The Topeka state journal., 1905-10-15
Governor Asked to Reopen
Willie Sell Case.
No Response to Appeal of State
w. C. T. q.
i PATHETIC APPEAL.
Mrs. R. E. Rice Of Lawrence
Writes Open Letter.
DWelis Upon Injustice Done
Sixteen Year Old Boy.

Gov. Hoeh has been asked to re.
open the While Sell pardon case. the
state ". c. 4. u. convention which re-
Gently met in this city, made such a
request. In order to further remind the
governor of what the women seem to
think is his duty. mrs. r. 2. Rice oe
Lawrence has written an open letter
to him, intimating that he refuses to
grant the pardon because OF political
considerations.
The women who are firhtfur While
Sells battles insist that tha boy be
pardoned on the ground that he IS
innocent While Sell himself IS said
to insist upon q pardon on the same
grounds. On the other hand Seth
Weilss OF Neosh0 county, and many
o4her NeoshO county people, say that
they are not so much opposed to the
pardon on the ground that the boy
crime, but they viii fight to the finish
any effort to secure q pardon on the
ground that he never was guilty.
Ihe following is in part Mrs. Rice'a
letter to the governor;
= once heard a little boy ask his
father during a political campaign if
II was reSily very hard work to be
governor Whether it is or not
think it is often made quite as hard
work for those looking on.
~ few people ia the state
have worked hard to secure reasonable
action on the Willie Sell case. because
from the outset of his trouble in his
youth and ignorance he was also
made friendless and helpless and un-
able to cope with the dire conditions
which confronted him, and now while
other persons can plead, the governor
alone can act
In his efforts for relief he has. been
stubbornly opposed by some Neosho
county people who have pointed to his
one court trial as conclusive whereas
I the facts show that the one dispas-
sionate hearing ne has had was be-
fore the board Of pardons, that rea6i-
/ ~ voted him pardon, but political
! considerations then interp0sed to pre-
vent its being granted.
You We're pleased to grant 81 hear
lbs oa May y ana before thae time
had sile honor ta cali oa ven with .
marked COPY Of Judge Humphreys
pr1eI, SO that IN less than I've mill
utes OF your valuable time yoa cous5
to show conclusively that it was q
practical impossibilfty for the boy to
I have committed that crime. You
promised your most serious attention,
and I have no doubt you gave It but
somehow it has failed to produce its
direct and logical result. The Neosho
county people were on hand, and
though they Wane away discounted.
and feeling that q pardon would be
granted the danger to them Of such
q thing seems to have melted away fn
the sharp raps you gave them as to
the treatment Willie Sell had received
among them, and that the lawyers
and those managing the case showed
more eagerness TO handle the estate
than 10 care for the boy.
Tor parallel cases where all evidence
is lacking, we must go back to the days
when human beings were put to death
on the charge Of Witchcraft. The history
of this time shows that during the last
300 years Of this time. before executions
f-r dlr I7-r
nine millions OF people, nearly all of
whom were women ana children. were
put to death on this charge, and not
one bit Of evidence as we now know
Shakespeare's time. some OF her most
renowned judges have presided at these
trials, and pronounced decision against
the accused. and so Of course Il is In
sisted that we consider g trial before g
district Judge as impartial and final.
In her trial Cor witchcraft a woman IN
Scotland asked the judge IH one could
be a witch and not know It. One can
with TIE same propriety ask Il VYtlIie
Sell, when his head pressed the pillow
and kept the one SPOT under il cieSn
while his brothers blood spattered an
about, whether he could be q murderer
as charged, and not know it."
Mrs. Rice then cites the case OF Ben
janain Nathan. wealthy New York
man who in 1871 was killed in his roons
when his two grown sons were in the
house. His sons walked into his room
in the morning and found the dead
body; their feet and. hands were stained
with blood as Willie Sells feet and
hands were stained, and yet the sons
were not even arrested. Mrs. Fsee says
that they were allowed to 60 free be-
cause they had money to defend them
selves, and the estate was too large to
be swallowed ND at one gulp by the
lawyers.
willie Sell" continues Mrs Rice.
''was bereft Of both money and friends
and he suffers as criminal because Of
lack Of them. In that way It IS said
his innocence can not be established.
That has nothing to do with the case.
Ifallowed the benef s Of such provisions
as the law provides his innocence IS ta-
ken for granted until he IS proven
guilty. That has never been done. He
never should have been arrested, and
the best that can be said Of his trial is
that it was a frightful farce In which
nothing was done Tor the help Of that
helpless boy.
"It IS not merely executive cIemency
for Willie Sell that IS asked for at your
hands, but Justice There are soma
things that a governor f8ay DO OF re-
frain from doing with no penalty or re-
ward to follow. But am afraid that
| 1t IS not often that official hands are
made to succor the distressed and
wronged unless other strong hands are
by, to pull and compel where otherwise
they would not be moved
FOLK GOES 10 PHILADELPHIA