The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1904-09-29
AN INSULT TO vEMONT LEGIS
LATORS.

LATORS.
The Boston Journal has recently
! sent to each member-ele of the YER
mont Legislature a circular letter in
which certain questions are asked with
regard to the proposition to commute
the sentence of death pronounced upon
Mrs, Mary A. Rogers, OF Bennington,
a few months since. The letter states
that 1T is altogether likely" that the
Legislature will be asked to vote upon
the question, and asks each recipient
of the letter to state whether he is, or
is not, in favor of committing the sem
tence. This is asked as a favor. A
blank is provided for an answer, and
the letter further states that any com
munication expressing an opinion re-
garding the legislation in the case, or
regarding the propriety of visiting the
death sentence on a woman, will be
gladly printed.
This is not newspaper enterprise;
it is intermeddling in something that
all ideas of justice demand should be
let alone until the Legislature itself
takes it up and acts upon it. 1t is the
same act, in reality, as would be an at.
tempt to find out what a jury's YER
dict or a judges decision would be be-
fore the case had even been presented
to the court. If the question of COM
muting the sentence of Mrs. Rogers
does come before the General Assem-
bly,, that body will be called upon to
act in a judicial or semi-judicial
function. 1t will be, in a sense, serv-
ing as an appellate court to pass upon
the case as to its being a proper one to
take from the regular course of pro-
oedure prescribed by the statutes.
Should a man, or a newspaper. at
tempt to get Jurors or judges to ex-
press opinions in advance on a case,
such action would rightfully he nd
judged contempt of court. To get the
judge or the jury to maintain a stand
on a case before he had heard the evil
dence would tend to the perversion of
Justice. To ask the members elect of
the General Assembly to state in ad-
vance their position on this question
is IN insult to their integrity. This
is not a public question upon which q
person forms his opinion from general
knowledge and his own reasoning.
Had the Boston contemporary asked
the legislators to state their position
as to capital punishment as a general
proposition, it might have been differ
ent. But this is going too far.
Every one of the men who will soon
meet in the Capitol probably has an
opinion on capital punishment. But
probably not a half dozen of them are
in posse ssion of sufficient facts with
regard to this Rogers case to warrant
them in saying that it is or is not a
proper subject of intervention by the
Legislature. The brief reports
printed in the papers are not suf-
fcient evidence upon which to base
an opinion as to the enormity of this
crime committed by this woman.
Even these reports were undoubtedly
only partially and perhaps oarelessly
read, if read at all, by the members
elect during the trial of the case in
Bennington county court.
1t is to be hoped that the coming
legislators will treat the proposition
in the letter as it deserves--that is,
pay no attention to it. Then they
can meet the question, when ii is
presented to them at the proper time
and place, in a judicial spirit. I'm
bampered by former declarations, they
can weigh the evidence and argu-
ments presented relative to the mat
ter and vote as they decide that right
and honor and Justice dictate. Let
them refuse to swallow this insult to
their honor presented by a newspaper
which apparently does not care how it
gets something that will be interesting
reading, if it only gets it. Let this
inquisitur get nothing but the cost of
inquiring to pay for it's labor, and for
its reward a good humping of its nose
for poking hat sensational member
in where the commonest precepts of
decency ana propriety ought to have
I admonished it to forbear.