The San Francisco call., 1904-08-09
FIEND MUST
HANG FOR
HIS CRIME
President Refuses to
Commute Death
Sentence.
Insanity Plea Does Not
Find Favor in Eyes
Of Executive.
Roosevelt Holds Mental UnSOundneSS Is
No Excuse for the MonStrous
Deed of Negro Burley.

WASHINGTON, Aug. S.-President
Roosevelt has declined to interfere in
the case of John w. Burley, a negro,
confined in the jail of the District of
Columbia, under sentence of death for
the crime of criminal assault, the vic
tim having been a little girl four and
half years old. The President has
directed that the sentence of the jury
be carried into effect on August 26,
as decreed.
An application was made to the
President to commute the sentence of
Burley to imprisonment for life, il be-
ing alleged that the prisoner was of
mind so weak as to be irresponsible
for his crime. The subject was re-
ferred TO Attorney General Moody He
investigated the case and reported to
the President to-day fully as to the
facts.
Rejects APPLICATION.
In rejecting the application for the
commutation of Burley's sentence
President Roosevelt made the follow
ing memorandum.
WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON,
Aug. S.-The application for the COM
mutation of the sentence of John w.
Burlev is denied. This man commit
leQ the DlOSl IlQcOuS CIilue hIiOWu "
our laws and twice before he has COM
mitted crimes of a similar though
Iess-h1rrible sla 2raetef- IN nly judg-
ment7 this is no Justification whatever
for paying heed to the allegations that
he is not Of sound mind, allegations
made after the trial and conviction.
Nobody would pretend that there has
ever been any such degree of mental
unsoundness shown as would make
people even consider sending him to an
asylum if he had not committed this
crime. Under such circumstances he
should certainly be esteemed sane
enough to suffer the penalty for his
monstrous deed. 1 have scant SYM
pathy with the plea of insanity ad-
vanced to save a man from the conse-
quences of crime, where unless the
crime had been committed it would
have been impossible TO persuade any
reasonable authority to commit him to
an asylum as insane. Among the most
! dangerous criminals, and especially
among those prone to commit this
particular kind of offense, there are
! plenty of a temper so fiendish or so
! brutal as to be incompatible with any
other than a british order of intelli-
gence; but these men are nevertheless
responsible for their acts, and nothing
more tends to encourage crime among
such men than the belief that through
] the plea OF insanity OF any OIner plea
! it is possible to escape paying the just
penalty of their crimes.
CRIME is REVOLVING.
1.-THE crime in question is one to the
existence of which we largely owe the
! existence of that spirit of lawlessness
which takes form in lynching. 1t is
a crime so revolving that the criminal
is not entitled to one particle of SYM
pathy from any human being. 1t is
essential that the punishment for it
should be not only as certain, but as
swift as possible. The jury in this
case did their duty by recommending
the infiiction of the death penalty It
is to be regretted that we do not have
special provision for more summary
dealing with this type of cases. The
more we do what in us lies to secure
certain and swift justice in dealing
with these cases the more effectively
do we work against the growth of that
lynching spirit, which is so full of evil
omen for this people, because it seeks
to avenge one infamous crime by the
commission of another of equal in
fanny.
'"The application is denied and the
sentence will be carried into execu-
ton. THEODORE ROOSEVELT"