Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1880-12-31

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upon which this pardon was produced
was signed by several eminent gentle
men who had accepted the statement
of friends or counsel as to hecondition
of the culprit. The petition was sent
to the pardoning power. The names
were II sufficient guarantee of the cor
rectness of the statement, and the re.
suit was n pardon. When the officers
of the prison were informed respecting
the ground of the pardon they en-
pressed surprise that the subject of En-
ecutive clemency was in the last stages
of consumption, since they had heard
no report of that nature, and the pris-
oner had always appeared TO be in good
health.
Within a few days an item has APP
peared in the papers to the effect that
a prominent man who wrecked n pub
lie institution in another State j. suf-
fering very severely from the effects of
his imprisonment, and that he cannot
long survive the confinement. Per.
haps this announcement may be the
initial step toward procuring Il pardon
upon the ground that the condemned
man cannot live long under the most
favorable circumstances, and that his
pardon and release would be simply
an act of humanity. Friends and le-
gal counsel are not always careful
about the methods employed to secure
the release of one who deserved the
sentence which consigned him to pris-
on. Consequently men of influence
and character should carefully inyeSti-
gate every case when they are request
ed to sign petitions asking the pardons
of men whose punishment is demanded
in order that the public welfare may
be conserved.
The recent detection and punish
ment of quite number of men OCcu-
plying positions of trust for defalcation
have had salutary influence. Its fire.
quency had begun to impair the conf
dence of business men. If the courts
had not brought these men to justice,
no one could tell where the evil would
have ended, for the reason that when
it can be assumed that it is not pun
iShable crime to steal the money of a
bank or of corporation, such crimes
will be of frequent occurrence. The
prompt justice which our courts have
melted out to men who have betrayed
important trusts has checked the com
mission of such crimes and it may be
safely pre- licted that there will be a
comparatively few such offences so
long as the courts send defaulters to
prison. This being the case, the pub
lie, and particularly men of the highest
should not be influenced to counter
act the good influence of the punish
ment of violators of the law by lend
ing their names to procure pardons.
Next to an Acquittal, an early pardon
will certainly lead class of men who
may be tempted to speculate with or
take money which does not belong to
them to conclude that such an act is
not regarded by the public as a crime
to be punished. The failure to punish
those who commit crimes results in a
great increase of violations OF the law.
The greatest amount of murders occur
| in States where murdererS are acquitt-
ed by the courts or pardoned by the
! Executive. Furtherm 0re, it is rarely
the case that those who are pardOned
abandon their former lives. 1t was
only a few days since a desperate man
| in New York who inflicted Il serious il
not fatal wound upon an officer
who arrested him for the commission
of a felony, turned out to be Il man
whose sentence to be hung had been
committed to imprisonment for life il
the first instance and that was succeed
ed by full pardon. This is but a sin
gle case, yet it proves that the pardon
did not affect the criminal for the bet
ter. The pardoning power is one
which should be rarely used and il
many cases cannot be without beins
followed by mischievous consequences
Boston Journal.