The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1867-11-23
Correspondence OF t- Pacific Commercial Advertiser.
HoSoLULr. November eth. 1867.

HosoLULr, November 9Th, 1867.
Editor Of Commercial Advertiser:
DEAR SIR IL regret to see that in your paper for
last week, You gave me the . sole credit {" Of procur-
ing the pardon of Kekoa alias Geo. Lee. In justice
to others | feel obliged to make this brief statement
Of the affair, which 1 hope you viii admit to your
columns.
H.. DAILY, Esq, who vas the prosecuting attorney
for the 18th judicial district at the time, has furnish
Ell me 8 written statement, which is substantially IS
follows:
In July, 1883, a company Of kanakas, Of whom
Geo Lee WAS one, were engaged in placer mining
near the town Of Mariposs One evening he sni his
partner had a quarrel while drinking in a neighbOr-
Ing grocery, and came TO blows, but were separated
by their countrymen. Ga returning TO his hut. Geo.
Lee locked the door, and went 10 bed. His partner
came from the grog-shop about midnight, and wac
naturally enragei AT being locked out After q while
he broke down the door, and attacked Geo. Lee, and
in the fight which followed was stabbed by him re-
P~eateily, - that he died in twenty-four hours There
were no other witnesses present, 80 that TIE case for
the prosecution rested chiefly on the dying declara-
ton Of the wounded man. The jury brought him in
guilty Of murder in the second degree, and on the 23d
of July, 1889, he was sentenced by Judge Burke 10
twenty years Imprisonment 1T hard labor"
Geo. Lees own statement differs materially from
the above, and is much more favorable to himself
/ first heard Of the man from II. ?. Baldwin, who
visited the State prison at san Quentin last spring,
and became much interested in his case. Before
leaving for California l consulted Judge Allen, who
kindly gave me q letter Of introduction TO Gov. Low.
On my arrival in San Francisco 1 called on Mr.. Bates,
who aided ne with legal advice, and put into my
hands a petition from Geo. Lee to Queen Emma, writ
ten in September, 1866, which was a ~well-written
and touching appeal, but reached her too late to ac-
complish its object. This petition was presented to
Gov. Low, together with a letter from Mr.. Bates on
the subject.
The officers Of the State prison all spoke well Of
Geo. Lee, and readily signed a certificate to his uni
form good conduct during the eight years which he
spent in prison Judge Burke also, who had SEN
tened him TO twenty years imprisonment, wrote s
recommendation for his pardon, which had great
weight with the Governor, as did also the official sig
nature Of the Hawaiian Consul 10 the petition which
/ circulated; fer, - Gov. Low himself stated, it Was
his desire 70 grant the pardon partly as an set of
courtesy-and friendly feeling towards the Hawaiian
people and Government. As by the laws Of Califor-
MIA the application for pardon had to be advertised
in the newspapers Of Mariposa County for thirty days
before the Governor could officially consider the petit
ton. l left all the papers and the whole management
of the case in the hands of r. B. Armstrong. who
deserves credit for the efficient manner in which he
conducted il 10 a successful conclusion. He has sent
duplicates of all the papers and correspondence
TO the case. 1 will only add that the unfor-
tunate Kekoa arrived here on the idaho on her LAST
trip, after an absence Of more than ten years, and
that he has since shown his gratitude in every way
in his power. Yours truly, wv. d. ALEXANDER.