The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1873-09-25
Judge w alton Makes Pie III Talk about
Murder.

Judge Walton Makes Pie IN Talk about
Murder.
The Portland Daily Advertiser has 4
communication giving the substance of the
charge Of Judge Walton to the Crane
July, III Auburn We copy it below:
Al the opening OF the September Term
of tie Supreme Court in this county YES
trr,lav. Judge Wahon delivered to tbs
Grlnd jury Il charge of greet ability, con
tainl no SO much sound sense and vigorous
logic laal il deserves to be printed and
.'ead bt cve,v citizen of Maine. Ii is q
great pay that a copy Of it could not be
St we'd on cNe,y member Of the Fifty
Third Legislature. rs we'll as on Governor
elect D;ngley and his Councillors
Hcmarkng that more murders have
been petpetrated in Maine within the past
twenty months than during any preyiou:
tn,cnfl Helt1.N otthe States existence. Judge
Walton proceeded 10 discuss the cause Of
such an enormous increase of capital
crime among 4 people where population
| is diminishing aud whose laws profess tC
! prohibit the sale of intoxicating liquor,
ior Il beverage. The Judge finds in the
| deplora5le condition of our capital legis-
| laeion and in the disc ~editabe inetlicieney
| OF our executive ample explanation 1Ol
! the Ire sent prevalence of murder and Vio-
| eucc in the S,l.e, me .iumph of mob law
and the insecurity OF life. 50 alarming TO
the friends OF law and order and So dis
graceful to the citizens of Maine. He
commented with proper severity on the
| absolute refusal OF our Governors 10 exc
cute the laws which they had sworn TO en-
! force against murdereTS, until the statute
| denouncing the death penaty had become
a mOckerv and the death sentence a solemn
| farce provoking the contempt Of the as
sasSin on whom 1t Is passed, who before
numbering his yictim had been taught on
ly too well that the law OF Maine was
made only to be iidicuIed by culprits and
to be diSregarded by Governors.
And yet, proceeded the Judge, while the
| murderer is practically assured that the
penalty denounced by law will never be
inflicted he is sill lullher encouraged to-
ward the qualification OF his wicked pas
sions, and invited to the execution Of his
fiendish purpose by the extraordinary pro-
Visions OF our laws, some of which are
peculiar 10 thi, State and seem almost de-
signed to make the conviction of the muir
derer difficult and to postpone it to the
latest possible period. One of these is
that rema- 'hable statute recently enacted,
which discrlminates Enthusiastically in favor
OF the murderer and the incendiarv, by
granting them premium denied to other
offenders, authorizing them to draw on
the County Treasury for hundreds Of dol
lars to pay not only one but two LAWYERS,
whether citizens of Maine or other States.
not only to defend them before the jury.
but alter verdict granting them further
gratultles to enable them TO prepare bills
Of exception and thus to delay sentence
until after the annual law court.
Referring to Judge Blackstone's remark
on the importance that punishment should
be ceJtfll1 and TO the profound observation
of Chancellor Kent that it was equally I'M
portant that il should be speeIY. the Judge
went on to show that in Maine the pun
ishment Of capital crime is neither certain
nor speedy. Uncertain, because there is
no reasonable prospect that the penalty
denounced viii ever be inflicted. or that
any penalty at all will be imposed, because
obstacles unknown to all former expert
ence have been intelposed to prevent it.
Not speedy, because The law itself DELAYS
the execution until death at the hands of
the eNccutioner is as little dreaded by the
murderer or the villain who meditates
murder or arson, as the remote prospect
of natural dcntI is by the Young and
healthy man.
He referred 10 the peremptoly chal-
lenge7 9"anted by our law to ihe prisoner
IN capital cases, giving him a decided ad-
vantage over other criminals, because it
enabled him 20 stike from the panel at
least eight more intelligent and tai.,-mnded
Jurors, He further disapprovet, OF the trial
of capital cases bv single Judge because it
involved an average delay Of year after
verdict before sentence can be passed. and
the eX.fao' t,inaX provision that sentence
OF death shall nol be executed for one
year even amer sentence.
The Judge expressed the opinion that
if the gratu'ty offered by law should be
revoked 'he privilege of peremptory chal-
lenge ABOLISHED or reduced TO the same
limit as y o,her criminal cases, a majority
OF the law judges required to attend all
capital trials and to dispose of legal cues
tlons as the t"!aI progresses, so that at
the end OF Il the prisoner should either be
SET az liberty or sentenced, and that sen
tpnce take effect within sixty DAYS instead
of year, and if the Executives would ex-
ecute the law against murder. capital
crime would begin to decrease instead of
rapidly augmenting.
Abiding to the execution of Cullen Inv
the meh OF Aroostook last spring, the
Judge attributed this introduction Of West
ern Lynch law into Maine, crirne SO for
elgn to the habits aEd instincts of our peo-
PIE to the de@f7scated popular contempt
for and disgust at OLA Governors 10 exc
cute such law we have. leading to dis
bellet that the atroeieus double assassina
tlon Oh their nalshbors could now be pun
1shed unless the people took the law into
thelr own hands
The Judge added that he had for some
time felt that this was getting to be a
question of personal interest to every law
abiding citizen involving the safety of his
own life and that of the members of his
family, and that he believed it his duty to
call public attention to the evil and 70
what he was convinced was its cause and
might he its remedy. -.
SHOCKING ACCIDENT A serious acct
dent occurred just below Orrington on the
Bucksport & Bangor Railroad, Thursday.
by when Two laen were badly injured.
he men were SharDeninu 1ri1lc in a ton,