Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-01-07

friends.
Aurora Sun, Governor Mickey is putting
in his best Hicks during the last few days
OF his administration. .liberating about all
of the worst thugs that are left In our
peniteptiary. He should throw the doors
open and not show Partially.
Crofton Journal; The latest stunt Of The
Bee IL TO show up twelve pardons and six
ty-nve commuted sentences granted by the
governor to penitentiary convicts during
his four years in ONCE. and some OF the
cases are pretty hard nuts too,
Rushville Recorder: Governor Mickey has
pardoned more criminals than any former
governor of Nebraska. and the Recorder,
while believing he has made good gov
ernor in most respects, we do not believe
he has exercised the executive clemency
always with good judgment.
| Crete Democrat: with Mickey as COVER
nor a few more years, Nebraska would not
need a penltentiary. Mickey Is has been
and the people may be glad of It, His
4 favorites for executive clemency are the
murderers. 1t is about time the perdoning
power was taken out of the hands OF gov
ernors and placed with a board Of pardons
Kearney Hub; Governor Mickey Is being
! criticised at the close Of his two terms for
]
from the state penitentiary. Twelve par
tdoned. sixty-hve terms commuted and a
large number Of paroled makes It appear
as II there was little use for the people
to spend money for diflcult convictions
when punishment is so easily evaded.
Bloomington Advocate: Governor Mickey
paroled about eighty convicts during his
7 term of Office and 1t is not a very good
record. either. This wholesale paroling OF
convicts was little less than granting them
a pardon. and IL does not seem to the rea-
sonable man that the courts OF this state
would make that many errors. Two of the
convicts pardoned we're the Landreth broth
ers sent up from this county for stealing
hogs.
Chappell Registers Such abuse of the
hardening power as has been practlced by
Governor Mickey is strong incentive to
mob law. When any county of the state
has gone to the expense of prosecuting
a criminal and secured his conviction, the
criminal, as a general proposition, should
serve out his sentence. II It becomes evil
dent to the people that criminals, and
especially murderers sentenced for term
Of years, are TO be pardoned after serving
only a small portion of their sentence, they
are more apt to deal out justice instanter
and in their own peculiar manner.
Loup City Northwestern: Governor
Mickey has broken all former records of
Nebraska executives in his leniency toward
criminals. His total pardons in four years
have been fifteen in number, four of which
were for murder; has committed the SEN
fences OF sixty-five inmates of the pentten-
tiary and paroled large number of lesser
criminals. Is 1t any wonder crime Is on
the increase, when governors will undo
the work of the courts and turn criminals
loose about as fast as the courts convict
and sentence2 The record made by Gov
ernor Mickey in this respect may be all
right. but to a very large body of law
abiding citizens it looks in the nature OF
a bid for increased lawlessness.
Ashland Gazette: One of the most SER
ious mistakes made by Governor Mickey
in our way OF thinking. was the pardon OF
Nick Gentleman. the murderer of young
Oleson at Columbus. Our reason for this
opinion is the fact that there was never
a particle of question as to his guilt II
a drunken frenzy he walked into the place
of business of a perfectly we'll disposed
inoffensive citizen, and, without cause oil
I.provocation, shot htm,--POssibly this was
all the effect of liquor. Gentleman may bC
in character the same as in name wher
he is sober, but that ought not to relieve
him from responsibility for his act The
responsibility began when the act leading
to the drunkenness began. To make mat
ters still worse. Gentleman was parolet
last summer and while out on parole, be
came drunk fact that was we'll know
= and recognized by Governor Mickey wher
he issued the pardon. Such a man turned
loose in society is a perpetual menace e
the lives of its citizens. Any time when HI
gets drunk he is liable to commit a similar
crime Gentleman has Jared better thar
he deserved all through the term of hi
imprisonment He was given clerical po
sItion in which he had but light work anC
some of the time none at all He wal
treated as a trusty and permitted to go al
over Lincoln. And now in a few months
he will be turned loose. We consider II {
serious mistake. The effect will be baC
upon evil disposed men, Life imprison
) ment at hard labor would have been nom
too severe punishment. considering the ser
4 iousness Of his crime. Governor Mickey
= greatest mistake has been in the exercise
4 of too great lenIency toward criminals.
D O'Neil Frontier: 1t is to be hoped tina
the probing given the wholesale pardoninI
and paroling OF prisoners OF the psntentiar!
by The Omaha Bee will result in a NOR
: careful use of the executives pardonlnl
powers In the future. Regardless of wha
5 may have been his motive In extending
i executive clemency, Governor Mickey
e sympathies were worked upon to an un
< usual degree, and to him is credited tn
; longest list of paroled pardoned prs
oners in the states history. The strang
> part of It Is that many of these are hard
b ened criminals who got out OF prison onl!
: to take up with their old criminal pur
suits Except In isolated cases, the practic
' of paroling or pardoning convicts is al
imposition on the public and a crime agains
justice. It is heavy expense on tn
: taxpayers to maintain courts for keeping
: crime in check and to protect society, an,
It is exasperating in the extreme to hav
the chief executive override the judgmen
= Of juries and courts, lawyers and laymen
: by turning some scOundrel loose. To fee
the throb OF human sympathy for the un
!. fortunate or oppressed is commendable
/, but there is too much of the false sym
: pathy that seeks to release the crimina
!, from punishment his dark and desperat
! deeds deserve. The main cause OF tn
! present prevalence Of crime is the laxit
with which the perpetrators Of crime ar
. punished. Silly senumentalism is dom
! mora 10 foster crime than ANYTHING Alss