The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-09-17
sasur.sy. septsmbsr n. lss.


Yesterday little after noon Clement
GALLON was hung. Hung for expiration of
@ horrible crime ."Whosoever sheddeth
mans blood by man shall his blood be
she'd" said the Old Testament. and how
often in the world has the saying come
true! Not always by process OF Law has
the murderer suffered the penalty of his
crime; not always as direct and evident
penalty has he died but in nearly every case
the man who practised violence has suffer
ed from violence, and m7one form or an
other the blood of the murderer has been
she'd It seems q terrible thing to take the
life Of human being; even if that life is
taken in the midst Of conflict, when hot
war is being waged, and mans blood is
raging ana All thought is drowned in the
eagerness of the fray. But, in execution
of the sentence OF the law, deliberately
and slowly the day sci for months before
hand and preparations being made as Il
for a wedding; thus to cast headlong
into eternity seems horrible. And il the
act was done as mere expiration for the
crime it would be horrible. But there is a
further reason laying back of that; it is
not retribution which is sought for, but
protection Society, when it inflicts this
extreme punishment does it to guard
itself against the recurrence of such an
other circumstance It is not to revenge
itself upon the individual, it is to restrain
the class. If punishment was the sole
object sought for, then should hanging be
abolished, for surely imprisonment for life
is as severe punishment as death. But
it is not so striking warning. A man is
taken to the penitentiary and placed there
to end his days. To him the idea is dread
full, and the terrible thought: 81 shall never
again see the light Of day or breathe
the air of freedom" is as terrible, more
terrible, than the image of a disgraceful
and violent death. But the effect
on other criminals is not so strong. They
only know; or rather feel, that he has gone
out from among them; he has disappeared
as though gone on journey; in short
time he and his punishment are forgotten.
But not so with the man that is hung.
His doom is ever present in their eyes.
Ever in their thoughts are the words: che
is to be hung; he is to be hung. The
very day is named; the hour, and all is
commented upon; talked about; written
about. The preparations are explained in
the newspapers, and the entire public are
interested in the minutest circumstance.
When the hanging occurs it is to great
extent open to all: mot entirely, but through
the aid of the press all are acquainted with
the smallest detail 1t is public specta-
Gle; an exhibition in which everyone takes
q part That is what makes it q warning;
an admonition to all people criminally dis
posed to heed least they tread the same
steps, ascend the same scaffold. 1t is thus
that society protects itself, and defends its
rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. Were it otherwise the taking
of life under the authority Of the law
would have no excuse. As 1t is, it is a
painful but necessary method of punish
ment. GALLON committed a dastardly
crime which one shudders to contemplate
His death could not undo that crime, but
it could perhaps prevent another such
crime in the future,