Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-03-01

from the people until after the election.
He then took up the matter Of statistics anu
argued that they did not warrant the conclu-
sion that the increased number of homicides
is the result of the non-enfJrcement Of the
death penalty. He also gave statistics TO
| inert aud controvert the proposition that the
increase in the crime of murder is due to the
war. He conceived the only question to be.
did the House feel safe in their lives and
homes to let the matter remain for two years
longer for decision by the people.
MIR. Heath said:
Mr.. Speaker: Had followed my inclina-
tons, would be silent in this discussion.
But the pressure of stern public duty com
pels me 10 define NV position. though l am
aware that my views will have but little in
tiaence upon YOUR judgment. If ever meas
ure required independent Judgment. it is this
Here. If ever, each member shoul have. and
will have, the courage of his convictions.
Society demands thar all criminal legislation
should be the product of cool, calm delibera-
ton that its basis should be the eternal
principles % right; that its end should be
justice Justice TO the prisoner AMI justice
To the State. The passion of prejudice and
the weakness OF sympathy should be strangers
at the council table, where lite and liberty
are at ,take. Montesquieu has well said. 1T
l. upon the excellence of the criminal laws
that chiefly the liberty of the citizen depends ="
The discussion has wandered from the is
sue. What is the proposition? Shalt death
be the punishment for cool, deliberate, will
full murder committed with premediration. or
As the law puts it. with express malice
aforethou yht Gentlemen have COMPOUNDED
killing and murder. This bill covers only
wilful murder, express malice where one
with a sedate and deliberate min ami form
ed design doth kill another We remand to
the present law the second degree. where
malice is implied from ''any deliberate, an
act committed suddenly. without any or with
out considerable provocation.'' We leave
manslaughter TO the charity Of the Law that
now envelopes it.
Not every killing is murder. Not every
murder is to be punished bv death. 1t is the
murderer that lies in wait for his victim; it is
the murderer who coolly plans to destroy IA
human life: il is the murderer who deliber-
ately intends t. slaughter for money, for
malice, for revenge.
Has the State the right to take life? Some
gentlemen argue nay. because. they say, the
iniraction Of Divine law should be left to the
Judgment of just God. If that be true, re-
peal your statutes against larceny and adult
terry. When the finger Of Deity wrote upon
the tables of stone. Thou shalt not kill"
beneath the sentence shone in letters of liv-
ing light, ''rhou shalt not steal" and "rhou
shalt not commit adultery" The logic o
the opposition to the death penalty leads tn
criminal code without punishment for crime.
The murderer and the petty thief. under the
new dispensation. are to be educated in Up
mans moral philosophy and DIR. Hopkins's
Law of Love-"
commend to the gentleman from Bangor,
whose belief in the power of edu cation seems
unlimited, the saying that ''education will
not necessarily make man moral; if so Napo-
leon would have been just, and Bacon hon
est" Pope well said,
aft pa. ts allure thee, think how Bacon shin'd,
The wisest. brigh. ST. meanest, of mat kind"
was rejpiced to hear the learned gentleman
from Readf-ld prove that the legislation of a
wandering tribe of haIf-civilized desert rob
bers was not binding upon the enlightened
people of the nineteenth century. | agree
with him. reject all arguments for the
death penalty drawn from the Mosaic code.
We have no State religion.
We are tn leyislate for the world as
find it: not for Utopia. not for the transcend
pnt Al philosophers of Swifts Lapuia; but for
present humanity, SCARED and marred by
class of professional criminals that continual
" wage war against society. We are to
frame legislation in harmony with Gods law
as written on the tables Of His living
revelation, the human heart and the great
book of Nature spread out tor all mankind to
read.
Is the death penalty expedient? is the only
material question addressed to u, today.
Will it lessen the crime of wiful murder?
1t is idle to deny that wiifnl murder is on
the iner ,ase. The increase of wlfll NJ Irder
g., al e., .c la. &
the law has aught t. do with it. That muir
der has increased the gentleman from Read
field admits. But. he saws, it ia not the
change Of punishment. Oh, no, What Ia il?
What in the name of Heaven is il? Why,
fprsooth, the cit zen soldiery returning from
the horrors of rivil war have demoralized
society. and inculcated views cheapeninv
human life. l repel the imputation upon the
veterans Of Getty sburg and Appomattox. The
blue coated n,hlemen that fought for the
majesty of las. returned to their homes. their
shops and their farms with a respect for law
elevated almost to reverence. But were il
true, the increase in crime has been. not in
the eight years Immediately after the war,
but in the years now upon us.when the sword
has rusted in the scabbarl for 10. these 20
years.
1t is argued that the death penalty Can
IN no wise lesseneu the amount OF
crime. But in the same breath they tell IL
that punishment should be to deter Others
from committing the same crime. Why to
deter, if the carnival of crime goes on. unaf-
fected by the penalty? Which horn of the d.
lemn,a will the gentlemen t,ke?
rest my belief in the death penalty large
ly upon one ground-that no other punish
ment is commensurate with the crime of will
full murder. To-day, your law cheapens hu
man life by degrading it to the level of prop
ert,. The burglar enters your house. You
awake. Detected, he knows the prison door
NAV close upon him for life. To murd,
YOU and destroy the evidence would bring to
him no additional punishment. lie shoots
you like dog. This is the protection of
your law.
Coming home from market in the peace of
an autumn night. happy in the thought Of the
comforts you can buy for the wife and little
ones waiting you at home, the high
way robber stops you. To rob you is
quick work, to murder you il quicker Dead
men tell no tales" Ii makes the escape of
the robber easier, and the penalty is the same
In the dark hours of the night, when all
nature is at rest. miscreant fires your dwell
ing house. You rush out. clasping in YOUR
arms your innocent babe to save her from
the ruthless flames. At the gate you meet
the criminal, face to face. Your evidence
would consign him to the prison cell for life
Instantly the bullet speeds its way. and you