Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-06-29
Life Term Is Urged
For Capital Crimes
To the Editor OF The Star:

OF all the editorial comment winch
ha7 been aroused by the triple execution
yesterday none has so clearly as your
paper discussed the moral right of such
an act on the part OF the state. Your
editorial of tonight reads;
1T Is a shocking spectacle deliber-
ately to take the lives Of men for having
themselves taken life If the
example set yesterday in the memorable
execution of the most severe sentence
persuades others that the path of evil
liz ing leads to shameful death 1t will
have been fully warranted"
You have we'll stated the only possible
Justification for the death penalty. II
such action by the state serves to pre-
vent future crime, then 1t is justified.
If, on the other hand this example does
not act as a deterrent. then there can
be no possible excuse for what i'll the
eyes of the world is a shocking spectacle
and relic Of barbarism. II 1t should
be proved that such punishment has
little relation to further crime, then the
state is morally guilty Of the death of
these three men.
Yet the proof that such salutary eff
fects are caused is sadly lacking. Dur
ing the two centuries and more that the
hangman, electrocutionist or admins
trant of lethal gas has worked to pro-
tect the public" no compilation OF facts
and figures has ever been made to dis
cover exactly the relation of this form
of penalty to crime. The theory OF
capital punishment has been built upon
hypothesis that has never actually
been tested by facts.
On the other side Of the question,
however, enough facts have been gath
cred to at least allow reasonable doubt
to exist as to the efficacy of tlns form
of Justice" Even in the reign of Henry
VIII of England such a system of public
protection was practiced and more than
1870 crimes were punishable by death.
To get the full deterrent effect the exc
cutions were held in the public squares.
where all could see, and not hidden IN
cell as now, with only the newspapers
to spread terror to the hearts OF cr1ni-
nails. Yet this period was notorious for
its crime. and historians relate number
less incidents of pickpocketS plying their
trade amid the crowds assembled to
watch other pickpockets meet their
death In the present day the press fire.
quently reports murders following so
close upon executions as to allow rea-
sonable superstition that the state has
in reality melted lather than prevented
the taking of life. And the world has
not forgotten the wave OF crime which
arose around the Sacco-Vanzetti case.
Although all States except Kansas,
Maine. Michigan, Minnesota, South Da-
kota and Wisconsin may administer the
supreme penalty for first degree muir
der yet the criminal situation today is
such that Charles Evans Hughes ex-
claims in his address as president OF
the American Bar Association: we
have a shocking prevalence of crime,
and of crimes of violence. attractions Of
the plainest requirements OF civilized
sc iety about which there is no debate.
Our capacity To protect life itself Is in
question. There is a manifest failure to
secure through an adequate adminiStra-
ton of our criminal laws and appro-
pirate punishment for crimes the deter
rent effects which are in large part the
objects of these laws
One of the important reasons for the
lack OF adequate administration is the
fact that jurieS of men and women viii
not convict their fellow men to die,
leading iurists declare. There is
county in Massachusetts with which
am familiar in which criminal after
criminal indicted for murder has been
acquitted, seemingly because the jury
would not pass such an irrev0cable
Judgment At the time of the Loeb
Leonold trial 1t was brought out that no
Judge when sitting in place Of jury to
hear murder case had ever rendered
in this country verdict which would
bring death. In the present case under
question at least eight of the jurors
openly prayed that life sentence rather
than the electric chair might be made
the penalty. The people of the United
States seem to feel that the dignity of
the state, justice and humanity alike
cannot demand the helpless. cold
blooded legalized Staying of a man. no
matter how much he deserves incarcer-
alton and segregation from his fellow
man.
judges, lawyers and penologists freely
admit that surety of conviction and sem
tence, more than severity OF punish
ment, serves as deterrent. A COM
parison of the crime records of Canada,
England and the United States demands
the same conclusion In the first two
countries justice Is administered surely
and swiftly. although they do not have
more severe penalties than this country.
Yet crime Is much less prevalent there
than in the United States. where. in the
words of Chief Justice Taft. the trial
of the criminal is game OF chance,
with the chances in favor of the
criminal Among the United States.
however. few States present as clean q
slate as Wisconsin, where criminals
have been captured, tried and sentenced
all within the narrow margin Of
month. There is no death sentence in
that State.
The argument OF the irreparability
of what you and Others call shocking
spectacles" is we'll known and cannot
be discounted. No one knows. nor will
1t make any difference now should he
know. what confession Proctor was
about 10 make when ne uttered those
few suffered words Just before he coll
lapsed and was dragged, moaning and
unconscious, to have 1000 volts passed
through his body. He and his COM
panionS are gone. Justice, as 1t Is prac-
ticed in the year of our Lord 1928, has
been utterly. extremely and irretriev-
ably administered
Is not the life sentence good enough2
Are not modern mechanical inventive
ness and honest legal abilities capable
of finding ways of safeguarding the
public without state killingSp Each exc
cution lowers the dignity of the state,
brings down upon Ii charges of bar
barism, each execution builds up in the
minds of possible jurors a horror of
such deaths.
What point was served by the execu-
ton that took place yesterday has sl-
reat.. been lost Surely it was not a
punishment to the three men, Two of
them died like brave. soul-free men. the
one singing the song of his race: the
other. child mentally. with only dim
understanding The third died uncon-
scionS, unknowing The real punish
ment was melted out TO the guiltiesS--~to
the mothers, sisters and sweethearts
who watched them SO to their doom.
Only sorrow was registered your re-
porter recorded, by those who had to be
at the Jail Your editorial pointed out
that much Sentimentality had been
aroused, Could such sentimentality be