Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1873-11-15
MRS. SURRATT'S EXECUTION.
Ex-President Johnson's Reply to Judge
Hollis August Publication.
Some Caustic Observations.

WASHINGTON, ID. c., Nov. LEX
President johnson has addressed
communication to the Washington
Chronicle in reply to that of Judge
Holt, published in the same paper in
August last, on the subject of the exc
cution of Mrs. Surratt, as one of the
assassins of President Lincoln. After
reviewing the evidence adduced By
Judge Holt, Mr.. Johnson says .
In the search for testimony Judge
Holt succeeded in discovering only one
witness who said he saw the record of
the case with the petition attached in
the President Office. The witness is
Hon. James Speed, then Attorney
General, who is undoubtedly mistaken
in his statements for, as already shown,
the findings and sentence of the court
were submitted on the 9TH of July, he
[ Holt and | being alone, were then.
and there approved by the Executive
and taken by the Judge Advocate
General to the War Department, where
on the same afternoon issued the order
to carry them into effect. Mr.. Speed
doubtless saw the record, but it must
have been in the Department of War,
and not in the Executive office. The
record of the court was submitted to
me by Judge Holt in the afternoon of
the fifth day of July, 1865. Instead
of entering the Executive mansion in
the usual way, he gained admission by
the private or family entrance to the
executive Office, The examination of
the papers took place in the library,
and he and | alone were present The
sentences of the court in the cases Of
Herold, Atzerott and Payne, were con-
sidered in the order named, and then
the sentence in the case of Mrs. Sur
raft. In acting upon her case, no re-
commentator for a Communication of
her punishment was mentioned or sub
mitted to me but the question of her
sex, which has already been adverted to
and discussed by the newspaper col
umns, presented itself and was COM
mented upon by Judge Holt and
myself. .H .. -if8sr
JUDGE Hollis ARGUMENT FOR HANG
ING MRS. sURRATT. ..
With peculiar force and solemnity.
he urged that the fact that the grimm
nal was woman was in itself no ex-
cuse or palliation; that when a woman
unsexed herself and entered the arena
of crime it was rather an aggrayation
than mitigation of the offense; that
the law was not made to punish men
only, but all, without regard to sex,
who violated its provisions that to
discriminate in favor of Mrs. Surratt
and against Herold, Atzerott and
Payne, who were sentenced by the
same court and at the same time to
suffer the penalty of death, would be
to offer premium to the female sex
to engage in crime, and bride the prin-
cipal actors in its commission that
since the rebellion began, in some por-
tons Of the country females had been
prominent in aiding and abetting trait
ors, and he thought the time had come
when it was absolutely necessary, in q
case so clearly and conclusively estab-
lished, to set an example which would
have salutary influence. He was
not only in favor of the approval of
the sentence, but its execution at the
earliest practicable day. a
JUDGE HOLT WRITES THE ORDER.
Upon the termination of our consul.
tatiOn, Judge Holt wrote the order ap-
proving the sentence of the court. /
affixed my name to it, and, rolling I'D
the papers, he took his leave, carrying
the record with him, and departing as
he had come through the family or
private entrance. go. ss-5 st ~
THE SPIRIT ANIMATING JUDGE HOLT.
From the above statement it will be
noted that the papers were notsubmit-
ted in the usual way by the Secretary
of War. but brought to the President
by the Judge Advocate General, under,
of course. the instructions of Mr..
Stanton. This doubtless was done to
save time and hasten the execution,
and evinces the spirit which animated
Judge Holt during the entire proceed
ings. Who can doubt that, if his name
and that of Judge Bingham had been
attached to the petition signed by five
members of the court, and the prayer
had been brought to the attention of
the President, such an application would
have been duly weighed blythe Exeeu-
tive before final action in the premi-
ses p