The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1883-10-10
THE ESCAPE OF MURDERERs

THE ESCAPE OF MURDERERS.
The alarming increase of murder in
every section of the country, is attribu-
ted to the escape of murderers from any
punishment for their crimes. If the
penalty for murder was as certain as
the punishment for stealing a loaf of
bread, and criminals so understood it,,
there would be but few murders. All
the mercy is shown to the murderers and
none to society. 1t is a serious matter
to take the life Of q human being, but
the murderer should have thought of
this before he imbued his hands in
blood. The Southern people are oft
en- tainted by the North with the fact
that we seldom punish murderers, and
this is given as the cause of so many
homicides in the South. But the fol-
lowing extract from the New York
Herald, Of Tuesday last, shows that it
is as easy for the murderer to escape
punishment in the Moth as in the
South: ''1t appears that from 1860 to
1882, ITO persons were tried in Mass
achusetts for murder in the first degree.
Of this number only 20 were convicted
and only is paid the extreme penalty
of the law. OF those convicted one
committed suicide and IL got their SEN
fences committed. Here then during
a period Of little more than 20 years
were ITO murderers in one State and
only l6 executions. In Connecticut
during period of 80 years, from 1850
to 1880, 81 persons were tried for muir
der in the first degree. Of these only
10 were convicted and not more than
seven were hanged. The statistics for
other States would doubtless show sim
liar results. In New York city there
were 1856 homicides during the four
years ending with 1877. This was an
average Of nearly one homicide a week.
During the same period there were four
executions, or just one year. The
number of persons tried for murder in
the first degree in the city is about IS
every year, the number hanged does
not exceed on the average Of one or
two a year. These figures are full of
significance. They show that either
through the fault Of the law itself or
its administration by juries the statue
imposing the death penalty for murder
is in the vast majority Of cases dead
letter. They further show that while
murder is q common crime the murder
er in great many instances succeeds
in escaping punishment entirely" The
figures given by the Herald apply to
all sections, to every State in the
Union. The failure to convict murder
ers is unquestionably the cause Of the
gradual increase of murder. When
criminals go unwhipt Of justice every
day it is not surprising that crime is on
the increase. The impatient public at
tribute this immunity for murder to the
laws delay aud to the courts which
permit appeals on bubbles and new
trials on technicalities, and there is
much complaint Of the Judges for not
hustling murderers off to the scaEold.
This complaint is all wrong, for the
Judge cannot perjure himself and vio-
late the law to precipitate the trial,
conviction and execution of a murder
er however appalling his crime may be,
in order to appease public clamor. So
ciety is as much endangered by the H.
legal conviction Of. criminal as it
would be by bribing the jury for his
acquittal. The law Of procedure in
courts of justice is as much part of
the law of the land as the law which
pnnishes crime, and the criminal is as
much entitled to its protection as if
he were innocent. All men have the
right to be tried under the law and by
the law, and when that law has been
infringed in the trial, regardless of
popular clamor, the higher courts will
correct the error, although the correc-
ton may result in the guilty escaping
punishment. As the Lord Chief JUS
tice Of England recently said, Though
a murderer should be taken red-hand-
ed in the act, if there is a flaw in the
Indictment the criminal must have the
benefit Of it; and it must always be SO
where the reign Of law is supreme. As
none are above the law, so none are so
humble as not to be within the scope Of
its protection. The upright judge must
execute the law as he finds it. He has
no other power. He cannot alter or
change it. He cannot set himself
above the law which he has to admin
lister, or make or mould it to suit the ex-
egencies Of particular occasion" Err
ror in the administration of Justice can