St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-12
uANGING 1s TILE REsr 1rE CIV Do

HANGING rs THE BEST I'VE CAN Do
There is something disgusting in reading
the exhibitions of pity and delicate attentions
shown by the people of Brooklyn toward the
murderer MILLS who was executed last Friday.
1t is very natural that in the shadow of the
gibbet there should be softening toward the
criminal, and the officers in charge should
bestow closer attention to the prisoners
health as the time for his execution draws
near. and to put guard over him that the
life which only the state has right to de-
prive him of is not let loose by some other
person. But there is no apology for that
sentiment which invests the murderer with a
halo of romance and sets him up as hero,
and seeks to cater to every within and vanity
of the guilty wretch. We are not prepared
to accept the opinion Of the Brooklyn Eagle
that this disgusting and spurious atmosphere
of romance is due to a recognition that
society is about to take a big risk in hanging
a condemned murderer, and that so awful
and uncertainty justified is the pen
altv that he deserves some compen-
sation at the end of life for its violent
withdrawal. 1t may be true, as the Eagle
suggests, that every year makes an execution
more horrible, the mawkish performances In
the condemned cell more loathsome, the
idealiZation of the criminal more blasphemous,
the final butchery in cold blood, with its re-
Hgious ceremonies and the mocking sanction
of infinite mercy to infinite cruelty, more In
describably narrowing and senseless. In
,Hnr hp11to oil Qc
attend hangings. 1t has not been long ago
that at Exeter in England the executioner
made three botches in an effort to hang JOHN
LEE and finally had to give over his work for
the day. The criminal suffered three deaths
and his sufferings must have been horrible.
And yet in the face of all these facts we are
not prepared to say that the abolition OF the
rope as a means of punishment for capital
offenses would be reform.
The subject of dispensing with the rope as
a means of execution has been for quite
number Of years internationally discussed in
the newspapers and reviews, and various
means have been suggested in the way of
substitution. The guillotine has been tried
and found to be hardly less barbarous
than the rope and great deal
more sickenlng. There are those who
have advocated poisoning, suffocation, or,
better than all, electricity. Various electric
devices have been suggested and the public
executioner could be altogether dispensed
with, as committee of physicians would
readily undertake the task of carrying out
the sentence of the law. Failure or bung-
ling would be next to impossible.
But after all it may be doubted whether
execution in this manner and robbing it of
some Of its CHASTITY details would not also
deprive it of some of its terrors. The very
thought of hanging as the means Of death is
unquestionably check upon crime. There
is the traditional odium which attaches to it
from the earliest period of history, and it is
notable that the Scripture is careful to men
ton this was the end for himself that JUDAS
chose The very uncertainty as to how long
the agony may last has unquestionably its
influence with criminals. Therefore with
all It's drawbacks and uncertainties, the rope
is still likely to hold its place as the most
suitable instrument Of justice for long time
vet