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

defeated. The proper punishment of
those who took part in the Mortified
raid, they believe, ought to be not
only a matter of interest to the people
of this vicinity and this state, but to
the people Of the entire Union. For
they say what will be the moral effect
of the pardon of these outlaws caught
red-handed in their work of robbery
and murder? OF their guilt there never
was and could not be a particle OF
doubt They confessed to having rob-
bed the bank, to having committed
here double murder. Had it not been
for the popularity of our laws at the
time the question would have been
settled at once, and the Youngers would,
twenty years ago, have paid with their
lives the penalty Of their crimes. They,
however, took advantage of the con-
ditions which existed at the time, and
fully realizing the futility of any such
defense as they now attempt to set up,
they sought perpetual imprisonment to
avoid the hangman's moose.
The opinion here is universal that the
punishment they elected was not too
great for their crimes. If they now
are to be pardoned will it not appear
to the world that the Minnesota board
of pardons is ready to condone the most
brutal of murders and think light of
organized robbery. Then thsy say that
these YoungerS were not men who were
to be cajoled into crime-that they did
not join the Mortified raiders I'M
thinkingly, but that the outrages COM
mitted here were the last of long
series of crimes-that before they left
their native state the Youngers were
sc old in crime as to have been outlaw
ed, and that a price was set upon
their heads. They look in vain in
their past history to discover any cir
cumStanceS which would go to show
that there is any one thing in their
career previous to their capture to
inspire pity or to justify leniency. They
were from the days of their boyhood
lawless and reckless. They obeyed no
laws. 1t is only since confined within
four stone walls with a guard over
them, that they have developed any
of the characteristics of laW-abiding
citizens. 1t may be admitted that at
their ages under the changed condition
of affairs, if released they may not
anew pursue the only avCcation with
which previous to their imprisonment
they were familiar but what atone
ment have they made for the offenSeS
of which they were guilty? Have they
atoned for the blood which stained
our streets, for women widowed and
children orphaned? Did they protest
twenty years ago, people here ask,
that their sentence of Imprisonment for
life was a hard one. Was not the
orinion then universal that the sentence
was not severe? Is then the life SEN
tCnce for those who richly merit it
tobe made a farce, and are criminals
who receive it to be encouraged to
look forward hopefully to ultimate re-
lease? For, they que, if such notorious
IF Ia a
serving of the sentence of the courts
of what things must a man have been
guilty to serve the full term imposed
upon him? Does not the sentence be-
come virtual dead letter?
The opinion here is universal, too,
that Warden Wolfer has gone far be-
yond his province in the recent inter-
view he has caused to be published.
Said one gentleman to me: Warden
Wolfer is the jailer of the state. 1t Is
his duty to execute the laws and i'm
pose upon those committed tC his care
the punishment decreed by the state.
When a man in his position publicly
declares it to be his intention to Sc
cure, if possible, the pardon of those
he admits to have been justly sem
fenced and through the public press
attempts to influence public opinion in
their favor, he is guilty of an act for
which an ordinary governor would or
der his instant discharge" Another
asked me to compare Warden VOTERS
plea with Cole Younger's statement,
and asked me if it was not apparent
that he relied entirely upon the pris-
oner for his facts. He asked if 1 knew
of q single person who witnessed the
raid whom the warden had consulted.
Still another said: II suppose you
saw that Warden Wolfer says that it
was certain that neither Cole nor
IL
the raid with the intention of destroy
ing life. Now how can Wolfer know
that % There were Shots however,
fired by the score, if not by the hun
dred Bob Younger certainly shot, as
can be proved by undisputed evidence,
with intent to hit While it is difficult
after twenty years to find out many
of the particulars of the raid, one can
be certain, if those who witnessed the
affair are at all to be credited, that
no one of the party showed any
anxiety about the welfare of the til
zens of the town, and no one here ever
heard before they were told by Cole
Younger and Warden Wolfer that the
former had interfered to protect the
life of any one They say that at any
rate it is immaterial whether Cole or
James Younger did or did not fire a
shot.
"They were all one body" said a
well known citizen to me, land what
difference does it make which one
fired tlle fatal shot? Warden Wolfer
ought to know better than to offer
such a plea" Indeed, the people here
seem to think that If Warden Wolfer
were lawyer employed expressly as
counsel for the prisoners he could not
have shown himself a stronger advo-
cate or more blind to the other side
of the case In his position they say
if he took any part at all his first con-
sideration should be not the liberation
of convicted criminals, but the execu-
ton of justice. He in some sense