My Experiences as an Executioner

tal Pun

I attach much weight to the Scripture injunction, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," and I think that the abolition of capital punishment would be a defia

iven under the "dispensation of Law," while we live under the "dispensation of Grace." Therefore I would argue that, quite apart f

restraint, and routine, and sobriety, but this dislike is not strong enough to deter him from any crime which offers even a chance of escaping scot-free; and I do not think that the fear of imprisonment ever occurs to him when he has once got criminal work actually in hand. Penal servitude, even for life, has no very acute terrifying influence, partly because no criminal ever believes that it will be a reality in his case, as he feels sure that he will get a commutation of sentence; and partly because, even if he were sure that the imprisonment were actually for life, he knows that prison life is not

e number of capital crimes in any given period is inversely proportionate to the number of capital punishments in the immediately preceding period. Whenever there is a series of executions, without reprieves, the number of murders decreases, and on the other hand, after a period in which several persons have been tried for murder and acquitted, or reprieved after sentence, the number of crimes appe

ideration leads me to think that the deterrent value of the death sentence would be greatly increased if it could be made absolutely irrevocable. Considering capital punishment as a moral pow

. At the same time I do not advocate an increase in the number of executions-just the reverse. As the best means to this end I think we ought to have a considerable alteration in our criminal law

gu

pr

the thir

the seco

the firs

ner would, of course, be acquitted, and would be a

nd the prisoner, pending the further investigation of any clues that might seem likely to thr

hat the prisoner would ever again commit a violent crime. This would cover the cases of people who shoot their friends and then plead that they "did not think it was loaded," and would be a much better verdict than the "acci

meditation or intent to murder. Under this head would come a number of deaths resulting from rows, brawls, and assaul

nd result had been murder, would be a verdict leavin

sh Home Secretary, but I know that in many quarters there is an idea that the Home Secretary is "a very kind gentleman," who will "let 'em off" if he possibly can, and such an idea seems to be a very mischievous one. A court of appeal would appear less personal, and would be far less likely to be suspected of leniency if it consisted of three judges, one of whom should be the judge who had originally tried the case. To such a bench of judges I would allow appeals to be made, and would give them power to re-open cases, refer them back to the juries,

give because in so many, nay, in most cases, the appeals contained in petitions are based upon considerations other than the justice of the case. If the condemned person is an interesting character, or if there is any sort of excuse upon which an appeal can be based, there are always a great number of people who have no special knowledge of the case, and who, perhaps, have not even read the newspaper reports, who are ready to ge

complete suppression. One case I might instance, in which the masters of two public schools led the whole of the children under their charge through an ante-room in which a petition was lying, and made the

le is entirely lost to sight when dealing with individual cases. The fact of big petitions being presented in one case, while no effort is made

e interests of all concerned I would reduce the time from three clear weeks, as at present, to one week only. No doubt many readers will cry out against this as an unnecessary cruelty to the condemned, but I say that I would do it i

any instances in which the criminal becomes "penitent," as it is sometimes termed, and these penitents may be divided into two classes. Firstly, there is the class of those who have committed murder without intent or premeditation. In a fit of frenzy or under peculiar circumstances they have killed a human being. It may be a half-starved mother who has killed the baby she could not feed, or a man who in a whirlwind of temper has killed the unfaithful and miserable wife whose conduct has made his life a hell upon earth for years. It may be many another similar case which under the scheme of five possible verdicts, propounded above, would be returned as murder in the second or third degree. Under such a law the extreme penalty would not be imposed; but while we are under our present law, and supposing that these persons are condemned,

es have been spent in defying and blaspheming God, but who, when they see death before them, whine and howl, and beg for the intercession of the chaplain or any other godly person they may meet with, not because they repent of their sins, but because they are frightened almost to death by the thought of a fiery hell, which has been painted before their imaginations in glowing colours. To such m

state of sullen indifference, or take up any occupation that may offer, merely to kill time. In some cases they take to Bible reading and prayers, because they think "it can't do any harm, and may do a bit of good," and because they have nothing else to do. No one can say that such men are penitent, since on release they would return to their vicious ways. They would not be likely to reach any better state if they were allowed to live three months instead of three weeks, for the only reg

e sentiment, I think the conclusion will be that the three weeks allowed are no advantage whatev

ct of the death sentence. Retribution following directly after conviction is a distinct object lesson, and the shorter the time betwe

igning which is often indulged in by people who know nothing of the case, but who are worked upon to express sympathy with the convict, and want of faith in the justice of our system of trial. If only a week el

ing, for such a charge is often a soul-harrowing experience. The chaplains especially, whose experiences are often

ch Ca

g

g