The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1876-01-12


dollarst6f thawlief 81 Sanasfipr ss4tiefS upen.
the frontier, to be expended in providing for
them necessary food ard CLOTHING. It was
found not necessary to expend the whole of
this sum, and there accordingly remains in
the treasury Sll, 1860, the unexpended bal
ance of the appropriation. -
81. y. CAPITAL PuNlsHMExr-
took occasion, in my last message. to ami
madvert upon the defects Of the statutes reiat-a
ing to punishmdn tfof tie crime Of murder, \
and deem It my duty to bring the snbiect
again to the attention Of the Legislature. BY
the act OF March s, 1868, capital punishment
was abolished except in those cases where the
jury, in addition to verdict Of guilty, also de-
termine and direct that the culprit shall suf-
fer death. e.. - j. ~e Esg
The objections to this law, both in the theto-
ry and practice, are manifold, irrespective OF
the main question whether capital punish.
ment ought to be inflicted under any circum-
stances.
The arguments against it which present
themselves to my mind are as follows: The
peEalty is an uncertain one, and will vary with
the various dispositions Of the juries. It at
fords pretext for disagreement of juries in
capital cases: A juror may be willing to givea
que with his fellow Jurors that the greater re-
penalty shall be suffered. He viii then agree
upon the fact, but will dissent as to the law of
| the case. It enables criminal to elect that he
will suffer the penalty OF Imprisonment with
the chance Of pardon, rather than undergo
the risk of defense with the chance of being
hanged. 1t results from this that the murder
err who is certainly and provably gritty will
not take this risk, but will pronounce the mild
er sentence upon himself by admitting his
guilt.
In mylast message illustrated the defects
OF TINS statute by s9ppositious cases. Since
unnecessary any effort of the imagination.
! During the year 1876 three persons, Lauten-
schlager, Rapp and Rapp's wife, were tried in
Ramsey county for a murder which they were
accused of having committed Jointly. The
facts were such that if they were guilty there
was no shade of difference in their criminality.
Equeally guilty, they deserved equal punish.
| schlager was tried first. The public were
clamorous that justice should exert upon him
her fullest powers of retribution. An intelli
gent jury summoned from the body of that
public gave to that desire the sanction OF
verdict that the accused seould undergo the
penalty of death. In course Of the same term
the man Rapp was tried in the same court.
But by this time the desire of which have
spoken had become partially satiated hy the
verdict OF the jury in the first case, and the
result was that the second jury found a verdict
upon WHICH ie ne was sentenced to imprison-
me mt tor life Mrs. Rapp was afterwards tried
at the same term, upon the same evidence,
and the jury disagreed. She was afterwards
tried in another county and received the
same sentence that her husband had received,
The results OF these cases reduce themselves
to this, that it Lautenschlager deserves his
/ oro$n i,7cf 1ooh oo,~ L.
due her from the Rapps-while if they deserve
no greater penalty than has been exacted of
them, a shocking injustice has been worked
upon Lautenschlager
! In Hennepin county a man shot his wife
dead. He elected his punishment bv pleading
guilty, thereby depriving the court Of the pow.
e er to pronounce any other sentence except that
These historic illustrations drawn from the
judicial records for the last year are so convin-
cling of the inherent impertections of this stat
ute, and Of its capacity for injustice that am
persuaded that you will so amend it that it will
pronounce it's penalties with certain voice. and
will not delegate power of option to the ca
prices, the o6stinacy, the lack Of Judgment or
the false humanity OF the panel
! MINNESOTA STATE RAILROAD BONDS.
lshculd feel selfreproach from the conscious
ness OF having left an important duty upper
| formed should suffer this occasion to rass
without expressing my views upon subject
which has been topic Of reproach by our
creditors and recrimination, excuse and de-
| tense by many of our citizens for more than
fifteen years. - allude to the obligations. NOR
al and legal, to which the State is subject by
the evidences OF its Indebtedness commonly
known as the Minnesota State railroad bonds.
They were executed SO long ago, that of our
present population, over four hundred thous-
and have become inhabitants since the date OF
! these securities. So many popular ideas upon
| the question have been the creation of hastv.
| angry or insufficient assertion, that it does not
seem improper to present here concise, his
torical statement, showing precisely what was
done by the State in the premises. giveit in
the hope that it NAV be influential in clearing
away some Of the distOrting and err0neons as
sumptions Ct fact which have obscured the
subject and, as think, darkened the con-
science Of this people. -.
| By the constitution of Minnesota. az it was
framed by the convention, it was prescribed
that the credit OF the State shall never he given
or loaned in aid Of any individual, association
or corporation. It was also prescribed that
the public debt of the State shall never III the
aggregate exceed two hundred and fifty thou-
sand dollars. When these provisions were
framed in 1857 the territory had been invested
by the United States with grants Of land in
trust to build certain specified railroads. W hich
lands had been granted to four companies:
the whole country was apparently SO prosper.
Gus that capital sought employment without
invitation and with unprecedented eagerness
in the construction of great public works. In
ample share.
While the question of the admission OF the
State into the Union under this constitution
was pending, the memorable crisis Of 1857 SUI
pervened and the result was an overthrow of
private fortunes and public credit, complete.
disastrous, ,s1s and b. sudden. IT, = ,bore
with peculiar severity upon Mime
sofa, for our people were heavily
indebted and the process of payment involved