The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-04-06

90 numerously a. now to the penitentiary,
to become competitors as conyiots at
cheap labor with honest trsdesmen seek.
ing an honest and respectable supportfor
their families from the proceeds Of their
labor. Consequently, society was bene'
fitted In every way. It wassayed a great
deal Of expense, to begin with, aud l. was
Rayed also from the ysgrancy Of whole
families left on the charity Of the world,
and /. was saved from furnishing unneces'
pary recruits for schools Of vice, as most
fails and penltentitries might be psoperly
called.
Il IL o. notorious fact that but few
criminals ere reformed within prison
walls. They generally emerge more har-
deped than ever. They expect, as rule,
to pursue some unlawful means Of livsli.
hood, and they also expect, through the
quirks Of the Law, to escape conviction.
Many iarles who would not sentence a
man 10 the penitentiary, would sentence
hin 10 be whipped. The punishment Of
whipping Is no. so serious an affair in
the eyes Of the average iaryman as con.
tnement in the penitentiary, while really
il is vastly more effective as q retorms-
tory agent. There is, go to speak, great
hesitaucy about sending an offender to
the penitentiary. Two criminals escape
where one is punished.
Now wha. shall bs done In the way Of
reform? The increase in crime goes
steadily on. The j,ils and %peniten,iaries
Of the land are swa,mipg with the foes Of
society. These foes are made still more
hardened foes BY confinement In prison
walls, and their children are made fol-
lovers in their footsteps by being left
without support. Society i, fearfully
burdehed by its criminals. Unless they
are supported in idleness their labor
while in prison becouesa demoralising
element in the labor market Of the ooun.
Try. 1t secretes a poison, as II were,
through the very prison walls. l. there
no better way to protect society and lessen
i1 bnrdensS
These reflections have been suggested
by reading the following article 10 the
Richmond Dispatch Of Thursday. We
commend II to the careful confederation
Of our readers:
We are romewhat surprised 10 see that
The Kentucky Senate has laid on the Is,
bIs the bilI.to re.establish the whipping
post. We say We are surprised at this
IN Kentucky, where men are stern and
stout and practical, and where mock-
philanthropy il scarce, II II has any (
is.ence al all. Bat We begin TO suspect
tina. d~emsgosism has found a lodgment
amongst the solid men OF Kentucky, as
we'll as amongst the Legislators oil most
Of ali the Southern States, under the
fearful social revolution Of the times.
The consideration thatin whipping a felcn
a vottr nigh, be whipped no doubt pre-.
vailed 20 carry the bill TO the table.
Philanthropy had nothing 10 do wish It's
80
So Il is In other things that the public
interests are subordinsted to the polite
view taken by the demagogue. For in.
sianee, the measures TO encourage sheep
culture, by protecting sheep from dogs,
all fail because the dog has q eots.
The criminal policy Of this country has
become inefficient because Of too much
philanthropy. The delusiye idea that
crime was 10 be ended by kindness TO
robbers andhouss, burners, sn~eak.thieyes
and c~ut-throatt; that Williams and muir.
derers were 10 be made honest nen and
gentlemen by preaching aud forgiveness,
have paraiyesd the law and disarm-
ed The police. Felons are not 10 be
roughly treated. Their feelings are not
to b. wounded. They must be hospitably
entertained and left 10 the oourseo Of MED.
itationf and remorse, tia. they may
emerge from their place Of respectable
detention'as companions Tor the philan.
thropid people who have extracted the
sting from the law and smoothed the dis.
comfort Of the hard and healthy discip-
line which IL go salutary In the process
Of repentance and atonement.
Thus the prisons aud penitentiaries
have done Absolutely nothing 10 the way
81 reform, and the men who have passed
through Them have come forth without
repentance, confirmed ~rascals, 10 make
their arts available with more success
than before their oontinementand before
that hardening process which made them
~impenetrable 10 the moral sepsibilities,
Of which there were some traces In their
minds until they entered the so-called
pmitmtiary. to, part with them forever,
The whipping post would do more to
put q CHECK upon crime and to deter
men from repeating their felonies than
all other provisions Of the law. II the
lash we're applied to big thieves and lit.
Tie thieves without distinction Of color,
race or previous condition Of servitnde,
The criminal docket would shrink up and
the latlA and penitenllAries would be re-
lieysd Of fully half their dodgers. Widen
tho range Of hanging, shorten the period
otimptisoument, and Introduce the whip.
ming post for application In cases OF bur
elary and Ateaiing, and thete'would be
sneh a change in the character aud num-
bar Of criminal easesthat We might well
imaRine that We were In . new country.
Itsisfor the want OF more rigid adj
ministration o. the laws against teloulei
and misdemelnors, and Tor the want OF
more rstgtadstion Of the r%etribnuon e
Ire crime. that We hear even IN this ad-
yaheed period Of civilization Of 20 many
cases cf'the Intervention OF Judge Lynch
Make crime odious by proper punish
menL and the public security viii De IN
creased while crime will DO decreased,
Mr. FRoupr, the historian, has beer
delivering a series Of lectures on the
Eastern O Question In England. Hethinki
that England should make no defensive
or ~ofsnsiye alliance except with America.
andIfegards her embodiment In contl-
mental affairs As a most dangerous mis-