The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-09-20
MORRISON IS
ROASTED BY
JUDGE IRWIN
Blistering Sentence Lecture Is
Given to a Criminal.
AN APOLOGY 10 ANIMALS
Is 8Qfered for Comparing Them
With This Man.

In sentencing Morrison at Kinghsher,
Judge Irwin made sensa tional remarks,
which are said to constitute the most
unique lecture to criminal ever de-
Hvered Ia Oklahoma. After the defend
ant made a plea for Ieniency ,acknowledg-
ing the crime Of sending obscene matter
through the United States mail, Judge
Irwin said.
You may remain standing. L is not
e pleasant duty TO sentence any man to
Imprisonment, whether that term is long
or short. It is a peculiarly unpleasant
duty ordinarily to sentence whose head
has been silevered by the gray hairs Of
age There Is a natural impulse in every
human heart and breast to reverence.
revere and respect old age, but that rev
erence and respect only comes from the
TACT that gray hairs are evidences of add
ed wisdom and increased virtue. But
when the person who has those gray hairs
has so far forgotten his manhood and the
high obligations OF good citizenship and
good morals az to bring those gray hairs
voluntarily into disgrace, then the venera.-
ton and respect of other men ceases.
The appeal which you have put in writing
and sent to me is one that shows that
you are man far above the ordinary in
intellect, and that you have enjoyed the
advantages of education; that you are
capable OF better things. You have
written an appeal TO me which from a
literary standpoint, is one Of the very
best 1 ever read. It is one which would
touch the heart and enlist the gvmpa-
thies Of any man on earth, be he court.
judge or otherwise. AS directed in that
appeal, I gave the case such investiga-
ton a. I could TO determine what degree
Of punishment ought to be meted out to
you have examined the documents
which you coness TO have sent through
the United States mails. and / must con-
less that previous to reading these let
ters never believed that it could possi-
bly, enter into the minds or Imagination
OF man TO conceive such degradation.
never believed a man could get so far
down in the scale of human degradation
as to put his hand to the pen and write
such things. and when I look at this ap-
peal, written in the manly manner and
souched in the elegant language that it is.
the thought that the same hand that
penned these degrading letters penned
this appeal, changes any feeling Of SYM
pathy might have to a feeling of con-
tempt You have shown yourself to be a
man who has lost all sense of honor and
human decency< No man could read
these letters and then exercise judicial
clemency and have any idea of the rights
Of the people or proper judicial dignity.
1 read those letters as was compelled
to do. but would not do it again under
q ~ ff1s.r, rI-r,
filthy character that even the jackal. who
is called the scavenger of the brute crea-
ton, would turn from in disgust. Tbev
are of that character that they would
turn the stomach of a buzzard They
could only have emanated from the dis
eased immagination of a lecherous beast.
and when J say this. I feel like pausing
and Offering an apology to the entire ami
nal kingdom for the comparison. You
have shown by your conduct that you
are. unfit to associate with the lowest of
human beings. You say you have never
robbed or murdered. but your conduct
IN writing tnese filthy, obscene and dis
gusting letters and circulating them
through the United States mail. is of
that moral turpitude that would make I
robbery a pastime and larceny an inno- /
cent amusement compared to it. This /!
IS all the more reprehensible in you.
being the trusted servant of the govern /
ment; they have placed you in charge Of /
this, one OF the most sacred Of our depart- !
lnents They have selected you as a ft I
person to guard and protect the sanctitv 1
and purity Cd the mails. upon which the 4
people of this great country so largely /
depend. and you have not only proved /
recreant 10 this trust. but you have hag-
rantly betraye dthe confidence the gov
ernment has reposed IA you, and have
shown yourself TO be not only an unnt
officer and servant of the government.
but person entirely unworthy OF the re-
spect and beneath the notice of all men.
our action has been OF that low and de-
graded character that renders your. pres
ence in the community a stencil in the
nostrils of decent people. and renders
you a moral Ishmael. whose hand is
against every man and every mans hand
should be against you.
Your conduct in penning and circulat-
ing the foul contents Of those dirty let
tiers is such as 10 make YOU moral Ieper.
on whose approach all decent men and
women hold up their hands in holy nor
- anu N-- rAie-NtttiF u-t~ltata. lu stamp
you as a person who would be separated
from human association. and placed In
such Solitary confinement that your fetid
breath shall no longer contaminate the
pure air or your obnoxious person ponute
the sunshine, 20 be placed where your
unhoiy and lecherous touch can no longer
poison and contaminate the flesh Of
virtue
You had no regard for law. morality or
decenc5, and had no reverence for the ss-
sred relations Of husband and wife. that
sou would stoop 10 blight and damn tho
souls Of your own children. You would
Assasslnate with the vennnnns dagears nf