The Portland daily press., 1869-02-12
PRESS.
Friday Morning, February l2, 1869.
m -. asilbers's Bill for the Erection of the
HalaOWs i'm Maine.


-
ma -. asiIbers's Bill for the Erection of tine
GahOws i'm Maine.
What popular demand or necessity the Ju-
dietary Committee Of the House supposed they
were answering when they authorized Mr..
Gilbert Of Bath-a gentleman who, ass legis--
lative document informs US, is several feet
high-to report bill that reverses the policy
In relation to capital punishment which Maine
,tablished more than quarter of century
20, it is difficult to conceive. 1t surely cam
not have been supposed by the gentlemen Of
the committee that they would be able to have
law which provides for the death penalty abb
soutely, with no alternative sentence, regard
ed as an amelioration of the existing law
which was intended to effect practical ~
htion of strangulation. This new Df',.p- = =
statute makes death certain for ~ .ne
FIRST degree and possible for mu ~ ~ ' jug
second degree, with imprisonment ior NE pre-
sor;bed for the punishment of such as commit
murder in the third dee rec
The neopIs of Maine have asked almost with
one voice for the formal abolition Of capital
punishment. The Judiciary COMMITTEE,
through Mr. Gilbert, have presented in re-
spouse the gallows newly raised up after lying
in the mud thirty years and batch of defiini-
tons. We do not believe that the Legislature
will give to the people this Judiciary Commit
tee stone instead Of the bread they have asked
for, especially as it is proposed by the reaction
lists to introduce into the law ex post fdcto pro-
visions that shall doom to strangulation all
persons now incarcerated for capital crimes
The suggestions of the Executive In. bis annual
address are deserving of respectful attention,
but it would be an unprecedented thing for his
tdiosyncrasies to receive legislative endorse
ment while the clearly will of the
people in favor of progress instead Of retro
gression is ignored. .'4 lnl orr os3hi
Before the Legislature gives its assent to Mr..
Gilbert's bill rather than to that of Mr.. Ste
vens of the Senate, it is bound to require the
advocates of the death penalty to answer sat
tsactorily to these propositions which have
been established by evidence and prove that
there is no necessity for the gallows upon any
other ground than the vindictive theory Of
punishment which is almost universally re-
jected. -1aln1 90. ~
First. murder is least frequent IN ssates iehere
stran9ulation is a,,kno,on. aill- s3ilP e
Second, the death penalty by impairing the
man life, everywhere acts as stimulus to
criminal impulses A large crop Of murders
most always springs up from the blood that
Is spilled on the gallows. nitAp'9 atspas
Third, the decided modern tendency every
where in civilized communities is toward the
abandonment of this species of punishme IT,
There ia strong presumption favorable to the
CORE etness of a conclusion to which men APP
proach nearer and nearer by every step they
take in enlightenment. The gallows went
down with the Bourbons in Spain. The de-
mocracy Of Europe reject it everywhere,
Gentlemen of the Legislature, do not believe
that those who urge these considerations upon
your attention look at the matter sole-
ly from the criminals Ks standpoint
On the contrary, we appeal to- you in
behalf of society i.self-society which is bru-
tllized and made a breeder of criminals by its
infection of punishments which are vindic.
q "tive and which demonstrablys pass the
Heaven-established limit of selfproteetion.
Our "sickly sentimentalism = If you will have
1t so. is only feeling of repugnanee to going
back quarter of a century instead of forward
the same space'-to incHrriug the ever impend,
ing danger of shedding the blood Of innocent
meu-to statutes which statistics show have
tendency to increase crime and make the,
members of society less secure in their per-
sons and property. 1t is not so much Harris
We would save from ignominy as the State. .3
TEE CoEsrAHuLARY HEARING before the
Legislative Committee was continued We'd
nesday evening. From the Kennebec Jour
nails report we learn that Attorney General
Frye spoke strongly in favor Of q State police.
He would have Chief of Police with at least
one deputy in every county more if necessary.
he would pay them well; would have no cheap
men. The Chief should have at least $1,000
salary and the deputies $1,000 travelling ex-
peDsss to be paid by the State His estimate
would be as follows: Chief Of Police, salary,
$4,000; Deputies, 16 at least, salary, $4,000;
Expenses, say, $4,000; Reserved Fund, 50 600;
Total, $4,000 All the fees should be paid in
to the State Treasury, and at this estimate the
State would have but little if any to pay. Mr..
Boothby of Waterville, Gen. Hall Of Damaris.
Gotta and Mr.. Leach of Portland also gave
their views. County-Attorney Webb spoke
decidedly in opposition to a State police. He
also stated that he had no faith whatever in
prohibitory legislation. In his opinion the
that the Grand Jury sat in Cumberland in
July, 1868, but no complaint was made. No
man could say that he had not executed the
law faithfully, and were temperance men then
afraid to make complaint? He spoke of cases
at the recent term of court, in which individ-
uals were prosecuted for breaking the law,
some of whom were sent to jail, AS far as
making complaints in cases where secrecy is
required, there is no excuse for temperance
men not enforcing the law. He thought it
might be well to have some force which the
Governor might call upon to enforce State
laws. II reply to a question from the commit
tee, he said he thought there was as much liq-
nor selling under the constabulary law in
Portland as before. He said the deputies
were inefficient. In answer to question from
Mr.. Nye, he said the keepers of eub.rooms
had been prosecuted, and seyeralwere now in
fall. He also said the Deputy ConstabIes did
not make many complaints Mr.. FRYE asked
questions as to his faith in the liquor law, to
which the answers were that he had none.
He is not an apologist for rum drinking, does
not drink himself, but has no confidence in
prohibition, and thinks there is too much hy-
pocrisy ameng tie nperance men. Mr. Nye
conceded that Mr.. Webb had been faithful In
prosecuting offenders against the law, but dis
putei his conclusions as to the efficiency Of
the State police in Cumberland county. ,19lsia
----&---- ~ e. 5rayy
TEE ARoosTooK RAILRoAD.--The railroad
question exercises the minds of the good peo-,
pie of Aroostook-who deny the allegation of
the religious journals that they need mission
ariss-as it does everybody else. The question
is whether money enough can be raised to
build road to connect the county at Pressure