Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-02-28
Amendment Restoring Capital Punishment
Differs from Present LalO in Only One Point


stantial evidence. Experience shows
that the average jury is chary Of
sending any man to the ga1iows Ch-
aar the operation Of this proHose- :
amendment in only the clear and nag
rant cases viii the Jury fail to recon-
mend lie imprisonment
Deterrent Effects.
To punish cold-blooded murder
with death naturally has tendency to
aete~ the commission Of that crime, De
eause even the hardened criminal VIII
give some consideration to the con-
seauences of the deed he contemplates
ana TO such a one the prospect OF
term in prison is not serious MN
dranaa to the operation OF his criminal
propensities. because he is sure OF hu-
name treatment. of provision for his
physicai needs. and has before him al
ways the possibility Of pardon or pa
role as we'll as Of escape. But one OF
the great deterrent effects Of the death
penalty as against life Imprisonment
is perhaps seen in that subtle result
ing public sentiment which brands
murder as a peculiarly heinoGs Of
fense, to be peculiarly punished, and in
fact calling for the supreme condem-
nation OF the law, and not TO be pun
ished in the same manner as other
offenses. The psychological effect OF
this upon the minds Of the young must
be Of the greatest deterrent value. We
naturally come to rate an offense as
serious in proportion to the weight or
the penalty. Statistics upon the ei-
fects Of capital punishment laws are
not Of great value. because SO many
elements enter In which are not dis
closed by figures For example, there
are waves of crime even In stable pop
ulations, and In other populations the
influx OF immigration may be an inn
portant factor; legislation as to intoxf-
eating liquor has great effect as
where liquor has been banished, and
new disturbing causes are not operat-
ing, crimes of all kind have decreased.
Economic conditions are considered TO
cut an important figure. Many other
causes may be more or less in opera
ton TO upset psychological conditions
in given territory during q given
time. Statistics do not disclose these
things. However, in passing we mem
ton that Aschaffenburg. an European
writer on Crime and Its Repression"
and who is not an advocate of capital
states that statistics in
ft.nt fl... ~
those condemned to death decreased |
somewhat, while in Belgium, without |
enforcement of capital punishment, !
capital crimes increased. These sta
tistics were gathered before the great
war. 1t would seem II statistics could |
have any value it would be In settled |
population such as Germany and Bel
gium had prior to 1914.
Little need be said of the Importance
of protecting society against and re-
iieving the public Of the support of |
those dangerous criminals whose char
acters show them to be beyond the |
reach of human reformatory influ-
ences, and whose restraint amounts to-
no more than holding in leash danger
Gus beasts who may at any time break |
away. For these, when convicted of
In the first degree. the aver
age jury would rightly make no recon
of life Imprisonment, and
yet as our constitution now stands the
lives Of these are spared and other
lives are thereby placed in jeopardy.
As generally happens in human affairs
In the modern reaction against the
harsh laws and brutal treatment of
the accused In former times the pen
dulum has swung too far. We need
to recover sound Judgment and avoid
the excesses of sentimentality,.
Opposing Arguments.
Three classes of arguments some-
times heard against the death penalry
might be roughly denomlnated, respec-
lively, Christian, psychological, human
itarian. Those advancing the first ask
how Christian can advocate tae
death penalty, which seems contrary to
the teachings Of mercy set forth by
Jesus Christ Jesus condemned pri-
vate vengeance. not the vengeance of
the elvil law. BESIDES, Christian ac-
cepts the Old Testament MS well as the
New. Some seem to have forgotten
that when human government was es-
tablished under Noah and his sons
God ordained that Whose sheddeth
mans blood, by man shall his blood be
shed. Gen, 0;6. This has never peen
repealed. II was not Jewish ordi-
nance. II was promulgated centuries
before there was Jew on earth, and
was for all mankind.
The psychological argument (not
advanced, however, by sound psychol-
ogy) is that all criminals are simply
mentally sick and should be cordled
and cured. not electroeuted. Those who