The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-04
BALDWIN IS IN FAVOR OF RESTORATION OF THE WHIPPING POST
Governors Differ in Regard to Proper Method of
 Punishment
VIRGINIA AND NEW
 YORK CONTAMINATED
lDonaghey Declares That Man Can Be Convicted of Almost Any Crime But Murder-O'Neal Reads
 Letter From Wilson

Letter From Niison
 Richmond. Va, December 3.-The res toration of the whipping post for certain classes of criminals and sterilization for others were advocated by Governor Bald win of Connecticut this afternoon in an address before the fifth annual governors conference, which opened here today.
 Governor Baldwins address immediately followed an address by Governor Shafroth of Colorado, in which Governor Shafroth advocated lenient but certain punishment to criminals, and cited his own state as an example where this system has worked well.
 In his speech Governor Baldwin de- clared that he was more in sympathy with the classical school of penology' than the new or noisier one, mainly made up of sentimental humanitarians or theoretical psychologists"
 Two Schools~of Penology
 "The former school" he said. main tains that criminals should ordinarily be punished by subiection to some form of suffering the other that they should or dirarily not be made to suffer for their misdeeds except as nature forces it upon them through the mind, but that their treatment by the state should be aimed primarily at their moral improvement.
 There is a certain crime of which one seldom speaks" Governor Baldwin conttn- ued Its very name has come to be ban ished from our newspapers. Yet the thought of it is daily terror to every woman in the south and brings a sense of uneasiness and constraint into the life of her northern sisters It is the cause of most of those lynching cases which dis grace our civilization. It is to be kept down only by the severest methods.
 "Is it too much to say if the courts are not ready to apply these, the people will? The people who may thus bring some ruffian to his death will not be the lest people in the community. They may occasionally seize the wrong man. But has conviction ever yet been had in the United States of anyone of a mob of lynchers for hanging negro accused of assault
 That crime does a wrong to a woman which many of them have deemed worse than death. Such man is no fit sub ject for an ndeterminate sentence. He has proved his inherent weakness of will power In every clear case of assault.
  ation of sterilization"
 Discusses Two Schools
 In discussing what he termed the two schools of modern penology, Governor Baldwin said:
 DModern penology. in both schools. has accepted Imprisonment as the main meth cd of punishment. The old plan had been to use capital punishment very freely; bodily mutilation occasionally; fogging often.
 Capital punishment which in Black stones day England inflicted for l60 of- lenses, is now universally restricted to a very few, and has been totally abolished in many jurisdictions. Visible, bodily mu- tilation has also disappeared. Flogging remains only in exceptional cases. as for children. So far, it seems to me. that it should be preserved.
 "A prison, do what you will, is cheer less place, and it's associations undesir- able. Its maintenance brings large ex- pense to the state. which the earnings Of the prisoners. in most cases, are quite inadequate to meet, particularly when they are serving short sentences. The indetermnate sentence is the remedy for this. at present most popular. But for certain classes of offenders it hardly fits the case.
 "A wife beater, for instance, or the burglar who uses torture to compel his victims to produce their valuables ought to suffer a certain punishment which he may know beforehand. It seems to me that the prospect of whipping-of course. . moderate and private one would often best answer that purpose. I have myself. when serving on the bench, more than once sent culprits to Jail where it would, think. have been of more good to the interests of public justice to inf1ct a punishment shorter n oh fpof in Tn
 Whipping Does Boys Good
 'rnrticularly is this true of boys. A sound whipping is a remedy that the world has always recognized as belong ing to their time of life. In the great schools of England birching has been freely dealt ont by the best teachers, and it brings no shame. unless there be want of pluck to stand it bravely.
 Tt Is, in practice. often inflicted in an irregular way. under authority of court upon young offenders. The choice Is given to boy. or perhaps his parents, whether he shall be sen tenced to fine or Imprisonment. or whipped by. or under the eye of, court officer I think this is often a malicious method to pursue, but it would be more satisfactory if there were a statute to authorize if; and also if this authority were not dependent on anybody's consent
 There are two objections. and real 1y but two objections to reinstating the ancient penalty of sterilization--it in- wolves an act which might be criticised as cruel; and its effect Is to lower a human life beyond recovery.
 .'As for the cruelty of 1t. the same de- gree of suffering is inflicted, for purpose in one respect not dissimilar, on behalf of our larger domestic animals. We do not deem it cruelty to them. So far as vasectomy is concerned, it has recently been pronounced not a cruel form of pun fshment by the supreme court of Wash instou and in several states there are laws authorizing the operation upon .e- generates in almshouses. asylums or pris- ons
 .sThere is crime still meaner than that to which have alluded, that nan can commit towards the weaker sex. It is when he lures a child into dishonor The penalty to be measured out for any act must be partly determined from it's natural consequences. This act, -here- fore. it might be argued, is not one to be punished as assault or murder is. But a sentence to mere imprisonment seems to me very inadequate one If every such offender were also smartly whipped, be- Have there would soon be fewer of them.