The Portland daily press., 1875-01-21
The Death Penalty.

| To the Editor of the Press: .e.t .. .r..
| have noticed that friends of the various is
sues of the day, claim the privilege of ventilat-
| ing their discoveries at all times and places in
| the daily papers, sometimes through the edito-
rial column, and sometimes as correspondents;
| and vet, if disbeever in their notions lap
pens to reply, he rs charged with Initiating a
| controversy" This season, as usual, the capi-
| tai punishment question is opened in the PREss
| by an editorial yesterday in favor of what you
| are pleased to style "a measure demanded by
| Justice to the criminal meaning by that ex-
preston, the abolition of capital punishment.
Your editorial contains the following argu-
ments in favor of ''cutting dewn the gallows."
"We admit that the interests of society are of
paramount Importance. They must be consid-
cred first" "When they ("the NOR
ally distorted and deformed'0 assault society
the latter must, as matter of sclf-defence, re-
strain them by any means however severe,
even by their destruction, if necessary. We
believe that all intelligent opponents of capital
punishment are clear this point. Kill, if
,ce must y : "The death penalty adds
not an ota to the security from further harm
or to the deterring Influence of the example"
SIS = imprisonment isl as useful as
hanging t4 ,..f
AT the risk of being charged with "introduc-
ing the subject" permit me to reply from your
own columns, as follows: .tt
Joha Flynn, who was convicted a few days
ago of murder in the second degree, escaped
from Jail at Sudbury, Pa. Friday night, with
another convict whom be forced to burn hole
through the cell door and then pick the lock,
Flynn keeping guard with a revolver.-POrt-
land Daily Press of Tuesday.
Four criminals escaped from the Jail at Salt
Lake. Friday night-Portland Daily Press of
Monday. III q --+ @ M
And if tae full details had been given it
would have appeared that, as usual one of the
four was murderer t- t1.s. --..
The examples might be multiplied Indefinite
ly, but have no time to overhaul your valua-
BILE news columns for cases of escaped murder
ers, and L will add but one more which is sig
nals in point. vi o al
There was great alarm at the Alfred jail
this morning, occasioned by the discovery that
Wagner, the Smutty Nose Island murderer
had broken Jail, and two other prisoners,
McCarty and Harrington charged with robbing
a store in KennebunS. Two new watchmen
had charge of Wagner.-Portland Daily Press
of June 81 1873
Therefore "The death penalty adds not an
iota to the security from further harm" i'm
prisonment is as useful as hanging"
..-.s.. l.l C. W. G.
lin Pennsylvania and Utah hanging is one
of the favorite popular diversions--the second
degree murderer, mentioned in the first case
cited wouldn't have been hanged anyway
the gallows certainly didn't have any effect
in preventing escape in either case; hence they
case, Wagner broke Jail on the night of the
25th of June just seven days after his convic
ton. The most sanguinary proposition ever
made by G. w. g. was to hang in thirty days
liter conviction, so if G. W. G. had had the
felicity of making the law and administering
it too, be wouldn't have got Wagner comforta-
bly, killed in time to prevent his escape: hence
this instance is lame.