Division of Labour: Moral Authority c. 1905

December 15, 2005

Moral Authority c. 1905

File this in the "we've come a long way" category. From the Dec. 15, 1905 NYT is this little story on Page 1:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 - Representative Adams had a conference with the President to-day at the White House on his bill providing for the erection of the whipping post in the District of Columbia for wife beaters [emphasis added]. He told the President that he desired very much to have his moral support, and believed that Mr. Roosevelt could create a sentiment that would pass the bill this session.

"The President," said Mr. Adams afterward, "told me he was heartily in favor of the measure. He advised me to go ahead with it and push it all I could."

The whipping post?!? I don't remember hearing about this in history class, so I suppose the measure never passed. It's a good thing too - although the original intent would have been to punish domestic violence, it is highly probable that mission creep would have occurred and more behavior would have been deemed worthy of the whipping post. Perhaps smoking, tax evasion, and cruelty to animals (in that order - he he). Eventually there would have been a cabinet level Secretary of Whipping (SecWhip for short) who would have commanded a huge bureaucracy, billions of dollars, and become the de facto Morality Czar of the country (as if we don't have enough of those - perhaps with small 'c' - already).

Perhaps TR knew that the whipping post had no chance in Hades in passing and therefore gave it his support as a risk-free way of signalling his displeasure about domestic violence?

In today's America, the very idea of the "whipping post" is so fraught with negative images that it is inconceivable that such a measure would ever be seriously considered. I think that indicates "progress."

Given what happened this week in California, I wonder if the difference between the whipping post and the death penalty is just a matter of degree? Would death penalty advocates also advocate the whipping post (and vice-versa?). Would death penalty critics support the whipping post as an alternative?

Posted by Craig Depken at 02:53 PM in Culture · TrackBack (0)