Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1921-11-03


The recent agitation for the
abolition OF capital punishment
III North Carolina seems 10 have
met with IA check which means
an end of it. for the present. at
least, by the announcement OF
Governor Morrison thar the prop
ositlon does not meet with his
favor. ! There is something to be
SAID both for and against capital
punishment but by and large So
clcty is committed to this method
OF punlshing men convicted OF
the more heinous crimes. The
1act that SO many men who de-
serve to be sent to the ga!lows or
the electric chair escape the pun
lsment they have earne.l,--hew-
eAac. is proof that. after all, So
clcty is not as sincere in it's ad-
vocay of capital punishment as
appears at FIRST blush. The Grim
inal law of the State is what the
Legislature of that State makes
1t, and III every State of the llnion
the newspapers from time to time
inform the public of a loophole
being discovered in the law
through which some criminal es-
capes who should be executed. 1t
is entirely within the power of
the people of the various States
to elect men to their respective
Legislatures who could so word
theIr ,r.mmal statutes as to make
escape from death impossible,
once the prisoner had Deen so
sentenced by the court. But the
people apparently 90 nor want
lnileXlbie laws IN respect to the
State taking human life, although
frequently when some criminal
has managed to defer. or perhaps
mlllfy altogether, the death sell
tencc hanging over him by taking
advantage OI provisions OF The
$eIs law under which he was
convicted there Is Il great outer,
that the ends of justice have
been defeated and the uniformed
arr'icd 80 Dc,IcNe mat the people
are about to rise up against the
courts. Nine times out OF ten
the courts at which criticism Is
AIMED III sucn cases are blameleSS ::
they have gone no further than
TO see that lne defendant gets the
rights which the law says are his.
Ii the law is wrong, the lawmak-
ers should change It, II the peo-
pie want it changed. In the State
pcnhen,iary IN Columbia today
there are three white men who
were sentenced to be electrOcuted
OH October y. They were not
electrocuted. why Because the
laws OF South Carolina gave them
the right or appeal to the supreme
court and they took advantage OF
that right, thereby automatically
staying the execution of the death
sentence hanging over them. And
VINO can blame these men for ex-
erclslng the right the law vouch.
safed them to prolong their own
llVesY We imagine that life. even
to the blackest criminal, is about
as sweet as 1t is to other people.
Sometimes, unfortunately, levity
Is injected into the most serious
matters, and so it happened in the
case OF one of the condemned
men III Columbia. His appeal to
the supreme court had not been
perfected on the afternoon of the
day next preceding the one on
which he was to be put to death.
Then u law officer asked the man
II he intended to insist upon his
right of appeal to the higher
court, as if the man would saw,
Oh, no, | prefer to be put to
death and am impatiently await.
ing the arrival of the morrow
that | may be uShered into a new
world. although that new world
may mean hell for me-. Actu
ally. one or two newspaper writ
ers showed chagrin that the con-
demned man refused to accom-
modate himself to their way of
thmking-that his life should end
at once. The people may criticise
the courts and juries all they
will for the failure of the law to