Daily American telegraph., 1852-02-21
PRICE 2 CENTS.
OomuuuicANu.
The Case OF Wells.

Inc Case OF wells. .tae...
MEssRs,. EproRs; At the December term of
the Criminal Court for this District, man named
Wells was convicted Of murder, and sentenced to
be hung on the last Friday in April next. That
the murder of which he was convicted was
most brutal one, none will deny: but others, in
common with myself, think that it was not ac-
companied by all those circumstances Of premedi-
tation which demand the shedding Of "blood for
piood admitting that cases may occur which
render this extreme penalty Of the law necessary
and proper-and have felt some surprise that no
effort has been made to obtain mitigation of his
punishment. s"..u"
do not wish to be understood as censurinp
the verdict OF the jury in this case; on the ron
trary, the law being rs I understand II to be
their judgment was such q one as could not hc
resisted. But conceive that the law itself is
radically defectivein this BY it there are but tvo
grades Of killing fellow being termed MR.
der, the other manslaaghter. For the former the
penalty is DEATH; for the latter, confinement in
the penitentiary for period not ezceeding eight
years! These degrees Of punishment are, com
paratively, extremes. A case may occur-has
not one already occurred ?--in which the most
scrutinizing and nicely balanced mind can scarce
ly distinguish which of these offences, has been
committed; and yet look at the disparity between
the two grades Of punishment-death, or con-
fnement in the penitentiary for a few years!
But, fortunately for justice and mercy, the evil
is not without its antidote. Upon q representa-
ton of the facts of the case to the President of
the United States, if they shall appear to him as
they do to myself and others, he will grant to
the offender such conditional pardon as may seem
right and proper; if he takes an adverse view of
the case, then Wells must, in accordance with the
verdict of the jury and the sentence of the judge
lie chung by the neck until he is dead - and
public vengeance will be appeased |! aiH ...t -..
l am not one of those, Messrs. Editors, who
deny the justice of taking life for life but be-
fore | can consent to the infiction Of this ex-
treme penalty Of the law, must be satisfied that
alt the prerequisites which go to make up case
of plfM and deliberate murder are fully estab-
lished (You will say, perhaps, that 1 am be-
hind the age in the expression Of such On opin-
ion) Then | would slay the slayer; if not,
then would mete out to him such other punish
ment as his guilt deserved. Does the case of
Wells present all the concomitant circumstances
Of a wilfM and deliberate murder i think
not. ...
A writer III your valuable journal, short time
ago, showed that the Executive had the constitu-
tional power TO grant full or conditional pardon
for offences comLi!ted against the laws of the
ulteu States All Suggest is, that the case of
UeAs be laid before the President; and if that
and enlightened officer can see no
/. eason Why the rigor Of the law should be miti-
gated, then, for one, shall lie better satisfied
that justice demanded the taking of his life than
| shall otherwise be. ... ...
1t lpay be well, perhaps, to state that in the
opinion Of the President, he has the power, under
the cops titution, to commute the death penalty
to imprisonment in the pcnitentiary for life, for
term Of years, or . set the offender Tree.
Yours. respectfully, T.