San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-05-16
THE ALBANY BILL.

abolishing capital punishment, is
bill that ought to pass. The LIGHT
has said on more than one occasion
that hanging is a mighty poor use 10
put man to. flour boosted CIVIL
zation can devise nothing better than
killing as a remedy for human Vlo-
lence it confesses judgment against
itself, in that it resorts to violence. me
records of crime do not show that
hanging or any other method OF legal
killing deters from crime, and untll
that is shown it may very safely De
held that the end 80 far does not
sarctifv the means. Our entire GRIM
NAL system is doubly faulty; faulty
in its conception of the real mission OF
the criminal process, faulty IN us
methods of reaching even It's own UNI
worthy ends. AS to the tlrst, the real
design of criminal process, 1t should
he TO reform, not to punish; to cure
an evil. not to murder under sanction
of law forms the perpetrator OF the
evil. Reformation of criminals, as
the surest way Of abrogatlng crime,
should be intelligently undertaken,
and when so undertaken crime Will
be materially lessened. AS it now Is,
the hangman's halter lops OIL here
and there an Over-ripe criminal, leaV-
ing behind the whole brood Of lesser
criminals to mature and inlet thelh-
selves upon society. To reform the
criminal is to cut the very tap root OF
bios coming crime, and the buds ana
green fruit on that stem die.
Leaving this question OF crlmlnai
reformation, as too common sense ana
humanitarian for our existing Chris
tan civilization, and accepting pun
ishment as the only remedy for criml-
nal excuses, the criminal pro,
cess is still faulty. Courts and
legislatures do not consider that the
true deterrent from crime is the GER
tainty OF punishment, not Its seVerl-
ty. Let the impression be beddeG
in the criminal consciousness, rlveted
there by experience, that conviction
will follow crime and crime Will
largely cease. Our courts do not
punish more than one in five OF the
criminals brought before them, and
criminals of the country are ever
brought before the courts. Criminal
prosecution is a game and the most
skillful player wins. Money stocks
the cards nine times out Of ten; not
that brides are taken, but the very
constitution of the courts and the
methods of criminal procedure and the
intricaces of law forms and the SUD-
tleties of law evasiOns. all of which
are at the command of money, render
convictions of wealthy criminals eX'
ceedinglv uncertain. Better far tOI
society that a prosecution should not
he undertaken, especially where the
moral sense of community recognizes
that crime has been committed ana
that the Indictment is just, than q
mistrial or an aCQuttal should re-
suit. Fewer trials for crime, and
those trials not made u farce; the
conviction forced upon criminals that
a trial for actual crime is equivaIen
70 conviction, this will deter from
| crime. The criminal code should b'
| simpIified. 1t should include only
| those offences which society in gen
! eral recognizes as actual crimes, ant
! the conviction for these should b'
certain: fOllOwingas unvaryingly as
the night follows the day. Maxi
conviction not only certain bu
speedy. Destroy forever in the Grim
! NAL mind this illusion of the laws
delays. Do this and there will b
less complaint about the inettectua
results Of criminal process. The tru
| theory is reformation not punishment