The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-01-06
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To the Editor:
A short while since The Times in
vited such of its readers as chose to
express their opinions on the ap-
preaching killing Of Ruth Snyder
and Judd Gray, convicted and SEN
fenced to death for the murder of
the husband of the former. Appar-
emily, the trial was fair, the evil
dence convincing, a jury of tn eir
peers found them guilty as charged,
and they we're sentenced to be
killed on a certain day now near
at hand. The murder was sordid,
brutal and loathSome in the ex-
IRENE, but will it compare with the
killing that will be done at tie
command of the law a few days
hence? The murdered man was
asleep, and unconscious of his ap-
preaching fate; one blow upon tie
head with that heavy saShweight,
then oblivion; the after struggles
were automatic. For that one life
the law eXactS two, under circuir-
stances that far surpasS in cold,
deliberate cruelty to those Of the
crime for which they are to die.
Alternating day and night, the
stroke of the clock, the daily rou-
tine Of the prison, all serve to warn
them Of the flight of time and the
approach of that dread hour should
they sleep, it is only to start out of
1t in fear and trembling-tten near
the end, comes the removal TO the
cell known as the death cell, which
all understand lies next the i,.stru-
ment of death, with only few
hours and few steps lying between.
Perhaps morbidly acute hearing
notes the sounds of the read
preparations.
Victor Hugo's Last Hours Of a
Condemned Man" was no fancy
sketch, he had looked deeper than
the average official and was not de-
ceived by the apparent momentary
forgetfulnesS of the condemned, nor
the bravado he assumed. A soldier
OF the civil war related in my hear
ing the execution of a deserter which
he witnessed. The command was
drawn up in square formation, the
march Of the condemned with the
firing squad in the rear. led along
the front of the company to which
he had belonged. AS he passed them
with head erect and firm step he
called out Boys I'll come back to-
night and tell you what he'll look
like!" What followed was after
ward told the relator by some who
! took part in the final scene, he him
self was at little distance and had
closed his eyes and ears. When the
fatal spot was reached and the con-
demned man beheld the CHASTITY
preparations, the stake, the open
grave, the coffin, and the firing
squad drawn up at ten PAGES the
horror of the thing overwhelmed
him, he collapsed and cords and the
stake were required to hold him up
until the volley was fired.
1t is related of the great Frederick
that when deSerter was brought
before him, he said, "Stay with me
friend till one more battle, if we
don't win then I'll desert tool and
sent him back to his command.
Frederick's soldiers stayed with him
and won. This man applied for
furlough home, was refused, took
French leave" was seized, returned,
courtmartialed, condemned and shot.
Shooting deserters and hanging
spies are nearly obsolete now in our
arm here in the United States. Our
courts, however are yet under the
influence of ideas expressed by the
terms "the majesty" "inviolability"
and "just vengeance" of the law.
These sprang into use when there
was sacred majesty" and a Lords
anointed" and throne, when it was
held that law was the expressed will
of the sovereign king and any in
fraction of the least of these was
an insult to the kings majesty, and
fiat rebellion against his authority.
And so it followed that in England
down through the reign of George
III, the pettiest of petty larceny was
punished by death, and hangings on
Tyburn Tree might be witnessed any
day in the week-on certain Mon
day, fifteen we're hanged there.
The good Oliver Goldsmith, saw
on her way to Tyburn, a young
woman whose sole offense was that
she had entered a linen-drapers,
picked up a piece of cloth, but laid
it down when she saw she was
watched, and went out, she was
arrested, tried. condemned. In pro-
nouncing sentence the Judge adj
ministered the usual tongue flashing
to which she had the temerity to
reply, this so incensed his honor that
he ordered execution in twenty-four
hours. The husband of this young
woman had been carried off by the
press-gang, and she left destitute
with two small children to provide
for, and winter coming on; in the
bitterness of her soul she could not
restrain her tongue from answering
some of the abuse of that rep
resentative of the majesty Of the
law. The record further states, that
in the death-cart, on her way to the
scaffold, she nursed her infant at
her breast and was compelled to
consign it to the tender care of a
tip-staff when about to ascend the
ladder. The lives of the commons
we're about the cheapest things in
the markets of England in those
days, and the courts still exhibit a
remarkable celebrity in despatcning
them-one which seems to be adj
mired by some in this country;
Our criminal procedure with its
extreme penalty and all the attend
ant circumstances of execution is a
relic Of those old barbarous days
which should be gotten rid along
with a large amount of old English
law bunk.