The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-11-03
PARDONS DISCUSSED.
An Interesting Meeting Of the
Prison Directors.
Governor Markham Sets Forth His Views on
!: an Important euestion-Causes for the
=. Great Number of Convicts.

~ III. AilO OONGihOl an lCidllpA w WV
ing OF rardons. There were present:
Directors Sontag, Stump, De Pue ana Dew
lin. Wardens Aul and Hale and the Gov
ernor. 49,.
:. The first business transacted was the con-
sideration of bids for material and labor to
complete the Preston School of Industry at.
Iene, and the following proposals were re-
ceiyed: A. Jackson. S57e0; John T. Grant,
S5l3j; Smile Bros S49S7; Gardner & Boy
den: $500; J. II. Mackaye, 5000. That of
Smile Bros, being the lowest was ac-
-cepted, and on motion of Director Devlin
lhe President of the board was authorized
TO sign the contract and order the work pro-
ceeded with upon the filing of a bond cover
ing half the amount of the bid
Bills to the amount of -s77G2 so were APP
pro we'd and ordered paid. 80
The routine business: having been dis
posed of, the Governor was introduced TO
TIE board. and said:
TIE GOVERNOR SPEAKS.
e. Gentlemen: As you are aware, / have
requested your presence at this meeting for
the purpose of laying before you number
of petitions presented to me for pardons.
The law provides substantially that
-yonr board shall from time TO time report to
the Governor the names of all persons who
In your Judgment ought to be pardOned.
.1EfS:is good law and one which should
not be diSresarded; but for some cause it
has been. and the entire responsibility as
sHmed, by the Executive, and that, too,
without reference to the. opinion Of this
board While the Executive may be able
to discharge this perpleXing duty without
yOur assistance, it mist be great relief TO
any Governor 10 be assisted by this board
as contemplated in this law. am confident
that better results Will he obtained. To
say nothing of the crimes, every convict
has cost the people some money, and in
+Uany instances large sums OF money,
in. procuring his conviction. therefore
every citizen has on that account more or
less interest in every convict in our prisons
ana has a perfect right to know why he
IS .pardohed and upon what ground the
pardon IS granted. Every case should be
considered by you on its merits, without re-
gard IL the wishes of any one solici ting the
same, land the more public your acts are
made In regard to these cases the more salts
fed the people will be with your final con-
elusiCrs..:
:: A NEW PLAN.
= "T have devoted a large amount of atter-
lion. TO the eases on tile:in my office. My
plan is somewhat different from that here
tufore pursued by This board. Instead of
compelling you to listen. to every petition
aid examine hundreds of documents and
IaperS,. shall strive to relieve you from
that burden. and only lay before you such
Eases dS III my luuEtltlll W SLlUulNl lbi any
reason examine. This course will not pre-
XentyOur calling my attention TO any case
(which you may desire to examine. In TACT,
hope You will call my attention. to any
deserving cases within your knowledge.
-. " j shall now lay before you several cases,
which L hope you viii consider independ-
emily of what may say of them. l Will, if
desired, call your attention To any particu
lar feature of the cases which impresSes me
fayOrably or otherwise, but my wish is TO
obtain from you your opinion Independently
" expressed. / have had brief statements
made OF the facts in each case, but the pa
:peTs are all here upon which these state
meDts are based, and YOn are atlibefty. to
examine any or ali of them should you SO
desire.
a.. GROUNDS URGED.
There are many grounds upon which
paTd0ns are urged, such as:
.FiLst Wrongful conviction under the law aud
.eTldtlce in lue case.
-. See d-Excesslve sentence for the crime CON-
:. Third. Sufficiently punished for the crime
Youth ood behavior while. in prison.
. Tiitb-Newly discovered facts, newly dis
COY cred circumstances sincethe trial.
=. eiXth1-TO be patdoBed on the ground that
they WIN leave the. State or county never to re-
.Seyedih-lnto1lcation at The time the crime
; was committed.
Ihaye thus far refused to consider any
. case Wherein the Only reason advanced was
that.the Judge or jury erred in their find
ipgs upon the trial. I.cannot take the re-
sponsibiljty- Of setting their action aside.
The defendant, II the eyes of the law,
always goes into court as an innocent man,
and Is given the benefit Of all reasonable
doubts and must be proved guilty before
: conviction; but after the verdict Of the ivy
that presumption changes, and it is fair to
presume that he is guilty as found. We are
furnished with but one side of the case
while the Judge and jury had the benefit Of
both sides and the circumstances surround
Ing tie case at the time. ! consider all the
other grounds as worthy of your attention.
;. THE TWO wARDENs.
;. 81 have asked tie Wardens to meet with
Us, so that we might avail ourselves of such
. Information as their experience might sug-
Eest Captain Aul! is old in the service,
and. MI. Hale has had much experience
with criminals.
=: NOW, gentlemen, 1 am convinced that
should you find that any Of these cases are
worthy and entitled to Executive clemency,
tie citizens of the State will be satisfied
with your decision. On the other hand,
should You deny any Of the petitions, it
should convince them aud their friends
Lad, and they must be content with your
decision. In this, also, l am satisfied that
the people will sustain you"
D: Chairman SOnntag on behalf of the board,
tAaAkeu Inc OOEtlHOT LOT MS suggestions
and stated that the only reason for the fact
that the board had made no suggeS tlons for
paTdOns was that they had not been con-
suited by former Governors.
-: APPLICATIONS DENIED.
=. Through his private secretary the Gov
.erner then announced that he had refused
to consider the following applications for
reasons given: John PallaS and Peter
Stanley Of San Francisco; Thomas Peter
srn, Los Angeles; W. B. Todd and Frank
Ofivera, Alameda: William Blodgett, San
Bernardino; Wilburn Son, Mendocino;
Modes to Avilla, Orange; ". F; Harmon.
Al Dunn Tulare; Thomas a. colns San
francisco.
For the consideration of the board he had
: presented the cases of John Dunn, Siskiyou;
y. J. Bodice, Modoc; Barnard Conway,
MarlpOsa; James T. Bustard, San Benito
W: +. Roselle, Los Angeles; V. Garcia,
Ventura; Timothy Shea, MERGED; Ausust
Castro, San Diego; Jacob Pfunder, Ala
media; ID. GenerdinL San Luis Obispo;
Frank Wilson and w. Z. Miller, San Fran
cisco; Mrs. Julia Ryan, San Joaquin; Geow
Silver, Alameda; Felipe Moreno, Contra
Costa; w. E. Helwig, San Fran cisco.
-. GENERAL DISCUSSION.
=; a general discussion followed upon the
benefits of the pardon system, which was
Joined in by the two Wardens, who gave it
as their opinion that the hope of commute
ti0n or pardon gave every prisoner hope and
inspired him toconduct himself in an orderly
manner.
j.. Governor Markham stated that for sew
:. eral months he had been investigating the
j. subject and was of the opinion that the
-punishments in California were excessive.
. =" In all new communities" he said,
:" horse-stealing is punished by hanging. 1t
is merely the tendency to punish excess
lively. California being new vet, am in
.clined to think they have adopted an I'M
usually severe code. and the long terms are
responsible for the showing made As an
Instance l am told there is at Folsom
prisoner sent up for stealing purse COM
: tanning So. He was given fifteen years. In
any OF the Eastern States he would have
been sent to the County Jail for six months.
. And so 1t runs. and that is why / am max
ing deep
The board then tuok the applications
under advfsement.
"Nerves and Muscles" -
The regular meeting of the Academy Of
Sciences was held in the lecture-room at
S19 Market street last night the President,
DR.. Hardness, occupying the chair. After
a nncfta of fha