The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-03-05
THE WHIPPING POST.
Delaware Still C1ings to the An.
Gent Institution.
Il IL Used as a Means OF Preventing
Criminals from Outside Locating
In the State-An Effective
Remedy for Crime.

The present law relating 10 inc
whipping post in Delaware is that tie
punishment of whipping shall be in
ficted publicly, by strokes on the bare
back well laid on" 1t shall be done
By the sheriff or his deputy, OF by a
constable. The whipping post and
pillory shall be in or near the jailyald
of each county. Women are exempted
from whipping. The whipping Of
minors is left to the discretion of the
court in each case. Whenever cor
poral punishment is a part of the judg-
ment, the day for its execution must
be fixed in the sentence. Whenever a
convict, at the same time, receives
several sentences Of whipping, the
court shall so graduate them that I'M
der all of them he shall not receive
more than so lashes, nor stand in the
billory more than one hour.
Whipping is inflicted as punish
Inent for the following crimes: At
tempt at poisoning, mayhem, highway
and house robbery, setting fire to Off
ces, vessels OF stores, burglary, lar
ceny, ENLIGHTENMENT, making forged
plates, obstructing railroad tracks,
etc. The pillory is generally added as
a further punishment, OF else fine or
Imprisonment.
"But why" asks the outsider,
'since whipping was abolished in the
United States laws in 1893. and even in
the navy in 1850, does Delaware
cling so fondly to it? Is she wiser
than the rest of the country, or simply
more uncivilized?" Well, it would be
hard to explain, TO the average out
slider, whose idea of the whipping post
is made up of tortured prisoner,
CORY cat-o'-nine tails, and a mob
OF brutalized spectators, the easy-go-
ing Indifference of the average Della
warean about the whole thing. the
large majority of the citizens of Della
ware, indeed, have never SO much as
seen the whipping post, and those who
Lave, have never been heard to COM
plain of any brutality in connection
with it. The movement for prison re-
form, now active in the state, has no
condemnation for the whipping post;
it fixes on overcrowded cells and idle
prisoners as far greater causes for
complaint. Many would approve, in
deed, an extension of the punishment,
so as to include the crimes of prize
fighting, cruelty to children and ami
inais, and wife-beating, now punisha-
bic only by fine and imprisonment.
The reasons for this general acquies-
cnce are rooted in ~ the past history
of the state, (2) its geographical posi-.
ton, and (3) the conservative charac-
ter of It's inhabitants. They may be
briefly stated as follows:
1. Delaware has always had a large
free negro population. Now, the ne
pro is given to petit larceny, and he
does not greatly mind being impris-
oned for it. In some cases he has
been known to commit petty ofenses
at the approach of winter, with The
Hvowed desire of getting home in jail
until spring. This tendency can be
successfully combated only by corpor-
nj punishment, which he does not like,
and avoids if possible. The whipping
post has solved this problem for Della
ware justice during the past, and its
value is established until some better
substitute can be devised.
2. Delaware is a small agricultural
state, lying between the large cities of
Philadelphia and Baltimore. 1t is
natural haven of refuge for criminals
from both cities, and would be overrun
with thieves and small offenders If the
quality of Delaware justice was not
bitter to their taste. The whipping
post is an abomination to the criminal
from outside. He gives the state
clean berth on it's account. One gang
Of bank burglars did select Whining
ton as a field of operations some years
ago. They were caught and soundly
whipped. They had no difficulty, be-
ing experts. in breaking out of the old
fashioned Jail at Newcastle after
wards, as easily as they had broken ill
10 the bank; but the whipping
ranked in their minds; and they left
on record their determination never
again to enter the state where gentle
men in their line of business were
whipped like slaves" Whereat all
Delaware chuckled!-Priscilla Leon
ard in Outlook