The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1875-02-20
cAp1rAI. PUNISHMENT A FARCE.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT A FARCE.
The death sentence Of young Thomas Ger
rand the Salem, Oregon, murderer. has been
commuted to imprisonment for life. We kno"
nothing Of the circumstances Of his crime nor
upon what the executive clemency in MS o.
half was based. He deprived fellow-creature
of life, and jury of his countrymen declared
hi. act murder, and court of competent au'
tority pronounced upon him the terrible doom o.
thu law he had violated-DEATH! But pubic
opinion, making known its will through tho Ok
ecutve officer of the State. has stayed the aveng-
inc hand of Justice, and Gerrand will not de-
And this spirit of white-winged Mercy Will not
rest until he is once more free citizen OF the
State Of Oregon. Should it rest this side OF that
result, Is it not perfectly clear that the great
current of popular opinion throughout the
country is set against the spectacular horror OF
hanging? Else. whence arise the ten thousand
bubbles to which lawyers resort for tho pur'
pose of assisting red handed slayers OF men 70
escape the legally just consequence OF tnelt
crimes9 Would anybody set up the childish
pleas Of temporary insanity. and emotional H.
sanity, and lay claim to responsibility by rea'
son of these shams. if they knew an enlight-
ened public sentiment would laugh at them for
their folly and their pains, aud an enlightened
Jury enforce the law! We Opine not. But
crime is fearfully prevalent in our country. and
should be- must be. punished. or its frequency
will, in all human probability. increase. AND
the punishment should follow the commission
of crime as certainly as the setting follows the
rising sun. Certainty of punishment would DC
more dreaded by the criminal classes ana
much more effective in their subordlnatlon and
control than threats OF severity can DC
made. which are seldom or never carried
;nto execution. But how is this certainty
of punishment to be secured! Certainly not'
a. some argue. by retaining the death penalty
IN our statutes; for the public will no longer
hermit the enforcement Of that bloody legacy
Of barbarism. The right thing to do, as We
think, is to make the laws conform to the hu-
mainly of our age. which is not maudlin, but
simply higher than that OF two hundred years
or 30 ago. when offenders were drawn and
ouartered for the delectation Of the public bru'
tality, and even babes were held up BY the legs
and severed in halves by the swords OF saw
age soldiery Abolish capital punishment. and
substitute Imprisonment for life; make 1t &C.
rious offense for a citizen to assist n criminal
in escaping the officers of the law; educate the
people up to the necessity Of Furnishing offend
ers as measure OF self.protection take the
pardoning and reprieving power out Ut the
hands of the executive; provide for the punish
meut Of officers who wink at acts Of lawless'
ness, unless committed by a personal or politi
cal enemy. and there can be little doubt that
crime will be diminished twenty per cent. Next
prohibit the sale of rum, aad the other eighty
per cent will disappear. The public detesta.
tion of hanging is now little less than premi
TIN on murder; aud it is increasing yearly. MOI
| is it u rcfutation Of these propositions that
drunken mObs are constantly hanging horse
thieves and murderers in the Western States
They are stimulated to their deeds ot horror
| BY excessive draughts Of rum, just "a all other
murderers are. and while they drink will Stay
| THE Boise City mulattO is trying to steal a