New-York tribune., 1870-02-04
HOW SHALL We STAY THE AVALANCHE
OF MERDERf

HUN OHHLL VE CI1I LHE AZ <i6hANhA
OF MERDERf
Crimes of violence are deplOrably, alarmingly
common among us-more frequent, we appre-
hend, than at any former period. We estimate
the number of culpable homicides committed
in our city and its suburbs at not less than
three hundred per annum, whereof one-halt 10
two-thirds may be fairly accounted Wliiipi
murders. The population OF the district We
contemplate is not far from Two Miiiions 80
that we may roughly compute our murders at
one per annum for every twenty Thousand
human beings. What would be thought IN
Vermont of fifteen murders per annum among
her three hundred thousand inhabitants
What shall be done to check this fearful
tide of murders
"Hang hang!" shrek alarmed, excited thou
sands.
Well: we do hang. That is the well-under-
stood penalty of willful murder, but ruflianism
is unappaed by it. Hanging is played out"
is remark attributed to the butcher Rey-
nolds; and the remark has certain pausibll-
ity, whether he made it or not. Our crop OF
hangings is remarkably small in proportion to
Our seeding for it in the matter of murders
We do not hang five per annum of our two
hundred red handed murderers.
"Hang more" :" shreks the frantic chorus.
But this is more easily said than done. Thou
sands who believe in hanging in a general
way hate to be personally implicated therein.
They shrink from serving as Jurors on MUIR
der trial and they would be shocked by
proposition that they should adjust the moose
or spring the trap. They uphold hanging In
the abstract, but give it no practical support
where support is badly needed.
Nor is there reason to believe that more
hangings would insure fewer murders. The
plain lesson Of the gallows is Retalation-life
for life Now, you will never convince the
rude, coarse mind that while it is right for tho
State to enforce a bloody retribution on offend
ers, it would be wrong for him to do the like
when wronged or insulted On the contrary.
many of the most fragrant, notorious homi-
cides have been perpetrated by men who fan
cied this the proper mode of redressing wrong
and vindicating their outraged conjugal or
other cherished rights
England used to hang thousands where she
now, with a five-fold population. hangs but
scores but the crimes she thus avenged were
never more abundant than then. She strung
UP pickpockets like onions; yet pockets were
picked under the shadow of the gallows where
on flcher was kicking his last earthly
kick We may teach "boody instructions :"
but these will not Qucnch the felon thirst for
blood
The World attributes the modern paucity of
haneings TO sentimentalism and dislike to
chang q man, which we deem inaccurate. A
more potent reason is wholesome dread of
,crongly inficting an irreuOcable penalty. Send
a man to State Prison, and, should tomorrow
develop evidence that his conviction was un-
Just, he may be liberated, and some atOnement
made for the injustice he has suffered hang
him, and he may be ever so clearly vindicated
thereafter, yet no mitigation OF his penalty is
possible. Hence, jurors-knOwing that wit
nesses may lie, that circumstances may indi-
cate guilt where none exists, and that criminals
are often skilful in so disposing them as to
cast suspicion on the innocent in order to
shield Reconsideration refuse to convict
where the penalty is death, when they would
have no hesitation if it were Imprisonment for
life
We believe the repression of crime social
necessity We believe certainty and celerity
more important more effectual. than severity.
We believe in enforcing the laws as they stand
until they shall have been improved. IL the
Law says man should be hung, hang him, but
amend the law. Let US have no penalties on
our statute books that we do not promptly as
well as surely enforce. Indict fragrant offenders
forthwith, arraign them, try them, convict
them, punish them-such should be the uniform
course The gallows obstructs and precludes
this. Legal procedure crawls like wounded
snake when human life is at stake. We
would change all this, so as to try much
sooner, convict far Oftener. and punish more
nfexibly, than now. Instead of educating men
to take life on pIovOcation, We would teach
them to esteem it sacred.
Will you let our plan have trial. We were
promised it ten years ago; but quibbling law
yers and hostile judges broke us down at the
outset, on purpose to drive the State back to
hanging. Matters can hardly be worse under
our plan than now; they may be better. Such,
we are confident, has been the preponderant
result Of substituting imprisonment till death for
hanging; such, we sanguinely predict, will be
its effect here Men who think three hundred
homicides per annum too many for popula-
ton Of Two Millions, will you help us to fair
trial
IL there is any religious institution that COM