Daily Republican., 1878-03-25

thorough legal hearing and Weighing
Of the new testimony could have been
had. i0 .1l
The, welfare Of Delaware society
would not have bean imperillsd by such
q course, NOR the ends Of justice de-
feated. Indeed, justice might have
been vindicated and promoted had the
Governor done this. At all events, the
public might have been convinced be-
yond doubt that he had not sanctioned
the execution of two innocent men. As
the case now stands, very many peo-
pie will believe the authorities guilty
Of two judicial murders. Would Gov
ernor Cochran have been as infexible
| and determined had the convicted men
been white Had they been both white
and highly respectable, according to
the Delaware standard Of respectable
ty, would His Excellsncy have closed
his ears against such after-testimony in
their favor and against the prayers Of
hundreds of his fellow citizens? We
suspect that he would not. Unfortu-
nately for Chambers and Collins, they
were black men-full-blooded negroes !;
otherwise they night have been accorded
a second hearing, and possibly spared
i the fate of convicted felons.
From the Philadelphia Ereniny Bulie-
| tin.
There is good reason for believing
that the State of Delaware yesterday
perpetrated two murders. 1t lis very
doubtful ii society has moral right to
infict capital punishment for any 9TH
er crime than murder in the first de-
gree. Delaware law, however, makes
it the penalty of a smaller crime, and
the men who were hanged yesterday
were declared guilty Of that offence up
the testimony Of two witnesses. Both
Of these witnesses, professional vaga-
bonds and perfectly worthless persons,
have since declared that they swore
falsely and that theiconyicts were Who'll
ly innocent of the crime imputed to
them. Ct -.
The Governor of Delaware knew of
this confession, and strong pressure
was brought to bear upon him to with
hold execution of the sentence. This
was steadily refused, it is alleged upon
the ground that the law gives him no
choice between complete pardon and
completion of the punishment. In such
a case, it seems to us, there ought to
have been no hesitation to accept the
former alternative, for there was really
no sound reason for believing that the
men were not wholly guiltless of any
criminal offence. To put human beings
to death under such circumstances is
horrible and atrocious but it is emf
nently characteristic of the Delaware
methods of inficting what in that re-
gion is regarded as justice.
The entire Delaware code is barbar-
Gus, cruel, disgraceful to civilization,
and worthy only Of some such wretched
country as Turkey. In this particular
instance the determination to have the
men murdered was probably strength
ened by the fact that they were negroes.
In the southern part Of Delaware a
black man is regarded with very much
the same feeling that were common in
the far South in the old slavery days
TO KIN 'nigger'' Is considered not
much more heinous than to slay mule.
If these convicts had been white men,
Governor Cochran might have consid-
cred it worth while to save their necks.
From the Philadelphia No;M .Ameri-
can.
The press may well hesitate before
criticising the Governor of sovereign
State to which it owes no allegiance, but
it would be futile to ignore the public
sentiment upon the execution of Cham
bers and Collins at New Castle, Della
ware, yesterday. Delaware, is we be-
lieve, the only State in the Union which
still Furnishes the crime of rape by
hanging. Public sentiment reinforced
by biblical precepthas long ago decided
that murder was the only crime worthy
of capital punishment, but our neigh
boring State has still held this to be a
capital otfense.
But in the case of Chambers and
Collins all the witnesses to the crime
there were but two-confessed to
perjury, and the testimony given to the
public sincel the affair all goes to show
that the crime for which these men
were hanged yesterday was such an
one as the courts are seldom troubled
with. Governor Cochran thinks that
the woman was led from motives of
compassion to mitigate the crime
Whether this be so or not her character
was certainly such as to invalidate any
testimony that she might give, and it
must be admitted that the two unfortu-
mates hung yesterday were victims
of popular prejudice rather than con-
victs paying the penalty of a capital
crime.
Condensed from the New York Her.
AIDS Correspondence.
The execution of two negroes for out
rage in the New Castle Jail to-day is
worthy of more than a passing notice.
the case was remarkable one, from the
fact that the finding of the Court was a
mistake. The woman who swOre their
lives away is confessedly of the worst
character. She has admitted that she
perjured herself and has prayed for re-
prieve. The jurymen who convicted |
the accused on her testimony have pe-
titioned for their pardon, and prominent |
lawyers, officials and citizens have
Joined in the appeal But all has been