The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-04-13
RESTORE THE DEATH PENArIrY.

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RESTORE THE DEATH PENAeITY.
While there is a bill before tho leglsla-
ture, awaiting its action upon the restor-
alton OF the death penalty In this state,
the strongest possible arguments are be-
ing furnished In favor of its passage.
They are not 10 the eloQuence OF states
men or In the calmsr reasoning OF the
public press, hut in the horrible and re-
voting crimes of murder committed
almost daily here III Michigan. The
valne OF human life appears 10 be depre-
clatlDg at ratio TO arouse the keenest
anxiety; and It's destruction has grown
50 frequent that the sense OF the public
seems blunted, receiving with compare
tive indifference the distressing. details
OF murder which should arouse the deep
est indignation aud incite those who
make the laws TO the most stringent
remedial measures. Tho fair name OF
the state, the protection Of her good
citizens and the reasonable demands Of
that moral standard which is &C.
cepted by our advanced civilization, all
call for prompt and efficient suppression
OF this carnival of crime.
Even SINCE the legislature has been IN
session these mute appeals from those
who haye met death by murderous
violence present unanswerable reasons
for tho enactment OF law which will
visit upon the worst crime the soYerest
punishment. Murder after murder bears
witness that the restraining influence
o! existing laws Is inadequate to the
purpose for which they were framed.
And the character OF the crimes shows
that there Is In their perpetrators a we'll
considered determination TO take chances
which they would not take were their
own lives placed in jeopardy. There are
more Of those crimes which are prompted
by greed, avarlce, Jealousy and other
phases Of passion which lead to deliberate
and weil-planned' murder, than ever
before in the history Of the state.
Men are murdered in pursuance OF a
patiently prepared scheme to realize up
on their life insurance. Wives are
brutally killed because their husbands
are jealous or have desire for freedom
to transfer their affections. Young
women are sacrificed to hide the lesser
crime OF a betrayer. At the door OF the
father is laid the charge of numbering
his son; and youth is supposed to have
been butchered by his rival In love.
These are not the results of sudden and
irresistible anger such as makes tho
complete SUPPRESSION Of murder impossi-
BILE. They are the outcome of cool CAL
.oulatlon and deliberate purpose. They
denote fendishncss which should be
stamped out by the most rigorous legisla-
tloD Ia the interests OF society which
legislation is meant to protect and the
civilization which 1t is meant 10 pro-
mote.
II the meu who are capable OF such
crimes could be mado amendable to law
that would punish murder with death,
human life woald be hold much more
sacred than it now ia. 1t is one of the
consultations OF the criminal classes In
Michigan that, come what may, they
will be preserved from the death penalty. |
Because Of this they prefer to operate IN
this state. The burglar is quicker to
meet resistance with murder, whether
his victim 10 one he Is trying to rob or
an officer who seeks to make an arrest.
He will go further and do more desperate
deeds with the hope OF escape II he has
the assurance that his life viii be spared
by the law. Capital punishment is i'm
peratively demanded for the suppression
of crime and the proper protection Of
honest, law-abidng citizens In Michigan.
Free Press.