The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1912-01-03
LET REASON REIGE.

-"r-~AS3OA~NAA3 ~ [S&1h9 S<4A1AA$S<
Presbyterian minister Of Colum.
bia-disting for his prose
cution Of telephone girl. who
was a member of his congrega
ton, because circumstances fore
ed her to work on Sundays, but ):
the girl appealed her case to the
Synod and won. This divine ar
CUES thatmercy should be grant.
ed in all relations Of life except
in that of the law. 1t seems to ;
US this is altogether out of tune
with the teachings Of a minister,
to take the position that: because
a. man is convicted of crime he
must not be shown mercy, is not
what has been taught the chill
dren Of men from time immemor
ial. One Of the hopes::of man
kind. is the forgiveness promis.
ed,on earth as we'll as in heaven,
and how Mr.. Blackburn can rec q
oncile the letter referred to with {
the teachings Of the ministry we
cannot fathom. According to-
this divine teacher, when a man
is convicted in the courts. re-
gardless of circumstances and
conditions, he must be made to {
suffer the penalty, no considera-
ton must be taken as toSWhether :
the Judge who wrote oreimposed
the sentence manifested a wise
discretion;3.or was actuated by a
sense Of prejudice, but he must
suffer the penalty matters not
how much out Of proportion the
sentence is to the offense. We do
not believe in any.such. a fanati-
cal doctrine; there have been IN
stances where Judges aided the
prosecution in furnishing a victim
to satisfy a political demand, Or.
to further the political interests
of friends, there have been in
stances where judges have i'm
posed sentences which shocked
the public cconscienc as unmercl-
full and unreaso liable. Judges are
heirs to all of the human infrm-
tiles, and they can make errors
as well as those who appear be-
fore them to be judged, therefore,
lit is wise as well as fortunate that.
the founders of this country plac-
Led in the fundamentaElaw a pro-
vision which placed the review
ing power in the hands, Of the
4 Chief Executive. How often are:
men sent to the penitentiary and
even hanged upon circumstantiaI
evidence, and after suffering the
humiliation and shame it is
discovered the wrong one was
punished, the discovery coming
perhaps too late for the victim of
the injustice to again hold up his
head among his fellow men.
Would this teacher of divine bles-
sings hold that.such an one must
1 continue to suffer because:a court
has decreed him guilty?
We do not attempt to defend
Z Governor Blease in allof his par
dons and paroles. and SO far as.
that is concerned. we do not de-
fend a number of his acts, per-
haps it is because we are not in
full possession Of the facts which
prompted him. therefore we pro-:
pose, before coudemning him, to:
await the time when he will make
a report Of his stewardship: We
criticised him for the pardoning
Of G. WashyHunter, but after we
read his reasons, and the show
ing of the reversals of the su-.
S preme court, our views of the
Hunter case changed, we were
convinced that Associate Justice
3 Woods did not give TO Hunter his
due.
Mr.. Blackburn cites the Bible
and gives his construction Of
s Gods meaning, but if God di-
rects as we sincerely believes he
does, it seems to US, we can con-
clude, the Governor IN the exer-
else of clemency gets his inspir-
alton from the directing source;
who knows but that the friends
. Of the unfortunate creatures re-
Gently released from prison had
their prayers answered, and that,
the prison doors were thrown
open by direct command from
He who sits upon the Throne Of
Mercy.
The retirement Of Jas. A. Hoy5
from the editorial management
/ of the Colum bla Record comes as
a surprise to newspaper readers,
and a regret to those who appre-
ciate an ably conducted news
paper. Mr.. 6oyt is one of TIE
best editorial writer's in tire
State, clean, clear and concise:
He always has a good argument
to present for a position taken,
and while we have not always
agreed with him, it is fair to say
that we respected his sincerity.
and sense of fairness. Il Mr..
Hoyt retires altogether from
newspaper work in this State it
will be a decided loss to journal
ism. Since assuming editorial
control he gave to Columbia a
splendid service, and he labored
hard for the development Of that
city. We sincerely hope he will
not be lost to the journalism OF