, 1880-08-29
A HTnM)UH ERfMK.

sout to tho States pri6On tor q year for nls 6s-
|. snult on Bronston.
4 HrDEoUB CRIME.
During the past week there have been two
arrests in this city for the commission OF one
Of the most hidcous crimes i'll the calendar,
attempt at prenatal murder resulting i'll
the slaughter Of the mother. In the one case
the accused is i'll old offender, who has been
arrested several times up on & similar charge
and was onco convicted. lie is a profess
sinnal butcher. In the other case the evil
dence points to an equally incompetent, un-
scrupulous, and callous practitioner, with
previous experience in this worse than brutal
pursuit. Tho two cases, coming so closely
together amt indicating the prevalence of a
crime that tbriyes largely upon condonation,
should excite Il degree Of public Indignation
that shall spur justice to extraordinary v1gl-
lance anu merciless prosecution.
There is 4 moral and utiiitarian way OF
looking ut the crime of abortion. In TIC
former view, there is no extcnuation for the
crime, eyon i'll those cases where the desired
result is accomplished without publicity and
without outward signs Of injury 10 the liS-
ing. Unfortunately it is almost impossible
to trace the crime in such cases to its respon-
si!,le source. The woman who submits is
then an accomplice instead OF victim. and
rarely reveals an act that would implicate
herself criminally along with others. The
utilitarian view Of tho crime requires, there
fore, the most condign punishment in every
case which comes before the authorities by
reason of fatal result to the guilty mother.
The woman III such case naturally
and properly becomes an object Of pity, no
matter how large 4 share Of responsibility
she had for the commission Of tho crime;
she has paid the severest penalty for her
wrong-doins, and the only way in which
law can sustain morals and give the living
the protection 1t purports to give is to visit
the penalty Of murder upon those who have
assisted i'll the fatal work. So long as pas
sion shall bctray women into illicit relations
with men, SO long as credulity shall make
victims Of others, and SO long as greed or
vanity shall tempt others still, there will be
those who seek or submit to abortion in OF
der to escape shame or trouble. The law, to
be efficient, must hold their accomplices
guilty Of the most heinous crime, and punish
49,
shown to any other class of murder.
Some years since sensational newspaper
in this city, which Is inclined to pander to
dcpraved tastes, published an article pnr-
porting to expose the professional abortion
lists. The list included dozen or twenty
auacks, more or less known as such. and we
believe no libel-suits ever came Of the publi-
cation. The inference is that the practition-
ers thus exposed feared to bring their repu-
tattons into court. 1t is pretty certain that
every large city contains large number OF
PERSONS, calling themselves doctors or mid
wives, who undertake the crime Of abortion
for almost any fee that may be offered them,
or for piece Of jewelry or other thing Of
value in the absence Of money. The exist
ence Of this class and the impunlty with
which its members pursue their het-
nous practice denote some. serious defect
in the organization Of society for the
suppression Of the crime Of abortion.
The license which is taken by abortionists
has been attributed frequently to false
public sentiment, which is indignant only In
cases fatal to the mother, and even then is
modified by a knowledge that the practice is
conducted with comparatively few fatal re-
suits and sometimes with the knowledge or
connivance OF regular physicians. If this
be the real explanation Of the prevalence OF
hescrime, then it is nigh time for all men
and women who revolt at the atrocity. for
all public teachers who assist in molding
public opinion, for all physicians who re-
spect their professions, and for the public
authorities who are intrusted with the
execution Of the laws, to cry aloud against
the tiendish practice, and lend their best
efforts to the full punishment of those who
are apprehendcd in the crime.
There is reason to believe that some other
influence besides public Indifference to the
practice of abortion operates to condone the
crime. The execution Of the law Is not
in the hands of the public, but of tho Off
GERS, the Judges, and the agents Of the pub
lie. These PERSONS should not require con-
slant scourge to keep them iii the line Of
their duty, and they need fear no protest
nor restraint, but may expect tho reward of
public gratitude, if they prosecute every
case that comes before them to the full limit
of the law. The law itself may be made
power in the way of suppressing the practice
of abortion if it be Strictly enforced. Wequote
the most important section concerning this
particular crime:
Whoever, By means Of any instrument, medi-
cine, drug, Or other meuns tr}1dteuer. causes any
woman, pregnant with child, to ubort or mis-
carry, or attempts TO procure or produce an
abortion Or miscarriage. unless the same were
done as necessary for the preservation Of the
Tertiary not less than one year nor more than
len yenrs: Or il the death Of the mother results
therelrmn. TIC person procurinu Or causing the