Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1912-09-03

the editor is sitting as a judge on a
question of which he can know abb
solutely nothing, except by hearsay.
But the meat in the matter, in fact
the foundation upon which every
supporter of capital punishment inva-
riably builds his argument, is found
in the Suns editorial when it says;
Then why remand them to prison
with the presumption that, in a few
years at the most, they would be turn
ed loose upon the public to repeat
their acts of violence?" The oppo-
nents of legal murder never have adj
vocated that the criminals should be
turned loose in a few years" They
have, on the contrary urged the pass
age and adoption of laws which would
prevent this very thing. They would
| impose a life sentence for the muir
derer, and have that sentence mean
exactly what it says. They would
change laws so that the pardon or re-
lease of a man convicted of murder
would be impossible, unless it shall
subsequently be proven that he is in
nocent. 1t can be done. 1t has al
ready been done in states that have
abolished capital punishment Jails
can be made strong enough to prevent
the escape of the criminal, and laws
can be adopted which no official would
dare abrogate. The placing of a
criminal behind the walls of a stone
cell for life, FOR LIFE. remember,
would, it appears to us, effectually re-
move him as a further menace to So
ciety and blot out his life completely
He would cease to be man, and be-
come merely a number on the books
of the prison.
If a mad dog bites us we kill him;
yet if mad man kills We do not kill
him---we lock him up in an insane
ward and, if he RECEIVERS, he is re-
leased. This is because an insane per-
son is not responsible for his acts,
We cannot draw a parallel case with
the dog.
If, as the Sun declares, the con-
frmed criminal can "no more change
himself than the midnight become |
MONDAY" is he then responsible
morally for the crimes he commits? ?
According to the Sun, he cannot help /
the crime and yet the Sun would kill /
him. He should be removed as a I
further menace to society but he /
SnOuIu De cOnIlnGQ III SAFE cell III or /
der that no more murders might re-
suit from his hand
The adherents of legal murder are
fond of referring to those who oppose
1t, as "sentimentalists," and sneering
Iy declare that 'maudlin sympathy"
influences them. 1t may be maudlin
to adhere to the belief that the law
has no right to take what it cannot
give, but no sympathy for the muir
lerer sways this opinion. Opponents
Of the extreme penalty want the Grim
nal punished and, if the laws which
hey advocate shall be adopted, the
for the murderer would
De sure and would last for his remain
ng lifetime. They would not kill him,
t is true but they would make his
ife a living death and, with his con-
science as his accuser, would border
ls existence in the lonely cell with
emorse and all the horrid phantoms
which would harrass his waking
lours and stalk through his troubled
lumber, the ghastly face of his victim
eering at him from every corner of Il
lis dungeon until death at last should ;
Dring relief.
The certainty of punishment such
is this would be equal, it appears, to
wen the vilest crime that man could
commit.