The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1892-04-29
Publication of Crime.

EDITOR HERALD:-YOu are carrying
two questions at the Same time.
|. Ought the proceedings of the Police
Court be publi>he and the names 4
Offenders gwen?
>. Ought the reports to be partial
giving or Withholding names at the OPP
ton Of the editor?
l believe the publication of any of the
proceedings OF Police Court wrong.
The idea mat exposure part of the
penalty for am yflrnSe will ,rOVe correct
i've is erroneous. Much depends on the
state of mind and soul whether the
effect of exposure would he 10 humili1tc
and reform, or li2uiZe and cmDOldcn
them; exposure may hUmilIat2 and not
reform, bat Oh the contrary provoke to
desperation.
li}ut Will publication deter? | think
not. Any boy or man who, overtaken il
al act of OutlaWrE, can withstand the
tears and hCartacheS Of loving father
OF idOliZing mother or wife, can brave the
police proceedings ii = daily paper. Be
side, the moral sentiment OF this cOun-
try is that the publication Of crime i'll
the papers has done more TO promote
thun suppress II.
Those Who would take issue with me
would be compelled 20 argue that the
the penal consequences OF evil to he lore
armed and deferred. such - not the
case. Though God himself should look
him in the eve and say, ain the day that
=
die" the soul bent on evil Will eat" DO
not forget that there is another voice
saying, "thou shalt not die"
Men cannot be deferred from evil by
threatened exposure. Wnle engaged IN
evil they do not expect 10 be oVertallen
by the law, much less published III
newspaper. 1t is not 50 much Il fear OF
being OVertaken that is needed, bat
well-Sustained resolve not to do wrong
Let those who train or teach insist upon
the principle that to be something Is
greater and more abiding thing than to
seem to- be something. 1t is this unreal
ness causing this unrest.
EVerybod may relish but nobody can
be helped by the publication of scan
dal. | pity anyone who would rejoice
while an innocent mothers heart was
! bleeding. 1t is now beyond question
| that the publication of the thousand and
one corrupuions of the day brings no
| good to society. 1t is not so much
| question, however, of cOncealing or I'M
covering crime with penal intent as 1t IS
! that of pandering to a Vitiated public
taste. Time was when it was thought
! that to hang a criminal i'll the presence
of a gaping multitude would strike ter
ror to the hearts of evil-doers, and pre-
vent crime. Not so now. Men for the
| fOulest crimes are hung i'll jail-yardS, in
companies no larger than the crowd
which usually gathers around Record
| er'S Court. The reason is plain. The
criminal on the scaffold says he is going
right into glory, and l do not say that he
| is not, but it comes to pass that among
an ignorant and low element of society
the idea seems to obtain that the next
thing after cOld-blOOded murder, con-
victiOn and sentence, is to call "a preacher,
spring the trap, aud
"Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home"
As to the second proposition, it an
swers itself. The analysis is: If the
consensus of public opinion fixes the
opposite of my position on this question,
or the journalist feels it his duty to add
"a social penalty to that fixed by law,
! then to "malle fish of one and flesh of
another" would be wrong, and no man
has IL right to do wrong.
! SUBSCRIBER.