Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-12-29
Sent to Work for Private Parties Under
Conditions Not Named.
LINCOLN lIveRYnAN FAVORED INDIVIDUAL
s. M. Nelick Gets Twenty Two During the
Last Four Years.
FULL LIST OF CoNWCTs AND CRIMES
Showing that Demands Attention
Made by Records Mt the Executive
Office Covering Mickey's Two
Terms as Governor.


From a Stan Correspondent)
LINCOLN, Dec. 2S.-(Special THE mat
ter of paroling prisoners from the peniten-
tiary has attracted some little attention
during the four years of Governor Nick
ey's administration. but it's extent has not
been made known, for the reason that no
Official report is made on the subject. The
prisoners are paroled and no publicity is
given to the action unless some occurrence
calls attention to the fact that the prisoner
Is out OF confinement. Some apparent
abuses have grown up in connection with
the practice which may require correction.
One of these has been the paroling OF
prisoners TO men who need unsltih,d labor
and who are thus supplied at small cost.
A paroled prisoner, while not in actual
confinement, is subject to such rules as
amount to virtual peonage. lie has the
option of working for the man to whom
he Is assigned at such wages and under
such conditions as the latter may pre-
scribe or return to prison The wages
paid these men are small, generally merely
nominal, while they are expected to per-
form as much work "A a free laborer. other
prisoners are paroled to relatives, and in
these cases the parole amounts in effect
to n pardon. The records Of paroled prs-
oners, which are kept at the governors
office and at the penitentiary, are silent
on this point
Statute on the Subject.
The law of Nebraska reads. THAT the
governor shall have power in the case OF
any prisoner who is now or hereafter may
be imprisoned in the state penitentiary
under sentence other than murder in
the first or second degree, who may have
served the minimum term provided by
bp Z, 10,
victed (and who has not previously been
convicted Of felony and served term
in any penal institution within the United
States of America) and in the case of any
prisoner who is hereafter may be
imprisoned under sentence for murder in
the first or second degree and who has
now or hereafter shall have served twenty
five full years, to allow any such prisoner
to go upon parole outside of said penl-
tentiary, to remain while on parole within
the state under the control and within
the legal custody OF the governor and
subject at any time TO be taken back
within the enclosure OF said institution,
and fun power to retake and reimprison
any convict so upon parole is hereby con-
ferred upon the governor, whose written
order shall be a sufficient warrant for all
officers named therein to authorize such
officers to return Ito actual custody any
condtlonaly released or paroled prisoner,
and it 10 hereby made the duty of all
officers to execute said order the same as
ordinary criminal process"
Violations of Law in PnrOIinE.
1t will be noted that only first-term prls-
oners are subject to parole, and yet Sec
ond third and fourth-term prisoners have
been so released. The law also provides
THAI paroled prisoners must remaih within
the state. and yet at least one was pa
rolled to go outside the state and entirely
away from the custody or Jurisdiction of
the governor. The law says that the pa
role cannot be granted until the minimum
sentence has been served; at least one was
paroled before he had served the minimum
sentence and others were released so close
to the time that 1t seems that they were
being especially watched by some one.
MeIick Gets Many.
Certain parties seem to have been espe-
| cially favored under the law One of
these is S. NJ. Melick of Lincoln, a former
sheriff of Lancaster county and keeper
of a livery stable there He has had
during the last four years twenty-five pris-
oners paroled TO him. These have been
engaged in work around his livery barn and
at the new house he built during the term.
| The police records of Lincoln show that
/ the prisoners paroled to Melick caused any
/ amount of trouble and frequent arrests
| Z. J. Bohannon, a competitor OF Melick
| in the livery business, has had five con-
vcts paroled to him in his barn during the
same time, and st. Elzabeth's hospital
! has had four let ont of the penitentiary to
work around the premises OF the hos
pital.
| Farmers and others wanting cheap help
have secured convcts from the penitentiary
on parole and at least one instance is known
in which the convict asked to be re-
| turned to prison to escape from the hard
ship of life on a farm under parole This
was recently reported from Seward county
The monthly reports from the convlcts
thus liberated are sent TO Warden Beemer
Of the penitentiary and not TO the gov
ernor's office. 1t is expected that a full
report of conduct during each month of
this sort Of freedom be made, but how ao-
curate the reports are is not known. II Is
reasonably certain that those who have
been let out 10 work in the livery barns
OF Lincoln have never told the full truth
about their dongs or they should have
been quickly locked up again for violating
the conditions of their paroles.
ConvIcts Now Out on Parole.
The prisoners at present out on parole
are:
William shaylor paroled to Thomas Shay
lor, South Omaha; incest
Thomas Spencer TO Joseph Mcnamara,
BeemeT; adultery.
Lee o. Fairman to c. p. Hahn, Lincoln;
forgery.
Charles d. Patterson to w A. Apperson,
Tecumseh; horse stealing.
Harry Mcbride to Olne Fellman. Beemeri
horse stealing.
Roland Rivers TO Claus Cass. Gretna
burglary.
Charles Fair to J, c. Stewart, Lincoln;
grand larceny,
Dennis Wofford TO w. II. WestOver,
| Rushville; murder.
Gilbert Clark 10 Sister Superior ST. Enos,
| Lincoln; incest.
Mark BLY, to W, X. Ager, Kearney; horse
| stealing.
Fred Ward TO NJ. stensmider, Hubbell;
| stabhing 20 kill.
VIII Hawkins 10 James Wheelan. Omaha;
highway robbery.
George II. Day to Roy Doonttle. Tecum.
| sch: manslaughteT.
James Connolly TO ]. j. Callopy, scott's
Bluff: manslaughter,
Fritz Koester to Charles w. Rutledge,