Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1895-08-15

was prosecutor ut the time he was bound
10 grant Il pardon or commute the SEN
fence; that he would be prciudiccd if he
did not. and that he owed it. to himself to
ut least commute the sentence.
Il know all about the case, said Gov
crnor Hill. Il know that this man was
guilty and that he ought to be punished.
l do not approve Of hanging as a mode of
punishment, not that / am opposed to the
death penalty, but think that some other
method than hanging should he found.
Howcver it would not do to allow this
man to 90 Mt largo or even TO have the OPP
portunity for escape which life imprlson-
mcnt might give him. There is no use
asking me for clcmency."
While they We're talking a messenger
came in with the information that the
man had escaped. You don't want any
pardon now" said Governor Hill dcylr,
and the interview closed. But The man
was caught and returned to the Jail. and
the effort for clcmcncy was renewed 10 40
purpose
The case, however, made n profound i'm
preston on Governor Hill. In his first
message he recommended that some meth
I'd other than hanging he found Tor pun
ishmrnt Of murdcrcrS by iniliCtlOn of the
death penalty That was the hrgiHuing III
the New York "lcctroCuting met hod Of Li!l
ing murdcrcls But there wa great oppuoi
tlon in the legislature, not so much to Il
change of method as to an effort 70 entirely
abolish the death penalty. General y. NJ
Curtis, now "A member of the national house
of representatives, was n member Of the ass
sembly and made IA very hard fight to have
capital punishment abolished. The bill
/ 10 h..
and it was only by the skillful work of
Governor Hill that it was defeated in the
senate. The governor would have vetoed
/ .hc bill, but he did not want to be COM
PEELED to do So AS he has often remarked,
There are better ways OF defeating lcgiS-
lation than by vctoes, and moro popular. "
Then followed the contest for a change
If method of inlicting tho death penalty
and after persistent effort the electric
method was adopted. 1t WAS never believed
that such Il bill could pass, and when it
was found that it had passed both houses
the electric companies began To make a
fight against it. Governor Iiill was flooded
+ with kilograms and requests to veto it, but
he answered them all by announcing his
approval of the bill as soon as it reached
him.
senator Hill, whilo he was governor, be
came mixed up in tho Krmmler execution,
the first one under the new law. That con-
test is still very we'll remembered, having
been carried TO the supreme court of the
United States and fought from the very
first. The electric companies made the
fight, not that they had any interest in
the poor wretch krmmlor but they did
not want it established by "a Judicial exc
cution that their electric currents We're
deadly. But ii was of no avail Governor
Hin was besiegcd by friends employed by
the companies To have the man pardoncd
or his sentence committed.
His warmest friends We're engaged as
attorneys to present the case to him, hut
he was not to be moved Ii was declared
20 him that the electric currents would
not kill. The governor would not believe
it, He finally sent a trusted friend to talk
to Thomas A. Edison and learn his honest
opinion as to the effect Of the electric cur
rent. The great inventor said that he did
not want electricity used for execution
purposes, but he would answer honestly.
of course it would kill if the current was
strong enough, and there was not the least
difficulty in making the current strong
enough.
After all the courts and every other pos
sible avenue for escaping the test had bccr
tried there arose another difficulty. The
warden of the Jail could not purchase dy
namos to generate tho electricity. None OF
the electric companies would sell them
Every dynamo WAS held by the companies
Like many other electric appliances, the
title always remained in the possession Z
the companies, and the users paid rcnta
or royalty, They would not lease or sell !
dynamo for an electric execution. But her
again Governor Hin was shrewd enough
TO see that the law which ho had WORKED
so hard to have enacted should not he de
featcd in any such manner. Several cleo
trio dynamos were purchased for SOM
South American firm and shipped dowI
TO South America and bought by the stat
of New York and shipped back. They wer
more expensive that way, but the stat
had 10 have thcln, and Governor Hill wa