The Washington herald., 1909-05-05
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

The electrocution OF five negroes. prae-
ticaIly together. for two murders in Pow
hatan, Va, IL probably the record for the
administration Of capital punishment IN
the United States II was planned TO exc
cute all OF the condemned on April 30.
but the nerve OF the superintendent OF
the Richmond Denitentiary appears 10
have forsaken him. Gov. Swanson listen
ed to his plea that he could not execute
more than two men in any one day and
rep=leyed three OF the negroes. one until
May and the other Two until May Z
One would think that the prison Official
would have preferred to finish his ghastly
task all at once
Virginia Is the latest State 20 adopt cleo
trOcution as its form Of capital punish
ment. The first was New York After
the Empire State came Massachusetts,.
Ohio. and New Jersey Minnesota. and
other States have considered the adoption
OF the electric chair. There Is a general
tendency in that direction The reason
for the substitution Of elecUocution for
hanging as a means OF punishiug capital
crimes was that the new method OF in
ficting the death penalty was supposed
TO be painless and, therefore, more hu-
name than hanging.
For years. however. there have been
many people to dispute this assertion
They contend that eIectTocutiOn Is not
painless by any means, and that IN fact
II Is most barbarous. They insist that
nobody ever dies in the electric chair. but
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the body merely suspends the vital func-
tons, and that the condemned are IN
reality killed by the autopsy performed
after the electrocution- These are Ques-
tiOns which may never be settled
The United States is the only coun-
try in which capital punishment Is ad-
ministe-ed by elecTOcutiOn- n France
the guillotine has been used. except for
e short intermission, 10 punish capital
crimes ever since the days OF the French
Revolution. when Dr.. Guillotine urged
the adoption OF This method. which he
claimed was painless. The French doc
tor borrowed his idea from the Scotch
maiden. so called because some deb
onair nobleman declared facetiously
Just before his head fell that the knife
was the sweetest maiden he had ever
kissed
Recently. after ten years OF idIeness,
the guillOtine has been called into ac-
ton, with q prospect OF beheading
twenty-five criminals within a few weeks.
The responsible French officials have
long been opposed 10 capital punishment.
but they had TO yield TO the public de-
mand that extraordinary steps be taken
f-a rr r--oT
and crime. The guillotine began work
again az Bethune with a ouadruple ex-
ecution. An immense crowd was pres
ent. and thousands Of troops were neces-
sary 10 Queu the riot which the legal
lied bloodshed incited Somebody took
moving pictures OF the affair. The aU-
thorities sought 20 prevent him. and
later 70 seize the films, but the photOg-
rapher escaped, supposedly 10 America
AT MaTseilles three heads were 10 fall,
and other cities clamored for the gull
locine-
Hanging is the most common form OF
execution. Il prevails ii Great Britain
and her colonies and many other coun-
tries IN Mexico the method IS shooting
and il Germany il is beheading- In Spain
the garrote has been used ever since the
Moorish conquest This method Of execu-
ton was practiced IN the Philippines and
Cuba before the Spanish-American war
The garrote consists Of heavy metal
collar attached 10 a post The collar is
fastened around the criminals neck and
a screw is turned, which pierces the vic
TINS spinal column where Il connects
with the brain. Death Is instantaneous
IN China the eXecUtiOner wie!ds the
sword. while two assistants stretch the
cUlprit's neck.
For a century there has been a general
tendency all over the civilized world 10
lessen the number Of capital OfTenses, 20
make the iniictiOn OF the death penalty
as humane and secret as pos BILE, and
finally 70 abolish capital punisl neat a.
together. IN the United States s. late as
1894 there were twenty-five capital Of
fenses under the military code OF laws
twenty-five under the naval code, three IN
der the extraordinary Jurisdiction Of con-
suls. and seventeen under the civil code
N the Fifty-second Congress the num-
Der was reduced 70 three-treason. mur-
der and rape. Such crimes can only BE
punished under the Federal law Il com
rnitted In a Territory OF national reser-
walton. OF on the sea IN 1905 Virginia
headed the list Of states with eight cap
ital Offeuses. Louisiana had seven. Mis-
souri, and Delaware each six IN most
states murder IS the only capital crime
Other capital crimes IN America are kid
mapping. arson. piracy. &c In England
a century ago there were 200 capital
crimes so-calIed, including such compar-
atively minor offenses as stealing apples,
counterfeiting. forgery. and SO on. Now
there are said 10 be only two-murder and
treason.
The wholesale executions that marked
the ancient Roman prosecutions, the
Spanish Inquisition. St Bartholomew's
Day, hte French Revolution, and pTacti-
cally al the wars and instructions Of
many centuries have gone. 1t Is to be
hoped, never 10 return. Rarely now does
an execution constitute an occasion for
public holiday. feastlng. and rejoicing,
ss was the case in the olden days. Most
modern humanitarians. cTiminologists. and
penologists agree that executions should
be as private rs possible Publicity, the
keynote Of pTesent-day life, Is not ap-
piled TO infictiOn OF the death penalty
There are five States where caDitaI nun
ishmsnt does not exist-Maine. Michigan
Rhode Island, Wisconsin. and Kansas. In
the last named State the death penalty
may be inflicted upon a warrant OF the
governor. but such a warrant is never
signed Iowa abolished eauItsI rrnisb-
ment some years ago. but re-enacted Il
after the number OF murders in the State
increased Colorado abolished the desfh
ueuaTrv IN 1Sc- Shortly oF,.---.., -