The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1897-01-14
The Official Paper Of San Juan County
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18th, 1897
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.


Members of the Salvation Army at
Whatcom have been endeavOring to
secure the Communication Of Murderer
Stra1bs sentence of death to life inn
prisonment, their worthy efforts III his
behalf having doubtless been prompted,
in a large degree, by their belief that
he has become Christian as result
of their kindly ministrations, and the
meditations upon the past, the present
and the future which must have Oc
cupied his mind during many of the
long hours of his imprisonment. 1t
may be that his conversion is genuine;
that he has actually been brought TO
believe in the great ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
of Christianity, and that if he could
live his life over again he "would love
his neighbor as himself" instead of
killing him, to wreak fiend's revenge
for an imaginary wrong. One may
reasonably imply a doubt as to the
genuineness of his new faith without
wishing to deny him the religious con-
ISOLATION of true believer, but the law,
in its provisions for punishment for
crime, makes no distinction between
Christianity and Atheism. Straub is
no more entitled now than he was
year ago to immunity from punish
ment or mitigation of sentence, be-
cause, perhaps, he has become inn
pressed with the great truths of the
gospel and learned to realize something
of the enormity of his offense against
the laws of God and man. If the plea
in his behalf rests upon no other basis
there can be little hope Of his escaping
the judgment of the court.
There are great many people who
are conscientiously and strongly OPP
posed to capital punishment, and who
believe that life Imprisonment should
be the extreme penalty for the greatest
crimes, Notwithstanding the added
burden imposed upon the people. In
this connection it is of interest to note
what states and countries have done
away with capital punishment and
what in general have been the results
during the past thirty years. In an
swer to an inquiry upon these points
some time ago the New York Tribune
said:
"Capital punishment was abolished
in Rumania in 1864; in Saxony in 1868;
in Holland in 1870, and in Switzerland
in 1874, though in tine last-named
country the right of re-establishing it
was few years later given by law to
the various cantons. Portugal has
also abolished it. In Belgium there
has been no execution since 1868,
though the penalty remains on the
statute books. In Austria, Denmark,
Bavaria, and North Germany, the per-
centage of executions is extremely
try capital punishment may be in
fiicted for treason, murder, rape, arson,
piracy, robbery of the mails with jeop-
ardy to the lives of the persons in
charge, burning vessel of war and
corruptly destroying a private vessel.
The penalty was abolished in Maine,
Wisconsin and Iowa about 1874, but
was restored in Iowa in 1878. Later
it was abolished in Rhode Island,
Michigan and New York, but was re-
stored in New York, which, in 1888,
substituted electricity for hanging.
The effects of suspension of capital
punishment have not been such as al
together encourage those who favor it's
abolition. In foreign countries and in
the United States, as, for instance, in
Switzerland and in Iowa, the restora-
ton of the death penalty was due to
the fact that the records showed an in
crease in CRIME. In Switzerland, how
ever, the penalty still remains abolished
In fifteen cantons. In England, where
formerly death was the penalty for an
amazing list of crimes, its abolition has
been repeatedly proposed since 1863,
and as frequently negatived"