The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-07-15
SHOULD CAPITAL PUNISH
MENT BE ABOLISHED

Editor Morning News-In the early
history of New England. history, tells
that they burned witches, and
'.hinned the wine barrels for working
- sunday. You laugh at this, but they
IA not laugh at it in those days. 1t
...,s simply a sincere, though a mis-
-,t5ed fanaticism. Within the last
',,arter of a century corporal punish
,nen+ has been entirely abolished
,broughout the large cities of the coun-
NV in the public schools, and in, this
,ity within the last fifteen years. When
q short time ago it was proposed by
someone to restore it in the schools of
Now York city, it was laughed at and
derided so universally that it was soon
,reated as a mere passing joke. Our
foretathers did not look at it in this
,rov though. They believed in literal
translation of the Scripture: Spare the
rod and spoil the child" Experience
has taught that they were wrong, and
that we are right. So does Holy Writ
cav that "Whoso sheddeth mans blood,
nv man shall his blood be shed" This
ie the basis of all law commentators as
,be original and direct authority for
capital punishment. Literally, the
mandate of the Bible here could be as
faithfully carried out. where one man
stabs. shoots or otherwise carves up his
fellow man with knife to be taken.
before the people on the public square
and the same punishment inflicted upon
MIN. vet who would not revolt at such
a brutal spectacle! OF course it is a
we'll fixed principle of law that the in
,entons of all punishment is to strike
terror into others by the culprit's ex-
ample, and thereby avoid and prevent
repetition of his crime in others.
Does hanging do this? Did that execu-
ton at our county Jail last Friday have
this effect? Will it have the effect of
deterring others by his example? This
is the vital question now confronting
u.s. These executions were formerly
had in public. This was found by ex-
per1ence to be so demoralizing that it
was prohibited, and now the law re-
nlres that the execution be as private
| as possible. Yet in the face of all this
the religio-d dramatic part of the per-
formance is becoming more and more
concentrated year by year as the farce
prOCeeiS. l SuallS, DIS SOOIl DIS his QODiIl
is hopelessly fixed and he feels sure
that he must soon die, he yields readily
10 spiritual consolation. In this hour
and article of death" it is remarkable
with what perfect composure he stands
this fearful strain. That awful sitting
Of DEATH" hanging like a dark pail over
his few days of precious existence on
this earth, seems to have no terror for
him whatever. He has been trans
formed from the hardened criminal that
be has been condemned to
be into happy saint that
only needs the springfng of
the fatal trap to cause him to don his
white robes of purity and fly away to
heaven. His eXecutioner, the tax payer,
finds himself now charged with quite
large round sum of money incurred in
bringing him to justice, his trial and
conviction, his board at the county Jail
for over a year. his execution, and
finally, his burial in the potters' field.
And what is the result as an example
TO others? Aside from the fact that
this man has been put out of the way,
and can murder nobody else, as is the
case when we shoot down d mad dog
or kill rattlesnake, it would seem that
little or no deterring effect has been
produced. Why? Simply because the
negro has not the moraLor intellectual
force to profit by such an example.
Murders are none the less frequent,
and as the years roll on the. negro is
growing more and more callous. If he
is apprehended and hanged he is
taught by his race that he dies as a
sainted martyr to racial prejudice at
the hands of the white man. What
shall we do with him then? The answer
is plain. Put him in the penitentiary
for life, and let him do service there for
his county first, and for his state after
wards, both of which he has injured to
the forfeiture of his freedom forever.
Aside from any question of lettering
others, it is an economical business pro-
position, and should have the earnest
consideration of cur Georgia Legisla-
lure. G. B. Whatley.
Savannah, Ga, July IA, 1908.