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Part of it was the (American) idea that NEWER = BETTER.
Long drop hanging (as practiced by the British and all across the Empire) was a well established system and well understood - there were rules for calculating the drop and the type of rope, relating to the weight and height of the victim, and it is one of the most consistently reliable, dignified, and low tech methods of execution that humanity has ever created.
I personally am revolted by the idea of killing anyone as there are so many reasons the death penalty can be incorrectly used - mainly sumarised by "people can be wrong, corrupt and venial" - and that we ought not risk cocking it up.
That said, if it were to happen, I'd say that long drop hanging done correctly is "best".
Injections, electrocution, gas chambers and so on all require loads of technical euipment and are frequently alleged to be ineffective on the first go.
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Overhead, the Albatross hangs motionless upon the air,
And deep beneath the rolling waves,
In labyrinths of Coral Caves,
The Echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand;
And everthing is Green and Submarine
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