The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1908-11-25
"TRE LAW AND THE SOUTH"
Where Wealth and Position Are Safeguards
Against Punishment.

Within the last few days judg.
ment has been rendered in three
criminal cases in this country that
are OF more than ordinary inter
est. In New York Charles ".
Morse, bank wrecker, has been
convicted and sentenced to fifteen
years in the penJentlary. In
Virginia, E. ". OVERLY. bank
wrec,zer, has been acquitted by a
jury Of twelve men. In Georgia,
T. ". Alexander, convicted bank
wrec11er, has been pardoned by
the prison commission and Gov
ernor Smith.
The case of Morse the public is
familiar with, his large career as
a fnancier. his accumulation OF a
fortune Of a hundred or two mil
lions, his control of vast enter
prises in New York, his connec-
ton with the ice pool, his final
cola ose, his emoezzlement. his
conviction and his recent sentenc-
ing to fifteen years in the penl-
tentiary
E. ". Overby was formerly
cashier of the bank OF Mecklen-
bug. at Boydton, Va. He en-
bezzled the funds Of the bana ana
wrecked the institution. His trial
has Just been concluded. There
was absolutely no dispute as to
the facts; they were undeniable
and acknowledged. OVERLY in
fact pleaded guilty to the princi
pal charge against him. But the
iurv was of 'the vicinage," as
the law hath it, they knew the
accused. knew his family and felt
sorry for him. So in the face of
the facts, in the face of the law,
and against the rights of society,
they brought III a verdict of not
guilty, The indignant and cour-
ageous Judge, Judge Barksoale,
publicly reprimanded the jury
and denominated their action as
a plain and fragrant disregard Of
the law and of justice. But Over
by vas acquitted-and the prose
cution has no redress.
TIE public hereabout is prob
ably more or less familiar with
the case of T. ". Alexander. He
was a prominent business man IN
Augusta: he was equally proml-
nent socially. He became irvolv-
ed, embezzled funds from one OF
the Augusta Banks and wrecked
it. Alexander was tried, convict
ed and sentenced to six years in
the state penitentiary. Now, after
two years of his service. tue
prison commission of Georgia and
Governor Smith have pardoned
him. The arguments on which
the pardon was based are Of more
than ordinary interest. In the
first place it was argued that be-
cause of certain circumstances
the sentence of Alexander was
longer than it might have been
otherwise. These circumstances
were as follows. We quote from
an Atlanta dispatch to the Aug
usta Chronicle:
liz the application for pardon,
it IS set forth that Mr.. Ale2and-
der'S term was much longer than
would have been the case but for
an odd circumstance connected
with the laws Of the state. 1t was
first understood that his term
would be no more than two or
three years. Then it was dlscov-
cred that such sentence would
place him on a county road chain
gang. Richmond county was
Short of it's pro rata share Of con-
vlcts at that time, and the chance
was that he would be sent back
to his home 20 serve the sentence,
where infinite humiliation to nlm-
self would not alone result, but
undeserved pain and embarrass-
ment to his relatives caused. J"
It would seem that only short
term convicts may be used on the
chaingangs, snd so to avoid the
necessity of putting Mr.. Alexan
der on the changing it was de-
termined instead to give him the
long sentence and send him to
he penitentigry-where after a
time the opportunity Of a pardon
would be offered.
Then, too, there was another
Interesting and forceful circum-
stance. We quote again from the
same dispatch to the Chronicle:
ssBeside the circumstance Of
the sentence, it was set forth that
the punishment had been adequ-
ate as two years for a man Of Mr..
Alexander's refinement amounted
to more that 20 for the ordinary
criminal: that his continued con-
inemert will punish numbers of
innocent and very reputable re-
latives more than himself; that
he has been model in his conduct
and is anxious to begin life anew
and reclaim his lost prestige while
still on the bright side of the
meridian.
This is interesting and is new
law. We had always imagined
that the law knew no distinctions,
that it prescribed certain terms
for certain otfenses and questions
Of a gentIeman's refinement,
not to speak Of the feelings Of his
relatives and the opportunities
of the gentleman's resuming his
L. i