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Show HM.IMI I HI '.Allot TO CltUlE. Bull u of the public Journali aro com mcntlugiipon the terrible sentence upon up-on a youngruarrlcd woman In rinlaiiJ, Her chief crime wni the murder ol bar husband. In addition to this the had several tlmea forgod hit name lo pa-lien pa-lien for tho purpose of obtaining money. Forth murder the haa bceu euteuced tulo beheaded, lleforo decapitation de-capitation her right hand will bo cut off, at a penalty for forgery, Tbcsu piiulihmnnU are Inflicted under the provisions of a moJIuval law, which hat never been repealed. The comcuenta of the press upon this caroare mostly confined to condemnation condemna-tion of tho udgmont on account of Ita barbarity. The subleot Is, however, suggestive of tome thought lu another direction. In animadverting upon the fsct that 1'lulaud It behind Ihe tlmca In preserving tuch attatuloon Its books, the cause of Ita not having been repealed ought lo lie considered. It Is evident that that country baa not advanced at tho same rate aa other nations In law reform Ucauee atatu-tory atatu-tory changes have not been to necet-sary necet-sary (hero a elsewlare. This iiartlcu. lar case Indicate that If Finland lias not keit abreast with olbtr countries In changing Ita laws, It hat been be-ciutuahe be-ciutuahe haa also been behind In tho march toward a criminal votlex In thu direction of nhlcli Ihe world It battening. The balance of tbo nations have been compelled to modify )uul-tory )uul-tory procesiea lu aornu clsisea of oueusta because of Ihe Increase of crime. The time when stealing and other minor oflcnies vero lu Ureal llrltalu capital ollensea la yet within the memory of men. Thla was when honesty was more largely th rule than now. At crime Increased modi, flcallonsof tbo criminal statu tea were demanded and conceded. The tamo development hat been going forward lu tho other nations, FlnlauJ being evidently a cotablo exception to the rule. Aa a matter of course the enlargement enlarge-ment of population acounts, to an extent, for the appalling Increase of crime, but only to a limited degree. The proportion of criminality to the population of teventy-flve ycara ago aud now would, wo believe, make an exhibit favorable to tho older limn. This Is a result of thu selfish, nesa nf modern civilization, which dlllom In Its expression Irom that of barbarism. Tho former is, however, Ihe lame "concentratlva unchristian Instlnctaa the latter exhibited by UK-forunt UK-forunt methods. Ono of the most notable nota-ble tendencies of the tlmca in the decay of buninu sympathy In the world. Thla of course Is but another way of staling thattelflihncii Is being developed, devel-oped, The. symptoms of this tltuatlou bubblo and lioll at every exolllng cause, no matter how comparatively small, as, for Instance, lu the recent brutal roslitauoo to the landing on I'lro Island of the "Xormanla" poi. sengers. Iho Increase of sclflthneu, nhloh It nntl-Chrlst, mutt be co-cS Intent In-tent with dualling, quarrelling and violence, because! It meant uonimotl.ii resulting frcm men aeeklug to galu advantage ad-vantage over their fellows. In view of tin-no considerations It will be well to glvo Finland Its due credit for morality, wb lie commenting on the tiarbnrjua character of some of Its peual statutes. |