Not only does poverty predispose to crime, but it also furnishes the motives for it. Leading to alcoholism it is the cause of violent crimes; it drives persons who cannot find work to vagrancy and mendicity, which in their turn are the preparatory school for greater crimes; it puts the great number of those who cannot provide honestly for their needs to the necessity of stealing. And when these factors act upon a man already predisposed, they even lead as far as homicide. 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 -- } { Lombardy (649) } { Tuscany (710) (2.164) Tuscany } I { Piedmont-Liguria (732) } { Emilia (749) } { Marches-Umbria (774) (1.935) Venice } { Venice (857) (1.876) Kingdom } Average. { Kingdom (926) (1.762) Emilia } { Sicily (1021) -- 1st Naples (1150) (1.471) Sicily } { (1.333) Naples } 2d { Sardinia (1440) (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 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.