The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-13 00:00:00

E4egtourtlribge Obscruct.

SATURDAY, M kiteli 120, 1880.
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THE LAST SENTENCE OF THE LAW.

IN the days of public executions there was ,
scarcely an assize town in the kingdom ,
which at one time or another was not called ;
Upon to face the dreary spectacle of a crim-
inal being put to death in the sight of
thousands of persons who had come together
from all parts of the country to witness the
sight. As the gathering together of these
assemblages was conducive neither to order
nor to morality, and as the class thus drawn
together was not likely to be deterrently
affected by any spectacle, however dread or
solemn, the Legislature, in the session of
1868, passed an Act providing for executions
to take place in private. There was, how-
ever, an omission from the new statute
which has been brought into prominence of
late and has prominently occupied the legis-
lature. No provision was made for the pre-
sence of independent witnesses; in fact, the
Act of Parliament went from one extreme to
another. It enacted not only that executions
should in future take place out of the sight
of the thousands who had been accustomed
to gaze upon them ; but that they shoutd be
carried out in the presence of the officials
only, the admission of representatives of the
Press being left to the discretion of the High
Sheriff.
The manner in which this • discretion at
times has been excercised raises a point of
considerable constitutional importance. The
question has been raised in Parliament
whether regulations ought not to be issued
which will permit a certain number of re-
porters or other unofficial witnesses to be
present, 90 that an independent statement
shall be given to the public of the manner in
which the law has been carried into effect.
When the act 1868 was passed, the advo-
cates for the entire abolition of capital pun-
ishment urged that if it had a wholesale and
deterrent effect, then it ought to .ke publicly
conducted, and the majesty of the law pro-
perly vindicated. If, on the other hand, it
was brutal and demoralising, then it was
maintained that it was a relic of past barbar-
ism,"which could not be too soon expunged
from the Statute Book. It was, however,
expected that a compromise would have been
effected between these two views by taking
security for the presence of the Press, or of
an independent unofficial person. Bat it
certainly was never intended that an execu-
tion should be conducted in absolute privacy,
_

and without any check on the part of tfie-
public as a whole. In law nothing is pre-
sumed. Every step in so far as its proof is
necessary must be capable of verification.
A criminal put on trial for his I:fe is ar-
raigned and called upon to plead in open
court. In open court he has his opportunity
of challenging the jury. The evidence for
and against him is passed under the same
conditions. England is the only European
country in which the punishment of death
is carried out with closed doors.
It is certain that we shall never again
revert to public executions. Nor does there
seem to be an immediate prospect that the
Legislature will give its assent to the aboli-
_

tio-n of capttai punishment. We are couse-
qi:ently- pledged for some considerable time
to private executions. This being so, the
public has a right to insist that it shall be
properly represented on such occasions.
The duty is not a pleasant one for anybody
to undertake, but the same might be said of
many another duty which falls to the lot of
those who have to pass through this world.
Taking it for granted that the High Sheriff
of the county, the tlnder Sheriff, the gover-
nor of the gaol, the chaplain, the surgeon,
and the warders are all beyond suspicion, in-
capable of inhumanity or cruelty; there is
no ground in all this for arguing that to in-
sist upon the presence of reporters is in
effect to throw a doubt upon the integrity
.of
the sheriff and his subordinates. We insist
upon trial in open court, not because we
respect our judges, but because publicity in
criminal proceedings is an absolutely neces-
sary element in our liberties. The carrying out
of a capital sentence is a proceeding different
in its details from the trial itself, but equally
a matter of public interest and concern. It
ought to be surrounded with the same safe-
guards, and should in all its details be be-
yond the possibility of suspicion. It has
been deemed of sufficient importance to oc-
cupy the attention of the High Court of
Parliament, and there is little doubt that
the immediate cause of public notice being
drawn to it will soon be amended in accord-
ance with the traditions which have always
surrounded judicial proceedings in this
country.