The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-06
DON'T THINK He SAID 1T.

able Statement ABOUT Southern Con
victs.
The Washington Post interview with
Hon. Chauncey II. Depew, on his arrival in
Washington from the south autographed by
the Associated Press TO the MORNING NEWS
with the aspersions the interview contained
against the judiciary of the south, was read
with surprise and indignation yesterday by
those who know how untrue the charge is
Mr.. Depew was quoted as saying: zone
thing which more than any other has de-
bauched public sentiment in the south is
the convict labor system which holds in
cartain states. Unless Remnants stories of
the Siberian horrors are absolutely true.
there can be no scenes in 3 civilized coun-
try so terrible as Sin the southern convict
camps. These poor wretches are
leased TO men who have no interest
in their welfare or reformation. No
one sees whether they are properly fed.
clothed. housed, treated or cared for. Some
times the contracts call for q certain NUM-
her Of convictS and the state furnishes
them. Howe II they can't fill the quota
otherwise, most trivial offenses are made
excuse for long terms of Imprisonment. /
have no doubt that many innocent men are
serving sentences in southern convict camps
that the quota might be filed"
s!Judge Falligant of the superior court.
whose attention wasicalled to the Interview.
said that he could not believe that Mr. Depew,
who is himself a lawyer, expressed snch
opinions as are attributed to him. Judge
Falligant said, however. that he did not
feel called upon to defend the judiciary of
Georgia from such aspersions. When a
defense becomes necessary he will leave that
for the governor of the state.
Ex-Judge Adams said that the statement
by Mr.. Depew is wholly false, aud there Is
no possible foundation for it. If collision
with the lessees for convicts could be i'm
agined it would be impossible, he said, to
bring it about, as it must ramify. the ma
chinery of the courts from the time an
offender is indicted. The sentences are no
more severe in this state, Judge Adams
said, than the general average of other
states
Hon. +. g. duBignon says that the inter-
view contains SANDER upon the machinery
of the southern courts which is not justifis4
by the court records and history On the
contrary, the state has no contract to furnish
any given number of convicts to the
lessees. While the convict sys-
TEN is not popular, Mr.. duBignon
says that lis abolition would necessitate q
great expense, and would diminish the
school fund by any plan to build a peniten-
tiary large enough to accommodate the
criminal classes. Such plan, Mr.. duBignon
says, would be opposed by the large and
respectable body of colored citizens, who
would suffer in common with the white
people by the loss tie school fund would
sustain through any such policy.
Referring to the condition Of the camps,
Mr.. duBignon said that Unexpectedly TO
the lesseeS he visited Smiths convict camp
to find it clean, the men properly clothed
and fed, and the convicts healthy and
hearty He made a tour of the camps, con-
versing with the convicts out of hearing of
the guards, and the only complaint they
made was that they had to work hard.
Among those he talked with were some he
had prosecuted in the Chatham superior
court.
MIR. duBignon said that it was his ex-
perience at the bar in the up country and
in this circuit that those indicted for
otfenses against the statutes have thrown
around them all the paraphernalla of pro-
lection under the constitution, whether they
be white or black, and if they are unable to
fee lawyer counsel is assigned by the
courts, who defends them without cost to the
state, and no technicality that will avail
the accused is lost sight of by their counsel,
and he cited the case of one lawyer, w. S.
Chisholm. Jr., appointed by Judge Falli-
CANT TO defend colored prisoner, who car
ried the case TO the supreme court at his
own expense, and went there and remained
to argue the case for his client Colored
convicts have had their cases carried up to
the supreme court for review by unpaid
counsel and the cases remanded and the
convicts brought back at the public expense
TO be given a new trial
Speaking for himself, Mr.. duBignon said
that knowing how difficult it is to convict
when he was solicitor general he would not
present case to the grand jury until he
had first examined the witnesses for the
state thoroughly and had satisfied himself
of the guilt of the accused, and not then
was he always successful in the prosecution.
Solicitor General Fraser says that the
charge in the Depew interview is SANDER
upon the southern courts and he does not
believe Mr.. Depew said what is attributed
to him in tie dispatch, and he looks for
Mr.. Depew to disclaim it.
Sheriff Roman, who has held the Office Of
county sheriff for eighteen years, says that
the charge of the courts attempting TO fill a
quota of convicts for the Iessees is untrue.
The trouble has been that they do not come
for the convicts as promptly as they should,
and the convicts have been kept as long as
month after conviction at the count US
expense before they were sent for. Sheriff
Romans experience with criminals and his
attendance upon the superior court, coa-
vince him that while many guilty escape
conviction, instances are rare where the
innocent suffer-
Those who are familiar with courts of
this county know that hardly G. term of
court passes that juries of white men stay
out ali night in the jury room,
whore those who have a doubt of
the guilt of colored defendants
hang the jury aud mistrials and acquittals
by far outnumber the convictions. The
practice and machinery of the courts of
Georgia are reflex of those
of other southern states, and the
members of the Savannah bar say that no
state of the north can boast of pure:'
judiciary than the Georgia judiciary