The Green Forest tribune., 1908-12-11
f NEWS OF
 ARKANSAS
278 Convicts Were Pardoned in 2
 Years
A'TMr

278 Convicts Were Pardoned in 2
 Years.
 After four months of painstaking work, Superintendent Pitcock, with the assistance of Chief Clerk Payne, of the penitentiary, has practically completed the biennial report of the institution for the period beginning October 31, 1906, and ending October 31, 1908. The report is one of the most interesting in connection. with any department of the State govern ment, but it's preparation is very tedious, because of the large amount of detailed work required under the various subdivisions, in all of which the greatest care and discrimination must be observed
 The report in brief shows that for the biennial period there have been
 handled at the State penitentiary total of 2,000 prisoners, of whom 1,002 have been received since the period opened. The institution "be- | gan business" in October 1906, with | S47 conyicts, and at the end of the | period there were 7S3, showing a net
 decrease of GA. Pardons have been | issued in the case of PTS prisoners, | PA have escaped, 91 have been re- | captured, three paroied, 51 transferred | to the reform school, three transferred | to the asylum for the insane, 573 | have been released and 95 have died. That, in brief, is the summary as l to the disposition of the convicts for | the two years.
 A comparison of the pardon lists for | this biennial period with that of the | preceding period shows that the for
 mer contains 75 names more than l the latter. For the biennial period | of 1904 to 1906 there were issued 203 | pardons, against PTS for the period l just closed.
 Of the pardons granted during the | period just closed IF were for con- victs in which the sentence was for
 21 years or greater, including one | life sentence. Of course, in many in-
 stances, the pardons were granted
 where the men had already served | large portion of the term. The | majority of pardons were in cases
 where the offense was of a minor nature.
 The records show that there is only
 ing been convicted in Sebastian
 County At the beginning of the
 biennial term the distribution of pris- l oners, as to sex, nationality, etc., was as follows: White, PA men, no women, 5S5 negro men, IS negro
 women. At the close of the period | the distribution is as follows: PIP
 white men, no white women, 544 ne- gro men, 26 negro women, 1 Indian. | There are in the Arkansas Penitenti- ary men of the following nativity: One | Austalan, one Canadian, one Dane,
 one Hungarian, one Nova Scotian, | two Englishmen and three Germans. | Among the States outside of Arkan- sas Mississippi furnishes nativity to l the largest number of our convicts; there being 63 who claim Mississippi as their birthplace now doing time under our penal laws; Tennessee has
 A, and Louisiana and Texas tie for third place with 33 each. Georgia furnishes 21, Alabama 22, Arizona 1, California 2, Illinois 9, Iindiana 7, Iowa A. Kansas 2, Kentucky 15,
 Michigan 1, Missouri 26, Nebraska 1, New York 2, North Carolina 13, Ohio 2, Oklahoma ', Pennsylvania 5, South Carolina 10, South Dakota 2, and Vir- ginia 4.
 As to counties Sebastian heads the list for the number convicted in her courts, the number now held being 72 Pulaski County has credit for 60, and Jefferson is signed up for 63. Lee County has 36 and Phillips Coun- ty 33, Hampstead P, Jackson 21, and Miller and Mississippi Counties have each sent up 23. Calhoun, Cleburne, Faulkner, Izard, Marion and Sharp have no convicts to their credit, and only one each is posted opposite the names of the following counties: Clay, Conway, Fulton, Grant, Mont gomery, Newton, Polk, Stone and Van Buren. Marion County has not had a convict in the penitentiary for the past two years.