The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-08-28


| ton. As to the offences OF crimes, these ais
are matters Of discussion. The Hebrews in
Moses time punished by death such offences
as idolatry, blasphemy disobedience to
parents, desccration Of the Sabbath, etc. The
laws of Greece and Rome were not far re-
moved from these in their severity, as in
stance the case of the pure and noble Socrs-
tss, who was condemned to die by drinking
the fatal hemlock, because he was charged
with not believing in the gods. Montesquieu,
in his admirable treatise Esprit DIES Lois, tels
us that under the Roman decemvir regime
the penalty of death was denounced against
the writers Of libels and poets. Even as late
as the last century, in this Gland of the free
and home of the brave" old women were put
to death legally for wtchcraft and for
"annointing themselves with rooster egg oil
for the purpose of converting themselves into
witches And so late ms the era of the
Georges in "enligh tened and merrie England"
people "who could not read were to be put
to death without benefit of clergy" Only Il
few days ago we read somewhere an extract
from one of those laws, viz: STEALING in
dwelling house to the amount Of 40 S; stealing
privately in shop, of s; counterfeiting
stamps used for the sale perfumery and
hal" powder, for either of these offences, the
penalty is DEATH" We, of to-day are
amused, disgusted or indignant at these
things, but who shall say what the people of
the next century will think of our laws.
Humanity of former ages was as conscien-
| tious and as serious as are we now. These
reflections give us pause and shake our faith
in the soundness of the arguments urged in
behalf of capital punishment. To this add
the consideration of the trials in all the de-
fectiveness of their processes and procedure
from Indictment to final disposition, from the
Draconian code to the comitia centuriata,
from the German wehrgeld to the English
statutes, and we can all the better appreciate
the magnitude of the responsibility, the pre-.
cariousnss of the justice that sends a
brothers soul into the other world. We
have opposed Governor Roberts on many
subjects, but we have ever respected the
views, feelings and acts of the ex.chief justice
asd the present repository of the most
sacred of humanitarian trusts. In the
tab majsl of his own bosom let his
decisions be forever sacred. Thirdly {:
But assuming the right, what #
the expectancy of capital punishment? This
question, too, has its pros and its cons, That
it had no effect on the offender is disproved
by the fact of his commission Of the crime.
That society by being rid of his presence, is
better off, is debatable. If in confinement
for life under proper penitentiary regime,
he is made producer of values in excess of
his quantum of consumption or expense, is
not society at least as well, or mayhaps
better off? Let US suppose that hangings
were of daily occurrence, would not the FIRE.
quent spectacle have the effect of hardening
and Indifference Familiarity would then
deprive them of their horror. All history
shows. that the bloodiest codes are not those
which have most efYectuslly suppressed of
fences. Again, wherethe alternative is present
ed to an enlightened jury, whether convic-
ton to death or acquittal, or conviction
with imprisonment for life, we apprehend
that the latter will much more frequently be
recorded. 1t is the adequacy and the Ger
tainty of punishment for crime, not the
excess of it, that will always prove the more
effective rule Imprisonment for life has,
another effect in humanitarian point Of
view: it gives the offender chance, not
merely for death-hour repentance, but for
lifelong reform. And surely this is much
1t is said that Frederic the Great required
all death judgments of his courts to be writ
ten on blue paper, so as to be constantly re-
minded of them as they lay on his table
among other papers, and so as to distinguish
them. Fourthly, as for the mode or manner
of punis hment, this has been infinite in va.
riety as it has been ingenious in the inhction.
/ huVuS thcec Win ieopSNtNc VIZ Te-
call the tearing of the criminal to pieces,
starving to death, burning at the stake, roast
ing by slow fire, crucifxion, disiointing BY
the rack, poisoning, breaking on the wheel,
qusrterng, hanging, guillotiuing or behead-
ing, dripping os water on the head,
stranglng, bleeding, shooting, etc, etc. Of
all these we know no one now held more in.
famous than hanging. 1t is the mode prac.
ticed in England as we'll as in this country
the guilotine being the instrument used in
France, and the garotte in Spain. 1t has
been the desire Of civilization, however, to
render death thus imposed as speedy and as
painless as possible. Of the three kinds Just
mentioned hanging is supposed to best attain
these results, the cause of death hereby be.
ing, ordinarily, suffocation from the ii! hten-
ing of the rope about the wndpipe. Those
who have survived case of hanging by the
neck report delightful experiences, "the
brief moment of discomfort" they say,
giving way to beautiful sensations OF varied
lights and colors and charming visions"
Henry ~. OF France once sent his physician