Britain, the spirit of democracy and revolt was strong in the world.  A body of peasants had gained independence over the strongest nation on earth.  This body, through its delegates, provided in the Constitution of the United States that the people should never be forbidden to bear arms.  The cheap production of firearms placed them in the hands of all who wished to buy.  This aided feuds and brawls.  It also gave strength to the burglar and robber.

America was fast becoming a manufacturing and commercial nation.  The accumulation of property was greater, and the inequalities perhaps more marked than in any other land; likewise the poor were more independent.  Gradually we came to rely more and more upon the power of law and the force that goes with it to preserve the old order.  Legislatures and city councils all over the United States began to limit and forbid carrying firearms.  The Constitution of the United States was held no impediment to this legislation.  Gradually laws have forbidden the carrying of guns by the common man, and these laws are growing stronger every year.  In many states robbery with a gun may mean life imprisonment, while the mere carrying of a revolver is a serious offense.  The passage of these drastic laws and the number of prison inmates confined for these offenses show that the invention and use of firearms has affected crime, and likewise that the government is constantly growing more doubtful of the common man.

Civilization largely has to do with the creation and protection of property.  Although it is related to literature, architecture, politics, art and the like; even these things if not actually rooted in property are stimulated or affected by property.  Civilization has created new crimes and new ways to commit crime.  It has likewise created many wants and desires that furnish the motive power of property crimes.  Each new invention of civilization adds to these needs and these desires, increases the power of committing crime, and necessitates stricter measures to prevent it.  Civilization has likewise created many new outlets for the emotions, strengthened old ones, weakened others and added to the complexity of life.  It has imposed added strain and stress upon man’s nervous system and through this has caused the abnormalities and excesses that are either crimes or lead to crimes.

Civilization has created the big cities; in other words, the powers and forces that made civilization have made the big cities.  The invention and development of the railroad has taken men from the air and sunlight and comparative freedom of motion of the country and the small village, and placed them in an atmosphere not really fitted for normal animal life, especially the life of the young.  It has likewise stimulated crime by offering the opportunities and making the suggestions that are potent factors in crime.  In country and village life everyone was known, the smallest detail of every life was an open book.