New-York tribune., 1906-11-25

which the death penalty is usually inflicted In
other countries are perpetrated against one. or
at the most a few citizens. 1t s possible for
cabinet ministers to commit offences against
the state which, by embroiling the nation In
war. may entail the death of thousands. tho
loss of territory and all the horrors of foreign
invasion. 1t is rightly felt that no imprlson-
ment, however severe. would be adequate pun
ishment for such crime, especially II II par
took of the nature of betrayal and OF treason.
and it is for this reason that the law abolish
ing capital punishment in Norway extends 10
every man, and child. excepting TO the
cabinet ministers of the King.
A word of explanation too. Is necessary with
cutions have been recorded during the last
twelve months, despite the presence on the stat
ute book of Empress GATHERINGS law doing away
with the penalty of death. It's abolition Is mere
ly confined to ordinary criminal procedure. and
that is why nihsts and revolutionists. espe-
cially those concerned in murderous outrages.
are usually tried by court martial. the death
penalty having been retained as in all the other
countries above mentioned, both in the army
and navy There is difficulty about this, as
for several decades the greater portion of Rus
sia has been subjected to what is known as the
minor state of siege" which admits OF the ap-
plication of military law to political offences.
1t is popularity believed that the death penalty
has been abolished in Belgium. This is not the
case. however. 1t still figures the statute
books of the Belgian kingdom. but King Leopold.
since his accession to the throne, forty
years ago, has, in Difference to a deathbed en-
treaty of his mother. invariably declined to put
his signature to a warrant for the execution of
condemned prisoners, and in consequences of this
they cannot be put to deaths In fact. no criminal
has been subjected to capital punishment during
his reign-that is to say. in Belgium. With re-
gard to the Congo Free State that unfortunate
ly, is another matter
Among the civilized nations which still retain
the death penalty are Great Britain Germany
Sweden. Austria Spain and the United States
1 In Spain the garrote. so familiar to readers of
| American newspapers in connection with the
! history of Cuba's struggle for independence is
! the method employed for taking the lives of con-
victed murderers. Hanging is adhered to by
| England and Austria well by the majority
| of the states of the American Union, execution
by electricity being restricted to only two states.
| In France the guillotine is about to be
! definitely abolished by law. while in Germany
| the medieval method of decapitaton by
means of the block and great two handed
| sword is still in vogue. Fortunately the
! executions in Germany are private, for
| otherwise the spectacle which they present
would convey the belief that In certain
| respects Germany had not yet emerged from the
! darkness of the Middle Ages The grim func-
I tion is generally carried out in the prison yard
the procession, which enters to the tolling of
the prison bell. being headed by the stalwart and
| heavily bearded executioner. shoudering a
cleaning the insignia of office, wearing
| scarlet hood and with bare arms. presenting
I'm fact, an appearance familiar to those who
have seen paintings of the decapitation of great
personages in medieval history. His assistants
! are likewise bare armed. leather breeched and
red shirted. The is. however merely an
emblem of office. for black draped table In
the prison yard lie two or three swords OF a Pc
! culiar make perfectly straight, with long and
heavy blades and black handles, large enough
| to admit of their being grasped by two sturdy
| hands. The wooden block is draped with red
| cloth. Against il the condemned prisoner is
forced to kneel, with his neck resting upon 1t.
| one OF the assistants holding his head by the
hair while the other two grasp him by the arm
and leg Then the executioner wieIds the sword
which whixses through the air like a lightning
FASH and the head is severed with a single
blow
In France there have been until now five
stated crimes for which the death penalty has
been imposed-namey, parrIcide murder. poi
sonng infantlcde and the incendiarsm OF build
ngs occupied by human beings. During =