The Washington times., 1911-06-13
CONTINUED from First Pase.)

senseless when we do such thing.
cannot believe that the way to stor
murder is to commit more murders
and I, therefore, am horrifed at the
max
Mr.. Van Schaick's View.
Now I would call attention to wha,
Mr.. Van Schaick said, as follows:
| Upon what ground do we base oui
opposition to the hanging of a woman
in the District of Columbia? Simply
upon the broad proposition that society
has advanced far enough to do some
| thing else with such women than to
destroy. them. There is no sex problem
| in the proposition. II applies equally ID
men. Such men and women are the
waste products of society. Shall we
learn to utilize waste products of in
dustry, agriculture, and even the waste
products Of sewers and never learn to
| utilize waste human products2
Once the waste OF the house stay
ed by the house." said Conway, "and
became a source or disease. Now We
put 1t on the fields and it becomes
golden grain"
Once waste human products lay In
jails or warehouses;, lazy. diseased, i'm
moral Yesterday at Occoquan l saw
them making bricks, crushing stone,
building roads and dwellings. clearing
the stump lots and tilling the soil. And
Ill lIlc uOlHS 'lHcy were DelTlR recon-
structed themselves.
Is there nothing for us to do with
men and women who commit the grav-
est crimes. but to kill them? That.
indeed, is the easiest thing It takes
but little brains to slip a moose and
choke out a life. 1t Is as easy to bury a
murderer as 1t is to bury a dog. But
is that all we know as g people?
can't we work out plan to uphold
the stern righteousness OF the law and
a.
sive and degenerate, and at the same
time utilize the highest teachings VIC
possess on the reconstruction of the de-
linquent, the rehabilitation Of the de-
fcient, the reform Of the offender?
What II we do have to keep muir
derers incarccrated for life? We may
learn perhaps in time why they became
murderers. We may find out a few
things even in the churches. which will
save other boys and girls, and thou
sand times over repay the cost
The Line of Duty.
These two statements go to the root
of the case. The fact that we have
murders shows that our social condi-
ions are not right. Our duty, as see
it, is to strive ceaselessly to make them
right. The remedy is not to kill people
after they have committed crime, but /,
to make the environment of people such
that they won't want to commit crime. |
Life is God-given. and was intended 10 |
be good. not evil; 1t is evil only as 1t
has been nerverted. We should. en- |
deavor to reclaim 1t to good.
'Of course. this cannot be done in |
day or in a generation. but it should be |
the end toward which we labor. Take |
the case of a child. don't believe 1t is |
hand in the fire in order to teach 1t
that the fire will harm 1t. There Is a |
better, a more enlightened. more hu-
name method. We should appeal to the
child's reason, and we should make the |
Of the child such that 1t
will have reason to appeal to. That Is
exactly our duty, in bigger. broader
way, to unfortunate men and women
moral vision. That is our duty toward
the Matte Lomaxes of the world.
Utilizing Waste Products.
But what, some may ask, are we to
10 with these grown children in the in
ERIN between today and the day when
We realize the ideal? That question is
Schaick. The people he saw at Deco
yuan are waste products of society. yet
hey are producing values for the good |
If society, and are receiving every OPP I
oortunity to redeem themselves by their
abors 1t will be necessary to restrain
,vil-for many years, both for the pro-
ection of society and for their own pro-
ection, but 1t is not necessary to de-
troy them
Mrs. Andrews is one of the best in
orrned women Of the District. and has
esided here for more than fifteen years.
;he has been active in women's club
work. almost constantly since coming
lere from Hastings, Neb., when her
husband was elected to Congress. Four
cen years ago Mr.. Andrews was made
AUDITOR for the Treasury, and through
nut his entire political and official career
irs. Andrews has shared equally with
i'm interest in the subjects which have
emanded his attention. She has been
close student of social and economic
roblems as we'll as political questions
nd has always been active in move
1ents for the advancement of human
Ielfare.
Hopes for Commutation.
Il instinctively rebel at the thought
f organized society taking a human
fe," said Mrs. Andrews, and feel