Omaha daily bee., 1903-03-13

Thurston. II the imprint OF the great seal
OF the state Of Nebraska" is essential to
the validity Of that pardon and unless there
are more than one of those great seals"
the BARLEY pardon is not legal and was
~irregularly procured. Representative We
horg's resolution provides for an investiga-
tion of the circumstances surrounding this
pardon, citing that it's legality is a matter
Of grave doubt. The resolution contem-
plated this investigation as a part OF the
cigar box" Investigating committees work,
but on motion Of Kennedy Of Douglas
was referred to the judiciary commit &c.
The alleged Irregularities are involved in
the question as to whether the signature
and seal of the secretary Of state were
duly and legally af1xed.
AS a matter Of fact an examination Of
the pardon and the seal OF the state in
the secretary of states Office shows ttat
this seal was not used. And 1t is the only
ohicial seal in use, according to the on
Gals in the secretary of states ONCE.
There Is a seal in the governors office, but
different entirely from the one in the sec
rotary OF states ofice-the official seal.
And on comparison II is found that the I'm
official seal in the governors office is the
one whose imprint Is placed on that piece
of paper by which Ezra P. Savage par
doned Joseph 8. BARLEY from the peniten-
tlary. saving him from serving out his
twenty years term. These two seals are
not at all alike. and It requires no very
close observation to distinguish between
them. In the first place the real seal
is perceptibly the larger; the marking is
not the same, the coats of arms are diff
ferently gotten up. On the coat of arms
of the oficial seal are three sheaves Of
raNn IN Nha 9AnI ,,111 g. ~ --aAA, a.
one shock OF grain; on the oficial seal is a
train Of an engine and FIVE cars; on the
pardon seal an, engine and one car; on the
official seal are two trees; on the pardon
seal one tree.
Did Not sign nrdOn
The seal IN the governors office that was
pressed cinto service for the purpose OF
securing Bartley's pardon is still there.
1t is said to have been there for several
years, but by the force in the governors
once and that OF the secretary Of state II
is said not to have any legal place on
such. a document az a pardon or dis
charge paper. The reason for it's use, as
explained at the state house, is that Sec
rotary OF State Marsh was known to be
thoroughly opposed to pardoning BARLEY
and would not haye' been disposed to lend
amy OhiClhi ~ W Tue oCuclncs hb a mat
ter Of fact, as the secretary explains, HIS
signature and seal are merely attestations
to the governors signature and the proper
execution 2of the instrument and had the
governor demanded It he probably would
have been forced to make these ~attesta-
tions, but he was not even asked to do
so, he says. The pardon for BARLEY was
made out without his knowledge, he pro-
tests. Commenting upon the matter fur
Their Mr.. Marsh said:
IF my name appears on that pardon 1t
certainly was not placed there by me after
the pardon had been made out in due form,
and the came may be said regarding the
seal. I never placed either there after the
pardon was duly made out. It was a cus-
tom for papers requiring my signsture to
be brought from the governors once to
me before they were really needed to be
used. in case Of emergency, should I be
out of the city or otherwise not accessible,
and in such cascs I have signed these
blanks!- II my name is on the BARLEY par
don It got there In that way. The blank
was simply brought in With other papers,
my signature obtained and then the par
don made out and executed without my
knowledge. But as to the seal, It could
not have been imprinted by me, for ! GER
tainly would not have placed 1t on that or
any other paper before the paper was made
out and signed by the governor. 1t would
have been possible for someone else to
have stamped the seal on 1t.
Signature and seal Necessary.
"Of course, the signature OF the secretary
Of state and tho seal, as. attestations to the
governors performance OF duty, are essen
tiRl to ono OF these pardons. l was not In
favor Of the BARLEY pardon and had 20
expressed myself. i would never have given
my consent to that pardon, and OF course
that was a well known fact by those who
secured the pardon"
As the secretary OF state is the ofhciaI
custodian of the seal OF state and therefore
the only person who is entitled to use it
with the exception OF his deputy under the
secretary's supervision-the seal could MOI
have been properly used. even though Il
had been the right one. No one in. the
secretary Of states ONCE placed the i'm
print Of the seal on the document. That
b given, out as a positi ne fact in that Of
bee. trg .+
In view OF the pending Investigation OF
the BARLEY cigar box the sudden disappear
Ance of the chief actors In this amous and
mysterious drama is easily accounted for