THE DEATH PENALTY
AND HOLY WRIT
(Published by requc.-t.)
Following is an .-.duress by Pi
Hughes on the subject of "I
n. a.
ip'.tal ;
Punishment," before the county mcu
K,.i.tv sit I homix, Ariz. It was
of special interest on
the eve of
mmnaiLMi for the abolition
ot m
death penally in Arizona:
W Toastmaster and Gentlemen of
the Profession: Just why your pro
gram committee should ask me to de
liver an address on the subject of cap
ital punishment at a meeting like this
and a festal occasion where the speech
ts are usually ronival in nature, 1
hardlv understand. However, as it is
his command and mine to obey, I
Will r-ive vou a fow thoi-guts n
subject- of 'Thou Shait Not
t"L c.i,.n,-v with which
Kill
(his one
latelv. would St a
one
4 ki;.v.. thnt some of our "learned
k-wl Vi.en reading th-:
Bible, v ere i
if not that they get so bad y "'ixetl inj
the mmlication of this commandment.,
What is meant oy u . i'o
that "Thou Shalt Not Kill for Food .
Poes it mean "Thou Shalt Not Kill
Wild ami Ferocious Animals?" No:
for the same great Law-giver directs
that these shall be killed. Then does
it mean that men shall not be execut
ed for crime? It certainly does not
thing of the kind, for the
mean an
same Law-giver
tells us tnat this
shall be done, and prescribes the va
rious ways of taking the
murderer.
of the
For the benefit of these gentlemen j Kngiand where few murderers
who iiote this one commandment so escape execution, the crime of mur
giibiy, 1 will give a few quotations ,iPr is rare inded. The courts did not
foum'l'w ithin a few pages of this one. (cr is rare. The courts did not civilize
in the same book and given by the Caifovnia. When ! bad men were hung
tame Law-giver thiough which this from the pier at one time, San Fran
commandment is given. It says: cisco was made so a man could walk
-Whoso killeth any person, the mur- ,;0vn the street without much fear of
derer shall be put to death." (Num- being slugged and robbed. In Fresno
tors "". W). Moreover. "Ye shall county life and property were unsafe,
take no satisfaction for the life of a A few vigilantees found a partly om
munlerer vhich is guilty of death, pleted frame house, a good gallows,
but he shall surely be put to deith. and five people were hung one moon
The land can not be clearseil of the light night; then people did not have
Moid ihat i; hed thei-ir.. 1 .,t the to stand guard over their horses at
blood of him that shed it." (Num- night. Everyone who know s anything
tors :!", Ml). In another place th. about the early settlement of the Tex
same Law-giver says "Thou shalt not as frontier, knows that it was not the
consent unto him nor hearken him, courts that put a stop to horse-steal-nor
conceal him, but thou shalt surely ing and cattle rustling. Even our
kill him. Thou shalt stone him till he own city was made mueh safer to
dies.1' (Deut. 8). )Deut. 19. 11), live in after two murderers were
again he says, "But if any man hate,
his neighbor and lie in wait for him
and rise up against him and smite
him mortally till he die. then the el-1
tiers of the city shall send and fetch '
h'm thence and deliver him unto the
hand of the avenger of blood that he
may die." ( Peut. 21. 22). ,
Aeain. "If a man have committed !
a sin worthy of death and he be put
to death, and thou hang him on a
tree," etc, etc. (Deut 21. 22),
"And if he smite him with an in
strument of iron, so that he die, he is
murderer. The murderer shall
purely be put to death. Or if he smite
him with an hand weapon of wood
wherewith he may die, he is a mur-
derer. The murderer thall surely be
put to death. Or. if in enmity he
smite him with his hand, that he die.
he that smote him shall be surely
put to death, for he is a murderer."
(Numbers :ifi. 16-21). Many more
flotations might he given from the
book that says "Thou Shalt Not Kill."
which proves beyond a doubt that
murder, and not execution of a mur
derer is meant. Now, would it not
be fair for the gentlemen who attempt
to quote scripture in order to bolster
up a pre-conceived motion that they
have nurtured until it ha.s become a
good sized fad, to not take every one
else to be as ignorant of the book as
they themselves seem to be. They
attempt to quote Christ, and show the
same ignorance of his teachings as of
the teaching of Moses. An ex-governor
says that Moses went over into
the land of Canaan and killed nearly
all the people there, while the book
teaches that Moses was only permitt
ed to view the land from Pisgah's
heights.
