The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1879-09-30
The Punishment of Murder

The brutal affair at West Cum berland has
naturally directed attention for the moment
to the punishment of murder in this State
and undoubtedly good many people have
asked the question if such occurrences have
not been made more frequent by the aboli-
tion of the death penalty. 1t is doubtless
true that for several years murders have
been unusually frequent in this State, but it
by no means follows that they have been fire.
quent ON account of the abolition of capital
punishment. One of these murders was COM
mitted by man who had no knowledge OF
what the punishment was. One OF the first
qut tstions he asked when arrested was wheth-
er murderers were hung or imprisoned. 1t
cannot be claimed therefore that that man
would have been restrained by fer of the
gallows, because for all he knew he had that
to fear. With the others it cannot be shown
SO conclusively that capital punishment
would have had no influence in restraining
them. But on the other hand there is no
conclusive proof that it would. We had
murders, and brutal ones, too, when the
death penalty stood ON the statute books. Tie
crimes of Gordon and Wagner were as afro
cious as that of the villain who delivered
the blow which ended the life of Joseph
Lowe in his barn Friday night, and both of
them were committed while the death PEN
atty was in force. In Massachusetts,, where
the death penalty has been inflicted NUM-
Der of times wi hin a year murders are
alarmingly frequent. But day OF two be-
fore the West Cumberland tragedy young
man in Bridgewater in that State, killed his
own father in a manner fully as atrocious
and brutal as that which characterized the
Cumberland affair. The knowledge Of the
fact that several men had been hung for
murders of less enormity in that State with
in few months did not deter him from a
similar Offense.
Arguments from statistics have been em-
ployed with about equal success by the
friends and opponents of the death penalty.
1t has been shown by the former that muir
der has grown less frequent while this pen
atty was in vogue and by the latter that it
has become more SO. The fact is that the
lllCIGdSC VI uCCICdSC UCCu OuO w OeiiSA
causes. At casual glance it would be sup
posed that the death penalty must prove
more effective in restraining the murderous
propensity than Imprisonment for life be-
cause, by the majority of men, life is held
dearer than liberty. But this supposition
rests upon the assumption, which we believe
to be unfounded, that murderers are accus-
toned to calmly consider beforehand the
amount of punishment which may be in1llct-
ed upon them in case of detection.
Murderers are generally divisible into two
classes, those who commit murder from re-
venge and those who commit murder from
hope of gain. The murderer OF the first
class accompishes his full purpose when he
kills his victim. Punishment has little
effect in suppressing this kind of murder
because the man who engages in it is gener
ally acting under such degree of passion
as to make him reckless of consequences 81
long as he gratiies his passion. The maj
| who murders for the sake of gain is in
different position. He must not only XII
| his victim, but he must kill him in sucl
| a manner as to escape detection. DE
| lection destroys all his chances for profit
| The problem which he has to solve I
| how to murder and not get found out
| Therefore the amount of punishment il
thought of far less by him than the chances
of detection. A very slight punishment vii
| be generally sufficient to restrain him II III
| can be made to feel that it is certain to b'
inflicted, while very severe penalty vii
not have that effect if he feels that he cal
avoid it. The failure of juries to conyic
| and the failure of detectives to discover
do much more to encourage crime OF thi
kind than the reduction Of pc, alties. In
stead, therefore of having a tendency to Gle
crease murder, it can be argued with goo'
deal of force that capital punishment b.
| rendering juries more 10th to convict, an'
thus increasing the criminals chances OF es
| cape, is much more likely to increase crime
| of this kind than to represS it.