New-York tribune., 1869-01-15
FrOGGING PICKPOCKETs.

often give us reason enough tor douDtlng H.
With characteristic impetuOsty, 1T is proposed
in London to restore the whipping post 1or
the purpose of punishment, because 1t Is found
difficult to repress the thievery of the streets
" flogging,r it is said, "being the only penalty
(which is dreaded by the class OF criminals
addicted to this pursuit." This is only
repetition of the old and unphilosOphical folly
which takes it for granted that crime is dlmin-
ished by increasing the severity of the punish
ment There is nothing better settled, both
by the reason and experience of mankind, than
that the prevalence of crimes bears no proper
ton to the specific penalties assigned by sta
tute but depends altogether upon far diff
ferent causes in the past or the present
experience of criminals-upOn education, upon
the demand for labor, and upon the Judlclous
treatment of the convicted. Take London
boy, born in the back slums, taught nothing
but the secrets of q felonious art, and with no
hope of obtaining his bread by honest labor
and does anybody suppose that 1T makes any
difference so far as his reformation Is con-
cerned, whether he is locked up for thirty DAYS
or flogged for thirty minutes 1t is extremely
possible. if choice were allowed him, that he
would prefer the stripes to the imprisonment
becauso he would thus be the soonest back
again to his bad business. The only way 10
reform criminal is to revive, If possible his
moral instincts and if it can be shown Oy any
ingenuity of reasoning, or by the results .,
experiment, that this can be best ehec'eu
through the laceratiOn Of the back, OF Dy
recourse to any other form of physical torture
then the greater the torture the surer the rem
edy. This point being once settled in favor OF
cruel and unusual punishments, 1t is pleasant
to think what an armOry of persuasive impie-
ments we can borrow from past ages-the rack,
the boot, the thumb-screw-
"Luke's iron crown and Damien's bed OF steel"
Considering the infinite variety Of human
character, it is difficult to determine, III the
present state of criminal jurisprudence, how
far the average of the ill-disposed are deferred
from the commission of crime by the fear OF
detection and punishment One OF the main
elements of every infringement of the law is
the hope, amounting almost to certainty, OF I'M
punty. Before the perpetration of the offense,
the street boy believes that he will not only
pick the pocket, but that he will be
able to escape with his booty. IL we suppose
il is easy to see that he still carries with him
the larcenous instinct. He has been taught by
his suffering that he may be caught; but this
he knew almost rs well before his capture,
because he had seen hundreds of his COM
panions marched off to Jail by the policeman
He reasons that upon such occasions he escaped,
and why should lie not escape again lie Is In
no more danger now than before OF detection;
because his experience has made him more
wary, he may perhaps be even in less. While
his back remains sore or while the memory Of
his flogging is fresh, he may be specially
cautious in his operations; but when his
wounds are healed his wickedness revives in
full force, like that of His Satanic Majesty
after on illness during which he solemnly
resolved upon turning monk.
Undoubtedly, the first impulse of society
after the apprehension of an offender is to have
its revenge, and fogging seems to be the
speediest and most Immediately satisfactory
which can be resorted to, just as, in less serious
affairs, the man who is nsulted forthwith floors
the insulter. 1t seems hard that the wrong
doer should not be made to suffer, and that
too Immediately, and in such a way that our
eyes may be feasted upon his retributive
agonies. 1t is this kind of indulgence which
has led society into the practical sophistry of
trying TO prevent crime merely by increasing
punishment--a falacy which, in an age of al
most savage ideas and notions respecting legal
retribution, the benevolent nature of Gold
smith at once detected. "And it were highly
"to be wished" said he, THAT legislative
power would thus direct the law rather
~. Il Al. NJ, /
"avoid even questioning the validity of that
"right which soca combinations have as
"sumed of capitally Furnishing ofienses OF
"sl;oht nature. Savages that are
directed by natural law alone are very tender
of the lives of each other they seldom she'd
"blood but to retaliate former cruelty" We
can quote no further but we venture to refer
the reader to the whole chapter, which is the
xxvith of "The Vicar of Wakefield"
We believe that the experience both of the
army and navy, after an adherence of centuries
to hogging as punishment, was that it simply
brntalzed the men without making them either
good soldiers or good sailors. 1t is curious to
find, after this method of punishment has been
for a number of years abandoned that there
arc still men who regret its discontinuance, and
even advocate its restoration. We suppose
that there are lin this country not a few who
will attribute every bad crop of cotton, every
Southern social disorder, every adversely of
whatever nature which may overtake the late
Slave States, solely to the discontinuance of
fogging on the plantations We know that
there is large class of men who think that
education cannot go on and that proper
discipline cannot be maintained in our public
schools, without the employment of the rod. If
men are always to be like "dumb, driven cat