The state journal. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1883-1885, 1885-01-10

unnishment is primarily TO be sought II
he execution of criminal laws rather thar
snped vet deliberation, when protracteo
tp ench an extent as to become delay, ];
n reality mockery of justice. Our
laws are sufficiently jealous oil the
rights Of defendants III capital cases 10
prevent any indecent haste in their tria
and punishment, but it may be seriously
questioned whether the opportunities fol
delay offered by existing statutes do not
tend TO defeat the most salutary public
purposes of our Penal Code. 1t is now
often the case that prisoners are executed
at time when the public has
ceased to think Of them or their
crimes, and SO long after the com
mission of the Oflense that the peopIe
have lost all recollection OF it, ana need
to make inquiry anew 70 ascertain inc
reason why one of their fellows IS Delng
hanged When this occurs it is doubtful
If a6v other good is accomplished than
merely inficting the vengeance of the law
nnon the I.ody of the particular offender.
The nublic lesson is lost, and the impress
aion intended to be made upon the minds
Of the vicious, and all others, of the GER
tain, prompt and memorable majesty OF
retributive justice Is, to q great extent,
destroyed.
Provision should be made requiring
capital cases taken to The Supreme Court
to be perfected by the defendants and
heard and decided by that court within
sixty days after judgment on the verdict,
and giving such cases priority over all
others at any Of the sessions and in any
districts of the court. After affirmation
by the Supreme Court the law should
require the warrant of execution to issue
Immediately, fixing the day Of
execution not less than thirty
nor more than sixty days from its
issue, and the Board of Pardons should
be required to hear and dctermineall such
cases before the day fixed for execution
of sentence. OF course the Legislature
may, in its wisdom, if it sees proper to
carry this suggestion into effect, lengthen
or shorten the periods named. Undoubt-
eddy something should be done to give
certainty and reasonable promptitude to
the execution of criminal Justice, and put
stop to the prolonged delays SO often
occurring, to meet which the Governor is
frequently required to again and again
withdraw death warrants and re-
prieve the prisoners to more dis
tant days, to conform to the slow march
Of penal laws. If this evil can be cor
rected, it will do away with much of the
disfavOr into which Capital punishment
has fallen, and much of the mawkish
sentimentality that surrounds the scaffOld.
The offence and its punishment being
brought nearer together, the public will
see the meetness and business Of the retri-
button. The prisoner, too, will be more
likely to make proper preparation for his
inevitable fate when he is no longer sub
Ject to the fluctuation Of hope, to which
he is now invited by our laws to cling.
Recommends Salary for the Secretary of
State and Attorney General and no Fees.
l recommend the fixing of a definite
salary for the Secretary Of the Common
wealth, and the Attorney General.
partly by fixed salaries and partly by
fees. The tendency OF recent legislation,
the spirit of the Constitution, and the
sentiment Of the people, are opposed to
the fee system for compromising public
officers, and it should be abolished
wherever it Still exists. The re-
Enumeration of all officials should
be by fixed and definite salaries, so that
the public may be enabled without trou-
BILE TO know exactly what they pay their
servants. and how much their Govern
ment costs them. Fees are taxes or eX-
actions from the substance of the people,
no matter how they are collected, or by
what name they are called.
The Members of the Legislature should
Have Fixed and Definite Salary
In this connection occasion is also taken
10 urge the passage of law fixing q spe-
cihc salary for members of the General
Assembly. The existing law upon this
subject, while technical compliance
with, is in reality an evasion Of the con
stitutiOnal direction that the members
shall be paid "sa'ary" to be fixed by
law" There can he no doubt that the
popular understanding OF that provision,
and Of the meaning OF the word salary"
Is that the compensation Of legislators
shall be by certain specific and invaria
bic sum, not regulated in its amount by
the action or non action of the leg
islatOrs themselves. In the popular
mind, at least, the word salary"
has obtained Specification COntradistin-
guished from the idea of pay by the
day. Moreover, the debates in the con-
vention upon this clause OF the Constitu-
ton, and the public discussion Of the
subject at the time, leave no room for
doubt that per diem compensation OF the
Legislature was regarded as an evil, and
that the section upon legislative pay en-
bodied in the fundamental law was in
tended to abrogate that method OF official
reCompence. The act Of 1874, however,
fails to carry out the spirit and intent
OF the Constitution, and continued
its provisions, at least in that part
it giving members ten dollars a day for
each day not exceeding fifty that the Leg
islature extends its session beyond one
hundred days. The result has been TO
bring scandal and reproach upon the
Legislature among the people, who have
not hesitated to suspect that the prOlonga-
ton Of its sessions by the General Assem-
bly, to the utmost limit Of time for which
compensation could be claimed, has been
for the sole purpose of increasing its pay
TO the last dollar it may lawfully take
from the Treasury. Such distrust by the
people Of the motives of their representa-,
tives is thing TO he deplored, and urg-
emily demands correction. The Legs
lature, therefore, for the preservation of
It's own dignity and the protection of
itself from the imputation of selfish and
unpatriotic motives, as well as in obedi-
lnce to plain public demand and the
spirit OF the Constitution, ought to
promptly pass law fixing definite ana
lnvariable salary of a reasonable amount
lcr the compensation Of its members.
The practicability Of providing for the
payment Of salary by the month, as mem
bers OF Congress are paid, is we'll worthy
of consideration.
No Money or Property Qualifications for
Electors
l recommend the passage Of resolu-
ton submitting to the people for abortion
an amendment tn thp ('OnStitntior IoI