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90. Thorsten Sallin is one of the penologists who has made a scientific study of the subject of capital punishment and compiled the views of various scholars of the 19th and 20th centuries. In his book "Capital Punishment", he has made an attempt to assemble the arguments for and against the death penalty. He has also given extracts from the Debates in the British House of Commons in 1956 and, also, in March and April 1966, in the Candian House of Commons. In the last part of his book, the learned Editor summarises his ideas about capital punishment. In his opinion, Retribution seems to be outdated and unworkable. It is neither efficient nor equitably administered. "Justice is a relative concept that changes with the times". A retributive philosophy alone is not now socially acceptable."In the last analysis, the only utilitarian argument that has being to be given attention is the one that defends capital punishment as a uniquely powerful means of protecting the community." He ends his book with the observation: "I have attempted to show that, as now used, capital punishment performs none of the utilitarian functions claimed by its supporters, nor can it ever be made to serve such functions. It is an archaic custom of primitive origin that has disappeared in most civilized countries and is withering away in the rest."