The Washington herald., 1921-05-28

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MINNEAPOLIS VISITOR
RAPs DEATH PENALTY.
II see that an organizatIon in your
city, the Anthony league. IL leading
fght for the abolition Of capital
punishment in the District" said
H. j. Milhoiland OF Minneapolis. WHO
10 stopping at the Hotel Harrington.
II entirely approve OF the leagues
stand. The capital city of the ma
tion should not lag In this respect
The taking Of life by the state. I
am firmly convinced. serves as q
stimulus and not as deterrent Of
crime, The great wave Of crime we
have been having recently Is IN my
opinion in great measure traceable
to the example set by the state.
When the nations Indicate by ex-
ample that It is perfectly just to
rob and murder innocent residents
of another country, because they
have been offended In some way or
because they can't get hold Of a par
ticular natural resource which they
desire. why should We be surprised
IL we see individuals of no particu-
lar high calibre adopting this same
code and committing robbery and
murder for their own individual
benefit. We may say that nations
fight for rights and the like, but
scratch deep enough and you will
ind as a rule, some concrete thing
which they are after. The whole
sale slaughters taking place in war
have served as nothing else to make
ahA nd a1 fah ma -
has a hke effect. We must show all
that life is too sacred to be taken by
anyone"
IL was not true that as matter Of
Fractional effect. capital punishment
did reduce the number of murders.
he replied negatively.
SAYS ABoLIsHMENT
REDUCES CRIME RATE.
Take the lists of the states that
have abolished capital punishment.
states like Wisconsin and Minnesota,
and compare the record with states
| where IL is still in force and you
will see that the advantage all lies
with the states that have done away
with the 1ife-for-a-life' method"
But is the comparison fair?" Mr..
Milholland was asked. Possibly the
states you mention have less crime
than other states. perhaps their gen.
eral population is Of a higher CALI
bre."
ITO set your mind at rest on that
point. take the records OF those
states while hanging was still re-
sorted to and compare the record
since its elimination and ] venture
to say / will be borne out by statis-
tics when / declare that abolition Of
the death penalty has not increased
the amount of crime"
"You cannot find a man of any
standing who has any acquaintance
with criminology who advocates the
death penalty The chief surgeon of
Sing Sing. a man who has witnessed
more executions than probably any
other man in the country. for in
stance, is opposed to it."
HANGING IN PUBLIC
HAS GREATER EFFECT.
IF it Is true that the thought Of
hanging deters the commission of
murders, then why not make the i'm
preston more effective by staging
these hangings in public. where
a man could bring his children, SO
that all might feel the full effects
OF murder-why not do that instead
of holding the executions in privatef
The answer is. that 1t really serves
no effect. When all the prisoners
recently viewed the triple hanging
in the Chicago jail. their comment
was. 1t being about the time for
dinner sWhera do We aatSs
"A large percentage of the mur-
derers are moral imbeciles. who
should never have ben allowed to
roam at large in the first place. That
in the high pitch of their excite
ment. they would be deferred by the
thought of execution is nonsensical.
The point about them Is they have
no thoughts and-society must be in
dicted for permitting men to grow
! up In such fashion"
SAYS MANY INNOCENT
DIE ON GALLows.
did you ever hear Of a wealthy
person hanging?" Mr.. Milholland
asked. "of course. there are sew
| eral reasons why they do not. In
the first place, wealth after all con-
| fers certain benefits in the way of
| better education, better rearing.
Secondly. wealth can employ better
lawyers"
"A recent British sociologist has
testified that Is per cent of those ex-
ecuted in Britain are innocent. We
sil have, somehow, a suspicion that
the innocent will not be executed.
but take realistic view of things
and you will be disillusioned. The
temptation, for instance, to a prose-
| cutting attorney to rise to notoriety
and often to the governors chair by
bringing man to the death chair
Is too apparent to need emphasis
Consider how many of our governors
have entered the gubernatorial
chairs by that route. II the ghosts
of those innocent who have treaded
the gallows were to rise up, fear,
we would be rather shocked"
ID. 8.