The record-union., 1897-11-25
TRYING TO SAVE DURRANT.
THEOSOPHISTS AND OTHERS
PLEAD FOR HIM.
Some More Samples Of the Kind Of
Letters That Come to the
Governor.

Ii mas been known for some time
that the theosophical societies of San
FRANCISCO and Oakland contemplated
addressing a petition to Governor Budd
requesting him to commute the sentence
OF Durrant, the Emmanuel Church mur-
derer to Imprisonment for life, and set
ting forth their reasons for so doing.
yesterday mornings mail contained
the petition, which is given in full, as
follows:
ITO his excellency, Governor Budd:
Honored Sir: We, the undersigned
respectfully petition that the sentence
OF w. H. Durrant be commuted to i'm
prisonment for life, for the following
reasons:
'First-Capital punishment is a relic
Of barbarism and unworthy of place
in the penal codes of this enlightened
civilization.
''Second-It has been abolished in
many States and the tendency of en-
ightened public opinion is steadily and
increasingly against it.
"Third-It creates blood-thirstines in
the unthinking masses and thus defeats
its own ends. 1t is a cause Of murder
not a check.
the unthinking to revel in horrible and
brutaliZing accounts, thus distinctly
lowering and benumbing the moral
sense of the masses.
'Fifth-The excitement of a murder
trial, as reported in all it's gruesome de-
tails in the daily press, so arouses the
criminal nature of the unthinking, that
the cry for blood shames the cruelty of
II. I
brutalities.
Sixth-It Furnishes the innocent a
thousand times more severely than the
guilty. Death is merciful to the torture
which the living relatives of the con-
demned man must undergo, and they
have committed no crime.
Seventh-'An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a TOOTH is not justice. 1t
is revenge, and unworthy a Christian
civilization.
'Eighth-Death penalties have not
the deterring influence which impris-
onment for life carries. Mere death
is not dreaded. See the number of
suicides. Hopeless captivity is much
more severe
"Ninth-Life Imprisonment is the nat
ural and humane check upon one who
has proven his unfitness for freedom
by taking life deliberately. 1t is the
only punishment which receives the as
sent of the conscience. Taking the
life of a murderer does not restore the
life he took; therefore it is most IL
logical punishment. Two wrongs do
not make a right.
''Tenth-Public attention has been so
attracted to this case that the horrors
of capital punishment are we'll under
stood, and communication of the death
penalty to Imprisonment for life would
be an object lesson for all time-might
be, indeed, the initiative which shall ul-
timately put a stop to this disgrace to
our civilization, and substitute true cor
receive punishment for that which at
best can now only be termed judicial
revenge.
And your petitioners will ever pray"
The petition bears the signatures of
fifty of the most prominent theoso-
phists in Oakland and San Francisco.
the name of Jerome A. Anderson, NJ
d, of San Francisco, heading the list.
A PLEA FROM CINCINNATI.
Another communication relative to
the Durrant matter was also received
at the Governors office yesterday. 1t
is signed, Lover of Justice" and was
written in the fine, almost undecipher-
able hand such as was affected by