Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-09
clarifying CriminaIa,

1t IS to be regretted that the local stat
utes and customs of today permit such
demonstrations over the bodies of executed
murdererS as that Of last Sunday on the
occasion of the burial of the men who were
hanged at the jail the Friday previous. The
people or the District are so frequently
called upon TO witness these unwholesome
spectaclcs that a justifiable fear has arisen
IN some minds lest the glorification of the
criminal when he has been killed at the
laws command engender a contempt
Tor the laws dignity and soIemnity
among people of the same low moral calf
Der In former times England experienced
much of this same feeling of question as to
the efficacy of public hangings and burials
When Tyburn Tree blooned with its ghast-
~ product in London the putting off of
criminal was an occasion of public gather
ing The day became holiday. Men, wo-
men and even children camped out over
night TO be first on the ground in the morn
ing, to ensure a good view of the dreadful
spectacle The average unfortunate who
was carried to the tree was public hero
II highwayman he was openly praised
and admired. After the execution his body
was given back to his friends If he had
any. and was buried with pomp After a
time the public sentiment which could see
beyond the customs of the period began to
feel that it was mistake thus to famil-
iarize the public with the extreme act of
the law. and the criminal records in their
steady growth emphasized the belief. Now
adays London sees nothing of the hanging
of ~ condemned man. He is killed quietly,
within the confines of the prison, with only
sufficient publicity to warrant proper pro-
cedure. The body is then buried in the
prison yard, in lime. No ceremonials are
permitted The state has taken away the
liberty of the living man in consequence OF
his crime. it has condemned him TO death
and in death it claims his body as forfeited
by his deed. From the time he is pro-
nounced guilty he ceases to be. This view
has never obtained in this country. Yet the
modern tendency in most Of the northern
states is to prevent the execution of a
criminal from becoming a public spectacle.
In but few communities. where the law is
permitted to follow it's course. are the last
awful rites administered in the open. The
theory of the hidden execution is that the
laws dignity is enhanced by this solemn
mystery. coupled with the certainty of
death. If the body of the dead murderer
is then to be given over to friends and reIa-
that of a martyr much of this lesson is
surely lost. Some low minds take on a GER
tain sense of emulation. The dead wretch
becomes sanctffied To them. Crime not be
so horrible to them if it IS accompanied In its
expiatiOn with such aduatory rites. 1t is
to be feared that the last weak barrier be-
tween order and crime is IN some depraved
natures swept away by these public cere-
monials, The matter is worthy of thought
full consideration in this city. where the
average executed person is of a class nat
urally loose in the measurement of life.
Let it be considered by legislators whether
the crime records Of the capital might not
be lowered. to the great good of the COM
| munity, by drawing the veil of silence
about the executed wretch when the law
has taken his life and claimed the body for
secret burial.