The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-11-20
l 5, G, :
THE EXECUTION OF MRS. SUR
RAFT. y--- e.f r.-f.-
Letter from Ex.President johnson il
-..- Reply to Judge Holt. "4


Letter from Ex.Preaident johnson in
! III Reply to Judge Holt.
WAsHIEeToE, November II.-Ex-
President Johnson has addressed com
munication to the Washington Chronicle
in reply to that of Judge Holt, published
IN the same paper in August last, on the
subject of the execution of Mrs. SuIratt,
as one of the assassins of President Lin
coin. After reviewing the evidence ad-
duced by Judge Holt, Mr.. johnson says
'In his search for testimony, Mr.. Holt
sueoeeded IN discovering only one witness
who said he saw this record of the case
with the petition attached In the Presi-
dents Office. This witness Is Hon. James
Speed, then Attorney General, who is un-
doubtedly mistaken In his statements, for
as already shown the findings and SEN
tenoes of the Court were submitted on the
9th of July, he and I being alone, were
then and there approved by the Execn-
tive, and taken by the Judge Advocate
General to the War Department, where,
on the same afternoon, the order to carry
them into effect was issued. Mr. Speed
doubtless saw that record, but it must
have been in the Department of War, and
not in the ExecHtiye Office. The record
of the Court was submitted to me by
Judge Holt in the afternoon of the 5th
day of July, 1865. Instead of entering
the Executive mansion in the usual way
he gained admission by the private or fam
lily entrance to the Executive Office. The
examination of the papers took place in
the library, and he and alone were pres
ent, The sentences of the Court in the
cases of Herold, Atzerott and Payne
were considered in the order named, and
then the sentence in the case of Mrs. Sur
ratt. In acting upon her case no recon-
mendation for a Communication of her pun
ishment was mentioned or submitted to
me, but the question of her sex, which
had already been adverted to and discuss
ed in the newspaper columns, presented
itself and was commented upon both by
Judge Holt and myself, with peculiar
force and solemnity. He urged the fact
that the criminal was woman, but that
was in itself no excuse or palliation; when
q woman unsexed herself and entered the
arena Of crime, it was rather an aggraVa-
tion 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; At
zerott and Payne. who were sentenced by
the Court, and at the same time, to suffer
the penalty of death, would be to offer a
premium to the female ser to engage IN
crime. and bribe the principal actors in its
commission that since the rebellion be-
gan. in some portions of the country fe-
males had been prominent IN aiding and
abettine traitors, and he thought the time
had come when 1t was absolutely necessa-
ry, in a case so clearly and conclusively
established, to set an example which wo'd
have salutary influence. he was not
only in favor of the approval of the SEN
tence, but its execution at the earliest
practicable day. s
upon the termination of our consulta-
ton Judge Holt wrote the order APPROX
ing the sentence of the Court. I affixed
my name to it. and rolling up the papers,
he took his leave, carrying the record
with him, and departing as he had come,
through the family or private entrance"
"Erom the above statement 1t will be
noted the pSpers were not submitted Il
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 has
ten the execution, and evinces the spirit
which animated Judge Holt during the
entire proceedings. 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 by the Ex-
ecutive before final action In the premi-
ses ?"
Mr.. johnson says, in-conclusion:
! "It being absolutely certain that if the
petition was attached to the original rec
ord before 1t was submitted to the Presi-
dent, 1t is net to be found in the printed
record authorized by Judge Holt, and GER
tilted to by Colonel Burrett, Special Judge
Advocate of the Commission. The ques-
ton arises, which of the two is the au-
thentic and genuine2 If the record in
possession of the Judge Advocate Gener-
al is true, then that is false (which he has
given to the public If, on the other hand
the record published with his official sane
ton is true, then that in his Bufeau At