Criminality and economic conditionsBonger, Willem Adriaan
General
Criminality and economic conditions
Bonger, Willem Adriaan
Crime -- Economic aspects
b. that Group IV shows only a slight correlation with the price of
grain, since there are included in it many crimes whose causes are not
of an economic nature.
c. that during the last years of this period the increase of crimes
against property was greater than the figures for the price of grain
would lead one to suppose; a fact which is explained, according to Dr.
Mayr, by the lack of work resulting from the war of secession.
The law that crimes against persons increase with the fall of prices is
confirmed by these statistics.
VI.
A. CORNE. [45]
According to this author the laws regulating moral phenomena are at
present hidden by thick clouds.
“We may await with confidence the dissipation of these clouds, when
some great principle, about which our observations of detail will group
themselves, will appear to us in a flood of light. Everything seems to
indicate to me that this master principle is no other than the
principle of activity. In fact, the first rudiments of social science
have as yet been given us only by political economy, and its sole
foundation is the affirmation of human activity. On the other hand,
since giving myself up without any preconceptions to this special study
of criminality I have been little by little led by a close examination
of the facts, to find the general cause of crimes in the absence of
this principle of activity.
“When we reflect upon this, it appears quite in the natural order of
things that the development of criminality, that is to say of the
spirit of destruction and dissolution, should manifest itself at the
time of the weakening or disappearance of the generative principle of
all production and of all society. There is here, then, if I am not
deceived, more than a mere coincidence. There is a relationship which
deserves to be noted so much the more since it is from the principle of
activity that all physical laws also are derived today.” [46]
Let us accompany the author to the domain of facts. After having given
an exposition of the movement of criminality in France in comparison
with that of other countries, he finally takes up the question of
etiology. For the crowd, says the author, the criminal is a kind of
monster in the midst of society, a monster predestined to crime because
of his innate tendencies. Looked at in this way criminality is an
individual evil. Corne, on the contrary, believes it to be a social
evil. For, however much society may be developed in all respects, it is
nevertheless always imperfect, since the ignorance and corruption of
morals are great. The author lays stress upon two facts, namely, the
corruption of morals in the upper classes, and militarism. Not only
does militarism draw after it the ruin of peoples, and develop man’s
violent instincts, but it has still other very serious moral
consequences, by forcing celibacy upon young men at the passionate age.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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