Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1914-01-07
sion, l am told, to the will of Mrs.

SlOn, All toiu, w tne Will OF mTS.
Gotch.
Doubtless the men of science. the
psychologists, have a definite name
for this phenomenon of the mind. |
do not know this word, but | do
know that burglars and highwaymen
who would brave the police force of
Philadelphia, or any other large city
will not even consider a lob" in
Delaware, and that these men when
asked why, invariably reply that they
will take no chance Of the whipping
post. 1t may be a display of vanity
more than fear. | do not quite
know
have no quarrel with those who
want to reform prisons, but l am
most earnest advocate of any and
every method that prevents crime,
and this the whipping post does to
marked degree.
The sense OF shame that follows
a public whipping is quite differ
ent matter from the innermost feel
ings of the same man hogged in
privacy. In the underworld, where
there exist strata of preferment just
as there are social equations in Or
ganiZed society, man who has done
"a Bit of long duration lives in
degree of reflected glory. A yegg-
man who has served ten or twelve
years in Cherry Hill, Sing Sing, Jo-
liet or any one Of the other notori-
Gus prisons has a certain standing
among his fellows in crime. But it
is a curious yet certain fact that the
man who is whipped in public loses
caste at once and forever. 1t seems
to be that in having been sentenced
to be whipped, the scene in the court
room, the display in the jai'yard and
the final hogging-all produce pro-
found and lasting mental shock.
This is not true when mere
warder calls man out of his cell,
beats him and then throws him in
dark hole. This performance is
followed by mere resentment. The
victim Of this system, and the
prisoner is very often a victim
merely promises himself to kill the
warder if he ever has a chance, or
when a High Court, a Chief Justice
amid scenes of dignity and decorum
orders the whipping. 1t is the effect
upon the mind of the man whipped
and the result Of the whipping upon
the minds of other criminals that
count. 1t is purely psychic, but it is
none the less effective.
None of the men whipped in Della
ware is punished to the point that
very great physical torture follows.
Such a lashing would create martyr
of a criminal, and this must be
avoided
Criminals Of the type that hold up
trains, raid banks and rob govern
ment buildings are jealous Of their
regulations in the underworld. Once
whipped they become objects Of de-
risiOn and contempt in their own cir
cles. Some of these men are inor-
ulhhiSlS an. II 10 timely lltI
this vanity, affection or love of
even doubtful glory deters them
from invading Delaware and daring
the post.
Notice how the arrest Of a notori-
Gus yeggman is always followed by
accurate reports OF his record. Study
these records and you will seldom
see that the prisoner was whipped in
Delaware. 1t is idle to assume that
these men are afraid to come to Del
aware because we have police, mi
litia and all the other agencies for
the enforcement OF law. These are
common TO all communities. They
are not in any degree afraid of the
physical punishment involved in q
Delaware whipping. Many Of them
in friendly boxing bouts are more
thoroughly beaten up every few days
while exercising. 1t is the prelimina-
ries, the mental picture of the trial,
the solemnity Of the sentence, the
ignominy Of the performance, and,
ldSI vi all, lhS contempt, llulCulS
and humiliation at the hands of their
consorts, male and female, that pro-
dnce the result first on the individual
whipped, and ultimately upon all Of
his kind.
If there was nothing to it but
mere flogging by a prison warder Of
doubtful authority; simply one man