Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/225

 CRIME AMONG THE NEGROES OF CHICAGO 211

ratio of negro arrests to negro population was : in New York, I to 12 ; Washington, i to 6 ; Richmond, I to 8 ; Charleston, i to 13.5 ; Chicago, i to 2.6. In 1897 the rat i f ne g r o arrests to negro population was: in New York (1896), I to 7 ; Washington, i to 6.3 ; Richmond, i to 9.7 ; Chicago, i to 3. In New York, during 1890, the ratio of negro arrests to the negro population was one and a half times as great as the ratio of white arrests to the white population ; in Washington, Richmond, and Charleston the ratio of negro arrests was twice as great as the ratio of white arrests ; in Chicago the ratio of negro arrests' to the negro population was six times as great as the ratio of white arrests to the white population.

Chicago house of correction. The proportion of negro pris- oners sent each year to the Chicago house of correction has increased during the past twenty-five years ; the proportion sent from 1890 to 1898 is from two to three times as great as the pro- portion sent each year from 1873 to 1890.

From a comparison of the proportion of negroes in the city's population with the proportion of negroes confined in the house of correction we see that in 1873 the proportion of negro pris- oners confined in the Chicago house of correction was 2.7 as great as the proportion of the negro population to the total population of the city; in 1880 the proportion of negro pris- oners was 2.5 times as great; in 1890 it was 6 times as great ; in 1892 it "was 8 times as great; in 1894 it was 9 times as great ; and in 1896 the proportion of negro prisoners confined in the Chicago house of correction to the total number of prisoners confined therein was 8 times as great as the proportion of negroes in the total population of the city.

Cook county jail. The city of Chicago is in Cook county, 111. The jail for the county is located in this city. The United States census for 1890 showed that there were at that time 279 prisoners in the Cook county jail, of whom 31 were negroes. The writer visited the jail February 3, 1898. On that day there were 400 prisoners, of whom 45 were negroes. The writer also visited the same institution May 23, 1898. At this time there were 431 prisoners, of whom 50 were negroes.