St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-28
OR WILL THE GOVERNOR COM
MUTE HIS SENTENCE TO LIFE
IMPRISONMENT.
A MOVE FOR cLEMENCY,
BASED ON THE CLAIM THAT THE
DOOMED MAN HAS NO NOR
AL SENSE.
Specialists in Nervous Diseases
Claim He Is Already of I'm
sound Mind.

Will Gov. Clough commute Hay
wards sentence to life Imprisonment?
A week ago such a contingency
was hardly thought of. 1t has been
understood in official circles that Gov.
Clough would set a day for the exc
cution as soon as the time for filing
a petition for a reargument had ex-
pired.
The governor is now the last re-
sort. w. W. Erwin announced yes
! terday that he would not file a petit
| ton for a reargument, as the su-
preme courts decision was so eX-
| haustive as to leave no grounds on
which one could be asked. Saturday
the ten days will expire, and on Mon
day Gov. Clough will be officially
notified. The last efforts of Hay
wards friends are now directed to-
ward the chief magistrate. John Day
Smith is now busy circulating a peti-
| ton for communication of the sentence
| to life imprisonment. The petition
| has not received a great number Of
signers, and is being worked chiefly
among the prominent citizens of Min
neapolis.
Independent of this another petit
tion is being quietly prepared, to
which a great deal of interest at
| taches.
1t was referred to in the G O b
yesterday as coming from promi-
nent physicians Of the city.
DR.. w. A. Jones, the well-known
| specialist in mental and nervous dis
orders, is one of the promoters. He
was seen yesterday by G b man
and talked quite interestingly of the
| grounds on Which the petition is
based. 1t is having only a limited
circulation among prominent physi-
clans and the specialists in mental
and nervous disorders.
There is no sentiment in this petit
tion," DR.. Jones said. "It is the al
most unanimous opinion of those Of
us who have studied Hayward's an
cestry and his career that he is de-
fective in moral sense, and that the
defect is a congenial one. 1 have
known the family for some time, and
1 was called in several years ago to
treat one of them for mental dis
| order"
The instance to which DR.. Jones re-
ferred was made public at the time
of the trial. He was employed to
treat Dr. Thaddeus Hayward for
mental trouble.
IS INSANE, CLINICALLY SPEAK
| ING.
Hayward is not insane in the eyes
| of the law" said DR.. Jones, ''but,
| clinically speaking, he is insane and
not entirely responsible for his acts.
There is something wanting in his
mental nature. People have spoken
of his sublime nerve, but it is not
nerve, it is a blunted sensibility
that makes him so insensible to his
condition.
'It is unfortunate that in this state
there are no hospitals for insane
criminals. A number of states have
them, but in Minnesota all that can
be done Is to send him to Saltwater.
The great bug bear with most peo-
pie about a Communication of the SEN
tence is the fear that Hayward
might be pardoned by some future
governor, but 1 think there is no
danger of that. We have no SYM
pathy with Hayward, but In our be-
lief he is not wholly responsible for
the murder and should not be hung.
We would be opposed to anything
which would permit him to be al
lowed at large"
DR.. Frank Burton, the county phy-
sician, is one of the physicians who
has signed the paper. DR.. Burton
has drawn most of his conclusions
from his recent associations with
Hayward, who has taken quite a
fancy to him, and calls him to the
door of his cell almost every time
he makes the Jail professional
visit
Hayward has told him, as he has
others, that he does not want a COM
mutation of his sentence. Just the
other day he said: II would rather
hang than go to Saltwater for five
years. I would die before the five
years were up"
I'm my opinion" said DIR. Burton
yesterday, Hayward is deficient
mentally. There is a congenital de-
feet in his mind. I believe that if he
is sent to the states prison he would
be demented inside of two years.
Such result would have come under
other circumstances, but confinement
would hasten the result. Of course
the law does not recognize mental
defects, such as paresis, which is
very likely Hayward's peculiar trou-
BILE. Of late years the courts have
recognized epilepsy as an extenuat-
ing circumstance in crime, but there
are other mental and nervous trou-
bles which are not regarded as an
excuse. Now general paresis as
usually manifested in the first in
stance by an eXaltation of feeling. A
man conceives something great and
eXtravagent, and with Hayward's
natural bent, would be very likely to
plan a murder such as the Cling