Christ taught that the wages of sin
is death; he taught the doctrine of
eternal punishment, which is more se
vere than hanging by the neck until
dead. He taught in almost every
sentence the law of rewards and pun
ishments. He gave us the parable of
the unworthy servant. The law of re
ward and punishments is a part of
every nature, the babe at mother's
breast is taught that if it does right
it will be rewarded by kisses and
caresses, if it does wrong it will get
a spanking. The trainers of lower
animals accomplish results in the
same way. Man should do right be
cause it is right, he should refrain
from doing wrong because it is wrong,
and some people make that the rule
of life. We hope the day will come
when all will do likewise, but when
they do it will be that glorious day
when the lion and lamb shall lie
down together without the lamb be
ing inside the lion.
Some say that because crime is in
creasing (especially murders) it
proof positive that capital punishment
4ces not deter the crisaiital. I he
1 iv,- that evorv one who has given
the matter worthy thought will de
termine t once that it is the man
ner in which our laws are executed
That is reversible for the increase in
erim: or rathe" the lack of execu
tion. It is my humble judgment that
j it every one v:.; r.unu "
! ted the crime of murder the hang
i .r. ,1,1 voon take a rest. The
t.1.in,i.,.,1 in vtm has 11-12 the advan-
, tajre to begin w ith. Suppose a man
commits a cold-blooded mur.ier; ne is
arrested and tried before an examin
ing court; if it says he is guilty,
he is bound over to the grand jury.
There, until lately in this state, three
men out of eighteen could release him
from custody. There he has three
against fifteen. The case goes before
the district or superior court, and
the challenges he has of jurors often
makes the ease a farce. Then when
the twelve men hear the evidence one
man can hang the jury in his favoi
and the case will probably never be
retried he is scott free on one man's
vote, although eleven nun vote him
ujitv. iut suppose he is found gui
Thp js laJ.en before the su-
oreme court and on some technicality
he is given a new trial. Fy time tor
the new trial some ef the important
witnesses are gone and he is Ireed.
Put suppose he is found guilty and
sentenced to hang, some governor
i with more sentiment than regard for
. law, by one dash of his pen sets him
. at liberty. And this is the history of
many: the murderer, having succeeded
in thwarting the law once, is more
.bold in crime, because he feels that
' he has just learned the combination.
strung up to the old cottonwood tree
that stood w here the big cannon now
is.
The hope of reward will stir the
s,'ouis 0f many people to good deeds,
but shall we be so narrow-minded as
to lose sight of the other part of the
same law, the fear of punishment?
Puring the first year of the reign of
Queen Victoria there were four at
tempts on her life, and some of the
assailants were tried for insanity.
Parliament met and passed an act
providing for the speedy execution of
any one who attempted to take the
life of the queen, and from that time
to the day of her death no one made
an attack on her.
The immortal Lee told his son that
the greatest word in the English lan
guage was "duty;" some smaller men
seem to think that sympathy for the
criminal stands away above it in the
scale of words. Certainly every man
would dislike to take another's .life,
yet any man should be willing to dis
cl.arg" his duty, if U- it case is in i
line. The first effect of capital pun
ishment is to deter others from com
mitting murder; the second effect is
to protect society from such inhuman
persons; the third is to prevent men
from taking such things into thei
own hands, without process of law
For instance, suppose you had a love
ly daughter, enjoying your own fire
side, where she is supposed to be safe
from all attacks, and a villian creeps
up to her window and blows out her
brains with a shot-gun, spattering her
blood and brains over the mother who
rave her birth; then suppose that in
stead of hanging him the court should
give him a life sentence, where he
would bask in Arizona sunshine, play
games, be well fed, and nurse the
idea that some man in authority would
decide that it was too bad to keep him
a prisoner on the state and tell hi
to go free; how many fathers with
red blood in their veins would not
take their gun and go man-hunting.
I contend that if one-half the maudlin
blubbering over the poor criminal were
expended in trying to see that our
laws were enforced there would be a
more wholesome respect for our
courts and official and crime would
diminish. A murderer is usually
coward, and while he has no fear of
imprisonment would quake at the
thought of the rope.
