The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1843-09-27

a
That there is discomfort is plain. In the
Legislatures of several of our states, the
abolition of capital punishment is the la
vorite and popular measure OF the day In
New York, Pennsylvania and some other
states the Lopular branch of the Legsla-
ture have well nigh carried the point. 9th
er Legislatures, are, every year, earnestly
petitioned 10 act in the same directIon.-
Furnishing the wilful murderer by death, Is
denounced as-.barbarous, savage. d C.
Our ownLegislature infected with this new
species of benevoIence, have taken one
step in the work of reform, and in their
wisdom and mercy. have ordained that the
murderer shall be imprisoned for life. and
then hung! This, to be sure, looks little
like advancing However.the
Doctors of the Law have so docforec this
Bill as to give it tolerably healthy aspect.
A considerable portion of the press has ia
ken ground IN favor of doing away all pun
ishment by death.
Look which way we will, we find sad
evidence of the relaxation Of criminal Jaw,
both in the enactment and in the execu-
ton. Crime is becoming bold and frequent
and the public conscience insensible to its
enormity.
The seducer who carries infamy and
misery into the bosom of once happy
famIly;-who destroys the reputation and
peace Of the very pride Of that family. is
doomed BY law 10 ne punishment. True,
by law he may be fined in the sum of a
hundred dollars or so. But strictly. this is
no punishment. 1t is deemed no real DIS
grace. For having paid the sum-(which
can never be an Offset against the ruin OF
character and happiness) he walks ,unwhip-
ped and unscorned, into the same circle of
society and loses no caste. 1t is confessed
by all that crimes of this character are
much more fequent than formerly. The
wreck Of innocence, of charactcr,an NOR
al worth is startling. SIT Is a state of
things Eot TO be endured" And if mat.
| tiers 60 on at the present rate. the order of
| society will soon be reversed and our whole
legislation may fall into the hands of those
who believe that concealed adultery is no
crime"
We have sad evidence of the relaxation
Of criminal law in every department.
"Foul deeds. from ruffian violence upon
life, through the black catalogue of arson,
rape, burglary, theft, and swindling of ev-
cry degree and continuance, are common
occurrences: and while from the halls Of
Justice, a voice proclaiming the fearful in
crease of crime is sounding in our ears, the
! executive informs US that there is a morbid
sympathy with offenders, interposing be.
tween crime and punishment" The pub
lie mind appears to have been settling down
into an aversion to the condemnation of
crime. How difficult was it, few. years
since, to get on with the trial of Robinson,
the unquestioned murderer of Ellen Jew.
etti low loudly did some of the newspa.
pers Chose echoes of public sentiment)
plead in his behalf When was ever a
murder committed with more deliberate
malice or in more aggravating circumstan>
ces than that of Adams by Coltl Yet,
(says a writer in the Biblical Repository
the periodical highest in political standing,
and probably most powerful in our country
represents Colt as the sufferer of vindic-
tive vengeance and arraigns all before
whom his cause came. in legal proceeding,
as its guilty infictors. The law and its
tribunals faro condemned; the murderer
justified! The law Frustrated before the
malefactor; the tide of sympathy sustain
ing the offender. justice down trodden, and
the publid safety forgotten in the strong
sympathy for the criminal! In one paper
we read the presentment of grand jury
solemnly protesting that pardons are grant
ed so easily that the administration of the
criminal law is a useless expense; in anotb-
en- we have The message of the Governor
the dispenser of these pardons, deplorDg
the relaxation of criminal justice and COM
planning that the court and jury convicting
and sentencing one day, recommend TO
mercy and remission the next"
The ease with which pardons are obtain
ed for the most obnoxious criminals is an
other evidence of dangerous relaxation
of criminal law. 1t is estimated by an a
BILE jurist that the majority Of sentences
for life have been put an end TO, by pardon
within four or five years; the term which
these sentences for most attrocious crimes
had been allowed to run, under the pardon
ing power. not being equal 10 what the LIE.
gslature had prescribed for minor offences.
Look at the state Of public sentiment in
respect TO the swindlers of the public rev.
enue. How next to impossible TO obtain
verdict against one of these honorable
gentlemen. even while he stands before the
court and the country with the fruits Of his
iniquity in his hands,
How many men in office have stolen mo-
ney from the state, and general govern
ment by hundreds of thousands. and yet,
instead of being branded as thieves. and
brought to justice, they have been suffered
to go at large; and the worst that is said of
them is 'they have failed"-or "they have
been unfortunate"
The defalcations of men in public trust
in the city Of New York alone, in 1912,
is set down in the public newspapers. at
S67O,OOO. What is the remedy In nine
cases out of ten, none is applied. The
cloth which these rogues wear and the leg
erdemain Of the law, shields them. When
such deeds in high places go UNPUBLISHED,
"a. -