The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1877-03-15


deserves caotgaion Just as safely as TO deter
nne who deserves imprisonment or death.
Most OF the censure they now receive IN their
treatment OF the hOpelessly depraVed Is tor
their lcnity and not their rigor. There is no Of
fender who would not dread and wish to avoid
whipping. Certainly no one would offend for
the purpose Of receiving il; and it would prob
ably discourage a man IN less than ten years
from breaking the same window. 1t would be
inexpensive, and would have the merit of being
short and sharp. if not decisive. Punishment,
lntini,idtU /, is what Is here considered. and
the point is whether it shall be administered to
all who deserve it, or whether the law society
finds necessary for It's protection shall be a
falSeho0d. at war with itselt-a sham. The law
cannot shrink from anything that is necessary
10 It's purpose without impeachlnS It's purpose.
And is more inhuman to hurt the back of
one who cannot be made to feel anything else
than 1t is to pain the heart and hurt the soul of
one who can: How can Christians so eXalt the
flesh above the spirit: They did not do it in
the primitive days of the faith. Is it more bar
barouS to ScouraSe the body than to gall it with
irons, or poison and debilitate it by contine-
ment, or wear it out by inches at hard labor:
We have not abolished corporal punishment
only rejected form of it which is frequently
more merciful. ii more dreaded. than some that
are retained.
All wrongs right themselves bv ''inhnman-
ty,' il permitted TO 60 far enough. You are
told by good authority, and you know without
IL
at night, YOU perform public duty by shooting
him dead rather than see him escape. From
the humanitarian point OF view, this is certain
~ more dreadful 1ha" ii would have been to
stop. by liogsin@, amy minor offences that led
him into rour house. Indeed, if The penalty for
the burglary itself were a "harharons'' larrera-
tlou ot his back, il would doubtless have more
effect IN keepin" him from the burg larry and
from 4 bloody death, than does the risk OF i'm
pri>"nment. We must not whip him in ohedi
l,IlIk Itt.lt h.ln
i-a " lthout regard 10 it. 1t is our tenderness
thai becomes ''inlltimdn' ii II be not wisely he
slowed. Would il be quite in keeping with the
plctriiS"n9 OF @aiNanred' civilization Ia see
the natronN and madS OF the rural neiThhor-
hoods Going about their diaries and summer
ktchen> with reviewers in their belts, aud
bowie hnVr2 III their bosons: That is the
spectacle The " tramp nuisance promises to
produce Wouti the " hipring-post. set up in
the eiun, ol The great cities, where the mis-
crranS among The tramps breed and form their
characters, look any more like harharism: The
voluntary tramp has but shown the country
man during the summer what the city suffers
during the winter. He is simply trying 10 dis
tribute ana eqltaiLe himself, and while ENJOY
in" ms country air, collects the same taxes he
cnllertS all the le9 OF The wear in town. Let
the city c"nlnt!, 10 rear tiln tenderiy, and not
hurt his precious care ass, and feed and warm
h,in. ard punish only his sensitive spirit, until
tn country people oct down their shot guns
'i'''' = 49,
being trua To the VaiiSe OF humanity.
1t j. noble lor the law To withhold ill., hand
when one Wlo has taken wrong step can be
won back to Il rood life bS other means and if
the " retciIes h0pelrssIy saturated with Vice can
be inundated by ANYTHING millrr than foe-
ling, ht AL mean hr mild; but when We mud
one who tanil0t, wins noi Y'knoW ledge the fact
and act on il
The reason VIII, wr do mot Act is only
sentimental one. \ sentimental reason, how
= -! I, Very EDpil ia ttrIS
THAI it j. better 10 >lller, and Ia see It's laws be-
come !rtrkrry Ia this degree, than 10 shock
it. nWn best instincts. This sentiment that Of
~iilirt> t,~ulfle Nndica1lun OF The law is
spectacle s., long rs it can he respected with
tolrrable safely aud pnbii" Nlriiacion. Bat ii
ntrrirrrs with Justice by courtesy and not by
ri@ht 1t is al, very we'll 50 long As society does
not rol"plain. Eat if lis monthpieccs are 10 be
believed, society does complain. The public is
not satisfied with The present punishment of
certain oh,nlerS-indicatcd with sufficient ar-
rlrary hy the jough old I.angheimcr and the
English Mindow-breaker and is FESTIVE under
The prcuniary harden they impose.
Although The history of the Whipring-pn>t i
nearly worthless TO one seeking to know what
its vaue might be under al the favorable con-
dtion> with which it could be surrounded now
and here, yet it is possible to point readily to
one trial that should have been, and probably
WAS. fair one. \ few wears ago-perhaps
four OF ivc-gurrOtng became terror to the
London pedestrian For assault and robbery.
without intent to Kill. the death penalty was
toe terrible. and the other penalties failed TO in
llmltlatc. as they generally 10 when the crime
is lucrative, easily accomplished and not inn
mcdiateiy dangerous. 1t could not be tritled
with, and something had to be done. A bar
harou>' whipping Of the bare back was reSortcd
To. and gurrotng subsidized. The result was
what the public wanted. sen mental eyes may
show their whites Mortified hands may 90 up,
floods OF twaddle may come forth in sympathy
With the DISCOURAGED odrrQtpr, but men Of