Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-02-19
Leafslntixe A,rocitien.

We notice In the legislative proceeding
that, on Saturday, Mr.. Cox, from the Senat,
Judiciary Committee, reported back ant
recommended the passage of the bill which
provides that if married person shall elopt
with any other person, both shall be i'm
prisoned in the Penitentiary at hard labor
not more than three years nor less than one
year. This bill, it will be seen, has passed
the ordeal of that Judiciary Committee which
boasts of its execution in slaughtering useless
and improper bills. This bill probably came
from one of that committee; as immunity for
their own bills seems to be regarded as due
TO their merit for slaughtering the bills of
other people.
Why not pass a bill to stone these elopers
summarily, according TO the Mosaic code
How dare this judiciary Committee afix a
penalty to this offense, so much lighter than
that of the divine Hebrew laws2 If the
committee abandon that law, they have
nothing to govern them but humanity. Now
they stand on utterly untenable ground, for
their bill is neither divine nor humane.
This bill carries US back to the good old
Puritan days when erring women were
marked with scarlet letter, and piloried in
the msrket-place, for the ediication of So
ciety. We may recognize i. as almost the
same institution, when we come to see an
eIring and humbled woman-it will be a
woman, Of course, for men can almost always
escape-brOught to jail among thieves, and
then into Court and placed in the criminal
box, and banded back and forth between
Court and Jail, surrounded by curious and
vulgar mob, until she is finally sentenced to
the penitentiary for one or three years. And
after all this edifying exhibition for the good
of society and for the terror of wives yet
fsithful-after she has been taken, with
thieves and murderers, to the Penitentisry,
and has served her time, what then? Has
tie law provided place for her some where
between Heaven and earth, where she can
live2 If not, it had better do il as q neces-
sary part of the plan.
Is there any husband that demands this
penalty on his wife2 Any child that de.
mands it on its mother? If not, who has a
AiBhs W a6A ~ VI lmposo II W HO 6N6t
knew a case of this kind, that did not carry
its own more than sufficient penalty with iti
Who does not know that if the social PEN
atty is not sufficient 70 prevent this offense,
no terror can prevent it2
Savage penalties always mark degen.
crate, base and cowardly people. All his
tory shows this. In the Ohio Legislature, 1
seems to be thought that he who adds a new
crime TO the statutes, has done service Il
morality and to the State. Members rach
their internal ingenuity 10 devise bills to ere
ate new crimes out ofimmoralites, in order "a
make party capital out Of those who vote
sgaiDst them, by charging them with a de-
sire to encourage such immoralities. One
villainOus and dirty bill was passed through
the Legislature by just these motives, avOw-
q edly. We refer TO the visible-admixtuFe
smslgsnAtiOn biII-a dirty bill, passed by a
pack Of dirty fellows.
We do not charge that this Rlopemsnt Bill
was introduced for such purpose. Unfortun-