Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-04-10
Mr.. Heath's Opening Address.

fho amount Of time you spend, the
of time | have spent, the
amount the county spends in the
nothing. These old forms that
haV" come down to us from the early
days Of common law that We have in
herited from England, and which has
precedence to this country Of American
liberty and American citizen. because
in the Latin not only had a life been
lost. but another life was to be de-
stvOyed if :he respondent was found
guilty.
In our good State we have had a
varying history in this matter of pun
iShnent for murder. When Maine be-
came State some so years ago, we
had four crimes that were punishable
by )'eath bv hanSing-murder, arson.
burglary and rape. As the world grew
broadtr and humanity became more
Kind. w dropped the death penalty for
burglary. rape and arson for long
series of years. Maine kept the death
penalty when we started as a State:
that barbarity Of our English. ances-
tors. Not only was il punishment Of
death, but it was 4 public execution.
The first public execution which
ever took place in the State Of Maine
occurred In this square near the court
house 20 years ago. Then for a series
Of years. almost 80. while we had the
death penalty. 1t was subject to the
discretion Of the government SO that
scarcely any murderer sentenced to
death ever suffered the full penalty of
the law. Then in 'S3 it was revived
again, hut since 'S7 it has been the pol
icy OF the law that punishment should
be Imprisonment for life. Now the Leg
islature that changed the law, of which
I happened to be q. member, changed
it for all time. and it is now a matter
Of history, because life in state pris-
on was deemed to be as severe pun
ishmont as death by hanging. =
Now gentlemen. so far as the law
is concerned and so far as the fullness
Of truth is concerned, your duty is the
same today as in the days of hanging
and that law will never be changed,
and it will never change as long as
American liberty exists. The PROPOSE
ton the government started with is to
he proven with the same fullness, whit
the same degree of satisfaction with
the same element of moral obligations
dS was proven 100 years ago. 1t is our
blrthr'Sht to demand. yours and mine
to demand that whatever the crime
whether it be a petty misdemeanor or
be the highest crime known to law,
that Of murder, that the court prove 1t
TO the satisfaction Of men, and that it
shall have the
yon were to send this woman to the
gallOwS.
''We are all, gentlemen, engaged in
common cause; each officer in the ad-
mnistration of justice upon his oath,
and to contribute so far as he can to
the truth of the law. Let us talk of it's
functions, and let us talk of them in
a language Of the home and of the
heart, and drop high sounding words,
OF science. of culture and of philosophy.
what is the word Verdict Change
it from the Latin and in the old Ian
guaSc II means that a verdict is
spoken truth. The government and the
court here assumes the burden of the
proving. The county attorney has said
beyond a reasonable doubt that this
young man did not commit suicide, and
that he was not killed by accident We
started here with a sheet of paper that
is white and the whitcness of that
sheet Of paper is fair representative
of the innocence with which every per-
son comes into court. The government
takes that white sheet of paper and is
Obliged to write upon its facts which
must point in one direction. The truth
is made up of truths; they all fit in
with each other and they must see that
they fit so that they will all go into the
same receptacle. Ii the receptacle can
not be filled, then the prisoner is enti-
tied to an acQuittal.
IF there is no substantial circum-
stance to prove, it cannot exist without
u IS consistently accurate. then she il
sniity. If there. are no circumstances
which are consistent with guilt anl
II their conclusions. do not prove ruilt