Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1891-07-16

were exempt from its disgrace. In the
United States it has fingered longest in
the old slave States, where the whip In
the hands of the slave driver was IA
miliar instrument of torture. The fact
Of having to deal with a large colOred
population, and the popular idea that
logging is the only reasonable punish
ment for the negro culprit is, possibly,
the chief cause of its retention in Della
ware. The intended disgrace Of the Gull
prit, more than the infictiOn of pain by
the lash, has caused its general disuse.
The Chief Justice Of the State of Della
ware defends the whipping-pOSt and the
pillOry as reasonable and
effective preventative of crime The
rigid enforcement of the law furnishing
thieves and burglars with the pillOry
and the lash, enables the State 20 dis
pense with warehouses and peniten-
tiarieS, and also to protect herself from
being Oyerrun by the criminal pOpula-
tion OF the large adjoining States.
There are other reasons for the re-
tentiOa of the peculiar legal customs
of the Middle Border States. Lying
between the North and the SOuth-a
neutral between cOntestants-by forces
in contest, and alternately moved by
each contestant. Their laws and Gus
toms nave been modified, but not de-
Stroyed; and the result is q cOmpOSive
having the qualities Of the Puritan and
the Cavalier. II is thus that the little
Diamond State has been marked as with
the tide rip of two oceans, and that
within der narrow borders is the social
aud legal wreckage of two and half
centuries.
Ills lrue that Delaware customs are
IN sOme things very Anticipated, but
they ate n0t barbarOuS. Her govern
men5 is founded upon the freehold, or
properly qualification, the nOn-prOp-
erty qualification The few elective
offices % which re can aspire. The
heat Of partisan politics, the skill and
daring of her politicians make the dis
grace OF the whipping post q lesser
evil than the political intrigue which
continually thwartS reform in the
State government. Both Of these evils,
however, are masnifed and exaSperated
by the untruthful stories circulated
about them. The stories Of gaShed and
bleeding flesh are all fiction, and the
s.0ries of political inequality and dis
elimination under State avs are gen-
orally descriptive Of things Sees
through partisan senses.
The date OF the Introduction of the
whipping post and pillOry In Delaware
IS NOT exactly known. There IS 10 rec
ORD OF the use OF these instruments
among the Swedish or Dutch cO!OniSts
IL is probable, therefore. that they Were
introduced by the English, aud weie
possibly a part OF the governments
machinery OF William Penn'S peaceful
colony, of which Delaware was once =
part.
The first professional hangman in
Delaware was a Swede he was sent
out 10 New Sweden with a number OF
recruits for the colony, which had been
selected from the criminal classes of the
old country. There is no record Of his
having performed the functions OF his
Office among his fellOw-cOlOnists.
The first pillOry described in the his
tory of Delaware was an instrument
something like Fig. 1. TWAS stool large
enough for q man TO stand on, and
from its center rose a post upon
which was fixed two pieces Of plank
TONED on their edges, and in which half
circles were cut for the head and hands
of the culpIit. The punishment In
fIcted by the instrument was in public;
aside from the very uncomfortable pO-
sition of the prisoner he was forced to
bear the Sneers and insults Of his fell
low citizens. In the early history of
Wilmington, the chief city of Delaware,
there are stories Of the pillOry in which
the culprit was assaulted with offensive
missiles of ali kinds; stones, stale eggs
and fish, aud the rubbish Of the streets
were heaped upon him and not unfre-
ouently he was drummed out OF the
tOWn.