The idea that public executions went away because they were no longer serving the interest of the authorities is a popular one. Gatrel quotes people writing in the 18 fifties who can't believe that in the 18 thirties they were in what they were doing. In the united states, take for example, lynching. Between 18 90 and 19 20, 19 30, i think the cut off was more than three thousand estimated black mails lynched. And yet, the united states has our citizens turned out for lynchings involving white folks too.