The Swiss Republic has found itself compelled to re-establish the
penalty of death. Capital punishment was abrogated some years since throughout the Federation, with the general consent of the people, who, like the Italians, considered the penalty one which Governments have no right to inflict. The consequence, however, was an increase in the crime of murder in all Cantons, so marked that public opinion has undergone a change, and on the 20th inst. the Federal Council voted for re-establishing the penalty, by 27 to 15. It should be noted that the great increase. of crime was not in murders of revenge or passion, but in murders for plunder, the robber finding that murder increased: his chance of escape, without greatly increasing his personal risk. He feared death more than a prolongation of imprison- ment.
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