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Show ENFORCE THE LAW. It has U.i u .-aid that the Draconian . ile of laws was written in blood: but though severe heyund all oilier cmIos known to man, it wa-not able to pre-v pre-v nl the eomiiii-.-ioii of criminal ;n-U; while the fact that light rriim s were 1 poni.-hetl as severely as tho-e of , :j re. iter magnitude, naturally tendi-d to an iiicn-a.-e of the more atn 'i(ji i.- ones. It not the severity uf the law that aid- in reprisal n crime, nuieli a.- the certainly uf puni-hme nt. A ! man in t.'liii ago, four and a half years 1 ago. .-hut down a young man in the -lied, on the rbghtct provocation, ! and remarko.1 in bniLil manner ! that he wouldn't be hang'il any way, ' as "ham: ins w.is jtlaycil out in Illi-1 Illi-1 noi.-." The penally lor his crime on I the .-tatute hooka was death, hut a maudlin sentimciilali.-m had taken (xKi.--es.-ion of courts and juries, and the execution uf tl ic death penally had become so rare that few believed it 11 .; .r- rtet'ore)l in Illinois. Since that time juries nave been found that, regardless of "emotional insanity" pleas, would ' bring in ven.licLs of guilty of murder in the first degree, and capital criminals have been required to expiate their crime w ith their lives; and if we are not mistaken such oll'enecs have become le.-s frequent in Cook (.Vmnty, Illinois, as a consequence. We are not ftdvoeating capital puu-i.linient, puu-i.linient, only the necessity of enforcing enforc-ing the law, whateveril may he. Let a law he enacted that the murderer shall forfeit his life for his crime, and then secure a court so humane, and a jury so sympathetic that it is almost impossible to get a conviction for murder; anil if the conviction is obtained, ob-tained, procure numerous petitions to a tender-hearted governor, who will reprieve the criminal, commute the sentence, and finally, alter a liltlc time has elapsed, will restore the murderer tu society a free man; ami what 'is the extent of the influence w hich a dread of punishment is likely to have on the man who meditates and determines on a crime! Had Stokes believed he would have been hanged for the munler of l;isk, it is very questionable if the latter would have died in the Grand Central hotel. But the murderer believed his wealth, his connections, and his influence witli judges, juries and men in authority, au-thority, would save him; nur did he expect to lc so long imprisoned as he has been. The dominant theory of our criminal crimi-nal jurisprudence, in its application, ap-plication, is a great error, and is working deadly evil. Instead of assuming that penalties arc provided pro-vided for the repression of crime by creating a wholesome dread in wrongdoers, wrong-doers, the popular theory is that punishment pun-ishment is the working out of a revenge re-venge which the law recognizes and provides for the gratification of. And thn evmivifiiptir. son timcntalisiu now so widely prevalent cannot think of inflicting the full penalty prescribed; but gushing over with affection for the criminal, forgets the victim of his lawless passions or nppetitcs, and will not bring itscll to inflict the punishment pun-ishment that has been justly incurred. The result is, that crime is increasing in Vtah and all over the country, because, and really because, the laws arc not enforced. Here the barrier in the way of justice is the sworn conservators con-servators of the law; judges who should seek to have the law administered, adminis-tered, yet stand in the way of its enforcement. en-forcement. And all over the land unjust judges; corrupt, sentimental or imbecile juries; and lawyers skilled in all the intricacies by which crime can elude the grasp of justice, make of the law practically a dead letter, to the injury of the body politic poli-tic and social, the terror of peaceable, law-abiding people, and the security of criminals guilty before the eyes of Heaven and of men. |