The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-03-28
OLD KENTUCKY
By SAY OYARD

of felony. Under the laws of the com-
 monwealth when one is thrice found gull | ty of felony 1t is imperative that the
 sentence imposerd be life term in states
 prison. It appears that this particular 1 rogue had stolen a turkey of value ade- quate to lift the crime to the dignity of
 grand larceny, and as a Kansas rooster sold for s1000. it Is not violence to reason
 to suppose that Kentucky has a turkey gobbler worth s20. Here is some grief
 an eastern Pharisee wastes on that epi- side
 Tt is inconceivable that in an enlight-
 ened community in one of the great
 states of this union, justice can be so
 strained that it deliberately sentences a man to life solitude in the penitentiary for stealing a fowl The press dispatches from Georgetown, Ky, say this has been done. Such perversion should arouse the righteous wrath of every man, woman and child. The courts of a great state have been in disrepute. The victim of this remarkable judicial delverance was colored man. and his offense the theft of turkey on the eve of Christmas. True. the man had served time twice before; but may there not have been ex- tenuating circumstances The bare facts only have reached the east, but the one fact that life imprisonment may follow such @ petty crime Is sufficient to direct emphatic attention to wha. appears. from this distance. a miscarriage of justice in the great commonwealth south of the Ohio river"
 Nobody in Kentucky was ever sentenced to solitary confinement in states prison. But may there not have been extenuating circumstances" Hardly. The better opinion would be. and the rational, that there were aggravating circum- -ta FA~ rfa 1a 3A t11nf sneak thief thrice convicted of the crime committed some scores of other larcenies not discovered. This man is an incorrigi- ble thief, bred in the bone. Where is a better place for such miscreant than in the pententiary? The following com ment on this affffair is gratuitous fin view of the fact that white men have been sentenced to states prison for life under the identical statute invoked In this case:
 "The question well may be asked, Would this verdict have been rendered if the prisoner at the bar were & white man? Does prejudice against color in Kentucky prevent the administration of justice, al ways supposed to be blind, and dealing with all classes equally and fairly, re- gardless of social caster"
 And then our outraged sentimentaist wants 'the intervention of some legisla tive or executive authority with power to undo this grievous wrong," and he calls on the governor of Kentucky to render imperative the verdict sanctioned under the questionable authority of a 'habitual criminal act " He even is wrought to the point of suggesting con gressional scrutiny, and beseeches some body to institute a radical reformation of the administration of the criminal statutes of this great old commonwealth
 Now what is that but the maudlin rav- ings that make martyrs of 97 per cent of our murderers whose cells are filled with rare exoties, laden with the per fumes of Eden, and whose acquittal by sentimental juries is hailed with applause as the triumph of virtue over vice, the victory of liberty over tyranny? Here is the plea for the enlargement of this in veterate. hardened natural born thief who would commit another larceny the first opportunity that offered after his pardon. There is nothing better estab iished than that crime is progressive. Enlarge this man and the chances are his next crme-for he is as prone to crime as the sparks to fly upward-will be murder. It behooves the American people to find out that a crim- inal is not necessarily a saint, or even hero, especially if he is a sneak thief.
 When was boy Alexander Ford with a hickory limb, whipped the three Rs into me. Hard by the schoolhouse was David Philopott's apple orchard, that was as free to every boy in school as to his own son and daughters I we'll recall that one particular tree in the center of the orchard had more rocks and sticKs under it, that we boys had thrown to knock the fruit down. than all the other trees together, and its fruit was sweet est to the palate and kindest to the stom- ach.
 Old Kentucky Is that tree, and I am glad that I am one of her sons. Let 'em knock her. Let 'em throw rocks and sticks
 Washington, March 23.