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Show No Other Course UNDER ail la ws, moral, civil and spiritual, , murder Is " regarded as the highest of crimes. When an individual takes a human ljfe, he carries himself beyond the powers of' all earthly recompense. There Is nothing he can do to. atone for his crime. He Is power- j less to give back to society what he has taken away and so there' Is no act or word of comfort he can extend to those he has bereaved. be-reaved. In the face of this predicament, society has turned to capital punishment, demanding a life for a life. Society, no doubt, would much rather have the life taken by the murderer mur-derer restored than to take the life of the murderer. , But it has found no other means of protecting itself against that which every ' form of law condemns. It seems to be the only course open under our mode of living. George Gardner has paid this penalty for the killing of Gordon Stuart, a deputy sheriff. It was the only way he Could settle his debt with society. His death can render rcanl solace to the widow and family of Stuart, but it was necessary In the determination of society to protect others against similar bereavement. be-reavement. It must hold to this poljcy In the fulfillment of justice. The law of a life for a life must apply to all who are found guilty of murder or appear as mockery. Justice demands a relentless relent-less enforcement of the law or Its complete abandonment. The man who shot down a winsome girl oh the county highway last year and those who killed a police officer on South Main street must pay in the same measure that Gardner paid or else society appears In a discriminating role. In 1921 the United States had 9000 homicides. homi-cides. For a similar period England and Wales had but sixty-three. The wide difference may te. attributed to 'the. fact that the English people do not attempt to distinguish between one murderer and another. They demand not alone the fulfillment of the word of the law, but vindication of the principle as well. Capital Cap-ital punishment Is to be justified only In so far as it operates qukkly and surely against 11 w ho are proven guilty of murder, v Gardner paid and all other murderers should pay. It is- the only. way to check a lawless waste of human life. ' ' . |