The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1879-09-02
PARDON NOT FOR PORGRRS.

Gov. Robinson. Of New York, has
written 10 Ex-Governor Seymour the
letter following on the subject of par
doning forgers. theg good sense Of which
We Commend warmly:
STATE oP NEW YORK,
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
ALBANY. Aug. ., 1879.
Ion. Hordtts .Styn.1'lr.
Nj DEAR SIR: Your favor Of the
10th Of June last, enclosing q petition
for the pardon Of William A. Newman.
wa. duly received have also receiv-
ed your recen. letter referring to the
same case You show just apprccia-
tion OF the deIicacy ard difficulty at
tending the exercise OF the pardoning
power in not asking meito exercise it
unlsss consistent with my sense Of duty.
Your own long experience aud ripe
judgment, as we'll as tue deep interest
which you have always manifested in
prison management and in the proper
adjustment and administration Of our
pena. laws. induce me 10 present 10 YOU
u few facts and con.iicrations. bearing
not only upon the case Of Newman.
but upon large class Of convicts now
in our State prisons and penitentiaries,
under circumstances almost precisely
similar to those which surround his
case. Forgery seems to have become
the Usual and fashionable crime Of in
clligcnt and educated men of previous
good reputation. Indeed. 1t is crime
which cannot well he committed ex-
cept by persons Of considerable educa
ton. 1t is. moreover hlways committed
with deliberate intent. 1t is not the
result OF accident or a sudden impulse
Of passion. A man who sits down to
initiate with his pen the signature of
another. for the purpose Of defrauding
some party tirom whom he expects to
obtain money upon the forged sigma
ture, does so with skill and cool calcula.
ton II is. therefore. difficult to find
any of the excuses or cxtenuating cir-
cumstances which are frequently urged
in other cases. Experience also shows
that where it has been once committed,
especially if succsssful. it is almost in
variabely repeated. In the case of
Nrwm.n, the Di.trict Attorney informs
the that thcic were three indictments
against him for separate forgeries.
Upon "ns Of them be pleaded guilty,
and was sentenced TO prison for five
yrnrs The Pardon Clerk has examin
ed the files and finds that there are iif-
teen applications for pardOns III just
such cases, three or four o! them how
ever, taking the form of false pretences.
Tho number is constantly increasing.
In almost every one Of them there was
q =. ries of torgeries. In nearly all Of
them the sentence Of the Court has
been for five years. which. with the
wise provisions of our laws allowing
credits for good behavior, will make
al actual service in prison OF only three
years and seven months, which seems
TO be no more than is reasonable.
In the case of Newman. there are the
innocent wife and child. In nearly
every'other case. there are the wife and
several innocent children. | know.
from frequent conversations with you
on this subject, that your sympathies
run with mine in behalf Of these
wives and children, who suffer the pun
ishment more severely than the guilty.
This, however, is u misfortune and an
evil for which the wisdom Of man has
never been able to find an adequate
remedy. II must be endured if crime
10 to be punished at all. In one of the
cases before me. which has excited
much attention. the sympathies Of the
public in behalf OF the suffering family
and friends Of the convict have resulted
in laying before ue a petition for par
don. signed bv persons representing
more of eminent ability, moral worth
and high social and religious position
than ever appeared on any application
brought into the Executive Chamber
to my knowledge on any similar occa
sion.
The question arises, "Wha ought the
Governor To do under such circumstan-
ces 7" 1t seems to me that an answer
Is given in letter which l have re-
ceived from the convict in the case last
referred TO. in which. with q just view
of his own situation, and of what Is due
TO the violated laws. he writes from his
prison rs follows:
Having heard that a petition in my
behslf has. without my solicitation,
been presented to your Excellency,
bearing the signatures and supported by
the personal letters of gentlemen Of the
highest position in the city Of New
York. venture to ask your Excellen
cy's permission to say that. while l am
profoundly grateful to the friends who
have thus solsmnly testified in my favor
and am anxious for the welfare OF my
wife and children, 1t is nevertheless my
conviction that personal, domestic and
social interests ought to be sacrificed to
the higher interests Of the State, and |
have no right to ask or nope for par
don at your Excellency's hands, il 1t be
inconsistent with the loftiest considera-
tios Of public policy"
II / interfere in one Of these cases,
must not do so in all of them | can
find no essential difference which dis
tinguishss one case from another. All
of the convicts moved in respectable
society; all were more or less we'll ed
ucated, some Of them highly educated;
all have families or friends who are
suffering on their account. and all pro-
fess TO be thoroughly renitent for what
they have done. Can properly extend
Executive clemency tn one and with
bold it from Others occupying the same
position
AGAIN. III should par,ion ANY or all