Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-07
THE WHIPPING POST
THE PRESIDENTS RECOMMENDED
TON REvIVES LOCAL INTEREST.
How the Matter Was Brought Int
Public Discussion by the Grand
Jury in 1895.

The Presidents recommendation to Con-
gress looking to the establishment of the
whipping post in the District of Columbia
for the punishment of wife beaters and
other offenders of that class has revived in
terest in question that has been discussed
in this community frequently in the past.
AS noted briefly in The Star yesterday, the
subject was brought to public attention nine
years ago, when sixteen members of the
grand jury which retired September 30, 1895,
laid before the court, presided over by the
late Justice Andrew Bradley, recommen-
dalton in the following terms:
eve, the undersigned, members of the
grand jury of the District of Columbia, after
discussion of the various crimes and Of
lenses brought to our attention, believe that
until some other methods of punishment for
such ofenses as petty larceny and WIFE
beating and those which now prevail in the
District Of Columbia are adopted that the
commission of said crimes and offenses will
continue to increase.
I'VE therefore, after serious considera-
ton. do most earnestly recommend to the
honorable judges of the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia THAI they take
such steps to institute whipping post as
will cause the same to be established, be-;
lieving that the same would result in the
decrease of crime in the District of Column
bia and lessen the expenditures of the GRIM
inal courts in said District"
The recommendation was signed by the
following members of the grand jury: Fore
man Joseph c. johnson, Samuel Polkinhorn.
Herman Benzler, William N Fisher T. W
Noonan. John w. Lee, Richard Anderson,
w. M Dunkhorst, W. F. Jones, Edward F.
Meyer, Samuel Snow, E. A. King, Peter J.
Duffy, Philip Houser. John Quinn and E. II.
Thomas
Justice Bradley's Approval.
On receiving the paper from the jury and
lf~on H. r. IL Il
remarked that he agreed that the establish
ment OF a whipping post here would be pro-
ductive of good in some instances. But the
courts, he continued. could not establish it.
hence Congress should be applied to in the
matter, and he advised the members of the
grand jury individually to move in that di-
rection.
Immediately upon the publication of the
news OF this action the subject was widely
discussed by lawyers. clergymen- and other
citizens, vigorous views being expressed on
both sides of the question. 1t was pointed
out that the whipping post would not be an
innovation in the District, but would be the
re-establishment of form of punishment
formerly in vogue. When the District of
Columbia was organized it inherited the
laws then in force in Maryland. which au-
thorized not only the whipping post but
also the pfllory as a punishment for thieves
Those laws also provided the still harsher
punishment of branding, the letter "T''
pciuS Jul lieu upOH the Ddl Oh the tQumD OF
thieves. That law was in force as late as
1901. During that year the records show a
defendant convicted of larceny was SEN
fenced Ito be pillored for one-quarter of
an hour and to have ten stripes and to pay
800 pounds of tobacco
Comments For and Against.
In the course of the comment upon the
proposition of the grand jury, Mr.. A. A.
Birney, then district attorney, declared his
81 fI,ar 49,
decrease crime. such as petit larceny and
wife beating. and would thereby materially
lessen the Expenditures of the courts He
said also that he advocated the whipping
post as punishment for professional
tramps.
This view was Endorsed by Assistant Dis
trict Attorney Taggart.5 While approving
the proposition at that time Judge Kimbau,
then as now sitting on the police bench,
said that he believed the whipping post
should be confined to wife beaters and
should not apply to cases Of theft.
There was some question in the minds Of
several who expressed themselves on the
subject as to whether the advocacy of the
whipping post would not accentuate feeling
between 1he races, some of the colored
members OF the bar fearing this effect. 1t
was also pointed out that similar effort
had of late years been made in Maryland
without effectga law having been passed for
the establishment of the whipping post
without beingsenforced.
The discussion continued for fortnight
and then languished, the general opinion
seeming TO beathat no effort to secure ac-
ton in the lihe Of the grand jurys recon-
mendation was desirable, or at all events
was likely to succeed.
Since then the matter has come up occa-
siOnally TOR discussion, especially when
Major sylvester, shortly after taking office
as chief Of police, in an annual report, noted
the prevalence of petty crime and of wife
beating, despite the efforts of the courts to
lower the percentages.