New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1891-10-28

rightfully punished through motives o
revenge or retaliation. The law de
manding an eye for an eye, and lif,
for 2 life, was abrogated more thar
eighteen centuries ago, yet q large mum
ber of the advocates of capital punish
ment still cling to that ancient rule
How often we hear the expression, o.
others of similar import, when man il
on trial for his life, as this: ..He ough1
to be hung, for he deserves it, Such
a declaration is inspired by feeling o1
revenge or the belief that criminals
should be punished by way of expiation
for their infractions of the law. The
remark does not suggest the higher
thought of protection to society or Sc
curity to its members in their natural
rights. In the consideration of this SUBJ
ject the question necessarily arises: Has
the state any moral right to take human
life? ''To shed the blood of our fellow
creature is matter,'' says Sir William
Blackstone, ''that requires the greatest
deliberation and the fullest conviction
of ou1 own authority; for life is the i'm
mediate gift of God to man, which nei-
ther he can resign nor can it be taken
from him unless by command or per-
mission Of Him who gave it, That the
death penalty may be imposed by the
state and have the sanction and approx.
al of the Creator, [ am very much in
clined to doubt, yet I am aware that
this question opens up field for much
speculation and controversy. The prop
osition that such authority reposes in
the state is in direct contravention to
the teaching Of the sermon on the
mount. The state has no more right to
take human life than has the individual,
and this the individual has no right to
do except upon the principle of protec-
ton. The state can, l maintain, pro-
tect itself without destroying the lives
of its subjects. The gloom of the prison
is adequate to meet all demands of
justice in the way Of human punish
ment- If the law could be so amend
ed as TO shut out all reasonable hope of
a pardon after the sentence to life i'm
prisonment has been pronounced, such
punishment would, in my judgment, be
fully as effective to repress CRIME as the
infiction OF the death penalty. If it
subserves the ends ct justice and is nec-
essary to the welfare of the people to
subject the criminal to terrible pun
ishment no less than death, why not
burn him at the stake, boil him in oil.
pull him into pieces by horses, as was
once the custom? Make the example
as impressive as possible. If the state
has the right to put a man to death, it
must have coupled with it the right to
employ the particular means it chooses,
in the absence of prescribed mode, to
accomplish the desideratum. In either
case the act is barbarous and differs
from the others only in degrees. Admit
ting, for the sake of argument, that the
infiction of the death penalty is the
most effective means that can be en-
ployed for the repression of crime, if it
is morally wrong, the law should not be
upheld. A means may be effective and
at the same time be unjust. Punish
ment for offenses that are NAL a pro-
h'bita merely, such as shooting birds in
particular seasons of the year, would be
more effective as prohibition, Gould
this law be enforced) if it consisted in
death to the transgressor, instead of the
imposition of a small fine, though it
would be unjust and unreasonable.
While there is much conflict of opinion
On this point, it is my conviction that
the experience of the past fails to dem
onstrate that the law Of capital punish
ment is essential to the protection, the
happiness or the prosperity of any peo.
pie. History, with almost one unbroken
voice, declares that the milder and more
clement the laws OF a country are, the
more likely they are to be obeyed and
respected. Such q revolving and har-
rowing scene as that which was wit
messed at Redwood Falls recently has
the effect to arouse feeling Of hostility
to the law rather than to inspire respect
for it. The resolute courage and stoi-
cism Of the man who there met his death
elected kind of admiration tor him,
The criminal class doubtless note this.
and when contemplating murder and
weighing the consequences Of the act
intended, if detected and brought to
trial the horrors Of the gallows are in
some degree relieved in the thoughl
that BY dying game" as they term it,
they will be regarded by many as heroes
rather than criminals. The hanging o1
4 . 80