Arizona silver belt., 1888-09-01
Murder and its PHnishmenI,

hefe was haflStu lo-ouy III Ct' Louis the pcrpetrater of murder which, at the time of it's commission, mortified the whole country. The vie- tim was a man of education, of up- right life and high aims, and the mur- dersr was considered by those who had casually met him te he gentle man of refinement and of censidera- bic culture. But the manner in which Preller's hfo was taken showed such a cold blosded determination to mur- der that at first glance it would hard
 y seem possible that one reared by refined parents, and given such advan- tages of education as Breeh' had en- joysd could cowmlt sucA deed in SO deliberate a manner. The history of criminals ss9ms to show that the high CT the social standing of murderer, the more enlightened his mind and the greater his intellectual powers, the m3re horrible is ths character of thl deed.
 The cause of this difference in tho character of murder as committed by brutal rufiians and by men of high standing and education, IS probably due to the fuller realization by the latter ei the enermity of the crime and its terrible consequences to them sslvss. Their greater intelligence shows itself either ln tAe manner n which life is taken CT in the means made use of to cover up their orIme, and often in both ways. If as in the case of Professor Webster, who killed Dr. Parkman, m the Medical School of Harvard University, tho murderer acts under the influence Of a ht of sudden anger, the horrible ingenuity of the human mind IS displayed in the removal of the traces of crime, wh,eh in this case was effected by burning, piece by prsce, in the retort of the Chemistry Department the different portions of Dr, parkmsas body In the case of Breoks the cool prenedita- ten of murder was manifested in tho manner Of its execution, but the dis position of the body of the murdered man, while horrible enough, was hard ly comparable with that in tho ease just mentioned
 Murder Is brutal, and is in great measure dependent upon the failure te recognizs the value of human life. SaYages murder with as clear con science as a butcher kills an OK. Life with them has little value. Among those higher in intelligence and ciyiii- zstion 6 money value is placed upon human life, and 2 murderer could ease I his m,nd and satisfy bis victim ialni. ly by paying sum of money, which was tixsd, as among the SaSons in England, by law. As civilization has increased the value of lla bus in- creased, until now tho marderer is forced 10 pay fer his crime with what he is supposed 10 hold most dear his own life. Yet this extreme penalty has not caused murders to cease, and ! the questIsn has been raised whether [ it Is not desirable to throw around the execution et criminals such an atmos. ! phsre of mystery as will rob 1t of it's opportunity for mock heroism, and make tue very myStcrieusaess of the manner of death perhapsa a greater de. terrent influence than death itself. The old mode of hanging has lost many of its terrors, especially to the low and brutal. The proposal 10 use electricity n such cases, as suggested in New York, II is claimed has al ready had it's ,niiusnce upon the minds of the crImlnal classes of that state; but it is probable that no punishment will bo severe enough to prevent the commission Of murders. This can De prevented only by ths eradication ei brutal instincts by civilization, and the implantntion of the Idea of the true value of human life,-S. F. Bul- latin Anr 10-