Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-02-04

may make him the nurde1er of his wife
or child and bring him to the scaffold, Is
yet unable to resist tia tempaatf0n to drink
The thought that her becomes q potential
murderer when he yields dOes not sufiice
to drive out the drink devH from control
of him. But according to the whipping post
theory II only the drtinkard is well dashed
upon the bare back or threatened with the
lash. he will cease to be drunkard, or
cease to be cruel in his drunkenness.
The Children.
What of the children shamed beyond en-
durance by the filings of companions on the
score of the public beating of their father?
What of the home itself, with this black
stigma upon its Intel? Bad as life must
be now. with mismated couples eternaly
nagging each other and occasionally COM
ing to blows, with children covering for
fear OF SUFFERING punishment or out of SYM
pathy for their parents it has Its COM
pensations. There is forgiveness and there
is love. of kind. But when once the man
has been led to the whipping post and
beaten in the NAM. of the state there can
be no forgiveness and no love. All the evils
of the past days will be intensified, with
the passions and the hate and revenge OF
the unsuited pair brought to focus. The
lash thus offers itself as a most effective
specific for making the home a hell.
But, painful though this picture of the
wife heaters home may, be, there Is a more
painfui one to present-the case of the
evidence is given in court concerning the
frequent brutal and disgusting family
rows in the alleys The wife is a fury
the husband fiend. Both are drunk, per-
haps, or both jealous The man Is ready
enough with his fists the woman with any
weapon she may grasp. The Police Court
often witnesses the laws attempt to adjust
these quarrels.. with both complainant and
defendant bandaged in token of the fury of
the light But whatever the mans provo
cation may be, however fragrant the wifes
1nhdelity-in certain classes Of society the
dusky otheilo pounds his suspected wife
instead or smothering her-he may not lay
finger upon her without rendering himself
amenable to the law-if the proposal now
pending is adopted, to the lash.
Inc whipping post would take the power
OF dlscipl1ne In the family out of the mans
hands and place it in that of the woman.
1t would put the male brute at the mercy
OF the immoral, the shrewish, the venom
ous-tongued. the pugilistic female brute.
If effective at all, the lash will be effect
i've chiefly as an incentive to wife murder
or wife desertion, or for suicide rovOking
or heart-crushing verbal brutality far worse
than blows. where the husband is the
stronger vessel. Where the wife is domi-
nant 1t opens the way for a domestic tyr
amy equally as bad and for evils from
which the average member of society will
shrink in the very prospect.
An Unsound Principle.
The whipping post is rejected because it
is based upon an unsound principle, long
abandoned in the interest Of higher civil
ization. The ancient Hebraic law took IAN
eye FOR an eye, and a tooth for a TOOTH"
It was inspired by the lowest possible con
ception of justice. Punishment, not cure,
was the purpose. Witness the great array
of implements of torture in the celebrated
collection Of the Nuremberg museum. JUS
tfce was cruel conception, -6at=heartcd
tyrant. AS the system Of punishments was
elaborated it was chiefly in the direction of
inflicting greater suffering. Through all
these methods ran the ancient principle
of meeting evil with evil.
Brutality has always seemed to flourish
most where crimes of brutality have been
most Brutality punished. Instead of serving
as deterring example, and instead Of driv
ing out from mans disposition his brutal
tendencies the spectacle Of the bloody,
quivering flesh of the lashs victim has al
ways had of itself a hardening. brutalz-
ing effect upon the people of every commun-
ity where the whipping post has been es-
tablished. All testimony adduced to
the effect of the whipping post in Della
ware has been that it has afforded de-
moralizing entertainment for the crowd.
If the spectacle at the post is not q farce
it is a sickening horror! Where is the mid
die ground upon which it can stand and
&C mmand respect from any class? IF erect
ed within the confines of the Jail yard in
this District and serving as a national place
of punishment for wife beaters only, and of
one city only. it instantly suggests The duck
ing stool as an accompanying punishment
fer scolds: Or better, that the law CT like
for like may be carried ont logically, it { alls
for the scolds bride, that device of some
forgotten medieval genius which, strap ped
upon the head of the terma giant, pierced
her tongue whenever it wagged. x
The Modern Theory.
The dominant thought in the minds
of all penologists today is to cure. not to
punish; to restore the manliness of prison.
ers; to re-establish their grasp upon honest
principles, to lead them into honest, whole
some, clean ways of living. 1t is this
thought which has carried the civilized
world SO far away from the barbaric meth
DDS of the past, and has relegated the
whipping post, the stocks, the pillory, the
ducking stool, the jougs, the bride, the
boot. the rack, the thumb-screw and the
knout to the lumber room of antiquity.
Considering the average wife beaten as
victim primarily Of drink, he is to be treat
ed as a patient, rather than criminal. His
case If handled along the lines of modern,
civilized and Christian thought, with SYM
pathy for the wife and her protection and
that of the community the primary mo-
tiyes of action, would never take the shape
of a revival of any Old Testament punish
ment or middle-age penalty inflicting retail
iatofy torture, but IN order to cure the
community would seek and attack the
sources of evil. 1t would for period take
charge of the cruel drunkard on the theory
that he was temporarily incapable of car
ing for himself, and put him at as hard
work as his physical condition would per-
nit. This abor would benefit him physical
ly and mentally. 1t would be productive
fully compensated labor. Compensation for
it, however, would go to his dependent
family. He would be kept from liquor and
would lead wholesome, healthful life. He
would return to his family at least less of
a brute than before; whereas flashing
would intensity his. brutality. 1t would pay
the community to give the Kelley cure to
every dangerous drunkard within it's Gus
tody to whom the cure seemed applicable.
1t would pay it to apply to such wards
every influence which might cause the man
cruel in drink to abhor his cruelty and the
liquor which caused it: which might
change the drunkard's mind and heart
strengthen his will, or bless him with hum
BILE reliance for strength on Christian faith
An Unchristian Doctrine.
What feeble, weakened Christians we
are to be so hopeless and despairing of the
reform and salvation of the man who beats
his wife when crazed with drink! How
dare we pronounce his offense to be UNI