The Sentinel=record., 1912-12-04
GOV. BLEASE SAYS SLAYERS OF NEGRO ASsAuLTERs WILL
 NOT BE PUNISHED.
ONLY NEED TO GET RIGHT MAN
Gov. Baldwin Advocates Strenuous Measures for Degenerates-Twen ty-Two Governors at Annual
 Conference.

Richmond, Va. Dec 3.--Gov. Cole l.. Dlease of South Carolina served notice to the fifth annual conference of governors which opened here to- day, that lyncheTs of negro assailants of white women would go unpunisheI in his state.
 q have said all over the state Jf South Carolina, and 1 say it again now" he declared, that I will neve- order out the militia to shoot down their neighbors and protect a back brute who commits the nameless crime against white woman. Therefore in South Carolina, let it be understood that when a negro assaults a white woman, all that is needed is that they get the right man. and they who get him will neither need nor receive a trial
 The address was the most remark able of a day devoted to the consid- eration of crime and it's punishment Gov. Simeon E. Baldwin. of Con- necticut, advocated tine restoration of
 the whipping post for certain classes
 of crime and policy of sterilization for others.
 As for the cruelty of sterilization.
 said the governor the same degree
 of suffering is inflicted, for a purpose.
 in one respect not dissimilar, on half of our larger dome stic animals. We | do not deem it cruelty to them. So
 far as vastectomy is concerned it has recently been pronounced not a cruel form of punishment by the supreme court of Washington and in several states there are laws authorizing the operation upon degenerates in aims houses, asylums or prisons" Gov. Baldwin's address immediately followed an address of Gov. John r Shafroth of Colorado, in which Gov Shafroth advocated lenient. but cer- tain punishment, to criminals and cit ed his own state as an example where this system has worked we'll He de- claTes that severe punishment had proved no deterrent to crime Ger
 tainty of punishment in his opinion, with an opportunity to shorten the sentence through la0or and good bcs hayior, not only punished the crim- inal, but served alike as a deterrent against future crimes and an incentive to reform. He advocated the system in vogue in Colorado under whica gangs of fifty men, without guards save at nights. worked on the public roads and expressed the hope that
 the time was near when the state could do more than this and pay the
 convict a nominal wage for the wopk he performed.
 Gov Geo. w. Donaghey Of A~kan- sas,. declared for a severe penalty for lynchers, no punishment save death. he said, would deter murderers from
 their crime.
 Why, it's getting to the pass" he declared. where a man is certain oI punishment if he should steal a horse, but where, nine times out of ten, he
 is able to go scot free if he commits murder"
 Gov Adolph o. EbeThart of Min nesota thought the jury system is at the root of the evil of frequent mls- carriage of justice. Now adays he also declared, man could plead guilty to 57 varieties of insanity and escape the consequences of his crime Under the present jury system, he added, it was all but impossible to select intelligent men for jury ser vice.
 T want to take off my hat to Vir- ginia and to New York" said Gov. Albert w. Gilchrist of Florida, for l believe they have done justice in their recent murder cases. 1 don't believe Henry Clay Beattie could lhave been convicted in my state" Gov Blease, in his address, after promising immunity to lynchers,
 warmly defended his use of the par. ldoning power, declaring that in the 22 months he had pdrdoned or parol-
 ed approximately 40 persons and that
 ne hoped the number at the end of
 the second term would be SOC. T walked through the penitentiary of South Carolina" he said in defend-
 ing his use of the pardoning power
 and found it a tuberculosis incuba-
 tor where poor devils were dying al
 their tasks. making money for other
 people, poor devils who had no choice
 but to stand and work or take the
 lash Just the other day Jim Roberts. 1
 a negro from Charleston stopped me
 as was walking through and respect fully asked permission to speak to
 me He told me that he had been
 kept in jail for 22 years for stealing a $27 watch.
 T said, if you sfre telling me ths truth you will eat yaur Christmas din ner with your folks at home He