St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-08-18
No Capital Punishment for
Murdepers in Either Mich
igan or Wisconsin.
Striking Features in Some
State Statistics on the
Death Penalty.
Very Prompt Trials and Exc
cutions in Both England
and France.

trical execution in New York was TO
make the taking off as speedy
and painless as possible. Two
states in this Union have never had
capital punishment. They are Michi-
gan and Wisconsin. 1t is claimed that
the criminal record of these states de-
velops the fact that in proportion to the
population there are less murders III
these states than in other parts OF the
Union. Until few years ago the death
penalty was abolished in Minnesota and
Texas, but the legislatures Of
Those Stakes Re-Enacted the Law
Which makes death on the gallows pun
ishment for murder in the first degree.
Had there been capital punishment in
Minnesota at the time the Younger
brothers committed the famous North
field bank robbery and killed the cash
ier, they would have daugled at the end
of a rope. 1t was maxim III the
time of Blackstone that lit
is the certainty and not the
severity of punishment thdt re
strains men from crime" At that
period III offenses were punishable
with death. and yet there were more
offenders than now with twice the pop
ulation, and with murder the only capl-
tai crime. The statutes of the various
states of this republic present some pc
euliar facts relating to the degrees and
punishment of murder. In every
State except New York the gallows
is the instrument OF death.
Twenty-Five years ago hangings
were given in public, under the mis-
taken impression that the ignominous
death of the miserable Wreth would
have wholesome effect upon those who
witnessed it. Now, only q few South
ern states indulge
Public Executions.
It is a great show in North and South
Carolina, Mississippi. Arkansas and
Louisiana to have hanging, and peo-
pie travel many miles to see it. accom-
panied frequently by their families. In
all the large cities in the South exc
cutionS are conducted in private.
The condemned murderer in Vermont
is made to feel the horror of his position.
He is given one year and 4 day in which
to repent in solitary confinement before
being shuffled off. Ohio has removed
all the romance from hangings by hav-
ing them performed at dead of night in
the penitentiary, where the murderer
is sent as soon as convicted and sen
fenced The same law has been recent
ly adopted in Indiana, and other states
will doubtless will follow the example of
Ohio. Murder is the only capital OtfenSe
in all the states except North and South
Carolina, where burglary and rape are
added. Most states hang their murder
ers within sixty days from the date of
sentence, unless. as is too frequently
the case, they secure new trial, stay of
proceedings or communication. Ohio and
Indiana now require that at least 100
DAYS must elapse between the date OF
eral states. among them Ohio and Ken-
lucky. have what is known as
The IHabitual Criminal Act.
If q man or woman is convicted three
times of grand larceny they can be sent
to the penitentiary for life. but what
constitutes grand larceny is widely diff
ferent in states which have enacted
this severe law.
To steal goods or money TO the value
of SIS will send man to the state
prison in Kentucky, while in Ohio the
amount necessary to make that degree
of crime is $35. During the past ten
years determined effort has been made
to blot out the old superstition
about hanging men OH Friday. Coy.
Hartranft. of Pennsylvania, was quite
conspicuous in this movement. More
men were hung in this administration
than in any other twenty years of the
states history. He was the chief
executive when all the MOllic Maguires
were disposed of, and not one of the
half hundred murdCrcrS who died at
the end of a rope while uartranft was
governor went to his doom on Friday.
The governor in that state signs the
death warrant, and, while Hartranft
never'refused to do his duty, he
Always Changed the DAY
to Thursday or Tuesday instead of Fri
day. His efforts to break up the old
superstitious custom has borne fruit, fol
most of the murderers in the Northern
states are executed at some other time
than the provcrbial "hangman'S day."
The South, however, clipgs to the Gus
tom of the fathers in this respect. While
crime is probably more prevalent III
America than i'll any other civilized
country, it IS fact not generally
known that the United States in
flicts capital punishment oftener
tons combined. England hangs hel
murderers, and does it with neatness
and dispatch. 1t is done by profes
sional hangman, who is paid about $l0(
for each poor devil he sends to eternity
In Great Britain only three Sundays
must elapse before Il murderer is strung
up the following Monday. If he is con
Victed and sentenced Oh Saturday hi:
time on earth is shortened nearly {
week, but if on Monday he can cling tt
life six days longer. Monday is hang
mans day III Eus land. 1t is generally
conceded that
The French Are in Advance
of nearly all nations on the subject O.
capital punishment. The guillotne i.
employed to deal out death. 1t is no
often used, because the French are
humane people. They will never TAKE
the life of fellow-creature if there arr
any eXIenuating circumstances in thu
crime. The only class of murderer:
who are almost certain TO lose theil
heads are those who kill deliberately
and in cold blood for the purpose
of robbery. If one Frenchman ha!
cruelty wronged another, and thu
injured man should commit murder, hi.
punishment will not exceed imprison
ment for life: The New York Law
under which Kcmmlcr was killed ha
borrowed tiiS tuSR vi h0t1plilS tl0 Gull
demned ignorant oe the hour of hi
death from the french, who wake til,
q prisoner from his sleep and hustle hin
off to the guillotine before he has full.
recovered his faculties. From the tim
he is awakened until his heat
rolls into the basket hardly NOR,
than five minutes elapse. Many sci
entists claim that bleeding is the mos
painless way of killing murderer
Germany is another country which ha
a great antipathy to the death penalty
although murders are not often hear'
of. An amusing incident occurred il
one of the German provinces shor
time age. A man was confined in jai
under sentence of death. He was tn
first criminal condemned to death il
lin for RI fnrtxr