Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-09-12
PRAYING FOR THE GOVERNOR.

OF men Called upon OoNeIloI ''liieh. ="
the executive office. to plead for the life
of Joe Allen, the youthful quarter-breed
who is to perish on the seaffold next
Thursday morning. The efforts put forth
by those we'll meaning ladies and gen
tlemen were in vain, for his eXcellency
could not be swerved from his fixed pur-
pose to let the law take it's course. Fin
ally. as the ladies retired from the scene.
thwarted in their purpose to give the
young murderer a longer lease on life,
to prepare for an uncertain future. Rev.
Mrs. Barnes remarked: "Well, sisters,
all that remains to be lone is to pray for
the governor that he may change his
mind, that he may do right"
In line with this suggestion, it is pre-
sumed that the good women of the CAPT.
tai city are now supplicating the throne
of grace. asking the great Ruler Of the
destinies Of men to soften the heart Of
the chief executive of this state. The
solemnity of such a course, when a young
mar Of only q years stand under the
shadow of the gallows. convicted of
murder On circumstantial evidence. when
self-defense was claimed, cannot fail 10
leave its impress Upon the state. When
thu supreme court, in passing upon ques-
tons involved in the letting Of a printing
contract for the state, indicated its in
ability - regulate the conscience OF the
governor, II confessed a condition 0
recognized by the good women who have
been pleading for the life Of Allen. name
Is, that an appeal to God is the final
recourse Of man when the limits Of the
law have been reached.
Whether Governor Smith will recog-
nize the efficacy of prayer remains to
be seen. In his present frame of mind
il is not likely that the prayers of the
righteous will avail much in leading the
executive into lines of mercy. He seems
to nave determined upon a course of pro-
cedure and does not intend to retreat.
unless, like st. Paul, he is caught up into
the third heaven, and shown a new light.
In refusing to reprieve young Allen,
with a view to committing his sentence
to Imprisonment for life, Governor Smith
will probably invite the criticism OF
many, for it is believed that the condi-
tions surrounding the condemned mar
and his crime are essentially different
from those that environ the average muir.
3n1. TT. ..~.l- 1t 80 ----
fixed views as to his personal rights, an6
the fact that it was not clearly proven
beyond a doubt hat he did not commit
the crime in self-defense, will convince
many hat his exceilency would infict M
outrage upon the immutable laws of JUS
tice We're he to exercise his high prerog
atiyes in the line of mercy.
-
No doubt his excellency fears that in.
PREVENTION on his part might be construed
as lack of backbone in the discharge o
his official duties, when his failure to in
terfere gives the only real evidence of hi
lack of nerve in the exercise of a RICH
which the law has placed in his hands
just as it has placed in the hands of
Jury the right to condemn. 1t often re
quires more backbone, more character
more decision, more strength of mind, t.
exercise the functions of mercy thar t.
permit the law to take it's course, whel
the responsibility of the penalty %inficte,
rests upon others.
1t is said that an ancient judge was s.
Impressed with the necessity of doing hi
duty that he condemned his own son t
death Inc assisted in his execution
That ancient idiot, who was doubtless
myth, has been held up before the worl
as an ideal, when he is, in fact, entitle,
to the execration of mankin a
an all around brute. The quality of JUS
tice is a relative one, to be tempered b.
conditions which each case in issue ma,
present-not a rigid. unyielding, stereo
typed form oe expression. circumscribe
in it's exercise by unvarying rules as fixe,
as the laws of the Modes and Persians.
The fact that juries often err in civi
cases implies the same possibility in tn
findings Of q criminal court. hence a dis