The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-12-09
NJ MISCELLANEOUS .
From the Aberdeen Conservative.
Increase of Crime.

While the various articles of trade are going
down, down, the morals Of the day seem to
exhibit a like tendency. Human life is of tri-
fling value. Almost every newspaper has its
tale of blood-one now lies before us, i'm which
five murders are mentioned in a single week.
The murder mania seems to be a dis ease of no
particular class. White and black. male and
female, young and old go to make up the long
list of assassins. Every section of country,
almost has its awful tragedy, and murder
crowds murder with d.eadiul frequency. An
over the country, criminals crowd our iails, or
as is often the case, are turned loose on insie-
nificant bail, to jostle quiet citizens in every
thoroughfare. Of these Mississippi has more
than her full share. Yet how very few crimi-
nails however atrocious their deeds are con-
victed how few are sentenced to death for the
highest grade Of murder; how notorious is it
that the assassin, when incarcerated in the
walls of the penitentiary, is, through mistaken
clemency, turned loose upon society.
1t is notorious fact that our criminal laws
are but farce, and our couts, too often, n thea
tire for the exhibition of the same The chances
that felon will be adequately punished are as
one to a hundred; hence our puny efforts to
rcpress the sanguinary attempts Of the reck-
less and lawless are unavailing. 1t is not so
much the magnitude as the certainty of pun
ishment that deters men from crime. So re.
mote and uncertain are the penalties of vi y
lated law, that we hear the remark often that
"a man who can command money may safely
kill whom he pleases."
This is an awful state of things, yet every
reader will acknowledge that in the main, il Is
true Good men everywhere cry reform, and
ask where the evil lies. We cannot point them
IN 49, H. III
as the exclusive seat of the disease; we fear
the whole is affected.
Our Statutes must be defective. We can
look with no degree of allowance on thai law,
custom or administration Of law; which suffers
a criminal to remove his trial to place remote
from the scence Of his crime-to put of his
trial from term to term and court to court, un-
til all evidence of his guilt is destroyed, and
Justice, in vindicating her claims, is dsheart-
ened by delay.
= We are not sure that placing the election OF
judicial officers before the people has advanced
the claims of justice. Our forefathers con.
sidered that they acted wisely when they
placed the judiciary high above and far beyond
popular influence. They thought, and Justly
too, that the poor man, in litigation with the
rich and powerful would have but little chance
10 get his rights before Judge who was
candidate for reelection. They knew that the
dirty tricks, low acts and mean appliances, by
which demagogues too often captivate the pop
, ulace, were not the qualities to make good
District Attorney or adorn the Judicial ernine !;
hence they placed the Judiciary beyond the
reach Of such influences, where it should and
would have remained but for the partizan char
acter of legislative bodies. 1t is true that this
power, as it is now lodged, has often been
used with beneficial discrimination, but we
doubt whether, upon the whole, the change
has been for the better.
The squeamish philosophy Of our day which
has persuaded so many weak persons that cap
ital punishment ought never to be resorted to,
has contributed its part in the escape of MUIR
derers Men go into the jury box, carrying
this feeling more or less developed. From the