Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1885-06-27
MEMPHIS APPEAL.
IS: JUNE %, 1885
oAPITAL PuNIsHMENr.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
Capital punishment, at one time
awarded even for stealing a sheep, is now
in civilized countries mainly limited to
the crime of murder. Has society a
right to take human life If it has, is
it desirable to exercise that right
When murder is committed the muir
deFed person is not the only sufferer. A
wife loses a husband, father his child,
q whole family is deprived of its sup
porter, and so on, and society is deprived
of one of It's members. As far back as
history or tradition takes US, the custom
was general for some avenger to take the
life of the murderer, as a right conferred
by justice. While the right was not de-
MED it was found that the public welfare
was damaged by its exercise. Some mem
Der Of the family from which the avenger
had taken a justly forfeited life, himself
sought vengeance, and thus arose a sys-
TEN of recriminatory murders, often
handed down from father to son, to the
damage of the public peace. Sometimes
revenge was sought when the killing was
accidental, or, under the circumstances,
unsuitable. As civilization advanced, it
therefore became necessary to say to the
family of a murdered person-for the
public welfare you are denied the right
of avenging your wrong, but that right Is
recognized and the constituted authori-
ties will undertake to render the justice
due, not only to you. but to society,
which has been injured as well as your
self Here, then, society undertakes to
discharge a duty due to the murdered
person, duty due to his family
and associates, and a duty due TO
society which has been unlawfully
deprived Of one Of its members. Il
would be well if jUries, and those who
sign petitions for the pardon Of muir
derers, kept in view this three-fold nature
Of the duty of the State in cases Of muir
der. The matter is commonly viewed as
simply one between the murderer and
the public. But this is losing sight Of
the fact that the public authorities are
acting primarily injustice to the person
mCrdered, and as representatives bound
duly to avenge the wrong suffered by
family aud friends. Here are, succinct-
". the grounds upon which society has
the right to demand lite for a life, IN
leis circumstances require otherwise in
the interest of justice. Having this right,
is it desirable society should exercise it?
According to the nature of the case,
as here presented, society has not only
a right on its own behalf to do so, but it
is duty to do so, as it denies the ezer-
else Of the right to avenge in the case Of
family and friends. This view of the
matter is confirmed By experience, for
where the penalty of death is the most
strictly exaeted, there the cases Of muir
der are the fewest. So clearly has this
fact been demonstrated that countries
that have been led, on theoretical
grounds, to abolish the death penalty,
taught by sharp experience have after
wards restored it. Such, for instance,
was the case with Switzerland, where
the death penalty was abolished in 1874
and restored in 1879. The death penalty
is a preserver of human life against the
murderer to a degree Ho other
penalty is or can be. Substi-
tute. for instance, the next ightesi
penalty, life Imprisonment with hard
labor. There Is no more in the mode
and kind of Sentence to affect the public
mind, no more in the manner Of it %
impose a peculiar horror against the
crime, than the imposition Of iGDrison-
ment for a month. The criminal is i'm
INJURED in his cell, and there but few
minds follow him. As an example cal
culated to arouse public emotion and
affect public sentiment, as far as the
public actively see, the month and the
for life" sentence present no great diff
ference Another thing is that when
the murderer is punished with the same
Kind Of punishment as that allotted to
the counterfeiter and the burglar, the
sentiment as to the degree of crime is
lowered, and the crime itself ceases to
affect the community very much more
than those crimes do, and, as
we know, often less than the crime
of horse stealing. When the death pen
atty is awarded him who has inflicted
death, public attention IS aroused; the
strong, living man led to the place Of
execution; his pallid face, his trembling
limbs, his soul writhing in dread, the
drawn bolt, the suspended body, the dying
struggle-they may not be seen, but their
fearful import is felt. The consequence is
a peculiar awe connected with the crime
of murder, and profound reverence for
the saeredness of human life. Those
who have resided where few murderers
escape with life, and then only after the
most searching examination, and where
60 inhict death is almost certain to bring
death r. the slayer aud also in countries
where a life is rarely demanded for
a life, know that 20 kill the
murderer is to save life, aud to spare the
murderer is to render murder common
and comparatively little thought Of
The holy book declares that "the tender
mercies of the wicked are cruel. Cruel.
indeed, is the tenderness that weeps oye-
the murderer in his cell but has no
thought for his victim, no tears for the
bereaved widOE. the fatherless little
ones. the parents bowed down because
the son of their joy and pride has been
cut of by murderous hands. 70 plead
for pardon for the murderer, with no
thought for these. no regard for justice,
no reflection that to allow guilt to escape
Sts doom is to spread guilt, is wicked, and
cruel as it is wicked.
sPAIS AWAKENING.
That Spain is noted for narrow views