National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1873-03-22
JCpICIAL sLAUGuTER.

Two men were judcially strangled ycstcr-
day, one ln New York and one In Boston;
and now We suppose the advocates Of capital
punishment are satisfied and partially satcd.
The glowing accounts Of tho execution Of
Foster, the car-hook murderer as ho was
called, will be read this morning In every
city In the Union. and hundreds Of thousands
Of people will thank God that human life
has boen taken away; that the offended
majesty Of the law has been indicated, aud
that Gov. Dix had the courage and the arm-
ness to resist the appeals for mercy that were
made to him. We beg to be excused from
Joining In this dance Of death around the
graves Of thoso two unfortunate men who
we're yesterday sent out Of the world.
We have no desire whatever to palliate the
offence Of either Of them. Foster committed
q cruel and unprovoked murder; McElhaney,
who was executed In Boston, was guilty Of
the highest crime known TO the law, and
mcrited death, II any ono meritcd 1t. But
II cannot be denied that at least one of them
was executed moro In Difference to popula
demand for his lie than TO a desire to carry
out the law OF tho land" For tho last two
months the press Of New York has been
bowling for the death Of Foster. For years
crime OF the most henious character has been
rampant in that city, and the argument has
been made that an example was needed to
deter others from committing crimes Of slm-
liar character. We have been told that II was
absolutely necessary to strike terror through
the criminal classes OF New York, TO hold up
the awful spectacle OF the struggling body Of
this man upon the scafIold as q warning that
The samo fate was In store for those who
should do US he had done. That was the
argument. But II there Is any force In 1t,
Poster should yesterday have boon executed
In the presence Of the thousands OF possible
hurderers who blocked tho travel In tho
streets around the prison where he was killed
In compliance with law. The bad and
<riminal classes whom Ii was sought to deter
from the preparation Of like enormlties
should have boon allowed to bo present at his
taking of. They should have been permitted
TO witness his agony, his suffering, and
his struggling under the hand OF the
eIoeutloner, and not left to learn the lesson
that II was sought to teach them from the
columns OF the morning newspapers and tho
extras OF the afternoon prints In all the
ghastliness OF dark and sensational head
lines In other yeara criminals were exc
suted In public In England before the gates
Of Newgate prison, and tho best Judgment OF
that day was, that the result was IN ost salu-
tary. But, as time went on and executions
became more and moro frequent, 1t was con-
eluded that public strangulatlon had the
effect Of only bunting the public mind, OF
making hero in th eyes Of the uneducated
and criminal classes Of the unfOrt unato VIC
dm OF the law. His last speech was sung
ln wrotched doggorsl to street Gro wds his
picture was sold In tho cheap print
stores, aud ho became sort of hero to
hundreds of thousa ntis of people who would
never have heard Of him II the law, by Its
very severity, had not made Of him sort Of
martyr. The lawmakers and statesmen, SO
called, by and by saw the evil Of public e1ccu-
tions that they not only fostcrcd and cncour-
aged what II was intended 10 rcprcss, and it
was enacted that judicial murders should In
the future Ge conducted in secret. Curlously
enough, the world In Its progress has Indirectly
come to the very point whoro 1t started out
hundred years ago. Tho daily newspaper
press has taken the place Of the old English
ballad singcr-thc newspaper reporter Of the
doggercl poet. Il Is step In civilization, 1t
Is true. There Is u little moro polish and a
little more refinement, but practically IL Is
the same thing.
II 10 the shcrest ahsurdily aud nonsense 10
talk and write about the moral effect Of cx-
eeutions and judicial slaughter. They have
no moral effect whatever excepting possibly
among the classes who do not need so terrible
lesson TO deter them from crime. What
did the thousands Of criminals, in connection
with the execution Of Foster, talk about last
night In the hundreds of dens of infamy that
blot and scar that city, Was 1t the enormity
OF his ghllR The torrible lesson Of his cx-
eeutlonl By no means. It was whether he
died game 1t was what he said to his
family and TO the sheriff 1t was how he
looked and how he acted; whether h: walked
20 the scaffold or was carried to II, and how
many minutes elapsed before his limbs ceased
10 move forever. II Is TO ascertain
these particulars that sixty thousand
criminals Of New York will read the journals
Of the day this morning. The execution Of
Foster will not make one murderer tho loss
In the country. Ten 10 one there will be
within week doSeu homicldes arising out
Of disputes Ns to his death. This cry for
blood that goes up from all the land is Just as
unreasoning and far more brutal than the
act OF murder itself. The bones OF those who
have been killed in the hope Of preventing
killing would, II gathered together, make a
pyramid higher than that OF Caeops, aud yet
the crime Of murder is still as rampant as
ever. The sooner our statesmen aud Jour.
nAliSts deal with this question Of the repres.
slon, or rather Of the prevention, Of crime
upon philosophical principles the better will Ii
bC for the country aud for Christianity.
New Publications.
From J. ShlllingtOn, corner Of PCnnsylvan
avenue ana FouT-and-a-half street northwest, !
I'M IL LII ]