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Show H j THE DEATH PENALTY. H j . r. H i We have been requested to reproduce the following on "The H j Death Penalty": M The question as to the wisdom of capital punishment or the H ' death penalty as a just punishment for murdi- or other felony, has Hj been a debatable question for ages. It is argued by those opposed H ' to tho death penalty for crime, that the infliction of punishment is not the purpose of the law except in the last resort for the protec- M tion of human life and the preservation of society. H The purpose of the law, then, as the state should not be actuated Hj ' by malice, is the protection of society, reforming the criminal, if pos- 1 J sible, or placing him where he cannot do any further harm. 1 J The states of this country that have long since abolished the M death penalty, are Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and m I Kansas. a . t fl Last fall a convict was about to be hanged. Just before the time H set for his execution. Governor "West saved his life by commuting H j his sentence to life imprisonment. He says he was moved, to do so H i by the agonized pleadings of the convict's little daughter and by H I reading two poems. The verses were written by Frank L. Stanton H and appear in his "Songs of the Soil." We think you will be in- M tcrestcd in reading these verses that made such a deep impression Hj ipon Governor "West. They follow: M The Tragedy. H That's him there, on the scaffol.' See! he speaks; H There's a child there, a holdiif H Of the hands they'll soon be foldin,' Hj An' the tears is jest a-rainin' down her cheeks. H - That's him there, in his coffin, in the cart,- , S H An' that's his wife a-creepin' Hl In the crowd 'way off an wcepin'; - -- H i Oh, the law is jest a-breakin of her heart! v H 'That's him there in the coffin lyin' low, " H An' the woman first to love him H An' the last to bend above him, H Is his mother but I reckon you would know. M They've Hung- Bill JoneB. H They've hung Bill Jones to the sycamore tree, H An' his wife an' his mother is a-weepin'; H An' his children's come from the house to see, H An' the col' wind a-wailin ' an: a-creopin'! I Oh, the col' wind's a-wailin' and a-creepin., , An' the wife an' the mother is a-weeping'; H An' the children's there " H T For to stand an' stare, 1 An' the col' wind a-wailin' and a-creepin'. ' j They're hung Bill Jones for a crime of his, t . H An' his wife an' his mother is a-dyiu'; M An' his children's took whore, the orphans is " M An' the col' wind a-creepin' an' a-sighin'! M A year ago Hip International Prison congress met in Washing- H ton. Distinguished criminologists from this country and from for- 1 cign countries met to discuss the subject of prison reform. This con- 1 gress put itself on record as believing that no prisoner, no matter HI what his age or past record, should be assumed to be incapable oC H improvement. They held out hope for the transgressor, not utter H J despair. They believed the cure for crime, and thus the protection of I society, was not in the brutal trcatmont of offenders but in ihe cor- H jr rection of evil tendencies. Of course, with this must go the im- m provement of conditions that tend to produce crime. |