not less than eighty per cent of all crimes are property crimes, and it seems probable that, of the rest, most arise from the same motives. if we look at civilization as the result of that seesaw trend of the race from "naturalism to artificialism," we may get a flexible view of life that will be in accordance with the facts, and will help us to get rid of the arbitrary division of man's history into the three periods termed savagery, barbarism and civilization. however desirable this division may be for historic purposes in general, it is only confusing in an effort to study the nature of man.
in the life and origin of the race, the fact is always evidenced that the ego through its growth and persistence is always drawing to itself from the current of environment all things which it feels desirable to its life and growth. this must be a necessary condition of survival. in the long journey from amoeba to man, any circumstance causing a complete halt for even a brief period meant extinction, while even a persistent interference produced a weakened organism, if not an arrest of development.
this then is the origin of the "master instinct," hunger. when we consider the various emotions growing from the force of this vital urge, as developed by adaptation to an ever-changing environment, we are able to realize fully why it bulks so large in moulding and shaping the destiny of the race.
all psychologists are agreed in classing under the nutritive instinct such activities as acquisition, storing and hoarding. during a period variously estimated as a quarter of a million to two million years, man and his animal antecedents responded to the hunger instinct, in the manner and by the same methods as did the various jungle animals. he secured his prey by capture, or killed it wherever found, the one condition being his power to get and to hold. later tribal organization arose, and food and shelter were held in common. but since the folk-ways commended raiding and looting between alien tribes, here was presented an alluring chance to secure both booty and glory to men trained in the "get and hold" process of acquiring. for thousands of years life itself depended upon this unerring exercise.
it was during the period outlined that man developed his big brain (cerebrum) involving the central nervous system. furthermore, it was developed by, and trained to, these particular reactions. the far-reaching control of the mind must be remembered, as upon this through his racial heritage must be based his conflicting impulses. these must be reckoned with in our conclusions with regard to present-day behavior, economic or otherwise.
during the last thirty years, psychological laboratories, aided by physiology, through oft-repeated experiments conducted with newly-invented weighing and measuring instruments of marvelous accuracy, have put us in possession of an array of facts unknown to students of earlier periods, who sought the "why and the how" of man's erratic actions as a social animal. it is constantly being demonstrated that under given conditions, moved by appropriate stimuli, the human animal inevitably and surely reacts the same as does inorganic matter. if we understand "intelligence" to be the "capacity to respond to new conditions," we can measurably see and at least partly understand the constant inter-play of heredity and environment. between these there is no antagonism. the sum of life experiences consists solely in the adjustments required to enable the sentient organism—man or beast—to live.
how readily a "throw-back" to earlier and cruder life may be brought about under favorable conditions, is shown by the methods and virulence of combat during the vicious massacre in the war just ended. can the conclusion be evaded that individually and collectively we constantly teeter on the brink of a precipice? if we fall it spells crime or misfortune, or both.
wherever civilization exists on the private property basis as its main bulwark, we find crime as an inseparable result. man, by virtue of his organic nature, is a predatory animal. this does not mean that he is a vicious animal. it simply means that man, in common with the eagle and the wolf, acts in accordance with the all-impelling urge and fundamental instincts of his organic structure. in any conflict between newer and nobler sentiments and the emotions which function through the primeval instincts, he is shackled to the bed-rock master instincts in such manner that they usually win. this is conclusively shown by the history of the race.
if this is true, we should expect to find the master hunger specially active through the many chances presented for exploitation after the fall of feudalism—beginning, let us assume, with the invention of power machinery—the "age of steam". it is apparent that from that time to our own day, man's acquisitive tendency has so expanded, that if we were capable of an unbiased opinion it might be said to be a form of megalomania gripping the entire white race, where highly-developed commerce and industry are found in their most vigorous forms.
if our theory is correct, we should expect to find the most energetic and enterprising nations showing a greater ratio of property crimes than the invalid and feeble nations. this would more certainly be true where political constitutions by letter and spirit encourage and promote individual development, mental and industrial. when this condition exists with abundant natural resources, such as often may be found in what we term a new country, it furnishes the chance for the most vigorous functioning of whatsoever may be the dominant qualities inherent in the tendencies and aspirations of a people. the united states of america, among the nations, meets these conditions, and we find here the highest ratio of property crimes per capita. this holds as to all such crimes, both minor and major, which are far in excess of those of any other nation, as shown by statistics.
it seems clear that this explanation shows the main reason for the seemingly abnormal number of property crimes in the united states.
man's infinitely long past developed the hunger instinct, which made him take directly and simply where he could and as he could. this is always urging him to supply his wants in the simplest way, regardless of the later restrictions that modern civilization has placed around the getting of property. with the weaker intellectually and physically, these instincts are all-controlling. the superficial and absurd theories that his excesses are due to the lack of the certainty of punishment take no account of the life experience, and the inherent structure of man.
especially in our large cities with their great opportunities for the creation and accumulation of wealth, the "lust of power" is shown by the nerve-racking efforts to obtain wealth by the most reckless methods. the emotion drives us to spend extravagantly and conspicuously, that we may inspire the envy of our neighbors by our money and power.
this is an old emotion securing a new outlet, and tenfold magnified in force, through modern conditions in commercial and industrial life. is it not plain that in america it has assumed the form of an obsession, biting us high and low, until we reek of it? it is likewise clear that it is a menace to any abiding peace and welfare; that it is still growing and leaving a bitter harvest of neurasthenics in its wake.
the criminologist must face the fact that, in spite of contrary pretenses by most of our social doctors, we are still in our work-a-day life guided almost exclusively by the mores—the folk-ways of old—founded on expediency as revealed by experiences, and acquired by the only known process, that of trial and error. if this be true, it clearly follows that in order to conserve any vestige of a civilization, we must realize the fact that property crimes are the normal results of the complex activities making up the treadmill called civilization. we must likewise realize that to modify these crimes we must modify the trend of the race.
when the seamy side of man's behavior is scrutinized by science, it cannot be other than grim and distressing to the reader. it is this to the writer. but all the really significant facts of life are grim and often repulsive in the material presented. to the "irony of facts" must be ascribed the shadows as well as the high lights. no distortions or speculations can influence the findings of science. they are accessible and can be checked up by any one sufficiently interested. the student knows that man is what he is, because of his origin and long and painful past.
