, 1875-12-19

of the three wretches in New York City on
Friday last, in which the displacement of the
halter-knot prolonged the suFerings Of one
Of the three some considerable time, should
not be allowed repetition It was turning
Justice into barbarous cruelty and making
the gallows an instrument of torture instead
Of sharp and quick punishment We have
no heart to inaict upon our readers repeti-
ton OF the horrible scene which was wit
messed by 800 of the Sheriff's ''invited
guests, who ought not to have been there,
and so demora1ized them that they came near
cutting the man down to end the wretched
spectacle. The crime Of murder deserves no
pity. It should be punished in every in
stance with death but neither the interests
of Justice or humanity are subserved by MAX
iag thst death horribly prolonged tor
ture. This is only inhunan cruelty, not
just punishment. The punishment for
murder should be short, sharp, terri
BILE, and as instantaneous IS possible.
Death by hanging, even when that
mode Of punishment is unattended by any &C.
cident or arrangement Of circumstances, is
comes displaced or the rope breaks, as very
often happens, it is barbarous and savage
form Of torture, which is disgrace to and
blot upon civilization Il is IN argument
against justice. Its tendency IS to furnish
the maudlin sympathizers with murderers
with powerful plea against capital punish
ment. Its effect upon the whole public is
denoralizing. The remedy is a very clear
one It is to abolish hanging alto gether and
substitute some other form Of punishment
which shall be more instantaneous in its OPP
eration- The most mercful form seems to
be the Spanish garrote, which pierces the
spinal column with sharp point or blade,
and produces immediate death. There may
be a supreme instant of suffering, but moth
ing more, and there is never auy danger that
the victim will suffer torture or be conscious
Of suffering In death by the rope, even
whore the halter works perfectly, suffering is
prolonged, and the struggles and contortions
last from five to fifteen minutes, according
to the victims vitality. The guillotine
and the military punishment by shooting
gre eaoh preferable to the clumsy and uncsr-
tain practice of hanging. II it is to be contin-
ued, its cruelty should st least be mitigated
by the use of an1esthetics. The object at
capital punishment IS not to inaict pain,-
which is mere vengeful cruelty,-but to re-
move the murderer from the world in retrib11-
ton fo- his crime and in defense Of society.
Another phase Of the New York execution
deserves to be condemned in the severest
manner, and that is the admission ct several
hundred people by the Sheriff to witness the
horrible scene. It strips the execution Of the
solemn character which should surround it,
fills the victim with brayado and inso1ence,
gives him the impression Of being hero,
demoralizes the crowd which attends, and
sows the seeds Of future crime The pun
ish1nent fhould be as secret as it is swift, and
no one should witness it except the officials
whose duty requires them to be present, and
the jury. Viewed in its most favorable
aspects, the New York execution was 3
sickly, sorry, brutal spectacle, the like
of which, it is to be hoped in the interests
Of humanity and justice, may never occur
again. It would be better to abolish capital
punishment altogether rather than 70 have
such scene Us this repeated, with all its
brutal and demoralizing influences. The
friends of humanity and moral reform ought
to agitata this subject at once, and devise
some other means Of carrying out the death
penalty for murder.