Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-08-27

our civilization even had it occurred
after he had been tried and sentenced.
The statement by former Governor
Blease that when mobs are no longer
possible, liberty will be dead" met with
criticism from Governor P. L. Goldsa
borough of Maryland. During discussion
of papers of the day. Governor Colds
borough said: II cannot sit silently by
and permit such statements to go unan-
swered. That is un-Chritsly. II capital
punishment be wrong how much more
so is capital punihsment at the hands Of
a mob" Former Governor Blease had
been applauded by the galleries and by
some of the governors at the conclu-
sion of his address, and Governor Colds
borough also received applause from the
circle of executives and from the gal
leries.
The signal for the start Of the parade
ended the discussion.
Papers advocating abolition of the
death penalty were read by Gov Hunt OF
Arizona and Gov. Dunn Of Illinois.
Favored by Haines
Others who favored abolition of the
death penalty were former Governor
Haines Of Maine and Adams of Colorado
Governor Manning Of South Carolina
said that when lynching took place in
his state the county has to pay $1,000 to
the family of the victim.
An automobile trip through the met
ropolitan park system and a river car
nival at Waltham furnished the evening
entertainment for the visitors.
Governor Edward F. Dunno, of Hill
nois, addressed the conference Of gov
errors today in favor Of the abolition
of capital punishment, which he p,
nounced wrong in theory and in
act" He said the principal argu-
ment advanced by the supporters Of
capital punishment was that it acted
as crime deterrent but he doubted
that it ever had deferred or that t
now deferred. He cited number of
incidents from history to show that
even in the days when penalties ia
f1icted for crime were most severe the
extreme measures taken failed to sup
press crime. Coming down to the
present day he said:
Il am not going to attempt to sup
port my arguments by elaborate quo
tations from statistics. There are Ger
tain figures, however which are rath-
er significant. if not conclusive. l re-
fer to the statistics of the Federal
Census bureau of 1910, with reference
to the effect of the death penalty upon
the commission Of murder These
statistics show that in Il of the states
having the highest number of homi-
cides per capita in the population,
| there is not a single state that has
abolished CAPITAL punishment These 4
are those which have enforced the
death penalty from the time of their
organization. Following these Il
states come three states, Illinois,
Maryland and Kansas. all having the
same number per capita of homiciGes.
OF these states, Kansas has abolished
the death penalty; Illinois AMI .iary-
land haze retained il.
Let us now consider the 20 states
which these statistics show to have the
lowest number OF homicides per CAPT
ia. Among these 90, are all the states
but one kansas) that have abolished
capital punishment. The Federal sta
tistics, to my mind, show that capital
punishment has failed to act as a de-
terrent and that in the states where
it has been abolished. there is 4 less
per capita OF homicides than in the
states where il has been retained.
Up to 1913. si4; e'a;es LAD abolished
capital punishment, Washington fol-
lowed in that year The United States
| statistics of 1919, show that five of
lowest per capita of hCnlcides, ca III
with a PERCENTAGE less than .0S in
each 10000 CT popula ton. The other
coH Capital punishment state Kansas
had the same ne: cani.a oe homi-
cides as Illinois and Maryland, both
capital punishment states.
! illinois was disgraceG By 651 homi-
| cides in 1910, after 4 century of en-
forcement Of capital punishment. which
! in Wisconsin. where it had been abol-
ished, the Ec:clicides have not been
much over fift,' per cent. per capita, OF
| those committed in Illinois.
christianity long ago revoked the
doctrine of a tooth for tooth. and an
| eye for an eye Christ prayed the
Father as He saw the thief hanging
ny Ills size. r amer. forgive tncI0
for they know not wrat they DO.
Christ himself was suffering the lin
gering tortures of death at the hands
of passion and fury. He did not seek
the destruction of those who were
numbering Him and the thief by His
side. but He prayed that they should
see and know Gods truth. Verify, God
himself has reserved to Himself the
final penalty for the sins of His chill
dren.
| Society becomes criminal when il
seeks, by violence and the blood of its
victims. to right a wrong committed
against it by such product of its own
neglect. For this class we cannot
conceive of execution performing any
function. The hanging Of hundreds or
thousands Of them, even the massacre
of their young, would not decrease the
crime that springs from the slums
and the tenements, so long as the
slums remain under the tolerance Of
an intelligent society.
| Another evidence that execution is
not effective is afforded in the records
OF fynchings ard mob violence. Wneth-
CT these have occurred in the North OF
in the South, they have not had any
appreciate influence in reducing crime