The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-02-26
PROPOSED ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUN
1SHMENT,

The House, with very little discussion
or deliberation, has adopted favorable
report on bill to abolish capital pun
ishment. AS the matter has received no
intelligent consideration in the House, it
should be fully discussed in the Senate.
The subject is one that should be ap-
preached very cautiously, and with
sincere desire to do what is best for the
cause of Justice, the repression of crime
and the welfare of society.
The fact that the death penalty has
always been attached to murder in near
ly all civilized countries, indicating the
practical consensus of mankind that the
punishment is none too severe for the
crime, is strong argument in its favor.
1t draws support and justification from
the Bible, which says "Whoso sheddeth
mans blood, by man shall his blood be
she'd; and again, eye shall take
no satisfaction for the life of a
murderer which is guilty of death;
DEATH" The history of the human race
does not show much deviation from this
principle as a recognized principle of
Justice. Capital punishment for murder
has existed from the infancy of the race,
and opposition to it has been sporadic
and local. 1t was abolished in Michi-
gan many years ago, and though several
attempts have been made to revive it in
that State on the plea that crime has
increased without it, they have not yet
succeeded. 1t was abolished in Rhode
Island in 1852 and in Wisconsin in 1863,
and has not been restored in either of
those States. There are no statistics at
hand to show the result. Iowa abol-
ished capital punishment in 1874 and re-
instated it in 1878 on the ground that
murders had become more frequent.
All the other States still have the death
penalty on their codes, though few,
like Indiana, have mitigated it by MAX
ing Imprisonment for life permissible as
a substitute by verdict of jury. Kan
sas has a plan of her own. In that
State, when any person is guilty of a
capital offense, he must be sent to the
penitentiary for one year, at the end of
which time it is optional with the Gov
ernor to order the sentence of
death to be carried into effect,
or to leave the convict IN the
penitentiary for life. This seems
to be equivalent to an abolition of the
death penalty, for hitherto no person
has been executed i'll that State. The
responsibility devolved on the Governor
of ordering the execution of a convict
in cold blood year after his convic-
ton. is one that no Governor has been
willing to assume. 1t is remarkable that
none of the States which have abol-
ished the death penalty has collected
any statistics to show the result,
though in the absence of statistics coll
lected before the abolition, no COM
parison could be made and no conclusion
arrived mt. The action of Iowa in re-
storing the death penalty after doing
away with it four years is significant
The plea in favor of the abolition of
capital punishment is based on two
grounds. viz, humanity and the claim
that the death penalty increases crime
by making people familiar with it. The
humanitarian argument is of a piece
with the modern sentimentalism which
would do away with all suffering in
connection with the punishment OF
crime. This school of reformers holds
that reformation is the sole object of
punishment. They entirely ignore the
idea of penalty. That is not the
theory of Justice Justice demands