St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1905-02-22
The Death Penalty.
Written for the CALEDoNIAN)
ooh. God! 1t is a fearful thing

In any shape, In any mood. "-byron'
Now that Mary Rogers has been re-
prieved and her case is to go before the
courts, so that one may not be
accused OF being influenced either by sex
or sentiment. it will be well that the
propriety OF continuing the death penal
ty as a mode of punishment in Vermont
should be seriously considered.
1t certainly has come to be one OF the
most burning questions of the day, not
only here in our state but throughout
the civilized world. The question is re-
receiving the attention of not only the
opponents of the theory of ian eye Tor
n eye, and a tooth for tooth" but
those emirent and careful persons who
are studying the vexatious question OF
prison reform.
In brief paper like this it is impossible
to present all the arguments which have
been made pro and con, but enough may
be presented to give the reader some new
germ of thought on this great question
that should interest every man in whose
heart justice and umanity hold place.
What is the object of the death penalty?
The advocates of this relic Of barbarism
will tell us that it is necessary for the
protection of society. No reasoning
could be more unsound or absurd. Fear
never made bad man good or an insane
man sane, nor does it prevent the wicked
from carrying out his evil design. Society
must be protected by some method other
than by retaliation and revenge.
That we have the legal right to kill is
beyond dispute. But today we are con-
fronted with the question from a higher
view point than at any prior time. Is
there any necessity for the death penalty
Have we longer the legal and moral
right to kill? Is it any worse for one man
to kill another, than it is for thousand
men to kill one? Was ever the killing OF
a man more premedtated, deliberate and
cold booded, than judicial murder
These are the burning questions. | care
but little, for the purposes of this discus
sion, what the Mosaic law prescribed,
whether the offender be male or female.
1t is not a question of sentiment or the
ofogy, but broad question OF humanity,
Justice and necessity.
If an unwelcome guest comes to our
home and we desire him to leave and he
declines, the law recognizes our right to
use so much force as may be necessary to
eject the offender, but when we use a
greater force than is necessary to accom-
plish the desired end then we commit the
crime of assault and may be punished al
though the offsnse was provoked by the
elected party. So society has right to
protect itself, and il person shall COM
NIT homicidal crime, we have every
right to use all force necessary to take
from him the means and opportunity OF
further offending, but when we go a step
further and kill the offender, is it not a
crime, is it not cold blooded deliberate
and premediated murder? Have we no
used greater force than was necessary
| believe we have and that it no Longer
Expresses the will and wish of the people
of the state, and the best judgment O.
the enlightened and law abiding people
oil the Commonwealth"
The death penalty does not deter other
from the commission of the crime. AS al
evidence OF this take the record of homi
t cides and executions in this country for I
: single decade. Il have only the figures Q
i from 1882 to 1892 at handl. In 1882
4 l ,947 murders were committed, only ~
= executions took place. In 1888, 1859
t murders, 108 executions. In 1881
( 1885 murders, only 76 executions. rhi
4 fearful showing kept up until in 1879.
S 6762 murders were committed, and onl
{: 1O7 executions took place. While 10
II the eleven years total of 32,610 mu
# ders were committed and 1,144 exec,
5, tions took place. 1t must be evider
from these figures that there is star
= ling increase in this class of crimes an
,e that capital punishment as deterrent
a. failure.
o! The Chicago Tribune commenting c
~ the failure OF the death penalty say
n. The failure is due mainly to the gro
in ing reluctance of modern juries to co
h. denim a man to death"
ad What is the moral effect of the dea
he penalty?
~ Whatever lowers the morals of o
to people is of serious Importance a
il should be quickly eradicated from o
Try society. That capital punishment is
", regarded is evident from the privf
mt manner in which the condemned are e.
len cuted, for if there is any good purpose
SUI be served, if it is to deter Others from
,os commission of like crime, then the me-
ion public the better but this method /
70. long been discarded as degrading, hol
Ivy tying and unworthy of our cvilizati
led The bloody and savage scenes that h;
ain been enacted on the gallows and in
hg1 6a farr