Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1899-05-24
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
= cApITAn pUNIsIIAIENn


Cling execution It was, too--of James A.
clemmer. within the precincts Of Norris
town jail is quite sufficient to warrant
the very pertinent inquiry-When VIII
the present barbarous and unjust custom
Of putting human beings TO death by pro-
cess Of law cease? Mr.. Rodrigues Otto
lengul, in his work. ''rhe Crime OF the
Century" treats this subject in the fol-
lowing forceful manner.
Let us consider for a moment the
true relation between the criminal and
Society at large. There seems to be but
one doctrine of salvation for the delin-
quent. and that Is punishment. Grant
ing that this theory IS a correct one, IS
It justly practiced2 We find that for a
given offense there Is specified NUM-
Der Of years la prison. set down as the
proper punishment Are al men who
commit this crime equally amenable TO
punishment, that all should be treated
with equal severity Are all Of these
guilty persons equally responsible for
their acts? Have all had the same heri-
tage, the same environment the same ex-
amples OF conduct, and the same oppor-
tunties for living without resortlng toI
crime? The answer is so evident that II
is amazing that civilization should toler-
ate such blindness in the Goddess Of JUS
tice.
Society has made one egrcslous, ire
parable blunder And it has fallen into
this error from sheer selhshness. The
mistake lies in this: the criminal has
been measured by the standards appl-
cable to normal men, whereas crime ever
has been. and ever Will be. the result OF
abnormal development, or OF physical and
psychical degeneration. TO use a trite,
smile, crime is a. disease and as In
other diseases the sufferer Is personally
responsible for mis- condition I'm only a
small proportion OF cases.
How differently does Society treat phys
teal and moral disease? For the af-
nlcted Of the first class we have colleges,
physicians nurseries. sanatarlums, hos
pitfalls and lazarettos. For the latter class
We have lawyers, juries. Judges, prisons
stripes and hanging.
In the worst stages OF physical disease,
the Individual becomes a menace and a
danger to the community. With perfect
but nevertheless selfish, Justice, the az
ficted one is seized and incarcerated In a
lazaretto. Such fate -is=Ead enough.
and bad enough yet 1t Is vastly different
from the extreme example-murder-of
The morally diseased. A man takes the
life OF one OF the community. and his
life Is taken In payment. Thus Society
as a whole, commits the very act for
which II dooms the poor wretch. II II be
argued that Society hEs, but does not
murder. the contention is easily shown
to be sophistry. For II a man should
kill convicted and condemned murder
er, thus committing the act which So
ciety has elected itself to commit. such a
man would stn be adjudged guilty OF
murder. Yet II all the facts were con-
sidered including the most important one
that all morally diseased are also physl-
cally imperfect, and that the two afflic-
lions are interdependent, the world DE
aroused to the recognition OF its great
error and Society would be compelled 10
admit that it should no more slay the
moral than the physical leper The day
will, the day must come when crime like
disease. will be treated curatively rather
than punitively."
lt is not our purpose to discuss the
comparative guilt OF the man Clemmer
who was recently killed by process OF
law. Not even his bitterest enemy woult
be justified in so doing, for the man has
explated his crime, so far as this worl,
is concerned, and passed on beyond al
human ken. Indeed, there is an inde
Unable something about the awful males
~ Of Death. even when It environs
commonplace murderer, which draws tn
sting Of hostile criticism, and which com
pels us all, even the most erudite TO bow
submissive IN our colossal ignorance. Blu
the intelligent reader will comprehend a
glance that Mr.. Ottolenguis contenuo
Is the very eptome OF logical deduction
and that It admits OF no argument what
ever. We an know that the old Mosal
law claimed IAN eye for an eye. and
tooth for a tooth" But we of to-day liv
under another and, what should be,
moro humane dispensation, a dispense
ton TO which the principles of the Mosa
law are not in the least applicable. An
II there be those who imagine that cap
tai punishment acts as a deterrent. "
would refer such persons to the crlmini
statistics OF certain European countrie
countries I'm which the deaf
fNNoies - uAhHVNhi anu IN Mhlch u
percentage Of the crime of murder Is les
very much less, than It is in those Ian,
in which capital punishment Is the IL
loci, the law OF the land.
An eminent English economist on
said: THE very worst use to which va
can put a man is to hang him." In vie
OF so authoritative an opinion-coupli
with a decided and just antipathy to Il
Lex talionis, the law Of retaliation. whe
human life is Commemorative would C
claim, God speed the day when the g,
lows, that gruesome relic Of a barbara
and ungodly age. shall be swept from
the face Of the earthl
HRNBST 1SITT
Philadelphia May %, 1899