To Abolish Capital Punishment.
Not only is the French government pursuing a peaceful policy toward the church, as far as possible, but a humane measure is now pending which is well worthy of an era of civilization and enlightenment. A parliamentary commission, to which the matter was referred, has, by a vote of eight to two, reported in favor of abolishing the death penalty, and substituting life imprisonment. In extreme cases, solitary confinement is recommended. It is not generally known, perhaps, that many of the leading countries of Europe have long since abolished the death penalty, except in trials by court martial. It seems a mockery that Russia should be no exception to this rule, but in point of fact it was the Empress Catherine the Great who took the initiative in abolishing capital punishment. That the law is apparently disregarded is due to the fact that the greater part of Russia is subjected to what is known as “the minor state of siege,” which admits of the application of military law to the trial of political prisoners. Capital punishment was abolished in Greece forty odd years ago, and since that time Roumania, Portugal, and the Netherlands in the order named, have followed suit. It has been in comparatively recent years that Italy, Switzerland and Norway adopted the same measure of clemency, on the other side of the water, and Brazil and Venezuela in the southern part of our own hemisphere. So the civilized countries which still retain capital punishment are the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Austria and Spain.