Evening star., 1932-05-13
Capital Punishment Is
Needed to Check Crime

The popular indoor sport in these
United States seems, at present, to be
that Of balancing the budget" The
FEDERAL Government Is playing at 1t; all
OF the State governments are engaged
likewise, while our city and village
councils are also enjoying this pastime.
Like the once popular chorus used to be
sung. Everybody's Doing It." Even our
churches are at It'll How about our ap-
plying this to, our mental attitude to-
ward life to My to find If we can
bring about better state of society?
Let us. for example, see II we cannot
make better balance In our criminal
budget by having our present measures
adjusted. For instance, let US insist
that every capital offense be punished
by capital punishment in every State
In the Union. BY so insisting we will
rectify the present unbalanced scale In
which the people Of this country are
placed at the mercy of the gunman, the
racketeer, the cutthroat and the hood
lum generally. Present conditions in
the field Of crime in America are scan
daious and ought not to be tolerated
any longer. There Is limit to human
endurance, and the criminal element
has had the upper hand too long.
It Is high time the various State gov
ernments were getting on to them
selves and tnstituting capital punish
ment against convicted murderers, kid
napers and racketeers generally. In
Michigan, for instance, there Is no capi-
tai punishment and this type of crimi-
nal does not fear the law. Within the
last week Detroit was the scene of two
horrible murders. One of these was the
brutal murder Of young lady in a
dance hall by her rejected suitor. The
other was the vicious murder of an g.
year-old boy by two hold-up buns who
were, both Of them, fathers OF children.
Our State, having no effective weapon
OF punishment, can only send these
reprobates up for life, which means
That they are housed, fed, clothed and
cared 1or at the expense of the people
OF the State for the rest of their lives
or until they get reprieved by the Gov
ernor or his Board Of Pardons and Pa
roles. After such reprieve they are
1ree again and are liable to commit
further horrible crimes. These two
crimes would have been prevented had
TINS State been capital punishment
State.
Having my share of average inteln-
gence, and using it betimes, I cannot
ngure out the reason for allowing so
many buns so much scope in spite of
-0 tiAov VIC pay SuCD enormous
prices Tor police protection, judges SAL
aries, court expenses, prisons. peni-
tentiaries, etc. The very thing we pay
nard cash to prevent is allowed to carry
on IN unlimited degree by that type of
character whose very act fc -feits his
rlgnt TO live. America will never be
Iree until she cleans her doorsteps of
all the hlthy tribe. and the surest way
10 DO this Is to quit paying any atten-
tlon TO alienists, shady LAWYERS and
narroW-minded moralists, but to give
every racketeer. gunman, murderer and
nonaper his full measure Of quick de-
ment.
Every man that kills fellow man BY
violence 1orfeits his right to live. This Is
the moral law of life and is inmutable
ms law, which gives every government
the right and authority to employ CAPT
tai punishment, is Of a mandatory char
acter upon the officers of that State
There Is no appeal from 1t nor can its
provisions be made the subjects of party
poIltlcs. In other words, YOU cannot
make 1t political foot ball by repeal
ing II at one time and using it at an
otner time, according to the whims of
any political party or group. This
moral law was given to all peoples and
for all time and cannot be ignored. 1t
Is mandatory and immutable. He that
hveth by the sword shall perish by the
sword, and he that taketh into captivity
shall go into captivity" This is the law
OF life and cannot be broken. We NAV
try to break it, but We only break ouI-
selves against it. I would prefer that
the people of this State and Nation
would live in obedience to this law
rather than attempt to live under con-
ditions in which crime Is allowed to &c
unchecked because If present conditions
are allowed to continue chaos will re-
suit. which will bring about a state of
mob law. which means general violence.
Law observance and strict, efficient
punishment of crime are the only
methods Of balancing this budget.
j. CRAIG.
Detroit, Mich.