Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1917-02-20
Capital Punishment
Library THE EVEN
ING JOURNAL by George b. Miller of Wilmington

or OtherWl6e putting an end to MIN,
when he is guilty Of certain offenses
against the law. II is true. we try
to make il as pleasant for him as
possible We object TO the sight of
blood or to the brutality of hanging
by the neck. SO we substitute the
electric chair. perform the ceremony
in the presence Of few invited guests
and give him the benefit of a good
breakfast or dinner and the conso-
lation of a clergyman before he is
put through the ordeal We have
only TO improve II by killing him as
we kill superfluous dogs, by chloro-
form or carbon monoxide gas, and It
will be ideal. But the fact remains
we kill him.
There are certain stock arguments
against capital punishment which are
good as far as they go, such as the
fact that circumstantial evidence, no
matter how damming, is still circum-
stantial. Men convicted on what has
seemed at the time the clearest evil
dence have often been proved inno-
cent when too late. Tt Is a notion
!. also a relic OF barbarism- that the
opinion Of twelve men picked at ran
dom without regard to intelligence,
knowledge Of the principles of evi-
dence or anything else except the alb
sence Of preconceived opinion, must
be correct. IL is a superstitution that
if you can get twelve. men i'm a box
to believe thing, after being tired
out, after being harangued by law
yer who is paid not to find the truth.
but to make out his case. then that
thing must be true, and the man must
be killed.
In old times cases were frequent
" decided by combat, that is to say,
the plaintiff and defendant. or their
representatives, went at II with their
lists or with weapOns in the presence
OF the judge. Whoever was right;
God. not superior skill in boxing or
fencing, decided the case. Just why
we do not follow this method today
IT is hard to say, for il does not differ
essentially from the method by which
we decide whether a man is to live
or to die, and II has the advantage Of
being much quicker and cheaper. In
our enlightened age we have on one
side the States Attorney. a man who
is paid by the State to put a fellow
citizen to death if he can possibly
do it; on the other counsel Of vary
which the accused Is able to exhibit.
Anyone who reads the papers -
and we confess we always read the
murder trials, for We want to see how
Justice" is administration fail
TO see one thing above all others. It
is this. The States Attorney shows
by his demeanor by his interviews
with newspaper reporters. by his ar
ant IA II.
"peers" that he is determined to hang
his man If he can. He Is in the posi-
ton OF the prize-fighter hired by the
plaintiff in old times. He exaggerates
his own evidence, belittles and per-
verts that offered by the accused, and
frequently DULLES his witnesses; he
hires detectives whose business is to
look for evidence which will convict.
His very attitude prevents him from
seeing the facts in an uub ased man.
! ner and since the evidence Is very
generally circumstantial, from the fact
! that murderers do not as a rule sum-
mon witnesses to their deeds, he is
cutie likely TO back up his duty as
prosecutor with a conviction that he
is right after all. Besides, the State
does not usually employ public pros
ecutor TO lose his cases; his reputa-
ton and his position depend on his
winning and he has the whole ma
chinery of the police, with its third
degree," behind him.
The defendant. on the other hand,
has to be content with whatever grade
Of counsel he can afford TO hire. I'm
less he Is a man of means, or has
friends who will not desert him-as
most friends within the hour Of need,
it spells ruin for him whether he es-
capes or not
The whole thing therefore usually
! resolves itself into duel between
brains, tongues and purses, to con-
/ vince the twelve ignoramuses whit
have the decision in their hands. Tit
decision depends on the better brail
and better tongue, on the man who Il
the better able to weave the broker
threads of evidence into a consistent
story that will Ego" with the jury. Ane
I many man has been executed be
cause some Juror. too stubborn to b'
bullied into belief. has been compell
ed to yield through sheer exhaustion
and loss OF sleep.
If there is any essential difference
between this battling of wits and TIT
old system of trial by combat, we arr
omen to conviction. We have ofteI
differed with the jury, but we hav'
seldom failed TO feel that If ANYONE
should be hanged, 1t should be TIL
States Attorney.
But supposing that the man is gull
Nv beyond question of a capital oifense
shall we put him to death? We know
that there are those who justify 1t OF
the basis of the old dispensation. Coz
has directed or permitted us to she'
blood for blood-the same God by TN
yyav. who said. vengeance is mine,
will repay." Il is the outcome of GU
belief in a barbarian CODA Coo o
wrath and unreason, who condemn
ms TO eternal punishment for the mis-
takes of a short lifetme-which lead
ms In take the matter into our owl
hands. and despite His claim of ven
peance as His special prerogative. I
hurl a fellow being into eternal SUI
fering for an act which, at worst,
the result Of but brief reconciliation
Wolves are said to kill the injure
members of their pack, and we, hu
man wolves, kill the morally inJure
in our pack It is the outcome OF GU
rough and ready wav of healing a sol
NV cutting off the offending organ.
is a sort of moral surgery which. now
ever iustifable e may have been !
davs gone by. is an anaohronism to
dav as much as the amputation OF
- ke todav surgeons bOas