Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-08-30
To Hang or Not to Hang ?

10 Hang or Not to HangY
The recent executions in various non.
tions of the country, and especially in
the coal mining regions, has again f6rri.
bly, called to the surface the oft mooted
question of the right possessed by man
to put out of existence his fellows: to
take life which it is within the sole
power of the Creator to give. Upon both
sides, much can be said, and strong ar
guments advanced.
Whether suspending between heaven
and earth by rope about the neck, and
choking out life, adds to the terrors of
the law, and deters others from crime is
questionable. In former days the gal
lows was often a scene of rioting and
unseemly mirth. The country focked
en- n1GSSe to see some poor wretch struggle,
and fought for pieces of the rope to
cherish as sacred mementoes. This has
been abolished las it should be) and with
it the highly wrought and generally un-
true last dying speech and confession
Hanging is conducted privately and SOL
emnly. The walls of the prison shut cut
curious eyes and gaping spectators, and
the dying man is robbedof the Opportu-
nifty of being made hero or a martyr.
But the fact of the ignominious death re-
mains, and with it the query of eli boaoF
Has the gallows more, if as much, ter
ror, as years of solitary confnement2 Is
the dread of brief pang as great az
long and weary and hopeless imprison-
ment? viii not the guilty more reek-
leSsly dare the chance of a rope than
shackles and barsP Had not the aver
age criminal sooner dangle from the gal
lows than be condemned to the thought
that comes with unbroken silence and
lasting separation from his fellow menP
Are there not many who look upon a
public death as rather to be courted than
avoided?
We cannot judge of the workings of
the uneducated and debased mind by
the sensitiveness and horror that haunts
the one lifted above grossness, and
hedged about by refinement. The con-
tTast is as vivid as light and darkness.
Familiarity with crime and its penal
ties (as in all other things) blunts the
senses and breeds contempt. Men soon
learn to disregard consequences; to
cOolly calculate and take the chances. |
The lifelong criminal knows we'll what
the ending of his career will be, and be-
comes infatuated with the idle dream of
destiny He is habituated to the power
of the law, and looks upon it as some
thing not to be avoided. Prison life and
association has crowded all good from
his heart, and the gallows is robbed Of
its terrors.
This being the case, it is doubtful il
death by the rope exercises any benefc-
ial results upon the very class for whom
- Id -, ,fA
to thus destroy life. "ThOu shalt not
kill" is held by many as an absolute de-
cree against execution, and certainly it
is the taking of what can never be re-
stored. Besides years in prison give an
for reformation and repent
Rnce, and the washing out of sin.
On the other hand the old laws Of an
eye for an eye and tooth for a TOOTH
and "he who sheddeth mans blood" /" ETC.,
is believed justifable by both the Divine |
and the human law. It is contended |
strongly that the sooner the murderer is |
put out of the way the better for those
remaining; that prison has few terrors,
'or there is always a hope of escape, and
! dream of executive clemency. In
Measure, this is true; the badly used
Teedom that has been restored argues |
against such a possibility, and all chance
If release should be cut off. Whether,
however, this should be done by the
'epulsive and ghastly scenes at the gal
oWs, is problematical. Certainly, there
an be no hope for the dead man here,
)ut we should remember it is sending
him shuddering into the hereafter with
u his sins upon his head.
Who shall decide? Humanity weeps
iver at the sheddingof blood, the taking
way of life, and Justice sternly balances
he scales and permits nothing of SYM
lathY to creep into its deliberations. In
many States the law has decided upon
be death penalty, and its will is forced
D be carried out both in the spirit and
he letter. The advocates of both sys-
ems loudly proclaim they are right,
nd consequently the other side wrong.
Iut hanging has descended to us from
arbaric times, and the necessity of it in
he then, does not prove it in the now.
very year has its own requirements;
nat which governed yesterday has
hanged altogether in its light toward
0-day, and it is not safe to take even
maxims without looking
eenly to their bearing and intrinsic
alue upon the present.
1t is important that this matter should
e settled. Ali the better part of our
ature revolts at inhuman harshness, no
latter how guilty, while safety to the
demands absolute security.
hat must never be left out of mind.
he hand and knife of the murderer
lust be fettered beyond peradVenture,
nd it is a mockery to say that it cannot
3 done except by extinction Of life. q
1ch an argument is a shameful confess
on of weakness. If we cannot build
rong enough if we cannot guard
yainst escape, it is high time we did.
We would never argue against justice,
ut we believe it should be tempered
ith mercy, and that humanity and re-
gion viii soon insist upon the abolish
lentof the gallows, and the right to take
fe, except In self-defense, be no longer
eemed either advisable or admissible.