Omaha daily bee., 1907-08-25
hIIVUIUuH OIImE,
PUBLIC ExECUTIoNER PENsIoNED
His Office, by Act of Parliament,
Practically Dispensed With.
HAS BEEN PUT AWAY
Appetite of Multitude for Objection
able Pampered by Press.
JURY's VERDICT IS UNENFoRCED
Recrudescence of Crime I'm France
Owing TO Leniency that Hns Been
CritIcised-MOre of the
Dreyfus Case.

PARIS. Aug. A-(special)-An France
is wondering whether the guillotine has
been banished forever. Since the assize
court of the Seine tried Soeland for the
peculiarly atrocious murder Of a little girl
the question whether or not he is to be
executed has become a burning one. The
verdict of the jury being guilty, without
the benefit Of extenuating circumstances,
obviously the condemned man In the or
binary course of things would be gull
lotined. But, though Parliament has not
voted the abolition of capital punishment,
the death sentence pronounced on the
prisoner must apparently remain dead
letter, since the public executioner mas
been pensioned off by the budget COM
mittee OF the Chamber or Deputies ana
the guillotine has been slowed away in
some disused clubhouse.
BY tho nonvoting of the law abohshing
capital punishment while at the same time
suppressing the post of public executioner
and relegating ia veuve," as the guillotihe
is called in criminal slang, to an outhouse'
a distinctly abnormal condition OF Things
has been established. For instance Wthih
the last six months in Paris and the prov
tnces. the death sentence has been passeo
on numbers of convicted murderers' the
said sentence being Of necessity commuteo
by the president OF the republic since VIZ
tually capital punishment can no longer DC
said to exist.
Pres. ClamOrs for Blood.
In presence of the exceptionally atrocious
crime which brought Soleiland to the as
size court many leading organs OF the
nress are now clamoring for sa tete
with almost unscemly violence, and on the
first page Of certain journals the criminal
severed head, with the guillotine beside IT,
constitute q gruesome picrorial atTacuon
| for the morbidly inclined. II shoulo pe
said that the latest Partisan crime mas
been what is termed written up IN wha'
| anpears a distinctly objectionapie manner
since soleilands imprisonment his wire mas
not only been repeatedly interviewed oS
onterpris,ns reporters, but she has peeh
| ded to write her memoirs Tor poute-
ward sheet, in which delicate and intinlalo
suoiectR connected with her married me
With the convict are crudely revealed anu
ali manner of Objectionable details are
| o,,,oc In a word, the appetite Oh the
,,n,titude for the horrible and the .rasio
has been pampered, and what was snhp.s
| -o,,o,tinR. Ignoble crime, about WHICH O"'
! of respect for decency, the less saiu .''o
ho.tar has been given all the prestise OIL d
"cause celebre A., =
Oro inevitable result was that during the
+wo days the trial lasted the assi1e ooui -
despite the heat, was overcrammeu pS 80
e,o.,, women. actresses and demipondaihes'
-, ~ whom came back from the couh-
nv or the seaside to be present Aho' aS
r,ola snectator with no little disgust re-
| roorLs the attitude and manners OF these
.,,,ortlv dressed, pearl-powdered' perlorlieu
zvo,nen was deplorably out OF keeping WIN
the solemnity of the surroundinss. lneS
Ioughed. chattsred, applauded' or the con
trarv as though they were at some theA'ri
-, Srass rehearsal rather than In a court
.. iustiee. unmoved apparently either py
the presence in the witness oox Oh tne
/ iSa.,e,s ,,,otin,'s parents or the exhioition
:, tba blood stained garments worn by the
child on the day she was slaughtered
Public and Capital Punishment.
With regard, however. to the important
question anent the abolition or mainten-
ance of capital punishment in France.
thoughtful commentators on the subject
rightly remark that opinions concerning
that question ought not to be affected
merely because a sensational crime has
been committed, and street hawkers are
! selling pictorial illustrations thereof in
which Ia Veuve" is figured awaiting her
lawful prey Some months ago when IN
de Paris" the public headsman) was pen
stoned of and II was tacitly understood he
would have no successor the campaign ir
| favor of the abolition of the death sen,
tence met wis distinct public approval. II
was argued that countries such as Switzer-
land or Belgium, where capital punishment
does not exist, murders were not So fire.
quent IN countries where II does exist
Certain magistrates high police officials
and jail chaplains, however, guided by
their long experience and contact with the
criminal classes, maintained that fear OF
la Veuve" was needed as a restraineI
upon numbering instincts or in default OF
this some kind Of punishment more severe
and lasting than the sentence of transpor-
tation to La Nouvele must be provided
1t is a fact that convicts are by no means
much intimidated by the prospect OF ssrv.
ing their sentence on some island whers
privileges are too easily obtained. chances
OF escape by no means problematical and
life altogether far more endurable thar
that passed by the convict undergoing i'm
prisonment in French Jail.
Against the maintenance OF capital pun.
ishment In France It is urged that the
presidential prsrogative OF clemency !,
frequently so erratically used as to result
in fragrant Injustice toward criminals or
whom sentence Of death has beon passed
some Of whom are executed while others
keep their heads on their shoulders. Ir
any case, IL is distinctly desirable that the
Chamber of Deputies, Immediately the au
tumn session calls them back TO work
should settle the matter one way or an.
other. II is manifestly absurd to see day
by day throughout France prisoners found
guilty Of murder, sentenced to death with
all wonted soiemnity, when all the time
they know the sentence will not. and can
not, be carried out
As for the wretched culprit Soleiiand 4
would evidently be akin 10 injustice to be
head him were II possible to do wher
many other criminals sentenced to deati
within the last six months have profteC
by the existing and embarrassing uncer
Continued on Second Pag@)