The new daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1872-1873, 1873-01-05
The Death Penalty.


Lucas, formerly president of the
Board of Inspectors of the French
Prisons, the New York E'rening Pos,
has the following interesting COM
ments and quotations relating to the
same: ....... --....-
We preserve the death penalty in
this State for a class of crimes the
most brutal and revolving. But
these very crimes are multiplying
with frightfnl rapidity, and a.
most every day brings its account in
the newspapers of an ARRAY followed
| by murder, or an assassination per-
petrated by lurking felon. It will
| be said, and said with truth, that the
reason of this frequency of murder is
the uncertainty of punishment. which
encourages the perpetrator with the
hope Of escape. Butas long as death
is the punishment of these crimes
there will be reluctance on the part
of juries to convict and of judges to
pass sentence, and the criminal will
owe his escape to this mistaken leni-
ty. For tine society may wake up
to the necessity of a more rigid exc
cution of the laws, but it will he GER
tain ere long to relapse into its for
mer temper. The following is the
summary given by Mr.. Lucas IN his
preface of the present state of this
great question in the countries of
Europe:
As to the penalty of death. sew
eral States of the American Union
have. one after another. limited its
application, several have forbidden
public executions. and some have
even decreed It's abolition. But it is
especially in looking at Europe that
we are impressed vita the movement
for it's abrogatioH and with the con
siderable advance which this has
made, particularly from the year 1861
to the beginning of 1870 In this
short period, in fact. the proposition
for doing away the death penalty has
been introduced into most OF the leg
islative assemblies of Europe. where
it often obtains a triumph in the low
Ell or elective houses, and from time
to time comes nearer and nearer to a
majority of voices in the upper
houses. In several other Of the Eu
ropean States in Belgium, Sweden
and Nuremberg. and in the Grand
Duchv of Baden, the virtual aboil
ton of the scatfold has grown into a
I.,l IL |,
the rcpugnance Of the sovereigns to
put their signatures to the death
warrants. With regard to its formal
abolition. the penal code of Ron
mania, promulgated on the 30th Of
October, 1864, put an end to capital
punishments. In the kingdom of
Portugal, in 1867. in that of Saxonv,
in 1868, and in that of Holland. III
1869, the monarch himself interposed
to advise the reform, which was ac
complished in Portugal and in Sax
ony with the concurrence of the diff
ferent departments of the govern
ment, and which in Holland. at the
beginning of the year 1870, only
waited for the vote of the States
General. Finally the Parliament of
North Germany, on the occasion OF
a first reading of the draft of the fed
eral penal code. voted, on the Ist of
March, 1870, the abolition Of the
death penalty by a majority consist
ing of one hundred and eighteen
votes against eighty. If that assem-
bly, receded from its decision on
the third reading, before the
vigorous opposition and intiu-
ence Of Count Bismark, vet did
that powerful minister obtain no
more than majority of nine votes for
the retention of the scatfold. and ac
cordingly but five votes were lacking
to express the abolition 81 the death
penalty. to secure fer it the legiSla
tive sanction of the federal Parlia-
ment. Such was the force of the
impulse given to this movement by
the progress of morals and of the
public reason. which the formidable
war of 1870 could not arrest. The
upper chamber of the States General
of Holland, by it's vote on the 18th
of September, 1870, sanctioned the
absolute suppression of the death
penalty in that kingdom, and the
Swiss canon of Geneva promulgated
on the oath of May, 1871. the law by
which this penalty was done away.
Finally the abolition of this penalty |
was inscribed in Article 81 of the
project for new Constitution of all
Which was submitted to
the vote of the people on the 10Th of
May, 1871, and rejected
With the tendencies of the time
flowing thus strongly in this direc-
ton, it should be serious question
with those who have the welfare Of
society at heart whether the penalty I
Of death can be retained in on: Grim
inal code consistently with that GER
tainty of punishment which alone
can make the lives of men safe from
the bullet or the dagger Of the assas
sim Whatever be the penalty de-
creed by the law, it should be rigor
ously and in1exibly,executed. SO that
ne who raises his hand against the
ife of his feIow-man shall not do it
With the hope of escape from Justice
If the penalty be of such nature
hat there is chance of its not being