El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-09-04


" the idea of negroes being
w burned, alive in the south, but
are not Injured to the idea of their be-
ing burned alive in Pennsylvania
That a company of men belonging
TO such a state, said to be among the
leading citizens of their town, snouio
have deliberately conspired to roast
negro and should have crowded him
back into the flames when, goaded by
agony he broke from his bonds. and
held him there writhing under the flery
torture till nothing remained but
charred trunk-all of this is SO terrible
and devilish that it touches the spot
In US where we keep our moral disgust
and holy execration-
The district attorney claims to know
some Of the perpetrators, believes that
they can be convicted and promises, In
that case to see that they are dealt
with according to the rigor Of the
law.
If that means anything, it means
that they will be punished with death.
Proper Purpose of Punishment.
Now, 1t is important that there
should be steadily fostered in the pub
lie mind a lively consciousness OF the
horror of the event, for, although the
law is rather an exact science, the ap-
plication of 1t is exceedingly inexact,
and the results Of such a trial as in
prospect in Coatesville will depend al
most as much on the condition of pub
lie feeling as 1t will on the facts In the
case and the exactions of the statute
book
It is a time when the press. as well
as the pulpit, can contribute much to-
ward wholesome issue by keeping
sentiment at a high moral tension.
The proper purpose of punishment
is not accomplished by merely getting
back at the culprit and squaring ac-
counts with him, but by its effective
ness in preventing the recurrence Of
similar crime. And by no means could
so much be accomplished toward pre-
venting everywhere in the United tates
the repetition of such diabolic atrocity
as would be effected by hanging or
electrocuting all the eminent citi-
zens" that can be distinctly proved to
have been actively participant in the
burning, no matter how many there are
of them.
There is no more brutality in hang
ing dozen murderers than in hanging
one.
If there is any brutality at all, 1t is
In the hanging, not in the number that
are hanged.
Example Should Be Made.
Tn1S is not written out OF any iii
pulse of revenge. The spirit Of revenge
Is never the spirit of justice. and there
was no more glazing exhibit of deprav-
ity than that shown by the woman who
wanted TO touch the match to the cot
upon which the victim was inundated.
But not only Coatesvi1le and Penn
sylvania, but the whole country re-
quires that an example should be made
OF these cultivated barbarians suf
ficiently impressive and startling to
stay the current of barbarism that Is
running so fast and full and that gains
strength and impetuosity by its very
flow.
There is now an opportunity for the
judicial authority of the state to strike
so ringing a blow that its echoes shall
be heard clear across the continent.
and all the way from Ohio to Georgia.
Severity is sometimes and often the
finest form of mercy. Hanging or be-
heading half a dozen or a dozen men
now may easily be the means Of pre-
venting a hundred assassinations or
burnings in years to come.
The dramatic feature of such a pro-
ceeding would have an indispensable
efficiency considered as means of thaw-
ing out the frozen moral possibilities
of hosts of our contemporaries to