Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-07-24
BLOOD l4TONEMENT.

ana ne LnaG kllleLn any man snail surely
be put to death.-LEv1TIcUs xxIv:l7.
In all ages of the world murderers have
been regarded as enemies of society so
vicious as to merit death, and the laws of
all nations impose that penalty upon
those found guilty of taking human life.
A sentiment has grown up in some parts
of the United States of late years which
has led to the adjustment of capital pun
ishment, and in majority of the States
of the North the death penalty is not
known. Some humanitarians claim that
the execution of man for the murder of
a fellow man is barbarous-a relic of the
dark ages.
Two recent occurrences in the adjoin-
ing States of Wisconsin and Minnesota
suggest the expediency of restoring the
death penalty for murder. In Wisconsin
two officers of the law, while in the dis
charge of their duty, were shot dead in
cold blood by a pair of desperadoes. The
murderers may be caught, but if taken
alive they can receive no punishment
adequate to their crime. At best they
will be incarcerated in the penitentiary
at Waupun, fed and cared for
at the expense of the State
during the term of their natural lives.
There are plenty Of chances of relief
from even this punishment, if such it can
be called. Feigned sickness has been
known to touch the heart of Wisconsin
governor and to procure the release of a
hardened criminal. 1t is not improbable
that the Williams brothers, even suppos
ing them TO be captured and convicted,
will secure a release within g very few
wears after their incarceration.
The recent murderous assault upon a
party of Indians in this State, by couple
of desperadoes, is another instance in
which the death penalty should be in
voked. No more deliberate and unpro-
voked crime was ever perpetrated within
the limits of the State. Justice would
have been done if the murderers had
been turned over to the Indians, and
treated according to their law of can eye
for an eye, a tooth for tooth" Justice
will not be melted onto them, even if they
are convicted, under the laws of Mime
sofa. They will probably pass few
years in retirement at Saltwater, and
then emerge to begin anew their career
as knights of the road.
A citizens life should be held sacred
and be protected by the severest penal
ties against those who assail it. If there
was certainty that the person who took
his neighbours life, in malice or in pass
ion, would lose his own, there would be
fewer capital crimes, and. men could
walk the streets at night without fear of
footpads or assassins. The sentimental
ism that objects to hanging as punish
ment for murder is born of feeling akin
to the crime itself.
1t is just that atonement should be
made. Blood for blood is equity, and
nothing else will Salty the innate sense
of justice in the mass of the people 1t
may be barbaric to take life, even after
due legal process, but when life is taken
upon the gallows it lis simply an expia-
tion-a life for life.
If the people of Minnesota have regard
for their own personal safety and for the
safety of their sons and daughters, they
will make an earnest effort at the next
session of the legislature to have. the
death penalty for murder restored. 1t IS
imperative that something should be done
to stem the tide that has set in. A few
hangings might be tried as an expert
ment, and perhaps with good results.