The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1860-04-11

IFrom the b. r. Advocate, April q,
EXECUTIVE cLEMENCY

/ Some Of our city cotenlpo raries clafnor
gociferously at Gov. Moore and the sssnsI
ate ortbeir joint exercise Of the pardon II
ing powervested in them By the Consti- |
tuition These complaints show how
widely the writer's misconceiyes the pur.
pose Of this important prepgatlve, how
ignorant they are Of the reasons for which II
these pardons were granted, how little
they comprehend the effects Of pardons
upon the well-being Of society, and how
eager they are to pounce upon anything
which affords an opportunity to censu Y
and condemn They refer TO no particu
TAI case they mention no particular in,
stance, il which Executive clemency has
been nisused, for they are well aware
that a citation Of facts III such particular
case would show that there's no tounda-
ton fortheir complaints. Tie complaint,
the censure, is general in terms as it is
unlimited in severity, and they can only
cite the number Of pardons il, support Of
what they allege. To state merely the
number Of convicts pardoned aud the
crimes for which they were punished is
an easy matter, and tits easy to impose
upon the credulity Of hasty readers by the
unwarrantad and illogical inference that
| because the pardons were numerous they
we're also ill.adyised and improper; while
the disproof Of this unjust assumption
] calls for an Investigation Of the circuD.f
stances Of each particular case as care.
lful and Us thorough as that made by the
Governor, his legal advisers, the Senate
] rialsCommittees. Such an investigation
would Of course be too extensive for our
columns and would find few to read it |;
but having. been permitted e review the
4 papers and documents in all Of these
:, cases, we are enabled to present . re-
sumo Of them, which, though brief and
i cursory will doubtless suffice to show
1 how idle and how groundless the cen
sures are which are SO unscrupulously
heaped upon the Senate and our worthy
Il Executive.
4 But, as preface to this reoapitulation,
lit is proper to advert to the important
fact that the immediate predecessor q
Governor Moore was remarkably sparing
!, in the exercise Of the pardoning preroga
tive, that the pardons granted by hin
during his entire term were not as man,
. by half as most Governors grant ever,
! year; that the entire number was Ger
:. tainly not one-fith II it was even one.tentl
of the average proportion Of those grantee
! by the Executives Of all the States for th
g same period. By this almost complei
suspension Of the exercise OF Executiv
2 Eclemency he may have escaped from e
9 ror in one direction--and it is equal
u probnble that be fell into error in the or
g posite direction. The prerogative {
y clcmency was given to our Executive f.
q a purpose--it was given to be exercise
n and not to lie dormant to beused wisel.
disnaas;;5nately aud humanely but sti
stl TO be used. II the Executive suspends 4
81 exercise for four years hemust leave an a
le cumulation Of cases for its just and prop'
y exercise BY his successor. Such was II
work left BY Gov. Wicklifle for Go
Moore. and consequently, most Of the pa
Mt dons recommended BY the latter and co
% CURED in by the Senate at the recent sc
x sion were in response to petitions whi'
HAD been gathering in the hands Of u
OF late incumbent for years. This legacy
ns labor fortunately fell into the hands Of !
by officer independent ana bold enough to
u. his duty and discreet enough to do
he we'll. The sapient cersors who cnt'
~ official heads with editorial goose-qui
- should not have forgotten or suppress
the foregoing important facts.
ec- That the too free exercise of the pl
doniug power BY Coy. Walker may ha
led Gov. Wicklihe to the opposite mista
Els quite probable; but that pardons w
'no withheld BY the latter in cases clearly
,u,< handing Executive clemency will su
!, u IL GENTLY appear from the following:
adj /. ANTOINE, . slave. This boy was q
,al- Yictcd for burning up an old crib VIII
' 'e, was uninhabited. He was a runabo
,a1 and bis master was accustomed to CHI
said him up at night in this dilapidated
gu. cabin. The negro. superstitions like % q
zen Of bis race. imagined the shantee to
$ sto haunted. The petition for pardon
rom signed by the jurors who constituted