Arizona silver belt., 1894-12-22
WHIPPINGspoSTs AGAIN.
Efforts of Prominent New Workers
 in This Direction.
What It is Hoped to Accomplish Through Such a Law-To Be Employed Only for Wife-B Heaters and Brutal
 Thugs.

New York proposes 10 attempt to re- vive the system of corporal punish ment for certain classes of offenders. At least certain people in New York, led by Elbridge T. Gerry, will try to have the following made law at the next session of the legislature:
 Whenever a male person shall be convicted of felony consisting of or accompanied by the infiictiop of phys ical pain or suffering upon the person of another, the court may, in it's dis cretion, ih addition to that penalty now prescribed by law, impose an nd ditional sentence Of corporal punish- mcut to be inflicted upon the offender in the prison to which he shnll be sen tenced Such corpofal punishment shall be inflicted in private in said prison, in the presencc ot the warden and surgeon thereof, who shall certify the fact to the court wherein it was imposed"
 Commodore Gerry is very much in earnest in the matter and in an inter view with a reporter for the New York Recorder stoutly defended the plan on the ground that it provided for the only punishment that is really feared by the brutes that it is intended to reach.
 Crime said he, 'of the mofe brutal and fendish character is frightfully on the increase, especially in the case where children of both sexes are the victims Instances in which lifelong injuries have been inflicted on girls and boys of tender age are becoming 80 numerous that it is time somethin1 was done to strike at the very royo of evil, and l am sure the only weapon that can be effectively used against the brutes who, in their passions. exhibit no thought or feeling for their victims is the lash.
 "Once let OBe brutal element of the community know that the pain and sufor!ng inflicted by them on others will be mcted ont on their own bodies and thc shocking state of affairs now existing will he to great extent wiped ont am thankful to say that the creatures responsible for the of lenses are foreigners The grade Of crime against which the resolution is aimed is peculiar to men from other countries. And the only wny to show these wretches that they cannot in- dulge in such things in this continent is the crack aild tine sting of the lash.
 1t hes been enormously stated that wholesalers are included among the creatures against whom we are fight ing. This is not SO. We are only ad. vocating the lash for felony committed by men. Wife-beaters belong to au- other class of animals which may or may not deserve q good thrashing. They. however, do not enter into thE discussion Burglary with "iolcncc. as sault of any brutal natnrc-thosc gre the offenders who, ] maintain. should feel the sting of the lash < conviction Of twenty years, reduced by good be- havior to twelve has no salutary effect on the callous element with which am dealing,
 As an instance, you, a law-abiding, peaceful citizen, arc enjoying a we'll earned rest; hardened brute of bur glar, not satisfied with plunder, dclib- crately knocks you over the head, puts your eye out, crushes in your skull, mains you, beats you, and for this he gets twenty years. Is that my satis- faction to you? Do you get new eye or another skull or n clean skin? No. Then l say let his punishment be pro portionate in some degree to the of fense.
 Formerly crimes of which specially speak were punishable by death But experience showed that the class of people that commit these ci-ildes of personal violence don't dread death. Nihilists, anarchists, atheists and the mofe degraded classes scout the idea. Corporal punishment is tbe only thing the scanps and raycais are afraid of A few years in prison doesn't have any deterrent effect. A man comes out of prison and he immediately perpetratcs Q similar crime, but if he understands that he is going to get dose of that which he inhicts on other people. he thinks twice before he runs 4liG Sist
 Tt is nonsense to play the fool with criminals and say that corporal punish ment is degrading and a revival of the dark ages. Are tho abuses inflicted on little children degrading? Was there ahgttlis in the dark ages more debas- ing than the reyolting acts which oc- cur to-day? There sechis .5be d mawk- ish sensibility in the opposition to cor poral punishment. 1t is the oldest form of punishment known, and it is to be foand in the Mosaic law. There can be nothing brutal in it, provided yon don't make the exhibition public In Delaware they have ettiuiis meth. od A felon is sentehced to thirty lashes, fifteen of which are admins tered. He Is then told to get out of the state; and If he is found there after the lapse of week the balance of the thirty lasnes awaits him. The plan works admirably.
 Again, in London, when the garrot- CTS were terrorizng the eity the cat-o's nine-tails was brought into play with such effect that garroting was un- known in D very short space of time Would I suggest any particular mode of administering the punishment? No. The ordinary lash on the back would meet all requiremerits 1t is effective, and if live long enough the advisabil- ity of its legalization will come before the next session of the legislature"
 4 Tablet for King.