Excerpt from University of Oklahoma Bulletin: Capital Punishment Should It Be Abolisht?
The astounding and continued increase in the number of murders in the United States has become our very greatest problem. Notwithstanding all our national pride the United States is today a disgrace to civilization. We have twice as many murders in proportion to population as Italy, the next worse nation. We have 36 times as many as Switzerland, 30 times as many as Germany, 15 times as many as Great Britain, 12 times as many as in Canada, etc. It is hoped that this debate will assist in arousing public attention and interest in the subject.
Murder Must Be Checked. Yet the appalling fact is that it is still increasing, and no sign of improvement is yet in sight. If present conditions continue what security can there be for life and property? What stability of government, or even stability of society itself? It is impossible to overstate the importance ot this discussion. It is not easy to picture the miseries of a people where life and property have become insecure; when no one can plan for or depend upon the future. Unless there is a change and a great change in the public attitude towards murder wc must soon face unbelievable consequences.
Debaters will be much perplext by contradictory opinions, and even in the citation of facts. It is very evident that all who discuss this question are not equally careful in quoting and interpreting facts and statistics. It is important that the student observe closely the dates of articles or statistics, as the facts change much from year to year. The attitude of the writer must also be considered. An opponent of capital punishment will interpret the same figures and facts very differently from an advocate of it. The difficulties are increased by the fact that h)this country and in many foreign countries, statistics are not kept with sufficient accuracy or completeness to be of real value.
It is especially true in this debate that a mere desire to win is unworthy, and even ignoble when we consider the tremendous importance of this theme. Let each debater endeavor to make this debate a real contribution to public welfare and to intelligent citizenship. Sometimes it is a serious thing to be a citizen; but no one should ever try to shirk responsibility. Human society is possible only when each is willing and ready to con tribute his share to the public good.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге University of Oklahoma Bulletin