New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-01-13
MURDER AND CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.

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ing the pardon granted in the case of
Mckinney, of Webster parish, because all
men are privileged to hold individual
opinions, and have right to be heard.
We yet must continue in the belief that
the pardoning power, so far as murderers
are concerned, must be rarely used and
with great discretion. If our laws are I'M
just, let them be repealed; if they are wise
and good, let them be enforced to the let
ter. The pardoning power is a dangerous
instrument Except in extreme cases its
employment is more liable to- subvert
the ends of justice than it is to
do good by answering the calls
made in the name of humanity. 1t is not
to the particular pardon Of Mckinney
that We object. He may have been in
duced to take . human life by the most
aggravated circumstances. 1t is for the
supremacy of the law that We speak. A
man may be fairly tried by his peers, and
most reluctantly sentenced to be hanged
in expiration of the crime Of murder; it is
plain, then, that he should die. Courts
are for the purpose of determining the
degree of guilt attached to unlawful acts;
our laws, good or bad, contain the fiat
of punishment Nothing can be more
unreliable than the sentiment which is
called the sense of community; it is
often bad sense, and should never be put
in the balance opposite mans life. This
sentiment or sense Of . community is too
easily swayed; it knows no law, and is as
liable to hang the innocent as it is to rescue
the guilty from q deserved gibbet The
sense of q community is dangerous COM
munism, and should not be allowed to
override the law. We might be told that
the community of Baton Rouge has q
feeling strongly against capital punish
ment. Humanitarians and eccentric
philanthropists would rejoice at such
softened public disposition; and yet that
same community would brutally hang .
woman without trial of any sort and it
would assume to inflict the death penalty
on q man only suspected Of buying
stolen seed cotton. Swing 9 club in
crowd in any village grogshop in
Louisiana, and the chances are that
you would hit q murderer. The peace
and prosperity of this State requires that
more murderers should be hung, instead
of less. The tender.hearted Senator him.
self can point to hundreds of men at
large whose hands are red with blood.
The man who has once killed q human
being only waits an opportunity to kill
again. Where human life is held too
cheaply, the excuses for murderer to
murder, sufficient to him, are constantly
recurring, and murder is done Only
yesterday, in this city, barkeeper killed
two men. Some of his customers had
broken his tumblers, and before he sleeps
he has found his victims on the street,
and killed them both. If MI. Pickett
is ever tried for murder, and should
be condemned to death, it will
be easy work to get two hundred
signers to q petition for his pardon. The
partial sense of certain community may
demand it. Another sentiment Of the
same community will express itself in
favor Of hanging the murderer. To pre-
vent crime criminals must be punished.
To secure the live Of innocent people mobs
should never be allowed to monopolize
hanging. We must stand by the law;
hang when it says hang, and only after,
and in accordance with its DEGREES. The
law must be respected if We arc to main.
tain civilized condition of society; and
respect for the law can only be inspired
where communities are made to obey its
requirements.