The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-26
Governor of illinois Says It is
Wrong in Theory and
in Act
az AsseelArsp easss,

BOSTON. Mass, Aug. 26.-Govern-|
or Edward F. Dunno. of Illinois, ad-
dressed the conference OF governors
| today In favor Of the abolition OF
iapftal punishment, which he pro
nounced wrong in theory and in
act, He said the principal argu-
ment advanced by the supporters or
capital punishment was that 1t acted
ac a crime deterrent but he doubted
that it ever had deferred or. that It
now deferred. He cited a number, of.
incidents from history to show that
even in the days when penalties in
ftcted for crime were most severe
the extreme measures taken failed
to suppress crime. Coming down TO,
the present day he said:
FL am not going to attempt to
support my arguments by elaborate
EQUATIONS from statistics. There
are certain figures, however. which
are rather significant, If not conclu-
sive I refer to the statistics OF the
federal census bureau of 1910, with
reference to the effect of the death
penalty upon the com mission of mur-
der These statistics show that In
twenty-one OF the states having the
highest number Of homscides 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 their
organization. Following these TWEEN
ty-one states comes three states, Ill
.nois, Maryland and Kansas, all hav-
ing the same number per capita OF
homicides. OF these states, Kansas
has abolished the death penal1y;
Illinois and Maryland have retained
..Let us now consider the twenty
states which these statistics show
to have the lowest number OF homt-
cides per capita. Among these
twenty-one are all the states but one,
Kansas, that have abolished capital
to my mind, show that capital pun
ishment has failed to act as deter
rent. and that in the states where II
| has been abolished, there is less
per capita OF homicides than in the
states where It has been retained
"Up to 1913, six states had abol-
ished capital punishment. Washlng-
ton followed in that year. The Uni
ted States statistics of 1910, snow
that five of these are among the
twenty with the lowest per capita OF
homicides, each with percentagel
less than .oS in each 100000 OF pop
ulatfon. The other non-capttal pun
ishment state-Kansas-ha the
same per capita of homicides as iii
nO1S ana l4dIy W 80
limos was dfsgraced by e51
homicides IN 1910, after a century
of enforcement of capital punish
ment. while in Wisconsin. where II
had been abo1lsned, the homic1des
have not been much over fifty per
cent per capita, of those committeo
in Illinois.
Christianity long ago revoked the
doctrine OF a tooth for a tooth. an
eve for an eye. Christ prayed the
rather, as He saw the thief hanging
by His side: Father, forgive them.
for they know not what they 90.
Christ himself was suffering the I'M
gering tortures of death at the hands
81 passion and fury. He did not
seek the destruction of those VINO
were murde ring Him and the thiet
Inv His side. but he prayed that they
should see and know Gods truth.
Verify, God himself has reserved 70
Himself the f1nal penalty for the sins
of His children.
.sSociety becomes criminal when
If seeks. by violence and the blood
OF its victims, to right wrong COM
united against it by such product OF
it's own neglec. For this class we
can not conceive Of execution per-
forming any function The hanging
of hundreds of thousands OF them
you'd not decrease the crime that
springs from the slums and the teS-
ements. SO long as the slums remain
under the tolerance of an intelligent
Another evidence that execution
is not effective is afforded in the rec
ords of Iynchings and mob violence.
Whether these have occurred in the
North or the south they have not
had any appreciate influence in res
ducing crime of the character which
aroused public fury. Lynchfngs and
burnings at the stake are but too;
common today. What community
has profited bp reduction In crime
following lynching?"