—As regards education, it has been proved that Corne and many others have exaggerated its importance for the etiology of crime. When education extends beyond the art of reading and writing, it has a civilizing influence, and causes a diminution of violent crimes, but it does not result in a decrease of criminality in general, since the economic causes of crime remain. Education changes, indeed, the nature of criminality, but not its extent.[20]—

The author concludes by saying “The man who has a family, who has property, who is educated, who is known by his fellow citizens and has his share of influence upon them, can not be the individual whom we have seen to be criminal, because of weakness and isolation … he has energy, determination, and can control his passions because he is surrounded and sustained, because a thousand bonds of interest and affection attach him to society, order, and property.”[21]

[[Contents]]

VII.

H. Von Valentini.

The work “Das Verbrecherthum im Preussischen Staat”, published in 1869 by Prison-director von Valentini, treats especially of the results obtained by the penal system then in force in Prussia, and of the means of improving it. [[51]]

Von Valentini sees in crime primarily the consequence of social conditions, at least he considers that the best means of combating it is for society to prevent the criminal tendency from manifesting itself, and make efforts to raise the moral level of the people. For, according to our author, 90% of the criminals are “purely material and entirely neglected” and ought to “undergo a spiritual regeneration.”[22]

After these general observations he proceeds to more particular observations upon the criminals themselves in society. He examines statistically the proportion of criminals in the population. Obtaining different proportions for different districts of Prussia he investigates the causes. For this purpose he classifies crimes as: first, crimes from personal interest, and second, crimes from passion. Finding then that the provinces of the East give 9% of crimes from personal interest more than the others, he thinks he has found the cause in “an existing destitution both material and intellectual, and in the arrangement of the prisons.”[23]

Chapter Three, upon the “Dimensionen des Nothstandes” contains detailed tables for each province, the great cities, and the rich and poor countries. He obtains, then, the following result for the eight provinces:

Provinces. Pauperism Number of Indigent Persons in the Poorest Districts. To 100 of the Population. Percentage of Property to 100,000 of the Population. Ratio of the Percentage of against Property to that of Pauperism.
Posen 536,495 36.1 32.89 0.91 : 1
Prussia 792,948 27.6 24.69 0.89 : 1
Pomerania 314,383 22.6 20.57 0.91 : 1
Silesia 517,528 15.2 36.94 2.43 : 1
Total of Eastern group 2,161,354 23.6 115.09 4.91 : 1
Rhenish provinces 397,350 12.0 5.59 0.46 : 1
Brandenburg 84,011 3.4 26.27 7.72 : 1
Westphalia 45,849 2.8 9.21 3.29 : 1
Saxony 259,901 1.3 18.33 14.10 : 1
Total of Western group 553,111 5.9 59.40 25.57 : 1