Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-19
PASS DISTRICT BILLS
Senators for EIectrocution In
stead of Hanging.
POWER GIVEN TO JURIES
Measure Letting Them Substitute
Life Term for Death Adopted,
BLOW TO AUTOMOBILE THIEVES
Action to Provide Severe Penalties
for Those Taking "Joy Rides"
in Others Machines.
POWER GIVEN TO JURIES
BLOW TO AUTOMOBILE THIEVES

| Bills to substitute electrocution for
hanging as capital punishment in the
| District OF Columbia. to allow juries to
substitute life Imprisonment for death as
the punishment for first degree murder
| and to provide severe penalties for "iov
riders using the automobiles of others
without the owners consent, were among
| the District measures to receive the ap-
prevail of the Senate yesterday afternoon
| The upper house of Congress devoted prac-
tcally the whole day to .unobjected bills
on the calendar and half a hundred bills
were stamped with the Senate's o. X.
| The bill aimed to put a stop to the an
preparation of automobiles for '.joy rides"
by others than the owners, without per-
mission. by imposing severe penalties
| was introduced by Senator Brandegee of
Connecticut, at the suggestion of United
States Attorney Clarence r. Wilson and
Maj. Sylvester, chief of police. There
has been an epidemic of automobile steal
ing in the District and the most prac-
tlcal way to stop it., in the belief of Of
Meals IS to increase the penalties that
might be imposed
AT the time of the introduction Of the
Dill last summer evidence was furnished
the Senate that between March 10 and
| stolen in the District. Many of the ma
chimes were badly damaged before they
were abandoned
The maximum Penalty for taking a
motor. where there Is no proof of an
| intent permanently to convert the same
TO ones own use, is now six months"
United States Attorney Wilson, who is
the author of the measure, wrote
Motor vehicles have been repeatedly
taken from in front of houses or
garages, and in many cases greatly
damaged before being abandoned, and I
consider the present law inadequate to
protect the property of motor owners"
Provides Severe Penalties.
The bill introduced at Mr.. Wilson's
suggestion, and passed by the Senate
yesterday, provides:
Any person who, without the consent
of the owner, shall take. use, operate
or remove. or cause to be taken. used,
operated or removed from a garage
stable or other building or from any
place or locality on a public or private
highway, parkway, street field, lot, in
closure or space. an automobile or motor
vehicle and operate drive, or cause
the same to be operated or driven for
his own profit, use or purpose, shall be
punished by fine not exceeding $1,000.
or Imprisonment not exceeding five
years or both such fine and imprison-
ment.
The second important bill affecting the
District passed by the Senate yester-
day afternoon makes two important
changes in the law for punishment of
murder in the first degree. 1t substi-
tutes electrocution for hanging and it
allows juries finding defendant guilty
of first degree murder to qualify their
verdicts by. the words without capital
punishment"
The original bill, introduced by Senator
Sutherland of Utah, simply provided for
qualified verdicts by allowing juries to
substitute life imprisonment for death as
the punishment for first degree murder. |
The bill was put in soon after decision
of the Supreme Court of the United
States upon appeal from the District
courts, holding that the law did not al
low qualified verdcts in first degree muir
der trials here, and that death was the
only punishment that could be imposed
after a verdict of guilty" There had
been a division Of opinion among the
justices of the District Supreme Court on
this point, and one case was carried to
the highest court in the land to settle
the point.
Bill Is Enlarged.
In approving the Sutherland bill for
qualified verdicts, the District Commits
sioners recommended to the Senate Dis
trict committee that 1t be enlarged to
substitute electrocution for hanging in
the National Capital In this suggestion
the Senate District committee joined.
The bill provoked no discussion in the
Senate yesterday when 1t was reached on
the calendar and went through by a
unanimous vote.
The Senate also passed a bill providing
that the District assessor is authorized,
under the direction of the Commissioners,
to cancel all personal taxes standing on
his books more than five years old. If the
collector of taxes and the corporation
counsel report them to be uncollectible
AT present there Is no provision of
law,~by which the District authorities may
cancel assessments for unpaid personal
taxes, regardless of the length of time |
the assessments have so remained the |
District Commissioners told Congress in |
recommending the legislation The
amount of such taxes for the five years
ended June 30, 1912, is between 100000
and $4,000. These assessments are I'M |
collectible for various reasons, the prin- |
cipal of which are that the persons in |
debted have gone out of business so that
there are no accessible effects to levy |
upon, have moved from the District or |
have died or cannot be reached by the
bailiffs of the collector of taxes for vari-
Gus other reasons. To carry these as
sessments upon the books from year to
year is merely perpetuating a mass of
obsolete accounts in the records ana perl
odical statements.
For Street Extension.
bill for the extension of 25th street
southeast. from Minnesota avenue to
Park place. with width of ninety feet
and of White place frOrl it's present ter
minus on Minnesota avenue to Park place.
with width of fifty feet. also was given
approval by the Senate. 1t is expected
that the cost of the land to be acquired
81 At,n