The Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13,1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1876, 13 October 1874, Page 2

The Thames Advertiser. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13,1874.

The ' New Zealand Herald' starts the question of whether Dyer should be executed or not, now that he has been found guilty of one of the most cruel and cowardly murders ever recorded in history. The' Herald's' plea for letting Dyer off is based on two grounds, not consistent with each other—that it is wrong in any circumstance to inflict the punishmeut of death, and that there is a possibility that ■ after all Dyer may be innocent. These two questious ought, we think, to be kept distinct, audnob to be mixed up. If there is auy doubt as to Dyer having committed the demoniacal crime for which he has been condemned, he ought to be set free; but if there is no doubt—and we think the trial and the verdict leave no doubt—then so long as death by the law is the penalty of murder, he ought to be executed If the jury had felt any doubt as to his guilt, they would certainly have given him the benefit of it, as juries are always ready to do, But they felt no doubt, and neither did the judge, who is always inclined to the side of mercy. The life of the wretched couple for years past seems to have offered a horrible spectacle. He was astrougwilled, brutal man—rejoicing' in the exercise of tyranny and the practice of cruelty. This unfortunate woman had lived with him for a considerable time, till his mind had acquired such a power over hers that she submitted tamely to the most cruel tortures. Such cases have been frequently observed, when the influence obtained by a man over a woman is such that she has no power to leave him, let him maltreat her to the utmost. And Dyer, having exhausted every form of ill-usage, at last, in mere brutal wantonness of power, threw kerosene over her and set fire to her. The Bible says that "oppression maketh a wise man mad," meaning that any oue who cau exercise his will absolutely without check is almost certain to get beyond all bounds. And in this case, Dyer seems to have given himself full swing from the absolute helplessness of his victim till she was a mere mass of bruises and scars, and nothing remained but to put her to death, and this he did in the most revolting way that cau be conceived. Possibly he did not, in his savage fury, present to his mind the result of killing the woman, that would have been comparatively merciful; but ho tortured her to death.

Those who contend that capital punishment is wrong, or inexpedient, or cQutra,iy to Scripture, or all. of these,

are afc full liberty to try to get the law on the subject altered, but while the law is on the statute book it ought to be enforced, especially in cases where no plea of extenuation can be offered. The advocates for the abolition of capital punishment contend that the positive teachings of Scripture are in their favour. W/e believe Scripture to be quite the other way, but we do not cave for arguing the question on that ground. We think it is clear that each man is responsible for his actions to his fellow-men, in all matters which may affect them, and if they find that he is of such a tigerish disposition that he will put to death in passion, or for profit, or, as in this case, for something like amusement, they are quite justified in putting him to death, and ridding society of a nuisance. Abolitionists pile up the agony by asking what right society has to take life, and hurry a man iuto the presence of his Maker, when he might have lived aud repented. Society is bound, we say, to rid itself of murderers; the rest of it is for the murderer to consider. If society has no right to punish by death, it has no right to punish by perpetual imprisoument, or indeed by imprisonment at all, and must limit its efforts to the giving of good advice. Some philanthropists have argued that the punishment of death should not be inflicted, as it is not the most deterrent in its effect ; to which it i 3 answered that if society has a right to • inflict a severer punishment than death, it must have a right to inflict death itself. There is no question, however, that death is the most awful punishment society can inflict, as murder is the most awful crime man can commit. If the Governor and Council can see any mitigating circumstances in Dyer's crime, let them commute the punishment, but if they cannot, the law ought to be allowed to take its course.