San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-08-09
In New England the Pillory and the
Whip, the Stocks and Thumbscrews
Furnished the Thrills

little old woman of 60, who had been
publicly whipped four times before
but could not reform, and now re-
ceived ten cuts of a bull-whip as
she was dragged through each of
eleven villages with her hands tied
to a cart.
They whipped her again and again
after that and she sang songs of
rejoicing. One gentle old man re-
ceived 357 strokes Of the lash and
had his right ear cut off and still
would not cease to be a Quaker.
Some of the Quakers were whipped
twice a week for nine weeks. They
were thrown into dungeons, starved,
reviled. frozen and sometimes hang
ed. They hanged Mar Dyer after
many whippings. And the Quakers
increased until the street crowds re-
volted at the torture, and finally
the English king interviewed to pre-
vent the further cruelty of the Puri-
tans to his innocent subjects.
The Puritans whipped the Bap-
fists with equal heartlessncss, and
had no success.
If ever the whip had a fair trial,
it had it in the desperate effort to
blot out certain religious creeds.
1t is disheartening to find the
whipping post advocated by presi-
dent of group of women's clubs.
1t is distressing to read that an
ardent appeal for its restoration was
made by prominent member of the
Y. NJ. G. A., who claimed marvel
GUS effects from it.
NO GOOD EFFECTS.
The marvellous effects are imag-
mary. The whip may quiet an un-
ruly criminal for time, but the in
fluence of pain and terror can only
be evil. There may be a cringing,
truculent obedience for a while, but
it is not sincere conviction it sim
ply fills the soul of the punished
man with black hate and longing
for revenge, and its ultimate effect
is poisonous.
Let the whip-lovers remember that
their CHASTITY arguments were used
by people who were just as noble
as they and who opposed any re-
Taxation of the whipping of insane
people. They also had seen crazy
persons cowed by the butt-end of a
whip or the cutting thong.
But you can see the value OF n
whip in a CONTAINERS hands. He
keeps the wild beasts at a distance,
sends them through a few crude
stunts, and lashes them back to their
cages.
That may do as an entertainment.
But it is hardly to be offered as a
clever way to tame lions and tigers.
NO PERMANENT GOOD. q
The criminals who are whipped
become just Us tame as the tigers.
As long as you keep the criminals
in cages and tear their back to
pieces with raw hide, they will more
or less conform to your rule-un-
less they get good chance to rip
you open with a knife.
But surely that Is not the best
we can do with a human being who
is either wrongly assembled or bad
ly guided.
The hypocrisy of the whippers
is an ugly phase of it. They pro-
claim themselves interested only in
the protection of society and morals
and reverence for the law. But con-
sciously or unconsciously, they are
longing for revenge on someone who
has violated their standards.
The defense Of the Delaware
whipping post has been that it was
used only for wife beaters and other
assailants Of women. When Con-
gress began an investigation some
years ago TO see IL Delaware were
not violating the constitutional pro-