Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-19
The Whipping-Post'

The Whipping-Po"'
To the Editor Of the Dispatch
let this most useful institution DC re.
| vived and that at once. This Is INC inVS'
| earnost wish OF almost every true VIZ
e,nlan The farmers Of the common /,
| ,,,ooi,b desire IL 20 be restored. Shouiu
The General Assembly have the cou'ase
and good sense to reinstate H. they VII,
| receive the thanks and the grautuue Vi
| the people. -. .,,,,,,, atm.
| cultics. ~
l. we will want no more cells at the
penitentiary. Threo-fourths OF the con
victs would be more adequately ana EN-
.,entlv nunished at the whipping-post.
no confne n man several months or sew"
oral wears for stealing n pig or robbing
n hen-roost is the climax OF folly whip
the roeucs soundly and well and let them
90 AS we understood the bill, IL does
not apply to criminals who are now sent
10 the penitentary, but only to those
who are punished by jail-sentences.-The
Nspatch)
No more expensive architecture for the
entertainment OF rogues Will be necessary.
They will be remanded TO useful labor,
and hence. instead OF being burden,
will be a benefit TO the commonwealth.
And here, allow me to say, that the
allowance for feeding prisoners In JAN
is criminally extravagant. The allow
ance. / believe, ranges from % TO 10 cents
n dav. Those who foot the bills do not
spend a fourth as much as a general
statement. in feeding their families and
laborers. If could have 40 cents day
per capita i'm supplying our table, we
should live I'm high revelry all the year
round. IL would mean old ham and
turkey. celery aNl oysters, roast beef,
and plum-pudding, with beer every day,
and at least hebdomadal rotations of
sherry or champagne.
Such Is the fare the taxpayer is forced
to provide for a rogue. Five cents per
day would be-a liberal allowance. -Four
cents will buy half a pound of bacon and
three pints of meal the ration which
bears the labOrer through the heat and
burden of the day, or sustains the soldier
on the long and weary march. The rogue
in Jail. doing nothing but playing craps
and singing hymns, certainly ought not to
receive more. Indeed cents day would
be ample
We have been putting a premium on
crime We have been rewarding not
furnishing, crime. The convicts ease and
plenty. warmth and idleness. Not care
crosses their tranquil minds. Everybody
is working for them; they work for no.
body. Without care. or thought, or
labor. all their wants are abundantly
and uxuriously supplied. We have estab-
lished an aristocracy, and the rogues are
the aristocrats!
. / advocate the whipping-post in the
interest of public morality. The peniten-
tiary is etymologically a place of peni-
tence: il is in effect an institution where
In a into :.
The very atmosphere is fetid with crime;
criminals hold criminals in countenance,
and abet and strengthen each in wicked
ways. When they go out they are worse
than when they came in, and hence the
frequency of their return. And / am to
be taxed to destroy labor and propagate
crimei If / can do nothing more i raise
my hands in emphatic and indignant pro-
test.
g. 1 believe in the refOrmatory power
of the hickory. When the lashes come
fast and furious, the offender loses his
stubbornness, his will becomes soft and
ductile, and he is ready to submit and
to obey He is now, and only now, in
salvabe state; he is prepared to heed
correction and profit by it. l have more
respect for Solomon than for the silly
sentimentalists Of our day, and he taught
US that 10 spare the rod was TO spoil the
child How strong is the contrast be-
tween the virile wisdom of Solomon and
the maudlin philanthropy of our senti-
mental weaklings, who are Mortified at
the barbarity of using the lash.
For the reasons indicated, we should
have fewer criminals, a great burden;
and more laborers. a great blessing.
The lash is the most powerful deterrent
agency known among men. The thief
cares little. perhaps is elated, when car
ried by q span of prancing horses to the
State Penitentiary; but when he is made
to squirm and howl, to beg and pray, as
the lashes fall on his naked back, ii is a
very different matter. He does not dread
the Jail or penitentiary, but the whipping
post is extremely repelant.
The lash is not only the cheapest pun
ishment; but what is of far greater i'm
portance, it is the only reformatory and
efficient punishment.
Permit me, Mr.. Editor, to say that
under the Underwood Constitution there
viii be no real and satisfactory retrench-
ment. With your permission, l wish TO
say something hereafter about the ne
cessity. not of amending, but Of abolish
ing that hideous instrument.
Il. PURYEAR.