Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-31
OtD NSasy cosfksss.

ton Of new evidence as to the CREDIBLE. |
ity of leading witnesses in the case, flnd
a great deal of personal satisfaction in
the statements given the public by Rev.
Henry Warman. the more intimate
friends of the lead man unhesitatingly
dispute the truthfulness of the alleged
confession. 1t would undoubtedly SIM
plify matters, and relieve the state Of
any further embarrassment, If the mid.
night hanging could be justified by a pnii
versal belief that the condemned man ac-
tually made an acknowledgment of his
guilt. While such a confession would prove |
nothing as to the efficacy Of capital
monwealth has been morally benefited
by supplementing one killing Of a human
being with another killing, it would at
least set at rest the fear that an inno-
cent man had been strangled for a crime
he did not commit. = =
But it seems that the commonwealth
is to be denied the boon of an unques-
toned acceptance of the Warman state.
ment that Hurst made a confession to
him of the details of the murder. The
friends Of the dead man believe that the
wife and babies, whom he protected while
living. are entitled to the same protec-
ton against a belief in his dishonor when
he has passed away. Therefore, they
question the authenticity of the state
ment made by the, clerical gentleman
who a " the alleged confession to the
| world.
1t must be admitted that their reason
ing raises a deubt in the public mind.
however much one may desire to see the
curtain rung down upon the disgrace Of
the dead, in order to shield the ommon
wealth from the imputation of undue
haste in the execution of the condemned
man. 1t is pointed out hat Warman
was only a casual visitor to the cell of
Hurst. and did not share his confidence
to a degree that would justify a confess
sion Of guilt. When the condemned man
was stoutly asserting his innocence to
straining every nerve in an effort to So
cure a communication of sentence.
According to Warman, Hurst made his
disclosures at a time when a breach OF
confidence on the part Of the former
would have thwarted the hopes Of COM
mutation which he then entertained, and
not after the effort in that direction had
been given up! 1t is passing strange thar
he would have confessed to a Methodist
minister-not as a personal friend. but al
a representative Of the gospel-when he
was at heart a Catholic and was baptized
into that faith. accepting the ministries
lions of tina church through it's priest.
Under these circumstances. his confess
sion to warman could not have been In
spired by a desire to relieve his con-
science, for did he not in effect proclaim
his innocence from the scaffold, when ihe
declared that his execution was a ter
rible mistake?
If it was his intention to assume an in
nocent air, up to the time of his death.
in order to protect the feelings OF the
loved ones left behind, what could have
| luuIC I'LL ~
preacher to destroy that illusion after his
death, and thereby infict torture and
pain and a sense of ignominy upon his
faithful and devoted family? Does the
farewell letter to the wife. full of love
and tenderness, written just before the
! execution, suggest the probability that ne
had delegated a Methodist preacher to
} prove to the world after he was dead that
he had lied to his loved ones from the
2 day of his arrest to the hour of his death:
Had this been the intention of Hurst
had it been his abnormal desire to die
with a profession of innocence on his lips
after he had given to a friend a story OF
his guilt to be published after his death
, why did he not make his confession in
written form and thus establish beyond
doubt that he was a guilty man? 0
While Hurst's intimate friends reason
: in this manner, n point out the un,
naturalness of the situation that wouli
lead the condemned man to entrust TO Mr.
Warlnan a confession hat might hav'
ruined every hope of gubernatorial inter
ference in the case, they show the incon
e sistency of the reverend gentleman
heralding the confession to the world a
: soon as the rope had accomplished IT
mission, though perfectly willing befort
thai time to see the verdict of the Law
interrupted and justice defeated by keep
= ing his mouth shut as to the facts