The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-11-30

men places The criminal beyond the pos
slbility of receiving justice In the event
that his innocence is proven. We have
seen enough OF courts to know that the
VERDICT OF q jury and the decisions Of
judges are bg no means infallible. It has
happened too often that men have been
found guilty and even executed who were
44ler ware louhQ % pc P0sluNely innocent
DO not know Of any innocent man who
has been executed i'm this state. but i do
know OF several who nave been sentenced
TO death who are today breathing the
pure air OF freedom because they were
afterWard able to prove themselves in
nocent- I cite the Pelican point murders
as one instance. Here was a man who
had a fair trial and was found guilty and
was several times sentenced TO be hanged
or shot. who afterward proved his inno-
cence and IS today living Another case
IS that Of King. who. after being iucarcer-
ated for twelve months and seventeen
days IN a death cell at the state peni-
Tertiary and sentenced twice TO be shot
was only a few days ago liberated to
breathe the pure air Of freedom and in-
nocence the rest Of his liie Personally L
OF the crime for which he was hanged
than am, yet Il was by almost a miracle
that he was saved
Another objection that Z have to offer
against capital punishment is that fully
nine-tenths Of the men who are executed
are convicted on Clrcums tantial evidence.
[ said nine-tenths. l believe that would
be within the bounds of fact were ] 10
say ne-One-hundredths. The
iaets are that we do not hang people Tor
c0lQ-blOOQcd murders on direct evidence.
II a man murders another in the presence
OF dozen witnesses or a hundred wit
. nesseS ne need have no fear of the gai-
lows; for the reason that he can bring
IN plea OF insanity. self-defensc or 4
hundred other pleas that Will secure ZEN
lFhcy. ne man VINO rs convicted on cir
eumstantiaf evidence cannot make these
pleas. He has murdered n man I'm cold
blood and profound secrecy. . He pleads
not guilty. but train of circumstances
point 20 him as the man. He cannot now
orlng m plea Of insanity OF selt-de-
tSlee0 - an Excuse LOT uoih& SometnlLg
tnat ne says ne didn't do This is why
men are hanged on circumstantial evil
dence and not on direct testimony
The next reason that / will offer against
capital punishment is that the enforce
ment OF the law is impracticable The
punishment is so severe that cOnscien-
tious men viii not sign verdict Of guilt
ness unless the guilt is proven beyond all
reasonable doubt. The juror must know
that the man is guilty; at least he must
mink he knows ii before he will take
away a mans life The result is that
jurors I'm such cases are hard to find and
evidence of that kind is difficult TO pro-
Quee. There are hundreds Of criminals
today who are practically at their liberty
simply because the jury We're averse TO
taxing a lie on doubtful evidence. Had
the extreme penalty been confinement for
life they would have found the man
guilty. The rigor of the law itself rem
ders IT ineffective and almost inoper-
alive. II Is like a case I knew in Kan
sas, where a man was fined $4,000 and
sentenced to imprisonment for twenty
a
or beer. This awful penalty rendered the
prOhibitory law of Kansas impracticable
and made IL a hiss and q by-WOrd to
many people who were otherwise laW-re-
Iorce the law Of capital punishment jus
ice is delayed Many cases there are
that are dragged through the courts year
after year at great expense to the state
which, had the punishment been less,
would have been settled and disposed of
III a very short time In this way the
I criminal Is protected rather than other
wise. He knows these facts before he
1 commits the crime; he knows the weak
ness OF a human juror; he aims to cover
his tracks so well that evidence beyond
a reasonable doubt cannot be obtained.
and with this assurance he proceeds 10
commit a crime that he would not COM
NIT were the punishment less severe.
The next reason that I give why I OBJ
lect TO capital punishment is that it does
no good; that Is TO say, il does not pre-
vent men from committing murder.
Surely no one would say that il prevents
I murder in the state of Utah. If Il does,
why did lC not prevent the murder OF
Hay and all the rest of the murders that
have been committed within this state
since statehood. How many more muir
aers DO you suppose we would have had
NJ capital punishment had been abolished
ten years agoy Not a single one. Then
| n u has not prevented murder and does
1OL prevent murder, and we see that IL
does not, why should we continue to en-
force itZ have lived I'm two states where
they inflict capital Observation-Disclosures
and Utah-and in one where they do not
-kdnSaS-and / believe that I am well
within the bounds Of truth when 1 say
mat considering the population. there is
not one murder in Kansas where there
are ten in Kentucky or Utah. 1t is ar
! gued by some that several states that
have abolished capital punishment have
readOpted it; but that proves nothing,
/ except, TO my mind. it proves that they
| nave taken step backward at least 500
/ Another reason why I oppose capital
/ punishment is that il is a relic of the
dark ages, a survival of the old Mosaic
law OF AN eye for an eve and a tooth
/ for TOOTH; a relic Of the times when
I penal punishment was visited on the
criminal out of pure vengeance. We have
/ passed that stage, and 1 am glad of it.
( | am only sorry that the youngest state
/ in the Union should have such a blot
upon her fair escutcheon.
The worst phase of the whole thing IS
I the effect that II has upon the immature
/ but maturing minds Of the youth Of the
state
/ Formerly executions were made public.
/ remember case in Kentucky where
a man was hanged in the presence of not
/ less than 10000 spectators More recently
I they have done away with public execu-
/ tions and allow the work to be done only
J in the presence Of a select few. But as
/ a complete offset to any good that might
/ come from private executions comes a
| sensational daily newspaper with it's
/ biOod-curdiing accounts of all that &C.
I CURED behind the walls together with lis
]
cally make the executions public. so very
/ public that it is almost the same as If a
{ had been done In the presence of every
/ man, woman and child in the state. ! dc
not think that any reasoning man will
I deny that the immature youth IS affected
/ by ii. Nor do ! think that any Reason
/ ing man win claim that this sensational
] matter can have or does have good eff
] feet upon the minds of these children.
/ The question IS can we afford as a peo-
/ pie. as state, TO subject the minds Of al
/ the children I'm the state 10 the possible
/ bad effects that this sensational matter
/ produces for the single purpose of put
/ ting one man beyond the power Of COM
hitting further crime2 Indeed, this whole
I risk IS taken on the one hand at the only
! possible remuneration of the difference
! between capital punishment and imprisOu-
! ment for life. can we afford it, / say,
1 no, a thousand times no. Again, how
/ are we 20 compute the evils incident 20
| these sensational executions upon the
children yet unbOrn2 The doctrine of pre-
! natal influence is an established fact
] We have all seen too much OF IT to doubt
/ II for a moment. IT Is idle TO tell me that
I these prospective mothers who read this
/ sensational stuff do not impart IL 70
] their offspring. 1 venture the as
/ sertion, and many of my readers may
/ live to believe il. that twenty years from
now Utah VIII harvest a crop of criminals
( who. If the facts could be known, can
! trace their depravity to the shooting Of
/ Mortensen. I ask again. can we AFFORD
I 10 take such awful chances2 1 say, nc,
( "a thousand times, no.
1 do hope that the next legislature viii
/ take step at least 800 years to the front
[ and abolish the present law.
J There is one other phase to this ques-
I ifcn that Z would ike to touch upon.
( Man is a creature of environment. he
| has no more to do with the formation
of his character than he has with the
| colorins Of his hair or his eyes. Men are
/ differently constituted. One man has o
desire to do one thing and another has
] another. For the average man the act