Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-13
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
THE NEW YORK ELECTRIC METHOD
COMPARED WITH HANGING.

adopted by the state Of New York Is attract
ing attention in every part of the country.
Ono OF Its warmest advocates in st. Louis is
Judge G. Normile, Judge of the criminal
court As the one judicial officer of St Louis
who tries men for their lives, his study Of the
execution subject has not alone been by
books, but by observation. He Is member
OF the New York Medico-Legal society, an
association Of doctors and lawyers, which has
correspondents In Europe and throughout
America Judge Normile is vice president of
the society for Missouri.
SAYS HANGING rs BRUTAL.
sit has been alleged that electricity does
not kill quickly, said the Judge "This Is the
Wow Of DR.. Hammond. Well, do not con-
sder his statement as of great weight. His
Inaccuracies have been too many on other
mattsrs However,, am led to think that
before New York adopted the electrical pro
cess there was a conviction in favor Of the
wire rather than OF the barbaric rope It Is
a step In the direction of humanity. Hang
ing Is disgrace TO our age. 1t il brutal to
an extreme, and every brutal act begets H.
salt. II has debasing influence on all who
witness It In my experience as prosecutor
and judge, have, In eighteen yoars, noticed
constantly increasing prejudice in the Jury
box against capital punishment. Jurors can
not serve because they are opposed to It,"
Are you committed to its abolitionin
Opposition to every form Of death punish
mont is growing. AS a member of the Med
ico-Legal society, / have been requested to
use my influence In favor OF the enactment of
law in Missouri resembling the New York
electrical statute. While may not be able
10 do all that would wish to, l will commu-
nicate with members of the legislature In be-
half OF it to.the extent of my ability"
The judge Is In favor, as he has always
been, Of privacy in executions and less news
paper notice of the event. He deprecates the
show features Of hangings, and approves the
Ohio and Missouri enactments for few spec
tators and rapid work. He has had expo
rience in sentencing, and, as prosecuting
attorney, in securing the conviction of crimi-
mails. AS circuit attorney he prosecuted
and convicted ten men who were executed,
and as judge be has sentenced three to be
hung.
Il have seen but one of them executed, and
that was when serving as circuit attorney
II was against my wishes to see it, but 1t was
my purpose to see justice done decently and
- the law directed
The guillotine is worse than the rope"
said the judge ''There Is an intoxication in
the sight or blood with some depraved nat
ures. The Spanish garrote system of execu-
ton, which once saw in Cuba, is less objec-
tionable, as it insures speedy If not instanta-
Reous DEATH
The judge became discursive on the topic.
His examination into the legal and physical
aspects Of the subject. caused him to say:
sour Anglo-Saxon ancestors, from whom we
have derived our notions of crimes and Dun
ishments, were brutal. Only $50 years ago
there were upon English statute books 80
offenses for which the death penalty was
prescribed The hanging, drawing and quar-
tering process bespeaks a sense of humanity
below the'level of Comanche Indian. The
student Of criminal jurisprudence in investi-
cation Of ancient notions is appalled, Nor
have we altogether outgrown the brutality Of
our ancestors. For poaching or shooting
rabbit or for trivial offenses of any sort the
carnival Of blood went on and there was a
terrific slaughter of humanity which our
later civilization Is slowly rebukingn
JUDGE EooEAN's VIEWS.
Judge E. A Noonan, of the court Of GRIM
hal correction, submitted very pleasantly to
an interview on the subject in the interval of
Judicial dispensation His views are directly
opposed to those Of his colleague Although
IN his court mercy tempers justice and he Is
personally and at heart kindly generous, he
believes In the most rigid punishment Of
murderers as necessary protection to society.
II do not believe In the electricity PROPOSE
ton, ;" he mid sit tends to make death easy
and dignified. We want our murderers to
realize the horrors Of the rope and the gal
lows. In my long experience as prosecutor
and judge have met many murderers, and
In every case these men were afraid Of the
rope. They do not know how painful it is.
They do not know how long they may hang
and struggle, especially If the hangman is
nervous and makes q mistake Every man
always asks the sheriff to do good job, and
to do it quickly"
Continuing, Judge Noonan snid: 1--WE do
not In this advanced age look upon hanging
as rejecting the eye for an eye or tooth for a
tooth idea Of our ancient law makers. We
must protect society by fear when dealing
with the animal natures of SO many men
Tho fear Of hell or hope of heaven has no eff
feet upon a murderer, the burglar, the gar
roter and Midnight assassin. The burglar who
knew that he was TO be burnt at the stake IL
he went into house would rather risk being
caught and risk death by more painless
system than eternal fire and torture These
dangerous foes Of life and property must be
taught severe LESSONS by example / am,
therefore, against the New York method. It
Is q pleasure to die in that manner IL is no
matter OF fear to the criminal, while the dis
graceful ignorniny Of the rope has horror
even to the most deprayed For example,
msn who pray to be shot, and, as they say, to
die 'honorsbly,' or men who suicide rather
than fac, the moose. 10, sir; you can quote
ms as In favor Of hanging, and more of it.
Ny idea would b. TO haze the wretch suffer
fifteen minutes rather than be killed in
stantly."
OF courss Judge Noonan believes In privacy
and In the proper administration Of such
events, but no insists upon tho gallows as a
proper punishment and preventive Of crime.
ST. Louis Republic.
A Floridian states that it takes just half a.
much food and clothing for his family in
Florida as it did in Tennessee, whore hs for.
msrly resided. The difference In temperature