The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-11-27
a Sigh of neiIcf.

Many; pcrsons not even remotely con-
nected with tho administration OF Viz
Sinia's Justice have brcathcd Sighs of
relief upon reading tho confession OF
Henry Clay Beattie, Jr., which, :. re-
moves the last shred Of doubt that the
verdict carried out yesterday was in
accordance with the fact.
Few vcrdicts involving capital pun.
ishmcnt and depending entirely upon
oircumstantials evidence have been moro
clearly Justified or more generally APP
proved, In recent criminal history, than
that which was executed IN Richmond
yesterday. -.
Yet the fact remains that no direct
evidence that 1.-THE young husband had
really dono tho murder had beer ad
duced, and timid souls all over this
section of tho country felt deep in
terest In tho questton whether the con-
demncd man would confess his guilt
or go to his death leaving the clement
of doubt still unresolved. Circumstan-
tia1 evidence always can err, and had
the confession not been made thorc
would have been many who would
sincerely believe to-day that terrible
legal error had been made. The con-
fession ia one more proof of the reli-
ability of careful deduction from re-
lated facta not directly convincing in
themselves severally.
The responsibility that is a Cover
nor's was once moro illustrated in this
cane, am, Governor AIann'B discretion
In the case is rendered more notable
by the acknowledgment of guilt made
almost at the eleventh hour. That this
case in Its entirety will long influence
the administration of justice in murder
trials n this country Is not too much
to expect.-Baltimore Star. III,
Where Others Stop.
Let those who give the terrible late
of young Beattie. in Virginia. u sec
ond thought remember one thing which
does not appear in his confession or
in the plea of his heartbrolSen father
for sympathy and forgiveness.
Men like young Beattie kill their
wives as truly as he did without COM
hitting murder. no was punished for
murder. but his greater crime goes
UNPUBLISHED everywhere every day.
Sentimentaiity over the onense that
brought him to felon's death is OF
questI enable value even when It comes
from his Borrowing father. unless 1t
takes into consideration the disloyalty,
the meanness, the heartlessness. the
selhishness and the bestiality of the
career that in his case eliminated In
murder
Beettie died in the electric chair
because he killed the body us we'll as
the heart and eoul and pride of his
wife. How, many scoundrels are there
afnot to-day, rs guilty as he. who have
stopped short only OF murderT-st.
Louis Republic
@ Wheels of Justice.
That the wheels of justice DO not
always grind ineffectively, and that
after the inexorrblo reckoning the
wages Of sin. are sometimes paid with
extraordinary promptnees. is iliustraf-
-. go IT,. Es..tt
tie for the murder of his wife. 1t was
on July Is that the event occurred
which. IN the sequel. shocked civilized
society on both sides Of the Atlantic.
Three days later the young husband.
who had SO plauslbly explained the
circumstances, was placed under ar
rest. On August Ii he YVES indicted by
the grand jury a week afterward the
trial began In Chesterfield County
Courthouse. Tho jury brought in u
verdict of guilty, their deliberations
lasting less than an hour, and Judge
Watson pronounced the death sentence.
On November 10 the Virginia Supreme
Court OF Appeals refused n writ of
error Tho Governor, on November Is.
declined to grant a stay OF execution,
and OH November "a the penalty was
finally inflicted, In tho presence of
twelve witnesses. A confession. writ
ten the day before tho murderer met
his fate, acknowledges tho Guilt and
resolves the last doubt ae to the tden-
tify of tho man who took the lifeS of
Louise Owen Beattie on the Midlothian
PIKE In the lonely darkness Of the July
night.
Beatt!c had everything to live for
Ha was young, and of prepossessins ap-
pearance; his social connections were
with persons of good standing in the
community; he might easily have won
and kept tho good opinion of neighhora
and business associates, amassed o
competency and lived to an old age
serene and bright" an honored citi-
zen. Instead he chose to dissipate his
income, his health, his good name. his
final happiness,fin a life of hardened
profilgacy, eventuating in his own ruin
and In the overwhelming sorrow of h'e
family, who to the end maintained the
theory of his Innocence. Tho honlely
ethics OF an austere Puritan morality,
tho code of ,sobriety and decency in
the conduct Of life, are sometimes
Knocked and fouted by the sort of men
who were the boon companions OF
Beattie, Even they must be soberly
Impressed by the fatethat overlook one
WHO set at naught the commandment
of God and theslaw of man, and fool,
ighly imagined that he would eyadc the
nenalty Of his misdoins
The courage. and firmness OF Cover
nor Mann In standing out against tho
fioodtide OF Influential appeal brought
to bear directly and indirectly upon
him will elicit the commentator of
file upholders Of tho arm Of justice
everywhere. He declared that the
trial was fair and that he could find
no sound warrant for overturning the
conclusions reached BY the jury. The
law must take Its course. The attitude
of the Governor is the silver lining
Of tho cloud OF, trngedy.-Philadelph
Public Ledger.
The Dark Side .of Life In the NeuS.
1t Is a commonplace for would-be
reformers toEprotest against the giv-
ing of so,largc an amountof newspaper
space 10 sucli mntters as tho Beatttc