St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-04-30

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he did not fully understand the war
denis language. Then Mr.. Durston
said: SIT means that your execution is
not coming off now, and thaty you will
have two months, aud perhaps longer,
to live" "Oh," said Kemmler, just as
if the real facts were beginning to dawn
upon him, "that makes me feel much
easier." The warden stood there for a
moment; Kemmler walked to his chair
and sat down. His face was expression
less, and he said nothing to indicate
great astonishment or delight. Mr..
Durston turned, locked the corridor
door and came away. The future of the
case will be one of long prOtracted
litigation. Mr.. Sherman will not say
who retained him. He said at the sta
ton, while boarding his train for SYRIA
cuse, that he was Kemmler's counsel,
and that was all, except that the writ
obtained was operative. He said this
grimly, and there was something In his
look that made a listener feel that Mr..
Sherman was in for determined fight.
and that he knew it. The court of ap-
peais of this state passed upon the law
and decided favorably upon it merely
York. Now the entire question is
Thrown Into the courts
of the United States, and the question of
the federal constitution is involved. The
act of congress of 1878, under which the
application is brought, has already been
construed by the United States supreme
court. 1t was intended to cover the
Southern outrage cases when violations
of the election laws were common. The
supreme court in passing upon a case
wherein it claimed that the eighth pro-
vision Of the constitution applied to
state laws imposing certain punish
ments, decided that the provision ap-
piled to national, and not to state legal
violations. A number of leading at
torneys here were quick to declare
to-day that the application will not be
successful, as it IS clearly within the
limits of the decision referred to. The
lawyers say it was an affair by which it
was hoped to gain time, and it is eX-
pected that the writ will be allowed.
Nevertheless. there is long road to
travel before the end will be reached.
When Kemmler is produced at Canaan
daigua June 16 the first argument will
be had. That may last for several days,
and it may be weeks before the decision
OF the court Will be handed
down. If it is against Mr.. Sher-
man, he may take the case on
appeal to the United States supreme
court at Washing ton. There are many
cases before that bench, and it may
take months OF years to get the queS-
ton fully before that court. "When
the final decision is delivered Kemmler
may be gray-headed," exclaimed a dis
gusted juror who expected to see the
electrical experiment tried tomorrow
on Kemmler. II suppose" said he,
that this movement to-day Will result
in delaying all the expected
Electrical Executions
in this state. There are three men In
Sing Sing prison under sentence now.
and [ suppose that writs may be taken
out on their cases also. These eXecu-
tions will be stayed, and as the statutes
do not provide for hanging or any other
death method, one serious outcome of
this matter will be that until the Kemm-
ler case is decided there will be no capi-
tai punishment inflicted in New York
state. Then, should the United
States supreme court decide that
the law is unconstitutional, we
will have in our prisons
a number of murdererS sentenced to
death who cannot be put to death. The
law providing for the rope as means or
execution, IL may be claimed, is not on
the statute books. A lawyer may argue
that it has been supplanted by the Gerry
electrical law. Now If the Gerry law
be declared unconstitutional the state
will have no law, and shrewd lawyer
could say that new law providing for
hanging or some other method than
electricity could not affect those who
had been sentenced prior to its passage.
This would be on the eX post facto prin-
ciple, and it is really nice question
that confronts us. The physicians and
others who had come to Auburn in an
official capacity were Immensely diSap-
pointed at the rescue of Kemmler. They
had counted on witnessing the first ex-
pertinent in the plan of a great state to
substitute what scientists claim to be
the most civilized way Of remov-
ing from society the convicted takers
of human life. These physicians and
lawyers are disgusted to say nothing
of the newspaper men, who had an
ticipated intensely the result of the eX-
pertinent and their disgust when it was
so indefinitely postponed was manifest
aud great. DR.. A. P. Southwfck, of the
commission that framed the law, was
much put out. He is popularly known
as the father of the new method and he
does not know what to think of the way
things stand. Warden Durston, how
ever, is pretty we'll satisfied.