The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-03-20

prove Gll SlltNt ldA W AaistiS ~ tfEc S44iili'
nal classes.
His crime Was of minor nature, he
was still child and, he was undefended
and the court had ns information re-
specting his misdemeaaor excepting that
conveyed in lame ant insufficient afi-
1 davit.
After a few questions, which, under
the intense fear and excitement of that
indeseribable moment. the boy could
not have been expected to understand,
these words from the judge fell upon
him like a thunder clap:
~ sentence you to 5teon gears ct hard Ia
Dor in the State prison"
Fifteen years at hard labor in the
State prison And for this young lad
There was deep silence in the court
room. Even upon that chamber of law
vers and officials, whose ears are familiar
with similar criminal mandates from the
bench, there settled an eloquent calm
1t was if as society had quietly turned its
eye upon the justice
What, one demands, could have been
/ the influence that moved the court to
make 20 awful manifestation of It's
power?
Could il have yielded to the district
attorneys demanded for vicarious pun
ishment? Could it have believed that in
the person of the childlike prisoner
there existed one of those subtle devils
whose deyiltry was inborn, and who
should be separated from mankind?
/ Could it have dreamed that the boy
/ first crime, no matter what character it
may have had, merited such punish
ment as this? Impossible.
What, then, was the excuse, the
ground, the main reason, for this mon
strous exercise of its prerogative?
1t was this: scrap Of ,criting ia lead
pencil upon the back of the Indictment.
1t read:
'Bad-one of the West-side gang"
Now, who wrote this legend upon the
back of the Indictment? No one knows.
The clerk did not do it; neither did the
district attorney, nor the assistant dis
trict attorney. 1t is not certain who did.
It is supposd to have been the work of
some student subordinate of the district
attorneys Office.
Had witness uttered those words tira
roee, his authority for them would have
been sifted to the very last Such a
piece of testimony would have been a
sailant point for the prosecution, and an
object of the fercest attacks of the de-
| fense.
But this simple bit of penciling, un-
supported and unauthorized, was accep-
ted, without a question, as proof posi-
tive, and it was mainly. upon its merits
that Gott received his terrible sentence.
Now a word about the intrinsic mean
ing of the writing.
The West-side gang is a horde of des-
peradoes that infest the neighborhood
surrounding the house of Colts parents
An officer who patrols the precinct, up
on hearing of Colts arrest, reported un-
favorably respecting him, solely because
he had connected him in his own mind,
and wholly without reason, with this
"gang," 1t was upon hearsay of this
officers report that the words, "Bad-
one of the West-s:de gang" were writ
| ten.
Upon hearing of the Interpretation
placed upon his careless observation,
the officer emphaticalIy disclaimed any
intent to say any thing that could have
been so construed, and his disclaimer
was made to the district attorney after
the examination was over.
This disclaimer could have been had
at the time of the arraignment of the
prisoner had the commonest rule of pro-
cedure in evidence been observed.
Had this writing received the briefest
examination, its importance would have
evaporated in Whit. But it was ac-
cepted, apparently, as revealed truth,
and upon It's authority clear outrage
was committed.
The boy Gott, Immediately after the
announcement of the sentence, was re-
moved from the courtroom to the
Tombs, whence, ON the succeeding day
he was taken, and afterwards sent, by the
usual route, to Sing-Sing prison.
His name was entered in the books
his description taken, his glue stained
work frock exchanged for the hideou:
striped suit of the convict, and he was
led to his cell in Gallery No. 2. In due
time he was given some work to perform
and he began new life in the close so
ciety of twelve hundred wretches who
had been convicted of all sorts and
grades of crime known to man.
The offense that he had committed
was a serious one, but it would have
been amply punished by his confne-
ment in the House of Refuge for a sin
gle year.
He would there have been taught the
true meaning of his crime, and also the
true value of an upright life.
Inc IHedllS ny WHICH ne WAS lHIOhi
into the present position were full o
faults and inconsistencies. The mos
prominent of these have been pointed
out. The course of procedure in hi'
case should have been this:
Upon his arraignment, his relatives
and his counsel should have been mott
fed. Had it appeared that he had NJ
: counsel, one should have been assigned
him. The utmost care should have beer
taken to secure the facts regarding hi
age and previous life, with the view o
, judging him in their light. Had
been impossible to secure these facts a
once, the prisoner should have been re
, manded to Jail until they could hav
been rendered available. An indictmen
to suit his case according to the stric
letter of the law, and not according t
the wrongful desire to make an "exam
3 ple," should have been fabricated an
o,oIsaI