Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-23
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER %, 1920.
Effects Of Corporal Punishment.

We opine that Hon. Elmer A. Powell
of Kansas City, Mo, whose able plea IN
advocacy Of the whipping post as an
as,nrv ~ Nh. laws punishment for GER
tain crimes, accompanied by plea Tor
- introduction in his State, was printed
in part in Every Evening yesterday, had
In virw the application and visible cnectS
n the law AZ they were known to hIm
while ne wa. a resident OF Delaware and
csrr-d bv him 60 his present western
home What be said about the ethcacy
- the poet In Delaware was true, at one
,ima. but does no. 50 appear st present
This change, however, Is not to be set
down a. a failure Of Delaware peculiar
punishment" "a deterrent OF certain
kinds of crime. In the opinion OF some
nod citisens. the noticeable change-a
cnntinuL in.reass in burglary, larceny
robbery and other crinee punishable by
the application Of lashes- arises from
failure 20 apply the lash with the IRE
auenoy that prevailed in former years
I, used % be that every session q General
Sessions Court sent quota TO the whip
ping post Now whippings are the ex-
cepaon rather than the rule. And CRIME
lncr-nse- visibly and in manner 10
cause concern.
The tendency of recent years has been
10 reirrin from the administration OF
cnrTor~l punishment, and the court has
latitude IN several respects, including
recommendation Of mercy by the jury.
Pirrt offenders. on proof Of good charac-
ter. also may be spared the infiicton oi
the lash. But that this clemency has
sood effect is grsvely doubtful. On the
other hand, il 10 held that the increase 10
cr,me may be attributed 20 this leniency.
It's oon.endcd by some that there should
he a more general resort TO corporal
punishment.
II il recalled 70 this day how the pun
,shment ~ poet and pillory imposed
upon four of the most notorious bank
burglars IN the country, artists ~ their
profession. sor an attempted bank rob
hery in ths city nearly half century
sgn. has remained without parallel 70
this dsy. no other burglars Of their class
ever having set foot on Delaware SOIL
Prison had no terrrors fer these gentry,
but they dreaded the lash. II not only
hurt. but il was a great blow TO their
pride. IL caused them TO lose social
caste among their brethren IN high-class
erme
Il also I. recalled how three Pills
delphia nickpockets were taken red
handed in our city, several years ago,
and sentenced 20 the punishment Of
the post Skilled piekpockets from Phila-
delphia and other nearby large cities
could easily operate in our community
hut they give il = wide berth. They also
dread the lash
Another feature Of our criminal record
~ recent wears is the alarming increase
N the crime of murder. Every term Of
cumrt has one or more cases on the cal
rndaf At the same time there has been e
surprising rarity Of executions for cspi-
tal crimes Many persons look upon this
situation as a logical instance Of cause
snd effect
There u always an agitation here for
the abolition Of the whipping post, but
there are Others who believe II should be
gwen more II the uld-time opportunity
Tor proving its efficiency before being
abandoned The criminal statistics of
recent wear. are not an Endorsement of
the clemency that has supplanted the
former rigor of the law, IN respect of
crimes Of various kinds. including murder