Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1875-04-09
Capital Punishment.

do not believe IN capital punishment, 70
free their minds DIR. George Dutton
of Springfield, who has long been en-
gagged in crusade against the existing
laws on this subject, in a.recent letter &c
the Republicans, claims that the death
penalty is an outrage to the fine sensi
bilities of the human heart :" that it Ii
unnecessary, as proved by the fact that
we do not extinguish the life of the mos
infatuated mailman, and that the execu
ton of the death penalty increases rather
than diminishes the tendency to crime.
But unfortunately his first argument
proves too much. If our sensibilities
are shocked by the execution of themur'
derer, much more are they by the com.
mission of the crime. But there is such
an instructive demand for the extreme
penalty of the law, as punishment
deserved by the murderer, and required
rs protection to society, that we are
prepared for it, and our sensibilities are
not outraged by it, as they are by the
criminal act. Our sense of justice is
satisfied, and our feeling of safety is
strengthened when we learn that con-
victed murderer has been hanged. We
do not indeed extinguish the lives OF
mailman, for the simple reason that their
acts are the result of disease, and they
are not responsible for them. They are
incapable of committing the crime of
murder, though they may take life, and
their tendency to commit desperate deeds
may generally be discovered in season to
prevent them,
A singular theory has recently been
advanced by DIR. Homes in the Atlantic
Monthly, which applies the principle of
automatism, as he terms it, to the crimi-
nal classes Of society, maintaining that
their viciousness is largely without con-
scious guilt and therefore without res
sponsibility, being such an automatic
exercise Of their defective natures as a
mule exhibits when he kicks, or rattle.
snake when he bites.
If this theory be a true one, then We
are to treat criminals as morally sick OF
partially insane and therefore not re-
sponsible for their acts. This would dc
away with all penalties and punishments
in fact it would obliterate all criminality
and guilt. For if a criminal is mere
automaton. with no power to distinguish
between right and wrong, of course he
can do no wrong, and is not criminal
Sensible men will not be deluded with
such nonsense. There is such a thing
as crime and responsibility and guilt. This
needs no proof. There is clear line o.
distinction between a criminal and lu
matte, though it may be difficult in some
cases to determine on which side person
belongs. Here again the opposers o
capital punishment destroy their owl
argument, by attempting to break dow
all punishment, and their reasoning end:
in absurdity.
1t is sufficient to say, in reply to th'
statement that the execution of the dealt
penalty increases rather than diminishe
crime, that the statement lacks proof
We think the reverse is true.
There is dread of something afte
death as we'll as of death itself, which
is far greater, we believe, than the drea
of any other punishment, and we yer
much doubt, although we have not tn
statistics at hand, that the frequency {
crime has been diminished in those State
where the death penalty has been abo
ished Brattle6oro Record.
Chicago is already moving for ii
next republican national convention
which will be held in 1876, and magnii
cent accommodations are of course prom
Used