DC COMMISSIONERS 'STRONGLY IN FAVOR' OF ABOLISHING CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On December 17, 1925, The Evening Star reports that Representative Frederick N. Zihlman*, chairman of the House District Committee, has been informed by District commissioners that they "are strongly in favor" of abolishing capital punishment.
The commissioners stated that this recommendation...
"is in harmony with progressive and humanitarian thought of the present day."
In the last Congress, electrocution replaced hanging and the means of carrying out capital punishment in the District of Columbia. If the recommendation of the commissioners is followed, the Star says "it will make the purchase of an electric chair unnecessary."
*Frederick Nicholas Zihlman (1879-1935) was born in Carnegie, PA & served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (R-Maryland) 1917-1931.
JFK+50 NOTE
There was a movement in the 1880s to replace hanging with electrocution as a more humane means of capital punishment. The first electrocution was on Aug 6, 1890 of William Kemmler at New York state's Auburn Prison.
SOURCE
"Commissioners Oppose Death Penalty In D.C.," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., December 17, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
