"The Governor was finishing his reply to the short speech of the Surgeon-General. I heard him say: 'The laws prohibiting suicide and providing punishment for any attempt of self-destruction have been repealed. The Government has seen fit to acknowledge the right of man to end an existence which may have become intolerable to him, through physical suffering or mental despair. It is believed that the community will be benefited by removal of such people from their midst. Since the passage of this law, the number of suicides in the United States has not increased. Now that the Government has determined to establish a Lethal Chamber in every city, town, and village in the country, it remains to be seen whether or not that class of human creatures from whose desponding ranks new victims of self-destruction fall daily will accept the relief thus provided.' He paused, and turned to the white Lethal Chamber. The silence in the street was absolute. 'There a painless death awaits him who can no longer bear the sorrows of this life. If death is welcome let him seek it there.' Then quickly turning to the military aid of the President's household, he said, 'I declare this Lethal Chamber open,' and again facing the vast crowd he cried in a clear voice: 'Citizens of New York and the United States of America, through me the Government declares the Lethal Chamber to be open.'"
--Robert W. Chambers, The King in Yellow.
Published in 1895. Eat your heart out, Futurama Suicide Booth.
Later Days.
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