverty. As the number of indigent persons increases, we see the number of crimes also increase. Hunger is a bad counselor. In the midst of crushing destitution, a man gradually loses the notion of justice and injustice, of good and bad; beset by needs that he cannot satisfy, he disregards the laws, and ends by recoiling from no attempt that appears capable of bettering his condition. Visiting a prison is enough to convince one of the influence of this cause upon the number and the nature of the offenses, and before even questioning the statistics that attest the progress of criminality in Flanders, we could be assured that this progress had coincided with that of pauperism. It is not then a demonstration (which we judge quite unnecessary) that we are about to offer here, it is only a series of facts that may serve to make the reader appreciate the greatness of the evil and the urgent necessity of attacking its source.
“The first of these facts is the high figure for convicts belonging to East and West Flanders, when compared with the total number of convicts in the central prisons.… In the ten years between 1838 and 1847, 23,075 convicts were received in the central prisons of the kingdom; 10,308 belonged to the two Flanders and 12,767 to the other provinces; the proportion, to 1000 convicts, was 447 for the first two provinces, and 553 for the seven others. Now this proportion is considerably in excess of that of the respective populations of the two divisions, since, to the thousand inhabitants, there are only 331 in Flanders and 669 in the rest of the kingdom. In other words, during the decennial period in question, one prisoner was received to 139 inhabitants in Flanders, and to 227 in the seven other provinces.
“The second fact is the increase in the number of persons arraigned and convicted in the Flemish provinces during the last few of these years, and particularly since the food shortage of 1845. In a space of seven years, the number of those arraigned in the two Flanders increased about in the ratio of 7 to 17; that of those condemned to imprisonment grew, during the same period from 35 to 123, or nearly quadrupled.
“These data are confirmed by an abstract of the numbers received into the jails and prisons of the two provinces, as well as by the average population of these establishments, during the period from 1839 to 1848: [[35]]
| Years. | Persons Received into the Jails and Prisons of | Totals. | Average Population of the Prisons. | |||
| West Flanders. | ||||||
| Bruges. | Courtrai. | Ypres. | Furnes. | |||
| 1839 | 1,578 | 592 | 572 | 169 | 2,911 | 233 |
| 1840 | 1,502 | 643 | 821 | 196 | 3,162 | 238 |
| 1841 | 1,377 | 795 | 599 | 175 | 2,946 | 311 |
| 1842 | 1,489 | 863 | 836 | 271 | 3,459 | 346 |
| 1843 | 1,478 | 922 | 790 | 298 | 3,488 | 374 |
| 1844 | 1,502 | 941 | 696 | 270 | 3,409 | 379 |
| 1845 | 1,876 | 935 | 600 | 254 | 3,665 | 376 |
| 1846 | 2,378 | 1,108 | 935 | 601 | 5,022 | 574 |
| 1847 | 3,751 | 2,012 | 1,238 | 909 | 7,910 | 820 |
| 1848 | 2,859 | 1,960 | 1,070 | 690 | 6,579 | 694 |
| East Flanders. | ||||||
| Ghent. | Audenarde. | Termonde. | ||||
| 1839 | 2,094 | 842 | 754 | 3,690 | 289 | |
| 1840 | 2,311 | 919 | 852 | 4,082 | 357 | |
| 1841 | 2,163 | 771 | 852 | 3,786 | 351 | |
| 1842 | 2,171 | 844 | 905 | 3,920 | 333 | |
| 1843 | 3,610 | 991 | 870 | 5,471 | 408 | |
| 1844 | 2,548 | 760 | 718 | 4,026 | 345 | |
| 1845 | 2,579 | 1,061 | 1,461 | 5,101 | 360 | |
| 1846 | 5,499 | 2,732 | 2,092 | 0,323 | 619 | |
| 1847 | 7,491 | 6,943 | 3,240 | 7,674 | 972 | |
| 1848 | 6,309 | 4,462 | 2,829 | 3,600 | 698 | |
“The increase in the numbers received into the jails and prisons of the two provinces took place especially in the years 1845, 1846, and 1847; in 1848 we note quite a pronounced decrease, which continues in 1849. Of all the signs to prove the existence and progress of pauperism, this is perhaps the most certain. During the disastrous years that had just elapsed, the prisons became in a sense annexes of the hospitals and almshouses; a great number of offenses were committed with the sole object of finding asylum.…
“As to the children, we shall understand the imminence of the danger when we realize that in the short space of three years, from 1845 to 1847, 26,247 children and young persons of both sexes under 18, were incarcerated in prison or were inmates of workhouses. Most of these children belonged to the two provinces of Flanders, and a great number were arrested outside the limits of their province. Here is the increase in the number of those received into the prisons [[36]]of Ghent and Bruges, and the jails of Audenarde, Termonde, Courtrai, Ypres, and Furnes:
| Cities. | Young Prisoners (under 18) Received in | Total during the 3 Yrs. | ||||
| 1845. | 1846. | 1847. | Boys. | Girls. | General Total. | |
| Prisons of E. Flanders. | ||||||
| Ghent | 350 | 1,345 | 1,898 | 2,671 | 922 | 3,593 |
| Audenarde | 207 | 315 | 674 | 929 | 267 | 1,196 |
| Termonde | 123 | 235 | 406 | 616 | 148 | 764 |
| Prisons of W. Flanders. | ||||||
| Bruges | 459 | 299 | 550 | 1,110 | 198 | 1,308 |
| Courtrai | 116 | 170 | 331 | 560 | 57 | 617 |
| Ypres | 70 | 184 | 250 | 414 | 90 | 504 |
| Furnes | 43 | 139 | 57 | 151 | 88 | 239 |
| Totals | 1,368 | 2,687 | 4,166 | 6,451 | 1,770 | 8,221 |