Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1883-03-12
not, are the two great primary objects of

. IfUui cutuSCot VII. "uo al
gued that capital punishment was all right
because 1t came down to US with the sanction
of the centuries; it was hoary with age,
and therefore should be revered The
practice of human slavery is nearly as old
as the human race. Polygamy is hoary
with age. If antiquity gave character to an
institution, we should not swelter and tester
to-day under this blot of polygamy on our ma
tional escutcheon. If capital punishment is
| fixed because of its antiquity. could We not
make the same arguments for human slavery
and polygamy: There is altogether too
much antiquity about the gallows for US to
restore it in Maine in the last half of the
| 10Th century. Consider the cruel maxims
and ferocious practices of the past in the ma
tions of antiquity and see if we want to follow
the revolving precedents which they would
establish. Mr.. Lebroke here pictured the
awful corruptions in morals. the afro
| cious crimes which were common. and
the uncertainty and barbaric conditions
of human life in Greece and Rome in
the period of the decline, to prove that man
kind has made glorious advance and progress
ip the revolving centuries which have inter-
vened since then.
No execution. no taking of human life can
be justified unless it can be shown to be ne
cessary. Who are the judges of the neces-
sity? Is human opinion infiallible in this
regard? In the reign of Henry VIII, from
1909 to l547, two thousand persons a year
were execute d for thirtysix years. Seventy
two thousand persons in thirty-six years, in
tina, beautiful little i.le of the ocean which
may be sailed the mistress of arts and arms
and preemnent in the names of the world.
During the reign of this monarch.
Henry VIII. thought it was necessary that
death and slaughter should be meted out
without mercy for the slightest infraction of
the law Of his kingdom. Even the gentle
men who are advocating the death penalty
to-day are willing to admit that he was mis-
taken on this question of necessity. Our
English ancestors waded in rivers of blood,
and fought for centuries at last to wrest
Iagna Charta from. the weak and wicked
King John by compact consummated at Run
nymede in 1915. Even after that precious
parchment had been won at the point of the
spear and edge of the battle axe at such
cost, their liberties were not preserved; tyr
amy encroached upon liberty. King John
would excuse his trampling on the rights of
his subjects on the plea of ''necessity' and
the divine right of kings. Necessity" de-
manded the life of Arthur. ''Bloody
Mary, daughter of Henry VIII, and
Catharine of Aragon, the descendant
Of proud line of hidalgos, believed
that the safety of the Holy Church demanded
the extirpation of heresy, and in her short
reign of five years, from 1858 to 1858, 1927
persons were burned at the stake in England.
presume that .'bloody Mary" thought this
necessary" and that 1000 followers of Sir
Thomas Wyatt should be executed at one
time. That little band Of heroes who by the
cruelty of James l. and the hierarchy were
forced to flee from England to Levden in
nN1I At,n
bleak shores of New England in 1920, landing
at Plymouth when the salt water froze to
their garments, one-half their number diving
from exposure the first winter-these men
whom revere, from whom the nation got its
inspiration in education, law and religion
what did they believe? | find in 1862
that there were 40 Offences punishable by
death in Massachusetts set-out in a single
chapter. The old Puritans were honest ;they
were "a merciful as they dared to be; they
believed that is was necessary that the
death penalty should be imposed for many Of
fences which are hardly known to any statutes
to-day such as disobedence to parents. So
they were honest when they banished Roger
Williams, when they prosecuted, tortured and
executed the Quakers and when they burned
the witches under legal sentence and ''neces-
sity" The world has reached higher plane
which were formerly inflicted are unnecessary
and cruel Here in Maine we have swept
them all away, and now we are asked to take
this backward step and restore capital punish
ment.
Since this discussion has been IN progress
in this legislature atrOcious murders have
been committed in Massachusetts,, New
Hampshire, Connecticut, New Jersey,
Illinois and other States in which
capital punishment is administered.
In these cases the fear of the gal
lows did not deter from crime You can't
blot out crime by legislation alone. 1t is
the moral sentiment and religious education
which makes life safe in community. and
not jails and gibbets. the rack and the cross.
1t is cheaper for State to educate and
christianize the rising generation than to fur
nish courts to try them, and prisons to con-
fne them and machinery for execution. Why
is life safer in Maine than in Texas? 1t is the
different moral sense of the people. Every
one knows tina: in those States where there
are frequent executions there are frequent
homicides and frequent lynchings. Not
many murders are committed in this
State for which a person could be hung,
even under this law. In the eight
years prior to 1876 when the law in
flicting the death penalty ia Maine was
repealed, % homicides were committed; in
the seven years succeeding there were 23
Murder is a sort Of epidemic; it is like the
tide which ebbs and flows. / believe with
Chief Justice Appleton, with Lord Brougham
Sir James Mcintosh. with ex-Governors
Washburn, Perham, Connor, Davis and
Morrill-men who have had their attention
| called especially to this most momentous
question. that it is the certainty and celerity
and not the severity of punishment which
deters men from crime.
All the cruelty of the past has been
elided from our legislature. Now in 1893
we are asked to pass = hasty bill thrown
into the legislature, amended. and then
rent TO pieces in the House, one
learned gentleman says, .emastulated and
eviscerated, until its sponsors don't know
whether it is "Yawcob' or not '.Yawcob.' -
| There is no call from the people of the State
for this legislation. think a majority of the
voters are against it. You may put it down as
my opinion that the man " no votes for the bill
will regret it. The dominant party will
! be responsible for the legislation en-
acted this winter, and if they pass law
which is uncalled foo, nay, more. which is
obnoxious to large proportion of the people
/ of the State, they will be held responsible.
! The spirit for which | am contending will
not be crushed out the wheels of progress
cannot b. stopped. As the most devout fol-
lower of the risen ImmaaueI exnecfs IN ho