THE DEATH PENALTY.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 18023, 19 May 1930, Page 9

THE DEATH PENALTY.

IS ABOLITION WISE? NO iff FECTIVE ALTERNATIVE. CANON KAYLL”S STRIKING ARTICLE Some striking and Illuminating aspects of the subject of capital punishment and Its suggested abolition are dealt with in the following article especially written for the Waikato Times by Canon Kayll, who Is an recognised authority on penal reform. Cdnon Kayll .possesses first-hand knowledge of prison conditions and has studied'the criminal mind. He Is at present ministering In the Waikato Diocese. Although modern penology has completely revolutionised the penal measures applied to ordinary convicted criminals it has, not yet been able to provide a satisfactory substitute for the capital sentence. : ‘ J It is true that a great advance.has been made and that resort is made to this form of punishment in cases of extreme. gravity only; but it is also true that there is an increasingly strong volume of public opinion that demands its abolition altogether. The difficulties in the way of abolition are undoubtedly very great and must be _ Many people are .of the opinion that the death penalty has practically no deterrent effect’ whatever, and therefore society would not suffer if the change were made. But it -must be remembered that th eaverage person knows nothing about the number of potential murderers in its midst and the causes which operate to keep them in'check. Some idea can be gathered by,a consideration of the Motives That Lead to Muurder. Quite a fair percentage of murderers are men of low mentality; generally victims of the minor form of epilepsy. Although frequently exhibiting great cunning in their methods both of attacking their victims and of eluding conviction, nothing will deter these men from carrying out their purpose. Jealousy is another motive that is not easily controlled by the fear of consequences: in fact, w’here it has become a dominant passion it is blind to their existence as possibilities. A few murders are commtted by persons whose sense of moral indignation has been excited to its very depths. Criminologists declare that these persons are* an actual asset to society, and that the fear of them has prevented many a crime. They carry out their object without any precaution' for their own safety, and frequently report themselves immediately to the police. In the first analysis, therefore, of the deterrent value ol' the death penalty these three classes must be set aside. Subsequent analysis will modify the result, hut not to a very great degree. It remains to. consider crimes committed from motives of malice, revenge, and with the object of gain. Analysis of the circumstances surrounding these crimes has convinced criminologists that the majority of the perpetrators have been possessed with a confidence in their ability to escape detection. A man of normal intelligence and moral probity will, if he gives the 'matter a careful thought, frankly confess that he could not devise a murder in such a manner as would ensure him absolute Seourity From Doteotlon. When, however, the murderous impulse takes possession of a man, though he may become extremely cunning, he invariably commits some blunder that will lead to his undoing, provided that a determined and effective detective agency is brought in to track him down. It' is the absence of ‘such efficiency upon which the average criminal counts, It has been abundantly proved that, no matter to what, civilisation he belongs; the wrongdoer dreads punishment, and if he cannot calculate upon escape he. will he deterred to the maximum degree. . , The Crippen case astounded American legal circles. In less time than it takes to empanel a jury in America Crippen was, detected, arrested, extradited, tried and hanged. It was to this swift and certain course of- the law that the Americans attributed the highly favourable position of England as compared with their own country in the commission of capital offences. The question is whether would-be murderers are -kept in check by the certain prospect of the death penalty any more than they would he by the same prospect of life imprisonment, at present the only suggested alternative. There is . No Conclusive Reply, -■ j. and there is a mass of contradictory opinion. There are, however, certain features concerning life-imprisonment that must be considered. In some countries where it has been adopted as an' alternative to the capital sentence the conditions under which the offender is incarcerated speedily reduce the victim to insanity. At one.time in one of the Australian States all murderers had their sentences commuted. The result was the creation of a new type of criminal. These men knew that nothing would make their condition any worse, and so they developed instincts that made it necessary for the, strongest precautions to he taken lest they should murder their officers, fellow-prisoners or any unsuspecting visitor to the prison. They were not allowed to approach. any person beyond a certain distance. They marched from their cells to the workshops under armed guard. They worked under the eye of trained marksmen who stood with drawn revolvers and having orders to shoot should any man stir from his place without leave. In the more desperate cases the prisoner was kept in a cell whose holt was operated by. an armed warder standing on a balcony above the cell. By him they were escorted’ down a short passage to a roofless cell, where they worked in isolation, the armed warder keeping guard from the balcony above. Thus the reprieved ’man became a constant menace to the life of any with whom he came in contact, and he was the product of the practical abolition of the death-sentence in all cases. The question is therefore one that is full of difficulty, and before much advance can be made-an adequate alternative must be found.