New-York daily tribune., 1844-02-16
r q = T RIB y n E.
L,bertinism Il Crime.

RtPok. .,ors y TO suppress LicentiousaesS.
ns ~. .,,rs. from the Committee on the Judi
. ,sb;ch were referred numerous petitions,
Viii .l;;nr for the passage of law to prevent Liccn-
tousress,
ppsrrcrruLLy REPORTS
G,h.t ,hey do not deem it necessary, at this
80 enter into labercd argument to prove the
ahs, ,;stv Of Legislative action in relation to the
Yp.h;ect matter of the memorials.
suG IT. conmttce believe that, although the time
:. hseo when many wise and good men, lovers
~ hs, nood order and morals have doubted and even
~ ed the expediency OF an attempt to protect
~, ,;,t,,e and tho purity OF the community, and
lae -, tho commission of the several offences
s;nst e chastity and the social relations of-llc
et nsnal euactments, that time has long since
p'iIs II arouments, derived from the statistics Of
..ms the nature character and the effect of those
.asnces the enactmens of other States and coun-
tes in respect to those crimes, and the effect Of
1sr;sl,tiou on the public purity and virtue were
wanting, it would only be necessary to refer to the
,eoors made 10 this House by the Committee on
the Judiciary in 1912, and the Select Committee
nnon the subject in lS43.
Il cannot be disguised that as Society is at
n,esent organized the punishment upon the two
sexes for the same offence is cruelty unequal.
While the heartless liberline may with almost
perect inpunity tramplc upon the dearest inte-
resests Of society, and ruin and destroy the VIC
fms of his lust, the female who participates III the
offence, no matter by what promises betrayed, or
nnder what circumstances she may have been
;;ndnced TO Weld her confidence aud affections,
nav, if she has been compelled to yield to superior
brnte force, loses caste and rank, is driven from
society, to herd with the viest Of the vile, and is
M longer deemed fit associate even for her dcs.
tuyer. 1t might we'll be asked why this is so
Why he who is the principal and indeed the sole
and moving cause Of the offence should not, at
the least, incur the rowns of the virtucas and the
GOOD, while his partlcipator In crime, although by
no means his equal partner in guilt, should be
thus severely punished
II no other or better reason existed for the pun
ishment of the offences under consideration than
the necessity Of equalizing in some degree the
penalties of the crime between the offenders equal
and exact Justice, as well as the public welfare
wouldimperiously require the enactment Of laws
prescribing something like adequate punishments
for the several offences against chasity. But
when it is considered that the greatest, and in
most cases the sole offender, escapes unpunish-
ed, while she, that in the commission Of the Of
fence is "more sinned against than slnnlng," is
visited with penalties cruelty disproportioncd to
the offence, and which in their consequences ex-
tend beyond this life, we may well inquire why it
Is that human Justice has been permitted to slum-
Der SO long in this State.
1t is believed that an equalization Of the penal
ole ,,f offc
far to diminish the amount Of this particular
crime, by exciting the selfish fears Of those who
now consult merely their lusts, regardless OF the
consequences of their qualification.
The Committee cannot believe that there is any
thing in the nature of the offences against chastl
ty which would distinguish them from other
offences against Society, and yet the fact that
they have been in this State, SO long left to the
correction of public opinion, would give color to
the idea that legislators had supposed that there
was something either in the character or IN the
consequences of the offences which should ex-
empt them from the application of the general
rule which requires that an adequate punishment
should attach to every offence.
Most assuredIy there is nothing in the character
Of the offences which should exempt the perpetra
tors from the punishment awarded to other crimes
Of the same degree. If we admit that both par
tcipators are equally guilty, and that neither is
entitled to the protection OF the law as against the
other, still public morals are entitled to be pro-
tected against both.
fthe effect of an act upon Society IS to be OF
any account IN determining whether 1t shall have
a place among those acts adud gedby law as well
as by common consent criminal, then the crimes
Of seduction and adultery are entitled to high
rank In our criminal code.
The consequences to the wretched victim who
falls prey to the lbertine and the seducer need
not be repeated They are known to and appre-
cated by all. Our ais and our aims houses bear
witness to the sad consequences of female dere-
lchon from virtue The effects are but too visible
IN the rags and wrotchedness, crime and misery
ol the miserable wretches, the victims OF pollution
mou large cities, who, as penalty for the offence
are doomed to drag out 4 miserable existence,
sustained by the fruits of continued crime, and at
The expence ofall their hopes for the iuturc'
The friends andrelativcs of the wfetched victim
sustain less which cannot be required, ana re-
ceiye wound which cannot be healed and for
which there is no balm. Not SO with ordinary
offences against the property or person OF others !;
they degrade and destroy not their victims forever
tneads may mourn the loss OF hun who has faiien
by the hands of the assassin, but they are not
without consolation; Society may be sensible OF
the vacuum occasioned by his death, but that va
cuum may be supplied, and from his fall there
springs up no moral pestilencc scattering disease
and death.
It's admitted by all that for offences against
chastity there is as yet no adequate punishment !;
even the paltry recompense OF damages is not n
gwen to the injured individual. The law Will
glye damages for loss of the service OF the
daughter but nothing for the greatest OF all losses
'he loss ofthe purity ofthe daughter or the wound
which the affections receive and which cannot be
healed. While the law Furnishes crimnaliy hlm
who by false pretences tokens defraud the ndl-
vdual of his property or money to any, the most
trlfiing amount, it suffers him to go unpunlshed
WIN by his false pretenses and fraudulent promises
violates tn, sancfity of the domestic circle, and