Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1917-02-20

rent IL looks very plausible and the
only trouble is that it does not work.
Two centuries back men were hanged
for theft, and even more trivial mat
tiers. Did it prevent them? The fact
that it was abandoned is a confession
that it did not. Which of our States
show a decrease in the murder rale?
Those which have abolished capital
punishment. almost without exception.
And while this is rather a parallelism,
while it shows that communities civil
LIKED enough not to murder under the
law are civilized enough not TO muir
der outside the law, it at least demon
strates that no serious increase in
capital offenses is to be anticipated on
abolishing the death penalty. Man is
the victim of perspective. That which
is distant fades in comparison with
the proximate object. Those of us who
believe in eternal holl fire are just
about as likely to commit offenses as
those who do nOt-there is always a
hope of escape at the last moment.
Most men are willing to take chances
in accomplishing their objects. A COM
parison of deathbed scenes with gal
lows scenes shows that the condemn
ed-in his own estimation at least w.
has a rather better chance Of salvation
than the average citizen. He is sure
he is going to the Bordie." How can
you expect the really trivial incident
of dying in a fashion somewhat en-
barTassing, no doubt. to those of re-
firing disposition, but certainly not
more painful than the average death
by disease, to stand in the way?
The protection of society against its
dangerous members is certainly de-
sirable Put the man out of the way
lest he repeat his act. Yet in this
very matter with the aid of doctors ad
infinitum whether the accused is
sane" or insane" If he Is sane"
we hang him; if insane" we send him
to Matteawan. II he is National
enough to offer some hope Of reforma-
ton we kill him; if he is utterly
hopeless we spare his lifel If we can
convict him of that terrible thing. a
sense of moral responsibility, we de-
stroy him; II we can prove homicidal
mania we let him lvel That is to
say, a man with a sense of right and
wrong is worth less than a brute,
The poor devil is compelled to try 10
prove that he is not a man, in order
to save his life.
What appears to us as one of the
best reasons for abolishing the death
penalty is that we are forcing another
to suffer for what we are ourselves
largely to blame. We make up for our
failures in our duty to society by kill
ing our victims. 1.-THE sin and shame
Of the world are our sin and shame,
says Light on the Path" This is liter
ally true. Like some railroads we
have heard of, we content ourselves
with a worn out or obsolete equipment
and then arrest the engineer for man
slaughter when there is an accident
We. and by that we mean society as
whole, not exceptional individuals
are quite as much to blame as the
criminal himself. because we tolerate
conditions which breed criminals. We
are responsible for diseases just as We
I remain Indifferent to the conditions
which propagate them. or TO the means
which might prevent them. If W.
allow our milk and water to be pOllu
! ted because we will not make proper
appropriations for sanitary inspection
and regulation; II we indulge in false
sentiment about cruelty to animals anC
4 thus hamper scientific experiment.
having a better understanding of these
things as an object: if we are indiffer.
ent in any way to the conquest of ma
ture by man, we are responsible fol
the sufferings which result. And If We
allow insanitary moral conditions; i
we neglect the proper education of The
u q oil Low & 81 r
! traffic which is one OF the most pro
life sources Of crime; If we set before
| ourselves ideals Of personal power
wealth. enjoyment, rather than O.
goodness and brotherhood; If we con
tent ourselves with talking about re
form rather than getting to work To-
it, we are partakers in the birth o
the foul crop Of moral monstrositie
which disgrace the world To at
tempt to shift the responsibility Of
the victims and to punish them 70
IL is neither Justice nor common
sense; it is cowardice. meanness ant
folly: it is fratricide.
From the theosophical standpoin
OF karma which of course we canno
expect everyone to accept. but whic
IS, we believe. eminently rational
every misdoer Furnishes himself-w
cannot punish or reward. Eve
though it may not be visible TO Us
the evil act leaves its stunting in
fluence, a wound to the soul whic
nothing but the mans own effort
can heal. The real punishment @
the murderer is in his own act. Wit
that we have nothing TO do, but W
can and must give him the chanc
to repair his self-damage as Quickl
as possible BY taking his life W
are simply postponing his opportunit
of reform; we are only sending hin
of into the invisible. TO return at th
next incarnation to plague our pos
terity. There is really no argumen
for capital punishment which doe
not apply with equal force TO the ma
with tuberculosis or a cracke
brain. We have reached a degree @
common sense and humanity /
treating the physically III. and so
is to be be expected, n we can judg
, the signs of the times. that we sha
extend them to the morally in als'
, But that can be effected only throug
the action Of our legislators, who ar
usually prudent enough to listen
the voice OF public opinion.
Note. We recommend those VIII
. are interested in this subject
e write 20 Duke c. Bowers, La JOLT
[ California, for a copy of his valuabl
. argument before the Tennessee Legi:
/ lature on Life Imprisonment VS.. tn
p Death Penalty In commencing tn
/ summary Of the case. however, "
I saw distinctly that we do not fave