The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-26
Governor Of Illinois Says 1t is
ssWrong in Theory and
in Act"

BOSTON, Mass. Aug. e6.- Govern
or Edward F. Dunno. of Illinois. adj
dressed the conference Of governors
today in favor OF the abolition Of
iapitaI punishm ent, which he PRO.
nounced wrong In theory and IN
act" He said the principal arga,
nent advanced by the supporters OF
capital punishment was that 1t acted
&C a crime deterrent but he doubted
ttlat it ever had deferred or that y
now deferred. He cited o number OF
Incidents from history to show that
even in the days when penalties in-l
hscted for crime were most severe
the extreme measures taken failea
to suppress crime. Coming down TO
the present day he said:
II am not going to attempt TOT
support my arguments BY elaborate
EQUATIONS from statistics There
are certain figures, however. which
are rather significant, If not conclu-
siye. I refer to the statistics OF the
federal census bureau of 1910, Win
reference to the effect of the death
penalty upon the commission OF muir
der. These statistics show that IN
twenty-one Of the states having the
highest number OF hom.cides per-
capita in the population, there is not
a single state that has abolished cap
ital punishment. These twenty-one
are those which have enforced the
death penalty from the time OF tnelr
Organization. Following these TWEEN ven
ty-one states comes three states, Alll-i
nois, Maryland and kansas, all nav.
ing the same number per capita OF
homici das. or these states, Kansas
has abolished the death penalty;
Illinois and Maryland have retained
"Let us now consider the twenty
states which these statistics show
to have the lowest number of homt-
cfdes per capita. Among THESE
twenty-one are all the states but one,
Kansas. that have abolished capital
punishment. The federal statistics,
to my mind, show that capital pun
ishment has failed to act as deter.
rent. and that in the states where u
has been abolished, there is less
per capita OF homicides than in the
states where It has been retained.
| CUP to 1913, six states had apol-
ished capital punishment, Washing
ton followed in that year. Inc pnl-
ted States statistics OF lgio. sn nv
that five of these are among Tvs
twenty with the lowest per capita OF
homicfdes. each with percentage
less than .08 in each 100000 of pop
nlation The other non-capftal pun
ishment state-Kansas-had the
same per capita of homicides as III
nois and Maryland, both capital pun
fshment states. er7
homic siaes IN 1910. after century
Of enforcement of capital punish
ment while in Wisconsin, where II
had been abollsned, the homtc1des
have not been much over hfty per
cent per capita, OF those committees
in Illinois.
Christianity long ago revoked the
doctrine of a tooth for tooth, al
eye for an eye. Christ prayed tne
| Father. as He saw the thief hanging
nv His side: Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they 90.
christ himself was suffering the hn-
gering tortures Of death at the hanus
| of passion and fury. He did NOT
seek the destruction OF those VINO
were numbering Him and the tnle1
by His side, but he prayed thar tney
should see and know Gods trutn.
Verify. God himself has reserved ~
Himself the f1nal penalty Tor the s1ns
of His children.
"Society becomes criminal when
If seeks. by violence and the blood
! OF its victims, to right WRONG com.
mitted against it by such product OF
IFS own neglec. For this class we
can not conceive of execution per-
forming any function. The hanging
or hundreds of thousands OF them,
even the massacre of their young.
would not decrease the crime that
springs from the slums and the teA-
ements. SO long as the slums remain
under the tolerance of an Intelligent
society. .,on
! 80 not effective is Afforded in the rec
ords OF lynchings and mob yiolen &c
North or the South. they have not
/ had any appreciable influence In re-
/ ducing crime of the character which
I aroused public fury. Lynchings ana
burnings at the stake are but TOO
4 common today. What COM munfty
has profited bp reduction in crime
following lynching?"