Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-08-08
ON THE ELECTROCUTlON.
What the New York Press Has to say with
Respect to the CHASTITY Experiment

Tn one respect at least the execution of
Kemmlcr was dismal and unfortunate
failure.
II will fail to end the unparalleled con
troYersy that has been wnged over the SUD
stitution of the dynamo for the Gallows.
On the contrary, il must revive that con
trOyersy and give to II Ygor when IL
never had before.
While Yesterdays experiment was fail
ure in the sense we have mentioned, II
does not show that this mode of intllctlng
the death penalty Is not success. ne
failure was due not TO the system but the
bunrlinp. inefficient way in which the
execution was managed. Tie fault was
with the doctors and the electricians.
The result Is. Of course, disappointment
10 all who have sought 10 eliminate the
horrors Of the gallows from the admlnistra-
tion OF Justice, and who have urmly be
leved that the desired reform was found
IN execution by electricity. The influence
tnat nave been at work IN court hnd out
of court to defeat tins reform-not tor puO-
lie. but for private reasons-wlil now be
brought into play again with renewed de-
termination and audaclty.
But no backward step should be taken
hastily So great reform ~ not TO be
abandoned without good reason.
As we have said the bungllng work OF
Yesterday does not prove that execution by
electricity is failure. II does not war
rant return to the barbarity of the gal
lows.
Had the execution been properly and
efficiently managed II would have proved
the success of the new system beyond az
dispute. An electric.light concern should
not be allowedto take advantage OF the
failure TO further its own private interests.
NO FAILURE OF THE METHOD.
lTimesl
Perhaps il would be unjust to assume
that preparation was made tor q failure OF
the apparatus ut Auburn prison. but II Is
at least evident that Inadequate prepara-
ton was made for its success. IL seems
TO be admitted now that the apparatus was
defective, and that it did not work proper
w. For months strenuous efforts had been
made in the interest of the electrical com
pany whose current was 20 be used 10 pre-
vent the execution of the law III kemrn-
ler's case. and Warden Durston was evil
IDENTITY in sympathy with those efforts. This
has generally been attributed TO ms repug
nance to the unpleasant duty that was to
fail to him in being the first to execute a
death sentence by the new process, but the
recent tinkerng with the apparatus and
the change OF the fatal chair from one room
to another at the last moment, without APP
parent reason, have given a suspicious
appearance to the final preparations.
Wherever the fault may be II Is clear
that the arrangements were bad. III was
the opinion OF experts that to insure GER
tainty a current of from l,5cO to l,eOU
volts should be used. That applied to
Kemmler seems to have wobbled " from
700 to 300. but not TO have risen above
the latter figure.
The worst of this bungling is not that it
was half as bad as clumsy hanging, which
has been known to last for many minutes
with every indication of conscious suffer
ing on the part of the wretched victim, but
that il viii be seized upon by the oppo-
nents of execution by electricity, aided by
the opponents of capital punishment IN
any form, to work up popular sentiment
against the law. The sensational descrlp-
tons, largely the work Of excited imaglna-
tons. are calculated to aid such design.
No doubt the advocates of this method Of
executing the death penalty ara for the mo-
ment put upon the defensive, but they
have not failure OF the method TO face
Nothing that they have claimed has been
rofuted. The first trial was of necessity an
experiment, and ii was not conducted with
that care and GOODNESS that were requi-
site TO insure success. But II was
made clear that with the current that has
been recommended for the purpose,
with appliances free from defect III con-
structlon and operation. and with firm
and confident application OF the process.
there could hardly be any question of in-
slant and painless death. 1t would be
absurd 10 talk of abandoning the law and
going back TO the barbarism of hanging,
and II would be as puerile to propose TO
abolish capital punishment, because the
new mode of execution was botched III its
first application.