Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-07
CAN MCB law BE PREvEN7EDS

the odious roster to which Georgia and
some of the other commemorative in the
south belong. The usual amount of
moralizing will take place over the burn
ing of the negro Coleman at the stake,
and the theory md practice of crime will
be carefully gone over by specialists in
the customary way. After while the
horror will exhaust it's force, another out
rageous crime will kindle the rage of an
other community, and the life of another
black rascal will go up in smoke, N
The first event of thisk kind took place
in Texas some years ago. when a negro
rape fiend was dramatically burned at
the stake. The horrible affair made a
lasting impression upon the public mind
in the north, for it was embellished with
all the cruel devices which devilish inge-
nuity could invent. The second burning
took place in Georgia last year, the vic
TINS bones and teeth being greedily
sought for by members of the mob as
souvenirs of the occasion. The Kentucky
holocaust was the third incident of the
kind, and was characterized by side is
sues of the most disgusting type. Little
children We're permitted to search in the
ashes for bits of bone with which to re-
member the awful spectacle.
1t is of little use to speculate on the
Generalization Of the people that permits
such a scheme Of vengeance to take place,
The claim that such extremes are re-
sorted to for the prevention Of similar
crimes in the future. in a waste Of words.
No man has ever been able to conclu-
sively show that the death penalty,
whether inflicted by the more humane
processes of the law or under the cruel
supervision of a mob, has served as a
deterrent of crime. Theoretically, the
death of a criminal excites fear on the
part of those who subsequently contem-
plate crime, and causes them to stay their
hands. Practically, it has no such effect.
Since the burning of cape fiends in
Texas and Georgia the average of crimes
of that type has not been lessened, and
the Kentucky affair will have no appre-
ciable effect in that direction. The legal
execution of murderers has been going
on since the organization Of mankind into
civil governments, yet fear Of death does
not seem to have had much effect in
diminishing the number Of crimes Of this
kind. The fact is, the elements that
prompt a man TO crime blind him to the
possibility of detection, and he braves
one set of consequences just as readily
as another. A man who is thoroughly
imbued with the idea of committing a
crime does not intelligently weigh the
possible results to himself. In many
cases the desire to commit the crime
would outweigh the punishment, even if
foreseen by the criminal himself.
Capital punishment, though justified
by the claims of protection to the public.
is essentially a polite form of WreaKing
vengeance on the offender. When the
mob burns the riminal at the stake the
! vengeance is made a little more elabo-
rate. and less modesty is observed in ad-
vertising the horrors of the event. De-
spite the assumption that the legal hang
ing of a murderer is intended for the
protection of the public. the clamor for
his death grows out of the horror in
spired by his action-not from a desire
to keep some one from initiating his
crime. If this were not true, why does
the murder Of a popular II well beloved
citizen excite a stronger demand for the
prompt execution of the murderer, than
does the killing of some inconsequential
thug in the purlieus Of a great city? In
the eyes of the law, this distinction does
not exist: but in the execution of the
law, backed by public sentiment. it does
exist, and is manifested at all times and
under all conditions. This shows that
the spirit of revenge is behind the death
penalty, disguise it as we may. -
Laying aside the immediate savage
pomptings of the heart which call for
the determination of the offender, there
can be no question as to the superiority
of imprisonment as a punishment for
crime. 1t is a punishment more severe
by far than the death penalty, when
logically considered, and has the merit
of placing mankind in line with the
divine commandment-"Thou shalt not
kill"
Until public sentiment ceases to JUS
tify the execution of murderers through
the forms of law, enraged mobs will not
cease to do the same thing without the