The Arizona sentinel. [volume] (Arizona City [Yuma], Yuma County, A.T. [Ariz.]) 1872-1911, 1875-08-07
MISTAKEN CLEMENCY.

ol CIVILIZATION. 1t Is that DISPOSE
ton which leads men to look with
compassion upon the faults and
frailties of their fellows and to
forgive and spare the offender.
1t is that disposition which couses
men to recOil from the severity of
punishment, even as prescribed
by the law, and to act with gen
tleness and lenity toward the cri-
minal. All this is right and pro-
per. We believe in mercy, 1t is
one of the attributes of Diety
Himself, without which what
would become of the whole hu-
man family The poet says:
Mercy to him who shows it, is the rule
And righteous limitation Of the act
by which Heaven moves in pardOniDg
guilty man;
And he who shows none, being ripe in years,
And conscious Of the outrage be commits
Shall seek it and not find it, in his turn!
We believe all that, and yet we
are forced to the conclusion, by
what we see around us, that there
is much mistaken cIemency Just
now a clemency that is turning
loose upon society the most har-
dened criminals, before they have
received that punishment which
the law prescribes for their mis-
deeds. Society is entitled to mer-
cy and protection as we'll as the
convicted felon. Laws are made
for the protection of right and the
punishment of wrong. Yet no
sooner do we see a man who has
defed all laws, human and divine,
arrested tried and convicted of
his crimes, and sentenced to the
punishment that the law pre-
scribes for his offences, than these
sickly sentimentalists get up a
petition to the governor for par
don or communication of sentence.
And these petitions sometimes
come from excellent citizens and
good and law abiding men, as
recent case in Prescott demon
strates. The miserable victim,
filling a bloody grave, is beyond
human mercy or human SYM
pathy, yet good citizens ask for
mercy for the convicted murderer,
and that he may be cast loose
again upon society and walk the
earth unpublished. What is an
Executive officer to do in case of
this kind ? He is but human, and
such petitions coming from men
who he knows to be good, reliable,
and altogether worthy citizens,
have their weight upon him, and
it is right that they should have.
But sit not we'll to inquire width
er are we tending -? What will
be the inevitable result of this
wholesale pardoning and com.
mutation Of sentence of the worst
of criminals ? VIII it not lead to
encouragement to the commission
of crime q? We verify believe it
will. That is its legitimate effect.
Then murderers and maraUders
upon society, finding immunity
from punishment, will go on in
their old track, having learned
that there is hope of escape from
punishment even after conviction,
and will become holder and more
defiant and devilish. The best
men throughout civilization we'll
know that the only hope of the
security of life and property rests
upon the firm and faithful admin
istration of the laws and the GER
tain and prompt punishment Of
those who prey upon society and
set the laws at defiance. 1t is of no
use to complain of the laws. The
criminal laws in all our States and
Territories are good enough, but
it is in the laXity of their admin.
istration, where the trouble lies.
Nor is it always in misplaced Exc
cutive clemency that criminals
find their immunity from punish
ment. We all know how hard it
is TO convict man of crime, par
ticularIy in the Courts of Califor-
nia and A riZOna no matter how