The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-22 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 18G8.

The House of Commons had yesterday I o consider

the subject of Capital Punishment, and Mr. GILPIN
moved a resolution in favour of its total abolition,
which he supported by the usual arguments that
are made in this case ; but we believe that the
public will endorse the opinion of the House in re-
jecting it by a large majority. This question has
over and over again engaged the attention of the
Legislature, and many zealous advocates have
taken up the matter with more energy than discre-
tion ; but the general feeling of the House has
been against total abolition, and very justly so,
for if put into practice the principle would
not answer the ends of justice. Nothing short of
extreme measures can be found sufficient to deter
criminals from carrying out their deadly schemes,
or if even with the fearful penalty that now hangs
over them they persist in their evil efforts, it is not
likely that the safety of the community could be
properly protected if this law was abolished. Of
course there was something to be said in defence
of the resolution as there is on all similar proposi-
tions, but the arguments will not stand investiga-
tion, and if we come to consider them we shall see
that they do not rest on a sure and solid basis.
Mr. GILPIN performed his part of advocate
very creditably, but whatever he could urge was
more than answered by those who opposed him.
Mr. GREGORY spoke very truly when ho said that
" the question was not one of reforming the heart
or saving the soul of the murderer, but of prevent-
ing the QUEEN'S subjects from being murdered."
Many instances were given by the hon. member to
show that the retention of capital punishment exer-
cised a most deterrent influence on the most har-
dened criminals, and the police officers who were
examined before the Commission all agreed in de-
claring that many more murders would have
been committed had it not been that the offenders
feared the penalty of death following on their
crimes. Besides, there is another thing to consider
—that if the punishment of death be abolished,
there will be no hold on those who are confined in
convict prisons, for they could gratify theirrage and
passion without scruple if they once thought they
could not be worse off than they were.

So far as saying that imprisonment for life is as
bad or nearly so as capital punishment, the best
way of getting over that is to mention
that if any one can see a chance of bringing
in insanity to excuse a criminal they always do
so, and the friends and advisers of the accused are
always eager to have the extreme sentence com-
muted into one of perpetual imprisonment, anything
in short rather than that the culprit should be
hanged. " A witty French writer said some years
ago," concluded Mr. GREGORY, " that he would
not mind doing away with capital punishment if
`Messieurs les Assassins' would only set the
example," and this is a very correct way of putting
the question, for the best-intentioned people seem
to forget in their arguments that there is the case
of the murderers to consider, and in their eagerness
to do away with the awful penalty of the law
being inflicted, they overlook the fact that the still
more awful crime of murder has to be checked by
the authorities, and put down so far as human
efforts can effect it with a strong hand and a deter-
mined will. Mr. MILL spoke very forcibly on the
subject, and said that he was always sorry when he
had to go against the views of the philanthropists,
whose exertions had effected so much for the good
of society in many respects, but he could not agree
with them in this instance. He said very truly
that we must not call the punishment of death a
failure, or measure it by its effects on those who