crimes against persons are not always as easy to classify and understand as crimes against property. these acts are so numerous and come from so many different emotions and motives, that often the cause is obscure and the explanation not easy to find. still here, as everywhere in nature, nothing can happen without a cause, and even where limited knowledge does its best and cannot find causes, our recognition of the connection between cause and effect and the all-inclusiveness of law can leave no doubt that complete knowledge would bring complete understanding.
it is always to be borne in mind in considering this class of crimes that the motive power of life is not reason but instinct. if men lived by reason the race would not survive. the primal things that preserve the race, the hunger for food, drink, sex, are instinctive and not only are not awakened or satisfied by reason, but oftentimes in violation of it. nature, first of all, sees to the preservation of the species, and acts in a broad way that life may not perish. nature knows nothing about right and wrong in the sense in which man uses these words. all of our moral conceptions are purely of social origin and hence not instinctive in human life, and are forever giving way to the instincts on which nature depends. the preservation of life has called for the emotions of hate, fear and love, among the other emotions that move men. the animal fears danger and runs away, and thus life is preserved. the weaker animal is almost entirely dependent for life upon his fear. he is sometimes afraid when there is no danger, but without fear he would be destroyed. sometimes the animal hates and kills and thus preserves himself. the love of offspring is the cause of the care bestowed upon it which preserves its life. the herd instinct in animal species develops packs and clans and tribes and states. man is the heir to all the past, and the instincts and emotions of the primitive animal are strong in his being. these may have been strengthened or diluted as the ages have come and gone, but the same instincts furnish the motive power for all his acts. man fears and hates, and runs or kills and saves his life. he loves, and preserves his offspring.
man sees an object. instinctively he may fear it or he may hate it. he may run from it or destroy it. he gathers impressions through his senses. the nerves carry them to the brain. he comes to fear certain persons and things, to hate certain other persons or things, and to love still others. if the hatred is strong enough or the danger great enough or the desire sufficient, he may kill. whether he plans the method or deliberates upon the act can make no difference. he is prompted by the instinct, and the reflection simply means the consideration of reasons for and against, or the reaching of inhibitions. if he acts, it is one of the primal emotions that causes the act. he is the "machine" through which certain emotions find their path and do their work. infinite are the causes and circumstances that give rise to an emotion strong enough to take human life.
killings which result from a sudden passion are easily understood. everyone has been overwhelmed by rage, where reason and judgment and all acquired restraints are entirely submerged. the primitive man with his primitive emotion reasserts himself. it is mainly accident or the lack of some particular circumstance that prevents a murder. of course some people are overwhelmed more easily than others. some natures are less stable, some nervous systems less perfect, and the built up barriers are weaker. the whole result of stimuli is determined by the strength of the feeling acting upon the machine. such a person is not ordinarily dangerous to the community. the act itself would generally assure that it could never happen again. some killings, however, are more deliberate. they are preceded by a settled hatred which preys upon the mind and fights against the preventive influences that training and habit have formed. under a certain combination of circumstances these restrictions are swept aside and the emotions have their way.
there are, of course, certain broad classifications of homicides. a considerable number, perhaps more than any other, come through the commission of robbery, burglary and larceny. in the midst of the act the offender is caught, and kills in an effort to escape. these murders fall under the heading of property crimes; the cause is the same, and the rules governing them are the same. the second group, with respect to numbers, grows from the relations of men and women. wives kill husbands and husbands kill wives; sweethearts kill each other. jealousy and revenge are commonly mixed with sex life and sex association. many socialists have argued that under an equal distribution of property, where women were freed from fear of want, these crimes would disappear. but this argument does not take human nature into account. jealousy is inevitably associated with sex relations. the close contact of men and women over long periods of time inevitably causes friction and misunderstanding. these conditions often grow chronic, and in marriage are aggravated by the necessity of close association regardless of the real feelings that may exist. certain claims are made by husbands and by wives, which are probably inherent in the relationship; sometimes they flow from habit and custom, but, from whatever cause, such claims are so exacting that either the husband or wife finds them hard to meet.
because of the fact that the feelings of men and women for each other are deeper and more fundamental than those of any other relation, they are more subject to misfortune and tragedy. the hatreds born from the deepest affection are most beyond control. then the desire of possession is overwhelming. it would be strange if more killings did not result from the relations of men and women than from any other cause. it is easy to understand why this is true. it is likewise easy to understand how laws, reason and judgment are powerless to prevent. juries seem to understand this when women kill husbands and lovers, but a long-established code of chivalry and a cultivated attitude toward women, which is partly right and partly wrong, make it impossible to see that men are just as helpless under strong feelings as women. no doubt a public opinion that would favor divorces on a greater number of grounds and make them easily obtainable would prevent large numbers of such killings, but the cause can not be altogether removed.
the law has long singled out killing as the greatest crime, doubtless because man prizes life first of all. of course every effort should be made to protect life. still, in measuring the character of the offender, in determining his possibilities as a useful citizen, homicide is probably one of the lesser crimes. many times it implies no moral turpitude, even with those who believe in moral turpitude. it may imply very little lack of physical stability. homicide practically never becomes an occupation. most killings are accidental in the sense that they are casual and dependent on circumstances, and there is as a rule much less danger of repetition than there is of the original commission of a homicide by one of a defective nervous system who has never before committed an unlawful act. a large number of men convicted of murder are used as "trusties" in our penal institutions, even when their imprisonment is for a long term, or for life. this shows from the experience of prison officials that this class of offenders is, as a rule, of a better fibre than almost any other class.
doubtless no sort of treatment will ever entirely get rid of homicide. brains and nervous systems are so made, that inhibitions are unable to protect in all cases. nations and men readily engage in killing, either from sport or because of a real or fancied wrong. mob psychology shows how whole communities are turned into ravenous beasts, hunting for their prey. the world war, and all wars, show cases of mob psychology that have led large masses of men to take an active part in killing. the pursuit of those charged with crime shows that all people like the chase when the emotions are thoroughly aroused. under certain impulses, communities gloat over hangings and commend judges and juries because they have the courage to hang, when, in fact, they were too cowardly not to hang and when their reason did not approve the verdict and judgment. men who do not kill often wish others might die and are pleased and happy when they do die. we approve of death when it is the right one who dies. whether all persons are murderers or not may depend upon a definition of murder. but, beyond doubt, all persons are potential murderers, needing only time and circumstances, and a sufficiently overwhelming emotion that will triumph over the weak restraints that education and habit have built up, to control the powerful surging instincts and feelings that nature has laid at the foundation of life.