It will be remembered that the
would-be murderer of Colonel Roose
velt followed him through several
states to shoot him In a state where
he knew there was no capital punish
ment. And again, no man will deny
that a man had the right to kill in
self-defense, and in the execution of
a murderer the public is acting in
self-defense.
I sat not in possession of the late
records f tit Arizona penitentiary.
lm t 1 do know that only a few years
ago the actual time of a lifetim- r's
sentence in the territory va, then ! I
years. I think it may be less lately,
in the "pen" where one of the life-timers
from Maricopa said recently, "We J
are having a devil of a good time."
Some governors in liberating crim
inals, claim the promise of Christ,
which is, "Messed are the merciful. I
for they shall obtain mercy." It may
be quite natural' for them to crave
the mercy of Cod but they are very
unmerciful to the public when they
liberate criminals, and we are afraid
by being unmerciful to the many put
themselves in the box with the un
merciful instead of the merciful.
How many of the lower class of
our citizens in Arizona have any fear
of the law, as it is administered to
day? They caie not for the hope of
reward of good, living, and they have
no fear of punishment. They might
land in the pen, but there they would
only be taught that the courts were
very unjust that they did not de
serve what they were getting, and
that the conditions of society made
t incumbent on them to steal or
kill. As a man who has hail some
observations of things in general, 1
think 1 can discern a cloud gathering
on the horizon that will break forth
in meting out justice to lawbreakers,
in a way that promises effectiveness
ami dispatch.
The man that says that capital pun
ishment does not deter the murderer
must again look into the history of
the past. Several states in the
I'nion have tried to do away with it.
and have been forced by the increase
of murders to go back to it. Italy.
Spain and France have all had a trial
at it, and all have been forced to
adopt it again. In one state crime in
creased 2.10 per cent after abolishing
capital punishment. There are plenty
of such records available, and many
more passages of scripture to show
that "He that shoddeth man's blood,
by man shall his ow n blood be shed,"
if only the truth is wanted.
It is well for us to look forward
to the time when the world shall rise
to the sublime height of the fulfill
ment of Christ's teaching of Roving
our neighbor as ourselves, to play and
work earnestly for that day's dawn
ing: but it is also quite as important
that we do not forget that we are yet
on earth and have to deal with things
as they are today; not let the idea
of Arizona's progressiveness force us
to progress backward by turning
backward the hands on the dial of
time. If our public officials should all
use their best efforts toward the en
forcement of the laws they were elect
ed to execute, instead of the making
of new laws and forcing their own
much rnc-man power. Now that the
slogan has irone forth, let the people
le, why give one man po-ver to keep
the people from ruling? Th,s one
an power is not in the keeping with
the spirit of the age. You say what
would be done in case new evidence
found? Let the case be re-tried
before a court and twelve men.
This power is a relic of the past,
and has always been abused, the peo
ple always getting the worst of it.
If the power is to go back to the peo
ple, let every citizen, regardless of
color or sex, understand that it is their
solemn duty to see that the laws are
executed, and not set aside by the of
ficials who have sworn to execute
them.
Let me illustrate. Suppose the peo
pie bv a referendum vote, enact a
law and at the same time elect a
man known to be opposed to that law,
to enforce it. In other words, sup
pose a community vote dry. Then
elect a saloon keeper to enforce the
The rule of the people is right
It is the right principle of democratic
government The veio jm v er of pres
ident or governor is the one man pow
er. The pardoning power is greater
than the voice of the people as ex
pressed by all the courts. Let us do
awav with both and let the people
rule.
Mr. Brvan has done the country an
invaluable service in his continual ad
vocacy of the rule of the people. His
next duty is to instruct them in law
enforcements.
The wisest utterance of President
Wilson was when he said that if ev
ery man in the United States would
read one chapter of the Bible each
day and strive to follow its teachings
most of the trouble of the nation
would disappear, or words to that ef
feci.
I close with a quotation from the
Editorial Review, from the pen of the
bishop of Albany, Bishop Doane, and
let me add, that of all the states in
this Union, the abolition of capital
punishment in Arizona would be most
dangerous. Divided from a people
who are making murder and crime a
profession only by an imaginary line,
it would be an invitation to Mexican
murderers to come to Arizona, where
their breed of unfortunates will be
welcomed.
