The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-01-21
Greniug Telegtaph
SATURDAY, JANUARY 81, 1871.
FTCREN'.S PARDON.

john w. GEARY the individual who, unfortr-
nately for the good name of this Comm rn-
wealth, figures as its Governor, has, by
granting pardon to Richard Ficken and
remission of the forfeiture of his bail dis
graced himself forever as man and as an
officer of Justice Fickens crime was one of
the most outrageous that he could have com
mitted, and that he is not murderer is due
to his good fortune and not to his intentions.
A conviction in open court, and a sentenceto
the penitentiary, even if an executive pardon
had Immediately granted his release, were the
least that outraged justice had a right to
demand; but now it can he said with truth
that so long as criminal is wealthy he can
purchase immunity for his offenses no
matter how outrageous they may be, at least
while John w. Geary disgraces the executive
chair of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
This transaction should be the last nail
in the political coffins, not only of Geary
but of all his aiders and abettors-Attorney-
General F. Carroll Brewster, William b.
Mann, and Lewis @. Cassidy. Attor-
ney-General Brewster's opinion on the
application for pardon is certainly
a remarkable performance from one
who has himself sat upon the bench, who now
fills the position of the first law officer of the.
Commonwealth, and who has hitherto borne
q fair reputation both as a lawyer and as a
man. He concludes from the evidence pre-
sented to him that, although Ficken was
guilty of gross negligence-this is a curious
way of putting it, t,certainly-he had no inten-
tion of inhicting bodily harm; that he had
been heavily punished-we would like to
know how-and that the signatures attached
to the papers were guarantees of the applca-
tion. We do not see that for here are soma of
the names of the individuals supon whose recon-
mendstion the pardon was ostensibly granted:
William B. Elliott, William McCandless,
Thomas Ashton, j. L. Petit, William
Moran, and Representatives. Lamon, Dumbell,
Hagar, Daffy, Cloud, Quigley, Mooney, Al
bright, Josephs, and McGowan.
1t will be seen that the Governor aud the
Attorney General have arrogated to them
selves the functions of judge and jury, while
Messrs. William B. Mann and Lewis G. Cas-
sidy, who figure as Fickens counsel, have not
merely fulfilled their duties as legal advisers,
bit they haze busted themselves to defeat the
ends Of justice by compromising a felony, as
they were under no obligation to do, either as
lawyers or honest men. Mr.. Mann is exceed
ingly desirous of regaining the Office of Dis
trict Attorney, from which he was driven a
few years ago by his disguised fellow citizens,
but he may rest assured that his connection
with the Ficken case has forever sealed his
hopes in that direction, as it has those of
Mr.. Cassidy for any Office of trust or honor
to which he may aspire The lawyer who
would aid in preventing great crime from
being punished simply because the criminal
is wealthy and willing to pay handsomely in
order to keep out of the penitentiary, is
clearly not the right person to fill the Office of
public prosecutor of this city and county.
Not merely e0ery honest, laW-abiding citizen,
bit e0ery man aOlO is not able to pay for tie
prTCjIege IF committing crime as FScken has
done as clearly interested IN preventing Va
liam B. Mann from eoer again becoming
District Attorney.
AS for Geary, we are happy in the belief
that this transaction will finish him polti-
cally. There is a point where patience
ceases to be virtue; and much as every de-
cent man in the State must have blushed on
account of the vain, weak, and insincere
political trickster who figures as the Gov
ernor of this State, nothing that he has yet
done oan equal his granting pardon to
Ficken under the circumstances he did; aud
this last crowning act of shame ought at least
to secure his retirement from public view for
the balance of his days.
1t is understood that it has cost Ficllen
$4,000 to procure this pardon, and it would
be interesting to know how the money was
divided. At present all parties concerned in
procuring the pardon are under just suspi-
cion of having pocketed portions of it.
Ficken could well afford to expend such a
sum, however, to keep himself out of the
penitentiarY, but 1t is an eternal disgrace
that our highest offices are filed By men 10h9
are 1Oiling to lend a ready ear to one e0h0
Games arih $4,000 in his hand, a1hen some
Toor acretch tcbO commits q petty Iarceay 6ut
a0hO is not able to pay for Immunity from
punishment, is obliged to satisfy to tie utter
most tie demands Of outraged justice.
The mere granting of the pardon, however,
is comparatively of secondary Importance tc
the serious fact that the Governor had it il
his power to grant il betore the trial and con
Ujction Of tie or'miaal That it is botl
dangerous and injudicious to commit the
pardoning power under any circumstances
into the hands of one man has been demon
strated most conclusively on many occasions
since Geary has been in the executive chair
but that the Governor should have power t.
grant pardon to an offender before he ha
been convicted of crime is simply monstrous
How such power is liable to abuse in th,