The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-03-21
Execution OF Mrs. Place.

4 great deal or hysterical excitement
has been aroused by the execution OF
this woman. Gushing people have met
together and denounced the ceremony as
a crime. Sensational newspapers, de-
pending upon the maudlin and the ignor-
ant for their subscription lists. have
shrieked themselves black in the face.
Petitions have been showered upon Gov.
Roosevelt. Anathemas have been hurled
eXpedient Of cheap outcry and vulgar
superstition has had its turn, and yet the
murderer Is dead.
The controversy is one into which we
90 not care 10 enter. Whether assassins.
p0isoners. and all the rest Of those who
take human life in pursuit OF their vari-
Gus evil impulses, and by the different
methods suggested by their respective
minds. should be punished with death is
a question which society may take up
with profit, perhaps, when some rational
and practicable alternative presents itself
For the time being we know OF no bet
ter way than that which is practiced IN
all civilized countries. The proposition
to imprisOn these criminals for life IL
very attractive in theory. but IL hardly
passes muster in practice. When We con-
slider their number. the strong improba-
bility of their conversion to virtue. and
the absolute certainty that they will null
tiply with the increase of population and
the complex organization of modern So
ciety. il becomes a very serious conun-
drum whether the State should under
take the task Of supporting so large a
class OF dangerous and incendiary drones.
There may be some good reason why the
orderly, the useful, and the law-abding
elements OF the community should be
bUrdened with so distasteful and unjust
charge, out no one has yet made that
reason clear. Indeed, IL is by no means
certain that in time with nothing 10 fear
except a comfortable and secure confine-
ment, the number Of such criminals
would not exceed the number of those
who have TO pay for their maintenance.
There are many arguments, sound and
forcible. against the death penalty. We
have examined them all and have consid-
cred them with fitting respect. But the
question returns at last TO its original and
essential significance. Are we TO consider
the welfare of society or to adjust our
laws 10 the convenience of its enemies z
Is the murderer TO come first in our
philosophy, or shall We take steps 10 pro-
tect the possible victims of that muir
derer? Ii is urged. we know, that ex-
cessiye severity of punishment does not
lessen crime, and that in a way, is true.
There was as much stealing in England
when thieves were sent 10 the scaffold as
there is now when they go to comfortable
prisons and are treated with the utmost
kindness. But We find in this only a proof
that cruelty and injustice recoil upon
themselves. 1t does not prove that the
execution Of murderers is cruel or unjust,
nor does it furnish ground for assuming
that any other system would be better for
society. For our part We see no reason
why those who. with base and wicked
motives. take human life should be made
the objects of our especial solicitude. The
real point to be considered is the general
good.
Meanwhile ii is difficult to see where
the question of sex comes in To our
mind, a woman who deliberately con-
trives the assassination Of fellow-crea-
ture is, If possible. worse than a man
who does the same thing. Murder is an
unnatural act in either case. but in the
case Of woman it seems the more
monstrous and revolving The primitive
man represented violence and aggression
the woman the refining influence. In our
complex civilization the murderess is a
phenomenon at once baleful and terri
flying.