Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-10-27

Aldace F. Walker Of Rutland, (chairmau) !
Wilder l.. Burnap Of Burlington, W, d.
Crane of Newport, Henry c. Ide OF ST.
Johusbury, Charles p. Hogan of Sheldon.
II. Bingham of Essex Junction. The men,
bers of the House committee are Judge
L. II. Thompson of Irasburgh, (chairman) /,
Loveland Munson of Manchester Rodney &.
Abel of West Haven, Frank Plumley Of
Mortified, Guy c. Noble of St Adams,
Robert Roberts of Burlington, llenan A.
Carter of South Hardwick, +. b. Bales of
Bellows Falls John {. Burke of Albany.
| The hall was well filled, and large share
of the members of the Legislature were pres
cnt and listened attentively TO the proceed
ings. Nessrs. Heath and Carleton Of Mont
pelcr and Mr. Il. +. Palmer of Waterbury,
who were the counsel of Almon and his
mother at their trials, appeared in his behalf,
aud Mr.. Clarence II. Pitkin of Montpelier,
the States attorney Of Washington county,
was present to guard the interests OF the
government. Mr.. Carleton made brief
| statement Of the grounds on which the APP
| pication was based That Almon is weak
minded and irrcsolutc young man, easily in
| iluenced by his surroundings that he has
been devoted to his mother aud entirely
dominated by her superior will that there
was no doubt that he shared in the crime on
account Of the fatal influence which she cX-
ercised over him for bad. lie described the
mother as woman of strong passions ana
cruel nature, who was absolutely supreme in
her family all, father sou aud daughter
bowed submissively to her will The part
which Almon took in the murder being pas
sive rather than active, he believed that he
would be sufficiently punished by imprison-
ment for life and he hoped to convince the
committees that this was mcritorious case
for commutation.
| Mr.. Carleton read the following note from
Judge Rcdicld, who presided at the trials,
and who would have come before the COM
mttee, if an imperative engagement had not
| forbidden.
CouRr HOUSE, Thursday forenoon.
HIRAM CARLETON, ESQ.
Dear Sir-My attention has been called by
You to the matter of Almon Mcakcr, now
under sentence of death for the crime of
murder, with reference to commulation OF
his sentence by the Legislature. After he
was arralgned and put on trial jointly with
his mother, he pleaded guilty, and the trial
thereafter proceeded against the mother
alone. The evidence was mostly circum-
santial and indicated Il crime of marked
atrocity. had no knowledge of the parties
outside of the trial but the circumstances
and developments of the trial thoroughly i'm
pressed my mind that the mother dominated
the will and largely controlled the actions of
Almon and that he. in great measure at
least, was victim and instrument in the
hands of another. AS to the mental quality
of Almon have no knowledge, and ] do not
deem it proper to speak Of the propriety, Or
improperly, of the Legislature committing
his sentence
Yours sincerely,
TIMOTHY =. REDfiELD.
| Statements were made by Mr.. W. ii. ii.
| Bingham OF Stove, who has known Almon
| for several years, seen him frequently since
| he was in the State Prison. and to whom AL
mon recently made the confession which was
published IN this paper by Sheriff Frank
| Atbcrton, who arrested AlnIon and his moth
cr, to whom Almon made his first confession
and whD went with Almon 10 the swamp
and got the body of little Alice by Mr.. Eli
| W. lluntly, the representative from DuX-
bury, and the Hon Charles II. Heath All
Of these gentlemen agreed that Almou was
an easily influenced and inoiIensive boy who
" ould not have committed murder ifhc had
not been dominated by another, The mem
| bcrs of the committees asked Il great many
questions, tending to elicit the Truth as 10
Almun's mental and moral temperament,
and "A free discussion took place between the
above named gentlemen and the members Of
the committees. Mr.. d. w. Dudley, the
keeper of the Montpelier jail, where Almon
was confined between the murder and the
tiiul, and other gentlemen who are acquain-
ted with Almon, not being present, the fur
thcr hearing was adjourned until next Friday
evening.
Another Highway Bill.
Mr., MaAham Of Bethel, has been seized
with the desire to tinker the highway law
and has introduced bill which is certainly
long enough, if has no other virtue. 1t pro-
vldus that all the roads of town shall be un.
der the control OF the supervisor each town
to fix the amount of the highway tax aud TIC
| supervisor shall fix the price of labor. In
case of sudden deficiency in the highways
or bridges, the supervisor may call upon any
taxpayer TO help him repair the same, and
the amount of such work may be credited on
next years tax, and in case the supervisor
for thirty-six hours shall neglect to repair
the same (or any place out of repair after no
tee given in the way provided, the town
shall be liable in not exceeding $500 and The
amount OF the damage to be determined by
"A board Of three supervisors Of other towns
10 be seleclcd-onc by the party claiming
damage, one by the supervisor of the town
and the third shall be selected by the two.
Twenty dollars shall be deposited with the su
pcrvisor as security for costs of prosecution
No appeal is to be allowed from the doci
sion OF the board.
The Cigarette Question.
The bill introduced by Mr.. Fish Of Ira
the other day, making it u penalty to sell OIL
furnish cigars or cigarettes to persons undel
fifteen years Of age was reported from
the Judiciary Committee, by Mr.. Robert:
without expression of opinion. Mr.. Fish
who introduced the bill, beng absent, til,
bill was. on motion of Mr.. Carter of Hard
wick, ordered to lie and be made the spccia
order for Tuesday aeXt at haIf-past i've
p. M,
New Tax Bills.
Senator Page of Cambridge and Senate
Wall of Dorset have introduced new la,
bills. Mr.. Page has constructed new kind
of oaths for taxpayers and listers, and Mr.
Wall, among other things, extends the tim
} within which inventories shall be lodged il
the town clerks Office in towns of more THAI
Il thousand population to May 18th, and pro
vldcs that inventories shall be open to iuspGc
ton until the grand list is completed, an,
shall then he filed away, not TO be ope
except for reference or testimony in court
Y glastonbury and Sunderland.
In the House, this afternoon, Mr.. Matte
son Of Sunderland introduced bill Ill l6s
which provides for the annexation of tina
portion of Glastonbury lying north of lin
G connecting the centre of the eastern line wit
the centre of the western line, and provide
that an equitable portion of Glastonbury
5 town debt be assumed by SALISBURY. Tn
n bill was accompanied by the petition Of ODE
/. Eddy and 10 other voters in Glastonbury an
the petition of Geo. r. Montgomery and 0
| other voters in Salisbury and ihcY Mnrr n