Newark post., 1914-01-21

tiOn of the failure OF the whipping
post, or Of any other form of bru-
tai punishment, to act as deter
rent to crime is found in it's demor-
alizing influence on society.
"Mr. Morrison, whom l have
previously quoted, writes: 'It has
dawned upon the mind Of Europe
that corporal punishment, that the
birch, the cat and all other instru-
ments Of physical torture are no
protection against the criminal
classes. 1t is seen on the contrary,
that these instruments of torture
breed in the heart and mind Of the
community that very spirit of cal
lousness to human suffering which
produces crime.
"The brutalizing effect of the
whipping post cannot be eliminat-
ed. How else do you explain
the fact that these sterling men
and women who object to the
whipping post appear to the advo-
cate Of the antiquated form Of pun
lshment as sentiment and weak
kneed?
"Society cannot hire one man to
come in and beat up another, and
expect to reap crop of the gentler
and nobler virtues. They do not
grow in such soil. Crime is often
the result Of lack Of sensitiveness
to human suffering. 1t is, in truth,
a wise policy to render men less
sensitive The state is said to
stand in loco PARENTS to the people,
but what do we think of the faith
er who knowingly brutalizes his
children9
'Dostoieffsky, whose experience
as political prisoner gives him the
right to speak with authority, says
| declare that the best man in the
world can become hardened and
brutified to such a point that moth
ing will distinguish him from
wild beast. Blood and power intox-
icate; they aid the development of
callousness and debauchery; the
mind then becomes capable of the
most abnormal cruelty in the form
of pleasure; the man and the citi-
zen disappear forever in the tyrant
and then a return to human dignity
repentance, moral resurrection, be-
comes almost impossible.
"That the possibility of such III
cense has contagious effect on the
whole Of society there is no doubt.
A society which looks upon such
scenes of punishment with indiffer-
ence is already infected to the mar
row. In word, the right granted
to man to inflict corporal punish
ment on his fellow-man is one of the
plague spots of our society. 1t is
the means Of annihilating all civic
spirit. Such right contains in
germ the elements of inevitable, i'm
minent decomposition.
"Fourthly, the whipping post is
defended on the ground that it re-
forms the offender, or at least
teaches him a lesson which he will
not soon forget. Deprivation of
liberty, it is said, means nothing to
the ignorant and lazy types Of indi-
vidual. Such one does not fear
Imprisonment. 1t is not a restrain
ing influence as is the whipping
post. 1t is offered as an alternative
to a few short months in a palace
prison
81 cannot see what element of re-
form there is in taking away from
a man what little self-respect he
has, and in beating him down to
the level of a brute. To harden
him still more than he is, is not to
fit him to live the life Of a free
man in society. Man is not a pas
sive, inert bit Of marble. If he
knows that he must endure hard
and cruel things he steels himself to
bear them. He has become another
man, stronger in this respect than
he was before. Therein lies the dan
ger. Many a man has been chang
ed by a flogging from a thoughtless
and good-natured individual to
cruel and indicative savage.
Treat man like dog and he will
be dog, should be written in
every prison and criminal court in
this land.
The alternative to the whipping
post is not Imprisonment for a few