Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-09-07

that II he could command the
means to employ the Rufus Cnoate
of the period, or, indeed, any other aoie
lawyer, the trial might be indefinitely
prolonged; that the chances were con-
sidera6ly better than ten to one against
his conviction; and if convicted, quite
as good as ten to one against his execu-
ton, does any one doubt that the muir
der would be committed, If the would
be slayer were very much in earnest?
Substitute for the Death Penalty.
We are now prepared for the final in.
quiry; what is proposed as an effectual
substitute for the death penalty, Let
US see if Imprisonment for life Will not
answer the requirement. As has al
ready been remarked, the design OF the
death penalty is twofold. First, to in-
capacitate the criminal from repeating
his crime; and second, to deter Others
from committing q like offence. This
is all. Restitution is impossible.
Reformation, in the brief period between
the sentence and the scattold, Is highly
improbable. But, clearly, society at
large is as perfectly protected from the
violence of q man who is confined In
prison for life as though he were "hung
by the neck until dead" Hanging does
nothing more than put him out OF tue
way. Does imprisonment for LIE 90
less?
Consider now the probable deterrent
effect of the suggested substitute for the
death penalty.
imprisonment for Life
Is q form of punishment which may
well appal the stoutest heart. A man
condemned to die and cherishiug a
a hope, however faint, of a reprleVe,
may at tine last, when all hope has fed,
brace himself by supreme effort
against the brief agony of the gallows,
and meet his fate with a certain forth
tude. But how if he look forward to the
certainty of a lifelong seclusion from
his fellOwmen? There is no room here
for mock heroism or bravado. There Is
no spectacle; there are no spectators;
Nothing which the word can give VIII
ever minister to his employment or
comfort, or break the sad monotony OF
his weary days. TO Others his punish.
ment is q standing menace, perpetual
warning. The lessons taught by the
gallows are of short lived. The man
dies and is forgotten. But the prisoner
for life breaches from his lonely cell
daily sermon to deter from crime.
The Deterrent Influence
of this form of penalty will be material.
ly enhanced by the greatly increazed
certainty of conviction after detection
and of punishment after conviction.
From the moment when it is made 70
appear that a possible mistake IS not lr-
reparable, trials for murder will be de-
prived af their anomalous and eXcep-
tiOnal features. The gallOws will no
longer cast its dark shadow across the
court room. Evidences will be weighed
and differences drawn, and probabilities
balanced, aud verdictS rendered, as IL
other criminal cases. There will be less
feverish excitement, fewer angry con-
trOverSiesi diminished attraction for the
idle and vicious; in word a mulch
more wholesome and attractive atmOS-
phere, material as we'll as moral, for the
exercise of calm reflection and deli0er-
ate Judgment. Aud now, If the ques-
lion be asked-and certainly nothing
could he more natural than such an in
quiry-How can the literal execution
of a lifesentence be insured? lanSwer:
BY a constitutional provision making
release from confinement impossible,
until before the court in which the
prisoner was convicted il shall De made
10 appear that he was innocent.