The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1901-04-13
THE PARDON OF
Ell MINIS
Governor Geer Writes HIS
Reasons For Granting 1t.
Chief Executive JuStlfleS
His Aclion--SayS P'eSSure
is Great and From Many
Sources and Constant


Governor Geer has sent 10 tie Tele.
gram the following letter:
Salem, April 2.--To the Editor-
For the reason that you have
always seemed to be fair,
and have been fair, feel inclined to cay
that your little paragraph last night re-
garding the pardon Of Minis hurts jnst y
little. You seem 10 have had the bare
act Of bis pardon without the reason Tor
Il, and criticism should be based uron
the reason for an act, rather than upon
the bare act. Three fourths OF the jurors
held out for absolute acquittsl at the
trial for 30 hours land a majority vote
should always decide jury verdict, our
present system being relic Of bar.
barism in that respect and they only
agreed to a verdict OF guilty upon fur
ther agreement 10 recommend him 10
the Court for the minimum sentence,
which was one year When the Judge
ignored their recommendation and gave
Minis five years, these jurors said at
the time, that if they bad supposed the
Judge would ignore Their request, they
would never agreed to " rdict ot gu lty.
When the application for pardon
was made and these presentations
we're made, told his friends that il the
jurors would make these facts known to
me, it would be worth investigating.
These iacts are now a matter Of record
in this Office and they sked a full Tar.
don for Minis, and | take it that in such
cases the jurors know more about the
facts than the governor. In addition to
this his pardon was asked by the entire
delegation in the last legislature from
Umatilla county, and by many others OF
Of the leading citizens there.
Psualstos Sent No Protest
II has been known in Pendleton for
three months that Minis pardon was
likely 10 be granted, and notice was
given more than month ago to the
district attorney for that district that
application would be formally made
March 80 in his Office. Notwithstanding
this, not a word Of protest came in any
form from Pendleton. or elsewhere-no
objection Of any kind.
II there ia one set ofodicial acts con.
oerning which a governor should be
exempt from criticism, it should be his
record in the matter Of granting par.
dons, for the reason that no one but
himself can know the pathetic circum.
stances surrounding most of them.
Perhaps more than 50 per cent Of the
prisoners in the "pen" have mothers,
or wives or sisters or daughters, who
are excellent woman, and whose lives
are a living torture until a pardon is
granted. II you could know Of the end
less number Of these pleas that
manage 10 deny, you wouldn't censure
me for the occasional ones grant.
In one Of our judicial cases young
man was convicted Of rape aud sen
tenced 70 three years in the peniten.
tiary 10 begin three weeks hence. bat
before the three weeks passed, his
father secured the signatures Of about
400 men in that county asking for his
pardon, aud, besides, four Of the seven
grand jurors, all Of the trial jurors, and
the presiding judge. OF course, par
ioned him, for why should blast his
life, when all those connected with his
rial said to me that they had made