Evening star., 1895-10-11
FAvoRs A WHIPPING POST.
Naval Officer Who Regards 1t as a
Good Institution.

/. Good Institution.
To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
have read with much interest and some
degree of surprise the opposition shown to
the Introduction of the whipping post in
the District, and especially at the weakness
Of the arguments on the negative side Of
the question, such, for instance, as "a relic
Of barbarism," degrading a human being
to the level Of the beast" "the whipping
post is the last extreme of inhuman and
brutal punishment" and much more Of the
same kind of weak. nauseating sentiment
alism.
Will some of the sympathizing friends of
the "wife-beater'' explain what is the
status of a bruised and SCARED wife (and
perhaps a mother) when the husband has
exhausted his brutal strength on her
lacerated body? Does she stand in the line
of the human" or the "brute?" If the
former. why not protect her; If the latter
then, at least, be merciful.
In the discussion between two distin-
guished ministers of the NJ. E. Church ION
the subject of the whipping posD reported
in The Star of the Sth, it is very evident
strongest argument on the affirmative side
Of the question, as was to be expected,
having mercy for the weak and helpless as
it's base.
A wife-beater "a brute in human form) Is
the very meanest and most cowardly of his
kind, his animal instincts as a rule pre-
vent his attacking man, for 1t tells him
he may get sound thrashing, but he stag
gers to his home and attacks his helpless
wife. and yet We are asked not to erect a
Whipping post for such charming speci-
mems Of mankind, because, forsooth, 1t will
brutalize him and degrade human nature!
Away with such arguments, they are too
weak and fimsy for serious consideration.
10 attempt moral suasion with a drunken
wife-beater is loss of time and talent;
nothing will appeal to his senses and cure
q hoh h but To-
ilibus curantur' will apply in his case, and
a certain cure may be expected after the
first, or certainly after the second applica-
tion-try 1t.
thing for convict to be pardoned from a
penftentiary with the understanding that
ne must at once ship in the service" 1t
was an outrage upon the good men of the
navy that they should be compelled to mess
and associate with thieves and highway
men, to say nothing of the annoyance and
trouble to the officers in maintaining dis
cipline-to do which 1t became necessary
to occasionally administer the 'cats."
Then, as now, Qn behalf of the abused
Wife-beater), there were number of we'll
meaning sentimentalists, whose "lachry
mcse duct was in a perpetual flow for the
now better fed. better clothed and cared
for than two-thirds of the laboring people
on shore. The cats" had a wonderful eff
feet upon such men as agree Gn character)
",
no doubt that many a man was grateful in
after life for the discipline he received
while in the navy.
In London few years ago "garroting''
was very common, means to- robbing;
prisons had no terror for the highwayman
any more than 1t has for the wife e-beater of
today. Al last they resorted to the lash
with the most satisfactory and astonishing
results.
The whipping post should enlist in its
favor the temperance people as an auxiliary
to their efforts. l venture to say that one
or two applications of the lash will sober
up man who is inclined to beat his wife
when drunk
In Delaware the whipping post Is a re-
spectacle and respected institution. and the
citizens OF the state are not barbarians,
either; on the contrary, are characterized
by nigh moral sentiments and Christian
enthusiasm.
If the whipping post in Maryland still ex-
lists under the law, and is not used then
the officials fail in their duty to avail them
selves OF the best possible remedy for wife
beating. w. Fl. SHOCK II 8