Bishop Doane said:
Genesis IX, 5-6 plainly sanctions the
death penalty for murder. "And sure
ly your blood of your lives will I re
quire; at the hand of every beast will
I require it and at the hand of every
man's brother will I require the
AN. INDIAN STORY
One time in autumn the French and
English were fighting to settle which
would be the master of Texas. The
Indians fought for the French.
One evening two Haverhill boys
were sent out in a field to work.
When they were done they sat dow p
to rest. There had not been a red.-kin
seen for a month, but two redskin;
an out of the underbrush and carried
the boys off before they had time to
r for help.
The Indians did not wait, but set
out for the North.
Soon they came to the tribe where
they belonged, but they decided not
to stay for the winter.
One of the boys got siek in the win
r and if it had not been for an In
an squaw he might have Hied. When
the snow was almost gone, Isaac, one
of the boys, heard an Indian say, "We
will take the two palefaced boys to
Canada a:id trade them off for guns
ind powder."
Isaac began to make plans to es
ape. One day he took a gun and some
orn and hid it in a hollow tree and
old Joe that he was going. "But,"
he said, "I am afraid I can't take you,
for you won't wake up." "Oh! yes, I
rill, just pinch me and I will get
ight up."
Night came on, Isaac was wide
awake."
About midnight he pinched Joe and
said, "I am goin'." Joe kept on snor-
ng. Isaac went and got his provis
ions and started out. He heard foot
steps behind him. He looked around
and saw it was Joe. At daybreak they
rawled into a hollow log and were
soon asleep. In the morning there
was a lively time in the Indian camp.
A gun and two boys were gone. The
lians dashed into the woods after
them. As soon as night came on the
boys crawled out of the log and went
on their way. Joe got sick and could
not walk.
Isaac made him a bed of leaves and
said: "I will go on and see what I can
find."
He was not gone long till he came
hack and said, "We are all right."
So they went on and soon reached
home. Vorie Lindemonn.
(The boys were very fortunate to
get away and Joe was not such a
leeper after all. Of course they were
w elcomed home with great joy. Aunt
Sallie.)
Miss Alda Nicholson, who has the
distinction of being one of the very
few lady mail carriers in the United
States, will carry the mail no longer.
She is to be married to W. V. Ferrell,
of Duplin county.
life of man, who sheddeth man's biood,
by man shall his blood be shed for
in the image of God made He man."
It is somewhat curious confirma
tion of the position that in the four
states where capital punishment has
been abolished, murders have stead
ily increased. In Michigan, Iowa, Col
orado and Rhode Island the legisla
tures restored the death penalty af
ter a short time, owing to the mark
ed increase of crimes of violence. In
Michigan this increase was as high as
twenty-five hundred per cent and in
Iowa, between 1872 and 1876 it was
very rapid. In .New lorK state it was
restored and a volumnious report to
the legislature set forth the condi
tions that called to a reverting to the
death penalty. Abroad, the abolition
has been followed by increased crime.
In Switzerland, Austria and other
European countries the temporary
trial led to the readoption of the ear
lier practice.
It is, in my opinion, childish to
confute the fallacy that the command-
ments, 'Thou shalt not kill' and 'Thou
shalt do no murder contradict the
old Mosaic law. I really think it is
time we contented ourselves with the
fact that, whatever theories we may
have, where there is a single plain
revelation of God's law, we may be ab
solutely certain to find no contradic
tions of it in any other portion of the
Bible, and that only harm can come
from our disregard of it. if a person
attempts to take away my life, I have,
doubtless, a right to protect myself,
and if I can not secure myself but by
taking the life of my assailant, I
have the right to take it. If men had
the right to form society for mutual
benefit and security, they had the
right to punish other persons who
would overthrow it.
There is nothing more plainly
taught in the Bible than capital pun
ishment. Moses said that "The mur
derer shall die." Christ did not con
tradict that law in a single word or
act, but taught that the "wages of sin
is death." It is certain that Solomon
had three murderers executed during
the building of the temple, and it
seems to me that, with these facts
before us, the man who would- do
away with capital punishment must
consider himself a greater man than
Moses, a wiser man than Solomon,
and a better man than Crist. He
must have read history with his eye
closed. "Thou shalt not kill" certain'
ly does not mean that a murderer
shall not be executed.
