Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1910-10-13

ures for a moment. Governor Pat
terson has been Governor since
[ January, 1907. During that time
he has issued pardons as follows:
Total number ---------I,Io2-
! Murder -------------- III
Illicit liquor Sellers I25
| Carrying weapons $500 EOS
Larceny -------------- I57
Miscellaneous CRIMES 444
Now listen to the figures from
other States, many of them having
populations larger and more Grim
inal, and Governors equally as ten
der-hearted:
Michigan-"In the last ten years
ia pardons have been granted in
the State of Michigan. Compare
this with Patterson's record of III
murderers pardoned in three and
one-half years, and I,Io2 pardons
of all characters in the same period.
In the last five years only two par
dons have been issued in Mich
igan."
New York - 'In ten years New
York State las pardoned I27 Grim
inals, being ess than the number of
murderers 2ardoaed by Patterson
in three and one-half years. In the
same ten years New York issued
go communications
Maine-"The Secretary of State
writes that the Pardoning Boards
grant few pardons, perhaps on the
average Of three or four year
Contrast this with III murderers
pardoned in three and one-half
years, and total of 1902 pardons
in that time"
Florida -" The records of the
Board of Pardons show that in the
past ten years there have been I 200
applications for pardon and COM
mutation of sentences. Of these
applications for pardons and COM
mutations, 700 have been granted
in ten years, as against I,Io2 abso-
lutte pardons in Tennessee in three
and one-half years"
Alabama-"In Alabama SIS par
dons and paroles from September
80, 1905, to December 81, 1909,
have been granted, as against I,Io2
absolute pardons in three and one
half years in Tennessee granted by
Governor Patterson"
California-"The records of the
executive office in California show
that in the last ten years there have
been 65 pardons and I4o commuta-
tons granted to criminals of all
classes" In Tennessee there have
been I,Io2 pardons in three and
one-half years, of which III were
granted to murderers, showing two
and half times as many murderers
pardoned in Tennessee in three
years and one-half as were par
doned for all crimes in California
in ten years.
In ten years the States of New
York, Rhode Island, Colorado,
Nebraska, Maine and Utah have
had only 695 absolute pardons, as
against I,Io2 in Tennessee within a
little more than three and one-half
years under Patterson. The States
named have population of TO-
28o,7o5, as against 2,o2o,6I6 in
Tennessee, according to the 1900
census. The average annual num-
Der Of pardons, therefore, in Ten
nessee under Patterson is 3IS, as
against 90 in the six States named.
Since those States have FIVE times
the population of Tennessee, the
rate of pardons to population is
twenty-five times as high in Ten
nessee as in the six States named
These figures have shocked not
only Tennessee, but the world,
They have given us record abroad
for laWlessness and deferred out
side immigration and capital from
coming among us. There is moth
ing fancifu i'll this statement. Ev-
cry busires man knows what adj
vertising Is worth, and Tennessee
has been widely and unfavorably
advertised in almost every daily
and weekly paper in the United
States for the last two years. No
man can ever estimate the enor-
nous damage that the Patterson
administration has done to our
State in this way. And yet, this
injury is Insignificant COM
pared with the moral injury that we
have suffered here at home, due to
the spreading disregard for the
law.
From the standpoint of law and
order, we have gone backward
many years. The abuse of the par
doning- power is a strong incentive
to lawlessness, sometimes in the in
pardoned and always in
other criminals. We all know of
frequent instances in which men
DardOned of murder or 1arenv nv