The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1922-07-11
A LIFE FOR A LIFE.

1t has been printed in some of the news
papers of Georgia that bill will be intro
duced in the Legislature at the present session
of that body to abolish capital punishment II
this state. In this connection the following
from recent issue of an Iowa newspaper Is
interesting and timely:
Sentiment among the attorneys at
tending the annual convention OF the Iowa
Bar Association practically is unanimous
in supporting the statute providing the
penalty of capital punishment for muir
der The lawyers and Judges, who repre-
sent the closest familiarity with the ele-
ments of crime and who thereby eStab-
lsh that they have extensive knowledge
of crime conditions, have no hesitancy IN
unfolding the old law of life for lite.
Murderers should pay for their crimes
with death on the gaOws or in the cleo
trio chair. Various persons IN different
walks of life will differ from them, as do
some members OF their own profession:
The most frequent argument offered
is that capital punishment outrages NOR
alitv breaks one of the commandments
without restoring lite to the victim whose
death is avenged, and that sanction OF
capital punishment by the state lessons
respect Tor lie.
1t all depends on the point of view. The
mere fact that the state takes the life OF a
murderer does not establish that society holds
life cheaply. There is difference between
wanton murder and legal execution The state
seems to emphasize the high value placed on
human life by demanding the greatest sacrl-
flee of which a human being is capable as
a price for murder. If the state did not value
human life so highly it could not reasonably
demand such payment as death for taking 1t.
Human life thus is held up before all society
as a priceless thing, something sacred and
inviolable To take it slayer must give all
that he possesses. Surely, the sense OF value
placed on human life is not lost through the
states practice Of taking it.
How is it possible to prove that capital
does not deter? 1t seems to be
much less difficult to prove that it does Lon
don is the biggest city in the world, more
than twice the size of Chicago, and, because
murderers are put to death in England at the
ratio Of about to 10 convicted the mortality
rate OF murder victims is extremely low. One
year London had IS murders and II hang
ngs The same year Chicago had more than
100 murders and fewer hangings than had
London. 1t is easy enough to make the claim
hat capital punishment does not deter muir
lerers but it is hard to prove it. 1t might be
hat without capital punishment there would
De more murders than ever. The picture of
he gallows in the minds eye of the would
De murderer is bound to have wholesome
effect upon him. Remove it and the fear of
punishment is 1essened Nearly all psycholo
gists agree on that.
The News readily agrees with the idea that
he death penalty safeguards society from an
increase in this form of crime. Violence of
course, is worse when unbridled. Remove the
restrictions and the worst evil comes as
though invited and encouraged. The fact that
one who has killed should pay with his own
life does not enter into consideration of the
question That is matter of vengeance, and
the state should not seek revenge. What the
state ought to consider at all times in pun
ishing offenders is the effect of that treat
ment upon crime and criminals in general.
Capital punishment serves two purposes: it
the murderer, precluding the posi-
bility Of his committing another crime of that
kind, and it serves as a warning to others.
When it comes to the matter of moral ethics
the state does not occupy position in which
it can be censured, for in imposing capital
punishment it does not ask more of the muir
derer than what he took from another. There
can be no injustice in that for the simple
reason that no inequality exists.