Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1849-04-06

murderer, irrespective of his own or Socie
tvs welfare the exact amount and in kind
Il OF injury which he has inflicted OH his vie.
tim then the arguments in favor of the GAL,
lows and gullotine are forcible and convuI.
sive. Our opponents do not, however
with rare exceptions, acknowledge this
doctrine. There are indeed few who
nave sufficient courage 10 assert III the mid
die OF the Nineteenth Century ofthe Chris
tIan Era, that the punishment Of the Grim
Inal should have no regard for policy or ex>
pedlcncy-that Legislators and Jurists
should not take into account the welfare of
society nor the reformation of the criminal
that blood for blood is a law ordained
OF God, and that all we have TO do is to see
to 1t that the man who Stays his brother
shall be in turn by his brother slain.
Ii we can remove, Mr.. Bureigh argued,
from the hearts of the People the feelings
CT vengeance, and bring them to Judge cool
~ and dlspassonalely or the subject, the
galows must inevitably fall at once. Ifyou
wish to strangIe a man to death with the
consent and appreciation Of the People.
have your murder committed to-day, trial
tomorrow, and the execution the day fo>
lowing. Do the whole thing up before the
People have time 10 take tile sober second
thought-then perhaps the great mass Of
the maddened populace will say, 1t was
henious to take the life Of the one man
and eminenlly just and Christian to des.
troy that of the other But let there be
lapse of time between the commission of
the murder and the trial of the criminal
let there be lime and opportunity for calm
reflection and diSpassionate investigation,
and the clamors for blood will be changed
to words of gentle pity and compassion.
In the State Of Vermont, six or seven
years ago, law was passed providing thatno
murderer shall be executed till after the ex>
plration of one year from the time of re-
celvlng sentence, and not then without the
sanction of the Governor of the State
Soon after the passage of this law. man
murdered his wife in the most revolving ard
brutal manner, and many thought he ought
to suffer immediate death, and for few
days talked OF repeal of the law. The
murderer was convicted and sent TO the
Penltentlary, but al the end Of the year the
Governor was not disposed to sign his
]
silII. No Governor of Vermont has been
found willing 10 drag him from his cell TO
the scafoid; and the speaker added that it
was not within his knowledge that any
Executive had been requested to do so, or
! that a murder had been committed in that
! State since this one.
Maine has passed law similar to that
of Vermont, and The hangman has been out
OF employment in that State since. 1t is
! the spirit of vengeance, not of Justice, that
demands the blood of the man-slayer.-
The true objects of punishment should be:
/ |, to prevent the commission Of crime; 3.
! to repair, as far as may be, the wrong done
| to society by the commission of crime, and
3, to reform the offender Neither Of
these objects. the speaker contended, would
| be attained by the taking of life. Far too
! little regard is now and has in former times
been paid TO the rights of man. 1t is, for
| instance, our boast as a nation that all men
are entitled TO Life, while we make a mems
! tai reservation that the murderer has not
! the right to live. This right to life is a law
of Nature and the fact that one man vio-
! lacs it, perhaps in the heat Of passion or
under strong provocation, is but sorry
excuse for thc community, who 90 about
! tue thing deliberately, TO violate that same
sacred law of Nature. Our bloody Penal
Code come from an age of harbarism,
when human life was little reqarded-when
/ the question was not. as now, What is best
/ for tie community! bat How shall we get
rid of This troublesome fellow the most
speedily! or how shall we make him feel
our vengeance the most acutely! Shall we
| allow him To drag out a short existence ina
cold, damp, dungeon, where he shall never
more behold the face of man or the light of
Heaven? Shall we torture him with the
rack, or shall we tear his quiverng flesh
asunder with heated pncers! These pun
ishments were considered Just in their time
hay, charitable. A premier of England
on the occasion of certain State trials re-
commended the use ofthe rack in as char
table manner as possible But they had
not then the facilities we have now for car
rying out milder Penal Code. State
Prisons, Houses Of Correction, &C., are OF
recent date.
Setting aside the fact that innocent men
may be and Frequently have been executed
for the crimes of others, there are still
abundant reasons for the abolition of the
Gallows. 1t is the certainty rather than
the severity of punishment that deiers the
criminal from his wicked purpose. Jurors
exhibit growing unwilIingness TO find
yerdcts of guilty when the penalty is
Death, while the reverse is the fact in re-
gard to crimes punished less severely
Take, for example, the City of Philadel.
phia where, during the last fifty years, ITO
trials for murder have occurred. and of the
: whole number only ten murderers were
: convicted, five only of whom were cxecu-
=. ted. OF those tried for burglary for the
: same period. livc-sixths of the whole num-
; her were convicted. Indeed tie chances oil
4 escaping the present penalty of murder are
h so great that the gallo vs. is almost entirely
= shom of It's terrors. While violence on the
/ part of the State begets spirit of violence
II and a disregard of the sacredness Of human
l. life on the part of the People. They tel
T. us the gallows must be continued as al
e example which shall strike terror to The