The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-11-19
@essenger.
81 K FOUR

The Russell radical pardon-mill it is
z5d. has not ground faster and oftener
nam the usual grinding under demo-
cratic governors. If true 1t only shows
what many and great sins those mex
~3Hzabae governors have to answer Tor.
Rnsselrs industry in setting free scoun-
Areas and murderers has been great but
lie has not been able to beat the record
try ever so hard he may. He has par
SEo0ed forty-four rascals. That means
fnsat he has over-ridden the findings Of
stuux1s and has set at naught the plain
uies OF Justice. With this record 1t is
mt a matter for surprise that the peo-
ME are uneasy, dissatisfied, and resent
mi To try a william for the great crime
al rape it was thought necessary to call
cunt two military companies to guard
Ehe scoundrel from popular outrage.
Ko such condition could exist in North
Carolina il the courts a been faith
xnl and the governor had not outraged
pubIic opinion and the decisions OF the
5ur1es by turning out upon the people
D many convicted m~iscreants. When
axer a people lose confidence in the in
gard the governor, clothed in horror
With such brief but tremendous author
Fly to set aside the actual findings OF
judicial tribunals. then they are un-
easy, on the alert, are ready to COM
hine for self-preservation. We tell the
4~1 <ho count OfHOia1c that
zhe people are in great distrust OF
fhem- When they see officials ready to
sign petitions for pardon, and in the
teeth Of the huge difficulty to secure
the convictions Of scoundrels under the
uresent contemplate, burlesque jury
sr7al system, and a partisan governor
ID plastic and agreeable to signers and
friends, they lose all respect for and
xonfidence in courts, and will not sur
render to a reign of lawlessness, OF
murder, of crime. The man, be he
democrat or radical, who clothed with
ehe stupendous one-man p%ardoning
mower, a shame and a repoach to any
people pretending to civilization and
believing in popular government, who
En ten months over-rides the findings OF
courts to set free forty-four condemned
criminals cannot possibly be a friend to
good order, to the protection of the peo-
pie in lives, persons or property. The
courts that wrongly condemn, on the
other hand, forty-four innocent men
show the utmost incapacity, the most
inexcusable laundering, the most eyre
.ious wrong-doing. Russell ought to
h04u up. Some democratic governors
may have been stupid and wholly ig-
norant of law and knew no better than
to yield to petitions, that can be obtain
ed for the vilest murderer Of the black
est rapist in all the land, but Russell
is a man of ability and a lawyer Of
parts if not wisdom. He knows the
great prevalence Of crime in this state,
and that it is rapidly increasing. He
knows Of the Importance, and the
anxiety of the people living in the
country. He knows that some OF the
farmers have left their homes and
moved into towns to protect their fam
lilies from murderers and rapists. He
knows that the courts have been long
under suspicion for incapacity and un-
Yaithfulness. and that the trial by jury
has become to a great extent a broad
~travestie of justice. Knowing these
ne commits a crime against the peo-
pie and spnrns law and order when he
pardons a villain who was fairly tried
nnder due process Of law and found
guilty and either sentenced to be hang
ed or to the penitentiary.
How long will the intelligence of
North Carolina tolerate the one-man
gardening power,a an insult to the prin-
,r5ple of justice, a grievous wrong to the
innocent. a ource of danger to life and
property and wholly unworthy of any
people with sense enough to keep out
~of an insane asylum and with character
enough to keep out Of the penitentiary.
a GERM.