few give them any concern. They probably are so
common now that the impression they make is not very great. Lighter and
easier punishments would have the same psychological effect. In many
cases a lenient punishment would also eliminate much of the hatred and
bitterness against the world that are common to all inmates of prisons.

XXIII

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

The question of capital punishment has been the subject of endless
discussion and will probably never be settled so long as men believe in
punishment. Some states have abolished and then reinstated it; some have
enjoyed capital punishment for long periods of time and finally
prohibited the use of it. The reasons why it cannot be settled are
plain. There is first of all no agreement as to the objects of
punishment. Next there is no way to determine the results of punishment.
If the object is assumed it is a matter of conjecture as to what will be
most likely to bring the result. If it could be shown that any form of
punishment would bring the immediate result, it would be impossible to
show its indirect result although indirect results are as certain as
direct ones. Even if all of this could be clearly proven, the world
would be no nearer the solution. Questions of this sort, or perhaps of
any sort, are not settled by reason; they are settled by prejudices and
sentiments or by emotion. When they are settled they do not stay
settled, for the emotions change as new stimuli are applied to the
machine.

A state may provide for life imprisonment in place of death. Some
especially atrocious murder may occur and be fully exploited in the
press. Public feeling will be fanned to a flame. Bitter hatred will be
aroused against the murderer. It is perfectly obvious to the multitude
that if other men had been hanged for murder, this victim would not have
been killed. A legislature meets before the hatred has had time to cool
and the law is changed. Again, a community may have capital punishment
and nothing notable happens. Now and then hangings occur. Juries acquit
because of the severity of the penalty. A feeling of shame or some
bungling execution may arouse a community against it. A deep-seated
doubt may arise as to the guilt of a man who has been put to death. The
sentimental people triumph. The law is changed. Nothing has been found
out; no question has been settled; science has made no contribution; the
public has changed its mind, or, speaking more correctly, ha