AUGUST 12.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 312, 26 September 1908, Page 12

AUGUST 12.

The "Red Series,". as the Pans newsp&pftri call the daily list of murders ana dtbor crimes of violence in Paris;andtho pro-, vinces, is not, as sonic! optimists declare, a passing phase. Statisticsshow that the tide of .crime in France during ;th® last thirty years.; has: been' the figures having almost doubled in that 'period. SVhat, criminologists regard- as a most disquieting, symptiom _.iS ..the enormous increase..' ,of-;'juvcuile I .;,crime. ,iUo ptoporttoiivbf,-..murders.;' : ahd.,,;attempt«tl, murders ' on the part' of young- people. be-' tween the' ages of' sixt-cen and twenty.' • ono/is 4.20 per cent, of tho . general volume. of crime, as compared with 2.: per ' • 'cent, for all ages above "twe'ntyjoiio.- .' The bands of armed apaches who infest Paris . are for the most part boys, between the ,ages of sixteen and twenty. Of midisooverod crimes the number increased from 87,073 in 1896 to 105,998 in .1904 arid 107,710 .in 1905. These are . .the latest statistics • • available,' but it is estimated that the - returns for the last year. or. two will bo still more formidable. As to the c&usos, they apipear to> bo so numerous, that .no agreement on the subject has.been found , possible. Absinthe drinking,', the . toler. ance accorded to vice, the spread of a degraded. materialism,the ■ idleness and misery arising from the disorganisation bf labour, and the praotice, now. so comi mon, especially among the lower classes, of carrying revolvers, are the causes suggested by an eminent writer ;on tho subject. Opponents of tho abolition " of capital punishment see a remedy m recourse to the guillotine, aild protests have been made against tile . abuse of . olemieilcy in many other way is—nominal sentences for first offences which mean instant release, conditional discharges; the., 'increased'comfort of prisons, and the relaxation of penal -servitude conditions. ! Whatever may be. the real causes or the most practical remedies, it is .imperative, ; in tho opinion of M. Rostand,, the writer. ; referred to above, that in, the : interests of sooiety an effort should be made to check the number, the precocity, and the . immunity of tho criminals,.and, the overwhelming preponderance of public sentiment heartily supports that view.. ;< i The New York journals publish a telegram from Washington, according to which the United States War Department has_ prepared a plan to invade Hayti and reestablish order. Five thousand men if accessary will be sout in all haste .from.' Hampton Itoads,- Charleston,. or other ports. Major Young, formerly Military Attache in Hayti, has furnished the Minister - for War with all the "information necessary for the campaign. ' The fleet will support the action of the troops. -. A cruiser'will be sent to Port au Prince and gunbdats to Gouiaves and St. Nicholas.; v

AUGUST 13. A terrible explosion of firedamp-occurred in the Dudweiler mine, Germany; _ thirteen men being killed and eight' seriously and five .slightly injured. The official account of the explosion states ' that the ' disaster*occurred in a passage connecting the two main galleries. The passage had been in us& for seventeen years, ana -fire-damp-'had' never been detectod there'. Probably a fall of stone made. a. gap, through which* the gas passed the passage, .where it . was ignited with a Idinp. At thomomcnt of the explosion the.passage was full of miners leaving _ their work; hence the largo number of-victiiiiS.-In the Nebraska State Capitol at' Lincoln Mr. Bryan underwent the ceremony.,'.of being Officially informed that . lie,'is tho Democratic: candidate for this.: Presidency. . This is aln'ays the . occasion for ii 16ne . speech, in which ,tho candidate, is expected to strike the keynote of Jiis campaign; Mr. Bryan's speech was a long ais&erta? ■ tion on a text, ''Shall the -people nile?" . He intimated • that the Hepublic.'ins ' done nothing ,to protect the country from tho aggrandisement of the Trusts, and that, if elected, he would. A collision between a passenger train and'an empty train occurred near Fleusburg, SchlesWig-Uolstein, nine passengers being killed and nine seriously injured. Many others have slighter injuries. ' Tho> accident happened- on a sharp curvc where trees hide the line. Its direct cause was the violation 1 6f : strict orders to the passenger train to'wait and let' tho 61'npty train pass. The guard saw the lights, of ' the approaching empty train, but believed . that it was not on tho same, rails, and only ■ realised tho danger when. it was too late. "• With a Crash that was; heard for miles through the' clear summer: night th* : trains camo together. Two coaohcs wer. telescoped.' The driver, Strcokcr; and th - guard, Flogt, of the passengor''train confessed with-' tears _to_ their fault,'and .in spite of serious injuries tiok, a proniiileHt ' part in tho rescue work.