The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-03-10
SHALL ANDERSON BE PARDoNED 2

| we pIlub III AHoIl6E column ILL appeal W
the Governor from Mr.. w. p Converse. Jr.,
for the pardon OF r G. Anderson, the convict
cd Returning Board forger. Mr.. Converse
was the foreman Of the jury which convicted
| Anderson, and his appeal will attract at
tention throughout the Union. We think
that Mr. Converse has permitted his
kindness Of heart and Christian spirit OF
forgiveness to lead him into an error
We esteem the religious temper, in fact. we
may say fervor, which pervades this most
estimable gentleman's appeal TO Gov. Nichols
for the pardon Of Anderson, but we are GER
tain that it is misdirected and calculated to
do much harm.
Religion and civil justice are two separate
and distinct forces. The first, rightly d.
rected Is calculated to reform tho public
morals and chasten human passions; the lat
ter Ia designed to protect society by punish
fishing and REFRESHING crime. O
II the administration of justice in our courts
were influenced by the sentiments CT charity
and forgiveness which pervade the appeal Of
Mr.. Converse to Gov. Nichols. there L. not
pickpocket, burglar, q perjurer, a forger. or
o murderer who would not be set free, how
ever convincing the evidences Of his guilt. If
the Executive were to exercise the high pre-
rogative of pardon in the spirit which teaehes
us when smitten upon one cheek to turn tho
other, society would soon beoelegated to the
rule of the worst classes of the community.
If Mr.. Converse's statement is correct, that
the law and the evidence were so convincing
that neither he nor any other conscientious
man could pronounce any other verdict than
that OF guilty before Gov Nichols can, in the
spirit of the law and in justice to theopeople
Of Louisiana, comply with his appeal, it must
be shown that there were circumstances
which SO paliate the crime of the felon that
they only less than justify it. The Governor
has no right to permit himself to be influ-
enced by Christian charity, by his tenderness
Of heart, or by the appeals of kindly, sympa-
thetic and charitable men. He can conscien-
tiously pardon only when the circumstances
attending the commission of the felony very
greatly mitigate it. 0 o
Were there any such circumstances attend
ing the commission of Anderson's Infamous
crime2 Not one. The felon has been dis
honest man from his youth. In his earlier
manhood he won the soubriquet of Keno
Anderson" by swindling at cards. for which
he was banished from respectable society in
Rapides parish A few years ago, in the hey
day Of Radical power, he obtained from the
Legislature an appropriation of eighty thou
sand dollars for the improvement of Bayous
Crocodile and Bout, in the western portion of
the State. nearly every dollar of which he
stole. For years past he has been lending
spirit in the ballot-box stufflng, the org aniz-
;pr of porro md tba Po+,,r,,
ing Board frauds, perjuries and forgeries,
which have nearly ruined this State and
through which its people have been plundered
In ten years Of more than one hundred mil
lions OF dollars.
What circumstance we ask, can any man
in tho Union point out which abets one jot or
little the criminalty of T. G. Anderson
What act has he done in all this era of suffer-
ing, and wrong, and oppression, through
which the people of Louisiana have passed,
which entities him to the mercy
of the law, the forgiveness of the peo-
pie or the pardon of the Executive7
There is not one. Every act of his life shows
that he is bad man; man ready in any
wicked cause, and for any evil end, to defy the
law and override the public good. Ii the pur-
pose Of the courts and Of the law is to punish
men who have deliberately and knowingly
crimes, we know Of no wretch
who has ever served out his sentence In the
Penitentiary more deserving OF this fate than
this convicted felon.
Mr.. Converse, with great feeling, after
enumerating the Christian sentiments Of
mercy and forgiveness which prompt his APP
peal, says that his earthly reasons for max
ing the appeal are these: Il feel that the
legal proceedings against the prisoner, thus
far taken, including his sentence, have vim
dicated the honor of our beloved State" etc.
We regret that we cannot agree with Mr.. |