Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1826-03-11

tons for rape was Is, the convictions g, the &C.
ouittals g. and the executions S. During the
same period, the prosecutions for arson were
10, the convictions 5, and the executions l..
During the same period, the prosecutions for
forging the bills Of credit Of the government
were %, the convictions /, and the executions
S. From i779 to 1882, when the last prose
cution took place in Pennsylvania, for the crime
of treason, the prosecutions were 8, the convlc-
tons 4, the acquittals 4, and the executions 2.
1t is worthy Of remark that the number OF &C
quitlals in cases of prosecutions for robbery *
burglary, in proportion to the number OF prose-
cutions, gradually decreases annually, as you
recede from 1886, the period when these crimes
ceased to be capital. This shews that the Ju-
res did not at once realize the fact that they
were no longer called upon to pronounce upon
the life or death of the accused.
These facts throw immense light on the
proposition that it is not the severity but the
certainty Of punishment that deters men from
the preparation of crimes. Men never commit
crimes on the speculation of enduring the pen
atty Of the law, whether il be light or heavy, but
upon the expectation they will be able to es.
cape punishment entirely. These are, the more
certain the infliction Of punishment, the more
perfectly will society be secured against the
commission Of crimes. From 1879 TO 1886,
in Pennsylvania, men who meditated the Pc
petration of any Of the high crimes have men
toned. could reason justly, that if they did
commit the crimes, there were many chances
they would never be overtaken by a prosecu-
tion-that if they were prosecuted, there wire
many chances, from inattention of the officers
of the law, accidents happening TO witness, and
other casualties, that no bill would be found
against them-that if bill were found, there
was at least an equal chance, that, on trial
before the petit jury, they would be acquitted;
and that, if The worst should come, and they
should be condemned, and sentenced to endure
the punishment oflhe law, there were still equal
chances that they would be reached by the
clemency of the Executive, and that pardon
would prevent the execution. BY the facts
above stated, it appears conclusively, that alter
prosecution commenced, and bill OF indlct'
ment was found, the chances that guilty OIL
fender should suffer for his crime, were not one
out Of four.
That wicked men calculate on this uncertain
~ of the law, is evident from the fact that,
while robbery was punished with death, the
number Of convictions were annually about the
same. But as soon as the more mild and more
certain system Of punishments by confinement
to hard labor was introduced, and had time to
be felt on society, in the term OF twenty-four
years the number Of convictions was reduced
from IS, in period of eight years, TO gin the
same period. At the same time, and by the
operation Of the same cause, the number OF
convictions in burglary, were reduced, in pc
Rod of eight years, from 81 to % The pow
err of the operation Of this system appears pro-
6igious, when we recoect that while the num-
Der Of these crimes had thus diminished, po-
pulation had doubled, luxury had increased,
and the means of subsistence had become more
difficult 10 obtain, and every temptation to
crime had been augmented.
Thus have shown to the Committee, not by
reasons drawn from speculative science, and
the philosophy of the human mind-reasons
which have for more than hundred years been
urged by the enlightened, eloquent, and benevo-
lent men, who have been endeavoring to per-
suade the governments of the Old World to a.
dept more mild codes of criminal law; but by
the undeniable results ofexperience-of the ex-
perit nee not for few years,whcb might be fall
lacious-but of an experience of forty years
that the system Of Penitentiary punishment, by
confinement to hard labor, as a means oil pre-
venting the commission of crimes, is not only
more efficient but is at least FIVE times as effec-
tua as the punishment Of death itself
The powerful effect Of this system, in Penn
sylvania, which have exhibited to the Com
mittee, in an abstract form, didsnot fail soon
to become visible on the face of society. The
humane Caleb Lownes, in a report on the sub
ject, published in the year 1898, says, that "out
of 1900 convicts who had been recommended
and pardoned, only four were returned on Sc
cond conviction. Several Of these discharged
were old offenders Many Of them were before
at the bar of Justice, and had often received the
punishment Of their crimes, under the former
laws.
"Our streets now meet with no interruption
from those characters that formerly rendered it
dangerous to walk out in the evenings;our roads
in the vicinity of the city, constantly infested
with robbers, are seldom disturbed by these
dangerous characters. There have been but
TWO instances of burglares in the city for the
two last years. Pick-pockets, formerly such
pests to society, are now unknown Not an in
stance has occurred Of person convicted Of
that offence for two years The number of per-
sons convicted at the several courts has consi-
derably decreased. Thirty or more at ses-
sion have heretofore been condemned. Now,
when both the city and county courts are but a
few days distant, there are but five for trial."
Thus, Mr. Chairman, l have showed the evils