The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-04-07
The Curo Fer CrIme.

HON. f. CARROLL. BREWbTbhsi ih ~" N" p w wy
Grand Jury few days since, displayed proper
| onnreciotiop of the enormous increase of crime
| In our city. and also a just estimate of that
| s,irit of pity which some philanthropsts
| arc ALWAYS rendy to evoke. From his position
ms one of the Judges of the Criminal Court the
author of the charge is made singularly capable
of irving us an estimate OF the crimes and pun
ishments of wrong-doers; and he does so with
force and cearness. He shows that in homicide
cases alone there has been fearful increase
within the past year. There is something start
ling in the assertion that in 1867 there were 81
homicides, and in 1868 there were 133-an in
crease of about forty per cent Yet more inn
pressive is the assertion that there are more
murders committed in one year than there are
murderers executed in thirty. Yet both of the
statements bear the undoubted authority of the
Judges word to back them, and cannot be gain
said or denied. /
In view, then, of this fearful growth of crime
what is the proper course to be adopted Is 1t
to receive with assent or silence the utterances
of 1.-THE chicken-hearted sympathizers who are
continually denouncing those who favor stern
retribution for crime? or is 1t to throw aside all
reserve and denounce these sentimentaities as
runous of public morals We agree with Judge
Brewster in preferring the latter course Long
experience has taught Us lesson in which there
can be no mistake that leniency without punish
mcnt Is no protection from crime. 1t is idle to
talk Of reform with class of men whose busi-
ness 1t is to break the laws, and who have it as
their means of support. An occasional offender
can be cured by kindness. The first wrong step
can probably be retrieved through the friendly
advice of one who takes an interest in
the criminal But to talk of reform
ing murderer professional thief
Il. ,l Ia
that what the London Times says of that metro
polls is equally true of Philadelphia -"Crime
is pursued by numerous class of persons as
regular profession, apart from all casual tempta-
ton or impulse. The profession Is maintained
by regular succession of practitioners, like any
honest trade 1t has its serhinaries, its markets,
and its places of resort" With such class as
this to talk of kindness is an absurdity. 1t is
only through fear of the whip that they kept
in subjection. 1t is only through fear of the pun
ishment which will follow, and the chances that
they will be detected that any check can be put
upon their fell deeds. To this class, we believe,
belong nine-tenths of all the criminals in Phila-
delpha. They are hardened and determined crm-
nails from choice and of their own free will.
They are set who would choose crime rather
than honesty, and who, had they the opportunity,
would do all they could to prevent the necessity
of leading yirtuous life For such as these pun
ishment punishment, punishment is the only
watchword to guide jurors and courts.
1t is, therefore, the worst possible taste and the
worst possible policy for any man or set of men
to select such time this to petition for re-
moval of the death sentence. We do not pro-
pose to go into the abstruse theories of the ques
tion whether or not society has the right to
take the life of one of its criminal members.
a think w hat
is enough, so far as the theory is concerned. SO
far ms the practical benefit of the death sentence
can be considered we are thankful day by day
that it exists and the only regret which troubles
| us is that it is not more frequently inflicted.
! We do not say this in spirit of bloodthirsty
revenge, but calmly, peaceable, law
abiding citizens who want protection and
love virtue and quiet There is an
irrepressible conflict between crime
and virtue in every such community own.
We must be on one side or the other. We are
emphatically on the side of order, and believe
that the only way to deal with those opposed to
is to as nearly exterminate them as possible. For
misdeeds not homicidal we would NEW them up
within stone walls, and make them work like
felons, as they are. We would have them toll as
prisoners should toll for crime, as the poor and
honest too frequently have to toll for their
daily bread; while for the higher grade, such
as those who take human life, we would rid
society of their presence by the inexorable gal
lows. And in treating them in this way it is really
doing Gods service, and obeying the dictates of
| justice and self-protection.
| Feeling thus, it was with no small degree of
| pleasure that we read Judge Brewsters charge
to the Grand Jury. 1t is a sensible and powerful
| paper, and one that, if it be only acted up to,
| will check the increase of crime. 1t is not only
| for retribution that we want to see its doctrine
carried out, but it is for the far higher, more
imperative, and more powerful reason, that pub
| lie safety can only be assured by constant ex-
amples being made of all offenders. We are in
the state that is described well by the Judge:-
at has thus come to pass, gentlemen, that men are
| shot down or stoned to death upon our highways
and that the law as p0weress for their vind-
cation as it was for their protection. Grand ures
hesitate to find true bills, and petit juries often
fuse TO convict except OF inferior grades frequently
| coupling those verdicts with recommendations to
| mercy. And even in an occasional OF great
| atrocity when a conviction is followed by sentence
| OF DEATH the Executive is beseged for pardon. 1t
IL owing to these efforts to thwart justice that it has
come to pass in Philadelphia that 1t is danger
Gus for a man to pick pocket than to take life.
| The thief is much more certain OF being punished
| than the murderer"
For this state of society there is but one
remedy-a vigorous and rigorous execution of
the laws without leniency or mercy, until the
tide Of increasing crime begins to ebb.