The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-12-10
what were the circumstances in his

murderer. He was sentenced to be hanged, but the legislature commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.
 Friends of Johnson and Charles Allen, another bad one, are said to have join ed forces to get the two men out of
 Wethersfield. It Is said that Johnson ate mixture of chalk and vinegar for the purpose of producing a ghastly
 consumntive appearance, while a nurse in the hospital at the prison. He promised to go back to Sweden as soon as he could, if liberated. Physicians certified as to his ill-health, and promi- nent lawyers appeared before the legis-
 lature for him. Johnson and Allen re- ceived their pardons. On the day they were released, Johnson was brought to the capitol by Secretary John c. Taylor Of the Connecticut Prison. association,
 in order to get the assistance which
 which all prisoners who are discharged from Wethersfeld receive from the as- sociation. Johnson was elated at his release, and was puffed with coneeit at
 his own shrewdness. He walked into
 Ehe corridor which leads to the house,
 on the second floor Of the capitol, and ridiculed and gaflawed at the very men
 who voted to pardon him. He told them
 that they were a nice lot of dupes; that he had made fools of the whole lot of them; that there was nothing the mat
 ter with his health, and that he would
 go back to Sweden when he got good end ready. There was no technieality
 under which Johnson could be held. so the ungrateful man was allowed to go, jeering his benefactors. A short time af-
 rewards the chief of police of New York sent here for officers to go to
 that city to identity Connecticut criminal. Deputy Warden Baisden and Secretary Taylor went to New York, and at the Tombs they found Johnson,
 who was being held on a charge of at
 tempted murder. After leaving this state he had taken up the occupation O. nurse. which he learned at the Wethersfield prison. While nursing a sick old man in hotel he made mur-
 derous assault on him. in order to rob him. In sentencing him, Recorder Smythe, who preceded Golf, scored him unmercifully, and regretted that he could not moose a life sentence. He made the penalty the limit allowed by law. twenty-five years, and Johnson is ! in Sing Sing prison at the present time. I The Johnson case heIped the board of pardons movement along wonderful ly. The legislators were thoroughly aroused by Johnson's language in the corridor of the house. Amazed at such ingratitude, his hearers were speechless. Here was man whose life had been in their hands: they had first saved him fro mthe gallows. and then from life imprisonment, only to have him go out of his way to call them fools. It started
 the legislators thinking. It showed them that. they had nardoned a hardened criminal who hadn't the slightest yes 1 tige os manhood in him, and it also proved to them that the ends of justice ], were being shamefully defeated through an unwise Dardoning system
 1 At that time annual sessions of the legislature were being held. Morris ". Seymour of Bridgeport was in the sem ate. and although one of the demo- cratic minority, his opinion carried great weight on non partisan matters. His father, Origen s. Seymour was a member Of the house the same year. Believing that legislative pardons were becoming nothing short of scandaIous, Mir. Seymour kept at work, with the : help of a few friends, at the task Of bringing about change. Tn this work he was assisted by small number of patriotic and prominent citizens. He received considerable aid from Secreta- ry John C. Taylor of the Prison asso- citation in looking up the records of the prisoners. It proved that from 1927 to 1883, the average length of life in the Wethersfield prison was only seven and one-half years. Either pardor or death freed the prisoners, and kept the aver age down. After a sharp and bitter fight the result was the enactment of the law which created the board of par dons now in existence For his con- scientious labors in the contest, MT. Seymour has often been referred to as the father of the board. The law passed by the legislature was the identical one, word sor word. which it had laughed out of court at the previous session.
 The next step was to find the proper men to serve on the board, men who were incorruptible, whose integrity could not be questioned, and who plac- ed honor above the dollar. Fortunately for the state of Connecticut, the mem bers named to serve on the board were citizens of the highest character, and they set such a standard that the board has been above criticism at all times. There have been but few changes in it's membership, and it's excellent character has always been maintained.
 The most humble prisoner is sure of receiving fair treatment. Financial and political matters have no weight with the board. This was we'll illustrated in the case Of Souder. the son of an Ohio millionaire, who murdered an "all hot' dealer on Asylum street one night by driving penknife into his brain. The hardest fight that money could make was put u2 to get him off. The state attorney also worked hard to convict. A young surgeon. who is very proni- nent in the city at the present time, made several tri3s to New York rnor- gues. brought back skulls, and jabbed knives in.o them in the court room to show that the knife blade would not break before penetrating the brain
 Souder was sent to state prison for manslaughter. When his case came be- fore the board of pardons, the result