15 MAY 1959, Page 7

A COMMON COMPLAINT, incidentally, against aboli- tionists—and one that has

been extensively used as a result of the scenes at the hanging of Mar- wood--is that they reserve their pity for the murderer and his relatives, forgetting the victim. If this is so, it is only another argument against capital punishment. There would have been no outcry, no petitions, no agonising delay while the Home Secretary made up his mind, no demonstra- tions inside and outside the jail, if Marwood had been sentenced to life imprisonment. He would not have been heard of again (unless fresh evi- dence became available pointing to his inno- cence); and public sympathy would then be directed, as it ought to be, to the murdered policeman.