The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1877-11-23
I. THE WHIPPING POST. a.
what . Northern Paper Has 70 Say in
Ttsffai tfs- Favor Of H.. - t,.,
.(Chica,x,So, Timries.l

- a-
A morbid sentimentality, encouraged
by various lecturers and written a few
years ago, caused the abolition of
the death penalty as y punishment
for crime In many, Of the States. This
diseased opinion assumed that crimfn-
ais were pers0ns to be Pitied FAtfef than
punished, and did much toward con-
yerting jails and prisons into institu-
tf0ns for pettjng instead Of Furnishing
their inmates: At present there few
persons who hold that the inmates Of
thess institutions should recslves pay
for the little work they do i'm them.
They take theground that crimfnalsarS
not responsible for their acts never
having received an education in SUN
day schools and free public schools.
These sentimentalists look anon jails
ana prisons as desirable places for re.
forming criminals by tkindness, fbut
they would have them so conducted as
not to materially Interfere with the
pleasure of the occupants.
The recent rapid increase in pau
perism and crime, the present insecu-
rity of life and property, as we'll as the
crowded condition of our Jails and pen
itentiaries, and the expense attending
them, have caused some other people
to begin to suspect that there Should
be more rigid as well rs more economic
nj punfshment. They believe that this
inay be found most adyanta&eously in
the lash and whipping post They
sspoint with pride'' to the prompt man
ner in which Delaware disposes Of her
criminals and to the general dislike
criminals entertain towards that State.
The great number of criminals sup
ported in jails and prisons imposes an
rNunnpoooiVa fAS tho mr. ri,
in the community. Confinement in ~
secure building does not act to deter
persons from rObbing hen-rOosts, stripp-
ing clotheslines, plundering houses, Or
stealing horses and cattle. Many steal
because they are too lazy to work, and
prison life agrees with them because
they are well lodged and fed while
they have little to do.
In many cases imprisOniIlE u man
forsome petty offellse results in a punish
inent on his family, rather than gu
himself. He goes where hesis we'll fed,
sheltered, and clothed, while they, are
doomed to y life of Indebtedness and
misery. The community which the
criminal has outraged is also punished
in the form Of taxation to, keep him in
confinement, and, perhaps to support
his family. 1t il held, and in Delaware
the lash more than any means vi punish.
ment. It is certainlyan .inexpen-
sive one. Brother Beveridge and other
sentimental persons would never APP
prove of it for the reason that 1t allows
few opportunities for granting pardons.
Lawyers who gain livelihood by carry
ing criminal cases to higher courts
would also oppose the lash, for their
clients might receive their punishment
before a stay of proceedings could
be obtained. Nevertheless there are
reasons for believing that the AL vocates
Of the whipping post are by no means
insignificant in numbers in the country
ut large, and it will not be surprising
If persons with practical notions abou,
economy present the subject ia some
of the State Leg islatures before tong
The lash Inns been restored in England
and in Canada for the punishment Of
certain crimes, and the experiment is
said to have proved entirely satisfactory
to every body butthe criminals. r
OnnK Rl.lNn.f It.,f "A gft.,g q