dition of crime in those countries and states where
capital punishment has been abolished. This is a
domain, however, in which a hasty examination
cannot be satisfactory, for a discussion of crime
statistics would be useless without a full account
also of the peculiarities of temperament, habits
and social customs of the different peoples and
States considered. But all that I conceive to be
needed in this direction is to prove that where
the death penalty has been abolished, no increase
in capital crimes has occurred beyond the probable
limits of error arising from the uncertainties and
vicissitudes surrounding the criminal classes. That
much more than this might be shown by a thor
ough and guarded comparison of the two methods
of dealing with criminals, I have no doubt. At
any rate, actual results have given but little com
fort to advocates of capital punishment, and no
where, I believe, have they proved beyond the
possibility of error that capital crimes have been
increased by reason of the abolition of the death
penalty.
The first important historical record of the
abolition of capital punishment is the example of
the republic at Rome, where for two centuries
and a half from the passage of the Porcian law
454 S. U. C. no roman citizen was subject to the
penalty of death. And yet we have no intimation
from the historians of that period that murder
and similar crimes were any more common than
the natural temperament, habits and customs of
the people would render probable. Indeed, a
connection between the restitution of capital pun
ishment and the fall of the empire is at least in
ferred from the following comment of Blackstone:
“In this period the republic flourished ; under
the Emperors severe punishments revived; and
then the empire fell.”
In 1765 Grand Duke Leopold abolished capital
punishment in Tuscany, and otherwise modified
the criminal code. Several years after he was so
pleased with the result that he said . “With the
utmost satisfaction to our paternal feelings, we
have at length perceived that the mitigation of
THE FREE LANCE.
punishment, joined to a most scrupulous dispatch
in the trials, together with a certainty of punish
ment to real delinquents, has, instead of increas
ing the number of crimes, considerably diminished
that of the smaller ones, and rendered those of an
• atrocious nature very rare.” In 1790 Napoleon
arbitrarily re-established the death penalty in Tus
cany, but, actuated mainly by political motives,
he apparently gave no heed to whether the re
form had been beneficent or not. Ac
cording to statistics published in the New
York Sun two years ago, Tuscany has re-establish
ed the mild code of Duke Leopold, no executions
having there taken place for the last fifty years.
From the same source too we find that capital
punishment has been abolished in Holland, since
1870, with decrease of murders despite increase of
population ; in Finland since 1824; in Switzer
land since 1874; also abolished in Portugal and
Rumania and in Russia except for treason and
military insubordination. Of Belgium it was stat
ed that there had been no executions since 1863 ;
and that the number of murders for the ten years
before was 921, for ten years after 703.
In our own country Maine, Rhode Island, and
Michigan have lead the way in abolishing the
death penalty. Of Rhode Island it was said in
the Philadelphia Press two or three weeks ago:
“It i 3 doubtful if murders have decreased any in
proportion to the growth of population, but it is
thought that more convictions have been secured
than would have been possible if hanging were in
use.” With regard to Maine and Michigan the
same paper expresses the opinion that the number
of murders has slightly increased. But it must be
remembered that the number of murders in the
whole United States seems to have been very
rapidly increasing of late years, the number ac
cording to Mulhall in 1889 being 2,060, and in
1891, according to the Press, 5,906. Consequent
ly any increase in any particular State cannot just
ly be charged to the change in penal laws until it
is shown not to be due to other causes.
To satisfactorily settle the question, a compari-