Capital Punishment

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 49, 28 February 1938, Page 9

Capital Punishment

’ (To the Editor.) Sir, —Why do we in New Zealand retain capital punishment! Some day ir is necessary as a deterrent. Well, is it! In 1930 there was an inquiry on the subject in England, representatives of many countries gave evidence affirming that capital punishment had been abolished in their respective countries, and that in none of them had the murder rate increased. Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland all gave the same testimony. Coming nearer home, Queensland last year was able to point to the fact that since 1915 it had had no execution; that capital punishment was abolished a little later; and that since 1915 there had been no increase in the murder rate. And, lastly, taking our own country, in the prison’s report of 1935 the ControllerGeneral of Prisons states that in New Zealand “between 1924 and 1930 there were no executions. In 1930 . . . the capital sentence was given effect to in one instance, and it is interesting to note that there were no less than seven persons indicted for murder the following year.” These facts seem to indicate the futility of capital punishment as a deterrent It is greatly to be hoped that the present Government will not long delay removing from our statutes this inhuman and debasing form of punishment, which is abhorrent to a largo and a growing number of thinking people.— We are, etc., N.Z. Howard League for Penal Reform.