The Delawarean., 1901-02-06
HOLD FAST TO THE PlLLoRY.
Chief of Police Massey Declares it 30
be Stumbling Block to Outside
Bandits.

Bandits.
Chief of Police Eugene Massey hope
that the General ASSEMBLY will not
pass the bill a|bolishing the pillory as
a portion of the punishment now ad-
mIinistered by the courts of this State
to certain classes of offenders, for the
reason, as he believes, from practical
experience, THAT law breakers dread it
more than 1.-The whipping -post and some
would prefer long imprisonment as a
substitute.
The chief has been connected with
the Police Department of this city for
many years and has had ample oppor-
tunity to study this and kindred sub
jects and long ago he ARRIVED at the
conclusion that the pillory was the
most repulsive and disliked feature of
the penal code from the standpoint of
criminal He believes it's abolition
would have just THE opposite effect
from what is intended, and is of the
opinion that it's usefulness is sufficient
Eduf5e WOE nus I6Ut1lIlOu.
AS an illustration of the usefulness
of the pillory the chief points out that
lit HAS effectively Shut off, almost com
pletely, one opportunity for thieves to
dispose of their plunder. For a long
time stolen goods found their way into
The hands of two or three local dealers
i'm secondhand goods, although the
law prohibits the purchase of stolen
property. Many times dealers who had
purchased STOLEN goods were before the
courts, but in nearly every instance
succeeded in furnishing proof that
they were unaware that the goods re
ceived were stolen. On ONE occasion,
not long ago, however, a dealer was
convicted and sentenced, a portion of
the punishment being am hour i'm the
pillory Ever since that time dealers
in secondhand goods have been very
careful NOT to render themselves liable
10 punishment THE consequence is
that thieves find it very difficult to dis
pose of plumber in Wilmington and
Uhey are loath to steal anything they
cannot ge. rid of.
This has undoubtedly, in this opinion
Of the chief, had its beneficial effect,
and in investigating the few robberies
which do occur here it has been shown
in almost every case that the thieves
desired only money, as they could not
sell other articles and did not want
anything on their person that would
lead 10 arrest. Most of the profession
al burglars in the country have learned
of the obstacles here and also know
that if they are caught they will get a
taste off the post and pillory and for
ehese reasons usually strike Whining
ton off their visiting list Many OF
Them dread the pillory more than the
post, and las they do not want either
they only come to this city when they
are willing to take desperate chances
The pillory lis "a splendid opportunity
/ for renlorse.
4 THE records of the Police Depart
ment for a number of years, notably
! under the administrations of former
Chief Dolan and present Chief Massey
show that SO per cent. of the burglars
who have operated in the city have
been captured and in nearly every case
have been sent Ito the post and pillory
and there are very few nonresident
thieves who have returned, as they all
fear a repetition of the dose if ARRESTED
for burglary here.
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