The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-08

eeutive and ether prominent men in
the state, but in spite of the uniform
ly courteous treatment which has been
accorded me, I have, UP to this time,
been unsuccessful I am here now on
the same mission, this time to appear
before the state board of pardons to see
if I cannot lay before them the senti-
ment, not only of the great mass of
people from my state, but of large
number of prominent men who belong
to both political parties and who fought
on opposite sides during the war, but
who are a unit in the belief that these
unfortunate men who are now lying
in prison, have fully paid the penalty
of their crime, and will, if given their
liberty, return to their homes in Mis-
souri, and become peaceable, law-abid-
| ing members of the community
This statement was made last night
to a reporter for the G o b e by W.
G. Bronaugh, an influential farmer,
haillng from Lewis, some seven or eight
miles outside the city of st. Louis, Mo.
Mr.. Bronaugh, who is an eX-Confeder-
ate soldier, is making, according to his
own statement, another effort to secure
the pardon from prison of the Younger
brothers, whose family he has known
for many years, and if he fails to con-
vince the board of pardons that such
action should be taken, it will not be
because he has not come armed with
some very formidable looking docu-
ments, suggesting executive cIemency.
James and Cole Younger should be
pardoned from prison." he added, mot
hno Il; -
but on account of the fact that they
have spent twenty-one years IN prison
paying the penalty for an offense for
which there can be no justification
but for which we believe they have
made ample reparation. If there is
anything in the theory that imprison-
ment is to reform the convict, and
deter others from the same mistake, it
would seem that to confine these men
longer would be but to prolong their
sad, unhappy lives in prison, and ac-
complish no real good"
THE unfortunate state of affairs in
the state of Missouri directly after the
war, when matters were in a predatory
| condition, is in a great measure re-
sponsible for the fall these boys made
from their bringing up. They were
both brave and honorable soldiers, and
had opportunities to display their cour-
age on more than one OCCASION. AT
present, in my state, there is nothing
but depreciation for laWlessness. No
body condoneS the act Of these men,
but in spirit Of mercy and humanity,
the people all through the common
wealth join in the sentiment that the
boys have been punished sufficiently.
and that the ends of justice have been
served at this time. The feeling is
unanimous nearly, as is best shown by
a petition which I brought with me
signed at Jefferson CITY by nearly every
one of the members of both houses of
the state legislature, even down to the
sergeant-at-arms.
1--WE understand there is some op-
position in Minnesota, to the pardoning
of these men, but I hope we shall be
able to prevail, for the reasons I have
given you. The board will meet on
July II, and 1 shall stay here until
that time. If I am not successful now
1 will not lose heart
"I recall some years ago Gov. Mar
shall, to whom we made a strong ap-
peal, told his people here that, if these
two boys were allowed to visit Jackson
county, and refused or failed to re-
turn, he would himself be a hostage
for them. More than that, he received
word from our governor at that time,
that if the men were released and
went back to lawlessne-s that he would
come to Minnesota and serve out their
terms That only shows how he felt
about it, and our people have the notion
that your Gov. Marshall was a pretty
fair man."
Mr. Bronaugh, accompanied by H. A.
Jones, an attorney from Pleasant Hills,
| Mo-, who has also been interested in
securing the freedom of the brothers,