The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1833-01-22 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

THE LONDON PRESS.  ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENTS.  Without going into the extent of certain opinions upon the subject of the punishment of death, when fairly advanced, we are disposed to pay a calm and respectful attention to the arguments by which they are supported. It sometimes, however, happens that the eagerness of humane persons to establish their views leads to a species of reasoning both fallacious and untenable. For instance, the unfortunate conviction of an innocent person has no necessary connexion with the propriety of the penalty awarded for the crime. A false conviction, be the penalty what it may, is an affair of error or blame upon quite a diff.!rent principle, and we know not what is to distinguish the erroneous conviction of an innocent man for murder (more likely, by the way, to occur than for way ( t ter crime) from that of a similar mistake as to a petty larceny. That in proportion to the weight of the penalty, the nature of the evidence should be more strictly canvassed, although a sort of concession as to strict legal principle we are not disposed to deny; but we totally object to the.real or supposed errors of juries being made a criterion by which the extent of a legal penalty ought to be regulated. We have been led into these observations by some ingenious attempts in the Brighton Guardian and other apers to confound these distinctions in the case of CTeorge Webb, lately executed in Sussex for that species of arson which has prevailed to so injurious an extent for the last year or two in the agricultural districts. All sorts of efforts are made to show  that the jury should not have convicted him—why, because he was innocent ? No, but because the punishment was death. Need we point out the fallacy of this logic, and to what absurdities it would conduct? The _Brighton Guardian calls the evidence very slight upon which this poor wretch was convicted ; if so, the imputation is not against the law, but the jury, who are very poorly vindicated by saying, that had they supposed the extreme penalty would have been levied, they would have acquitted him. As reasoning, indeed, all this is intolerable ; although preferable to the apology for malignant arson as a mere crime against property. We hesitate not to say, that we deem it one of the most inexcusable and atrocious of all crime, because it is one for which the natural reason of the most stupid of mankind can form no moral excuse. A little study of the prevalence of this class of notions among the Irish peasantry, and the consequences ought to convince every reflective person of theGveakness of extending mercy to delinquents of a similar description. The loss of the single barn or haystack may be a trifle, but the burning of barns and hayitacks as a prevalent custom, even the logicians who call forth these remarks must deem an evil. which calls  for the most severe and direct repression. We know nothing of the case of George Webb, but that a respectable jury found him guilty of arson, and nothing to impeach their verdict but a simple possibility of innocence has yet been stated. This may be an argument against circumstantial evidence, but not against death for arson. Government in the denial of mercy could have no other guide but the verdict of a competent jury, and a conviction of. the absolute necessity of acting with all legal severity towards crimes at once so inexcusable in motive, and abounding with so many afflictive consequences, not only to property but to the character, habits, and associations of the labouring agricultural population of the country. To conclude, let us attend to every reasonable argument against the punishment of death which is presented to us, but let them not be formed upon factitious inferences and false analogies. George Webb has been executed, had he not been executed an additional score Of barns, &c. might have been burned, and as many incendiaries transported for life ; all which are serious considerations, and to be taken into account.—Globe.