The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-09-10
Criminal Policy.


mont the declaration 1--WE believe that the
whipping-post, as we'll as cropping aho
..brandin~, would be infinitely better and
"cheaper than our present policy" VIC
certainly considered this view sensible; bu
when VIC came to his second proposition NJ
rose to a much higher dignity. This SECOND
proposition is: III we could hit upon some
uplan BY which crime could be promptly
"and efficiently punished, and get rid o.
"thc great incubuseS the stay and eXemp
stion-lawS. We might. as people, get upor
sour feet again" Here is indeed 80
DANIEL come 10 indgment.' His oplnoI
is wise and Just. In Nil the range OF laws
ostensiby for the public protection there
are none 50 Injurious to the pubic, OF
which deprave the public mind to the low
platform whence are generated the offences
that many times merit the retribution OF the
whipping-poSt, rs these stay and eXemp'
tion-laws. Therefore we do not think that
our Bristol friend has erred in taste or JUS
ticc in the ;uxtapoSition he has given these
matters.
But il we think thus OF our Bristol con-
Temporary, what shall we say in praise OF
the editor Of the .JoneSboro' (N. c. jour-
nal, who has announced his opinion as fol-
lows:
"Panderin@ to & Sick!y sort OF sentiment
alism on this subject, we long since substl-
tutcd milder and more humane system, as
was conceived, but the experiment has
proved both fruitlc$S and expensive. The
public debt, under the penitentiary plan OF
punishment, has been continually growing.
while public morals have been continually
decaying.'
Here is 4 point 10 consider: The public
debt has increased in North Carolina under
the penitentialy plan OF punishment"
and OF course our contemporary hopes that
the whipping-po>t may tend to diminish it.
The alusion IS to the cost OF the peni:en-
tiary system over the old system. Without
going into the investigation OF the subject,
we may say that rs crime increases there is
a growing indifference to pecuniarr obliga-
tons. and whenever that is the case people
call for relief. Stay-laws and delays Of JUS
tice in many ways are effected which post
up debt, and end in widespread ruin. Sen
sibilties with regard to public as we'll as
private obligations become weakened, fires
Increase rs we'll as crimes, criminal ex-
penditureS multiply, and public virtue is
consequently impaired. Public and private
credit is the guardian of virtue and Of peace,
and without it there can be no thrift and
contentment.
In the assertion with regard to North
Carolina justice we lind no great variation
from the facts in old Virginia. The peni-
Tertiary system has been longer tried in
Virginia, but in no way has experience Diff
fered from what it has shown in North Car
DINA. Whether it may have the same rela-
ton with the public debt in Virginia that it
has in North Carolina we cannot say; but
of this we are perfectly convinced: that as
the public morals are shown by criminal
annals to be growing worse or better will
the measures to maintain the public honor
and pay the public debt be more or less
honest and earnest. Or this we are per-
fectly satisfied. A really good and honest
community cannot be driven to disown 4
Just responsibility any more than it is
possible for circumstances to drive an HON
est people to seek by dishonest means to
avoid Just responsibility. But we are in.
clined towards the views and the policy OF
the "learned Theban" Of Jonesboro', and
we like to hear him on this point. We copy
the following further expression OF his
opinions upon the fraudulent penitentiary
system: ,,..,..,, ...r.,s.s ...s.s -
"The truth is that perhaps more than one
half the prisoners in that institution 1.-THE
peuitentiaryl would rather be inside than
outside its walls. They are generally OF o
class who are Indifferent to the shame incl
dent to such punishment. Most OF them,
too. are d set OF shiftless, lazy vagabonds,
whose daily supply OF food depends upon
the thrift which follows theft, and hence,
in such spot-luck' sort of life, they 60
often supperless to bed. In the peniten-
tiary they are abundantly supplied with
food and clothing. Under the changed
management Of the institution they visit va
rious localities, are subjected to no unnc-
cessary hardships, and have, as results have
demonstrated, abundant opportunities for
escape. Now, it is absurd to expect re-
formation OF this class OF criminals, who
are utterly destitute OF all sense Of shame,
as they are of the principles Of common
honesty, by any such means. To obtain
this result we shall be compelled to change,
for the major part Of criminals, the style OF
punishment.
.sAs said before, the judgment of the law
in all criminal cases is designed to be punt
tive, and that operating in this light it may
serve to deter men and women from crime.
But the law fails OF its purpose if the crimi-
nal experiences neither humiliation or pain.
Society will necessarily, therefore, be none
the better off for system which fails to pro-
tect the virtues simply because it does not
punish the guilty. ~
''The whipping-post is both economical
and efficient. SO it proved during its ex-
istence years ago. Then crime was less COM
mon. 1t brings to the culprit both pain and
humiliation, and is, therefore, better calcu-
lated to subserye the purposes Of the law
and the interest Of society. We repeat,
seriously, that we are for it as the best re-
formatory agency OF q certain class OF
offenders which the ingenuity OF man has
yet devised
gs.t r -
We failed to get the AleXandria Gazette
on Saturday. II, therefore, it contained
aught of interest concerning the Moffett.