St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-04-29
The Carr Murder Case.
AN EARNEST PLEA FOR HIS LIFE.
fBoston Herald.l

either by nature, advantages, or in any
other way, but that is no reason why
he should not have fair treatment. We
do not sympathize with all the petty
bubbles INDUCED in for the sake of
saving worthless lives, but there seem
to be some good grounds for delay in
this case. The following letter, ad-
dressed to the Governor of Vermont by
Marshall j. Hapgood, member of the
lower branch of the Vermont Legisla-
ture from the town of Peru, will be
found of interest, and demands careful
attention. Mr.. Hapgood had no ac-
quaintance with the case until last win
ter, when he became interested in
Carr's unfortunate condition, and he
wants nothing now except to be as
sured that justice is done the con-
demned man.
| THE LETTER.
To Hon. Roswell Farnham, Governor
of VeImOnt.-Dear Sir: AS a native
born citizen of Vermont, interested
alike with yourself in the just and equal
execution of her laws, l desire to call
your attention to the following facts
relative to the case of Royal 5. Carr,
sentenced to be executed for murder
upon the Doth of this month.
| First-Being without Il friend or a
dollar, devoid of understanding and of
the sense of the Nervousness of his
crime or of his responsibility, he should
enjoy at least an equal degree of le-
niency with the criminal of wealth,
position and intelligence.
SecOnd-That person born and
] reared within the bounds of our state
should reach the age of 40 unable to
read or write, to distinguish the months
of the year or the different denomina-
tons of money, is owing either to the
criminal negligence of the state or to
the utter incapacity of the individual
either of which conditions should debar
the state from the execution of the
death penalty.
Third-That Royal S. Carr was SO
far below the average capacity as to
be irresponsible, and could be turned
by the slightest influence, was the tes-
| timOny of all who were closely con-
nccted with him.
FOurth-That he was influenced to
the act by his brother, Chester Carr
| (nOw fugitive), to serve his own lust
! full purposes, was the testimony and
verdict of ala fact which was not,
however, brought into prominence
until after he had been convicted and
Chester Carr had fed.
Fifth-The legislative committee to
which was referred the bill for the COM
mutation of his sentence brought in an
adverse report only after standing for
Il long time evenly divided.
| SiXth-HiS sentence is contrary to the
direct letter of the law. A day means
Il day-24 full hours-nOt part there
of a week means Il week-seven full
days-nOt Il part thereof. A session of
| the Legislature means IL session of the
! Legislature-the full number of days
that it sits-not n part thereof. And
no judicial construction" legal bubble
or supreme court technicality should be
allowed to deprive Il man, however de-
PRAYED, of two years of his life. Ban
dy not phrases, WELD not dialectics
against Il man who stands upon the
blink of Il felOn's grave. Put the con-
struction where every plain, matter-of
fact man, who can even read and write,
much more he who is unable to do so,
would put it-that the beginning means
the beginning and the end means the
end. Should you feel delicate about
declaring irregular the act of judge
of the supreme court, you have full
power to grant Il rePrieve without tell
! ing him or me or any one else the r0a-
sons therefor.
Sever th-UpOn the bill for his com
mutation being refused third reading
in the House, | changed my vote from
yea" to may" for the purpose of NOV
! ing IL reconsideration. Before the "a
hours had expired, l prepared an
amendment, which have reason to be-
lieve might have received the favorable
consideration of the House I; and, when
about to move the reconsideration,
learned from a member of the Senate
that special efforts to pass the bill
| (Which had also bee n introduced there)
had been withheld in that body upon
the ground that the sentence was illegal
and could not be executed. | imme-
diately had an interview with you,
called your attention to the statute,
and asked for the construction which
| you should place upon it. You, after
careful consideration, declared your
unqualified belief that reprieve must
necessarily be granted. | told you fully
how the matter stood, how little time
was left-only an hour or two-and
that, if there was any doubt in the mat
ter, desired to know it, in order that
| might make use of the last Opportuni-
ty to save his life. You declared that
you entertained no doubt whatever,
and | therenpOn to you declared that
should, therefore, suspend all further
efforts. How it was interpreted by me
may also be inferred from the fact that
/ | fol hn
| for the defence and brother members of
the Assembly that reprieve was be-
yOnd all question of doubt, and all
further efforts were, therefore and there
upon, suspended by all parties.
Up to the time of the late hearing
(Which | looked upon as necessary sim
ply pro fOrmG,) | had thought the mat
ter, to all intents, settled. Had /
thought otherwise, | should have APP
! peared before your eXcellency, and have
held communication with the counsel,
who at the beginning of the trial, had
been assigned the prisoner by the state.
! Myself SO insignificant, yourself SO fully
occupied in your time, these important
facts have slipped from your memory.
OF this much | feel assured, should your
eXcellency feel convinced that a melton
for reconsideration was deferred by me
las the one to whom was instructed the
conduct of the bill in the House) on
reasonable grounds, upon the strength
of the interview held with you, yon
will not fail to do your part to render
complete justice.
Respectfully yours,
MARSHALL J. HAPGOOD.
Boston, April %, 1881.
The ecclesiastical council, called to