The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1878-02-27
The Wdi?piuS-s'o-t.

We unhcSitaiiugly avow ourselves
opposed to the rc-c.iahlishmcnt of the
whipHinc-po>t. To say that it is y
relic Of barbaIi>m is only TO utter
common expression. which has become
common because everybody believes
it. 10 mangle the human flesh Nv
WAY of punishment, Suggests the
ihamh-srrews and rack of the in9uisi-
ton, and calls 10 mind the paraphern,-
liza Of 4 torture-room. Experience h.s
proven that cruel aud unusual PAN
i>hmenis are no more efficacious in the
repression OF crime than more humane
measures. 1t WAS once the custom -
execute eight aud ten year old bay.
for stealing tin cups OF from the pub
lie fountains, and to hang men and
women by the wholesale for larceny.
and for stealing alone an average Of
more than Eve hundred per year were
executed in The city of London. Sach
cruel and unnecessary punishmen;s AZ
lsngih became intolcrahle. and now
there is an express constitutional pro-
Vision against such punishmen's.
Why WAS it that putting men to
C,ath dill not deter other men from
stealing? Why does not tie death
penalty deter mon from the the CRIME
Of murder' To answer these qucs-
lions wonld take more time and space
than is now convenient. We suppose
there l.. and, indeed. know there is.
mach petty violation Of law, hut that
hanging viii stop It We do not believe;
HAT mangljng human flesh will stop
il We do not believe. These things
haze been tried and have failed. So
long rs there Is de>,ilu;ion in the
country. 80 long viii there be petit
larceny-and We are by no means will
ling to admit that every person who
commits a petty theft, Is n natural
borl tibet, and beyond all reclamation.
We oppose the whipPing-poS; because
it is a brutal and nauseating punish
ment, and when on the statute books
Was a dead letter because Jurors woaid
not assess The penalty and because Off
GERS would not infiict the punishment.
10 oar mind it takes an unenviable
d gree of hard-hearicdness to ply the
la,h into the qmvering flesh of the
q iivering victim. even under the
forms OF law. We oppose the whip
ping-pOst because such an exhibition
Is degrading 10 the public morals, it
done publicly; and if done privately,
loses its intended effect, and degrades
the individual. 1t is argued that many
men would rather lay in a jail than
not, especially in winter. The argu-
ment Is utter nonsense. We never
saw man but who shuidered as he
entered the prison cell. and never saw
a man that would stay one moment
after his doors were opened.
Many a lawyer, in defending some
idle fellow, whom, one would suppose,
had rather be in jail than out of ii,
will know how earnestly he has been
entreated by his client not to let him
go to Jail. There is an instinct of
free lon in high and low that makes |
confinement the most irksome punish
ment that can be inflicted. Confiue |
man beyond human voices and in |
thirty days he will beg to have his
name called that he nay hear a human |
voice.
Believing that men who commit |
petty o!ienses may outlive the act and |
become useful men, We decry any |
sort of punishment that forever after
attaches its mark like the brand of
Cain, and becomes a living weight al
together out Of proportion to the Of
Tense. Hanging AID torture, whip
ping and slavery, are of the past-so
let them remain.
We hope our Representatives viii
not place the State on the downward |
grade towards barbarism.