Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1912-08-26

try that are made Tor the protection
OF society and for the safety Of life.
liberty and property, may deserve
4 whatever punishment the law infllcts,
but that its infiction often brings u
greater punishment to the poor In.
nocent wife and helpless children
branded with disgrace and often left
In want and poverty by being depriv.
ed Of the means OF s%ustenance which
only Il husband and father can give.
He often told me when speaking upon
the subject that the administration
Of the criminal law was the only dis.
agreeable duty connected With his
office. He would say; II do not like
It.; | try to do what Is right; ] try
to make the punishment ut the crime
and always before | pass sentence |
consider every phase, every circum.
sance surrounding the commission OF
the crime, and then | try to fix a
proper punishment; but when 1t com.
es to passing sentence always cut
off six monhs or a year He never
sent to the %penitentiary Il poor con.
vict mad at the world; never sent him
away cursing and with the impress.
sion that every mans hand was
against him; but before sentence he
always gave the convict a kind, sym.
pathetic talk that made him feel
there was still Il chance and a hope
after he had suffered the punishment
that the law inflicted. He knew we'll
the frailitles and weaknesses Of hu.
man nature. and that many crimes
are committed on account of some
inherent weakness or bad environ.
ments; and while he had the moral
courage to do his duty and infict
the punishment that the law imposed,
1t was always done In that kind,
sympathetic manner which sent the
unfortunate away with hope in his
heart that the time would come when
he could come out from behind the
iron doors and look the world in the
face as a man. No II a estl-
mate, for no one knows, the good
that he did in the administration or
the criminal laws by the kindness
and sympathy which he always used
as an influence for good to make
men better and as q road to reform.
For five years | sat with him on,
the Board of Pardons. and the same
kind sympathy that went out to the
poor mar whom he was obliged to
deprive of his liberty while judge OF
the district court, was extended to
the poor fellow behind the bars. He
was a most agreeable member OF the
board. never obstinate, always pleas
ed with some good valid excuse for
giving some poor fellow another
chance to make good in the world.
But there must be some reason, some
good cause shown why a pardon
should be granted. for his moral cour
age a greater and stronger than
; his kindness and his sympathy.
On the road to his funeral ! met
one OF his old teachers who told me
of some of the disadvantages under
which he labored as a boy. He said
"he came to my academy lame and
lonesome, and as he stood in the
entry he felt an almost irresistible
impulse pulling him back to his home,
He was obliged to summon all his
courage to master it." We who know
his modest disposition to retire from
! the public gaze, and his sensitiveness,
! can readily understand the impulse
that was pulling him away. But We
who have seen him tried in ordeals
that try mems souls know that he
had a moral courage that vas greater
than any of his infirmities. ! have
seen this modest, timid, gentleman
standing like a wall Of adamant be-
tween a murderer and an enraged
populace clammoring for his life. A
terrible murder was committed in
Towner county. a whole family was
slaughtered. An old pioneer, known
to almost every man, woman and
child, loved and respected, together
with almost his entire family, were
most foully murdered. The citizens
of Towner county went out to the
murder house, saw their old frienu
with his brains spattered over the
bed and his wife and five Or six chill
drcn lying dead on the floor. They
saw this awful sight, they heard the
story of the oldest daughter whom
the fiend incarnate spared for o
worse fate, and ToWner and ROlette
counties went mad, crazy mad with
rage. They did not look upon the
perpetrator of this awful crime as
human. TO them he was a monste"
to be slain as a mad dog. The whole
country was up in arms and out as
one MAI in pursuit of the murderer
He was captured at the town OF Del
Oraine, Manitoba, about II hundred
miles from the scene of the murder,
by Sheriff Jack McCune Of Towner
county. Towner county made no mis-.
take when Jack McCune was elected
sheriff. He was a good citizen, he
believed in the majesty of the law
and the enforcement Of the law by
legal means. He knew the temper
of the people of his county. He knew
that no Jail in Towner county was
strong enough to protect the murder.
er. He knew that he never could
reach the Towner county Jail ever
If it we're strong enough to protect
his prisoner. He knew that pickets
had been placed along the Interna-
tional boundary line for a distance
Of some fifteen miles; that they were
placed there for a purpose, and the
purpose wal to notify the people so
that the sheriff and his prisoner
might be intercepted and the sheriff
relieved from further charge. He did
L .-4l ~ --1 H. -.,, Is-~ - - 80 II