The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-07-03

The Case Of Libbie Garrabrant-
in This Country.
It seems that the report of the Communication
of the punishment Of Libbie Garrabrant (who
is confined in the prison at Paterson, N. j.,
and sentenced to be hanged on the 10Th
instantly from death on the scaffold to i'm
prisonment for life was altogether premature.
The Court of Pardons, before whom the matter
was laid some time ago, have come to no
decision as yet in the premises, and therefore
the equality Of mercy has not entered into
the case Of this wretched girl
up to the present hour, at least
Whoever was the cause Of this
premature report deserves the severest repre-
>hension for his blunder 1t was the very
refinement of cruelty to congratulate the half
demented condemned upon her escape from
the gallows and then bring again to her weak
understanding the terrible truth that her doom
was still unchanged and that she was destined
TO an ignominous end Torture of this kind
could hardly find parallel in the annals of
the narrowing torrents of the Council Of Ten
of Venice. And the least the New Jersey
Court of Pardons can do under the circum-
stances is to commute the punishment of the
unfortunate creature to imprisonment for life,
as first enormously reported, and Of which
report she was cruelty made the victim.
The fact u.s. the whole system of capital pun
ishment, as practised in this country, is bum
gle and blunder from beginning to end.
Nine times out of ten the trials of criminals
accused of murder are farces, and the courts of
justice made the arena for personal wrangles
among lawyers, when the proceedings should
be conducted in the most solemn, dignifed
and impressive manner. After conviction
when such thing does occur-the culprit is
taken back to prison, allowed the consultations
of religion, sees his friends, is furnished with
Injuries and treated more like hero who de-
serves we'll of his country than one on whose
brow the mark of Cain is branded. Then
comes the scaffold scene, which is frequently
made tragedy in a double sense. Il too
frequently happens that our country sheriffs,
know nothing at all about their business. They
go about the matter tremblingly, as if they
felt in their consciences they were themselves
about committing an act for which they were
to make fellow being suffer. They do not
know how to adjust the rope; but, as general
thing, they know more about fixing it SO as to
choke man to death instead of breaking his
neck and depriving him of life almost
instantly. They are experts in the cruel process
of suffocating q malefactor to death, thus
keeping him in lingering torments from ten to
fifteen minutes and sometimes more, before
life is extinct The true way to carry out the
extreme penalty of the law is to have regularly
hired and paid professional executioners
the same as they do in most foreign
countries. One Of these professionals
would answer for an entire State,
and thus relieve from an unpleasant duty
some Of those country sheriffs who make the
scene of an execution more like Methodist
camp meeting than the awful one it should be,
then pump the poor wretch above whose head
hangs the fatal moose for an address, confess
sion, few 'tlast words" sing another psalm,
cut the rope, and the body writhes in state
of agony shocking to humanity for many
minutes We say capital punishment should
be abolished altogether, or that executions
should be conducted in such manner as to
avoid the implication that the law means to
inAict ''cruel and unusual punishment upon
criminals, which is contrary to the spirit
and letter of fundamental law, as every one
knows.
We again urge upon the Court of Pardons in
New Jersey to exercise oil the clemency they
can in the case Of Libbie Garrabrant She
has suffered enough already-if she possesses
any reasoning faculties at ALTO entitle her to
q lesser punishment than even imprisonment
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