CARE OF THE ORCHARD
The prices of farm products are so
high it behooves every one to manage
as host he can to reduce the cost of
living. The orchard as a means of re
ducing the cost of living is probably
the best way the expenses can be re
duced, especially in this section.
Cultivation of the Orchard.
There are two general methods of
cultivation that may be practiced in
cultivating the home orchard. On?
is by growing cover crops, combined
with the clean cultural method; an',
the other is the cover crop system
combined with the growing of some
other crop in between the tree rows
that will serve a useful purpose to
the owner other than as a soil builder.
The latter is the one that is most gen
erally practiced, as most farmers want
to get the largest returns from all
parts of the farm.
The time to plow the orchard in
the spring is when the trees begin to
show signs of activity. Turn the soil
to a good depth, especially towards
the center, but not so deep close to
the trees. It would be well to break
the land by plowing in both directions,
as this will tear up the land thorough
ly all over the orchard, except a small
place around each tree. The weeds
and grass can be cut away from this
portion by hand, but often this will
not have to be done. Next, go over
the orchard with a spike-tooth har
row with the teeth set at such an an
gle that the surface of the soil will be
left in a fine loose condition. However,
it may take two or three harrowings
to put it in such a condition. A good
plan to follow is to harrow the land
every ten days or two weeks, and by
all means give it a good harowing aft
er each rain so as to break the crust
that has formed, thereby producing a
soil mulch and preventing evaporation
of the soil moisture. Follow this
throuch the crowing season and it
will be possible to keep down all the
weeds and grass and at the same time
preserve the moisture for the fruit
trees. If weeds or grass are permitted
to grow in the orchard they are not
only taking the plant food and mois
ture from the soil but they also form
a convenient hiding place for the hid
bernation of insects that destroy the
fruit and trees.
Sow Peas in July
Cultivate the orchard as outlined
above until July, then plant cowpeas,
It is generally best to plant in drills
about two feet apart, as this will per
mit cultivation and thereby insure a
better growth of vine. When the
pods begin to show 6igns of maturity
turn the entire crop under and put the
soil in condition for the planting of
the winter cover crop. Growing and
tunine under a crop of cowpeas adds
ganic matter to the soil as well as
nitrogen (which is a very expensive
plant food), as cowpeas have tne pow
er of eatherine nitrogen from the air.
After the cowpeas have been turna
under and the soil has been put in
condition Dlant some crop that will
grow through the winter. Oats would
be a good crop for ttiis purpose, as u
would give a great deal of green ma
terial to plow under the f.lloving
snrinc. When time to begin cultiva
tion the following spring, plow under
the oats and cultivate as above. It
will be noticed that not a single crop
has been removed, all have been re
turned to the soil.
The orchard often affords a very
convenient garden spot as well as for
the production of fruit. When it is
so desired to grow vegetables in the
orchard for home use, follow the
same general method of cultivation
outlined above, except the soil will
necessarily have to be plowed earner
in the spring in order to put it in
condition to grow early spring vege
tables, ana
often it is advisable to
plow under some barnyard manure
as the soil is being doubly taxed by
growing the truck crops in addition
to the fruit trees. By properly hand
ling the orchard soil it will be pos
sible to produce sufficient vegetables
for the home and possibly some in
excess for the near-by market. It is
not advisable to grow crops that
make a rank growth in the orchard
as this is too great a tax on the soil
and there may be a tendency to
crowd the trees, especially when they
are small.
i toning Most Important.
One of the most important factors
in the successful production of fruit
is in the proper pruning and training
of the trees. As a general rule fruit
trees should be branched at a con
venient height, peaches and plums one
to two feet, while apples and pears
should be branched two to two and a
half feet, and pruned with an open
center with three or four well-placed
scaffold branches. Be sure to remove
all dead and decaying branches, also
those that Interfere with any other
part of the tree. The top of the tree
should be cut out some; the long
straggling branches should be cut
back to the height with the other
limbs. If there is a lot of surplus
wood in the top of the tree this should
be cut out, as it is desired to have all
the food material go to the produc
tion of fruit rather than wood growth.
