Arizona republican., 1920-12-24
A Too Long Swing of the Pendulum

proposal comes from Kansas City to make bank robbery. highway robbery and burglary capital crimes and thus the wave of lawlessness which is sweeping the country. It is surprising that Kansas City should offer this suggestion. is.hardly any other city in the country which frequently applies such laws as are available for the punishment and suppression of crime.
 Too long swing of the pendulum backward is proposed. If capital punishment were uniformly inflicted upon those convicted of these crimes, doubt 1t would result in reducing the number of them but juries would hesitate find guilty of such infractions of the law and them death
 In an earlier age there were scores of capital crimes. At time persons hanged in Eng for stealing loaf of bread It when juries began to refuse bring in verdicts of guilty in cases which have since to rank misdemeanors. that the rigors of the criminal laws modified so that now in practically civilized countries only murder in the first degree is punishable by death.
 About twenty five years ago Arizona made train robbng Q capital crime. But person was ever sentenced to die and that sentence was commuted Later rape was declared be capital crime but nobody in this state has ever been legally punished by death for that crime In states though that penalty has been inflicted.
 A few years ago not only in this state but in all parts of country under the guise of prison re- form our criminal laws greatly and even ridicuiously ameiorated. There tendency to regard the criminal only as unfortunate individual his crime a symptom of disease. We set about mak- ing things pleasant him; in some quarters hon. orabIe distinction was conferred upon him. The in sane were so tenderly treated
 The pendulum had swung the other extreme. We were given the suspended sentence law and the indetermnate sentence law. Boards of paroles and pardons and governors hastened empty the prisons of the honored guests the state. Courts made an of he nded was an encouragement crime. Our criminal laws had ceased to be of deterrent effect.
 The pendulum is swinging the other way now but we should take care that does swing too far. We should retrace many but not all of the steps we have taken in the of humanity, for We have the interests of the awa abiding to consider rather than those of the law breaker. The latter has put himself beyond our except as menace to society.
 A far better suggestion than that which comes from Kansas City came yesterday from Trenton, New Jersey It is more than suggestion. It is reso- lution of the court of pardons and paroles not to grant pardons to persons convicted of the crimes for which Kansas City proposes to hang them
 We would not abolish boards of pardons and paroles Courts and juries sometimes Circum- stances are often made known after conviction which warrant leniency which should be exercised. So the power to exercise it should be left somewhere, and at the same time it should be sensbiy guarded and restricted against such abuses of it We have witnessed.
 That was proposed in bill which the people retected at the general election and which we are sure was not understood. It went down with all the rest indiscriminately marked for slaughter by the people who seemed already wearied of popular rule. The beneficial feature of that proposed law was the publicity which it would have afforded. The public would have been apprised of every applica- ton for pardon parole Nothing could have ,o, ,oro secretly and thus fewer things would have been done wrongly.
 We hope that the legislature will take this mat and correct the mistake which we are sure the people unwittingy made