Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1869-09-09
The Olden Time.
BY LEWIS TAppAN.

by LEWIS TAPPAN.
1t has become quite common 0
late to bring the carly times Of thu
country into comparison bearing o.
the relative purity Of politics and
public morals then and now. And
such comparisons generally result In
supposed evidence Of modern degen
cracy. Elderly people especially art
more prone, it h thought, to make
unfavoral,lc comparisons. 1t re
auircs, it must be confessed, q com
prehcnsive view, both OF the states
and the nation, to form nm accurate
Judgment. do not deem myself
qualified to form an opinion founded
ur,on such an extensive scale Of ob-er-
walton. and therefore confine myself
10 such comparisons as result from
my own observation OK the weli-au-
thenticated statements Of others.
In cur Northern States it Is mani
fest. / think, that during the last
sixty or seventy years great improve
ncnts. both in the purity Of politics
and public morals, have taken place
In this portion Of the country where
hsye lived feel better qualified TO
institute comparison than the new
or. add especially in the frontier set
.sess,sn.s- propose then 10 naane a
@w shiug< ina which Sociesy hiss IN
yse~rVsse very favorable change
SOCIAL ISTEEc1rESE-
Iauynrx and TrufAne language are
an1e;h is-k frequent al the present
time sas.n fsrsne-ly especially among
s.suraftsd and cultivated people. Sew
sssiy years ago, profanity prevailed
arrna1,g such classes toa much greater
extent than al present. Even ladies
often allowed themselves in this
habit. In mixed company Of ladies
---ar n,Iife common
FOR the lalter 10 uee ,yn,sIIe onfonslnq.
and make indicate illusions, which
would he deemed highly improper
at sl,e present time. The late Gov
strong, Of Massachusetts, informed
my father that at dinner given a
his house in Boston, by John Han
cock, the Governor of the State, re
mark was made by the host that In
dueed the ladies to rise and leave tn
room, amidst roar Of laughter from
the gentlemen left behind.s
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.
Sixty or seventy years ago, hear'
lawyers, eminent for their talent
and social position, use language II
court, i'm presenceo Of female witnesses
that would be deemed intolerable q
the present time. Then, as to jail
and the indiction Of punishment
what remarkable change for til
better at the present time! The pill
Dry, the whipping-post, the cropping
and the branding Of the last century
inthc presence Of the school boys AM
girls, and the population generally
bore q savage contrast to the dec0rOu
and inoffensive mode Of infiictinl
sentence at the present time. At tn
remote period alluded to, a whip
ping-post and stocks often sto0'
in front Of the Justices Office, wher
the cnlprit received punishment
amid the jcers Of the p0pulace. PEI
SONS In pillories were pelted wit
eggs, and subject to the taunts Of by
standers; and have seen q man an
his wife, who, belonged to the bes
society In the town where they lived
sitting on the gallows, for an hour
with ropes around their necks, Q
conviction Of cruelty to one Of the
own children. Women at that tim
were sometimes publicly whippe
upon the bare back, though the SheI
ifY generally caused the punishmer
to be inflicted in the jail yard.
The jails formerly were ill-cor
structed, badly ventilated and filthy
and the prisoners, tried and untriet
thrust In indiscriminately (som'
times twenty In room without an
employment, and subject to the II
tcrrogatIons and jeers Of persons frol
without. Respectable men ever
whose only crime was their inabillt
to pay their debts, we're put into tn
common prison, often for long per
ODDS, while their families were LEI
destitute Of the means Of supper
Inability to pay ones debts was COZ
sidercd almost universally as claim
/. jnal Offense. 70
TREATMENT OF THE POOR AND TIL
INSANE.
The custom OF "selling the poor,
as IL was called, at public auction
and knocking them of, to use tn
auctionecr's expression, to the pei
son who would board them at tn
lowest price, generally prevailed
The present system Of almshouses
penitentiaries, and freedom Of debt
ors not guiltyo Of crime, was unknown
The insane were treated with grea
humanity. In my native town
Notwithstanding kept his insan
wife fastened In a room, and he
cries were daily and almost hourl