EXECUTIONERS BY MERIT

Evening Star, Issue 18136, 28 November 1922, Page 3

EXECUTIONERS BY MERIT

■DREAD OCCUPATION LEFT TO i\ EWES’! 1 MARRIED. 11 Wanted.—Public Executioner for South American State. Compensation £6OO per annum. State qualifications and endows photograph.” . T Tins advertisement appeared in a -INew York paper some time ago. No particulars are given as to hours of labor, nor is it slated what perquisites the executioner might reckon on, such as selling pieces of the fatal rope, bits of the scaffold, etc. Thcso_ little souvenirs always find a ready sale in all countries, end many a local chamber ot horrors could count on a steady income from half a dozen gruesome mementoes of dastardly crimes, the more horrible the more remunerative. _ . in Prance, before the time of M. Loincare, the “ executoura dcs bautesocuvres wore apointed on the same principle as our own House of Lords. It was hereditary; and the Sanson family were “by merit raised to that dread eminence.” In fact, the last of the Sarson family who acted as Knight of the Guillotine was not only a capable Jack Ketch, but lie had considerable literary gifts, and published in six volumes the attractive memoirs of six generations of his distinguished family. The method of selecting public executioners have throughout history been many and curious. In earliest Roman days the sentence was carried into effect _ by the accuser, and a similar practice was in vogue in the Crimea when that was a kingdom. Formerly, in Germany, the duty developed upon the youngest member of the community; in Thuringia upon the latest settler; and in Franconia, justly, upon the newest married. In Spain the office is, or was, hereditary, and in France it became practically so. The dignity of ilia function was better recognised in ancient times than it is today. In old Greece the presentation of the hemlock was an honorable service, and the man who performed it was ranked by Aristotle above ordinary magistrates. In the Code and tocred books of the Parsecs no provision is_ marie for capital punishment, but a culprit is to be beaten with thongs a number of blows proportioned to bis offence, and if he succumbs no one is to blame. His perquisites were often very valuable. In France and Spain he was entitled to make levies upon merchants of the city. In France, for instance, he was allowed his “ havocs,” or “ bavage,” which included the right to scoop up handfuls of all the com sold in the market. This was a benevolent provision calculated to avert his starvation, for tho tradesmen were loth to soli him food, his money being regarded as tainted. A similar prejudice against bis practice of dipping his fingers into their provisions was found not to be without reason, so in course of time he was required to use an iron ladle. The custom of “havage,” in theory at least, remained in force at Paris until 1721, when the revenues so derived amounted to from 30,000 to 600,000 francs per annum. This income was considered exorbitant, so it was abolished, and a salary of 16,000 francs was substituted.