Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-03-16

on his Side WhaJcVeT. nc duAAA'o
wrong has been committed and says tn".
we should be afraid to sit as court "
appeal to right wrongs, because II We
right this wrong other wrongs IN tnc ~
ture may come up here to be righteu
What proposition that is to set before t.e
Senate Of Maine. say that the most u
lustrious example that we can set Is ~
say: Convince us that you have peeh
wronged, and if there y not way py
which the court can right your wrong
then come to us and We will right you,
wrong. do not care whether thousanu
innocent men come here for the rlgntlng
OF their wrongs in the future, or whether
we deplete the treasury, il we can do rlght
and remedy wrongs Here is man that
has suffered the humiliation, the indignitv,
the scorn of being held up as criminal
to the whole people of the State of Maine,
the majesty of the law has practically told
the world that this man is guilty man
and an outcast, and now it is proved be-
yond possible doubt that he is innocent
and he comes here and asks simply for the
money that he has paid for his fine, because
there il no other way by which he can
get it. He does not ask for his costs,
or the money he has paid for his counsel
fees, but simply for the money he has PAID
for this fine. 1t is not alone the money
that he wants. he wants certificate OF
innocence And / am surprised that
man of such intellect. and with such keen
sense of justice as the senator from
Androscoggin, should say to us: "Don't
YOU do it, in case some other innocent man
should come here for the same purpose in
the future The senator has said that he
knows two-thirds of this Senate will vote
in favor of this resolve. hope it will be
unanimous vote, and that this Senate
will show by such unanimous vote
that it is here to right wrongs for which
no remedy can be got elsewhere.
Mr.. Higgins of York: l did not intend
to speak in relation to this matter, but
the senator from Penobscot is SO entirely
mistaken in his view that will take 1t
npon myself to call the attention, of the
Senate to the facts in this matter. If the
senator has ever read or studied the policy
and the law of the State he will find that
it is the policy of the State that this is to
be government of laws, and not OF men.
and that it is to be a government of just
laws. When this State was organized we
wisely divided the separate departments
of the government, and now for the first
time it has been claimed that the Legis-
lature is sort of supreme court of ap-
peals. The Legislature has never been
so regarded, and to say it is so is not true,
and never has been true
This man has been found guilty by a
jury of IL intelligent men, and was SEN
fenced upon conviction. He had a right
to go to the supreme court and ask them
to endorse or reverse that judgment. He
did not do it. Acting undoubtedly on the
advice of his counsel, he paid that line.
And now he comes and asks that this may
be refunded to him because of the evil
dence of one witness in another case. 1t
is new mode Of procedure, gentlemen,
and it is fraught with all the evils that
my friend, the senator from Androscog-
gin, has shown you. 1t is an overturning
of all the fundamental principles of the
law. No precedent can be produced, and
l say we are getting upon very dangerous
ground if we pass this resolve.
The remedy is in the very court that i'm
posed the fine. For some reason or other,
the counsel in this case who sits beside my
friend from Penobscot, instructing him in
this matter, did not avail himself Of his
appeal at the time, but contend that the
court which imposed the fine has now the
power to remit it, and that is where Wake
field should go for his remedy l say that
this is dangerous class of legislation,
and that we should hesitate long before we
overturn the fundamental principles OF
the law which have been established since
the State was organized.
Mr. Engel replied by saying that this
man had expended all his money, and
could not afford to take an appeal, and
reiterated his opinion that the legislature
was precisely the place for him to come to
for justice.
Mr.. Hume of Washington said that to
his mind it mattered nothing whether or
not this was the first instance of a case of
this kind coming before Legislature,
and that the question before the Senate
was not q question to be decided by the
technicalities of the law, but by the
principles OF right and justice. He said
that this man was arrested on expert testi-
mony Of some doctors, which was after
wards proved to have been erroneous, and
had our laws regarding capital punish
ment been different it was quite possible
that this man might have gone to the gal
lows on that erroneous expert testimony.
continuing, nc Sdlu. ~ 10 iCNSi wv law
to do Justice.
No sentiment was ever voiced that is
grander than this: ''Iet justice be done
though the heavens fall.
This is not matter that affects the
State treasury. 1t is for the county OF
Kennebec to pay back this money which it
has received. To this man it is not only
a matter of money, it is a matter of his
good name 1t has been suggested that
he might carry the matter up in the courts,
but he has no means to do so, and even
if he had we might find him still in court
in 1900, aye, in 1850, with his case still
undecided
Mr.. Shaw of Aroostook said that he had
thought this matter over conscientiously,
and that while he recognized the force OF
the argument Of the senator from andre
scoggin he also recognized that wrong
had been done this man, and he could find
nothing better to do than to fall back on
the old adage, which said that where
right and wrong were equally balanced
we should lean toward mercy, and there
fore he should vote for the resolve to pass.
The resolve was then passed to be en-
crossed.
House document No. Sc, resolve in favor
of the Maine State prison, specially as