The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1877-04-10
m 8ntIana daily Glube
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 1877.
THE RIGHT TO RETRIEVE.

AhV Wv
-" of the rights of the inhabitants of the
" state of Vermont" which is prefxed to,
and forms a part of, the constitution, de-
clares as follows "The power of sus-
spending laws, or the execution of laws,
4" ought never to be exercised but by the
4" legislature, or by authority derived from
it, to be exercised in such particular
Z" cases as this constitution. or the leglsla-
"ture, shall provide for" This is as
clearly a prohibition Of the power of sus-
pending laws, or the execution of laws,
to any man or body of men except the
legislature, unless such power is expressly
granted by the constitution or conferred
by the legislature, as il it had read as fol-
lows 'The power Of suspending laws, or
/" the execution of laws, shall only be eX-
d" ercised by the legislature, or by author
"ity derived from it, to be exercised in
I" such particular cases as this constitution,
" or the legislature, shall provide for"
We do not think there will be more than
one opinion as to this construction. All
will concede that the article means this and
nothing more or less.
The governor of Vermont, Friday, as
sumed to, and actually did, suspend the
execution of a law by his telegram ordering
that the execution of John p. Phair-sen-
fenced, in conformity with law, to be
hanged between certain hours on the first
Friday in April-bc delayed until the
fourth day of May next. Had he any con-
stitutional or legal right to order such de-
lay or, as it is technically termed, to grant
a reprIeve?
Without commenting on the extreme
carelessness of trusting such an order to
the tclegraph-especially after the expe-
ience of the past four weeks, during which
time an express messenger was superseded
by telegram, another messenger allowed to
take his place unquestioned, and the safe
of the express company robbed of thou
sands of dollars, and it, subsequently,
transporting that the telegram or kilograms,
although apparently genuine aud which
had actually been received in due course of
business, were false and fraudulent, and
had never been sent by the person who
purported to sign them-or upon the fact
that there was ample time before four
o'clock in the afternoon in which a special
messenger could have left st. Johnsbury
and arrived at the state prison in Windsor
with a formal written reprieve; without
pnpnrnantipn nm thio NJ frao1,y oOpoaIa
that the right to grant a reprieve ought to
be lodged with the governor and that this
case of Pbair, under the circumstance as
developed that day, was apparently one
calling for the exercise of executive clem-
ency if he had any right or power to use
it-but had he any such right or power un-
der our constitution and laws?
The laws Of the state are perfectly silent
upon the subject Of reprieves, but the con-
stitution provides that the governor and
council ''shall have power to grant pardons
" and remit fines, in all cases whatsoever, ex-
cept in treason and murder, in which
they shall have power to grant
" repricves, but not TO pardon, until after
tho Ond or the next session of assembly;
and except in cases of impeachment, in
which there shall be no remission, OF
" mitigation of punishment, but by act OF
Legislation" By the amendments OF
1886, the power of the governor and eoun-
Gil in these cases was conferred on tine gov
ernor alone.
In endeavoring to get at the meaning of
this clause we must remember that at the
time of>the adoption of this constitution,
!A17o3, and for nearly fifty years after, the
time for the execution Of the sentence CD q
convicted murder followed almost immedi-
ately after conviction. Thus Cyrus B.
Dean was convicted, for the murder OF
Jonathan Ormsby and Asa Marsh, Septem.
Der l, 1903, and was executed November
18th of the same year James Anthony, OF
Rutland, was com icted March 4, 1914, OF
the murder of Joseph Green, and was SEN
fenced to be executed April IA; Rebecca
Peake was convicted of the murder OF
Ephraim Peake, on one of the last days OF
December, 1885, and was sentenced to be
executed on the eighth day of the follow
ing February; Archibald l.. Bates wa
convicted, in December 1888, of the muir
der eft Harriet Jane Bates, and was hanged
the eight day of the following February
1t will be noticed that no session of tn,
legislature interviewed between the day o.
conviction and the dey appointed for exc
c%ution, so that there was no opportunity
afforded for applying to the legislator,
either for a Communication of the sentence
or for a new trial.
Down to 1842-we believe that was tn,
year the law was altered-there was an alb
soluts necessity that the governor shoulC
have the power, in cases of murder
"to grant reprieves until after In
end of the next session of as
e sembly"-otherwise there would hsv
been no opportunity for applying for
Communication of sentence. In 1912, how
ever, the legislature provided that no con
VIC ell murderer should be executed unit
after the expiration Of one year from tn
day of his sentence; and upon the adop
ton of the biennial system, the time wa
extended to two years-so that since 1912,
session of the assembly must intervene be
tween conviction and execution.
1t must be borne in mind, moreover, tina
ninety and a hundred years ago
was held, as Blackstone has il, tina
"in democracies this power of par
don can never subsist." And s.
granting the governors limited right G
pardon may be called an innovation. VIA
then is the true construction of the Yer
mont constitution ? Is it not that in case
of murder and treason the governor shal
not have the right of pardon, but may re
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