The Green Forest tribune., 1912-09-27
Governors Statement.

AS the result of the hanging in eff. figy Governor Donaghey made the fol. lowing statement:
 q an not afraid of the citizen who comes out in the open and boldly critcises my official action. This is the right of every free American and should be exercised whenever and wherever, in his judgment, it is neees- sary. The state and country at large should fear the assassin who does his work under the cloak of darkness of midnight hours.
 q am indeed proud that during my nearly four years of office no one has been able to stand out in the open and point to a single dishonorable act of mine. l am still prouder that have driven some of my enemies to such a fit of desperation that they have had to resort to darkness to at tack my official action.
 This effigy incident was, in fact, not perpetrated by men who care any thing for the act complained of, but, it was melted by those who are dis pleased at the character of my official life, but who dare not make known to the public the identical matters with which they are displeased.
 "In this instance I am slandered in the dark for pardoning a negro boy IS years of age for alleged assault His penalty was death. He was tried twice and convicted in both instances. Sixty days ago I gave him a respite of 90 days, until I could examine the mat ter carefully. In the meantime it was discovered that another negro well know as Jack the Shooter" had con fessed that it was he who committed this crime and not the negro who was convicted. The convicted negro also proved an alibi, but the jury did not believe it to be true at the time. The sole testimony upon which he was convicted was that of lighted match for but a few seconds and the peep of light from street lamp through crack of window shade. I did not believe, nor do l now believe. that under such conditions I could identify any one, and it did not appear to me that an excited woman could do it. The confession of Jack the Shooter made this belief stronger.
 But I was not alone in this eenclu. sion. After due consideration, IS of the A men making up the two juries who tried the negro came to the same belief and petitioned me to completely pardon the negro, whom they had | condemned to hang. Three of the jurors could not be seen, so 1t was stated to me, two of them refused to sign the petition and the other was sick and could not consider it when l presented to him. Thirty-four officers of the City of Little Rock and of Pu- laski county, who were well acouaint- ed with the case, signed the petition. Many white women signed it, and about 800 other citizens of the county signed it, many of them prominent in i the business and professional world. So after arriving at the conclusion I had already reached all of the evil dence of the petitioners belief in the negros innocence served as check to my convictions and gave me more strength to act as I did. But as the matter stands now every petitioner is slandered and hanged in effigy Any future governor is warned that it mat. ters not what the conditions may be. he must hang a negro, whether inno. cent or guilty. In fact, the midnight mob, too cowardly to speak out or show themselves in daylight, have 1 given notice to the governor and good citizens of the state that it is going to see that the office is run to suit the mob. This action will doubtless work to deter the political trimmer in office from doing his duty. He must not let innocent blood get in the way of his holding office. If the mob is going to criticise him he must not risk his political chances by acting upon principles of right The mob might injure him.
 Such is the tendency of the action this mob has engaged in in this in- stance