New-York tribune., 1872-12-07

missionary whose remOnstrances they viii
listen to without laughing or without swear
inp This then IL one of the most dangerous
classes. IN frighten which society naturally
anxious neither to be killed nor robbed, ereot3
the gibbct and there puts to death such rare
rascals ~ can be caught and convicted. But
,dyocates of the in teyrorem method of making
bad BOYS good, forget the trite maxim that
familiarity breeds contempt A man VINO Is
morally certain that he will be hanged within
five minutes is naturally frightened, and per-
haps he fains with fear as Rogers did yester-
day; but man who only knows that ne may
he hanged some time within ten, twenty, or
thirty years, is not likely to experience any
panic at the prospect. The truth is, such
half-human creatures rarely think at all,
partly because they are not accustomed
to consider anything so recOndite as
the relation of cause and effect; ana
partly because they are not of the sort which
is easily frightened. They trust to luck Ihey
know that there. is prejudice against hang
ing, and should they he left to murder, they
expect that one of the twelve jurors viii be
of this benevolent description they know
that acute lawyers have often brought off the
guilty unscathed; they know that pardons are
sometimes easily procured, and they know tlat
iails are sometimes successfully broken. Society,
by its shiIly-shaly way of enforcing the law,
has multiplied chances of escape i'll the mndS
of those who are in the habit of fclOnlously
doing things ri ct arnis. The upshot OF What
ever calculation a rough and rowdy may
make il that there are nine chances IN ten OF
his coming of scot-free. 1t is better there
fore while the law exists that il should DC
enforced
But the trouble is that the bully and
! shouldcr-hittcr and New-York assassin do not
get precisely the example which they need.
! IF it were possible to hang man for drinking
whisky, thus warning the thirsty against that
beverage, and melting the totally abstinent 10
remain So then hanging might prevent murder
| by diminishing one of the great causes OF
murder. Unfortunately, our criminal jurlspru-
dence is not of a philosophical or consistent
kind. II was the whisky which proved so
fatal TO the poor policeman. 1t was from
den devoted to the sale of fluid damnaton
that the murderers issued in quest OF their
victim. Yet nobody thinks of hanging the
man who distilled the maddening draught, or
! him who jObbed it, or him who retalled 1t over
the counter TO a crowd of ruffianS already half
| incbriated. Did the hanging deter the dealer
in poison from going on with his nefarious
busnessl Not at all! The glasses were
clinking as merrily in his shop last night
AS ever. Did the hanging lose him
a single customeri Not at all Ills devils
business was doubtless brisker yesterday than
ever. Is it not palmer than plain that you
may 90 on hanging till doOmsday, but unless
your hanging changes the character and less
ems the temptations of snCh as are prone to
violence, yOur strangulation is al in vain !;
and you will be fortunate if you do
not render the brutal more brutal
than ever. The Sheriff made a show
of the judicial exhibition yesterday and
some newspapers, doubtless with toe best in
tentions, complain of this-but why should
theyi If this thing is of such excellent i'm
port, why should it be done in cornerf
1t must be admitted that the world learns
wisdom of the practical sort rather slowly. If
we believed that policemen would be in less
danger of violence because this man was
! hanged in Brooklyn yesterday, we should
argue the matter from another point of view.
! But we believe nothing of the kind. COnsid-
cred in one way, our medicine is inert; con
silered in another it is positively noxious.
| DO we regret then that Rogers was hanged
| Yesterday We certainly do not. Predomi-
nant over these impulses of pity and humanity
which are only natural, is our firm opinion
that while the law stands it should be rigidly
executed. If culprit is sentenced to be
hanged, about whose guilt there can be no
reasonable doubt, it is better that the law
should be sacredly respected. There is great
safety, not in this or that mode of punish
ment so much as in its certainty. When it
comes 10 be distinctly understood by all con-
cerncd that the sentence Of death will be fol-
lowed by its execution. our opinion is that
Capital Punishment will he speedily abolished.