Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-10-11
lie PardOnlng Power.

An ANALYSIS of tho table of commitments
to the State prison and Iardon7, for the Ea,t
thiriv-fye years, given by Gov. Fairbanks
in his Valeiictory Message, shows that the
executive use Of the hardening power Ia,
on the whole, largely decreased during that
period For the twelve years from 10 to
81 inclusive, the commitments were 32l,
aud tie l,arions los over onc-,hirl-ssG.G
per en-: As many criminals being pa:lonsi
as were committed. For the twelve Years
following. to lSG71, the Commitments were
100, AMI the Tarlous los something "Ser
oLe-qua1tcr-2'.1 per o,nt-ol the commit
Tcnt4. For tie last eleven wears, the e. III
mi,meui> have been rs. and the parip,
G0-a reduction of the Tlrjons TO l2.5 pr
cent oil the commitments A. the year Of
executive scNice docs not correspond with
the calendar car, the table only show ar
prczmately what proportion Of the Iardars
are to tc allotted to the respective C,,or
nurS. Bat iesinnin. with Gov Mat.,c&S,
We find 20 Tarlors to 81 commitments, in
the year IL and II, mostly covered ly hi
administration. The two years following
when james Slade was GuveTncr, there were
81 commitments and - Iardons- tic pr
dor,s being over half as many (62 per cent?
as tie commitments [ ndcr Gov. Eaton, m
II and * the table show a remarkable fall
-. H.
and some falling Of in the proportion ol
parjous which, however. were over 10 I,r
cent Of the commitment From thence On
the ratio OF plrdons to commi,meu:s d.
creaseS. with rare exceptions, till We come
to tho administration Of Gov. Peck, Inch
has the distinction Of showing no use, and
consequently no abuse, Of the IariCning
power IS regards : ate Prison onenc,a For
Gov. Peck first year. 1875, the table shows
80 commitments AID no pardons, Tor $50
the table give one pITdOn to 81 commit
ments but as the appendix to the message
gives name and date for fr0 pardons, issued |
by Gov. Fairbanks in lS76, it is plain that
the one pardon in the table was no; Gov.
Peck's. Daring Gov Fairbanks term the !
commitment APPEAR to have been li9 and |
the psrdons l.. or about ten per cent Of the
commitmonts-a less proportion than the |
average OF the preceding decade, and much
less than the average OF the thirty-tlrcc year.
preceding It Is to III credit that it il no
greater, and the table !, a fair vinjicatiJn q
his administration from tie charge Of ex-
essive use Of the Iardoning power, as com
pared with his p'cdcc, 7,rs in the Cover
nor'- flee.
We commend to the GUgerHori II,-fLl
and future, Gov. Peck example ia thi,
matter. 1t wa not be cause be j. lari.
h attel man that he declined 70 Jatlrr
criminals GA the bench he established q
reputation as a lenient Judge but bis long
experience satisfied him that the interests of
society and tho eLd- Of jletiee demand the
certain and fall execution Of sentences
Mercy Is beautiful attribute. but the com
munity has right to expect mercy for
itself a. well as the cTiminal-and in most
cases mercy t. the latter ia cruelty to the |
former. The constitution gives the power
of pardon t. Tic Chief Magistrate OF our
Commonwealth, and we would not take 1t |
from him. There are cases where it, exer- |
else is needed. But We have no doubt that
the rigid adoption of the rule laid down 10y
Gov. Peck-to grant no pardon except upon
clear evidence that there was error in the
conviction or sentence would conduce to