The herald., 1896-09-13
judge will be considered as disposing Of
the case.
by direction of the attorney-general.
VERY respectfully,

judge will be considered as disposing Of
the case.
by direction of the attorney-general.
VERY respectfully,
WILLIAM ENDICOTT, JR.,
Attorney in charge of pardons."
And to prove to me that this remarka-
hla proceeding was hv-tha-a,,thoritv of
closed with his letter copy of the print
ed rules, under which he was acting,
which bore at the bottom in large cap
itals the name and only the name of
JUDSON HARMON, ...
Attorney-General.
Among these rules We're the follow
ing:
'sAs soon as received at this Office
the applications Qor pardon) with the
accompanying papers. are forwarded to
the United States district attorney for
the district where the trial took place,
with the request that he make a report
thereon and obtain, If possible. the
opinion Of the judge before whom the
| convict was tried.
Except in capital casts, where this
report made by both the district attor-
| ney and the trial judge is adverse to
| the granting of pardon, the papers are
| not sent to the president for his consid-
Grafton, but in all such cases where the
| district attorney and judge do not agree
| as to the expediency of executive Gle
mency, the papers are forwarded to the
president for his action"
The above Is what Attorney General
| Judson Harmon says. But here is what
| Sec. g Art. II, of the constitution of the
| United States, among other things,
| says:
| power to grant reprieves and pardons
| for offenses against he United States,
| except in cases of impeachment"
| Now can anybody reconcile Attorney
General Harmon's rules with the above
section of the costitution, which, with
| uplifter hand, he solemnly swore before
! his God, to support?
The attribute of mercy is regarded as
the very highest attribute of Deity him
self. The. Scripture tells us that HIS
merces are above all his work. Ana
| whenever human law has undertaken
| to clothe a human official with TINS most
! sacred attribute, it has always made
| choice of one who stood at the very
| head Of the government. Hence, IN
monarcfical or imperial governments, II
| is the king or the emperor who exercises
| the pardoninE power Hence, TOO, 1or
| the pardoning Of offenders against any
of orr state governments. the governor,
| being the chief or highest officer or the
! state is uniformly clothed by our state
constitutions with this power. And for
| the same reason, no doubt, the trainers
of eour federal constitution saw MT 10
| vest that most extraordinary power III
| the president of the United States; and,
after all. is it not pre-eminently fitting
that one who stands convicted of an
uffense against the majesty of the whole
American people should appeal for par
don-if at ALTO an officer represent
ing that majesty in its most exalted ca
| pacity?
| III view of the fact that this is presi-
| Dental function, conferred upon him by
the constitution of the United States, it
is clear that not even the president him.
self could shift the responsibility or
either granting or refusing pardon on
to any other shoulders And even II ne
could he surely ought not to impose It
on the Judge, whose pride OF opinion
would naturally tempt him to say tnat
| his sentence was none too severe; nor
on the prosecuting attorney, whose
sympathies in the course OF a vigorous
prosecution must naturally have pc
come more or less biased against the
person convicted; in other words, ne
surely ought not to leave II 10 tnose
officers whose action was to be reviewer
by the president to say Whetner OF Iiot'
in their official action, they hao sum
ciently tempered justice with mercy. IL
! would surely not be wrong 1or presl-
cent before determining whether OF not
a petitioner was fit subject for pardon,
to get all the light possible both from the
prosecuting attorney and the judge; put
Certainly he ought not, and could not,
without a. violation of his official oath,
Leave II to them nor to anybody else TO
saw whether, or not he should consider.
/ or even see. the petition asking for par
don. Perhaps 1t maybe sara tnat At