New-York tribune., 1872-04-27

the active phIan hrppjs who has done srch prominent
ap effective service In the which has sccurod
the abolition OF Capital Punishment IN this Sate AS no
had previously done in several other States mr' boVoo
came to Iowa, and, entirely ut his own expense iene '
N,o enerev and fertile rescurcesto tho work OF hi
mane reform. A q speaker, convincing and strong'
ever ready and acft, worker, inhomtap'e' unoo'o
Ing and witha patient, and ~ MANAGER a' o"oo
ciOus and impcuous, he carries with 1iin lSo
success His services here have been yeOnNn' Begin
ming he was told there was no hOpej tbst NJ J,
difference succeeding In halfway manner. ho res
10 accent the situation His refusal TO mako two hIes
one cherry, led to full successthanks. largely 10 s
adhesion TO tho magic Of undiscouraged enor' 'ao' anu
talent be has in equal measure aud with them patience
These weapons he with tho generosity 0i unsos"
Quakerism wherever and whenever he can DO gooo We
are glad he came to TO help our people In hs re-
FORM and thanks all the pay he GETS ana more tnah
ho wants. the public cam should, and will, pay him up
literally and at once Bovee is full round man, as we
measure men, and the world would not lose by IL II IL
had more like him than It has"
We SEQ in this wise legislation evidence OF
that reaction of public opinion against the gal
lows for which we have long waited. a quar-
ter of century ago, discussion, argu-
ment. md the labOrs of few en-
lightened men, promised to bear fruit in
n general disuse of the halter as judicial
implement, but other great questions Of more
immediate and pressing interest engrossed the
attention of the country; certain CLASS ol
religious people insisted upon hanging as a
punishment of Gods own appointment; eir-
cumstances occurred in some States, III when
the code had been amelorated, that seemed 10
point to an increase of crime as n result Oh
this lenity 80 that even in an enlightened
State like Massachusetts it became the fash
ion to hang upon conviction, just as 1T had
been, for season, the fashion not to hang
Those who protested against tho cOnserva-
ton of this essential barbarism were constantly
and grossly misrepresented; they were consplr-
ators against the safety Oh the person; they
were wiser than Moses and the Bibie; tDey
nourished morbid sympathy for CRIMINALS ana
a MISPLACED pity for the undeserying; they
saw not the natural relation between crime
and its punishment; they were cuipably
rash and madly bent upon an experiment,
failure in which would be fatal to the
peace of society. So the strangulalon went
on, with no perceptble decrease OF the speclal
criIne which it was inflicted to prevent; ana
even those whose minds were not convinced
grew hopeless of a bcnciicent change. AS
courts and lures seemed bent upon hanging,
those to whom the power Of pardoning was
confided by law naturally declined to inter-
fere upon the strength of personal taste or
opiniou: so that the condemned were actually
in worse condition than they were before
tho doubts of men had been excited at all.
Now that so good an example has been set
it is probable that other States will follow IL.
But it is well to say word OF caution to those
who may hereafter claim an increase OF
offtnses against life as the result of such
change in penalties. This increase may or may
not occur; but time alone can determine
whether it be merely accidental, or whether it
follows from change in the statute. In
matter like this, we want fair trial before
making up conclusions a hasty Judgment may
be full of disastrous error.
Every abolition Of the Death Penalty by
LEGISLATION has the value Of taking the ques-
ton out of the theological category, IN which
it never should have been placed, and OF put
ting it upon the ground Of expedicncy. justice,
and humanity, where it belongs. II hanging
is demanded by the Mosaic Code, then law
makers who leave hanging out of the cata-
locue of penalties declare their independence
of that code, which simplhes tho matter
The Legislature which declares
itself against judicial murders cannot possibly
believe them to be of Divine Institution. All
the little bits of Scripture which have become
hackncyed in the service OF hemp lose their au-
thOrity. The discussion assumes a new aspect
in n way somewhat analogous to that in which
the Cursed be Canaan" theory has been laid
up in ordinary never to be put into active
service again. We therefore hail the en-
lightenel action Of the Iowa Legislature as
a partial relief from the twOpenny Biblical
argument which has always been treated more
respectfully than it deserved while we are
more certain than ever that Hanging, as a
question Of scientific jurisprudence, has, like
its unfortunate victims, not leg to stand
upon.
4 Prosecuted PAINTER
Courbet the artist was in Paris at the time