The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1872-05-01
Legal Murders.
REASONS WHY THE GALLONS OUGHT TO
BE ABOLISHED.

The Washington Star yesterday gave
an article favoring the continuance, of
capital punishment for certain crimes.
1t goes over the old ground of argu
mept, namely, that if we do away with
the extreme penalty against the MUIR
derer, "the chances are about even that
he will be released to prey upon the
community after few years. confre-
ment." That is about the whole stock
of argument of the Star for the con-
tinuance of this internal barbarism of
the death penalty.
Now there are thousands of reasons
why it should DO swept away to be
found in these facts: That it does not,
as claimed, repress crime; that it aids
in brutalized the community claimed
to be benefited by the legal murder of
the murderer; that, owing to the most
palpabie facts of human nature and
the limits of human wisdom and capac-
| ity, the innocent are often made to suf-
fer, and that too without possibility of
restitution even should innocence flu
ally be established; that government
should have the same respect for the
sacredness of human life that it de-
mands of the citizen; and the Old Tes-
lament declaration upon which so
many advocates of capital punishment
base their advocacy, can eye for an eye
and tooth for TOOTH" is-well, let
us put it mildly and say inscrntable
when compared with declarations of
the Savior in the later dispensation,
doing away with this very eye-for-an-
eye business.
But We need not dwell upon. these
grounds. That which the Star addu-
ces for capital punishment is sufficient
for consideration here. Remembering
that this, the safety of society through
the death of the murderer, not only in
going away with him forever, but in
affecting. other desperate men through
terror, is the chief, almost the sole ar
gument of those who favor the extreme
penalty, all may easily see how little
there really is in this argument for it's
continuance when they look at all care
fully at the facts. The gallows and
guillotine. do not protect society. The
penalty of death is so awful, land the
more so in view of the fact that the ac-
cused may not be guilty, despite all
circumstances against him, that men
hesitate to infict it. Were the penalty
less severe it would the more surely
fall upon the guilty, and in SO far
would the more surely protect tie
community. -.
Take New York, for example, and
look at her terrible murder record of
the past few years, and then see how
few, how very few of the murderers
have been punished. Even a convic-
ton is growing in the public mind that
Stokes will after all escape punish
ment for his cowardly assassination of
Colonel Fisk. Would he escape if the
punishment for murder were lighter 2
And would any Governor, in view of
the atrocious facts, dare to release him
from that punishment
And here we have a case at our very
doors, illustrating somewhat this line
of thought. AS will be seen by our
news columns, the trial of Mary Shea
for the murder ofPoliceman Doyle was
ended yesterday. The jury acquitted
her!. She keeps den which is nothing
less than a breathing hole of hell, SO
unspeakably vile is it. Doyle wa
murdered by her at this den while in
the discharge ofhis duty. And yet the
jury acquits her If it was not MUIR
der in the first degree, if there was the
slightest mitigating circumstances at
taching to her crime, still it is clear
that that crime was fearful one, which
demanded stern and simply righteous
action at the hands of the community.
The fact is, our laws relating to the
greatest crimes are, taken together, the
silliest boy play. In view of the re-
lease of Mary Shea. is it not time for
decided Observation-Disclosures Chroni-
Gle.