The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-08-05
DOES CAPITAL PUNISHMENT PRE-.
VENT coNVIcTloNs7

Among the many persplcaclouS Ut
terances of the late Henry Ward
Beecher none was truer than his OBJ
servation that while the fear of hang
ing does not deter E,en from crime.
the fear of inflicting death deters
many jury from finding just YER
dict, and favors the escape of GRIMM
ais" This is cited by Mr.. Maynard
Shipley in an article in the American
Law Review, in the course OF which
he presents some figures and opinions
which tend to show that the sooner
capital punishment is abolished alto
gether the sooner justice will come
into her own.
The first state in the Union to abol-
ish the death penalty permanently
was Michigan; and, replying to an
inquiry as to the results, Governor
Austin Blair of that state said: BE
fore the abolition of the death penalty
murders were not infrequent, but con-
victions we're rarely or never obtain
ed. Convictions and punishment are
now much more certain than before
the change was made. The reform has
been successfully tried, and is no long
er an experiment. For purposes of
COMPARISON, 1t Is interesting to note
that, while In Michigan the percent
age of convictions Of persons indicted
1 for murder was 2S2, in Massachusetts,
during the same period the percent
age was but 10. Rhode Island, in
1852 enacted law limiting the in
Fiction OF the death penalty to con
denned murderers who should attack
their keepers; and Governor Wye,
writing twelve years later, said: MY
observation fully justifles me in say
ing that conviction for murder is far
more certain now in proper cases than
when death was the penalty for 1t.
According to Mr.. Andrew Palm, In
his work, THE Penalty OF Death, .
the convictions in Rhode Island muir
der trials were 65 per cent. as com
pared with II per cent in Massachu
sets during the same period. The
abolition of the death penalty In Wis
consin was largely due to the ex
IRENE difficulty experienced In secur
ing convictions In murder trials, the
great aversion of many to the TAX
, ing OF life rendering it almost impos
sible to obtain jurors from the more
, intelligent portion OF the community
, Among nine states Wisconsin showed
: the highest proportion of conviction
: to secutions-namely. 4o.5 pc
= cent. During the same period (thre'
. years. IN Idaho, of twenty-one per
4 sons indicted for murder in the frs
degree. not single one was con
/. victed as charged In Name whicl
i abolished capital punishment In 1876
: the proportions Of convictions ros
i from 1874 per cent. TO 64.5 per cent
n After four years Of abolition the deaf
j, penalty was partially restored i
r Colorado in 1901, the jury having tn
b right to decide In its verdict whethe
e, the penalty shall be life Imprisonment
1t or death by hanging. Since the e:
Is tablishment OF the law abolishin
s, capital punishment 81 per cent, {
IN murder trials have resulted In convi
e, tons. In Kansas the gallows, afte
r quarter of century Of desuetud
ID was formally abolished by law.
er There are perhaps some who agre
BY with Prof John Dewey, of the Oh
ny cago University that there may /
Us circumstances under which the deaf
NJ penalty is necessary: but even he a
- mits that where the moral opinio
as OF the community Is highly deyelope
We and where scientific penology b;
d, made considerable progress 1t l. lik
in ly to be more harmful than helpful
IS P-of. S. F. Emerson points out anoth'
lr- factor tending to make capital pu
ishment impracticable, and. indiret
so ly, leading to illegal verdicts: ia