The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1910-04-21
Tennessee's Disgrace.
CONTINUED from first page

itoI the very lawlessness which be
condemned through regiments oil
soldiers in the region Of Reelfoot lake.
It Is from such official acts that
bloodghed and mob rule take their
rise.
Tennesseans Must Hang Their Heads
in Shame.
Nashville TenDessean-
Cooper was convicted in court
presided over by a Judge who resolved
practically every doubtful question in
his favor: Cooper was convicted IN a
court whose sheriff had shown him
every favoritism; Cooper was convict
ed in a court whose clerk was a
brother OF one his co-defendants.
Cooper's sentence was affirmed by the
Supreme Court Of the State after a
trial, in which, as in the lower court,
the most able attorneys money and
influence could command had made q
brilliant, though losing fight for him.
Thus with everything in his favor
and with every obstacle possible in
the way Of the prosecution, Cooper
was convicted Of the crime which he
had boosted be would commit. And
hardly had the echo OF the last words
Of Justice Shields ceased to reyerber-
ate in the courtroom when apardon
was granted by the creature who be
fouls the governors chair. Why?
Was the pardon granted because
there is no longer a government IN
Tennessee? Because organized an
aTchy reigns where law and order once
held sway? Because favorites are
licensed to take human life? Because
the Governors friends can commit
no crime? Or was tie immediate
granting of the pardon due to other
motives? Was it a sequel to the dam
aging contradictions made by the
Governor the night Carmack redeem
ed Cooper's threat? Men may differ
as to the motive that underlies this
pardon, this outrage on decency, this
invitation to crime, this licensing OF
9ubernatorial favOrites to go man
hunting. Some may assert 1t was
due to favoritism; others may couple
the pardon with Patterson's contra
diction the night OF the murder and
attribute it to even baser motives,
all men agree that in pardonlng
Cooper, Patterson has not only
further debauched and besmirched
himself, but ehas disgraced Tennes-
see in the eyes OF civilization. Tennes-
see, stripped naked Of the laws pro-
lection to human life, stands humill-
ated and disgraced, and honest Ten
nesseans everywhere hang their heads
in shame when they are forced to ad-
nit they are citizens OF the State OF
which Patterson is Governor.
Governors Action 1onstrous.
Chattanooga Times.
This action OF the Governor has
been expected, and that renders it
all the more dangerous. The predic-
tion was based on the facts: o. That
the fatal quarrel between Colonel
Cooper and Senator Carmack grew
out OF the formers advocacy OF and
close relation to the candidacy OF |
Governor Patterson; % That Colo |
mel Cooper is and has been "a warm |
personal friend of the Governor, and |
(3) that the latter would be forced |
On these accounts to issue pardon. |
None OF these reasons is good in |
morals Orofficial ethics. The pardon
ing power is not vested in the indiv-
idual, NJ. +. Patterson, for the re-
warding OF friends or personal sup
porters or for taking revenge upon
his political or personal enemies. 1t
is vested in the Governor OF the State
for the protection of the people and
it was intended that It should be ex-
ercised only when the right OF an in
diYidual has been violated, undue |
penalties imposed in cases where the
courts had been misled by false testi-
mony and where through the exigen-
cies of penal servitude the convict
may be reasonably declared to have
suffered enough for his crime before
the full penalty has been paid. No
Governor has right to pardon GRIM
inals simply because they were his
friends; had supported him and
cOunseled with him, and especially is
it monstrOus doctrine to hold that |
he is justified in pardoning them be-
cause they committed their crime as
a result OF their allegiance to him.
To excuse his act on the plea that |
Colonel Cooper did not have fair
and impartial trial is to impugn two
courts and is repugnant to the facts |
as we understand them.
1t was hard place for the Govern
or to fill, but it gave him a magnif-
icent opportunity for a display OF |
that courage of which his friends |
boast for him and an exhibition of
that lofty devotion to the laws and
to the best sentiments OF the people |
which he has so often declared, both |
OF which qualities he would have
shown il he had at least delayed his
action until he had time to study the
opinion of the court before he arbi-
trarily set aside its decree and null
= lifted its solemn findings.
The Blood of Carmack.
Richmond Times Dispatch
Yesterday morning the Supreme
Court of Tennessee affirmed the SEN
fences OF Colonel Duncan B. Cooper to
twenty years Imprisonment in the
State penitentiary for the murder of
Ex-United States Senator Z. W. Car
mack. Yesterday afternoon Malcolm
K. Patterson, Governor OF Tennessee,
granted an unconditional pardon to
the murderer, and he stepped forth a
free man in the sight of the law. but