FLOGGING IN U.S.A.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 101, 1 May 1930, Page 22

FLOGGING IN U.S.A.

I WHIPPING POST REMAINS. BATTLE AGAINST IT. j "LASHING CRIME" OUT OF DELAWARE. jßy the "Star's" Special Correspondent.) WILMINGTON (Del.), March 21. A man stripped to the waist walks from liis cell to the prison yard. He thrusts his hands through manacles, or rings, on a post, until his body is brought to the attitude of close embrace. He cannot move. A whip is raised and a long lash is brought across the man's back with a biting swish. This sccne takes place at the New Castle County Workhouse. The gaol yard, ten miles from Wilmington, always has a "gallery" on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for the law says the punishment shall take place at this time; also, that "the whippings shall be inflicted publicly by strokes on the bare back well laid on. The lashings often bring blood from the backs of the prisoners and there have been times when the men have collapsed. For many years there has been conflict of opinion in Delaware whether the whipping- post should remain. There have been storms of protest against it by men and women of prominence, whilo others equally prominent have contended tlut the whipping post is lashing crime < ut ox Delaware. Those in the first group point out that thirty-three men were whipped at the post during 1929, on increase of sixteen over the previous year. Ten men were whipped in 1927, and in 1926 eighteen. Sixteen took the punishment in 1925. In all cases the whipping was accompanied by prison sentences from six months to twenty years; Post Resembles Big Pump. The grey post, eight feet high, is topped by a fancy iron design, llie post is octagonal and one and a half feet in diameter. One might mistake it for a large pump. But the iron manacles on the left and right sides of the post emphasise its grim purpose.

Emler J. Leach, the warden, wields the whip. Its wooden handle is twenty inches long, and there are nine leather thongs, each a quarter inch in diameter. The warden does the whipping himself, because, as he expresses it, he wants it "done right" and as humanely as possible. The warden, while strongly opposed to lashing, has whipped nearly six hundred men. 1 When a prisoner is sentenced to confinement a specific number of lashes is mentioned, according to the crime. As a rule those receiving the longest sentences receive the greatest number of lashes. Here are some penalties for various crimes:— Stealing chickens, two years, five lashes. Stealing provisions, two years, five lashes. Highway robbery, ten years, 40 lashes. Larceny, two years, ten lashes. *Theft of automobile tyres, two years, five lashes. Burglary, ten years, 40 lashes. Wife-beating, one year, 20 lashes. For years a number of misdeeds known as "white collar" offences were not included in the whipping post category. But the lash gradually is reaching out, and a few months ago embezzlers, that is, second offenders, were scheduled to receive ten lashes in addition to prison sentences.

Representative Evans (Montana) sought to have the Federal Government interfere with this form of punishment. In 1913 he asked the then U.S. AttorneyGeneral to issue an injunction restraining the Delaware authorities from using the whipping post. The Attorney-General found the Federal Government had no such authority. Officials of other States have from time to time favoured the whipping post. It has been in use in Maryland since 1888, although there are not many whippings! Warden Dislikes Using Lash; Wielding the lash always was distasteful to Warden Leach. "The lash is not a cure for the criminal," he said. "I've whipped some prisoners three times in five years. Each time, of course, it was for a different offence. These offenders were of the type who are in and out, serving short sentences. So in their cases it was evident the lash was no deterrent. "I have been whipping men for ten years. No matter how lightly it s, applied, the lash is almost sure to draw j blood from a white man. After all these years I am convinced the whipping post idea is a failure. It's my duty, however, to carry out the provisions of the law. "A few years ago I went before the General Assembly and urged abolishment of the whipping post." Reviewing crimes of the last fifteen years in Delaware, Mr. Leach said there were few major burglaries. He attributed this to the modern systems of protection and the passing of the oldtype crook. He pointed out that moie than seventy-five per cent of the prisoners were under thirty. "The fact that the whippings last year nearly doubled those of the previous year shows crime cannot be whipped out, said the warden. The first whipping in Delaware was in 1669. The man punished was charged with high treason against England.— (N.A.N. A.)