The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1903-08-30

4
sovemor summoned some physicians in
| the employ OF the state aud perhaps
one other.
A hearing was had and
the governor decided the accused was
degenerate and should not be put to
death. The executive department there
fore set aside the Judgment OF the>oourt
notwithstanding protest from the
states attorney and the people of the
community where the crime was COM
mitted. In a statement To the public
explanatory of his action the governor
set out the fact that striking irregu-
larities In the rotundity of the muir
dere,s body were discovered and cogniG
ance was not taken of these defects by
the court. AS described by the gov
eruor. Peacock is a miserable deform-
ity sent into the world before his time,
scarce half made up. anodern counter
mart of the popular conception of
Shakespeara's King Richard III, By
measurement Il was found to be as far
from point on this condemned muir
derer's breast back 10 his shoulders as
from his shoulders down to his hips,
Then ii was found the head did not tit
properly on the shoulders. But lack of
comlinass did not stay his murderous
hand nor convince the Polk county
court that he should be exempt from
the operations of the law. BY a jury of
twelve he was found guilty of murder
in the first degree and by petition the
people acquainted with the circumstan-
ces of the killing asked that the courts
decree be carried out, but the governor
set aside the Judgment and turned
down the petition an act calculated
to sow seeds of lynch law in the minds
of law abiding people. The expense Of
! a costly trial, counted for naught with
the pardoning power. and the people
who bore the expense are left without
the security, to which by law. they
are entitled.
Peacock will hardly be released from
the penitentiary by Governor Chamber
lain, but other governors will fill the
executive chair, and Peacock, with his
nose pressed against the bars of his
cell and gazing into space may excite
the over-cOmpassionate nature of an
other executive on his rounds of prison
inspection and it is not at all unlikely
the people Of Polk county will again
be at the mercy of his gun. The same
considerations that lead to commu-
tation of sentence, would move a Pen
noyer to- give Peacock his freedom.
With the crime of Peacock, and DEM
onstration Of the power of pardon au-
thority to nullify the safeguard they
had expected through legal procedure,lt 1t
should not surprise the head of the ex-
ecutive department Of the state IL the
next murderer who starts into killing
off Polk county citizens is strung up.
though he measure as far from a point
on his breast back to his shoulders as
from the shoulders down to the tendons
of his heels
1t is not necessary for the governor
ofOregon to go to one of the Gulf states
TO find cause for lynching nor should
the executives, state and federal look
to the courts for a remedy until the ex
ecutive officers are ready to cooperate
in melting out justice to criminals.
The anti-lynching movement was di-
rected particularly against lynching of
negroes in the south. Negroes are
lynched in the south because it is there
they live in great numbers and it is
there they terrorize with their inhunan
crimes. Since the days Of slavery the
southern negro has developed a species
of be5tiality that has been a promoter of /
lynching bees in the south and these !
unspeakable crimes have much to do /.
with the anti-negro feeling and it is a |
feeling that cannot safely be ignored /
in appointing negroes to federal pO-
sitions. The president has not recog- /
nized the conditions and used the di- |
plomacy that might have been imploy-
ed in making his appointments from
among the negro race and, while il
probably cannot be said that any lynch
ings are directly traceable to his ap-
they have intensified thefeeI
ing against the negro in many places
thus promoting The crime he would now
stop through public appeal .Thehonesty
Of purpose on the part Of the president
and governors in their endeayor to
check the growth Of lynching, none win
question, but it will require their CO.
operation along lines of official duty to
put it down.
-w