Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-02-23
THE CASE OF PARS1rzKIE.

/ "A
who will shortly apply to the parole
board for release. according to the rec
ords of the Fort Madison penitentiary,
/ is one of the very few men whose rec
/ ord as an inmate in that institution for
some twenty years shows that he has
never been the subject of a report filed
! by an official for an infraction Of the
rules. 1t is also learned that during
/ the years he has been confined he has
successfully Won and retained the con-
fdence of succeeding administrations
In other words from the viewpoint Of
prison officials he has made good.
! But ii seems there is another side to
Albert Parnitzkie. When Albert Par
nitzkie entered the penitentiary he was
| little better than an unschooled country
boy Intelligent, industriously inclined.
but lacking such advantages as proper
schooling gives. Since his incarcera-
/ ton 1t is understood that by patient
application. by taking advantage OF the
/ opportunities offered for acquiring an
education thru the school facilities, and
those presented by the library, he has
educated himself. In addition to this,
by spending such leisure time as he
could command, he has managed to
{
manufacture Of leather specialties,
watch chains, guards, canes and SOU
venirs OF the kind. In other words he
seems to have shown himself thorough
Is arlendahle to the better influences
and with the perfect record he has
made AZ. q prisoner. maintained thru
many years and under the various cir
cumstances OF changing administra-
~ YIo$ ~ Sc
candidate for consideration at the
hands Of the parole board. Parnitzkie
| is a good example of the greater things
which can be attained where capital
punishment gives way to life imprison-
nlent.
| 1t is true that murder is the most
| serious offense recognized by the law.
But as a crime murder differs from all
! Others. Rarely is the murderer what Is
generally accepted as "a criminal" I'M
| less the murder was incidental to the
preparation of crime against prop
| erty. Or followed from a deliberately
! laid plan to take human life for the
| purpose Of furthering some private OBJ
ject of gain. Murders committed in a
heat Of passion, or those which follow
risconception Of circumstances hon
!
proper subjects for extreme punish
ment. do not necessarily establish the
| fact that the murderer is a totally de-
PRAYED man, extremely dangerous to
the safety of the community, whose one
act justifes his being executed or per-
manently removed from society. OF
course it would me impossible to lay
down any fast rule for dealing with the
foJ, ;yli nh o.
culiarities and should receive inde-
pendent consideration. In the case Of
Parnitzkie. from what can be learned
OF his record during confinement, It
would seem that he could safely be
given favorable consideration. Certain
" in the circumstances surrounding
the crime Of which he was convicted.
there must have been something to
| justify modification of the usual SEN
tence then imposed, for twenty years
ago there was not the opposition to
capital punishment there is today.
OF his crime we know nothing, nor is
such information believed pertinent to
the case as it stands at the present
time. The only question today is,
what kind of man is Parnitzkie? II
he is the Parnitzkie who went to
prison twenty years ago he should be
kept there. But if within these twenty
years a new man has been born il
would seem but right that the fact
should be recognized in material
iway.
Will the lesson Of example lose force
lily illustrating the manner of man a
man may become while undergoing Sc
were punishment. and that society Is
capable Of judging. without prejudice
the man OF today without regard to
what he has been? 1t was the old man
fsociety rightly struck at. II he be
dead has society lost anything because
in his place a new man appears? The
iquestion is how shall society meet the
tnew conner? 1t is profound question
mot to be lightly answered.