Watch for the fruit buds and do not
cut out too much of the fruit-bearing
GOOD ROADS IN RANDOLPH
he following essay by Miss Ade
e Armfield, a pupil of the sivti.
lai
gra
ile in the Asheboro graded schools
won
a prize at County Commence
:. Miss Armfield is a dauirhter r.r
ment
Mr.
and Mrs. W. J. Armfield, of this
tow
F
'or many years the subject of good
roads was discussed in meetings and
gatherings. There were speeches
ade and resolutions Dassed
resolutions passed and speeches made
until the people began to think there
was nothina: to the uood roads nr-m-
osition in Randolph county, except
hot
air and wasted time.
During the summer of 1912. Mr
,eonard Tufts, a wealthv man of Pin
hurst, N. C, and New Hampshire,
ho had made a great success in
building roads in Moore county asked
for a conference in the court house in
Asheboro with the Commissioners nf
Randolph county and all citizens inter
ested in tne DUUding ot good roads.
Mr. Tuft addressed this conference on
the day appointed, emphasizing th
portance of srood road building
any county, declaring that he believed
that we had splendid road material in
Randolph county very accessible with
wnicn to construct permanent roads
good for twelve months in the year.
Many doubted this because at that
time they did not think that a good
road could be built out of anything
except macadam.
In order to start somethinsr and tn
get the people actively interested in
good roads, Mr. Tuft proposed and of
fered to build a good gravel road from
Asheboro to the Montgomery county
me, a distance of 16 miles, for 110f
per mile. Mr. Tuft realized that to
grub, grade and gravel the kind of
road he proposed to build would cost
ore than JfoOO per mile. But in nr.
ler to get the good work started, in
huh he was so much interested, he
as willing to devote his time, over-
ight and have the work done t .
price which he knew would cost him
considerable money. Just after this
onference, the county commissioneta
agreed to pay one-half of the $.100
per mile out of the county treasury,
f the other half could be raised kv
subscriptions from the people in Ashe
boro ar.d along the proposed route.
This being done and two committees
being appointed, one to represent the
county and the other the subscribers,
tue road was constructed under their
inspection. So anxious were the com
mittees to guard the interest of the
county and the subscribers and to see
that the road was built to specifica
tions, that the road proved to be a
permanent and durable one, the suc
cess of the good roads movement de
pending upon this road.
The committees were verv exactimr
with Mr. Tuft.' not knowino- what a
good road he was really building.
Time has proven this road to be
one of the best ever constructed in
North Carolina for the monev it cost.
which was about seven hundred and
fifty dollars per mile, one-third of
which was paid by the county, one-
third by the citizens, and the other
third by Mr. Tuft, together with his
oversight and supervision. The road
was an agreeable surprise to all, as it
withstood the severe weather of the
past winter better than the sand clay
or macadam roads costing three or
four times as much per mile.
Since this time we have built about
seventy-five miles of road similar to
the Tuft road, the county paying half
and the citizens paying the other half.
We hope some day to have one of the
best systems of roads in Randolnli
county to be found in the state. But
we will always have Mr. Tuft to thank
most, as he demonstrated to us at his
own expense that good roads could be
constructed in Randolph county of ma
terial along the way and at a time
when very few, if any, believed such
a thing could be done.
ADELAIDE 'ARMFIELD.
Sixth grade, Asheboro graded school
W. C. Bentley, proprietor of the
Cash Grocery Company, Statcsville,
has confessed to Insurance Commis
sioner Young and Sheriff Deaton that
he fired his own store, hoping to col
lect the insurance, because he was be
ing hard pushed by creditors. The
stock and fixtrues were worth $686,
with $1,000 insurance.
wood. All fruit trees should be well'
shaped, tending towards an open cen
ter. When removing a branch, whether
large or small, cut back to another
branch or to a bud, as this will in
sure the healing of the wound more
readily. When taking off a large
branch cut back well to the body of
the tree and make a smooth, clean
cut. One made in this way and if
painted will heal readily, while if a
stub is left, complete growing over
of tissue may never be effected.
Bulletins may be had from the De
partment of Agriculture at Washing
ton that treat it in a very compre
hensive manner.
A small home orchard properly
eared for will yield sufficient fruit for
the family on the farm, thus giving
an opportunity to live better nd
tiheaper.