The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1905-07-21

/ lOWSs MIS-. u. W.. OOleos MISS EAIuhc
Flagg, Mrs. Fanny Hogan, Mrs: George
Perkins, Mrs. Fred c. Moor, and others.
Those ladies'" said Mrs. Cay, "cer-
tainly felt as IL the entire community,
practically, was interested and repre-
sented in their effort, and that is pre-
cisely what we said to the board. We
argued that the punishment proposed
to be inflicted upon Mr.. Taylor was not
his offense, but would be visited most
heavily upon his innocent family. who
were dependent upon his personal eff
forts for their support. Also, that aside
from the legal aspects of the case, with
which we had nothing to do, we urged
the board, in the discharge of its duties.
and clothed with the right to consider
the side of the case which we had pre-
scented, to exercise its prerogative of
mercy.
MANY of the ladies present express
ed the indignation they felt at the inso-
| lent manner and irrelevant matter of
Judge L ddon's intrusion and remarks,
and some were inclined to blame the
board, but refrained because of Gov
ernor Broward's explanation"
Mrs. r. B. German said that she
could fill volumes with expressions of
the just indignation felt by every lady
in the company at the brutal manner in
which they had been treated, but that
she felt so strongly on the subject that
she would prefer to say nothing more.
Mrs. Fred c. Moor and Miss Kate
Moor were emphatic in their express
sions of Indignation at Judge Liddon's
uncalled for behavior, II, myself,
asked Governor BrowRrd, " said Mrs.
Moor, eff this meeting had not been
arranged especially for the presentation
of the petition, and why we were con-
fronteo by lawyer with legal argu-
ment. His reply was that the custom
Of the board was to hold open meetings,
at which anyone could appear and
many others, regarded Judge Liddon 8
remarks and his manner as almost in
sulting to the ladies present.
Mrs. ]. w. Coles and Miss Flagg
were seen together, and united in the
very strongest condemnation OF Judge
Liddon for intruding himself upon such
an occasion, after he, as the paid prose-
cutor, had had every opportunity to
labor for the conviction of Taylor in the
courts, and had succeeded. 1.-THE
movement" said Miss Flagg, Twas
one purely in the interest of mercy and
humanity, and we did not, Of course,
expect to encounter a lawyers argu-
ment of the facts and legal circum-
stances OF the case, which had all been
threshed out in the courts. This much, in
effect, | said to the board after Mr..
Liddon ceased speaking, and remarked
to Governor Broward that he should
have advised US that we would be con-
fronted by a paid advocate, charged
with the ghastly duty Of breaking the
force of our appeal for mercy and hired
to appear and browbeat us. / under
stood afterwards that Governor Brow
ard expressly disclaimed any knowledge
of Judge LiddOn's intention to be pres
ent. "
Both Mrs. Coles and Miss Flagg de-
clared that the meeting of the
board could not have been adj
vertised, as stated by the Governor, or
if done, it was in some corner which
had entirely escaped general public
notice
This chronicle Of most extraordinary
occurrence would be incomplete with
out brief account of a circumstance
contemporary in time and closely con-
nected with the appeal Of the women
of Leon county for executive clemency
in the Taylor case. One of the most
devoted Of the many friends who have
come forward in aid of this distressed
family addressed letter to Hon W. B,
Lamar, the chief prosecutor of Mr..
TAYLOR, from which we have been per-
nnitted to make the following eXtrocts:
lfMy dear Mr.. Lamar: y
"There is something within me that
impels me TO write this letter to you,
for il seems as though ] stand half way
between a love for your mothers fam
ily and the love for my townspeOple;
and because Of this cannot keep silent.
"Mr. Lamar, will you not be mag
unanimous, and telegraph to Governor
Broward at once upon receipt Of this
letter asking him to pardon Mr.. Tay-
lor? Mr.. Taylor has been wrong. |
know this. We all do. But lose sight
of him and think of'his poor wife and
FIVE little helpless children-the oldest
nine years, and baby one year-with-
out anything left to them but disgrace
and this terrible SORROW. Even their
home has q mortgage of 81, 200 at eight
per cent. interest-almost the entire
value of the home. Think of them, If
you can picture such misery.
"If you could have witnessed the
heart-breaking scene in that home
when the wretched wife WA told that
a pardon had been refused; when the
little girl threw her arms about her
mothers neck and cried: Mama, are
they going to take our papa away from
us?'-I am sure that you would have
been only too glad to beg for a pardon
for him.
'"You have everything that success
and Vvealth can rive. thew have nothing