Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-02-17
Largest Circulation in the District
Murder Made Easy.

Stokes has found the judge he was looking for
to grant a STAY of proceedings i'm his case. Judge
Davis is the party who does for this fancy muir
derer what Judge Boardman peremptorily de-
cIined TO do. Stokes will now probably get a
new trial on some petty technical points, and
the chances are ten to one that he will escape
the gallows-
Foster, the ear-hOok murderer, who killed
respectable citizen for no other offence than
protecting some ladies from his coarse insults, is
quite hopeful also of saving his neck. The
brutal deed was committed more than two years
ago, but his lawyers have managed to keep him
from the gallows so far, and now when the time
approaches for his xecutiOn a lot of sentimental
simpletons, including the two Rev. DR.. Tyngs,
and Rev. Morgan Dix, the governors son, have
petitioned 70 have his sentence committed and
''are besieging the governors chamber with ap-
reals for executive clemency.-
So much for New York. In Boston, the unac-
cOuntable verdict of the jury in the case of
Lesvitt Alley, the teamster charged with the
murder of Abijah Leayitt, his harraSsing cred
itOr. has raised the question amongst the Mas
sachusetts papers whether the system of dealing
with murderers in that state is much better
than that of New York. In this case, IL will be
remembered, the body of the murdered man
was found afoat in a barrel in the river, and
the murder was traced directly to Alley. 1t
vas shown conelusively that the murder was
committed in his stable; that Alley was seen to
convey the barrel to Charles river and dump it
in; that the barrel contained refuse matter from
Alleys stable; and that Alley owed Leavitt
money which the latter had apparently gone to
collect Further, there was not a particle of
testimony pointing in the slightest degree to
any other person than Alley. Blood was found
upon the clothes of Alley, and there was blood,
also, i'm the stable. IL was one of those cases
where every possible circumstance combined to
show the guilt of the man; and yet, paradoxical
as II may seem, the desperate nature of his case
appears TO have been the means of his acquittal,
for il enlisted for him the services of trio of keen
criminal lawyers, eager for the renown of saving
the neck of one whose chances were so small.
And they managed to befog a not over
brilliant jury with bewildering testimony
about blood corpuscles, and made such potent
use OF the Boon Calvin case years ago (when a
man was hanged for the murder of another who
afterwards turned up alive in New Jersey, that
Alley, to the astOnishment of everybody, was
acquitted The case has naturally set the Mas
saehusetts papers to discussing anew the ques-
ton Of capital punishment, and the means of
checking the murder mania. One OF them, we
see, the Worcester Spy, takes very nearly identi-
eaIly the position have taken i'm regard to
the necessity for executing the law uniformly
and not fitfully- That paper says:
.'lf ii could be seen and understood, everv-
where, that the laws against murder shall Ger
tainly be executed, this crime would become
more anu more infreluent. Those who think
that SOMETHING better than capital punishment
could be provided for muTderers, should see the
Importance of executing the laws as they stand,
and OF making it certain that crime shall be
punished, before they do anything more to
change or modify the penalty. 1t is possible,
with good Intentions, to talk against capital
punishment in such a way and under such cir
cumstanees, as TO put IN operation a demoral-
IzIng influence against executing any laws upon
criminals When we have established the policy
OF executing the laws with certainty, and
brought muTderers and other criminals to feel
that they cannot escape punishment by any of
the usual arts of conspiracy against law, il will
be soon enough to discuss questions relative to
the penalties; but, even then, it will not be in
order to discuss the question of capital punish
ment over condemned murderers. and talk as if
the bloody and ruthless monster of last light
had become one OF the miSued innocents of to-
day.