The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-13

tence is less than ten years. These men
nave served more than double the time or
dlnarlly served by life prisoners
ANY one who claims that twenty-one Years
III II! prison does not furnish terrible example
70 eYlEdoers. or does not furnish a powerful
deterrent against crime does not realize tbs
IuIl import Of such a punishment
have nave been engaged in prison work for
the Iigbts sd years; have carefully studied
can say to you, gentlemen guided bv a
khoWleqge OF experience, that to nv mind
mere there is no punishment so terrible as the
thOught OF tWenty-one years of penal sArvi
tude, except it be for a longer period M
man can live and undergo the hardshiDs NJ
penal penal servltude for twenty-one years and
snow development of character unless he is
Lllaue OF manly material Character building
"nlIe gradual growing process must have
d. sGperstructure upon which to build, as weIl
as favorable environment in order to bring
out the well-rounded character of a man
IheSe men have proven themselves To he
many many men by every test applied in penal
Some of their enemies say that thew ara
made of murderous material. I saw il is not
They are as gentle and as succentib1a 70
good influences as any material | have ever
Ia naeS IN PRISON. At heart they are not bad
dreds of prisoners who have felt the unfit
ing influences of these men in prison What
ever OF crime tendency once existed in their
nature am sure that none Of it finds lodg-
ment in their character now.
Inc board OF managers of the state prison
are. are mere today in behalf of their pardon,
1hey DefseVe as do-that the ends Of Justice
ought to be fully satisfied with the punish
ment already inflicted. They are PROMPTED
a. US am oy nigh sense of justice; by long
years OF experience they have learned as I
have, that justice and mercy should prevail
mat as the administration of human Justice
approaches toward perfection mercy will nre
vail. There is no sentimentality in this: II Ia
the highest law of humanity 1t certainly
VIII and cannot exist in any degree of per-
wit hon - A.
yine nature. Equal justice to all men is
dlvlne, and 1 verify believe that to punish
and injustice
would not raise my voice in favor of a
pardon for the Youngers If 1 did not honestly
oe9eVe that they were justly entitled to it,
and that their liberation at this time would
no only be an act of jusice to them but
would be beneficial to society and the penal
management of this state. There is not an in
telhgent prisoner within the four walls of the
state prison today who does not believe that,
II there is anything in our boasted civilization
in the reform movement in penal manage
men that we profess, these men ought to be
pardoned They know, as know, and as the
board of managers here can testify, that
worse men are being turned out nearly every
day.
The object of punishment is two-fo!d, the
protection of society and to deter those in
ciined to evil pursuits. The worst enemies
or these men admit that society has nothing
farther to fear from them. The example fur
n1shed by twenty years Of PENAL seryi-
tude ought to satisfy and gentlemen of the
board of pardons I believe that YOU fully
realize what twenty-one years in prison
means.
Your large knowledge of human nature OF
the aims and purposes which inspire human
action, and which preserves and uplifts the
best elements existing in man are fully able
to separate the wheat from the chaff and I
feel confident that regard. less of the attack
that has been made in some instances against
these men that you will deal out in your wis
dom what you believe to be even handed
Justice 1 will not further trespass upon
your time, but before closing desire to say
that in justice to my own conscience and to
these men, 1 could not say less than have
To have remained silent would have been
cowardice. believing in the justice of their
cause I do.
]. ]. McCafferty followed Mr. Wolfer,
prefacing his talk by saying that he
supposed that each member of the
beard had or would read the letters,
petitions and protests which had been
filed in the case. Chief Justice Start
stated that he had read them all, and
Mr.. McCafferty proceeded. He called
attention to the condition of life and
the environments about them at the
time the offense was committed The
border war was between Missouri and
Kansas, and the killing of their father
was alluded to as showing that the
condition of things was different in the
section of the country in which they
lived than elsewhere. The good that
Cole Younger had done in saving the
lives of numerous men, was also
spoken of, and their troubles were
traced to bad associations The pun
ishment for the offenSe committed by
them was a life sentence and there was
no other punishment provided, and the
statements that they escaped hanging
on technicality was not true. 1t was
but right and proper that they should
take advantage of the law as it was at
that time Previous to the offense at
Northfeld, they had not been charged
with nor convicted of any offense.
The punishment received by them was
ample and sufficient and the law had
been vindicated. Twenty-one years
had been passed in prison and in adj
dition, for ten years of this time, both
petitioners had suffered from wounds
inflicted at the time of their capture
and had been under the surgeons care.
This should also be taken into consid-
Grafton by the pardon board in arriving
at a conclusion in the case. The ques-
tion of pardon by the board was some
thing that was looked for by every
law maker in the land. Not particu-
larly so in this case, but In all cases
where applications are made. The au-
thority to grant pardon was in the
hands of the board without limit. One
of the rules of all prisons was that
prisoners should be allowed time for
good behavior and this was one of the
reasons of the lawmakers in fixing the
maximum sentences for offenses. The
principal object of punishment was
reformation, and in this case the object
sought for had been accomplished
All prison reform associations and the
Judges of all courts had repeatedly
stated that the object of prison pun
ishment was to reform the prisoners.
Judge Start interrupted the speak
Continued on second Page.